Peeling My Skin And A Wedding

     So my sunburn from the aforementioned trip to Cedar Point has made it to the point where I'm now peeling the outer layer of skin off my shoulders. I laugh at the feeling. lol. But now I'm self-conscious about not wearing a shirt. :\
     On an unrelated note, I took this weekend off work, because I'm going to a cousin's wedding down in Cincinatti, OH. Should be fun, but that also means that after this post, I'm taking the weekend off from this too. And Sunday also just so happens to be mine and my fiancée's 8 year anniversary, so that day will be off-limits too. So Monday will be the next time you hear from me. Hopefully I'll have something worthwhile to talk about then. But since I should be packing up and getting ready to head out, I have to end this early. Sorry for the short post. But, it just wouldn't be my post without...

The Song of the Day!!!
     Now, the question is, do I give you a song I want, or do I randomize it? Well, random it is, since I can't decide. Ahh, one of my favorite bands....  Today's song: Dead On Arrival by Fall Out Boy from the album Take This to Your Grave. I love Fall Out Boy. Definitely in my top 5 favorite bands. This song was also featured in Rock Band, and Lord knows, I love my Rock Band and Guitar Hero. According to the members of Fall Out Boy, this song was supposed to convey that they were homesick due to all the shows and travelling to all the different venues.  This song starts fast and loud, and ends fast and loud. It was also one of my first loves from this band. I really enjoy every album put out by them, and if any of you were sad to hear they're not putting out anymore music, Patrick Stump has already put out a solo EP called Truant Wave, and you can also preview his solo album Soul Punk due to be released Oct. 18th. I'll put a video of that song in here too as an added bonus and a sort of apology for the short post. Its called This City and it features Lupe Fiasco. Enjoy.

Dead On Arrival

This City ft. Lupe Fiasco

Am I Going To Culinary School?

     Today was an interesting day at work, to say the least, because somehow, even though we lost the highest paid cook in the restaurant, we aren't making labor cost (which is BS), so my cooks were all cut long before their time, leaving me to be the one man circus at the restaurant. Blah. So after everything's said and done, my manager comes up to me, and asks, "So, have you ever thought of going to chef school?" I just looked at her for a moment, and instead of taking the smart-ass route, I figured I would put on my nice guy face and answered her seriously. I wanted to say, "No, I had never considered that! My whole career is based around food, and yet I've never thought of going to school for it! Oh and by the way, if you pull stitches out of a wound that isn't fully healed, it reopens and bleeds like new."

     The reason I bring up wounds is because when I graduated high school, I applied for culinary arts school through a Cordon Bleu program, and immediately got accepted. I went on a campus tour clear over in Pittsburgh, and loved it all. Then we went to discuss finances, I couldn't get in. I had no credit experience, neither did my mom (as her ex husband's would always put the credit cards and loans in their names, not both) and we didn't know anything about financial aid. Though we applied for FAFSA, they couldn't help, so I was forced to give up Culinary Arts school. I was crushed. Yes, I have plans to get back to that school, but it just feels weird now. I feel like that middle-aged person going back to school filled with little 18-22 yr olds. I mean, I'm not middle-aged yet (24), but that's still how I'll feel when I get there when I'm about 26 or so. There's a great many plus sides to this, but I can't shake the feeling for some reason. So I wanted to be extremely sarcastic to her, but she couldn't have known about any of that, so I didn't... Oh well.  

Well, sorry for the shorter post, but its time to move on...

What's Playin Right Now??

     Today is.... (random random random.... don't like this song.... random random random.) Heh, heh, heh...

Bodies by Drowning Pool from their album, Sinner. A classic song. For some reason, many people don't know that this is Drowning Pool, and they credit it to some other heavy band, like Disturbed or Slipknot or whoever... In truth, these guys sound nothing like those other bands. They have a very unique sound aside from the lead singer's voice sounding completely different from the other two bands. Anyway. 

   Some things you may not know about this song. Bodies was the lead single from Drowning Pool's debut album, Sinner in 2001, and stayed their #1 hit until 2008, when 37 Stitches was released on the Full Circle album. According to the band:

   

  "Bodies' was written about the brotherhood of the moshpit and never about violence."

     And one fact that made me lol irl was Bodies was used by interrogators at the Guantanamo Bay detention camps in 2003. It was played repeatedly over 10 days during the interrogation of  Mohamedou Ould Slahi while also being exposed to different lighting patterns. Personally, I wouldn't think of listening to Bodies as torture, but maybe over 10 days, I would definitely get sick of it! So give it a listen and a watch, and enjoy! 


*~*WARNING!!!*~*
THIS VIDEO HAS SOME CRAZY LIGHTING EFFECTS!!! IF YOU OR SOMEONE AROUND YOU IS EPILEPTIC, YOU/THEY MIGHT FREAK OUT!!!

   

Sun Burned and Exhausted.... But Lovin It!

So I'm back from Cedar Point, and it was pretty fun all things considered. I'm noticeably pinker than when I left and exhausted from all the walking and yelling and everything to do there!  I got there, and it was over 90 degrees, which made it near unbearable to be out in the open, but through lots of water and strategic standing under shady spots, we survived. I went on the Disaster Transport, an interesting roller coaster built all indoors, amongst other rides. Lines were HUGE all day so we didn't get to go on everything we wanted, but we still had fun. And soon into the day, it stormed really bad. My fiancee didn't want to stay outside in the thunderstorm, but my friends and I loved it. We waited out the first storm (yes I said first for a reason) in the arcade, which is pretty impressive. Not Gameworks big, but it was pretty large. I'm an old pro at Dance Dance Revolution, and they had SuperNova there, so I had to give it a go. And then between my friend and myself, we won about 300 tickets, which we ended up giving to a nice kid... mostly cuz they didn't have any candy! lol.  No one is too old for video games and candy. Period.
     So after the rain subsided, we headed back out thinking that the crowd would have diminished. Not so much. So we walked around, hit up another ride or two, and then decided it was a good time to hit the water rides. We decided on Snake River Falls first, as there is NO WAY possible to get out of that one without being drenched to the bone. Opened in 1993, Snake River Falls (see pic)  was deemed the tallest and steepest water ride in the world at that time. Currently the tallest and steepest water ride goes to Perilous Plunge, at 115 ft, and an angle of descent at 75°, just 15° short of straight vertical and is located at Knott's Berry Farm in California, also owned by the same company as Cedar Point.

      Its a fairly simple ride, but it attracts thousands of guests each season. Each boat can carry roughly 12-16 ppl, and as you can see, after the ride, you can get off, and stand on the bridge where the boat makes it's splashdown. So if you didn't get enough water the first time, there's always another chance.
     As we get off this ride, it starts absolutely pouring, just short of torrential. At this point, its already 8:00, so we decide to call it a day. So, being soaked already, we just leave our bathing suits on and just walk in the rain, enjoying stomping in puddles and water fun we hadn't indulged in since younger times. And we weren't the only ones. It seemed as the though the whole park had been turned into little kids again. People jumping in puddles, splashing each other, just generally having a good time. Apparently, it takes much more than a little rain to ruin the spirit there.  So that was fun...  Well, other than that, the weekend was uneventful, save for lots of business at the restaurant today. So. Onto......

What's Stuck In My Head?!?
     I know, deviating from the norm... Scaaaary! But hey, embrace the random and enjoy all of life's curveballs, even the small ones. lol.  
     So, today's song is a little heavy--er, but its been stuck in my head all day long, and I gotta get it out somehow.  So without further ado.... Drumroll....
      Psychosocial by Slipknot off of the album, All Hope Is Gone.  Now, if you don't like Slipknot because they're too heavy, or you don't like the lyrics, that's your prerogative, and you can skip the rest of this blog if you want. BUT! I encourage everyone to at least give this song at least 1 listen if you haven't heard it before. And if you can't decide if you like it, listen to it one more time. It's a pretty popular song from them, and most Slipknot fans should know it. Now, this song has a lot of lyrics that are hard to understand because he does the "death-growling" voice for the lyrics between choruses. But the chorus has a nice melody to it, and believe it or not, Slipknot's singer really does have a nice voice. This chorus always sticks with me, after I've listened to it, while I'm listening to it, and even now, when I'm just talking about it. The video can be scary for some of you who aren't used to some of this type of stuff, so if this is your first step into the genre, you can always just hit play on the movie below and not watch it. But in my opinion, Slipknot has a very clean sound in most of this song especially between the drums and guitar in the beginning when they hit faster notes together. In some bands, you'll hear them start to get off beat from each other just the slightest hair, but this sounds pretty nice to me. And I constantly rave about the chorus, because I really like everything about it. The lyrics, the melody, and his voice for sure. But don't take my opinion. Form your own. Enjoy.

Cedar Point

   Hi all. So tomorrow, a bunch of friends/coworkers and I are going to spend the entire day at Cedar Point, so naturally, I won't be posting anything tomorrow, because I'll be too busy getting sunburned, looking at women in swimsuits (namely, my fiancee. But others too! lol), and riding lots and lots of rides... or mainly standing in line for lots and lots of rides.
     For those of you who have no idea what Cedar Point is, it is one of the largest amusement parks in the world. One of them, anyway.

Here's a view from across the lake:

And here's an aerial view:

Fun facts about Cedar Point:

1. Its in Sandusky, Ohio, and it's located on a peninsula jutting out into Lake Erie. 
2. At 75 rides, it's has more rides than any other amusement park. 
3. It's been voted best amusement park in the world for the past 13 yrs by Amusement Today. 
4. It has 17 roller coasters, more than any other park out there. 
5. Its most recent coaster, built in 2007, is called The Maverick. It's not the fastest, nor the tallest ride there, but it is arguably one of the best. The first drop is 95 degrees... for those of you who don't know, that's more than vertical, you actually dip in before coming vertical again. Preeetty intense.
6. This year, 2011, they unveiled their brand-new ride, Windseeker, which is like the chain swing ride, where you sit in a swing and it twirls you around gently, except its 301 FEET IN THE AIR. Aaand, it twirls you at about 30 mph. Pretty decent clip.

     So yeah. My buddy and I are heading out tonight to sleep at my parents' place, because we don't want to have to get up by 530 in get there when it opens. They only live about 30 min away. Much better.  So that's why I'm typin this earlier in the day than usual. Maybe I'll put up a pic of our trip. If I feel like it.

Umm, in other news, for those of you who might actually pay attention to some of this, since my 360 is going in for repairs, I'm forced to find other game outlets, and so far, its been Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D. I gotta say, I was very skeptical of the 3DS when it first debuted, but as my DSLite had just broken, I figured, the worst that would happen is I would leave the 3D feature off. But I'll admit, I was genuinely shocked when I put in OoT3D. Very nicely remastered. Everything the way I remembered it, and more. And the 3D is very nice. The only downside, is that you have to have the 3DS situated at a certain distance from you, or you'll be seeing double. And you have to look directly at it, or you'll see double. Because the way the 3D system works, is instead of overlapping the same image and having you wear glasses to combine the image to give a 3D effect, the screen sends light to each eye individually, so that when your eyes perceive it, your brain interprets it as 3D. But, when only one eye is getting the light properly, it messes up the effect.


Tl;dr - 3DS is nice, just make sure you're using it properly.

Now for my only regular segment on this blog:

What I'm Listening to Right Now!!
     Today's is a great song: Voodoo by Godsmack off their self-titled album. Now, if you're more familiar with recent Godsmack, like their recent hit, Crying Like A Bitch or anything else off of their album, The Oracle, you'll likely not recognize this song as them. This is a much more... idk, mellow beat. Its a very vocal piece, and most of the instrumentals are dominated by the bass, and most of the drum beat is played on the toms. I instantly fell in love with this song the first time I heard it, and I still love listening to it, when I just wanna chill out and listen to some grooves. There's no real big guitar solo, or drum solo, or anything like that. Its kind of hard to describe the whole experience, so you should probably just listen to it... maybe this is a good time to start including the music video in my posts... Check it out. Enjoy.

What do you think? Like? No? Whatever. I do. So, I'll be taking the rest of the day off and tomorrow as well, so I'll be back Sunday, probably more sunburned and sore than ever before.

Jacqueline Carey Book Signing and Stuff.

     So today Jacqueline Carey was in Lansing doing a general Q&A and book signing. For those of you who don't know her, or are too lazy to Google her name, she is the author of a few different book series, more notably, 3 trilogies: Kushiel's Legacy: which actually includes two trilogies. The 3rd trilogy is set in the same universe, only about a century after the events of the first two trilogies and instead of the Kushiel's surname, they take on the Naamah's name.
      So anyway, the series takes place centuries before present day, in and around Europe, and follows the story of Phedre, who is to make a long story short, is/becomes the foremost courtesan in the realm. It's a sci-fi series with multiple deities (Kushiel is the god of punishment, and Naamah is the goddess of desire), and a very strong emphasis on sex, in all its forms.  I read them and thoroughly enjoyed them all. Its not for everyone, but I thought it was a good read.
  
So that was fun.

Other than that, today was unproductive. So let's move on to....

What's On My Media Player?!? (Does that title work better?)

Today, it's Prayer of the Refugee by Rise Against. This is one of the many bands I got turned onto by Guitar Hero. This song was on the bonus songlist from Guitar Hero 3, and a great song in my humble opinion. Actually, I really just like a lot of Rise Against. They're mostly loud and fast, and yet they have some good melodies, nice and meaningful lyrics. And F you ppl who have some problem with your emotions and don't like feeling the music you're listening to or thinking that heavier bands can't sing about love or some BS like that. I think a song with real heart in the lyrics and a rocking beat, nice sick riffs, and a good flow that really makes me feel the band's mood is a great song.

But I digress.

Anyway, Prayer of the Refugee. Starts out with a few simple guitar chords, starts to build, adding bass, drums, and soft lyrics, then really kicks it into gear, like many other Rise Against songs. And I think the lead singer said it well in their concert:

"This song goes out to anybody here who believes that maybe, just maybe, we were all born with a moral obligation to leave this world a better place, then the world that we found."

That speaks to me. Sooo, on that note. I'm signin off. Deuces!

RRoD

Sooo.... I like to hunt achievements. A game isn't completed to me until I have every last achievement. Maybe its a slight case of OCD, but there you have it. So I pop in Rock Band 2 this afternoon, with the one achievement left, and easy enough to obtain: Finish the Impossible Vocal Challenge. Fine. No biggie. Power button.

                                              *poke* 

                                     .....Red Ring of Death....

                                       NOOOOOOoooooooo

So, in very related news, I was productive for the first time in almost a month. Now before you get all judgemental about how messy my place must be, its really not. My fiancee is out of town for the summer, so I don't need to cook/provide for anyone but myself, so 90 perce--- aww who am I kidding? 99.5% of dinner goes on paper plates, and isn't cooked, but ordered. I mean, I cook 45+ hrs a week! Why would I want to come home and cook MORE if it's just me waitin for food???  So anyway, did some dishes, did some laundry, and started generally cleaning before I have to go to work.... and.... clean.... Awww crap!! Oh well, at least there's a noticeable difference in my kitchen and bedroom. 

Time for a segment I call:

What's Playing in the Background? (it's a work in progress...)

This is where I hit shuffle in my Media Player and share with you my sometimes pathetic taste in music, lol.

...Ooh! Today, its Money by Mindless Self Indulgence off the album, If. 

First off, I like this band. Some ppl may disagree, saying MSI is vulgar (which is true), or that you can't understand half of their lyrics (also true), etc. But that's what I like about them I think. They have an uncanny ability to make music about nearly any topic under the sun (listen to Two Hookers and an Eight Ball).  Secondly, I like this album. If is quite possibly my favorite album by MSI, and I like more than 75% of the songs on it. But I haven't listened to any of the albums after this one. This song may not have any meaning other than the fact that he thinks he's so money and he'll conform and play ball to make sure he gets what he wants. Other than that. Random at its best I think. Disagree? Let me know.

Well, I'm signin off for the time being. Work and whatnot. Lemme know how this all sits on your palette so far. 

First Post!!!

Well, hey. What's up? Here's me. I'm 24, I'm an aspiring chef, and love a lot of different things! It's gettin a little late right now, so this won't be very long, as I must be up for inventory tomorrow morning at 5 am! Yessss... So, this is a little taste of what will be coming: Music, Movies, Video Games, Random Pics/Vids from the internets, etc, etc, etc... Things I found funny on Stumbleupon, if I can't get a song out of my head at all the entire day, I'll write some lyrics here and discuss until its out of my head. If I think up of a wonderfully awesome new recipe, I'll put pics of the final product here, but I won't share ALL my secret recipes!! Mwahahaaa! A guy's gotta have his secret recipes, right? So I work at an undisclosed restaurant here in Lansing, MI. Yup, right smack dab in The Palm, pretty much. So, expect to hear from me, and click on some of those banners whenever they decide to show up! It helps me out, and lets me know you care! Allright, I'm signin off for now, expect more tomorrow between my shifts. Workin 6-9 a.m. and then 4-close. Maybe if I'm motivated enough, I'll make it a decent length. G'night!