Monday, May 17, 2004
I'm a sports fan & I love sports discussions but this Greek loser annoyed the fuck out of us last night by talking non-stop sports for the whole 3 hours. That made one guy leave the table with the parting words 'mate, you sure you have a life outside sports'? What annoyed us most specially was that we were there to play trivia, and we took this guy because he's a sports whiz. But everytime some sporting event flash on TV he would make a comment or two about it. I briefly exploded and told him to focus on the trivia coz he was like blabbering in the middle of one question being asked by the compere. And we can all tell that he bullshits a lot even saying that he saw 21 events during the Sydney olympics. Apparently he was there during the opening ceremonies, when Ian Thorpe won the 400-m event, when Cameroon beat Spain in football, blah blah. I was tempted to say, 'man even with all the money you have, getting to one event is hard enough' but he could be telling the truth so I shut up. I stumped him a little bit when I injected a little NBA in the conversation. And that fartface had the gall to tell me that basketball is shit (sadly thats the consensus in Australia). He went on and on and on....and that bored even the most hardened sports buff in the house.
I hope I didn't bore you with this hehehe.
posted by uging |
6:54 PM
Sunday, May 09, 2004
It was a fantastic night last Friday. Karaoke grandfinals was on again and the quality of the field is so good that two past winners didn't even run a place. Eventual winner was Jennifer, a Pinay who's a clone of Nanette Medved. She sang 'Run To You' which I hated but to quote Tarantino as a guest judge on American Idol, 'she made me forget that I hated that song' :D. For an encore she also did a song that probably is the #2 worst song of all time on my list, that ghastly 'I Will Always Love You' but again, she did it so well that I fell in love with her bwahaha. This Islander-looking dude named 'T' came second and deservedly so with a flawless rendition of 'Back At One'. And Australian Karaoke Idol winner, a Maltese dude by the name of Johnny B, came third with the Tom Jones classic 'Green Green Grass of Home'. I sang Edwin McCain's 'Ill Be' and I'm just pleased that I didn't stuff it up or else I would've shot myself coz my mum had to move her flight back to the Philippines just to see what the fuss is all about. Everyone seemed to have enjoyed themselves although I had to take mum to the airport early morning with a major HO.
I hope you guys vote wisely. Vote for someone you don't have to throw out or impeach within the next year.
posted by uging |
5:22 PM
Monday, May 03, 2004
One of the best e-mails I've received. Maybe you've read this already but I'll share it anyway:
LIFE IN A MAYONAISE JAR
Take the time to read this
When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours
in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar....and the beer.
A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front
of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and
empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then
asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.
So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them
into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open
areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the
jar was full. They agreed it was.
The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.
Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if
the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous "yes."
The professor then produced two cans of beer from under the table and
poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty
space
between the sand. The students laughed.
"Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, "I want you to
recognize that this jar represents your life.
1. The golf balls are the important things--your family, your children,
your
health, your friends, your favorite passions-- things that if everything
else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.
2. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your
house, your car.
3. The sand is everything else--the small stuff."
" If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no
room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you
spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never
have room for the things that are important to you. So pay attention to
the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children.
Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner. Play
another 18.
There will always be time to clean the house, and fix the disposal."
"Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter.
Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."
One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the beer
represented. The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to
show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always
room for a couple of beers."
posted by uging |
5:06 PM
Sunday, May 02, 2004
SPOILER ALERT: Kill Bill Vol 2.
Saw the second installment last Wednesday & wasn't all that impressed. I guess I expected a lot more GORE but by QT standards, this one didn't deliver (the eyeball scene was just about it). Then again, I watched 'Reservoir Dogs' (for the 543th time) over the weekend & it was the least violent of all Tarantino flicks. Perhaps what made KB2 'different' is the dramatic angle at the end of the movie. I never expected a Tarantino movie to have that sort of twist. I've read KB2 spoilers even before KB1 was shown & thought it was pure rubbish. But yeah, those spoilers indeed were accurate. I'd rather have Thurman chop Carradine's head off in a battle-royale, Bruce Lee-Chuck Norris 'Return of the Dragon' type of ending, but it wasn't so here. QT should've stuck with the old formula; the B-movie, nonsensical kind of ending. After all, this is a homage to kung fu flicks. And since when did a kung fu movie have this kind of twist? Or maybe it's just the 4 schooners of lager I had before I saw the movie?
posted by uging |
10:43 PM
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curves ahead
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| Weekly Top 10: Fave George Benson & Al Jarreau tracks |
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10.Lady Love Me One More Time
9.Feel Like Makin Love
8.20/20
7.This Masquerade
6.Love Times Love
5.Turn Your Love Around
4.Were In This Love Together
3.Boogie Down
2.Mornin`
1.Breakin Away
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| Musical heroes: Def Leppard |
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Def Leppard, in many ways, was the definitive hard rock band of the '80s. There were many bands that rocked harder, and were more dangerous, than the Sheffield quintet, but few others captured the spirit of the times quite as well. Emerging in the late '70s as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, the group actually owed more to the glam-rock and metal of the early '70s — their sound was equal parts T. Rex, Mott the Hoople, Queen and Led Zeppelin. By toning down their heavy riffs and emphasizing melody, Def Leppard were poised for crossover success by 1983's Pyromania, but skillfully used the fledgling MTV network to their advantage. The group was already blessed with photogenic good looks, but they also crafted a series of innovative, exciting videos, which made them into stars. They intended to follow Pyromania quickly, but were derailed when their drummer lost an arm in a car accident, the first of many problems that plagued the group's career. Def Leppard managed to pull through such tragedies and they even expanded their large audience with 1987's blockbuster Hysteria. As the '90s began, mainstream hard rock shifted away from Leppard's signature pop-metal and towards edgier, louder bands, yet the group maintained a sizable audience into the late '90s and were one of only a handful of '80s metal groups to survive the decade more or less intact.
Def Leppard had its origins in a Sheffield-based group Rick Savage (bass) and Pete Willis (guitar) formed in their late teens in 1977. A few months later, vocalist Joe Elliott, a fanatic follower of Mott the Hoople and T. Rex, joined the band, bringing the name Deaf Leopard. After a spelling change, the trio, augmented by a now-forgotten drummer, began playing local Sheffield pubs, and within a year they had added guitarist Steve Clark, as well as a new drummer. Later in 1978, the recorded their debut EP Getcha Rocks Off and released it on their own label, Bludgeon Riffola. The EP became a word-of-mouth success, earning airplay on the BBC. The group members were still in their teens.
Following the release of Getcha Rocks Off, Rick Allen was added as the band's permanent drummer, and Def Leppard quickly became the subject of the British music weeklies. Soon, they signed with AC/DC's manager Petter Mensch, who helped them secure a contract with Mercury. On Through the Night, the band's full-length debut, was released in 1980 and instantly became a hit in the U.K., also earning significant airplay in the U.S., where it reached number 51 on the charts. Over the course of the year, Def Leppard relentlessly toured Britain and America, including opening slots for Ozzy Osbourne, Sammy Hagar and Judas Priest. High N' Dry followed in 1981, and it became the group's first platinum album in the U.S., thanks to MTV's strong rotation of "Bringin' on the Heartbreak." MTV would be vital to the band's success in the '80s.
As the band recorded the follow-up to High N' Dry with producer Mutt Lange, Pete Willis was fired from the band for alcoholism, and Phil Collen, a former guitarist for Girl, was hired to replace him. The resulting album, 1983's Pyromania, became an unexpected blockbuster, due not only to Def Leppard's skillful, melodic metal, but also to MTV's relentless airing of "Photograph" and "Rock of Ages." Pyromania went on to sell 10 million copies, establishing Def Leppard as one of the most popular bands in the world. Despite their success, the band was about to enter a trying time for their career. Following an extensive international tour, the group re-entered the studio to record the follow-up, but producer Lange was unavailable, so they began sessions with Jim Steinman, the man responsible for Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell. The pairing turned out to be ill-advised, so the group turned to its former engineer, Nigel Green. One month into recording, Rick Allen lost his left arm in a New Year's Eve car accident. The arm was reattached, but it had to be amputated once an infection set in.
Without a drummer, Def Leppard's future looked cloudy, but by the spring of 1985 — just a few months after his accident — Allen began learning to play a custom-made electronic kit assembled for him by Simmons. Soon, the band resumed recording, and within a few months Lange was back on board, but once he joined the team, he judged the existing tapes inferior and had the band begin work all over again. The recording continued throughout 1986, and that summer, the group returned to the stage for the European Monsters of Rock tour. Def Leppard finally completed its fourth album, now titled Hysteria, early in 1987, releasing it that spring to lukewarm reviews; many critics felt that the album compromised Leppard's metal roots for sweet pop flourishes. The record was slow out of the starting gates — "Women," the first single, failed to really take hold. But with the second single, "Animal," Hysteria began to take off. It became the group's first Top 40 hit in the U.K., but more importantly, it began a string of six straight Top 20 hits in the U.S., which also included "Hysteria," "Pour Some Sugar On Me," "Love Bites," "Armageddon It" and "Rocket," the latter of which arrived in 1989, a full two years after the release of Hysteria. During those two years, Def Leppard was unavoidable — they were the kings of high school metal, ruling the pop charts and MTV, and teenagers and bands alike replicated their teased hair and ripped jeans, even when the grimy hard rock of Guns N' Roses took hold in 1988.
Hysteria proved to be the peak of Leppard's popularity, yet their follow-up remained eagerly awaited in the early '90s as the band set to work on the record. During the recording, Steve Clark died from an overdose of alcohol and drugs. Clark had long had a problem with alcohol, and following the Hysteria heyday, the band forced him to take a sabbatical; he did enter rehab, but to no apparent effect. In fact, his abuse was so crippling that Collen had to play the majority of the guitar leads on Hysteria. Following Clark's death, Def Leppard resolved to finish its forthcoming album as a quartet, releasing Adrenalize in the spring of 1992. Adrenalize was greeted with mixed reviews, and even though the album debuted at number one and contained several hit singles, including "Let's Get Rocked," "Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad" and "Make Love Like a Man," the record was a commercial disappointment in the wake of Pyromania and Hysteria. After the release of Adrenalize, the group added former Whitesnake guitarist Vivian Campbell.
In 1993, Def Leppard released the rarities collection Retro Active, featuring a new single, "Miss You in a Heartbeat," which scraped the lower reaches of the Top 40. Two years later, the group released the greatest hits collection Vault while preparing their sixth album. Slang arrived in the spring of 1996, and while it was more adventurous than its predecessor, it was greeted with indifference, proving that Leppard's heyday had passed, and they were now simply a very popular cult band.
Undaunted, Leppard soldiered on, returning to its patented pop-metal sound for Euphoria, which was released in June of 1999.
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DISCLAIMER: The title URBAN WANDERER as well as the link titles to other blogs are song titles from a jazz band. I used these titles as a gesture of appreciation & gain no financial benefits from this & in no way used to promote my blog. For the real deal, visit their website.
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