Inflation...

I was thinking last week, as I put my stimulus check into my bank account, that it really seems to be a pointless attempt at saving our economy. The more money you print, the lower it will be. All I could think about was those pictures of Weimar Germany in 1923 where people would carry wheel barrels full of money and stand in line just to buy a loaf of bread. Then I read today that Zimbabwe is almost just as bad as Germany once was. As of today the one American dollar was worth 35 billion Zimbabwe dollars. Yes that's right, BILLION! And so I immediately quit bickering in my head. Plus, I had 300 dollars that I didn't have the day before.

(And the pick above is a woman who is burning in her heater the German money because it was cheaper to use than wood.)

Viva la Vida in my hands...

Ok, so I got the new Coldplay album on the day it came out, and I have been listening to it ever since. I have been trying to figure out where it stacks up against their other albums, and I think the jury is still out. First of all, it goes without saying it's different. That being said, it won't compare evenly with their other albums. But I would have to say its better than Parachutes just because "Viva la Vida" is as good as "Yellow," and really "Yellow" carried Parachutes. In my opinion, Viva la Vida the song helps keep the album afloat, but it doesn't do all the work. I like their third single to be released "Lost!" I've heard it said by some that its on par with U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." Um... the same style maybe, but not the same level; not bad, but not U2 either. My other favorite other than the title track is "Lovers in Japan." Now this song I love! One of their all-time best! It has enough usual Coldplay to match what I expect, but also enough new, other-countries type feel to it to be fresh. Also "Strawberry Swing" is pretty good. "Cemeteries of London" is nice, "Violet Hill" (their first single) is pretty good, and "Death and All His Friends" is a good end to the album. However, I do not like "Yes."

Anyways, my final assessment: Better than Parachutes, but not better than X&Y, and not even close to A Rush of Blood To The Head. If your a Coldplay fan, go out and get it. And if your not, then just go buy A Rush of Blood To The Head or The Joshua Tree, because this is not even a fair comparison to either.

The Dark Night...

I remember watching the part where Nicholson, playing the greatest role of a villian of all time (The Joker,) is electrocuting a man to chars, he says "Oh I got a live one here!" And also when he reads the paper about Batman, and says "Wait until they get a load of me!" I loved that movie when I was a kid. I was sorta scared by it, especially the beginning where Nicholson falls into the pit of acid, and the part where he shocks the guy, but man do I love the role he played now. That movie is a classic, and more so, Nicholson's part as the Joker is iconic and classic...

...But there's a new Joker in town, and it's Heath Ledger. Go ahead and hand him the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor posthumously, because he earned it just from the trailers of the new Batman movie coming out called "The Dark Night." The release date is July 18th, and you can bet your butt that I'm going to be there on opening night. The last time I was this excited about a movie release was American Gangster and before that, Lord of the Rings 3. So all this excitement got me thinking, which Joker is the better of the two. Apparently Nicholson was upset about not getting the oppertuntiy to reprise his role, and rightfully so. He was amazing in it, but he wasn't nominated for an Oscar. I know I'm calling it early, but I would be willing to bet that Ledger will at least get a nomination out of his role. And anyone who thinks its just because he died, hasn't seen the trailers. WOW!!! I had to change my underwear after watching them. Anyways, which is better? I'll officially wait until I see the whole movie, but I'm going early with Ledger. This is going to be an icon in the making. Like Brando in Apocalypse Now, or Pacino in Scarface. So judge for yourselves, Ledger or Nicholson? I like the last trailer the best.

La Familia Muzik...

Props to my good friend David Sihom and Co. for getting some recognition from the Ledger. I saw this post pop up on my blog roll and had to spread the news. Be sure to check it out!

Happy Hurricane Season!!!

It's June 1st and that means it's officially the Atlantic Hurricane Season! And to celebrate, we have out first named storm, Tropical Storm Arthur. You can read more about it here. Also I have provided below a list of the prospective names of hurricanes for this year, as well as the best weather site for tropical systems here. So drink up and cheers to a merry hurricane season. (More on this peculiar mindset below.)

Arthur Bertha Cristobal Dolly Edouard
Fay Gustav Hanna Ike Josephine
Kyle Laura Marco Nana Omar
Paloma Rene Sally Teddy Vicky
Wilfred


I use to love hurricane season, and still sorta do. I remember watching Jon Hope, The Weather Channel's hurricane expert, talk about the different storms of the seasons, like when Erin came through Polk. I remember always wanting a big storm to come through Polk, I guess so we could get national recognition like those in Miami and Louisiana received from Andrew, or Mississippi from Camille, or Pensacola from Opal, or like the Carolinas got from Fran. I remember growing up hearing horror stories of an unnamed hurricane that hit Okeechobee and the drowned thousands floating on the lake. Or the stories told of the death and destruction of Camille and Hugo and Donna cast a eerie, dark, and mysterious picture in my mind. I remember the toll that Mitch and Georges and Floyd took. They became to me a bit like Hollywood; glamorous in the way that they worked and affected people. I looked on with awe at the images of them on the TV screen, they looked so stoic, unmoved by humans, only affected by fronts and water temp. Yes, you could say I had a warped mind in this regard. I remember thinking how powerful they must be, to just rip into a coast like they did. I still can see the images of the waves crashing and tidal waves washing up over seawalls. Or of the typical stop sign being twisted in the wind, and of the beach houses being washed out into the sea. Anyways, my dad always told me that since I was wishing it so much, if we ever did get one, I would have to go out and pick up the moss and sticks all by myself. So then I started pretending like I didn't want it, but I still really did. I'm not sure what it was that drew me so much to Hurricanes? But I still love reading about them, and studying them and looking at them. I was going to go to college to be a meteorologist and to try and be the next David Gray or Jon Hope, I was actually looking at going to Colorado Springs. But in the 10th grade I felt the call to go into the ministry, and I put that dream aside. Now I don't wish for any storm to hit any part of any land mass. I have seen first hand what Hurricanes like Charley, Francis, and Jeanne could do, and I have watched on the TV what Katrina did. But I still love to watch the process of a picture perfect hurricane develop and move across the Atlantic, Gulf, or Caribbean. I just hope now that it dissipates before it makes landfall or keeps out at sea. So, I'm not sure why I went into this long-winded expose of my thoughts of hurricanes, but I wanted to share them anyways.