Paranormal Activity Thoughts
Just some quick thoughts on Paranormal Activity... I am a fan of paranormal shows. Ghosthunters, Paranormal State, Ghost Adventures, Supernatural, etc. I watch them all. Paranormal Activity was good. It is certainly not as scary as the commercials make it out to be, but it is better than an episode of Ghosthunters. In fact, it is pretty much like Paranormal State. You may get a kick out of the couple's interactions, especially with the boyfriend's obsession with capturing everything on camera and playing it back on his PCs (he has a few). I won't spoil anything for you, but about midway through the movie, you get a bit tired of the bedroom scenes. The ending is eventful, much better than the letdown that you get with the Blair Witch Project. One more thing...it is somewhat annoying that the time is displayed in the lower-right corner of the screen and the activity happens in the upper-left. The clock often plays an integral role by showing you how time passes overnight, but you are forced to take your eyes off of either the activity or the clock at certain points. At times, you feel like you will miss something if you look down at the on-screen clock. It would have been nice if they were both located on the same side of the screen. Perhaps this is just an issue in the theaters and wouldn't be such a big deal at home?? Or perhaps this is a deliberate device used by the filmmakers to facilitate the shock factor when you are looking away at the on-screen clock and something occurs...
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GnR's Shackler's Revenge and Mudvayne's Dig
I think I stumbled across something you may find interesting...if you are a GnR or Mudvayne fan. It seems that the studio version of Mudvayne's "Dig" (iTunes link) was sampled by GNR for "Schacker's Revenge" (iTunes link). At a minimum, it seems to have served as inspiration. Check out the opening 10 seconds of the beginning of "Dig" and the first 4 seconds of "Shackler's Revenge." But then again, when you consider how long Axl and GNR have been working on "Chinese Democracy," you have to wonder which song really came first.
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Alternate Chinese Democracy Coverart
On 6/30/2008, Mack Arillo uploaded this image to Amazon.com. Did he inspire the actual coverart for Chinese Democracy or is there more to this story?  I actually prefer Mack's coverart above to the real coverart below. 
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Chinese Democracy - It Is Here!
iTunes Has Chinese Democracy!
The Impossible Did Happen
Was Ghost Hunters Live Faked?
If you struggled to complete the seven hour marathon known as Ghost Hunters Live on Halloween, you are not alone. Seven straight hours of Sci Fi Channel advertisements and plugs coupled with WWE's "The MIZ" made for some miserable TV. Even worse was the terrible production quality. More on that later. To top it off, very little evidence was found. What makes matters worse is that the evidence found seems shady at best. "You are not supposed to be here!" echoed in the dungeon area of Fort Delaware as Jason and Grant walked its corridors. Unfortunately, it seemed as if it was a bad recording more than an actual voice in the dark. Could it have been planted by someone on a motion sensor? Perhaps more questionable than the voice were the tugs Grant experienced on the back of his hooded jacket. You may have noticed that his right hand was conveniently concealed in his jacket pocket each of the times he felt a tug. Could he have been pulling a piece of twine to make it look like his hood was being pulled? It is entirely possible, especially when you consider his over-the-top reaction and Jason's "intimate" (as he put it) inspection of Grant's collar. This interaction between the two Lead Investigators seemed bizarre. As for the production quality, I understand this was a massive undertaking. In fact, the first hour of the show documented this. Unfortunately, practically every segment was riddled with choppy video, the wrong audio feeds, lack of audio, and mistakes. The most egregious was during a return from a commercial break which showed Steve and two investigators walking down the dungeon corridor away from the camera, stopping, and resetting themselves before they thought they were on-air. They then proceeded to walk back toward the cameras (the direction from which they just came)! This looked bad, very bad. Overall, this was the worst episode this reviewer has even seen. The mistakes, poor production quality, and questionable evidence are ruining the credibility of the GhostHunters. I'll probably keep watching though...
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Can a Band Live on with Only the Lead Singer?
Its a question I am posing because Chinese Democracy is finally coming out. Guns N Roses today is really just Axl Rose with session band members. So the question is, can the name "Guns N Roses" live on with just the lead singer? This causes you to ponder the importance of each person in a band. Is the lead singer the most important and only member needed to ensure the survival of the entire band's image? Does it matter who plays the drums or the guitars? Before you answer, consider these questions... What would Guns N Roses be with only Axl Rose? Answer: What we have today. But is this Guns N Roses? What would the original/semi-original Guns N Roses band members be without Axl Rose? Answer: Velvet Revolver. But are they Guns N Roses? Most, I believe, would say no. This begs the question, what is Velvet Revolver without Scott Weiland? What if Metallica disbanded yet Hetfield kept playing under the name "Metallica" with new band members? Would his voice still be identified as Metallica? What if a Guitarist is replaced but the rest of the band remains intact? This already happend with Metallica very early on. Is this still the same band? Could they go by the same name? Metallica has. Obviously, a band is not the same when it loses all of the members of it original lineup. But when the lead singer carries on under the band's moniker, what do you have? Some would argue that the most identifiable characteristic of a band is its lead singer's vocals. So does this make the lead singer more valuable than the rest of the band? What then would you say about Van Halen? Let the comments begin!
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WWE Universe
I have to give my two cents about this "WWE Universe" term. As I recall, the first time I heard it, it was with McMahon's Million Dollar Mania. I didn't like it then and I like it even less now. It just doesn't work for wrestling like it does in the comics. I am basing this on the fact that DC Comics has been referring to itself as the DC Universe for quite some time. The term "universe" works for comic books both figuratively and literally because the comics feature both a host of characters comprising their universe (figurative) and far away and distant galaxies (literal). When it comes to wrestling, I'll admit that some of the characters' gimmicks may be comic-book in nature, but these are real people we are talking about. Furthermore, it seems as if WWE is intent on creating its own catchphrase (WWE Universe) and is applying it to its fanbase. These are real people, not some magical array of supporting characters. By referring to the fans as the "WWE Universe," WWE is only confusing matters. Imagine if a casual fan tuned into WWE programming leading up to Cyber Sunday. They might find themselves wondering if the "WWE Universe" is an exclusive club. They might wonder if it costs money to join and what they get for that money. (UPDATE: It has now been revealed that there is a WWE Universe section on WWW.com). My point is this: Did the WWE really need to start calling its fanbase a figurative name, and attempt to use it literally? It sounds forced every time someone says "WWE Universe" on-air. Why copy DC Comics? Hopefully this will all come to an end just like McMahon's "Unbelievable" phase did a decade ago.
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The Fountain of Accelerated Old Age?
Disclaimer: This opinion piece is merely conjecture and is not founded in any scientific research. I am part of the current generation of twenty-somethings. I see our elders who are more active and energetic than we are. Based on my observations of my friends and family, the current generation of twenty-somethings is aging quickly. How many of us have poor eyesight? How many of us have aching joints? How many of us have grey hair already? How many of us are lethargic all the time? Could it be our food and lifestyle? Consider the "advancements" made in the past fifty years. The current generation of twenty-somethings and early thirty-somethings are the first generation to have grown up with the following from birth:
- Non-stick cookware. First sold in France in the mid-1950s, non-stick cookware came to the U.S in the mid 1960s.
- Microwave ovens. When initial prices fell in the 1970s, microwaves started to become a common household appliance.
- Artificial sweeteners. The earliest artificial sweetener was developed in the mid-1960s.
- Ozone hole. Ozone depletion became an issue in the 1970s.
- Artificial food additives. Most artificial food additives came into prominence in the last half of the 20th century.
- Fast food. The first of the major fast food chains started in the 1940s.
- Processed foods.
- Cell phones. The first commercial cell phone service became available in 1978.
In addition, we have the intangibles of:
- Increased exposure to car exhaust.
- Sleep deprivation.
- Increased pace of life.
This list is not exhaustive and is, again, only conjecture based on observations. The list is unsubstantiated and is intended to spark discussion. Is it possible that the above-mentioned items and issues are causing us to age more quickly? Share your thoughts in the comments!
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Could Hillary Still Win?
I was having a discussion amongst friends and we started talking politics and the Presidential Election. The following questions were posed: What if all of Hillary Clinton's supporters decided to write her in? What if a few Obama supporters were swayed in her direction during the last six months of the campaign? Could this possibly result in Clinton being elected? A cursory search on Google shows that many people are considering her as the write-in candidate. If a grass-roots movement such as this were to gain momentum, and she does not garner/maintain a sore loser status up until the election, this could possibly happen. Let me know in the comments!
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"Shackler's Revenge," a song from the upcoming Guns N' Roses album Chinese Democracy, will appear on the video game Rock Band 2, coming to the Xbox 360 in September. This is exciting news! Maybe the August or Septemeber Chinese Democracy release dates are correct!
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Triple M Blog Fails to Credit VoiceOverTheWall.com
I guess I am actually doing them a favor by linking to them...the complete opposite of what they did for this site, but anyhow... The Triple M blog recently credited GNRDaily.com for information pertaining to the developments of Chinese Democracy webpages on Amazon.com and its sister site Amazon UK. What Triple M failed to do was to credit this blog, voiceoverthewall.com, for the research and time it took to track these developments. This considered bad business on the web as many bloggers know. To top it all off, they misinterpreted the information... Don't get too excited. As gnrdaily.com point out, this is the fourth time they'll listed a date in the history of the album's 15-year incubation period, but it is the first time it's got its dedicated page. The correct information is as follows: Amazon.co.uk is now listing the release date of Chinese Democracy as August 25, 2008. It is worth noting that they have previously listed its availability as September 2007, February 2008, and December 2008...Amazon.com finally, for the first time ever, has a page for Chinese Democracy. Triple M apparently refused to correct their story by declining to even post a comment submitted by the same visitor that originally submitted the voiceoverthewall.com story to GNRDaily. One more thing...Thank you GNRfan for letting GNRDaily and me know you noticed the story. It is proper to give credit where credit is due.
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Chinese Democracy Starts...August 25th 2008?
Amazon.co.uk is now listing the release date of Chinese Democracy as August 25, 2008. It is worth noting that they have previously listed its availability as September 2007, February 2008, and December 2008. Because of this, it is hard to put any faith in these dates. Amazon only knows what they are told by the record companies. Perhaps more promising though, is the fact that Amazon.com finally, for the first time ever, has a page for Chinese Democracy. Again, Amazon only knows what they are told by the record companies, but this one is worth putting stock in! Why? Never before has Amazon.com put up a Chinese Democracy page. In case you haven't heard, the world was buzzing on June 18th when nine tracks of Chinese Democracy were streamed by Antiquiet.com. For more, check out these links:
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