TheCrashTest
I'm a restless heart with a strong desire for intellectual expression and visual stimulation. The earth is a big and beautiful place, so I figure, why not dwell in and explore it as much as possible! For me, life is about love, music, and the effect of words on the soul. I look for those who are as passionate about their lifestyle as I am. I'm extremely sporadic. I spend a lot of time going to shows, exploring the hardcore music scene (in ALL its forms) and meeting new people. I'm determined and incredibly passionate about life, interested in only positive vibes. With all intents and purposes I am a firm believer in the "Hardcore" culture, believing that just because you went and got your teeth knocked out at a show and covered yourself in tattoos doesn't mean your hardcore. I'd like to keep all my teeth thank you very much. See, Hardcore set the precedent, but it's not just the music that defined a generation, it's the spirit behind it that defines who we are as a people together, united under one cause. While having piercings and tattoos may define what many define as "looking hardcore", I don't believe that's solely what makes someone a part of the culture. My plan is to write my story through the images I choose to put on my body throughout life, not as a way to fit a niche, but to express what I carry with me, as I grow. I deeply despise over-inflated egos and thoroughly enjoy deep and intellectual conversation. I'm extremely accepting and I tolerate what most people can't. I promote events and book shows from time to time and when I'm not doing that, I'm diving into the shelves and stock rooms of the great, great House of Guitars helping customers satisfy their want for music, daily! Most of the time though, I'm going to shows, taking pictures of bands/artists, and indulging in the modern music scene. This site will host reviews, news, and updates on all of my ventures, on popular releases and underground music. I'm very versatile when it comes to living in the moment. I can create a soundtrack of music for each day of my life on a whim! I also love to make friends so there's never a dull moment! Words are consistently on my mind. I love their sounds, meanings, and the things they put forth through their communication. Every time something is spoken, muttered, or clarified, a light peaks out of a dark confusion shining bright. Simply put, I'm addicted to words, they define my passions. My 3 standards in life are as follows: Music, Philosophy, and Fecundity. I'm Straight Edge, because it's okay to live drug and alcohol free, without judgment of those who don't choose to do the same. Stay posi. XXX circa 2010. <3's to Hardcore!
Petering out, the lights in the room diminish to nothing, but a dull glow, as I look on from the back of the room. Time is of the essence, and the days off from the mire of a corporate work week will be coming to a close, sooner than I can imagine. I rush to collect my films, stacking them neatly in a pile, so that I can pick them off one by one. This evenings choice is almost perfect, if not slyly remarkable. Into the slot, “Eyes Wide Shut” slips smoothly in, as though it’s plot becomes one with even the disc it’s been etched on.
Sexually charged, and emotionally bereaved, “Eyes Wide Shut” is a journey into the darkest realms of lust, hideous deception and the wandering eye. When Alice (Nicole Kidman) begins to fantasize about having an affair on her husband, her fantasies trigger her husband, Dr. Bill Harford (Tom Cruise) to opens his mind to enacting some of his most sexually repressed desires. Slipping into the dregs of some of the most wealthiest people’s depraved orgies, and swinging parties, he seeks to satiate his darkest hungers and brooding jealousy. As Bill realizes he is falling prey to his desires, he comes face to face with the idea, that the only way to save his marriage is to follow his wife into the depths of emotional bankruptcy, where he finds that the world around him is much more lecherous than he once perceived.
While I am not a fan of Tom Cruise, this has to be his most perfectly executed portrayal of a character on film. Since his first steps on a Hollywood set, I’ve despised his supposed skill as an actor, grieving the many lost roles that could have been given to someone with a much greater skill-set. “Eyes Wide Shut” is my sole exception for him. The forever gorgeous, Nicole Kidman, shines as the illustrious, not so physically dangerous, but definitely physical, femme fatale. Delivering as the collected, yet lustfully depraved nymphomaniac, Kidman makes you believe in her simulation of the carnal desires hiding deep within her characters psyche. The way she lets them slowly seep out with her every scene is almost addicting, leaving viewers on the edge, wondering, pleading for what will happen next.
In the dark, under the heat of director’s bulbs, I will remain immersed in the awe-inspiring last film by Stanley Kubrick. What an amazing final contribution to the world of film by such an undeniably, artistic soul. My mind melts at the thought of what could be, had the habit of death being so sudden, not taken such a great talent.
Tonight, although I am alone, will be a beautiful addition to my memories.
February
One of the best mid-tempo thrash albums of our time, Slayer’s, “South Of Heaven”, has been tearing through my car speakers all morning. Maybe it’s the cloud-covering gloom of the sky overhead, and the mixing of the melting snow and dirt below, but this record seems like the perfect soundtrack for a day like this. What makes it all even better, are the irritated looks of the passerby’s as they’re caught off guard by the ruckus pouring from my little metallic blue box. The sludge-infested ruckus, pouring from the windows, that so beautifully seems to fit the overall mood of the day.
Sometimes I wonder if that’s what agitates people. Are they so busy sweeping the gloom under the rug as they go about their day that they don’t ever bother to see how much there is to take advantage of? Ah, I don’t care! Let them find something to mind as I swerve through the streets.
There’s nothing, but beauty in darkness, and today, I’m immersed in it.
Check out one of my favorite songs from “South Of Heaven”, here, then go pick up this album from your local record store, and let it eat your soul.
February
The horror movie world has seen its fair share of cinematic screw ups, so there’s definitely an amount of desensitization plaguing movie-goers across the globe. When there’s one folly, there’s sure to be MANY more, so there’s room for forgiveness, right?
Wrong. With such amazing subject matter out there to be had, and toyed with, and given justice, Hollywood certainly needs a HUGE kick in the ass, but that’s why we have independent producers and filmmakers to right the many wrongs of the big wallet executives. One such wrong that easily takes the prize for victim with the most under thought script is the Sam Raimi produced film, “The Boogeyman”. Yes. “The Boogeyman”.
Lacking any kind of imagination, and a plot over-saturated with horror cliches, “The Boogeyman” took a great fall. The special effects were overdone (and not well, might I add), and the characters were weak, lanky puppets to the supernatural happenings taking place through out the story. There was nothing scary about it.
Come on! Give me what I was afraid of. Growing up with stories of ol’ boogey, I spent so many nights hiding under the blankets, hoping that whatever the noise was I had heard emanating from the darkened corners of my closet, wasn’t a horrific marauder from my worst nightmares. So, justifiably, when I had heard Hollywood was taking a shot at the scariest of all childhood fears, I expected something worth while. Seriously, how could you screw up the boogeyman? Well, there’s “The Boogeyman” for you, here to usher a new kind of cinematic pain to movie-goers, through its every unbearable minute.
Since its release in 2005, I have come across articles on the nets and in magazines, but due to the first films awful effect on me, it was simple to pass them up. Accidents happen though, and this morning, while flipping through the channels, my journey landed me on the Syfy network where I beheld the sequel to such awfulness, “The Boogeyman 2”. Rarely do I find sequels amusing, or even worthwhile, but this. THIS was an exception. A humongous one at that.
With such a bum send-off, it’s easy to see why I passed this series up, but “The Boogeyman 2” is the saving grace that you’d be hard-pressed to find in too many sequels. While the older characters are portrayed rather dully, it’s the energy of the younger actors and actresses that drive this film from start to climatic finish. Mystery and horror has never looked this good, with the twists and turns really being what defines this film, differentiating from it’s predecessor. Might I add, the terror and gore have been turned up a brutal notch to boot?
It makes me happy to see that Sam Raimi got behind something a little more frightening and lively this time around. With such a failure in the first movie, it’s nice to see that the filmmakers hit the refresh button successfully and made a true horror movie out of such classic subject matter.
Now, with my hope restored, maybe it’s time to finally give “Boogeyman 3” a chance, eh?
Germans have a way of making everything brutal. First it was Rammstein in the industrial scene and now it’s the crushing metalcore musings of Caliban, whom are no exception to metallic brutality. With their new album, “I Am Nemesis” due out on February 28th, these guys are about to feed listeners around the world a heaping handful of pulverizing riffs and soaring melodies, unlike one’s that have been heard before.
The first single from the record, “Memorial”, is an amazing send-off to build anticipation for what’s to come on the new record, and its accompanying video is nothing less than fitting. It’s apparent that Caliban is interested in one thing: To pummel their way through the genre like the clear-and-present dangers that they are.
Maybe it’s THE WAY they play, or HOW they play, but just listen. Tell me this doesn’t sound a tad bit more ferocious than anything metalcore has been graced with recently. Yeah, I thought so.
