its been a while...

Ok, so I haven't scribbled anything on the hallowed walls of the internet for quite some time, life gets in the way at times you know.

Now that the excuses are out of the way lets het down to business. Quite a lot has happened since my last post. New albums, bands calling it quits, band members getting arrested, band members getting out of jail, new albums left right and centre, politicians going crazy, courts going crazy, and people going crazy. So after that, lets do a quick recap of life....

• Tim Lambesis (As I Lay Dying) to stand trial in murder for hire case to kill his estranged wife.
• Randy Blythe (Lamb Of God), arrested and acquitted for the death of a fan at a LOG show in Prague.
• Black Sabbath release the much anticipated new studio album 13
• Down announce they have started to record the new EP
• Kirk Windstein leaves down to focus on crowbar :-(
• Julius Malema announces new politcal party, Economic Freedom Fighters
• Julius Malema launches Economic Freedom Fighters
• USA closes down branches of government to save money
• USA reopens government and raises debt ceiling once again (well done you!)

Now that we've had a quick recap, we can go on in life.

Ok so here's the news, all the news the new and improved...

VARG VIKERNES TO BE TRIED FOR 'INCITING RACIAL HATRED AND EXALTING WAR CRIMES'

Varg Vikernes, Black Metal overlord is to stand trial in france for inciting racial hatred and exalting war crimes in France. This news follows the revelation earlier this year that Varg and his wife were arrested earlier this year on alleged terrorism charges. 

NEW SLAYER ALBUM TO FEATURE THE LAST OF JEFF HANNEMAN'S WORK 

Tom Araya has finally spoken out about Slayer's latest expedition into the studio, mentioning that it will contain some of the last material written by Jeff Hanneman (may he always rest in peace). 

Araya has also been quoted as saying "It'll be time for everyone to get acclimated to this line up.", referring to Paul Bostaph rejoining the Slayer fold as Dave Lombardo quit the band while on tour in Australia. 

I have a funny feeling that this album i going to be something special, even though Jeff is not a part of it anymore...

CAPE TOWN TEEN ARRESTED FOR 'SATANIC' MURDER

A 17 year old boy has been arrested in Ravensmead Cape Town for what police to be a satanic murder, after finding a beheaded body in a derelict primary school in Ravensmead on Thursday.

After an investigation the police was lead to the address of the afore mentioned youth where they found various 'satanic' paraphernalia and the head of the body buried in the boys garden. 

The boy was arrested on a charge of murder and is expected to appear in court today.

So that is a quick round up of the news, lets just say a lot more would be coming in the coming months, weeks and days. 

Lets hope i can keep this shit up...

STOLEN FLAG

I'll never forget the first time I played games like Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and Matt Hoffman's Pro BMX. The thing that stood out about these games were the soundtracks. With music from bands like Pennywise, Millencollin and Bad Religion. Back then I fell in love with their music, fast paced punk music that you can listen to non stop and feel good about yourself.
Since those days I've been waiting for a South African band that encapsulates that same sound and feeling, and I believe that our local scene has finally been graced with such a band.

Now as you can see, this band would be Stolen Flag. Local band hailing from the deep south of Johannesburg, Alberton. A good bunch of guys with their sights set high on their musical mission.
This happy go lucky 5 piece has gotten it right to fill a gap in our local scene, with a powerful sound that you do not hear going to gigs or on local radio.
With a lot of local bands having a very monotonous sound, every one is playing the same genre and doing the same thing, Stolen Flag has flown out of the gate with a fresh hard sound that pulls in the crowds and makes the people jam.

Now this fun five piece is a ragtag mash up of very strange but loveable people. The first one, Darren Francis (resident Hipster) takes care of the vocals, then we have PJ van den Berg (Freestyle Moto-cross madman) taking up the one guitar, Craig Butterworth (the father a.k.a the responsible one) taking up the other guitar duties, Matt Haddon (the bald one) the one that slaps the bass, and Michael Rehbock (cheerleader) the drummer or should I say the guy that pounds the drums.




Since the band has got it's wind that it has now, they have gone from strength to strength, and show no signs of stopping.
Not being that well known yet is not stopping these guys, when playing a gig as soon as their first song kicks off they pull the crowd with an amazingly energetic stage performance with a crazy energy that the crowds lap up with enjoyment and jam the whole set through. With tight songs a great live set, I can't see the band losing momentum any time soon.
Except for the crazy live shows and the band has recorded three demo tracks and are currently busy recording their first single.

The band has definitely got something going by looking at the sponsors they have at the moment, namely Smallville Comics, Esthetik apparel, Three Skulls Brewery and Inked Cherry Tattoos and Piercings, I'm sure that I'm not the only one that has seen something special within this band.

If you want to know more about them, check them out on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/StolenFlagBand?fref=ts, they're also on twitter @StolenFlagBand, and on instagram @StolenFlagBand.

Definitely check out their Facebook page, the three demo tracks are up there, free to listen. Also all their gig info is on there.
Check them out, you will not be disappointed.

Rhino Poaching...

The last couple of years we've had quite the surge in rhino poaching in our country, and this large amount of needless killing is due to the insatiable want for rhino horn.

Now with writing this post, I know for a fact I'm going to anger quite a few people I know, and almost everyone is going to disagree with me, but that is ok. Because I strongly believe that most people are quite uninformed about what is going on, including the media, and how this needless poaching can be stopped in a very humane way.
By the way there might be a few pictures that sensitive readers might not enjoy.

It can be said that most of the poached rhino horn in our country is exported illegally to asian countries like Vietnam, Korea, China and so forth. These people have a practised belief of traditional medicine, much like the muti medicines of africa, and they have practising these natural healing methods for a lot longer than there has been white people in africa.

Now as a country where our Constitution protects our rights in choosing our traditions and beliefs, and allowing us to practise them openly without discrimination or prejudice, who are we to dictate to these what they should and should not believe?
I know that it has scientifically been proven to them that rhino horn has medicinal properties, yet they still believe it does. They choose this belief because it is their culture and belief system. Just as african people believe in the power of muti.





Now please do not misunderstand me, I'm not trying to justify poaching at all, but I'm trying to show, that the we are going about trying to stop it is all wrong. International sanctions do not work, putting a species on the endangered list does not work either, we have seen it happen to many different animals, dying out by only having these measures taken to protect them.

One of the facts of rhinos that the media does not focus on is, that rhino horn grows back, yes I know it seems shocking but it does...
Another astonishing fact, that today, by using conservative estimates the rhino horn stockpile, be it in goverment or private possession amasses to R3.7 billion. Despite this massive amount, figures show that annual market demand could be satisfied just by trading the horns of animals that die naturally every year (approximately 400 animals). CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna And Flora) has made this trade illegal and suggest that these stockpiles be burned, now except for devaluing the animals, it would ruin a massive trade income for our country.

I know that this post is quite short and I am lightly touching on many different aspects of this vast topic, but the reasoning behind the writing of this post is that this morning while watching the local news they showed the tree-huggers latest attempt to try and stop poaching. They have now started to poison the horns. As most of the people that know me personally know, I'm all for taking extreme measures but isn't this bordering on the insane?

Yes this could work as a deterrent to poaching, but and this is a big but, isn't this a form of premeditated murder? Yes you read that right, premeditated murder. Knowingly poisoning something that you know someone will use, and they could die of this? I honestly think that this plan hasn't been well thought through...
Yes there are many people that say that they must be killed, where have we heard this reasoning before? When it comes down to it, do you think you have the stones to take away a life? I highly doubt it! There's a reason soldiers come back from war with PTS and police men struggle to live with themselves after shooting someone...

By looking at it I honestly can't see this as an effective way to stop poaching. In my own view and I am sure there are many that agree with me, the way to stop this is through an effective trade system. With a trade system a real value can be put on these animals, they can be properly protected, and farmed for future generations to see them as well.

As always I am open to further discussion on this, so email me, send me a message on Facebook, comment on this post, do as you please, but don't be ignorant and send me a message calling me an idiot or a fool, because I will beat you in an argument.

ben6redneck@gmail.com
www.facebook.com/ben.waste                                                                                                                                                                       

Social networking?

Social networking, probably the biggest part of the modern society. These days everything happens on the Internet, like the saying goes, "I'm cooler online...". Hmm yes it does see so today. I think not many people realize what a big this forms of our day to day lives.

Even if I look at myself, I am a bit of a social networking whore (if that is a real term). I have Facebook , Instagram, twitter and Pinterest accounts. I use whatsapp and of last week I am also using blackberry messenger again, and obviously I have my blog as well. And yes, like most people I check them all everyday, updating my Facebook status, sharing photos on Instagram, tweeting random ideas, and pining interesting things. My main question is, why? Why does society have such a big need to share our random ideas to let's be honest to people who actually don't care about our thoughts. 

I think it's that we look for a type of approval that we don't find in our normal day to day lives, we can share ideas and preferences that do not come in day to day conversations. Even I do this, I know. I share so many of my true likes and desires that many people do not know, even when there is no anonymity. It is almost as if we feel safer online, that there is less of a chance that we would be judged on our thoughts.

But this also creates a problem. When we first meet someone, and you share some form of general interest, we don't talk about this among each other anymore, you rather go on Facebook and check what this person is all about, we see what they like, don't like, which religion they follow, where they have been and where they want to go. 

Being of the older generation, if you can call it that, I can remember the days before social networking, where the only ways to communicate with someone when they are not with you, is to pick up a phone and call them, or send an SMS. Social networking has taken away some of the personal aspect of our lives, and we should be the poorer for it, but we're not. Strange hey?

In our lives we can see what a powerful tool social networking has become. From politicians to billion dollar companies, they all have some form of a social networking account, passing along news and views. It has come to the point where we now need laws to regulate these networks, to keep us in line so to speak, oh cyber bullies your time is coming to an end.

I personally don't know anyone that is not guilty of being addicted to one of the many networks, we all do it, and we all enjoy it. So maybe the critique coming from the even older generation is unneeded, it can't be that bad, or can it?

Watain is back!

Guess what folks, black metal overlords Watain have announced that their 5th studio album will be destroying our eardrums from the 19th of August!

The band's official statement is as black metal as it comes these days:
"After 120 nights of iron will and ardent magic, the fifth full length album of Watain is now complete. With broken bones and burning hearts we have ploughed our way through deepest winter into a new wilderness, to which we will open the gates at summer's end. 'The Wild Hunt' will be released on August 19th in Europe and August 20th in USA. Beware the rising star of dawn..."

Pretty black metal hey?
For me they are the only band that is still close to the true core of what black metal is, and I cannot wait for this album, it is going to be amazing!

this bothers me a lot...

It has taken me a couple of days to entirely formulate the contents of this post, to get my thoughts in order and to get my ideas in line.

As most of you know (believing that my general reader base are all from the heavy-metal fraternity), Jeff Hanneman, legendary guitarist from the thrash metal overlords SLAYER, passed away on the 2nd of May 2013. It was a very sad day for SLAYER and metal fans world wide...

He contracted necrotizing fasciitis from a spider bite in Australia while the band was touring there. After having multiple surgeries to remove dead and or dying tissues from his arm, he finally believed to be on the mend, and reports from his inner circle said that he was playing again and started writing music for the next SLAYER album. But alas, on the 2nd of May, he died of liver failure.

Such a great man too be taken so soon from such an unnecessary disease.

As any fan out there I was extremely saddened by this news, but on friday morning, something was brought to my attention that made my blood boil (and that is putting it mildly...). It was a post on some sort of christian web site...
 http://geekychristian.com/jeff-hanneman-entered-hell-yesterday/
Now this person decided that he has to take it upon himself to condemn Jeff to hell. He even has the balls to start his article with a little disclaimer of sorts, where he says that the article is not there to condemn Jeff or his family, but to spread the word of what would happen if you do not accept jesus...
Yet this person goes forth to do just that in his article. The comment section is just as bad, people attacking the writer for what he has written.
Now, personally I don't know what religion Jeff chose or how he lived his personal life, neither does this writer, nor the serial commentators. It has nothing to do with us, we loved him for his music, and should remember him for that.

But back to the point, my time to give my little rant about this writer and religion. In my short time on earth I have met many different people from many different cultures and religious backgrounds, and I know quite a fair amount about christianity as well. What this writer has done, is going a bit too far. If I remember correctly, christians are supposed to be the people that accept everyone for the errors and misgivings, not to judge people on who they are, where they come from, or for what they have done. Yet I struggle to find these christians. Also I thought they left the judgement thing up to their god? And are supposed to live by the creed of, do onto others as you want to be done to yourself... Yet they are the first to point the finger and judge, and condemns you when you turn around and call them out on their flaws and claims.
The problem with this writer is, is that he is ignorant, and one cannot fight or argue with ignorance, people like that stare into a wall and that is all they see.

I think this is my problem with super religious people, the fact that they judge on the basis of a brainwashing set of rules and can't see past it or think for themselves anymore.  Kerry King once said in an interview "Religion is the world's biggest disease", and I tend to agree with him, just on the basis of people like this. Yes I might be hypocritical now, BUT, I do not judge someone on their choice of religion, sexuality, race or culture. Yet this is all they seem to do, almost going against the word of their god, "Love thy neighbour" and all that garb.

Such a sad event, being almost over shadowed by such general ignorance...

Lets put aside our anger for this person, and remember Jeff like we should, drinking a Heineken and blasting Angel Of Death as loud as we possibly can!

R.I.P. Jeff Hanneman, we will always remember your amazing talent   \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/

Phil Anselmo goes solo.

A couple of days ago legendary metal vocalist Phillip H. Anselmo, announced his first solo album.

This being his first full solo album, although not his first solo outing (first solo stuff he laid down was on the recent War of the Gargantuas split Ep with Warbeast), seems that it's going to be angry. Just as angry as Mr. Anselmo can be.

Mr. Anslemo had this to say about the new album:
"It wasn't about doing a paint-by-numbers thrash or heavy metal record," he explained about his project. "It's an angry album that only I could do. I don't see anybody else out there screaming about the same shit I'm screaming about. On this album, there isn't any wordplay, there isn't any hidden message, it's all right there in front of you."

All thought it sounds like it is going to be a great album and I literally can't wait for the July 16th release date. But for me, and I'm sure there are some other fans out there that are wondering the exact same thing. What is happening with Down? When the announcement of their latest EP, Down IV part 1 - The Purple Ep, the band said that are another 3 EP's following suit, and in quick succession... But we still have not heard a peep about this. Am I a tool for thinking that phil should get back in the studio with down and leave all these solo endeavours for a later stage? Or am I just a passionate Down fan that wants fresh new Southern-in-your-face-fuck-you-Metal on my stereo? I'll let you decide...

But with all that said, I think this new solo journey of a legendary front man is something to look forward to.

Here is one of the tracks off of the above mentioned split ep.

Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor

Album review time again folks, this time we've got the brand new offering form the lord of horror, the one the only, ROB ZOMBIE!

The 5th studio album by Mr. Zombie, Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor, is released in the same week as his latest movie, Lords Of Salem.

Now we've all come to expect certain things of horror, craziness, and explicit sexual and satanic references, and Mr. zombie and his troop of musical misfits has once again not disappointed in the slightest degree.

This album following up on 2010's Hellbilly Deluxe vol. 2, had quite a lot to live up to, and it has lived up to the great expectations placed upon it.
The first single off the album is, Dead City Radio And The New Gods Of Supertown, is a great song. The typical track that is expected from the Zombie troop, great riffs, awesome groove, and dirty lyrics, sick sick track. But for me the defining track of the album has to be, Teenage Nosferatu Pussy, what a track! It's got an amazing hook, great lyrics and amazing riffs, such a sick track!
The Zombie crew even brings back their awesome dirty southern redneck grooves, with a track called, White Trash Freaks, what more would a dirty redneck want?
One track that prickled my interest particularly, is track number 9. It is a cover, but wow, what a cover! Grand Funk Railroad's We're An American Band, one of my all time favourite rock songs, and to say the least Mr. Zombie does this track more than Justice, he makes it even more awesome than it usually is! I love him for that!

It's a great album, sick sick bubblegum beyond measure!

Does this album dethrone Educated Horses as my go to Zombie album, yes, yes it has!!

Music elitism? no...

This something I've felt very strongly about for quite some time now.  A perversion of sorts between music fans, musical elitism, something that has implanted itself in SA-music scene, and at this point has festered into an irresponsible and idiotic culture that makes no one get along these days. I dont know how bad it is in other countries, but here in sunny South Africa, it is pretty bad.

Now i've always felt that music is something that should bring people from different cultures, religions, social-classes together, a common ground if you will. For some reason people who listen to the same genre of music be it pop, rock, rap, metal or whatever, get along, it not being a problem who they are, where they're from or what ever, they now have a common ground, a conversation starter, maybe a start of a friendship, or a relationship, you never know. Music is a powerful tool...

But lets not forget, that this powerful tool of music has been perverted, almost destroyed by this bastard child of social interaction called, Music Elitism.
Now as most of you know, I'm a metal head, always have been and always will be. But these days I'm almost disgraced to admit to this, purely because of this afore mentioned bastard child. I can remember the days of walking into a venue, for a whole day festival, 15 different bands playing, all different sounding, a 1000 people that looks different all supporting different bands, they all look different fitting into their own preferred sub-genre. And the funny thing about this scene is, everyone is getting along having a beer chatting and having a party, ah the good old days...
But all this, has been destroyed gone, and I highly doubt those days will get back again.

Although it is getting better, but in every sub genre there is one group of total assholes that spoils it for everyone. You can see them from a mile away, walking with their noses in the air, all high and mighty, bad ass motherfuckers. They give you a look of sorry you're not metal enough to like this band or not metal enough for my sub genre. The best comment I've heard from one of these fucks was; "You have long hair and a beard, but you're not wearing a band shirt, you're just another poser.", admittedly I had to hold myself back from killing this person, I was close though but i didn't act on it, i just turned around and walked away.
Now I'm wondering, where does this come from? This guy, did he have a bad childhood, or was he just trying to keep his taste of music's fan base pure? I don't know, I haven't seen him since this incident nor do I ever want to see him again, he's a jackass. But the thing still is, this elitism is destroying our cultural brotherhood.
People in the metal community are being divided, shows with bands from different sub-genres don't exist anymore, now it's all genre specific, and this is just furthering along this divide in our small and once strong little community. And its all thanks to these few stupid fuckers that cruise around from show to show to spoil it for all of us.

I don't know if I'm being silly or what, but this pisses me off. Why can't we all just get along like we used to back in the day, all be friends and just hang out. Music elitism is a bastard, one that must be killed, and quickly. It's destroying a brotherhood in an amazing culture.
So remember this next time you see one of these bastards, walk up to them, headbutt them and and tell the sad fuck to grow up and get a life...

Hearing and not listening...

Let me pose a question. When was the last time that you listened to music? And I mean really listen to it, not just hearing a song playing in the background or music blaring out of your car stereo, but actually listen to it?

And I'm sure as you answer this question to yourself, the answer is going to be; "wow, it has been awhile...".
And the truth is, I have the exact same answer. I realised it this morning, when i started to do an assignment for varsity. As per my usual convention, i get all my books out, and turn on my iPod. But as I looked over my shoulder, my vinyl collection caught my eye, (that will be LPs' or records for the uniformed younger reader). And then I realised, wow it has been awhile. I started flipping through them and found Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here. I put it on and sat down and started to work...
 Or so i thought...
As the intro for Shine on you crazy diamond started playing my focus was shifted away from brand new varsity textbooks and documents open on my laptop, to a vast row of old and dusty records.

I  went to sit down in front of my collection, and started the long process of taking each one out, looking at the covers, taking in the graphics, reading the track listings on the back, remembering how each song sounded being played.
Needless to say it brought back many memories of sifting through charity shop boxes looking for rare and forgotten gems, printed on the almost lost beauty of vinyl.

But I digress, back to the point. Looking through all my vinyls made me realise again that I haven't just sat down and listened to the music like I used to, and I believe that I'm all the poorer for it. It's a sad thing to admit, but it's the truth.
People just let life rush past without sitting down and enjoying the music. And to be honest it doesn't matter what genre of music you enjoy listening to, be it hip-hop, rave, dub step, metal, rock or pop. just take the time sit down and listen, just listen to the music, don't just hear it.
Remember that the artist you are listening to, put a little bit of themselves into that song or album, it's a look into their being. They make music to be listened to, not just to be heard, (although it seems that some of them do just that...).

I know, from reading old music and record magazines that in the 70's and 80's people used to have "listening parties". All that you would do when going to this party is literally sit around and just listen to  the music of the day, how awesome is that?? I think this is a lost form of partying, all that people care about today is drinking, getting laid, with music way too loud for anyone to enjoy.
I myself am fortunate enough to say that i have done this once before and it has been the best "party" I've ever been to.

Well I can honestly say after today, purely just listening to music (and not getting any work done), I have made myself a promise, that everyday, after all is said and done, I'm going to sit down in my room, lock my door and just listen, even if it is just for an hour. Just to sit down and listen.
And I invite you to try and do the same, I can almost guarantee that you will be the richer for it.

just a little piece of great music for you...

Is It Just Me??

Is it just me, or has other people also realised this? Last night we were watching The Spy Who Loved Me, classic Bond film, one of the best i must say, classic one-liners, great car, awesome gadgets, but i digress...

The women from the by-gone 70's and 80's era were prettier than the women of today, hands down. And I will argue this point with anyone.

My interest into this phenomenon was prickled again by seeing Barbara Bach playing Anya Asamova in the film, and low and behold an amazing beauty not seen these days.
Ok given she is not a great actress by any stretch of the imagination, but those days, good acting wasn't needed if you looked like that.

A little while later, a lady by the name of Caroline Munro appeared on the screen playing Naomi, a drop dead stunner, in anyones books. I couldn't think of any other big movies that she has starred in, but none the less, search her on google and just see what a beauty she really is.













After seeing the movie I thought about it some more, and I got out my Dukes of Hazzard series' and started watching them again. Seeing the woman that i believe is the most beautiful woman that has ever lived, one Catherine Bach, the real Daisy Duke, not the silly blonde Jessica Simpson floozy, but the curvaceous brunette wonder.

Now I am quite sure that any one would agree with me that this woman is prettier than a mess of catfish (now if your neck isn't as red mine, that means damn pretty).
















These are 3 beauties from a bygone era of beautiful woman, there are many many more of them, if you watch any of the old classics, you'll see them, they're easy to find, they're the ones, when they come on screen, your jaw hits the floor and you can't believe your eyes, thats them.

I hope this might have prickled your interest, and that the few woman that read my mad ramblings, will spread the word among their cohorts, to bring this natural curvy no make-up look back.

Factoid #1

Well as promised, here is the first in the series of quite interesting facts.

HOW TALL WAS NAPOLEON??

Well it is quite widely believed that Napoleon was a short little man. Wrong, this believe comes from a combination of mistranslation and propaganda.
The autopsy, carried out in 1821 by his personal physician, Francesco Antommarchi, recorded his height as '5/2'. which is now believed that this represents the french measurement of '5 pieds 2 pouces', which converts to modern measurements as 5 feet and 6.5 inches (1.69 meters).

The average height of Frenchmen in that era was 5 feet and 4.5 inches anyway, so that means Napoleon was probably taller than most people he came in contact to anyway.
In fact he was taller than the average englishmen, who was 5 feet and 6 inches.

After Napoleon gained power, he imposed eight requirements on all french troops. In the elite imperial Guard, Grenadiers had to be at least 5 feet 10 inches tall, and his personal guard, the elite Mounted Chasseurs, had to be a minimum of 5 feet 7 inches. So most of the time the soldiers around him were taller than him, creating the illusion the he is in fact short.












The British caricaturist, James Gillray was responsible for the first damaging image of the "little" Napoleon, in "the King of Brobdingang and Gulliver", inspired by by Gulliver's Travels.

In the picture to the left, George III is pictured holding Napoleon in his hand, inspecting him with an eye-glass saying,  "I cannot but conclude you to be one of the most pernicious little odious reptiles that nature ever suffered to crawl upon the surface of the Earth.'















One of the reasons for the survival of this myth is by the wide used term, 'Napoleon Complex', used to describe short people who make up for their lack of stature by being overly aggressive. There isn't actually any scientific evidence to support for this commonly held theory, neither is it an officially recognised psychiatric syndrome, and doesn't seem to occur in the animal kingdom.


I hope you all found this to be of an interesting flavour, and this made your mouths water for more.
Adios for now folks, until next time.

It's been a while

Wow so it has been quite a while since I have scribbled something on the walls of the internet...

Quite a few things have changed. working my ass off, going back to varsity next year, and riding as much as i can.
Yes thats right, I got my silly ass back into UJ. woohoo. Going to be a Lawyer one day. hell yeah

And riding yes, I ride mountain bikes now. Probably one of the most relaxing, exhilarating, exciting, hardest things I have ever done! I love it.

So this is just to say, that from now on, I am going to try my best to post twice a week. ONe random post like usual, and the second post for the week will be something with a bit more substance. Once a week I am going to give a quite interesting fact, a little something dug out of the the deep pools of knowledge, to remove the plague of general ignorance.


Just remember, if you're feeling down, do what stalin did.

OMG!! DREAM COME TRUE!!

Oh good Christ!! My wildest dreams have come true! And guess what the Japanese have done it again, wow i love those little guys!!

Yes your eyes do not deceive you, this is a human piloted mech robot.

The time has come for the age mechs, and all I can think is HOLY CRAP!!
And this thing is brilliant, utterly brilliant!! I mean even without looking at the features, just look at it!!

Now the Kuratas is being built by Suidobashi Heavy Industry, it is the vision of artist Kogoro Kurata and robotics expert Wataru Yoshizaki.

Now this thing is big, it stands about 4 meters high, 3 meters wide and almost 4 meters long, and puts in a hefty weight of 4.5 tons, thats big man.
Its controlled by a system that they have dubbed "V-Sido", they are claiming this is one of the most watched robotic control systems in the world.

Now this system allows you to control the mech with a touchscreen UI, and a Kinect based user interface. And the best thing I have ever heard, not even screen writers in movies have thought about this, a smile trigger. Yes folks a smile trigger, the guns fire when you smile!!! You can take out your enemies by smiling at them, why yes I do like that!!!

You can even control your Kuratas from your 3G smartphone, how dope is that?

Now the company lets you customise your mech, from different arm attachments, to different types of armour to even having a cup holder inside your mech, oh and faux leather interior!

Now the basic price for this bad boy is 1,353,500 US Dollars, and with the more fun things you add, the more the price increases.
And as things work in the world today, you can order this bad boy online!!!!

Heres a video the company made, of how to operate the Kuratas.

I believe that is the start of something big, I think Mr. Hideo Kojima (creator of the Metal Gear Solid series), is thinking to himself now, "Metal Gear is coming!"


Here is a link to their website, check it out, its awesome!!!
http://suidobashijuko.jp

BREAKING NEWS- DARKNESS WITHIN

BREAKING NEWS everybody!! Machine Head has released a brand spanking new video for the song Darkness Within from their monolithic 7th studio album, The Locust.

I just watched the video myself, and I must say, wow, what a great video. It really represents the song, and what the song is about, something that i find is lost in a lot of heavy metal videos today.

http://loudwire.com/machine-head-darkness-within-exclusive-video-premiere/

Theres the link to where you can watch the vid. I can honestly say check it out even if you're just a lil bit of a Machine Head fan.

olympic shit?

well it is olympic time again, and I'm sure that I'm not the only one that doesn't really give to shites about it...

Now with the insane amounts of media coverage that it is getting (it is the biggest sports event in the world, given), one can't really escape watching an event or two.
But lets be honest, some of the events are bit shit.

Yes I am talking about events like, gymnastics, synchronized swimming and diving, equestrian cross country.

Now I am taking anything away from the athletes, they are amazing in what they do, I do have a lot of respect for what they do and how they do it.

But lets be honest, any sport where no matter what you do, or how well you do it, the outcome is decided by a panel of judges (old fossils from bygone  ages and times), who give you a score based on grace, style, and looks, where technicality is a small fraction of your score and not the whole score. I'm sorry but screw that.
some of those athletes do amazing things, really, but the fat fuck decides, no you're not graceful enough you loose. And I ask myself hey fatty can you do that, no I think not, now go back and eat you muffins again fatty...

I have the same problem with the synchronized diving and swimming as the gymnastics, bunch of tits sitting behind a desk deciding your performance for you, total shite i believe...








Now lets see whats left, ah yes, equestrian cross country.
The most obnoxious, snobby, up thighs "sport" I have ever witnessed in my entire life.
Now I put the word sport in inverted commas, because I cannot see this as a sport, it is a mode of transport people, goddamn, people rode horses for years, to get from point A to point B. But now it is a sport, but not a sport for everyone, to be able to partake in this sport, one needs to be one of the pseudo rich to afford this sport, spending millions of dollars on a horse, feeding, and taking care of the horse.
And then not the race this cash cow, or should I say cash horse, but to parade it up and down in front of judges once again, and then jump a few fences. oh please really, get a real job...

Now there are another two sport equally as stupid, but I'm not gonna write as much about them as well, cause it grinds me... firstly handball, looks like a sport made up by school kids during recess...
It's stupid, go play basketball or netball...
Fencing, really long ass needles, and you poke each other with them, really now, get real swords and fight it out, I would watch that actually...

Thats about it, I don't have much more to say about it.
Keep well folks, enjoy

big festivals on the horizon

So Download went off with a bang (no I wasn't there), and it's almost time for Bloodstock Open Air, and the biggest of the big, WACKEN (wish I was going to those 2)

Now I have unfortunately not been to one of these festivals, but goddman I would love to go.

One of my best mates, went to germany last year, the lucky son of a gun attended Wacken and Partysan, and the bastard is going again this year.

After he came back from his trip last year, after he told me all the stories, and chatting to a few other folks online about the festivals in mainland europe and in the UK, i have come to the realization that we as South Africans are just not used to shows of that magnitude.

Now what I mean by this, the folks from over the pond I chatted to, had no problem with the sheer size of these festivals, its what they're used to and what they know.

Now it's not that I'm saying we as South Africans don't know or to enjoy a good ol' festival, it's just that we aren't used to size of it.







When comparing our biggest festival which is Oppikoppi to Wacken. Last year Oppikoppi pulled about 13 thousand people (I stand corrected), where as Wacken pulled over 70 thousand.
Like my mate told me, at Wacken, if you don't get there 5 hours before your fav band starts you are barely going to make them out on top of the stage over the sea of people.
But at Partysan (which pulls about the same amount as oppi, i think a bit less), it was a lot better, everyone could see the band playing an so on...

Now this finally brings me to my point, South Africans, being as full of shit as we are. We like the smaller more personal shows, where the band can interact more with the crowd.
 Its strange we all here dream of going to these massive festivals, and we enjoy some aspects of it, but we still long for our smaller more homey fests.

Only thing I'm hoping for is that more of the bands playing these massive festivals, will come and visit our beautiful country, and see how we do a festivals...

The official 2012 Wacken trailer.

new music

Ok, so its been a while since i posted anything, or even checked my blog, and low and behold to my surprise,  I've got a 1400 views, hot damn.

But back to the chase, the thing i want to talk about is, 3 new bands that i have discovered in the last week.

let me start with Dutch symphonic metal band, Delain. Formed in 2001 by Martijn Westerholt (formerly of Within Temptation), at the time the band was just seen as a project featuring guest musicians and not as a live band.

The Band Has released 3 albums to date, and We Are The Others being the most recent.

Ok the second band is Halstorm. The American rock band, started by brother and sister Arejay and Lzzy Hale. Having toured with many rock and metal acts and being featured at quite a few big festivals, they are really making a name for themselves.

So far they have released 2 albums, with their latest being, The Strange Case Of...

Ok now the last band I want to mention is, Kobra And The Lotus. Them being the newest out of the 3 bands, and every1 is still waiting for the release of their new album.
Having played and going to play some of the biggest festivals in Europe, this band is really making waves in the metal world. The Band has been described by critics as NWOBHM, and compared to Iron Maiden and Iced Earth.

The Band is currently signed with Gene Simmons's record label, after struggling to get a signing after recording their second album.

Their second album is due for release in August of this year.

Now you may have realized, all of these bands are fronted by chicks, yes. Well i really like it, now I know there are a lot of metal fans out there that don't like style, but when you think of it, its pretty fucking awesome actually. A woman's voice over guitars and drums, has a total different sound than a man's. 

well hats off to the ladies for a great job!

new KREATOR

So German thrash metal giants KREATOR's newest album is almost due for release! :-D

The album entitled Phantom Anti-Christ, is their follow up to the 2009 release Hordes of Chaos.
Now I haven't done a lot of research on the album, like checking blogs for leaked reviews and things, cause I will be waiting for the June 1st release.

All I know the first single is called Phantom Anti-Christ, and they also have a cover of Iron Maiden's Number of the beast.
They have also posted the official video for the title track, Phantom Anti-Christ, the video plays off in a post apocalyptic world, pretty cool, can't wait to hear the rest of the album!!!

The album is due for release on 01/06/2012, it will be available on iTunes and Amazon on that date.

CHAMPIONS 2012!!

So finally after a long 12 year wait, finally i am rewarded! Finally I can now say, i also support an european championship team!!!

Yes chelsea has finally won its first UEFA Champions League! I can't believe after the disappointment i felt in 2008 when John Terry (the man, the captain, the legend) slipped and missed the all important penalty.
While i was watching this match that moment replayed in my head, over and over again, hoping the match would not end up in penalties once again, and when it did I almost died.

But the match is won, and against all the odds, we made it! the boys in blue are the champs!!!!