1. U2 at giants stadium: holy fuck. this was the most insane show i have ever seen. they were amazing and i have to admit, the edge stole the show. that is no small order, but sometimes the quiet guy onstage makes noise in other ways. he was perfect. muse was pretty amazing as well.
2. rorschach reunion show: it was actually two shows in one night. i loved this band when they were originally around and i thought this would definitely disappoint but, i was very wrong. pure power and violence (in a very smart way).
3. stryper live: yeah, i know the top 3 are about as weird as it gets but i'm old. i saw stryper at 12 when my born again cousin dragged me along to the felt forum (i think). they were awesome, many years later this ex-catholic turned staunch atheist returned to his guilt ridden days and rocked for jesus. they were fucking amazing!!! if i hadn't seen #1 and 2, this would be higher on this list. it was kind of hedonistic for scary jesus lovers.
4. "the end of faith" by sam harris: ahhh, back to normal. this book is a few years old but no less powerful in its commentary on modern religion. not as difficult as dawkins nor as snotty as hitchens, harris makes a great argument for the obvious archaic nature of organized religion. some of his strongest points are in #5.
5. the war in afghanistan: i'm very torn. the 3 authors (especially hitchens and harris) mentioned above openly claim that islam is a very dangerous religion. making strong arguments and direct quotes (numerous of them) that show the koran is a violent book that according to islamic law, was written by god and is therefore infallable where as the bible and talmud were both inspired by god but written by men. get it? yeah, infidels must die. scary shit. the thought of nut jobs like the iranian government (who care less about their people than their insane ideologies) having nuclear bombs scares the shit out of me. thing is i'm staunchly anti-war, especially this one in afghanistan. does our government ever read history books? i hope you do. we can't win but it seems like we have to. the whole area is a nightmare. i'm still trying to figure it out. not sure it's possible.
6. hating digital music: i've yet again lost a lot of my music. it's vinyl for me.
7. god fires man "life like" 180 gram vinyl european release: nuff said. 3 extra tracks, cd included. fuck yeah! europe here we come.
8. gay for johnny depp "manthology" : be afraid! Uk here we come.
9. top gear: i fell in love with this show a few years ago and my obsession has not stopped.
10. intervention and hoarders: these shows are designed to make me feel better about myself. thank god, i need it. unfortunately, i've learned a lot about myself from watching said shows. intervention, you've taught me that i drink a lot but i sure as hell ain't those people. hoarders, you're a different story. i've always been a collector of sorts, records, videos, magazines etc. as you get older you learn to part with things but i find the whole exercise incredibly stressful. today, i had one of those days of cleaning and whatnot. i threw out all my video tapes, a collection that i could have saved myself from had i foreseen youtube. also got rid of a lot of cd's, this nearly killed me. i kept going and taking different ones back for no reason at all. it just made me feel better.....oh my god, i'm a fucking hoarder. all the sudden i looked around my room at the piles of shit that i can't seperate from. shirts, mail, posters, wires, music gear the list goes on. when did this happen? i'm not sure but looking back it's always been there. having stuff is a band aid for depression i think. although i've never been diagnosed as i haven't had health insurance in years, i think i'm a prime candidate. at least i'm somewhat self aware. i think. oh well. we all have our issues.
