If only we'd caught them in the act, we would have had a nice candidate for a LOLCATS submission to icanhascheezburger.com
A google search on the topic did produce this humorous webpage which detailed one families adventures in Cat/Christmas Tree intermixing (Be sure to check the before and after at the end) So when I got home from work lastnight, I noticed Ryan was in the bedroom with the door closed. I could instantly tell he wasn't happy and was directed to go downstairs and view the Christmas tree which I initially walked right past without noticing anything. The cats had done quite a number on it. Many of the branches were off the tree, the ones that weren't were flattened, and the lights were disheveled beyond repair. Although kitties know not what they are doing (After all, a weird tree just sprung up in the middle of their play area from their perspective), I did not think Ryan could take another Christmas Cat-astrophe. I had to build a better tree; a cat-proof tree. After dis-assembling the whole tree, I tried experimenting with various ways of keeping the branches where they belonged, and eventually went out and got some zip-ties and carefully zip-tied each branch tightly into the middle metal pole thingy. I also got some new gold lights instead of the white ones we had, and got those fastened to the tree, as well as the ornaments and the star. The whole tree is weighted down with our DVD holder book things too. Now, the worst they can do is just smoosh some branches down, and maybe open a few presents that aren't theres (They opened the corner of a present) ,but hopefully the tree will survive the remainder of the holiday season upright and intact.
I know, I know. Posting part of a song lyric in your blog is cheating, and generally may not be considered all that interesting, and I'm even treading on an old post, since I already discussed this album, but here I go. My favorite song from Serj Tankian's 'Elect The Dead' is a song called 'Sky is Over'. As is the case with most of his songs, it is a very powerful song, while remaining vague and cryptic enough to make you wonder exactly what it means. I think he is referring to the dangers both politically/economically and environmentally of a nuclear bomb or nuclear attack.
"Even though we can't afford The sky is over Even though we can't afford The sky is over I don't want to see you go The sky is over Even though we can't afford The sky is over
Behind closed eyes lie The minds ready to awaken you Are you at war with land And all of its creatures Your not-so-gentle persuasion Has been known to wreck economies Of countries, of empires, the sky is over"
What are your thoughts on this songs meaning? Hmmmm?
So Ryan and I just got back from seeing The Mist. I had never read the short story, and I thought the movie was very very good, while the ending is going to be an appreciate or deplore it for many I think. While trying not to give anything away, I must tell you a valuable lesson I learned from this movie:
If you find yourself trapped in a situation with a group of people, be it zombie invasion, alien attack, vampire army, creatures from another dimension, or even a natural disaster, please, PLEASE for the love of God dispatch of the religous fundamentalists in the group STRAIGHT AWAY!
I'm sure most everyone is familiar with the band System of a Down, whether you like them or hate them(Ryan). You may not be as familiar with Serj Tankian, the front man for the band.While S.O.A.D. is on an indefinite hiatus, Serj recently embarked on a mission to release a solo album titled "Elect The Dead". The entire album was written, performed, orchestrated, and produced by Serj in his home studio. My review: Frickin' awesome. I've always been a fan of music that does more than make me want to tap my toes or hum. I like my music to really make me think or to give me new perspectives or paradigms. Granted, I think we all gave our guilty pleasures , or 'fluff' music (Leslie and the LY's) that we enjoy, but my list of true favorites either makes me think deeper or tap into some primal emotions. Korn, Marilyn Manson, System of a Down, Linkin Park (especially their recent album); all of these bands have an exterior that many people never see beyond. Once you get past that and listen to what these people are saying, it is fascinating. Getting back to Serj's new album, even the title has a profound meaning. He is saying that our current leaders do not have the strength or will to run this country and care for it's best interests. He is saying we need to elect the living, functioning ideas of dead leaders from our past instead of going with the dead, broken ideas of our living leaders. The underlying message which runs throughout "Elect The Dead" is also very, very eye opening. Our civilization is failing. Every day, our population grows at a more rapid rate and our resources to survive decrease at an equal pace. Human Society is not sustainable and will eventually collapse. We as a species need to decide what to do to survive. We, as intelligent creatures need to look at ourselves and say, "Okay, this whole civilization thing didn't work out. What do we have to live for. What do we have to do to continue on?" Serj elaborated in a recent interview that 'civilization' has existed for about 10,000 years. Before that time, humanity still existed indigenously and was in touch with the Earth. They had relationship with it. Once civilizations blossomed and began rapidly expanding the relationship became all about taking from and exploiting the planet and losing that relationship with it. This behavior is scientifically destined to fail. I have been chastised for taking an interest in 'doom and gloom' scenarios, but I truly find Serj's message frightening and astounding all at the same time. The problem is so immense and far-reaching that it seems like all one can do is just watch the events unfold. Below is Serj's video for "Empty Walls", the first single from the album. The video carries some very interesting messages about our (George Bush's) current war. I think the 'empty walls' has several meanings in the context of the song. I think it signifies the ignorance of our administration to see what is really happening. They're living behind safe comfortable walls apart from the turmoil. I think it also signifies the American peoples (lack of) understanding of the war and how it's only shown to us through the filters (walls) of the media. I think it signifies how we all tend to not see the bigger picture because we spend most of our time trapped inside the walls of our own minds.
The thing with Serj is, while he has his own messages and thoughts to convey in his songs, he likes to leave everything open to interpretation from the listener. I've heard other people say that the song is actually about the Armenian genocide and the Turkish government's attempts to cover it up for all these years (Serj is of Armenian descent), though the video would suggest otherwise. I've also heard that he doesn't necessarily always make his video pertinent to the song. What do you think the song means?
I'm going to guess that unless you've heard me talk about her previously, you probably don't know who Leslie Hall is, or her band, Leslie and the LY's. The band started at an open mic night in the little town of Ames, Iowa in 2004, and since then has gained an immense following on the interwebs. While Leslie produces most of her songs using Apples Garage Band program, when she goes on tour she is accompanied by band mates to play various instruments. I find the whole concept of Leslie and the Ly's strangely intriguing. The songs are totally unique and off the wall, but I think half of the charm is the quirky fashion of Leslie. She always performs wearing various incarnations of the gold spandex cat suit pictured above. If you visit her official site, you'll find she has a fascination with gem sweaters, and thusly has created a gem sweater mobile museum (which also doubles as her tour bus). Below is an early music video for my favorite song (though not the studio version) from Leslie and the LY's, "Zombie Killer" Enjoy!
