Halloween top 10 round up 2011!

It's the most magical time of the year.
No.. I'm not talking about Christmas (although I applaud any tubby guy with a beard who can make a career out of it) .
I am not talking about Easter (who really cares about this one anymore... honestly.)

I am of course talking about HALLOWEEN!
Yes,I am aware that is actually an old sacred holiday that Americans have U.S.AED the fuck out of.

I don't care. I love it.

So as most of you are too old to go trick or treating (they really need to change it so old fucks like me can do it I feel) and since you're not me and won't have the energy to go to various Halloween parties all week. ..what are you to do on dark, eerie October night in?

Watch movies of course!

So if you are at a loss as to what to watch, keep reading.

Cuddle up text to your ghoulfriend (see what I did there?) with plenty of theme appropriate snacks, something to drink (I prefer hobgoblin ale for times like these), light your jack-o-lantern and have at it!

Now this list is not in anyway my top scary movies EVER kind of deal. These are just movies I plan on watching this year.. I invite you to do the same. Let's do this...

10. Nightmare on Elm street



No big shock there. Yeah, it's cheesy and the dialogue makes certain porno films seem Hemingway but it works! No Halloween is complete without a visit from Freddy! I met Englund a few years back. Hell of a nice guy....sorry for the name-dropping. Name-dropping is bull shit. Bruce Dickinson told me that.

9. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre




There is something very unsettling about being chased by a hilbilly wearing a dead skin mask while wielding a chainsaw. F.Y.I loosely based on true story... in the same way Harry Potter is based on a actual book.

8. House On Haunted Hill





I remember seeing this one in the theatres with a cousin and being truly creeped out. That, outside of various MTV "reality" shows doesn't happen very often.
I haven't seen it since so I'm looking forward to revisiting it.

7. Nightmare Before Christmas




If you really need me to explain why this is on here, get out of here and go hit yourself in the head.
This one is also on my Christmas list btw.

6. Dawn of the Dead / DOTD 2004 version





You have to have zombies! I prefer Night Of the Living Dead over Dawn but I just saw that one on Saturday night so I reckon I need to wait a bit for that. The reason I picked both the original and the remake is I couldn't decide which one to go with. This still only counts as one entry though. No funny business now..

5. House Of 1000 Corpses.




Colourful, cartoony and wonderfully cheesy. Plus the man who made its last name is Zombie...and you don't mess around with someone called that.

4. Bram Stoker's Dracula



This list needed some vampires and I can't think of anyone better for the job than Gary Oldman.
No sparkling, daywalking "Sookeeeeeeeeeh" kind of vamps here.

3. The Frighteners



One of my all time favorite movies. In my opinion Peter Jackson's best. Ghosts, Michael J.Fox and lots of cemetery scenes. If you haven't seen it, you're an idiot...but an idiot that is indeed in for a treat.

2. Friday the 13th III




Too easy I here you say. Well.. yeah ..but this is still a must I feel.
The reason I picked the 3rd film is that it marks the first appearance of the hockey mask. A true classic.

And now... the number 1 on my list:


1. Halloween




The genre starting classic. Teenagers drinking and having sex unaware that a guy wearing a mask is coming to kill them all one at a time in very unlikely ways. Sound familiar? Of course it does. Countless of movies have been using this winning concept but this is where it all started.
Awesome soundtrack as well.


Well.. that's what I'm doing provided I can find some ghoul to join me.

Horror films when done right are truly a magic thing. I feel fairly confident that I have put together a cracking list for you guys. Hope you enjoy it as much as I know I will!


See ya next time and have a great Halloween!

/Beard.

To whom it may concern.

New times.
New layout.
Same... other stuff.

The other "N" word

All right then.
I've been writing on and off on this for a few days now.
Hopefully what you're reading now has gone thru some editing and quality control before you read it. Mostly since I'm not really sure where, if anywhere I'm going with this.

The annual Sci Fi convention is almost upon us here in Stockholm. I've been a regular attendee of this event since 02 or 03.
Back then it was pretty sparsely attended (I think there might have been a bit of a line when Andy Serkis was there though.) and very far removed from anything anyone would call "cool".
By anyone I of course mean "normal" non-Sci Fi convention attendees... so pretty much the majority of everyone I knew at that point.

Joe Flanigan from Stargate: Atlantis autograph. A VERY prized possession of mine.

Things sure have changed in the 8 years since then. In alot of ways.
For one, the term nerd used to be a very negative thing to call people. Geek was a slightly less harsh term.. but still not anything you wanted to classified as.

When I was growing up I recall having a hell of a time meeting girls.
I was a metal fan (very uncool during the mid to late 90's) and also a sci fi fan.
To utter the phrase Star Wars or even worse Star Trek was a sure way to get made fun of at length by pretty much everyone.
If you we're outed as a "Trekkie" you could feel secure in knowledge that you were not going to be getting laid in the foreseeable future.
Tough times for a glasses wearing Sci Fi fan who listened to heavy metal I must say.

I of course was not alone. There was about four of us.

I could tell tales of days gone by when we hid away doing whatever nerds like us used to do.. but I won't.
It wouldn't be very interesting and I'm sure you heard something pretty similar before.

It's funny how things change. Metal went from being something not to be taken seriously to for all intents and purposes the most dominant genre sales wise in just a few short years.
Rightfully so I say. It was about fucking time.
As for nerds in general.. something's changed there as well. The difference between this and metal is contrary to metal I can't really pin-point a single thing that happened that changed it all.
It just happened.

Nerd is now a banner people wear with pride. Not even limited admitting to a love of Sci Fi /computers/comics . The way people dress has also changed.
Take a look at this pic:


That kind of sums it up really.

And I'm not sure how to feel about this.
On one hand I love the fact that one bumps into Doctor Who fans (not just dudes.. GIRLS!) as soon as you leave the apartment,
On the other... like metal it was kind of nice when it was just a few of us..
A totally childish "NO IT'S MINE!" attitude to have of course. The upsides far outweigh the down.

I'm sure everyone has seen The Big Bang Theory at this point. I love it.
I don't think that show would have worked a few years ago in the same way it does today.

This like anything is just a phase of course. In a few years time nerds will nerds again. The weak will jump ship while the rest of us remain on board standing in line to get Brent Spiner or whoever it maybe to sign a dusty a DVD.
And even after that I'm sure there will come a time when nerds are cool yet again.
Like I said phases. Everything is a just phase. A pessimistic jerk like myself might even go so far as to point out that evolutionary wise, we as a species are also just a phase.

I will however leave you with this one last thought.

One HUGE upside to Sci Fi nerds and metal fans is that we are one of the few demographics left that still buy DVDs and actual CDs and thus keep the industry going so the rest of you can go out and buy The Hangover 2 on blu-ray or the latest Kent record in three different formats.

You're welcome.




NEXT TIME: 10 top movies to watch during Halloween weekend!

Bar Misfits

Coming soon to a dark, dank sweaty basement in Stockholm ...very soon.
More info as it unfolds.

The beginning is near.

Back from the dead?
You could call it that.
Personally I think it's too soon to say... we'll play it by ear.

First off, sorry about the lack of activity here.
I haven't had any stories tell, things to rant about or hidden musical gems to glorify.
I guess of course one can always find things to rant about if one looks.
Laziness on my part.

Harsh times we live in these days.
I just flicked thru the recent posts on twitter.
Not a piece of anything even close to good news as far the eye can see.
Economy problems seem to be the norm in most countries, intolerance is just a present if not even more so than ever, we are obsessed with surface and superficiality and a great portion of the world is burning in the flames of war started on ludicrous grounds.
And that's just some of the shit WE'VE fucked up for ourselves.

Mother earth sure as hell is doing a great job trying to hint that the party is over.. and we ain't invited to the afer-party.
On top of all that we have, if the Mayans are to be believed, about 1 year left until the shit really hits the fan.
So...
Economic crisis (Don't be fooled.. things can get ALOT worse)
War (See above)
Natural disasters ( No explanation needed I feel)
The Mayan thing (Don't have the details but it doesn't seem very fun)
Zombie uprise (Added for my own amusement. I'm totally ready for this when it goes down)
Alien invasion (Hopefully Close Encounter Of Third Kind aliens or E.T rather than..Alien or ID4) Nuclear holocaust (Trying to blow up the aliens)
Animals rising up and taking their turf back (I would love to see this one)
Iphones rising up and making us their slaves (They're half way there already...)

Seems we have alot of fun times ahead. Here comes my solution to the whole thing:

Ready?





Pay attention now.







Only gonna say this once.






RELAX!
Lighten up, have a beer or twelve., and breathe a little.

The world is always ending in one way or another.
It does seem like we are living in an age where things get shaken up a bit.
I have a few friends who truly believe we are racing towards some kind of big endgame scenario.
Maybe we are.
If so, I'm pretty sure a has-been musician /guitar-teacher/ bartender/DJ/professional whiner can't do anything about and I don't care what you do for a living because I know you can't either.

I don't believe the end is near, I do however believe we've reached some kind of breaking point and somethings got to change.

Change is not the end. It's just something new.
If anything the beginning is near.

So with that said, I will leave you for this time and hope I see you soon.

/Beard

Sorry for a lack of movement here.
On vacation from all of this.. should be back in about a week.
Til' then..
/Beard

A wee bit of revolution pt 1: SAVE THE HUMANS!

Here I was wondering what to write about tonight..

So here's the background:
Swedish Enterprise officials have been sitting in their lair thinking of new fun filled ways to make the world a slightly blander and darker place.
The latest scheme they have been cooking up is a plan that will reduce financial aids to students studying art and/or humanity related subjects.
The reason for this being that it is allegedly more difficult to gain proper employment after one has completed ones studies which would mean student loans and grants would take longer time to be repaid in full and thus would be..bluntly put a drain on society.
That is not their wording of course.. but that pretty much what the deal is.

Before I get into this, I should point out that I have never studied at a university level.
I am not a complete outsider though. I have in my years that I have been an active.. let's call it helper elf on campus picked some stuff and I am no idiot so I can deduce quite a bit from the little I have heard, seen and to some degree taken part of.

That said, there are people far more informed as far as this debate goes and it's mechanics. Everything beyond this point is my personal views and are in no way made in any official capacity.These are just my feelings on an attitude that I find offensive.
Just take it for what it is.


As a musician I know first hand how certain circles tend to look at my profession of choice.
It is viewed as a hobby. Something one does on weekends but eventually gives up to become part of the "real world".
I recall in high school the art students being mocked for being a bunch of lazy stoners who threw paint at bits of pieces of paper.
Same as anyone who had an ambition to live off music. It was seen as pipe dreams.
A thing as improbable and realistic as saying one hoped to get a job as a superhero or a knight.
Silly silly ideas for silly people not to be taken seriously.
I was a young, insecure kid back then. I truly believed them to be right.

Today, I know better.

I recently watched a Doctor Who episode that featured Van Gogh.
He is today seen as one of the greats ( and rightfully so I might add) but during his own lifetime he was mocked. He in fact did not have his "big break" until after his death.
Of course that was then and this was now. We in the west are a very enlightened bunch of people who understand the value, importance and long term impact that art can have on society and nurture it right? Well..

To be fare, not every person who picks up a paint brush is going to be a Van Gogh and not everyone who picks up a guitar is going to be a Bob Dylan.
But the thing is this: You never really know.

There is no way to tell what the long term impact that one person can have.
Do you think when John Lennon picked up a guitar for the first time his peers, family and teachers knew what was to come? Of course not!
I'm sure their he got some resistance along the way.. it's kind of part of the rock and roll thing isn't it?
One needs a machine to rage against.. but this new thing is something more.
The fact that someone who wishes to study art history for example not only has a rough road ahead of him or herself (like I said..not everyone makes it) just due to the nature of the field but now there a people who want to at an official capacity make things even more difficult to save a few bucks.
Jesus, I cannot believe I just wrote that in the year 2011..
It is mind boggling that this is even an idea that I'm sure more than a few people think is a good one.

If one gains proper employment in ANY field it has to do with one factor regardless to what field it is: How hard you want to work for it.

To claim that art and humanity students are less likely to make it due the subjects being "flakey" is just complete bullshit.
Why aren't they pulling funds for the people studying political science instead? Not to offend anyone if that is your true passion but from what I gather it kinda looks like this:

(Young Johnny has just completed his studies in political science and received his degree )

Johnny: Boo yah! I have my degree! What now?
His Professor: You can teach political science!
Johnny: To who?
The Prof: Some other guys
Johnny: Ok. What will they do?
The Prof: Teach it to some other guys!

They want to take money from us (you know what I mean) and pat the backs of the guys who pretty much received oodles of money and wasted years of their lives in a fucking pyramid scheme!

I am of course, taking this example to an extreme level.
I am sure that is not quite the case.. but I don't get that idea that they should be seen as more productive members of society than someone with an ambition go into the field of archaeology for example.

Let me tell you something, lazy fucking leeches come in all shapes and sizes.
Artists, scientists, historians whatever.. you name it. It is therefore horribly unfair to make an assumption that people with a passion for something creative are going to end up costing society more money.

Creativity is very important. The ability to make something real out of nothing is truly a force of nature and should not be underestimated.
Music has time and time again proved to have to have the ability to change things. Real and important things. During the Vietnam war the protest songs that we're born from the fury people felt in no small way changed the course of Americas involvement.
In a world like ours in times like these there is more than a few things wrong that could use some changing.
Where are all the songs that say no?
Where is art from sane minds that make people question what is being presented?
They simply aren't there.
I don't know if this exclusively has to due with the attitude I have been ranting about.. but I do feel the fucking last thing we want to do right now is make it more difficult for people with something to say to get a chance to say it.. whatever it might be!


I think this whole thing can reduced to this final thought:

Humanity studies.
It contains the word "human".
There is a reason for that.


/Beard