So excited for this. WHY DID YOU TAKE SO LONG TO BRING THIS BACK?! And the best part, DICE is doing it. Yes.
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Detroit Wants the X-Games
8 MayAnd after watching this video — they should have it. Pay attention ESPN.
Midland, Texas: Your Hand in Mine
18 Apr
Recently I went to Midland, Texas for a work trip on a shoot. While there, I couldn’t help but be reminded of ‘Friday Night Lights’ — especially because the town the book is based off of was written just 1 town over. Anyways, I took some of my footage I shot and edited it down to a short piece to the beautiful music by Explosions in the Sky. Hope you enjoy it and miss FNL as much as I do.
Album Review: The Knife – “Shaking the Habitual”
11 AprThe Knife’s new album came out today. Early reviews are in — and I cannot understand why people are liking this album. 2 good tracks off the whole thing tops. With 19 minute sfx songs, too. Anyways, Andrew Brandt took to listening through the entire album and writing his thoughts down on each track. Listen to the album (if you can) and read through his ramblings!
song 1: A tooth for an eye – just smilling.. what am i listening to… mk mk ok… this is long but not bad… i just imagine them hitting random keys on a noise maker in some kind of rhythm. also imagine them in a studio in front of the mic making that ticking/clocking sound with their tongues…(and not with a wood block).
song 2: full of fire – beginning is already better… that’s good… ok this person is singing weird… these are terrible lyrics…. gotten used to it… nope… person still sounds weird… oh… what is this? this is awful… I really want to skip…. I want to skip…. oh it got better for a second… nope…. this is terrible… my god i’m not even half way done there is still 5 minutes left in this song… ughhhh i want to skip this song so bad this is awful… just noises… really just more noise… it just continues like this? only a minute left…. this is their single? done thank you god
song 3: a cherry on top: gha-gha-ghost! oh god this song is also over 8 minutes. “uuhh just fade noises in and out for a minute… then follow it up with some loud ring… a screen door opening…” this is basically the the video from the ring in audio form. i imagine that this will never be a song. screen door opening again, they’re back! 4 minutes in… some kind of rhythm… that’s drowning out… and… nope… lyrics… terrible terrible lyrics… just naming random things in sight. cream….. mk i get it. they do drugs, want people to do drugs and listen to this… shit… i get it… fades out. done.
song 4: without you my life would….: starts better. got a real beat… sounds a little bit like sounds of animals fighting… but obviously worse… some of this is good. like the faster singing lady that has i guess asian influence… until she yells. EVERYONE BLOW INTO YOUR RECORDERS NOW!!! HOOOOOLLLLDDDD ITTTT! HOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLDDDDDDD HOOOOOOLLLLLLLDDDDD. they got something here at the end with just the beat. could make this into a REAL song (loud enough for them to hear).
song 5: wrap your arms around me: drums in a big empty hall, science noises. now real noises. hahaha imagine some hippy waving their arms around with some drum sticks and accidentally breaking a window. the lyrical melody sounds very familiar… would probably have to listen to a lot of music to pick it out though. how long is this song? 4:36 mk, not bad. more than half way through. hippy person broke that glass again. this wasn’t terrible.
song 6: crake: starts with more noises, about to say i’m getting really impatient, thank god this song is only 55 seconds.
song 7: old dreams waiting to be realized: silence. best song yet. a lone note held …. potential… oh my god 19 minutes…. if this isn’t terrapin station i’m done. cat walking on a piano… silence again. by far their best song, reminiscent of John Cage. Accurately guessed over 7 minutes in, in my head. i’m pretty good with time. really tempted to skip this song. that random horn toot made me laugh a bit. 13:30 seconds here, i’ve pretty much gone into the Alternate Universe from ren and stimpy…. *pauses to pee* // *back* i wish i saw them play this song live…. just…. god.. come on… i imagine that this sound is them having a sword fight with sticks… counting down the seconds…. best… song…..ever…. would love to be in a room with a bunch of pretentious “music” people who think this is good so I could just look them in the eye and know they were faking it.
song 8: raging lung – for some reason is not available on spotify. thank god. or maybe that is the song in itself, not a song just a title….
song 9: networking. hmm sounds… in a repetitive manner, could be considered a beat… still going… so far this cd has been the definition of insanity. if i was some place that forced me to listen to this i would attack. Attack! i’m so angry it’s uncomfortable. just please end. 2 minutes left…. again best part was the end.
song 10: Oryx. Starts immediately with more noise. thank god only 37 seconds. pretty much 32 seconds, last 5 are nothing.
song 11: stay out here: oh god. 10:42 seconds… can’t even oh? what’s this beat…. ok ok ok… ah yes introduced something else, also in rhythm. some new, ruining it of course… but still good enough to continue on. weird whispered singing. haha man i can’t imagine someone singing like this… well i can, i guess. but someone that has no self respect… stupid lyrics, but overall not the worst song (see 2 through 10). ah three minutes left… time to fade in and out with noises. the audience loves this! ah getting stripped down back to the beat. nice. ah someone… making sounds…like an idiot. anyone can do this. ending is the best part, again. NEXT!
song 12: fracking fuild injection. what an incredibly hip title. yeeaa just more noises. bullshit. this is terrible. i’m skipping ahead fuck this. jumped to 3, didn’t sound any better, jumped to 4:45 sounds like a scary movie, jumped to 6:30 same thing… at the end, just obnoxious ringing… this is terrible.
song 13: ready to lose: normal beat. some kind of normal song coming together here. awful lyrics…. or whatever. something that resembles music… my extreme anger is subsiding…. ok! got thought that pretty easily. could definitely be the best song on the cd.
Super Bowl Predictions!!
31 Jan
The Super Bowl is here folks. Get your beers, chips, dips, wings, etc ready. HARBOWL TIME! HAHAH!!
Sunday, February 3rd AT 6:30 PM
Baltimore Ravens vs San Francisco 49ers
Andrew – Baltimore. I’m not too proud of this pick… I actually DO NOT want the Ravens to win, and I DO want the 49ers to win. My personal opinion of these two teams, and some of the individual players, aside – I do feel that the Ravens a) had a much harder path to the Superbowl (especially considering there really aren’t that many elite teams in the AFC, they had to go up against two of the best/most experienced) and b) they seem to be playing out of their minds right now. There are a lot of “what ifs” that worked in the Ravens favor that landed them here, starting with the incredible 29- yard Ray Rice run that kept their playoff hopes alive (they would have lost 5 of their last 6 games had he not converted), continuing through to the horrible defensive play of the Broncos’ secondary, and ending with one of the most complete games against the New England Patriots. Even though the Ravens will have their hands full with the dynamic 49ers offense, led by Colin Kaepernick, who seems to make being awesome look easy (maybe a little too easy), and he has had some monster games against some solid teams, I still have a bad feeling about this being his first year going up against this inspired defense.
Greg – San Francisco. Ok I have completely recovered from two weeks ago. The Patriots played probably one of the worst games I have ever see them play in recent history. That being said, the Ravens played well — a lot better than I expected they would. Because of their resurgence on offense in the playoffs, I think this game will be close. However, the most stable factor with the Ravens for the past decade has been their defense, and it will be their defense that lets them down this Super Bowl. The Ravens have been middle of the road defense all year, and yeah Ray Lewis is back and all emotional, but they haven’t faced an offense like this yet. Colin Kaepernick has (as Andrew put it perfectly) — made this look easy. The 49ers rushing attack is 4th in the league (and keep in mind Kaepernick didn’t come in til halfway through the season). These guys know how to run the ball, but recently, we’ve seen Kaepernick be able to throw the ball. I think that will be the key this game — lots of quick hits with him gunning the ball in there. I see this game being close for a while with the 49ers settling in a bit and then pulling away in the 4th for the victory. Should be lots of big hits with lots of helmet to helmets (hooray right?!). Overall, I think the 49ers are the better team going into this game — they’ll force at least one turnover, and we’ll all remember when Alex Smith was their quarterback.
NFL Predictions: Championship Round
18 Jan
Sunday, January 20th
San Francisco 49ers AT Atlanta Falcons – 3:00 PM
Andrew – San Francisco. Aaaahh yeah, I know, tough call with them on the road, also… I’m going by how Atlanta crumbled against the Seahawks in the second half, if the 49ers start faster than the general snail pace of the Seahawks, they have a chance to keep the Falcons off balance with their dynamic offense.
Greg – Atlanta. I am not confident with this pick at all, but something in my GUT tells me the Falcons are going to win this game. I have spent all week thinking about who will win this game. The 49ers dominated Green Bay’s defense, who primarily played man ALL GAME LONG for some reason. The Falcons are built to contain Kaepernick’s running ability in their zone schemes. I think the Falcons will be able to cause at least 2 turnovers by Kaepernick — this kid is still a first year starter folks! That being said, this game is still a toss up, and it all depends on which Matt Ryan comes out to play. I’m banking on the one who has played strong late in the season, and most importantly, not turning the ball over.
Baltimore Ravens AT New England Patriots – 6:30 PM
Andrew – New England. Ravens are coming off a long and emotional game on the road… to continue on the road is going to be extremely tough. Yes, some of Raven’s defensive inspirational stars are finally healthy, and they’ve been known to injure a Patriot or two… but like always, the success of the Ravens hinges entirely on how well Joe Flacco plays. Hard to say someone got lucky when they play in the divisional round of the playoffs… but that game tying touchdown pass…. was preeetttyy lucky…. I don’t see New England completely crapping out on defense, despite their history of bend but don’t break strategy.
Greg – New England. Not too happy about this matchup, the Ravens are not afraid of the Patriots (and actually might be boasting about that a bit too much this week). This will be a super close game — I expect the Patriots to come out with some different formations to confuse the Ravens early. Will be very interesting to watch Flacco’s play in the first half to see how he responds to being this close to the Super Bowl again.
NFL Predictions: Divisional Round
11 Jan
January 12th
Baltimore Ravens vs Denver Broncos 4:30 PM
Andrew – Denver. I was impressed with Baltimore’s performance over the Colts, but I should have known better than to pick against them at home, against an untested Indianapolis team (aka, one that hasn’t been to the playoffs before with Andrew Luck). I’m not going to make the same mistake twice, hostile environment, against an all time elite QB, does not bode well for the on again, off again, Ravens team.
Greg – Denver. I am not comfortable with this pick. I think Denver is highly overrated. Yes they have been manhandling teams for the past 10 weeks, but they have also been playing pretty awful teams. I think Baltimore is riding an emotional streak right now into Denver. However, due to Baltimore’s inconsistency (especially on the road), I cannot pick them to win this. Denver wins by 10 here.
Green Bay Packers vs San Francisco 49ers 8:00 PM
Andrew – San Francisco. Tough game to pick…. I am not very high on San Francisco… but I probably should be so I’m going to give it to them. They’re at home, they have a great defense, they should be rested, Green Bay has been banged up all year (statistically the team with the most injured started – side note, Redskins were second most), and Colin Kaepernick can cause some serious issues for opposing defenses. Plus, last week the Packers pretty much got a freebie with Joe Webb playing for the Vikings and they still struggled…ok, no really but you would have thought they would have really been able to put away that game.
Greg – San Francisco. I heard one of the dumb Mikes from ESPN say that Aaron Rodgers was the BEST quarterback left in the playoffs. What? MVP years from Peyton and Brady don’t cut it I guess guys! Anyways, this should be a pretty fun game. I am semi-confident that with 2 weeks, Harbaugh was able to gameplan something to utilize Kaepernick in fun new ways. Look for some trickery like we saw last year with Alex Smith (maybe some fake punts too?). But I think too much is on Aaron Rodgers to win this game, if he has 1 mistake, it could cost them the game.
January 13th
Seattle Seahawks vs Atlanta Falcons 1:00 PM
Andrew – Atlanta. BURN IN HELL SEAHAWKS!!!! More importantly though, the first two Redskins drives resulted in back to back touchdowns and 14 unanswered points. They easily moved the ball on an otherwise stout defense. It was obvious after by the end of the first quarter RGIII was operating barely above a walk (as Greg called last week) and the Seahawks proceeded to capitalize on the Redskins squandered opportunities. I don’t think they’ll get the same chances this week against a rested Falcons team. Normally, I call one and done on the Falcons, but I think if they’re able to establish the run a bit, they shouldn’t have any trouble with the Seahawks.
Greg – Seattle. Going out on a limb here, I think this might just be Seattle’s year. They just do not care who they play. Last week they went down 14-0 early on the road, and then ended up winning the game with 24 unanswered. Not many teams can do that (helps when you play a 1 legged qb though too). I just feel like the Seahawks are making the right plays at the right time. I don’t like them at all, hate Pete Carroll (I do like Russell Wilson though). Anyways though — this should be an interesting first half to watch, I expect the Seahawks to come out guns blazing early to try and counteract any chance of being flat like last week in DC.
Houston Texans vs New England Patriots 4:30 PM
Andrew – New England. Despite the national media’s best attempts to provide endless bulletin board material for the Texans, I don’t see this one falling their way. First off, the Patriots spanked the Texans earlier this season. I mean absolutely effortlessly spanked them. Great you held Wes Welker to a season low three catches, that probably only helped the Patriots offense as he wasn’t dropping all those passes. New England should have no problem handling their business at home throughout this game.
Greg – New England. Agree with Andrew here — the media is giving Houston all the ammo it wants. Also, I hate him for linking to that video, DO NOT CLICK IT!!!! I predicted at the beginning of the season that one of these two teams was going to represent the AFC in the SuperBowl..that’s all, just humblebragging they’ve made it this far. I think this game will be a lot closer than everyone seems to expect, that being said, there is a x factor playing this week that did not the first time they met — the Gronk.
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