STAND BACK! THERE'S A HURRICANE COMING THROUGH!

Fuck. Category 5, heading straight for a huge-ass city that's below sea level. If this thing is as bad as the news is making it sound, New Orleans might not exist by this time tomorrow. They're saying this one's stronger than Hurricane Camille was, and I think it's something like the fourth-strongest hurricane of all-time at the moment. Meanwhile, there's thousands and thousands of poor bastards piling into the Superdome, which might not make it through the storm anyway. The guy on the news just said something about how 50,000 people could die in this thing. This seriously could potentially be the most fucked-up piece of US history I've been alive for, and considering what went down a few years ago in New York, that's reeeeally fucked up. If you're anywhere near the coast right now, get the fuck out of there if it's still possible.

R.I.P. Piggy

I meant to put this up yesterday, but I got distracted by jobs and such. Anyway, in a major bummer for me, Voivod guitar player Denis "Piggy" D'Amour died Friday night from colon cancer. It was really a shock, as it was only about Wednesday or so that the general public knew he was sick at all, or that it was really that bad.
I honestly hadn't been a Voivod fan for very long; somehow, they just slipped under my radar until Jason Newsted curiousity led me to illegally download the 2003 self-titled album, which then led to actually me buying that album and hunting down the rest whenever I can find them. And sadly, one of the main things that made their music so cool was Piggy's work as a guitar player. He did really simple things, but made them sound so weird that you just knew there had to be more to it than that. In fact, according to Crisis Guitar player Azfaal Nasiruddeen, "I will never forget him laughing while telling me that whenever he saw VOIVOD guitar tablature in a magazine, it was always wrong. The authors could never figure out what Piggy was playing, so they always created these complex looking chordal structures. Piggy would laugh as he showed me how simple his actual approach was, and how his chords were created purely by sense of sound and feel as opposed to some technical nonsense." There aren't many unique guitar players out there, and it sucks that we had to lose one of those few. Rest in peace, best wishes to your family, etc. Later, dude.

Song of the Day

Randy Newman - "Political Science"

No one likes us-I don't know why
We may not be perfect, but heaven knows we try
But all around, even our old friends put us down
Let's drop the big one and see what happens

We give them money-but are they grateful?
No, they're spiteful and they're hateful
They don't respect us-so let's surprise them
We'll drop the big one and pulverize them

Asia's crowded and Europe's too old
Africa is far too hot
And Canada's too cold
And South America stole our name
Let's drop the big one
There'll be no one left to blame us

We'll save Australia
Don't wanna hurt no kangaroo
We'll build an All American amusement park there
They got surfin', too

Boom goes London and boom Paree
More room for you and more room for me
And every city the whole world round
Will just be another American town
Oh, how peaceful it will be
We'll set everybody free
You'll wear a Japanese kimono
And there'll be Italian shoes for me

They all hate us anyhow
So let's drop the big one now
Let's drop the big one now

SONG OF THE DAY

Accept - "Balls to the Wall"

Too many slaves in this world
Die by torture and pain
Too many people do not see
They're killing themselves - going insane
Too many people do not know
Bondage is over the human race
They believe slaves always lose
And this fear keeps them down

Watch the damned (God bless ya)
They're gonna break their chains (Hey)
No, you can't stop them (God bless ya)
They're coming to get you
And then you'll get your
Balls to the wall, man
Balls to the wall
You'll get your balls to the wall, man
Balls to the wall - balls to the wall

You may screw their brains
You may sacrifice them, too
You may mortify their flesh
You may rape them all
One day the tortured stand up
And revolt against the evil
They make you drink your blood
And tear yourself to pieces

You better watch the damned (God bless ya)
They're gonna break their chains (Hey)
No, you can't stop them (God bless ya)
They're coming to get you
And then you'll get your
Balls to the wall, man
Balls to the wall
You'll get your balls to the wall, man
Balls to the wall - balls to the wall

Come on man, let's stand up all over the world
Let's plug a bomb in everyone's arse
If they don't keep us alive - we're gonna fight for the right
Build a wall with the bodies of the dead - and you're saved
Make the world scared - come on, show me the sign of victory
Sign of victory - sign of victory

You better watch the damned (God bless ya)
They're gonna break their chains (Hey)
No, you can't stop them (God bless ya)
They're coming to get you
And then you'll get your
Balls to the wall, man
Balls to the wall