life, and a little more

House of Heroes – The End Is Not The End

Sep 24

metalman777music, videos christian rock, House of Heroes, music, rock No Comments

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House of Heroes released a new album this week and it is awesome!  House of Heroes plays music that is very creative and the mix of this CD is incredible.  A few reviews I’ve seen label them an “indie” band, but I have to disagree.  They just play some great rock and roll.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbiX-qxpCvo]

Do not install iPhone 2.1 update on old iPhone!!

Sep 16

metalman777apple, software, tech, www apple, iphone, iphone 2.1, ipod, ipod touch, quickpwn 2.1 No Comments

So I got my wife the new iPhone 3G for her birthday.  She’s on it all the time and she is always wanting more storage space, so I thought it’d be a great idea.

But what do I do with her “old” iPhone?  We passed it down to my daughter to use as an iPod Touch.  The first gen iPhone could still be used without a sim card, as long as you had the 2.02 version of software.  It is a great gadget, and the wi-fi internet connection works great.

Today I was prompted to install the 2.1 update on Bekah’s iPod Touch (the 1st gen iPhone).  I updated like a good boy and BAM! her iPod no worky!  Said I had to install a valid sim card and activate the phone via iTunes!  Boo!

I did a quick Google search on how to downgrade the phone back to the 2.02 software found promptly found out that Apple made sure you couldn’t downgrade.  Thanks a bunch Steve!

Fortunately for me, I found this website on how to “jailbreak” the 2.1 software.  Turns out us Mac users are a lucky bunch!  This program does everything in one step, whereas windoze users have to jump through some major hoops to jailbreak their phones.  I ran the software and POOF! the iPhone-turned-iPod Touch was working great!  Yay for me!

Our Corpse Destroyed – Strength to Strength

Sep 16

metalman777music, videos christian metal, christian punk, metal, music, OCD, our corpse destroyed, punk No Comments

Our Corpse Destroyed has finally released their new album, Strength to Strength.  For those of you who might not have heard of OCD, you sure have missed out on some phenomenal punk music.

I originally thought that the new CD wasn’t coming out until October.  I was browsing around iTunes and actually found it.

It looks like iTunes thought it would be released in October as well!  The “buy album” button worked and poof! I now own the new OCD album.

The video below plays some music from the first album as well as the second album.  The sound is different enough to be noticed.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQhdTxQ7r8Q]

OCD’s first album, Avenge Your City, is pure punk goodness.  Big bass lines, catchy barking background vocals, short songs that pack a huge punch – these are all on the first CD.

Strength to Strength hit me more as a metal album.  The big bass lines are way more subdued and the guitar is prominent.  The gang vocals are there, but just not as pronounced.  One song even has a mini guitar solo!  This is a great album, but I was taken aback at the sound change.  I will need to listen to this one a few more times before I absolutely love it.

I had the chance to see OCD about a year and a half ago when they came to Merced.  The put on a phenomenal show, packed with high energy and exuberance.  All the guys were super nice.  I took some pictures and made this crappy slideshow:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Po5Tn1REug]

Comedy Comes to Town

Sep 12

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Last night my wife and I had the opportunity to go see Brian Regan at the Bob Hope Theater in Stockton last night.  We sure had a great time.  The material was about 90% new, so the jokes were fresh and funny.

If I could recommend any comedian, I would recommend Brian Regan.  He is clean and the entire family can listen to him.  Below are some clips for your viewing pleasure.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVKh8wAjBTY]

This clip is one of my favorites.  As an employee for AT&T, I just have to say that Brian’s take on the telephone company is absolutely true!!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9m2FLHlEwA]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM-HWkbnDfg]

We walk around the house sometimes saying “Happy 8 day” just to be goofy.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUv2u9ftqFI]

Kermit Apio opened up for Brian and he was pretty funny too.  He kind of reminded me of Ray Romano.

Randomness

Sep 06

metalman777Lost, family, pictures, videos No Comments

Howdy! I have three things to share today and they are all no way related and I just don’t have the creative juice to tie them together.

The first item: Nathan played his first soccer game of the year. It was darn near 110 degrees outside today, so I give Nate some major kudos!

[slideshow id=576460752337249268&w=426&h=320]

The second item: As I lounged in my cool house not wanting to go sit in the heat to watch Nathan play soccer, I went to the dharmawantsyou.com website to take test 3.  Once there, I noticed a new video message, so I recorded it to share with all you fellow Lost obsessed people.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tN7UYDTRkY]

Third item:  My wife and I are goofy and bought our dog Lucy a halloween costume.  Now, we have bought our other dog, Zorro a costume too, so we are double goofy I guess!

This is Zorro, the bat dog!  Yeah I know, pretty cool, eh?

And this is a dragon named Lucy!  She kept moving too much for me to get a good picture, and she keeps chewing on the arms.

The Monster that is Death Magnetic

Sep 04

metalman777music, videos death magnetic, metallica No Comments

As you’ve probably heard by now, Metallica’s long awaited album, Death Magnetic, was leaked onto the internet yesterday.  Being the eager fan that I am, I of course downloaded it, just to make sure it wasn’t craptastic like the last album, St. Anger.

I’m so glad to say that Death Magnetic has surpassed all my wildest expectations!  And yes, Lars, I’ll still be buying the album when it is released in 2 weeks.

Death Magnetic is one of those rare albums where every song is a masterpiece.  There is no filler here.  I’ve been listening to it for 2 days straight now and can’t get enough!  The real test will be listening to Death Magnetic with head phones while I work out.  I can guarantee it will get my blood flowing.

If you are interested in checking out the lyrics, you can find them here.

See the new video below:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mlahvvymkxc]

Some Unwanted Excitement

Sep 03

metalman777Life, Uncategorized, family, pictures fire, house No Comments

Yeah, thats my house.  We had a small electrical fire in the attic (right above the door in the above picture).  I’m just so thankful that our entire house didn’t go up in smoke.  Even the firemen said our entire house could have easily burnt down if hadn’t of caught it in time!

If you had been wondering why my blog has been a little stagnant as of late, now you know!

We are back home and the construction company should start the restoration work soon.   Since things are getting back to normal, I’ll be blogging my heart away soon.  (I can’t wait to do a review on Death Magnetic, Metallica’s new album that my friend BT let me borrow today!)