Mascara Poem

Title: Mascara Poem

She's dyeing this time,
And draws the lines
Around her eyes.

Her hair's different,
A new color;
And new makeup.

She changes her look
To hide from it
And sneak away.

Hoping all this pain
Won't recognize
Her anymore.

As she stops to think
What she became;
"How can it be?"

What she used to be
Was better then -
With bigger dreams.

After it's all lost
She tries so hard
To get it back;

But it's just so hard,
And nothing works -
Not even this!

She's drawing more lines,
This is her voice -
Letters and words.

Expressing it all,
Writing it down
For all to read

Not even these words
Say it as well
As those black spots

When the mascara
Runs down her face
Onto this page.

She posts it online,
Medievalluck,
And hides this pain.

 

Story-line conceived 12/14/2007
Written and finalized 12/16/2007

 

 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

This is 100% Original Material by Benjamin VanScoter, and is therefore:

© Coyright Benjamin VanScoter 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Use Without Prior Written And Signed Consent Is Against International And Domestic Laws.

So don't even try to use any part of this work!

If you want to refer to this work link to it using the Permalink (found below).

(This writing may or may not be based on anything factual or that has happened in Ben's life... and may be entirely fictional.)

Click Here To Read The Full Article By Itself.

New Thursday Post

I wrote this post on 12/15/2007 but post dated to 11/09/2007 to keep it with the other post in the archives you can read the full post here.

I'm finally making this post after a long time since I posted my last post about Thursday and their Kill The House Lights DVD/CD they put out.

I must be honest and say that I've made some big mistakes in that post and believed too much about what Keith said regarding Kill The House Lights. And I must say that he was so totally wrong about it!!

I stopped at Best Buy the other week and picked it up just to see what it was all about... and - quite frankly - to support Thursday, because I want them to stick around... (And to follow my own advice in my other post)

....

READ THE FULL POST HERE!!!

Click Here To Read The Full Article By Itself.

Burning Pictures

Title: Burning Pictures

You told me to let it go
I did and now you wonder how
I made a three-sixty recovery
All because it was pointless

It's rather-simple psychology
Since it was all in my head
Nothing said and nothing done
But the simple thought

Imagine it once, imagine it twice
However many times it takes
Memories and pictures in my mind
Light them all on fire

That's all you need to do
Is take all those thoughts
And with the lighter in your mind
Turn them into burning pictures

Set them on fire 'til they blaze
And you hear the screams of pain
Satisfaction for you soul
Now you feel - retribution

 

Written 12/11/2007
Verses written before the title

 

 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

This is 100% Original Material by Benjamin VanScoter, and is therefore:

© Coyright Benjamin VanScoter 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Use Without Prior Written And Signed Consent Is Against International And Domestic Laws.

So don't even try to use any part of this work!

If you want to refer to this work link to it using the Permalink (found below).

(This writing may or may not be based on anything factual or that has happened in Ben's life... and may be entirely fictional.)

Click Here To Read The Full Article By Itself.

A Tragic End

Title: A Tragic End

You've carried that rock all your life
Dropped a few lines just for the fun of it
But you never realized it before
That rock was your gravestone

You wanted to live life to the fullest
But you never knew what that was
Now you've got no time left
And you're buried with these regrets

You're nothing but a tragedy
A lost soul in this poor world
You can't hold on any longer
When it all comes to an end

You never stopped to ask why
Or wondered what's the point
You always thought things were just fine
And nothing would ever go wrong

You always looked in the wrong places
Trying to find something that you lost
Even though it was right in front of your eyes
All those things that made you blind

You're nothing but a tragedy
A lost soul in this poor world
You can't hold on any longer
When it all comes to an end

After it's all said and done
In the end you realize it all too late
These addictions were your lies,
Lies when all you needed was Truth

You failed to embrace it -
You ignored all the signs
And now you seem so surprised
When He says "I never knew this man!"

You're nothing but a tragedy
A lost soul in this poor world
You can't hold on any longer
When it all comes to an end

There's nothing you can do now
His mind is made up
Final judgment is passed
And to the depths your soul is cast

 

Written 12/11/2007
Verses written first then refrain then title

 

 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

This is 100% Original Material by Benjamin VanScoter, and is therefore:

© Coyright Benjamin VanScoter 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Use Without Prior Written And Signed Consent Is Against International And Domestic Laws.

So don't even try to use any part of this work!

If you want to refer to this work link to it using the Permalink (found below).

(This writing may or may not be based on anything factual or that has happened in Ben's life... and may be entirely fictional.)

Click Here To Read The Full Article By Itself.

Killer / Kill-Her

Title: Killer / Kill-Her

You always keep a knife in your pocket
Much to his ignorance
He tries to keep this alive
Everytime you stab him in the back
You push him too far he's gonna snap

You are the killer
He did everything for you
But now there's nothing left to do
Other than for him to kill her

You had no clue how much he loved you
Because you always pushed him away
He'd bottle it all up for your love
You never knew the pain he went through
Now it's over and he's the one who lost

You are the killer
He did everything for you
But now there's nothing left to do
Other than for him to kill her

Slowly you were killing him
You destroyed his soul piece-by-piece
Yet you want to be forgiven by him
And still want to be friends when it ends
But there's nothing left for you when it's done

You are the killer
He did everything for you
But now there's nothing left to do
Other than for him to kill her

 

Verses written 12/10/2007
Last verse edited 12/11/2007
  - Changed 'when he's dead' to 'when it's done'
Refrain & title written 12/11/2007

 

 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

This is 100% Original Material by Benjamin VanScoter, and is therefore:

© Coyright Benjamin VanScoter 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Use Without Prior Written And Signed Consent Is Against International And Domestic Laws.

So don't even try to use any part of this work!

If you want to refer to this work link to it using the Permalink (found below).

(This writing may or may not be based on anything factual or that has happened in Ben's life... and may be entirely fictional.)

Click Here To Read The Full Article By Itself.

Shadow Of A Person

Title: Shadow Of A Person

You will never know what it's like to live
You just do what everyone tells you
You have no life of your own
To call your own
So long as you listen to what they say

You're nothing but a shadow
The shadow of a person
Someone you wish you could be

You think you know what you want
But there is nothing that you want
You just do what they tell you to do
You are no individual
You're a slave to what they say

You're nothing but a shadow
The shadow of a person
Someone you wish you could be

I thought I knew who you were
But that was all in my head
And now I realize all too late
That it was never worth the fight
You were never worth the time

Because...

You're nothing but a shadow
The shadow of a person
Someone you wish you could be

 

First two verses written 12/09/2007
Last verse written 12/10/2007
Refrain & title written 12/11/2007

 

 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

This is 100% Original Material by Benjamin VanScoter, and is therefore:

© Coyright Benjamin VanScoter 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Use Without Prior Written And Signed Consent Is Against International And Domestic Laws.

So don't even try to use any part of this work!

If you want to refer to this work link to it using the Permalink (found below).

(This writing may or may not be based on anything factual or that has happened in Ben's life... and may be entirely fictional.)

Click Here To Read The Full Article By Itself.

Original Material

I'm going to start to post some of my Original Material....

Stuff that I wrote myself, that is my own and doesn't belong to anyone else.

This is various writing and stuff, though I hate to use the word poetry, because that's a little sissy.

I'm a guy, so none of this stupid crap will be about rainbows and butterflies!

Much to the contrary, it will probably be dark and heavy stuff.

All my Original Material will be placed in my... you guessed it... 'Original Material' category on this blog.

I am retaining all the rights to my Original Material and don't want to see any part of my Original Material to be found anywhere else... So don't even think of using it!!

If I see anyone using any of Original Material without signed prior written consent there's gonna be a whole lot of trouble going on.

Given this, it's all fair warning to everyone!

Plus, on all my Original Materials I will be placing a blatant statement of the reservation of all rights.

Click Here To Read The Full Article By Itself.

Thursday Kills The House Lights!

Written on 12/15/2007 but post dated to 11/09/2007 to keep it with the other post in the archives.

I'm finally making this post after a long time since I posted my last post about Thursday and their Kill The House Lights DVD/CD they put out.

I must be honest and say that I've made some big mistakes in that post and believed too much about what Keith said regarding Kill The House Lights. And I must say that he was so totally wrong about it!!

I stopped at Best Buy the other week and picked it up just to see what it was all about... and - quite frankly - to support Thursday, because I want them to stick around... (And to follow my own advice in my other post)

If you didn't take my advice to get Thursday's Kill The House Lights DVD/CD then you better go and get it right now!

Kill The House Lights

This release highlights all the best of Thursday, and is well deserved of the respect given in the title - Kill The House Lights... and is well worth the twenty bucks or whatever it will cost you!

If the new songs are proper indicators of what Thursday is now up to, then it is great to know that the Thursday we all know from War All The Time and before is back!

That's right Thursday's back! And their new stuff is amazing!!

Since Thursday has a higher regard for their fans than their bottom line:

They are more concerned with what the fan wants and less concerned about the bottom line or the constraints of the modern day music business.

And they're currently working on their next CD:

Once the DVD and CD are complete, we will be starting work on a new album soon after...

Though, having watched the DVD, you kidna gotta feel a little sorry for Thursday being kicked around so much by their labels, abandoning them on touring - pulling their touring support.

And it really stinks for those of you fans who got the raw end of the deal if you were planning on seeing Thursday after they cancelled their dates...

But Thursday isn't quitting anytime soon, they won't stop for anyone!

They'll be back in your town soon enough!

And I hope that I can see them again when they start touring again.

Seriously, if you haven't got Kill The House Lights... You should!

I would've probably spent the money just to get the new CD, it's that good. But you get a whole DVD about their first 10 years... Officially:

Kill The House Lights

The release... consist[s] of a full length feature DVD and a full length Album. The DVD will tell Thursday's 10 year career story from the beginning to the present. It will contain interviews with the band and their team, archived show and behind the scenes footage spanning the band's career to date and hints to the band's future. The DVD will feature enhanced menus, a "Making of the song" and "The Making of Full Collapse" featurettes, the original version of "How Long Is The Night" with visuals, an audio-enhanced photo gallery, laminate gallery and more. The CD will contain three, brand new and unreleased songs along with a collection of live tracks and b-sides.

That's a whole lot of bang for the buck!

And the live songs are simply amazing... maybe even better than their recorded stuff:

Everyone always says we're much better live than on record -- now you can decide.

Here's what I think about everything:

The DVD is a total must have and a must-watch for any hardcore Thursday fan... lots of great stuff to learn about how they formed their band and made it to where they are!

The music and songs... all of it on the CD is awesome - like I said before.

Now here's some thoughts on each song:

1. Ladies And Gentlemen: My Brother, The Failure:    This is probably my favorite of the new songs, and is more like "old" Thursday!

2. Dead Songs:    Another amazing new track... this stuff is great!

3. Voices On A String:    This is another favorite of the new songs and is simply an outstanding display of Thursday's talents

4. Signals Over The Air (Live At Starland Ballroom):    This was on the DVD too, and is probably better than their actual studio recording!

5. How Long Is The Night (Original Intro):    The original intro is pretty cool, and if you're used to them jumping right into the lyrics - like I was - this will fool you a bit!

6. A Sketch For Time's Arrow:    A nice acoustic song, a little different but good nonetheless

7. Panic On The Streets Of Health Care City:    This was the song that Other Side Of The Crash in War All The Time came from

8. The Roar Of Far Off Black Jets:    This is cool... some of the music from the menus in the DVD - really sweet!

9. Paris In Flames (Demo):    It's Paris In Flames... it's a great song, what else needs to be said?

10. Telegraph Avenue Kiss (Rich Cotey Mix):    An interesting version of Telegraph Avenue Kiss from A City By The Light Divided

11. Wind Up (Demo):    Another great demo for another great song!

12. Music From Kill The House Lights (Demo):    Some more of the music from the menus in the DVD - really cool too!

I haven't checked out the demo disk that's included with the Kill The House Lights DVD/CD, but Keith said there were some pretty decent names on there...

I'll have to see for myself soon since Keith totally bombed on what he told me about Kill The House Lights before.

Kill The House Lights

Oh, by the way the quotes were from Thursday's and Victory's press release on Kill The House Lights dated June 29, 2007.

Why not... Here it is in full:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 29, 2007

Victory Announces New Thursday Release

"Words cannot describe how excited I am to have the opportunity to work with Thursday again. Thursday is a band that people believe in. They are innovators. They are the voice of a generation. Some bands simply make songs that people like. Other bands thrive on gimmicks. The true artists create something that changes people's lives. Thursday are true artists. They have a very special and unique magnetism. They are a band that you can believe in at a time when there is not a surplus of bands with any real substance or meaning. 'Full Collapse' is an album that has influenced so many bands as well as spearheading an entire musical movement. Working with the band on that pivotal and significant album was magical. Thursday and Victory have done great things together. I am so happy and honored that tradition will continue. Some people might want to call this a sort of homecoming. I simply see it as a reunion of passionate people that have done great things in the past getting the opportunity to do them again. This is something that people can feel good about. And to me, that is the best karma for any relationship," said Victory Owner Tony Brummel.

The release, as of yet untitled, will consist of a full length feature DVD and a full length Album. The DVD will tell Thursday's 10 year career story from the beginning to the present. It will contain interviews with the band and their team, archived show and behind the scenes footage spanning the band's career to date and hints to the band's future. The DVD will feature enhanced menus, a "Making of the song" and "The Making of Full Collapse" featurettes, the original version of "How Long Is The Night" with visuals, an audio-enhanced photo gallery, laminate gallery and more. The CD will contain three, brand new and unreleased songs along with a collection of live tracks and b-sides.

The band's long time manager Dave "Rev" Ciancio had the following to say, "February 9th, 2001 - A date that changed my life. It was the first time I ever saw Thursday perform live. I had never seen anything like it. Raw, intense, sincere, driven rock music rooted deep in hardcore but with progressive song structures and melodies. I couldn't believe what I was seeing and hearing. I grabbed the band as they walked off stage and begged them to let me and my company, The Syndicate, professionally manage their career. Thankfully, they did take the meeting and I learned what an intelligent, passionate and innovative group of guys were behind the music. It's been six some years since then and a lot of crazy things have happened. And now - three labels, two publishers, several world tours and three records later - the guys are going back to Victory Records. I thought it would never happen but to be honest, Tony and the Victory staff have proven time and time again that they care about music; They are more concerned with what the fan wants and less concerned about the bottom line or the constraints of the modern day music business. I speak for everyone at The Syndicate when I say we are honored to be working with the band and excited about working again with Victory on this DVD/CD."

Most importantly here is the band's message:

Friends!!!

We have some exciting news!!! We know that everyone is wondering what is next for us (New Label? New Record? Touring? Breaking up?). We're proud to announce that we will be releasing a DVD/CD on our former label, Victory Records. Surprise! A lot of the footage from this DVD was taken during the time we spent on Victory and we thought it was appropriate to release it with them. On a more personal note, many of you know that our parting with Victory was bitter on both sides and we're taking this chance to put that behind us. That label really helped us get to where we are and we helped them to establish themselves as well... "coming full circle" and "making amends" are some of the phrases that we could throw around here but we think you get the picture already. Tony's passion for this project and his continued support of the band after all these years has helped to make this an easy decision.

We're really looking forward to this release. The DVD will be a retrospective of our band's career so far(footage from the last nine years) with a ton of live stuff. Everyone always says we're much better live than on record- - now you can decide. The CD will have several new tracks(!) and some alternate versions and demos of older songs.

Once the DVD and CD are complete, we will be starting work on a new album soon after and the home for that has yet to be determined.

- THURSDAY
The DVD/Album package will be in stores October 30, 2007.

Thursday is: Geoff Rickly – Vocals; Tom Keeley – Guitar; Andrew Everding - Keys; Steve Pedulla – Guitar; Tim Payne - Bass; and Tucker Rule – Dr

Kill The House Lights

Click Here To Read The Full Article By Itself.

Thursday Isn't Dead!! (Yet)

No I'm not talking about the day Thursday, but the kicking sweet band Thursday!

A while back when Keith and I were checking some of the sites for many of the bands we liked to see what was going on we took a look at Thursdays band site and saw that they had cancelled their tour dates for 2007.

By the post left on their site it was unknown exactly what was going on and if Thursday was going to break-up or what was going to happen to their band!

This really sorta stunk because Thursday has a bit of sentimental value to me....

Not to mention I love their music, even though they've gotten a little softer in their last CD A City By The Light Divided... though I like their previous stuff (especially War All The Time) and the harder stuff on A City By The Light Divided.

Other than their music, when Thursday came to Rochester in the beginning of the year, they were the first rock concert I had really been to...

And that concert left such a positive impression on me that I have been to many concerts since then.

It was quite disheartening to wonder what was going to happen to Thursday.

But now it looks like their band is really on the verge of trouble... at least with their record label.

Even though they released a new CD, I was informed that the type of CD they've released is usually used by record companies to test the market's responsiveness to the band!

By the way their new CD is called Kill The House Lights...

Kill The House Lights

It would be a real shame for Thursday to die... so go and buy Kill The House Lights so they keep their label, otherwise it might be the end of Thursday!

Or at the very least it will mean that it will take them quite a while longer to get a new label and put out a new CD!

So if you're like me and don't want Thursday to die yet, be sure you get a copy of Kill The House Lights

If you've got any comments about Thursday or their new CD Kill The House Lights please let me know by making a comment on this post... I'd be interested to hear what others think about it!

Click Here To Read The Full Article By Itself.

Stat Tracking On OPCRochester.org

It's been a while since I last made my church's website opcrochester.org active again.

But before that it had been down for a long time... which I might say was mostly due to a web-host that I bought a reseller package through and had the my church's - Covenant Orthodox Presbyterian Church's - website hosted on totally disappearing out of the ether!

But for the most part it was mostly in part my laziness that didn't get it back up despite the pastor & his wife and other people in my church asking me about it from time to time for one reason or another.

Now I have done one more thing with the Covenant Presbyterian Church website to enhance it a little more, and that is to add Google's Analytics tool to it.

Of course it isn't something that anyone looking at Covenant Orthodox Presbyterian Church's website would notice, but will give and anyone at the church who might be interested in such a better idea of the usage and usefulness of the website.

Click Here To Read The Full Article By Itself.

Browser Oddities... Going Insane

Today I was working on creating a template for the new site I'm creating for my cousin's insurance company, VanScoter Insurance, LLC.

But there were several things about CSS and various browser oddities that were quite simply driving me insane to try to get the stuff to display correctly!

The first thing that was bothering me was figuring out how the heck to get Internet Explorer to center a container "div" tag... a <div id="container"> that encompassed all the of the pages contents.

Obviously <div id="container"> was inside the <body> tag

Through a ton of trial and error and examining other style sheets I finally figured out what was required to get the container to center in the window.... using css:

body {
    /* whatever params */
    text-align: center;
    /* any other params */
}

#container {
    /* whatever params */
    text-align: left; /* for inheritance purposes */
    margin: [top] auto [bottom?];
    /* any other params */
}

The left and right margins can be centered on Mozilla engines using auto... but for some reason Internet Explorer needs to have the text-align: center; property set in the body (which really isn't technically the right use or interpretation of the property).

Also, because of inheritance in CSS, if you don't want everything on your page to be centered you'll need to redefine text-align to be left or whatever else when defining your container id's properties.

I was glad when I figured that out... cause it was a problem that I hadn't been able to figure out since I started re-doing my cousin's website.

The second thing that was bugging the heck out of me was how the CSS float property was interpreted in the Mozilla engine... particularly with nested elements.

Mozilla does a really strange thing when interpreting the nested divs when floating them, take a look...

Here's the basic HTML background:

<div id="container">

<div id="sidebar">
<p>Many</p>
<p>....</p>
<p>Many</p>
<p>Lines</p>
<p>of</p>
<p>Contents</p>
</div>

<div id="main">
<p>Not as many lines</p>
<p>of contents.</p>
</div>

</div>

Now if you do something like this in CSS:

#sidebar {
    /* whatever params */
    float: left;
    /* any other params */
}

As long as there are more lines in the <div id="sidebar"> tag, you will wind up with something that like this when rendered in the Mozilla engine:

As you can see the <div id="container"> doesn't continue to the bottom of the <div id="sidebar">, but merely just ends wherever the <div id="main"> ends.

Thanks to this forum thread / post by Variable, I got the solution to this problem.

All it takes is an extra line or two to get it to work!

Here's the new HTML (changes bolded):

<div id="container">

<div id="sidebar">
<p>Many</p>
<p>....</p>
<p>Many</p>
<p>Lines</p>
<p>of</p>
<p>Contents</p>
</div>

<div id="main">
<p>Not as many lines</p>
<p>of contents.</p>
</div>

<div id="fillcontainer"></div>

</div>

And here's the new CSS (changes bolded):

#sidebar {
    /* whatever params */
    float: left;
    /* any other params */
}

#fillcontainer {
    /* whatever params */
    clear: both;
    /* any other params */
}

And now you will correctly have something that looks like it should:

Internet Explorer would render it like the above picture without the addition of the <div id="fillcontainer"> and the extra CSS code.

At least Internet Explorer correctly nests div tags when they're floated, unlike Mozilla... which is the only one thing I can think of that Microsoft has ever done right!

It might be simple, but you want everyone to see the website you create the same no matter what browser they use -- and it's stupid little browser oddities like this that drive people like me insane!

Click Here To Read The Full Article By Itself.

My iPod

So, the other day I finally got my iPod in the mail...

Yes! I finally had the money to buy myself an iPod after paying off all my credit card bills.

Plus, my iRiver had hit rock bottom as far as barely being useful... though I will still keep it around for doing miscellaneous recording and what-not.

  &  
iPod Video                       MicroMemo

I got myself the 80 GB Generation 5.5 iPod video in the color black. And for it I also got the XtremeMac MicroMemo Voice Recorder also in the color black, which I got Tuesday.

Both of these should serve me well for what I intend to use them for as long as they stand up to the quality any Apple product should stand up to!

I got the previous generation of the iPod Video and not the iPod Classic because Apple is being too much of a monger by going to a tightly knit closed system on all its electronic devices not allowing most prior third party devices work on their new devices.

So to take advantage of being able to use the most third party devices I got the previous generation iPod Video.

Even though Apple is being a bit of a monger with their current closed system for their devices I still think that what they do and create is just as sexy as.... well... this picture:

So when I got my iPod was busy uploading all my music onto it and checking out all the extras that came with and how to use all those cool little functions.

Click Here To Read The Full Article By Itself.

Underoath Concert in Buffalo

Underoath

There's probably only a few words that can be used to describe the Underoath concert that Keith and I went to on Tuesday night... and that is that it was totally INSANE!!!

The place was totally packed out, and it wasn't even a small venue at all.

It got so hot and humid quickly from all the people packed in the place and all the sweat, that my glasses quickly fogged up if there wasn't enough airflow.

Keith and I were at the front and by the time the second opener for Underoath was playing we were already soaked with sweat.... it was like we just went swimming in our clothes!

So let's start with the first opener...

Maylene + the Sons of Disaster [myspace | PureVolume | Amazon] as I had suspected these guys were just OK for the most part... not too original of a sound and were alright live.

Maylene + the Sons of Disaster we're fairly entertaining live, but definitely not I band I really foresee myself really getting into a whole lot. Though were several people that were into them at the concert.

Up next was...

Poison the Well [myspace | PureVolume | Amazon] and I thought they were pretty good. They would definitely be a band that would be interested in looking into further. I probably set some pretty high expectations of these guys when checking them out when I was looking into the opening bands before the concert... and they didn't really let me down!

I actually bought one of their t-shirts... which is actually a limited edition shirt that I happened to think was pretty cool looking.

These guys actually managed to get several crowd surfers up on the crowd... which was really cool too! Pushing them up towards the front to security. (I don't think that Maylene + the Sons of Disaster had any crowd surfers for their set.... and if they did they didn't have a lot!)

The next band in line was then...

Everytime I Die [myspace | PureVolume | Amazon], and man was I a little off on my initial perception of what these guys were like.

Maybe it was because they were live, or the crowd, I dunno. But they played a pretty amazing set and definitely cranked it up at that place!

Though they might not have been the most original band with the most original sound but everyone there seemed to love these guys... but maybe it was because they were playing in their hometown.

There were tons of people that crowd surfed during their set!

Maybe because the lead singer said they wanted them to because there was 'amazing security there' in the front -- which all of the security at the front rolled their eyes... like 'here we go!'

Even though I might not be as into Everytime I Die, they sure did put on a pretty mean live show... and they said that they were trying to put on the best show in their hometown, Buffalo.

It was great to actually see the bass player dive into the crowd... even if he made a couple of the girls at the very front have to be taken out crying!

I left the front in the third to last song because I was becoming a little too hydrated and the pressure from everyone pushing forward wasn't helping... and trying to push at least half a dozen crowd surfers along was tiring me out plus, not to mention, all the crowd surfers that kept hitting my head... it just became a little too much... so I stepped out for a breather!

Which would then bring us back to...

Underoath [myspace | PureVolume | Amazon] who was simply amazing, and surprised me with their set in a couple things...

I loved how they opened with the video on the backdrop playing Salmarnir as they came on stage... that was an amazing entrance! I probably won't ever listen to that song differently...

And then how from there they broke into playing In Regards to Myself... which I was expecting to be the first song they played... but this entrance was probably better!

After those two songs I jumped back into the crowd pushing my way through the moshpit and towards the front on the right side of the stage.

I pretty much stayed up there until towards the end when some punk kid wasn't paying attention to the crowd surfers and fell back bumping the back of his head in to my mouth giving me a sore lip...

Then I pushed my way back the back left where it wasn't as crowded and I could still see Underoath on stage from a decent vantage point.

The back definitely isn't as fun though... not anyone there really knew the songs or moved around nearly as much!

I was probably the only one back there singing along and head-banging to the music!

This concert was probably ten times better than the Nightwish concert that I might otherwise have gone to see...

Though I will still get their new CD Dark Passion Play sometime of which I would like to get their 2 Disk Edition [Discography].

The Underoath concert didn't let me down on its promise to be a good concert... In fact it was so much more fun and awesome than I thought it was going to be!

It definitely was well worth it all to see all of these bands play!!

Click Here To Read The Full Article By Itself.

Underoath & Nightwish Concert Dilema Resolved

Underoath

vs.

Nightwish

In a previous post I talked about how there were two concerts for a couple of my top bands I like that are playing on the same night...

And I had to figure out which one, between Underoath (ticket info) and Nightwish (ticket info), I was going to go to.

What made things a little difficult to figure it out a few weeks ago was that Keith was potentially going to go to New York City to visit with Justin.... and at that time Keith was also looking for a job.

Since then he had landed a job at the local mall, and won't be able to go to New York City... as well Justin is quite busy with his own studies as well.

Which made for the possibility of Keith wanting to go see the Underoath concert almost given (as long as he wasn't working).

As well, I hadn't been so diligent enough recently to check out many of the new releases some of my favorite bands had just put out, including Nightwish's Dark Passion Play and would probably like to get the 2 Disk Edition [Discography].

Plus, Buffalo is a whole lot closer than Toronto, so I wouldn't have to pay for all that extra gas... and I just barely had enough to buy tickets to the show I am going to...

Which if you haven't figured it out yet, is Underoath! (Of which Keith will be coming along too since he doesn't work.)

Doors are at six and giving a half hour or so leeway I'll have to get Keith and be on our way by 3:30 PM... I'll have to confirm with Keith what he wants to do.

Ok, so the bands that are playing with Underoath [myspace | PureVolume | Amazon] are:

Everytime I Die [myspace | PureVolume | Amazon], a local Buffalo band, they sound ok... Probably nothing to write a whole lot about, and probably won't be as good as Poison the Well. These guys sound too much recipe cookie-cutter stuff.

Poison the Well [myspace | PureVolume | Amazon] well, what can I say about these guys... They are pretty decent, and sound like they could be rather good. Might be quite likeable! They have a somewhat softer sound with enough screaming & singing to make good songs. They seem to go with Underoath's style quite well.

Maylene + the Sons of Disaster [myspace | PureVolume | Amazon] some of their songs have a rather interesting sound, and would be interesting to see what they're like live... they almost seem a little cookie-cutter-ish, though.

It promises to be a good concert... So I will be sure to let you know how it turns out!

Should be well worth the $20 bucks for tickets and the gas to see these bands!!

Click Here To Read The Full Article By Itself.

Genius Work-Around

Like I was saying in this post I started working on this cool little script in JavaScript that moves HTML objects around on a website, a really cool script overall for all sorts of floating message effects....

And after I got home from work a little after 7:00 AM this morning I have been working on giving it classes to be smart... actually, to move more than one HTML object around in a totally customizable fashion.

However, when doing such I ran into a little problem... apparently a problem a lot of people have with Classes or Objects and the setInterval() method...

Especially when you try to do this:

setInterval("ObjectName.methodName()", this.pinginterval);

Which made making my script work with classes a whole lot harder than I thought it was going to be!

And Nothing Here Is Or Was Helpful!

So I found my own super-Genius - with a capital G - workaround!!!

Instead of doing this ...

setInterval("ObjectName.methodName()", this.pinginterval);

... I did this ...

setInterval("functionName('"+ObjectName+"')", this.pinginterval);

This works for me because my Classes or Objects are in an array:

var Objects = new Array('ObjectName1', 'ObjectName2', ... 'ObjectNameN');

So as long as I kept passing the ObjectName as a parameter to each subsequent function I could then call anything I want from the Class or Object simply by using:

Objects[ObjectName].Paramater

What tripped me up and had me pulling my hair out trying to figure out what was wrong with a particular line I typed, was a simple syntax error - when I typed:

setInterval("functionName("+ObjectName+")", this.pinginterval);

Instead of typing:

setInterval("functionName('"+ObjectName+"')", this.pinginterval);

Did you see it?

I forgot to include the single quotes around the function's parameter...

So basically when the line I typed was processed by the browser it would have seen functionName(strObjectName); instead of functionName('strObjectName'); as it should be in proper syntax.....

A stupid mistake that sent me hunting and trying to figure out what was wrong with it for about a half hour!

And now after I finished the script the time is 3:30 PM

I've been working on it for about 7½ hours. (Once you factor in eating and watching TV for a bit as I pulled my hair out to find a solution!!)

This all just goes to show one thing....

I AM A GENIUS!!

And that's final!

Click Here To Read The Full Article By Itself.

A New Direction

Lately, I've sorta been bummed and a little depressed at how things are going, and what I'm sorta forced to do do because of my various circumstances.

So I've been thinking quite a bit about what I really want, and what I really want to do... and what I really desire to become.

What I'm about to tell you might come off as unrealistic, selfish or some other negative reflection... but I really have to write this stuff down as a way to make it more realistic and more official as a direction for what my aims are.

Oh, and these things might not be as best said or everything, but it's the core of what I really want... so with no further adieu:

What I really Want...

The time and resources (mostly monetary to get the stuff I'd like to have, but also includes non-monetary things) to do whatever I want when I feel like doing it.

Have the coolest, latest technology (mostly computer devices - hardware, software and accessories).

To sleep when I want for as long as I want, or stay up whenever I want for as long or short as I want... so that I can do whatever I want... or in other words - Not be tied to a schedule.

To work on my great web 2.0 / revolutionary web app ideas.

Have my own web hosting to sell as well as to differ the costs of hosting my websites / web app ideas mentioned above.

The Solution...

Based on what I just listed above as what I really want, the solution is provided therein.

Since I listed my desires from greatest to least (for the most-part), as a solution if I work on the list from the bottom up then each item I work on will provide the solution for the previous item.

Which is why I am so eager to start my own web hosting business.

The End Result...

The end result then would be that I would be the owner of a web technology business.

And that is what I really want to become...

AntiTrust

Gary Winston

Sorta like the movie AntiTrust, where I would be like the owner of NURV... but instead of creating the communication software stuff, it would be for creating and developing my sweet web app ideas that I have and may get.

I would be like a mix of CEO Gary Winston and the programmer Milo Hoffmann where I would enjoy running the company and using my genius to do any of coding that I would like.

However, I won't use any of the sneaky, underhanded methods that Gary Winston uses... and hopefully won't have the problems that they encounter with the law.

... Other than perhaps an unintentional monopoly!

Click Here To Read The Full Article By Itself.

JavaScript Action Text

I am working on this cool little script in JavaScript that will move HTML objects around on a website, a really cool script overall for the unblockable 'pop-up' floating messages and other really cool object moving uses.

I am going to be using this script on the new website I am creating for my cousin's insurance agency (VanScoter Insurance Agency) to create something that looks like the moving text on Noto Insurance's website... but the major difference is that with the script I am making it won't use flash, which is harder for search engines to read and index, and will load faster.

But, to make so that it can move multiple HTML objects on the same page that are different CSS Classes (which is how each object is identified on the page) I am needed to figure out how to use classes in JavaScript.

Web Developer's Journal

So when researching how to create and use classes I found this Tutorial on WebDevelopersJournal.com that describes how to create functions and classes...

And as it turns out, classes are easier to define and create in javascript than I thought they would be.

So once I get home (I'm doing this post at work - The Ridgemont Wegmans) I am going to fix up my script.

Click Here To Read The Full Article By Itself.

Pip & My Sequel Trouble

PHP

MySQL

Ok, it's actually PHP 4.4.7 and MySQL 5.0.x!

On my Mac Mini (Intel) I've got Mac OS X 10.4.10 and it comes with it's own Apache Server, in fact all Mac OSX distributions have Apache built in.

I don't remember, but apparently sometime I had installed PHP 4.4.7 and PHP 5 (to use both) I wanted to get MySQL on it because I wanted to start developing some serious web stuff locally...

Since the unfortunate total disappearance a month ago of the last web host I had used... and subsequently lost everything I was working on because I was developing it on their server(s) -- Bad mistake: Not backing anything up just because I didn't have MySQL!

So I got the latest MySQL 5.0.45 release for Mac OS X in the easy installer package format.

PHPMyAdmin

I proceeded to install it and checked to see if it worked with PHP 5 using PHPMyAdmin.

AND... Giddy it worked!

Now I go into the Terminal.app Unix Shell Application and type:

sudo cp /etc/httpd/php4.httpd.conf /etc/httpd/httpd.conf

Switch to PHP 4 and reload the PHPMyAdmin... And I'm Greeted with:

Error

MySQL said:

#2002 - The server is not responding (or the local MySQL server's socket is not correctly configured)

What On Earth!!

I have no idea what that really means...

So I spent the good part of four days researching and trying a bunch of crap to get it to work... by changing the php.ini file by changing the line...

; Default socket name for local MySQL connects. If empty, uses the built-in
; MySQL defaults.
mysql.default_socket =

TO:

; Default socket name for local MySQL connects. If empty, uses the built-in
; MySQL defaults.
mysql.default_socket =/tmp/mysql.sock

Restart the Apache Server and try to reload PHPMyAdmin...

And to no avail I still see...

Error

MySQL said:

#2002 - The server is not responding (or the local MySQL server's socket is not correctly configured)

So after taking a break and coming back I think of linking the mysql socket to where PHP 4 is looking for it....

mysql

MySQL Support	enabled
Active Persistent Links	0
Active Links	0
Client API version	4.1.22
MYSQL_MODULE_TYPE	external
MYSQL_SOCKET	/var/mysql/mysql.sock
MYSQL_INCLUDE	-I/usr/include/mysql
MYSQL_LIBS	-L/usr/lib/mysql -lmysqlclient

... In... /var/mysql/mysql.sock

And The info for PHP 5, which works with MySQL is:

mysql

MySQL Support	enabled
Active Persistent Links	0
Active Links	0
Client API version	5.0.19
MYSQL_MODULE_TYPE	external
MYSQL_SOCKET	/tmp/mysql.sock
MYSQL_INCLUDE	-I/usr/local/php5/include/mysql
MYSQL_LIBS	-L/usr/local/php5/lib/mysql -lmysqlclient

So why not create an alias linking /var/mysql/mysql.sock to /tmp/mysql.sock

Not being so fluent in Unix Command-Line stuff, I struggled to figure out how to do this and found this site... Here's what I did (the clean and easy to follow version):

1. Create 'mysql' folder in /var/
2. Create A Link Of /tmp/mysql.sock As /var/mysql/mysql.sock
3. Restart The Apache Server

The Commands:

$ sudo mkdir /var/mysql/
$ sudo ln /tmp/mysql.sock /var/mysql/mysql.sock
$ sudo apachectl graceful
/usr/sbin/apachectl graceful: httpd gracefully restarted

And ooh-la-la it works!

Sure it's probably a bit unorthadox, and PHP 4 only has Client API for 4.1.22... but MySQL doesn't change much on the front-end I'm assuming so it should be pretty good.

Everything was confirmed working after creating and editing the same table in MySQL 5 using PHP 4 and PHP 5

Update:

It has come to my attention that though the above may work... it may not work as well as it should...

Because I've run into the instance where the link I would create using $ sudo ln /tmp/mysql.sock /var/mysql/mysql.sock would disappear from /var/mysql/mysql.sock when switching from PHP 4 to PHP 5 and back to PHP 4 again after I restart somewhere in between I think.

I'm not sure where it is breaking down... but there's a couple more robust solutions that I'd suggest... and that is to change the standard link using the ln command to a symbolic link using the ln -s command in terminal.

So now the commands would now be:

$ sudo mkdir /var/mysql/
$ sudo ln -s /tmp/mysql.sock /var/mysql/mysql.sock
$ sudo apachectl graceful
/usr/sbin/apachectl graceful: httpd gracefully restarted

Or you can do what I did, and just make the folder /var/mysql a symbolic link... which is a little less work:

$ sudo ln -s /tmp/ /var/mysql/
$ sudo apachectl graceful
/usr/sbin/apachectl graceful: httpd gracefully restarted

Note: if you want to do the above there can't be a folder /var/mysql/ already, you'll need to delete it. This can be done using:

$ rm -r /var/mysql/

These commands should work better because of the difference between a hard link and a symbolic link...

A hard link (ln) disappears if the linked-to file disappears... and a symbolic link (ln -s) remains even if the linked-to file disappears and for this situation is what we need since mysql.sock seems to disappear somewhere along the lines of a restart or as described above.

Plus, since symbolic links allow you to have a folder point to another destination folder you can do $ sudo ln -s /tmp/ /var/mysql/

Disclaimer: I take no responsibility for what happens to your system if you use these instructions. Though I have been able to use this methods successfully your results may vary. It is highly advisable you backup any files before changing or modifying them.

Click Here To Read The Full Article By Itself.

What's With It... I Get It

This post is going back on some things that I came across quite some some ago. I was going to post it then, but never found the time... and since I'm catching up on some posts, I thought "Why not just put it in here now?" - so here goes:

In this post we have to go back to like the 3rd week in August (I told you it was long ago)...

It was then that I came across and read this post by this girl.... If you don't want to check it out it is basically the lyrics for Chevelle's song I Get It "because it's stuck in [their] head".

The lyrics that she posted weren't anywhere near all that correct... I've got her version and the actual version of the lyrics side-to-side with the differences highlighted:

Actual Lyrics

So You Say You're Ignored
As It Is
Well Give Us Your Sad, Sad Trip

You're Right, I Get It
It All Makes Sense, You're The Perfect Person
So Right, So Wrong
Let's All Live In Your Imaginary Life

Assumed It's Whether We're Right Or Wrong
We're Doomed
And There's Plenty
For All

How Dare You Catch Me Counting
How Dare You Call At All
How Dare You Call This Suffering
How Dare You Call At All

You're Right, I Get It
It All Makes Sense, You're The Perfect Person
So Right, So Wrong
Let's All Live In Your Imaginary Life

Press On
These Tannins
They Double In Time
The Touch Of Life
Once Failed To Mention So Far

Of Course The Law Is Fountains
Of Face To Face Remorse
A Fast And Restless Blackmail
Like Pent Up Fetish Force
 

You're Right, I Get It
It All Makes Sense, You're The Perfect Person
So Right, So Wrong
Let's All Live In Your Imaginary Life

Do You Want It Enough
Do You Want It At All
Should You Need It All
Takes A Minute To See
Do You Want It Enough
Do You Want It At All
Should You Need It At All
Do You Want It Or Not

You're Right, I Get It
It All Makes Sense, You're The Perfect Person
So Right, So Wrong
Let's All Live In Your Imaginary Life

Life, Life, Life

Her Lyrics

So You Say I Make A Man
As It Is,
Well, Give Us Your Sad, Sad Trip

You're Right, I Get It
It All Makes Sense, You're The Perfect Person
So Right, So Wrong
Let's All Live In Your Imaginary Life

Assumed It's Weather
We're Right, I'm Wrong
We're Doomed, And There's Plenty For All
 

How Dare You Catch Me Counting
How Dare You Call It Off
How Dare You Call It Suffering
How Dare You Call It Off

You're Right, I Get It
It All Makes Sense, You're The Perfect Person
So Right, So Wrong
Let's All Live In Your Imaginary Life

Dress All These Turings
They're Doubled In Time
The Touch Of Life, What's Failed To Mention So Far
 
 

Of Course The Lionous Fountains
Or Face The Face We've Mauled
Of Fast And Restless Blackmail
Like Pent-up Vanished Falls

You're Right, I Get It
It All Makes Sense, You're The Perfect Person
So Right, So Wrong
Let's All Live In Your Imaginary Life

Do You Want Enough?
Do You Want It All?
Should You Need It At All?
Takes A Man To See
Do You Want Enough?
Do You Want It All?
Should You Need It At All?
Do You Want It Or Not?

You're Right, I Get It
It All Makes Sense, You're The Perfect Person
So Right, So Wrong
Let's All Live In Your Imaginary Life

Life, Life, Life.

---

Now, I can't say if she got the lyrics from somewhere else, or just 'made them up,' but seriously let's try to get them right the next time.

That's not what I'm really writing about...

As it turns out that there's this real terrible [female] DJ that works at the Zone at the late-night hours... did I mention she's annoying...

Well at work during breakdown, only a couple days after reading the post above, she said something like "Chevelle has a new single called I Get It and I'm going to play it now because it's stuck in my head, and you know what it's like when you get something stuck in your head..." blah-biddy-blah-blah, Right?

So I've been sorta wondering...

What Is It With Women And This Song?!!

Honestly that's two chicks (in the same geographical area nonetheless) that had it stuck in their head -- I don't recall it being on the radio that much... though I live a totally opposite day than everyone else (nor do I really care to listen to the radio -- especially Rochester's crappy 'rock' stations)!

Is it because this song so deeply resonates with women that live in their own little fairy-tale imaginary lives apart from reality that they get this song stuck in their head.

Or that this song strikes so much at the truth that women have this predisposition to think that they're always right (perhaps even - no matter what) and everyone should acknowledge it in them.

What's With It?

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Chevelle's Set List (Sept. 4)

I forgot to post this in the post about the Chevelle Concert.

So I guess I'll just stick it here, in a new post... the songs that Chevelle played in the concert I went to... in proper order (or so Keith thinks too):

1. Antisaint [Vena Sera]
2. Brainiac [Vena Sera]
3. Vitamin R [This Type Of Thinking]
4. Sleepwalking Elite*
5. Closure [Wonder What's Next]
6. Comfortable Liar [Wonder What's Next]
7. The Red [Wonder What's Next]
8. SMA [Point #1]
9. Saturdays [Vena Sera]
10. Get Some [This Type Of Thinking]
11. Straight Jacket Fashion [Vena Sera]
12. Well Enough Alone [Vena Sera]
13. I Get It [Vena Sera]
14. Clincher [This Type Of Thinking]
15. Send the Pain Below [Wonder What's Next]
16. Forfeit [Wonder What's Next]

* Chevelle actually played Sleepwalking Elite!!

For those of you that haven't heard it, it is an amazing song, I got it as a bonus track on my Vena Sera CD:

Vena Sera

Which actually included two demos, Sleepwalking Elite and Delivery. But Sleepwalking Elite is definitely an amazing demo.

I might be so bold as to predict that this will be one of the songs on their next CD they put out, if not their single -- if I'm bold enough to predict.

Click Here To Read The Full Article By Itself.

Chevelle Concert (Sept. 4)

So a while back I went to this Chevelle concert.

And when I got back:

• I had no voice....
• I had a constant ringing in my ears!
• And I came back liking Chevelle even more!

I was probably a wreck when I got back! I was so tired that I crashed right away... I barely made it home.

Keith went with me and as he can vouch, he probably wondered if I was going to fall asleep driving back or drive off the road.

(I inadvertently switched lanes several times because I was so tired and could barely keep my eyes open... Thank God for the Doritos I brought, once I started munching on them I was able to stay awake better!)

Now back to the concert -- here are some of my comments and what I thought about it...

Ok, so the first opening band at the concert was 2 Cents [myspace | Amazon] they were a pretty heavy and energetic opening band.

Perhaps they were better live than I had initially perceived they would have been though I really didn't like their profanity.

But I think the fact that makes up for it is that they played their song Victims of Pop Culture that goes "pop music is the enemy..." and bashed a lot of those crappy little bands that really suck. Check out the last question in this interview to discover the meaning!

The second opener for Chevelle then was Fair To Midland [myspace | Amazon] who definitely had an interesting, and very light sound to them - even live.

Fair To Midland was very predictable in their music, like you can tell when they would jam out and then instantly stop and start again. And, beyond just that all their songs sounded pretty much the same!

So much so to the point that you started to ask yourself "didn't they just play this song?" - not that cool.

I'm perhaps surprised that though I thought I would have liked Fair To Midland more than I actually did after seeing them live... and what didn't help them was that the lead singer when 'dancing' would pretty much spaz-out on the stage as if ceasing in an upright position.

So as it turns out I liked 2Cents more than I liked Fair To Midland (minus their profanity).

And now we're up to Chevelle [myspace | Amazon] the headlining band. That have been touring for their new record...

Vena Sera

And their most recent single from the CD I Get It.

There are a lot of great things to say about them this concert.

It seems that everyone in the band just seemed to have more fun at this concert than at the last concert I saw with them, especially Dean:

They played a lot more of their older songs from Wonder What's Next and some from Point #1. And with a lot of the songs it seemed that Dean and even Pete would add a little extra to their playing, adding an extra chord and changing the sound / music a little.

As a whole they interacted a lot more and better with the audience! And they actually smiled and messed around with each other on stage, it was definitely a great concert!!

Even though Magic City Music Hall had a terrible sound and speaker set up that made it sound pretty crappy if you were right in front of the stage -- but it was still a great concert (you can't hold that against Chevelle or the other bands)!!

Click Here To Read The Full Article By Itself.