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I was flipping channels the other day and came across this hidden Gem.  The movie is litterally called “I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell.”  The plot is nothing fancy – basically three friends heading to a strip club to celebrate a bachelor party.  What happens in the movie is pure cinema magic.

There are a ton of hilarious scenes, mostly having to do with the main protagonist – Tucker Max.  The best way to sum up the movie, and Tucker as a character, is by watching this short clip.  I can’t embed it, but you can visit Heavy.com to see it.

I will simply call this scene:   Midget Stripper (probably not work friendly)

To shed some background, this is the morning after the strip club where Tucker is explaining his night.   Enjoy!

Zombie Ants are here run for the Hills!

Actually don’t worry if our tiny insect friends were the tip of the spear of the zombie invasion we would have been in trouble a long time ago. Scientist recently found evidence that ants being taken over which are commonly known as zombie ants began as far back as 48 million years ago. Harvard scientist David Hughes found this evidence by exploring plant fossils found in Germany’s Rhine Rift Valley  that had the tell tale signs of the zombie ant bite! So what exactly is a zombie ant?

It is actually a fungus that infects the ant and takes over it’s brains. Oddly though instead of making the ant want to eat other ant brains this fungus causes the ant to chomp down on the veins of leafs in order fo that fungus to get the necessary nutrients it needs to complete it’s take over. This causes the ant to die but the fungus then grows a stalk with a pod at the end that releases spores that will move on to continue the process again. This stalk grwos right out of the ant’s head as pictured here:

Pretty freaky stuff right?

Well it is not only fungi that find the ant body enticing. As descibed at National Geographicit is also common for phorid flies to inject their eggs  into a fire  ant. You know those pesky red ants that are everywhere in the southern United States. The eggs grow in the ant and make their way to the head of the ant. The larva can live there for weeks feeding off the brain and it has even been shown in some cases to cause the ants to migrate away from their colony as far as 50 yards so as to avoid begin attacked by other ants. To finish the process the baby fly will decapitate it’s host ant when it hatches and flies away. Check out a picture of the fly actually hatching out of the ant:

And that boys and girls is your Truth is Stranger then fiction moment of the day. Pretty freaky stuff if you ask me.

I try to explore a lot of different types of  music but in my interweb travels recently I came across the phrase “Zombie Jazz”. Needless to say I had to explore more. Would this be the preferred music of civilization after the inevitable outbreak, or would this be the smooth jazz used to keep the resistance spirits up and remind them of their humanity in the dark nights that will hold all of us tight once the  Zombie Apocalypse runs wild on us all.

It turns out it is actually the sound of a Jazz fusion type band bellowing out of the depths of Brooklyn New York. Meet the creators of “Zombie Jazz” the Father Figures:

They don’t look quite like you imagined do they? That’s okay they are musicians and they sound exactly how you would like them too! I am far from a jazz connoisseur particularly when it comes to more modern artist. Full disclosure here the latest Jazz album in my collection is Miles Davis’s “Bitches Brew”.  So how i found this little gem of a band was by reading a piece over at NPR’s “A Supreme Blog”     It is quite an interesting piece that details how Adam Schantz and the rest of the Father Figures make their push to strike out and actually tour. As many of you probably know Jazz is not really at the peak of it’s popularity and it is difficult for bands to string together enough dates to make setting out on the road profitable. Earlier this year they released their Self Titled album that seems to mix rock, jazz, and any other genre they felt would me necessary at the time.

Adam Schantz of the band answered NPR’s Patrick Jarenwattanannon’s questions about the self described “Zombie Jazz” title:

PJ: So, to be clear, it’s improvised music with jazz instrumentation … but it’s not exactly “jazz” as most people think of it.

AS:Precisely. The term “zombie jazz” seems to fit. Once people hear it, they understand. Plus, it’s a great word to get people’s attention in the press. I think we got a few writeups on tour solely because we wrote “zombie jazz” in the email header.

PJ: You like this zombie idea.

AS: It’s stuck with me since I first started throwing shows. But the zombie energy is a good one. It’s not too cerebral. They’re more concerned with eating brains rather than spending too much time using one. I think it favors the instinct, and human curiosity, things everyone can get behind

I really enjoyed what i heard checking out their myspace page and if you are interested i suggest you take a listen there too. Below is a video from their recent tour. I think it gives you a great idea of their sound and actually comes across as good “zombie music”! The visual is a little challenging but just listen to it and check it out:

Never… and I mean NEVER, get in between a fat guy and his Micky D’s.

Where do skittles come from dad? Well son…..

Arcade Fire graced Atlanta’s “Burbs” with their precense when they played the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre Wednesday 8/11/10 in Alpharetta GA. Myself and Hanzosword decided it was too good of an opportunity to pass up seeing them in our backyard so we headed down after work with high expectations. With the new album “The Suburbs” only a week out and knowing we were seeing the newly crowned best selling artist in the nation for the aforementioned album  we ate the dinner of champions (Taco Bell) and made our way to Lot C for parking.

Quite an interesting scene getting there around 7:40 when the first band Spoon was scheduled to go on at 8pm. I expected a full parking lot with lots of folks enjoying themselves and properly priming themselves for the show. Isn’t this what everyone does before any show? Not quite the case. The lot was far from full and those there were quite subdued. Hanzo even commented it seems as if the show time has changed or something because no one was there and I must admit I got the same feeling. I guess that is just the indie rock crowd for you?

We made our way in and the oddities did not stop there. After going down to the pit area we noticed even though they did not sell any lawn seats they still allowed you back on the lawn if you wanted to go back there. Cool, but my heart was set on being in the center of the action when the fun started. It was painfully clear we could easily wander around and still get a good spot so we headed out to check out the merch. Oddly if it was there I was unable to locate it.

Spoon came on at 8pm sharp and worked their way through a 55 minute set. They played a variety of songs from their new album as well as favorites from their older work. I would say i like Spoon but I’m not really a big fan. I think if they would have played for 40 minutes i would have been much happier. It seemed to drag on a bit but I’m sure had some to do with my hopes Arcade Fire would go on at 9pm. My favorite part of the Spoon show came when they did a cover of Wolf Parade’s “Modern World”. I love that band and song so it really helped pacify me for a bit.

Arcade Fire took the stage around 9:30 with an elaborate backdrop and quite a full amphitheatre waiting for them. They started with the appropriately named “Ready to Start” from the new album but quickly dove into fan favorites by moving straight into “Neighborhood #2 (Laika)” and the eternal anthem “No Cars Go”. The bands energy level was apparent with all participants seemingly having as much fun as the crowd. Regina’s voice is magnificent live and she seems to have more fun dancing on stage then anyone in the building could. The entire band put forth their best effort and sounded very tight. I could have used just a little more volume but that is just a minor complaint. 

The new songs sounded great live. Some songs like “Half Light II” , “Sprawl II”, and “The Suburbs” all seemed like they got half the crowds attention. They seemed to enjoy them but I can’t help but think a little more exposure and those three could become grand staples at their live shows for years to come. Two new songs that seemed to immediately capture the crowd were the rocking “Month of May” and the powerful “We Used To Wait” that found lead singer Win Butler teasingly coming closer and closer to entering the crowd as he belted out the chorus. “Month of May” brought one of the more humorous moments of the show when Win crossed his arms almost pretending to poat as he sang “now the kids are standing with their arms folded tight”. Of course it couldn’t be farther from the truth as the crowd feed off of the bands energy all night and met them with many hand claps, chorus sing along’s, and overall seemed quite enthusiastic. There were even quite a few crowd surfers making their way across the pit area throughout the show.

They debuted “Ocean of Noise” for the first time on the tour and I for one enjoyed it even though it was a slower number. “Ocean of Noise” was one of my favorites from Neon Bible and  i had not heard it live previously. I would be remiss if I did not mention how hot it was under the “Verizon Shed”. It did make some of the slower numbers hard to enjoy with all the body heat and hot humid Atlanta Summer air.

I had my hopes up to hear “Antichrist Television Blues” but it was not to be tonight. Other then the volume being a little low my only other disapointment was the set was not longer. The band gave their all for about an hour and forty minutes but with three albums now it is hard to hear all your favorites, but they did well getting to most of those favorites.

Some of the most memorable aspects of the show were the usual suspects at an Arcade Fire show. Win addressed the crowd with a sly grin said “Okay Alpharetta show me what you got” the band then blasted into “Powerout” and rocked straight into “Rebellion (Lies)” not missing a beat. Everyone responded magnificently and I could not help but tell myself this is why we got pit tickets and this is worth the cost of admission. As far as emotional highs and crowd interaction goes the only part of the show to top that one two punch was the final song of the night. Before the last song we noiticed a handful of folks left. I think Hanzo leaned into me and mentioned “That is a mistake they picked the wrong song to leave on”. Indeed they did as the band closed the night with a roaring rendition of “Wake Up”. Watching the video’s on youtube do it no justice to the overwhelming feeling you get from being part of that song live. It truly creates a feeling of synergy in the crowd and is the root of the reason why since 2003 fans have been telling friends about why and how they HAVE to see this band live.

All and all this was a great experience and whenever or wherever the Arcade Fire comes near you make sure you take the time to check out their show for yourself and see what all the hype is about. This is one of those rare occasions the hype is backed by reality. They are truly one of the greatest live bands making music now.

Setlist:

Ready To Start
Laika
No Cars Go
Haiti
Half Light II
Empty Room
The Suburbs
Ocean Of Noise
Keep The Car Running
We Used To Wait
Power Out
Rebellion
Month Of May
Tunnels
—————
Intervention
Sprawl II
Wake Up

The first video i took with my phone and it did not come out as well as i would have liked. I obviously need to adjust some settings for the sound and video quality. It is the end of No Kids Go. The second video was posted on youtube by jbaxter23. I don’t think neither video does the energy level justice, but you’ll just have to go see them to understand

End of No Kids Go

Wake Up

Most of Russia is on fire and for some reason it has not been a huge news story. In a summer filled with overwhelming coverage of the oil spill, which I was totally sick of by day 3, the major news outlets have decided not to report the severity of these fires. See Google Earth picture below.

I suppose if we can make the newstory somewhat relateable to Americans – it may draw some interest. Let’s say that Rocky is currently training in Russia for an upcoming fight (see video below).

Imagine Rocky training in a country on fire! This would make for a dramatic news story!

So I watched The Gate this weekend and it was great. It is one of those movies from my childhood that for some reason stuck with me. I would consider it the horror version of Goonies. My favorite line… “YOU’VE BEEN BADDD!”

Great nastalgia.