Ashes Fall

Tags: James Dewees, Live, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Ray Toro, Reggie and the Full Effect, Video, YouTube

I have come to the conclusion that Google Maps is the best thing known to the Interwebz right now.

Why?

During Dragoncon in Atlanta, Jenny and I used it to search out something as vague as “food” and then used “Street View” to actually see if there were sidewalks for us to walk on or if we had to drive. We also used it to scout out the hotels so we knew what we were looking for.

I’ve also been searching for a post office that has PO Boxes. Found one! Used “Street View” again to see if there was a left turn lane (about a year ago, I was rear-ended turning left and was thrown across two lanes of traffic, so forgive my paranoia) and where the entrance to the post office was since most of them have one-way parking lots. It was also sitting on an intersection, so I could use “Street View” to see what side of the street it was on.

It’s a beautiful thing.

Tags: Google, Google Maps, Internet

If anybody’s added me on MySpace, you’ll have seen my status talking about looking for recruits.

Well, I still am.

Here’s the deal: James Dewees is in some financial trouble over an accountant that messed him up six years ago and he’s just finding out about it. Penalties from that kind of stuff rack up fast. In an interview with Lawrence.com, he talked about this a bit and went on later to say he couldn’t afford to pay for musicians for this tour. When I saw the concert on Wednesday and he said he was in $100,000 of debt, I thought he was kidding but now it doesn’t sound like he is.

I have created Project James where we’re going to try and help him out some. Even if it’s just groceries for a month, I’m sure it would help give him and his wife a peace of mind. It’s just extremely disheartening to see him, a conservatory-trained musician, working construction jobs to pay the bills.

While donations would be nice, I realize not all people just “give” or don’t have the means to be able to. Therefore I also have stickers and pens that you can get that say “Save James” on them and tees will be coming soon. The stickers and pens will be shipped as soon as they arrive and are manufactured at Brandi’s Distribution Center and tees will go up as soon as I can get price quotes from local retailers. If nothing else, please go to the tour, get some Reggie merch, or simple promote the crap out of this project. I’m hoping to be able to hand James a check in person on September 14 at the last stop in Philly. If I can’t hand it to James, I’ll hand it to Frank. If that doesn’t work, rest assured James will get it regardless. Promotions will continue beyond this show and hopefully we can get him some help here and there with whatever we make.

On another note, this layout and another one I made got jacked. WTF.

Tags: James Dewees

There’s someone inside me that softly kills everyone around
They don’t know they’re dead to me cause intent never makes a sound
All along they found us strangled, lovers have learned from slower hands
With these eleven minutes I could teach you what I am

You’re sick, sick as all the
Secrets that you deny
Sins like skeletons are so very hard to hide
You’re sick, sick as all the
Secrets that you deny
Sins like skeletons are so very hard to hide

There’s a knot of reclusion, production, and depression
If a stranger turns up missing, this song is my confession
Tell the tales of the trail of dead, lovers learn from slower hands
Losing self in myself, inner demons make demands

You’re sick, sick as all the
Secrets that you deny
Sins like skeletons are so very hard to hide
You’re sick, sick as all the
Secrets that you deny
Sins like skeletons are so very hard to hide

You’re suffocating me, so very hard to breathe
My mask is growing heavy but I’ve forgotten who’s beneath

You’re sick, sick as all the
Secrets that you deny
Sins like skeletons are so very hard to hide
You’re sick, sick as all the
Secrets that you deny
Sins like skeletons are so very hard to hide

Tags: Anberlin, Reclusion

It’s no secret that I get Google Alerts to help me keep up with the latest and greatest (and sometimes the ridiculous and stupid) news on My Chemical Romance for Mikey Way Online. However, in these alerts, I also tend to get blog posts and fan fictions. So here’s my rant…

I realize a lot of these kids are young. I really do. However, a lack of the basics of the English language is just plain stupid. Now, if English is a second language, it’s forgivable because I know that’s difficult and Engish isn’t exactly the easiest one to learn.

The people I’m talking about are native speakers of the English language and still don’t realize that it’s important to be correct when writing out homophones. The differences between “they’re”, “their”, and “there” are significant. It’s also perfectly okay to use periods, commas, and (0MG!!1!) paragraphs.

On the topic of punctuation and formatting, there really is a structure to quotes and dialogue. When a person is quoted, put the part being quoted between (no, really!) quotes! No, not single quotes (apostrophes) but double quotes. If the quote ends with a period and the writing continues, replace the period with a comma inside the ending double quote and continue with the “said Frank” or whatever, as such: “I am only allowed one can of coke per day,” said Frank. The punctuation for the quote goes inside the ending quote. No, really. Example: “Why am I allowed only one can of coke per day?” asked Frank. The worst one is when someone else starts speaking and isn’t put on the next line. It’s confusing because it gives the reader the impression that the first person is still speaking.

It’s also fairly sad to see kids who have no concept of the basics of sentence structure. In an alert (sorry if whoever posted this is reading my blog), there was this subject: ” Are you happy for Gerard Way for getting engaged?” There’s two things wrong with this. The first is that it doesn’t matter what we think about Gerard Way’s engagement (however brief), but that’s a different entry entirely. The second is “for”. There’s two of them and neither of them belong in that question. It should be, “Are you happy that Gerard Way is getting engaged?” even though that’s a bit awkward with the “getting” because, if we’re aware he’s “getting engaged”, he’s probably already engaged.

My last issue is that of spelling. Please, for the love of the English language and the hearts of people who understand this concept, use spellcheck. Yes, it’s not perfect, but it’s a lot better than what a lot of people publish. It’s something. Beyond that, spellcheck isn’t perfect. It doesn’t catch said homophones. Hell, it doesn’t catch a lot of things because, according to spellcheck, it’s spelled correctly (and it might be), however it’s probably used incorrectly nonetheless. Basically, if I’m struggling to read within a few sentences, I quit reading. Period.

I’m not perfect and I don’t try to be, but I at least put in the effort. It’s really not all that difficult.

Tags: Rant