The House of Hunt

So in my never-ending search for the bizarre and weird, I came across this site today.

Apparently just listening to music can now make you gay. While some of the bands on this list are self-evidently gay (Nickelback, Hinder, John Mayer) and others are known for being outwardly homo (Judas Priest, The Village People, Boy George), I am disturbed by the presence of bands that are in rotation on my playlist: Eagles of Death Metal, Polyphonic Spree, Queen, Audioslave, Red Hot Chili Peppers, 30 Seconds to Mars, and The Killers. Am I one sashay away from gaytardom?

I also have to wonder about the inclusion of the Indigo Girls and Elton John twice. Granted, Elton closes out the list with the caveat that he’s “really gay.” But what about the Indigo Girls? Are they the lesbian version of Double Mint Gum? Double your gayness with Indigo Girls? Confusing.

Perhaps the most bizarre is the mention of Sufjan Stevens. Surely they’re not including this Christian on the list due to his slightly femmy vocals and musical stylings? Maybe they know something that even Sufjan doesn’t.

So let this be a warning to you! Get right or get left….turn or burn…I think the message of this page is “don’t play or you’ll go gay.”

This is awesome.

This video has it all: bad rapping, furniture and other home accessories, awful video editing…oh and a jingle that makes all other commercial jingles bow in its presence.

Could we get this guy a record deal? It would be amazing. I anticipate song titles like “Get Out Of My Dreams And On To My Ottoman,” “Come Rock My Chair,” and  “Is That A Fire Poker In Your Pocket Or Are You Just Happy To See Me?” That last one would definitely earn the album a parental advisory sticker, a mandatory part of gaining street cred in the hip hop world.

Of course, we can only hope that this guy sold Kanye, Bow Wow, L’il Ray Ray, Jim Jones and others their housewares before they hit the big time. If that’s the case, then they owe him. I fully expect to see this on Mos Def’s next mixtape.

Wow.

Every now and then a film comes along and offers the whole package of what movies could and should be: story, acting, cinematography, music, effects, etc. Children of Men is one those triumphs. April and I got a chance to see it the other night with Phil and Jess. We were blown away. It presents a vision of the not-to-distant future where the hope of the world is dying as women have become infertile and mankind is slowly growing extinct. It’s bleak, brutal, and in some ways, absolutely beautiful. In the midst of the chaos and destruction, a new fragile chance at redemption comes to light…and what ensues is frenetic in pace and urgent in tone.

It’s an utterly fantastic movie and I would highly recommend it to all my friends (and my legion of enemies too).  Many thanks to Nathan for recommending it to us. I had been interested in seeing it when I first saw the preview, but his comments after viewing it pushed me over the edge. What a great film to start out 2007.

In other news, there’s a new report saying that some Canadian coins might be bugged, circulating in the U.S. as transmitters, tracking the people carrying and sending information about their whereabouts and goings-ons.

What the H?

Canada, we know you’re jealous and all. I mean, being the 51st state isn’t easy, but look at Puerto Rico. They’re making peace with their 52nd status. But spy coins? Honestly? You could do better. An incursion of Mounties, a stampede of drug-enhanced attacker elks, perhaps laser-equipped polar bears…or even smuggling midget Eskimos in cans of spam.

But spy coins? Poor form Canada. Poor form.

So I usually don’t use little survey thingies on here, mainly because it seems like a cop-out for actually coming up with something semi-decent to say. But as I was perusing the various bulletins from our friends on our MySpace page, I noticed this gem from Mark Salomon. Now Mark’s an awesome guy, someone who I really respect, and I thought to myself, “Well, if Mark is doing it, it must be cool.” See how I did that? I justified something that I had previously eschewed because one of my musical idols is doing it. I’m so free-spirited and independently-minded.

Anyway, here’s how this works:

1. Put your music player on shuffle.
2. Press forward for each question.
3. Use the song title as the answer to the question.

So here we go!

What does next year have in store for me?
Gusty Like The Wind - Maylene and the Sons of Disaster (hmm…I’m not sure how to take this. We don’t exactly live in tornado alley. Does this mean hard times are a’gonna blow?)

What does my love life look like?
Cowards Way Out - The Desert Sessions (Oh I hardly think April would agree with this one. Though it is a cool instrumental track. Maybe this is what should be playing the background when we get groovy together. Yeah, that’s right. I said “get groovy.” Big whoop, wanna fight about it?)

What do I say when life gets hard?
The Widow - The Mars Volta (This truly makes no sense, even to my non sequitur-wired brain.)

What do I think of when I get up in the morning?
Hit The Floor - Linkin Park (Most days, this is sorta true. I’m not a huge fan of getting up for work, yet this is what I must do.)

What song will I dance to at my wedding?
Sand - Filter (Well no, actually it was “Nothing At All” by Allison Krause. But this might have been cool for part of the wedding ceremony.)

What do I want to do for my career?
Rich Young Ruler - Derek Webb (Sweeeeet. Rollin’ in the da money. So when is this going to start?)

Favorite saying?
Declaration - Killswitch Engage (hmmm…I do talk a lot…)

Favorite place?
The Brakes - Agnes (Okay musical survey thingie. We need to have a talk. You do not know me at all. Everyone who knows me knows that my favorite place is the gas pedal. Straighten up and fly right or else!)

What do I think of my parents?
Same Problem - Waking Ashland (If by “problem” you mean “lots of awesome help on fixing up our house,” then yes.)

Where would I go on a first date?
Supermassive Black Hole - Muse (Now that would be awesome.)

Drug of choice?
Yes - Stavesacre (Hahahaha…now that’s perfect.)

How do I describe myself?
Speed Kills But Beauty Lives Forever - Smashing Pumpkins (Wait, which one am I? Speed? Beauty? Forever? But?)

What is the thing I like doing most?
Electric Sleep - Red Radio Orchestra (Is this like falling asleep in front of the TV? If so, then yes. But not really. But yes)

The song that best describes the president?
U2 - When Love Comes To Town (Jonathan M, can you believe U2 showed up on my playlist? Shocking, eh? I have no idea what this says about Dubya though. Maybe we should ask the First Lady.)

What is my state of mind like at the moment?
Breath Of Water - Cave In (Beautiful song…just like my mind.)

How will I die?
Closer - Jimmy Eat World (Wait what? I’ll be closed in? Or is Death closer than ever? Tell me music survey thingie!!!)

Song they’ll play at my funeral?
Asthma - P.O.D. (Given that I’ve struggled with this all my life, this is actually strangely appropriate. And the line “I would die to breathe again.”)

What song will I put as the subject?
Hard Night - Open Hand (I definitely will not go gently into that dark night…)

And there you have it friends. My life watered down to a randomly shuffled iTunes playlist.

In my on-going efforts to completely and utterly run the idea of 2006 lists into the ground and to the center of the earth, I hereby present the coolest music videos of last year. These are my favorites, in no particular order…watch, learn, enjoy, and rock out!

Dani California - Red Hot Chili Peppers
I’ve never been a huge Peppers fan, mainly just following them and their music via the singles. They’ve always had visually interesting music videos and this one definitely continues the streak. This puts a great spin on the usual “hey, let’s just film the band play” video by filming the band as they pay homage to the great acts in rock history.

Here It Goes Again - OK Go
You’ve probably seen this a hundred times…and it may be close to oversaturation at this point. But the fact remains that this is one of the coolest videos of last year. Funny, low budget, and simply awesome.

I Want You So Hard (Boy’s Bad News) - Eagles of Death Metal
What do you get when you mix Queen of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme on drums, cameos by Jack Black and Dave Grohl, and a fun rockin’ tune? Guitars that blow peoples’ clothes off. Oh and this video.

Brother - Murder By Death
Great vocals, great song, great concept. Nothing like a band playing in a 1920’s speakeasy. These guys were in my top albums of the year and this video is a good depiction of why.

It’s Beautiful (Once You’re Out Here) - Stavesacre
I love this band. That’s why this is here. Pure and simple.

Hole In The Earth - Deftones
If our planet ever gets disintegrated by a black hole, I hope they play us out as we go. Such a kickin’ song. I need to hear the rest of the record.

Taking Back Control - Sparta
Aaron recently recommended Threes to me, and this first single is a gritty, fantastic song. The visual concept is a bit of a slow burner, but it has a great pay-off once the song gets going.

Writing On The Walls - Underoath
A creepy, tense video for an intense, unbridled song. It’s a good match, with the images nicely matching the insanity of the band’s performances. I especially love that parts of Aaron’s drumset are nailed to the walls and rafters.

Knights of Cydonia - Muse
Robots, unicorns, kung-fu, cowboys, motorcycles, this video has it all. It also has the distinction of being the only video (that I’m aware of) on this list to have its own website. This is the definition of epic. In the span of six minutes, Muse managed to cram in references to Star Wars, Planet of the Apes, The Matrix, Mad Max, Ben-Hur, and probably more Kung-Fu and Western movies that I’ll ever be able to see. If I had a pick one top video of the year at gunpoint, it’d probably be this one.

In closing, I would be completely remiss if I didn’t also highlight the contributions that Gnarls Barkley made to the world of music video this past year. They give us not one, not two, not three, but FOUR sweet videos. Granted, they had the hype machine behind them to provide the funds and promotional push needed to put out four. But kudos to them for putting out four distinct and equally creative videos. I’ll link them here, but be warned that parts of the videos for “Gone Daddy Gone” and “Go Go Gadget Gospel” could be considered slightly racy. I know we’re all adults here, but I figured I should put that slight disclaimer in. Regardless, these are all phenomenal. If every band out there put the time and effort for detail and creativity that these display, MTV would shift from being an eyesore on TV to a housing for works of art:

Crazy
Gone Daddy Gone
Who Cares?
Go-Go Gadget Gospel

Have fun watching!

It’s been a bit since I’ve linked to a random video, but this is one of the funniest ones I’ve seen in a while: Spiders On Drugs. Beware of a few swears, but on the whole, this one is a scream. “Nice web, Mr. Crack Spider.”

What really caught my eye, however, was the credit at the end of the clip: “First Church of Christ, Filmmaker.” A church made this? How awesome is that? To all my Renovatus brethren and sistren, I’ll simply say this: The bar has been set and it is high.

Oh and in case you’re wondering what that picture of a kid digging for nose gold is doing in this post, it’s one of the images that came up in Google Image search when I typed in “Spiders On Drugs.” Do with that what you will.

So word on the street (and by “street” I mean this article from NME) is that wordsmith 50 Cent is preparing to launch a G-Unit book imprint sometime this year.

WHAT THE H?

Titles include such gems as “Death Before Dishonor” and “The Ski Mask Way,” which must be some urban continuation of the Friday the 13th series. At any rate, what in the world is going on here? Who in the heck greenlights stuff like this? Who in their right mind thinks about budding, upcoming authors and says, “I think I’ll pay 50 Cent to write. Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ sucked and he raps about the club, birthdays, and sippin’ Bacardi, but surely he has something worthwhile to say in a book.”

If we’re looking for hip-hop artists to convert into authors, I can think of about 5-10 others who I’d rather read than 50. Common, Ice-T, k-os,  Grandmaster Flash…

Sheesh.

…is one of my own creation! Booyashaka!!

Gaze, if you will, upon a morsel of an IM conversation between myself and Matt, keeping in mind that both of us are unabashed comic geeks. The following came up as we were discussing my recent read of The Kree/Skrull War and The Infinity Gauntlet, namely the presence of a lot of random character with very strange gifts or abilities.

JH: You definitely get the feel some times that the creators were really stretching when they came up with some of these folks. Mmmmmm…let’s create a guy whose snores bore holes into people’s skulls. And so we’ll have to come up with a sidekick who can carry him around when he’s asleep.
MW: LOL
JH: Plus he’ll some sort of magic power gem that puts him into deep R.E.M. cycle at a moment’s notice when the bad guys spring a surprise attack. We’ll call him Insomnia and his sidekick, The Sleeper.

There you have it folks. Insomnia and The Sleeper. Coming soon to a comic rack near you.