Lost Friends - Randal Schneider

Ok, so being that I met up with a friend that I hadn't seen in close to 11 years and we just had a graduating class go through it made me start thinking about never seeing students again. Now as I said before, this is the first class I got to know...3 years sharing drama, laughter, and sadness with them. And I will always be curious to see what happened to them. And it's this curiosity that makes me remember my friend Randal Schneider.

So let me set the stage, I have just transfered from Mt. Sac to Cal State Fullerton and am beginning all of my classes in my major. Now when you start in your major you have classes with a ton of people that you will see over and over again. It wasn't until my second class that I met Randal. We hit it off right away. We both liked alot of common things, computers, games, music, and of course Star Wars. Before I knew it, Randal was my best friend at school. We used to hang out on the weekends sometimes studying, most of the time screwing around making fun of some of the students that didn't understand the material. I remember one class we had in a computer lab, I sat there planning a trip to Laughlin via train. Well I was convinced a train had to stop in Laughlin, when I found out it went through it but didn't stop he sarcastically said I could jump out...of course I started laughing and our professor got upset. Laughing in class with Randal was a common theme. I can't count the number of times either he or I had to get up and leave class because we were crying from laughing so much. Or the semester he sat in on one of my classes because he had a break and didn't have anything else to do.

Now Randal was one of the smartest people I have ever met. Let me put it this way; he started out as an Engineering major, then decided to double major in Mathematics because they shared a bunch of classes. Then to top it off he was planning on doing a triple major with computer science... that's just insane. No matter what grade I got, he always got a higher grade. I remember the last class we had in summer school (Advanced Calculus) he had a solid A most of the summer, myself a solid C. We were laughing how this would be the 1st time I wouldn't get one grade lower...unless I pulled off an A+ on the final. Well, the two of us studied pretty hard for that test and he showed me some proofs that I had forgotten minutes before the test started. As luck would have it, those proofs were on the test. I ended up acing that damn final and got a B in the class. In the fall, my wife and I got married while I finished up my last semester. Randal was the only person from school I invited. He showed up, had a good time. We didn't have any classes that semester and we barely saw each other. Our friendship kinda ended on a whimper.

Now before you start saying, just look him up online...I have. I can't find that guy to save my life. He used to have a Prof Fink screen name (huge Simpsons, Futurama fan) and he changed it.

So what's the point? I always tell people don't become the next Randal. I know I should have made a better effort as well, but I have learned not to take friends for granted. When I left UPS after 5 years, I told my 5 closest friends this story and we have done a pretty good job of staying in touch...not as much as I thought we would, but we still get together a few times a year.

I miss Randal and am always curious as to what happened to him.

So as another year comes to a close, I wonder how many of my students will become Randals. I am sure I will have 1 or 2 come back for a few years, but then drift away. Sad story huh? But at least I found someone I hadn't seen in 11 years.

Musical tastes

Well it's that time of year again when my tastes in music start to shift a bit. Now despite this being one of the best years of metal, I still get bored after awhile of the same thing. And let's face it metal is usually verse, chorus, versus, chorus, solo, chorus, verse, chorus...and if you are lucky another solo. So anyway back to the topic at hand. Lately, for about 2-3 weeks, I have been listening to female fronted metal bands (or combo of male/female). Now maybe it was my review of Lacuna Coil, but something made me want to listen to it. I have created a playlist on my Ipod of 69 songs that simply rock! It's not just gothic metal either, there is some symphonic metal, metalcore, death metal...all solid music as well. Now for those who are wondering...how long does this phase last? Who knows...the longest I ever listened to female metal was about 1 month. Personally, I see myself blowing that away. Reason? Ipod; only selecting the best songs is what makes it so great...no skipping of songs.

Relay for Life & a crappy realization

So today was the annual Relay for Life cancer walk in Walnut. My wife and I did a four hour shift in the middle of the day. I thought that we might walk 2 hours together then trade off the next two, but we got going and just started talking and before you knew it we only had one hour to go. It was alot of fun. We even ran into people that we hadn't seen in over 8 years...that alone makes it a great experience.

My wife raised over $300 for the event ... me = $0. Don't get me wrong I tried, but I know I have to do more next year. Speaking of next year, we might try the night walk. And we might bring our little girl out too. She will almost be two! Very hard to imagine that right now, but this year flew by so I might as well.

So I came to the conclusion over the past few weeks that I am almost destined to get cancer. My grandfather died of cancer last year, and it started with prostate cancer. And just a few weeks ago I found out my dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer. BTW, my grandfather was my mom's father, so you can see I am getting it from both sides of the family. I guess realizing this early puts things into perspective. I feel like I am becoming more aware of everyday common events and really cherishing them. I don't want to miss anything with my daughter's life and I don't want to leave my wife alone. So what am I doing? Well I am trying to eat healthier and am working out on a daily basis. I don't drink or smoke, so I guess that accounts for something. I can hope that live as long as possible...knock on wood.

So this is a very depressing post, but it's the truth. Tomorrow is promised to no one. While at UPS, a 23 year old employee died at a wedding reception of a heart problem that no one knew she had. Most of the stuff that causes drama between family & friends isn't worth it. My advice is to try to let everyone know how much they mean to you and try to live everyday like it's your last...wow that sounds almost hippie-ish.

Alright next time I will get back to music or school.

Summer School

so day 2 of 24 for summer school. I don't mind summer school, it breaks up the monotomy of summer. It is 5 hours though...which can get kinda boring. It's funny because most brain research says that after 20 minutes the brain just kind of shuts off for awhile. So I have to find a way to present 4-5 sections in a 5 hour span without frying their brains. I don't find it too challenging until the later chapters that are more difficult. I'll give the students credit, I never wanted to do a summer school class in high school. Now in college I did take Advanced Calculus in the summer. It was my last "hard" math class (until I sat in on Topology Math 417..yikes!) and it went 3 hours a day 4 days a week...or something like that. Anyway, I liked it because that was all the math I had to learn. Although what made it somewhat worse was the fact I had just started working at UPS @ 3 a.m. everyday. I am happy with the fact I pulled off a B or B+ in the class after I totally aced the final. Seriously, you know that feeling where you just happen to know everything on the final? That was me. Ahhhh memories.

Top albums...mid year

Alright, last year I forgot to give my mid year top albums list, but this year I won't forget. I have been pretty impressed so far with the albums that have been released, mainly due to the return of the guitar solos in most metal releases. I will try to find some songs from the albums...most likely through their Myspace page. So here we go...top albums (so far)

1. Machine Head - The Blackening: this was a tough one between this album and Megadeth's United Abominations. What made this one #1? The guitar sound came across a little thicker than Megadeth's. Plus the songs are so complex with time/tempo changes. I mean when you have the guts to have a 10+ minute song to start off the album you know you have a solid album.
Machine Head's Myspace (Aesthetics of Hate)

2. Megadeth - United Abominations: a close second. This is another solid Megadeth album. Sleepwalker is a song that could have easily have been a R.I.P. leftover. Washington is Next, United Abominations, You're Dead, Burnt Ice, and the A Tout Le Monde remake all classics. The boys seem to be on a roll right now, hopefully they can keep this line-up together and see what they can do next.
Megadeth's Myspace (Washington is Next, Sleepwalker & A Tout Le Monde)

3. Susperia - Cut from Stone: Now first off this is not better than Unlimited. What we have here is another slice of modern thrash metal. Insane drumming throughout all of the tracks, heavy guitar riffs, and more Chuck Billy vocals makes this a solid album. The build up on the first track More is classic headbanging.
Susperia's Myspace (nothing from this album, but 3 songs from Unlimited)

4. Nightrage - A New Disease is Born: Ok, this is the 3rd album by this band. The first 2 had a classic Melodic Death Metal (ala At the Gates) feel to them. Right away you know this is different because one the first track you hear some clean singing vocals. You might be tempted to say this is a metalcore album, but it's not. Musically, it's still melodic death metal, but the clean vocals might turn off some. For me, it adds another dimension that Tomas couldn't give them.
Nightrage's Myspace (Scathing plus some others from their 1st 2 albums)

5. Sanctity - Road to Bloodshed: Did Testament release an album finally? No, but that's what this band reminds me of. Solos galore, solid drumming, and vocals that bring back memories of Chuck Billy. This is what Trivium's The Crusade should have been.
Sanctity's Myspace (Beneath the Machine, Zeppo, & Seconds)

6. Deadlock - Wolves: ok imagine At the Gates with a sprinkle of Lacuna Coil thrown in and you have Deadlock. Well I guess I could throw in some industrial elements as well and then you would have Deadlock. Their previous album featured 2 songs with a female vocalist, this album they have her on pretty much every song. Now this isn't opera style vocals or female screaming vocals, just a female clean singing along. It works...trust me it works. The trade off between male/female vocals seems effortless something that I have found is not that easy to achieve.
Deadlock's Myspace (Code of Honor)

7. Fear My Thoughts - Vulcanus: Where did this album come from? FMT were a Killswitch Engage clone on their last 2 albums...now they release what can only be described as a melodic death album...once again in the same vein as At the Gates. All of the breakdowns and metalcore tendencies are gone. Very nice change of pace.
Fear My Thoughts' Myspace (Culture of Fear & Blankness)

8. Shadows Fall - Threads of Life: ok now if you read my blog you know that Shadows Fall was the band that opened me up to a ton of music...so they will always have a special place in my musical heart. As for this album, nothing new. If you liked The War Within, then you will like this album. I can't knock them though because if they change people will scream sellout & when they don't change then people complain because they are afraid to try something new. Once again tight drumming, nice guitar solos, and top notch production.
Shadow's Fall's Myspace (Redemption)


Disappointments so far
1. Mnemic - Passenger: seriously this guy could be the worst vocalist ever. Their previous album Audio Injected Soul was a classic industrial metal album. It was perfect in everyway...why change it? Just disappointing.
Mnemic's Myspace

2. Chimaira -Resurrection: ok musically, nothing wrong again. Vocally I can live with it. But I am running into the same problem I had with their self-titled album...nothing sticks. After I turn it off I can't remember one song. It is a solid metal album that while listening to it you head bang, air drum, etc. but afterwards...nothing.
Chimaira' s Myspace

3. Becoming the Archetype - The Physics of Fire: I go back and forth with this one. Maybe it's because their debut Terminate Damnation was so strong, but this one is lacking something. Their debut was a classic metalcore album with some progressive elements thrown in. This album I would categorize as progressive death metal. Maybe I needed the metalcore...who knows? Still very solid and after a few more listens it could end up in the top 10.
Becoming the Archetype's Myspace

Still looking forward to
1. 3 Inches of Blood - Fire up the Blades (myspace page Goatriders Horde from upcoming album)
2. Darkest Hour - Deliver Us (myspace page Demons from the upcoming album)
3. Devildriver - The Last Kind Words (myspace page)
4. Beyond the Embrace - TBA (myspace page)
5. Biomechanical - Cannibalised (myspace page)
6. Guns N Roses - Chinese Democracy (it's a joke that thing will never be released)

Tirades of Truth: Lacuna Coil - Comalies

ok a couple weeks ago, I talked about some new classic albums (Nevermore, Into Eternity, and Killswitch Engage). Well I can't believe I missed one, actually I am sure I missed more than one, but this one is a glaring omission...

Lacuna Coil - Comalies

So where do I start? Well for those who don't know of this band, Lacuna Coil is a gothic metal band. The whole male/female vocal exchange wasn't started by Lacuna Coil, but they perfected it. Alot of people want to compare L.C. to Evanescence, but truth of the matter is that L.C. has been around longer and play traditional goth metal, not too much on the pop rock.

Alright so like I have said I always try to compare bands to Metallica, why? because they are pretty well known and it is easier to relate to them. So how can I compare a goth band to Metallica? Easy...like RTL before MOP, Lacuna Coil put out an album called Unleashed Memories. It really brought in and developed the male/female vocal dynamics. On earlier albums, they used more of the beauty and the beast approach...here they used more male clean singing. A quick note, Lacuna Coil, was never huge on the death male vocals, but the screams really went away after Unleashed Memories.

So what is Comalies like? In a word...perfection. The music is heavy...really heavy. I am talking classic head banging...not fast/thrashy, but heavy. There are no solos, but plenty of instrumental breakdowns (not metalcore breakdowns) and drum fills. One another note would have to be the "size" of the music, it feels and sounds so grand. This was the album that got me into the symphonic metal scene, although it doesn't overpower the rest of the band. The one thing I must say about this album is the singing performances by both Cristina and Andrea are so perfect. Her voice is so enchanting and intoxicating...and Andrea's is the perfect balance to it.

Song choices? All of them, this is a no filler album. All of the songs have great versus and great sing-a-long choruses. I can't praise this album enough.

samples: http://www.myspace.com/lacunacoil (Heaven's a Lie...classic a good feel for the album) & at Amazon

middle of a long day

ok ... so school is over, grades are posted/bubbled in. Graduation starts in about 2 hours and I am wide awake. Why is that a problem? Because I am not going to be getting home for another 17 hours. I am doing the whole Disney grad nite deal. It might not be that bad, but I couldn't fall asleep for that 2 hour cat nap. Maybe I will be able to get a nap @ Disneyland.

To make matters a bit worse, I was up at 3 A.M. this morning because my darling daughter is teething and is having some rough nights. Bless my wife, she works veyr hard to get her to sleep. Sometimes...scratch that most of the time she gets to her before I hear a thing. I really do try to help out during the night, but I don't hear her. My wife works her butt off at school and then gets like 5-6 hours of sleep a night...on a good night.

Wish me luck everyone...

End of the year....

Well here we are another end of the school year. This year is a little different because I came into this school 3 years ago and most of my classes were filled with sophmores...you do the math and realize they are graduating. A little bitter sweet you could say. Hopefully, they have learned right from wrong and will make some good decisions in their adult life. Oh well...life goes on right? Good luck to the class of 07.

As for my classes, believe it or not I do reflect on my teaching style. I know I have a lonng way to go before I am comfortable in my style, but Alg. B this year was pretty close. The daily quizzes, continuing to work on older material on a daily basis was a good idea. I also thought taking away the calculators with a month before state testing was a good idea too. As for my Geometry class, I did the same lessons as last year, but I couldn't motivate them it seemed like. I thought my tests were written a bit better with more multiple choice questions (to prepare theym for state testing), but for some reason they just didn't click. Algebra 2...oh my where do I start? Mainly seniors, who didn't need the class, was the first warning sign. I think I presented the material fairly well, but I need to tweak it some more...fine tune it if you will. Summer school will be a good place for me to improve my Algebra 2 techniques and lessons.

I have no idea what my schedule will be like next year, if I get another Alg. 2 class I am sure I will do better. I am curious about this Geometry AB course we offer. Who knows? I won't find out for another few weeks...or months.

As for my music...I think I did a fair job of exposing them to new music. It's funny to watch kids come in as they hear metal playing in the class for the first time. Most give a double take...like wait this is a math class. We played everything from Metallica (of course) to Lacuna Coil. Motley Crue to Guns N Roses...you get the idea. I would have to say The Polyphonic Spree was a surprise hit for the class...a catchy song that had most humming at some point of the class. Omissions from this year, Velvet Revolver, Foo Fighters (only 1 song), Testament, and some others that I can't believe I missed out on. It's funny, most kids know these metal bands from Guitar Hero. To hear them come in and ask for Hangar 18...well who am I to say no, right?

A side note...I scan/rescan all of the lyrics for any curse words. That's why I stay off of the rap music, my students say they can't understand it anyway, but I tell them that I would know and it's wrong.

So next stop...Disneyland and grad night a first for me. Then a week off with the baby and then summer school. Good times.

Iced Earth

Well this band holds a special place in my heart and always will...why? Iced Earth was the first real band I got into after Metallica& Megadeth ran their course for me. I remembered hearing about Iced Earth on tour with Megadeth. The Megadeth boards were on fire about how good this band was so I decided to check them out. Now the first thing I noticed about the band is the high quality artwork they have for their albums. Check them out.








Now let's talk about the music. Iced Earth plays a sort of NWOBHM/thrash metal mix. Imagine Iron Maiden on steroids. Instead of Steve Harris' galloping bass line you get a heavy head banging guitar riff. My first Iced Earth album was Something Wicked This Way Comes, which is good because the sequel to that album comes out later this year. Something Wicked is a solid album from start to finish, but you quickly notice the fast song then slow song pattern for the entire album. You can't get into a rhythm to either bang your head or get out your lighter. The shining moment on the album, and this is what hooked me on Iced Earth, is the Something Wicked Trilogy. 3 songs linked together clocking in at about 25 minutes. I had never heard anything like this before. In a nut shell, the trilogy talks about this character who is destined to destroy all of mankind...oh yeah I guess I should note the fact the lyrics aren't happy, if you need more proof let's look at their 2nd album.

Night of the Stormrider is a concept album about a soldier who loses his faith in religion and decides to take it out on mankind. The really evil thing about this is that he doesn't have any regrets and would do it again. Musically, NotS is probably my favorite IE album. The riffs and time/tempo changes through out the entire album are really great. The intro riff to Stormrider is probably one of my all time favorites.

One last thing about Iced Earth...the line up changes. Until the 2 part album is released, no album has had the same line up from one album to the next...is this a problem? Not really, starting with Burnt Offerings, Matt Barlow took over the vocal duties. Now the previous 2 vocalists were good, in fact I heard the only reason the guy from NotS was dropped was because of his cocky attitude. But Matt Barlow quickly became the voice of Iced Earth. The next 4 albums and one live album are all solid albums, especially the live album. If you can find the 3 disc live album, Alive in Athens, or the 2 disc Days of Purgatory get them. They give a great overview of Iced Earth minus Horror Show and The Glorious Burden. After HS, Matt Barlow left the band due to his reaction to 9/11, enter Tim Owens of Judas Priest. Now Tim Owens is a good vocalist, but for me he is too much like Rob Halford. If I want Rob Halford I will listen to Judas Priest or Halford. TGB was a solid album, but it was missing a lot. The riffs didn't seem to be their the whole time and the vocals were always high.

So now we sit back and wait for 2 Iced Earth albums this year. I have heard the EP, Overture of the Wicked, and I am not super happy, but I am not giving up on them. This is Jon's baby, he has been waiting to finish the Something Wicked Trilogy for 2 albums now. I don't think he can mess it up.

Soulfly...more tribal metal

So I left off last year with Sepultura's Against and Nation. I said I would talk about Soulfly, but never really did...huh. Anyway, a quick breakdown of Soulfly. After Max left Sepultura for a variety of reasons, he started a new band Soulfly. You can read all about Soulfly here.

So as for the band's music, it is classic tribal metal, with a hint of nu-metal. With a crap load of guest musicians on all of his albums the music never really flowed well together from album to album. But people agree on 2 things, first their debut Soulfly is basically Roots 2, seriously if you like Roots you will love Soulfly. And secondly, Dark Ages is a definite return to a classic Sepultura thrash sound. If this were a perfect world, Dark Ages would have come after Chaos A.D. and before Roots. It is more of a thrash album, than nu-metal. Some have even called it death metal, which I can see.

So onto the album. Of course it opens up with an instrumetal 40 second intro...when we look back at music at this time everyone is gonna ask...why so many intros? Even more so in this case, because adding the intro to Babylon would have worked perfectly...oh well. Babylon gives the listeners of what to expect throughout the album. Some killer guitar riffs, excellent drumming, and some soft interludes. The lead guitar plays a sort of middle eastern sounding riff throughout the song...very nice. The song for me that captures the whole aspect of tribal metal is I and I, keeping in pace with the blistering riffs of Babylon, I and I is a straight up thrash metal song with a head banging chorus if I ever heard one. The great thing about this song is the tribal breakdown, simply breath-taking, then after about 1 minute a classic guitar solo...I'm talking late 80's early 90's solo here. There seems to be a nod to Arise, with the song Arise Again, which seems to bash critics of Soulfly. It doesn't live up to the Sepultura song, but it is a welcomed surprise. Riotstarter and Frontline are solid songs as well, with Frontline using the f-word every 5 seconds it seems.

The one drawback to this album is that it is over an hour long and that might be a struggle for some. I found this album to be my favorite Soulfly album.

Next up...Iced Earth.