Recent Playlist...

Music:
Brand New, "The Devil & God are Raging Inside Me"
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, "The Boatman's Call"
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, "The Good Son"
The Good, The Bad & The Queen, new single
Dustin Kensrue, "Please Come Home"
Planes Mistaken for Stars, "Mercy" (SO DANG GREAT)
To-Mera, "Transcendental"
Various Artists, Sick Of It All tribute

Movies:
"A History of Violence"
"The Constant Gardener"
"The Cooler"
"The Illusionist"
"Little Miss Sunshine"
"Stay"

Kobayashi! Kobayashi!

Mission Accomplished... No, Seriously

The US doesn't even have control of Baghdad now?? I mean, WOW. Really? And Bush is rattling his sabre toward Iran? Yikes.

Updated Playlist

108, "Songs of Separation"
Demiricous, "One"
Dustin Kensrue, "Please Come Home"
Orodruin, "Claw Tower... And Other Tales of Terror"
Sigur Ros, "Takk..."
Slough Feh, "Atavism"

I love Wired But...

The same magazine who, just a few months ago, declared "No Heaven, No Hell, Just Science" in their cover story about "the New Atheism" now has a cover story about "What We Don't Know." And while in these articles experts still ridicule such "antiquated" ideas as the soul, life after death, and God (one blurb even refers to the human brain as "a piece of meat") it turns out scientists STILL don't know:

- What consciousness is
- Why we have it, how it develops, how it ends
- Why we age
- Why we die
- Why we need to sleep (and why we dream)
- What the universe is made of ("dark matter" = "we have no idea")
- What sparked the biggest leaps in evolution
- Why they can't create life in a laboratory (!!)

I think they need to have a Christian who loves science and gadgets as much as they do contribute a few articles. ;)

Recent Playlist

108, "Curse of Instinct" EP
Brand New, "The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me"
Rosemary Clooney, "Beautiful Ballads"
Danger Doom, "The Mouse and the Mask"
Maylene & the Sons of Disaster, "Maylene & the Sons of Disaster"
My Bloody Valentine, "Loveless"
My Dying Bride, "Songs of Darkness, Words of Light"
The Notorious B.I.G., "Ready to Die" (remaster)
Rilo Kiley, "More Adventerous"
The Streets, "The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living"

Peter

“And if you are asked about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. But you must do this in a gentle and respectful way.” (1 Peter 3:15-16)

Die Die My Darling Set Lists & Thank Yous...

Die Die My Darling just played our third show in three years with our third lineup. It was a blast! Thanks to all of our friends who came out -- Nils (Happy B-Day), J.D. (DownZig's bro), Nicole Schieppati, KellDogg, Candy S. and get ready for some sick name drops:

Dave & Ben from Throwdown, Marta, Leppke & Danough from Bleeding Through, Joel "The Falcon," Scraggs and Dave from The Dear & Departed, Keith Barney & Trevor Dark Baby from Eighteen Visions, Sean Durham & Erik Collins from Sinai Beach, Davey Havok from AFI, it ruled.

Yep, we have sweet friends.

Special thanks to Dave Peters for the sick guest vox on "Skulls." If you haven't heard Throwdown's cover of "London Dungeon" you should check out their MySpace page and rock it.

Here's a list of all the shows we've played thus far... You never know when, where or in what form we'll turn up nor what songs we'll be playing. And... Neither do we!

OCT. 31, 2003 -- first ever DDMD show
Venue: Showcase Theater, Corona, CA
Other Bands: Bleeding Through, Throwdown, Donnybrook

Line-Up:
Ryan "DownZig" Downey (ex-Burn It Down) -- Vocals
Ken "K-Flo" Floyd (Eighteen Visions) -- Guitar/ Vocals
Mick "Mickdeth" Morris (Eighteen Visions) -- Bass
Alex "RoboAfro" (The Mistake) -- Drums

Set List (*not in order):
Last Caress, Where Eagles Dare, Angelfuck, Hybrid Moments, Teenagers from Mars, Mommy Can I Go Out and Kill Tonight?, 20 Eyes, Bullet, She, Skulls, Ghouls Night Out, London Dungeon, Halloween, Die Die My Darling

OCT. 30, 2005 -- second ever DDMD show
Venue: House Of Blues, Anaheim, CA
Other Bands: Sweet & Tender Hooligans (Moz tribute), The Curse (Cure tribute)

Line-Up:
Ryan "DownZig" Downey -- Vocals
Brandan Schieppati (Bleeding Through) -- Guitar
Mick "Mickdeth" Morris -- Bass
Ken "K-Flo" Floyd -- Drums

Set List (*not in order):
Last Caress, Where Eagles Dare, Angelfuck, Teenagers from Mars, 20 Eyes, We Are 138, Bullet, Skulls, She, Ghouls Night Out, London Dungeon, Halloween, Die Die My Darling

JAN. 16, 2007 -- third ever DDMD show
Venue: Roc Bar, Costa Mesa, CA
Other Bands: None

Line-Up:
Ryan "DownZig" Downey -- Vocals
Brandan Schieppati -- Guitar
Ryan "Wombat" Wombacher (Bleeding Through) -- Bass/ Vocals
Ken "K-Flo" Floyd -- Drums

Set List:
Last Caress, Bullet, Ghouls Night Out, Earth A.D., Skulls (with Throwdown's Dave Peters), Where Eagles Dare, 20 Eyes, She, Death Comes Ripping, Die Die My Darling

Matthew 6:2-4

“When you give a gift to someone in need, don’t shout about it as the hypocrites do – blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I assure you, they have received all the reward they will ever get. But when you give to someone, don’t tell your left hand what your right hand is doing. Give your gifts in secret, and your Father, who knows all secrets, will reward you.” (Matthew 6:2-4 NLT)

DIE DIE MY DARLING SHOW TONIGHT!

See you there! Look down below for info.

GHOULS NIGHT OUT!

The Wisdom of Honest Tea

"A person is not old until regrets take the place of dreams."
-- John Barrymore

DIE DIE MY DARLING!

A Story from Sundance ...

The Sundance Film Festival is coming up and hearing about it reminds me of a funny story from 2004.

MTV News sent me to the festival with the primary objective of interviewing Haylie Duff, who at that time, was Hilary's "unknown" sister. The idea was to get some kind of introductory "getting to know the 'other' Duff" fluff piece. I was sent to Park City, solo, armed with a DV camera and a trusty MTV News mic cube for a mere two and a half days.

**I have to point out that I came back with pieces on at least 4 movies, whereas, the year before, MTV News paid to put up a VP, an on-air 'reporter,' and a 'producer' in Sundance for a week and they returned without a SINGLE airable news piece or even web item (although they did try to edit one piece together -- something about all the sweet free swag they scored, which the smart people in management rejected).

Which isn't too dissimilar from when I begged and pleaded to cover San Diego ComiCon, was told I could have a reporter and a beta crew, which then became myself and another producer, and finally just moi with a DV camera (you know, it was just "some geeky event") and I came back with Halle Berry, Kate Becksinale, Elijah Wood and Rob Zombie interviews.

Covering ComiCon for MSNBC in 2004 was a lot more fun (though I did have fun there in 2004) because, as an on-air reporter myself, I could interact with the diehard fans. What wasn't fun was doing the "Stealth" junket the same weekend.

ANYWAY: I was stoked to be going to Sundance, alone or not -- especially about covering the press conference for Metallica's "Some Kind of Monster," which was truly a blast and well worth the flights to and from, and the cold.

The elder Duff-ster had a bit part in some very, very small movie that had no distributor. In order to 'nab the interview, we had to (as is customary) agree to interview the leads from her film. So I blew through a couple of quick interviews with the guy who starred in the film and the girl who played his love interest. Then I talked to the "other" Duff and went on my way.

The film's producers were tres excited to have MTV covering them; so much so that when I ran into some of them the next day, we ended up having some long conversations. Turned out one of the producers was a HUGE comic fan. We bonded over all kinds of Marvel funny books and got to talking about the possiblity of me writing a screenplay for him.

Back in LA, this guy called me and set up two different lunches. I ended up having to blow each of them off, at the last minute no less, due to work obligations (and a general lack of enthusiasm about sitting in traffic, etc.)

I never actually saw the guy's movie. I missed the screening at Sudance because MTV had flown me in a day late (and a dollar short), sort of like the time they sent me to interview Metallica at a gig but scheduled it so my flight left before they actually went onstage; Kirk was kind enough to suggest that I lie to my bosses and say they were rockstars and insisted on doing their interview after the gig, but, I just can't lie. Ironically, MTV Films ended up grabbing the movie, and released it several months later.

The name of the movie?

NAPOLEON DYMANITE.

Needless to say, the producer in question didn't return MY calls after that. ;) Although I think I still have the "Vote for Pedro" button he gave me at Sundance somewhere...

The "Halloween" Remake and the Apple iPhone

More news on the Apple phone. Something else I am started to get excited about: Rob Zombie's remake of "Halloween." While it is true that these remakes of classic horror flicks are pointless at best ("Texas Chainsaw Massacre," "The Amityville Horror," "The Hills Have Eyes") and downright offensive (in the wrong way) at their worst ("Texas Chainsaw: The Beginning"), I believe that Rob just may have the right balance of fanboy and somewhat seasoned director to pull this off. His casting choices are another reason to have hope: Pat Skipper will play Mason Strode, the father of Laurie Strode, while Dee Wallace-Stone will play Laurie's mother, Cynthia Strode. Skipper's credits include "Predator 2" and "Hellraiser: Bloodline", as well as several episodes of "The X-Files," one of my favorite shows of all time (alongside "Buffy" and "Angel"). Wallace-Stone is best remembered for her role as Elliot's divorced mother in "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" and as Karen White in "The Howling." She was also in the original (and brilliant) "Stepford Wives" in 1975 (talk about an AWFUL remake!). Tyler Mane, who made a more than decent Sabretooh in the first "X-Men," is playing Michael Myers (he worked with Zombie before in "The Devil's Rejects"). Malcolm McDowell ("Clockwork Orange") will appear as Dr. Loomis. Zombie recently said that he's seen the finished mask that will be worn by Michael Myers: "All I can say is 'HOLY F***.'It looks perfect. Exactly like the original. Not since 1978 has (Myers) looked so good." "Halloween" is due in theatres on August 31, 2007. Filming begins later this month. Zombie is documenting the entire process. I had an opportunity to visit Zombie at his production office during the making of "The Devil's Rejects." The guy rules. I also spoke to him at that film's press junket, and before that, at the San Diego Comicon. He's always a gentleman.

This is KILLER.

Star Trek Cribs... with Charlie Murphy!