Police's use of Tasers

As any Canadian has heard quite a lot of lately, people across the nation have been in a rut about police officers and their use of tasers to subdue criminals. There have been 26 reported deaths due to taser use from police officers in the past couple of years and now people are thinking that the police are out to get criminals without caring for their safety. What people cant realize is that after reports of taser deaths come in it could take months to get standards changed for their use. The police is a huge organization. First they would have to get the people and scientists at the company where they got the tasers from to find a safer way to use them. Then they have to ship out how ever many tasers to however many police forces across the country. Then the police forces have to have rules established for their use before any kind of standard can come to be.

Of course after any one hears that they will say "Oh then you need to change the system. Well if you have any ideas pass em along because the main problem with the type of country we live in is that it is slow and whenever the 'Human Element' gets put into a system there are bound to be mistakes. So If you have an idea that can take the human element out of our system of power and law then you're smarter than me because in my opinion this is the best we got.

I've made a decision

I've had some comments lately about how random my blog posts are, and although I can agree they are a bit sporadic I thought the name of the blog would have explained it. Well since it has not I've created a new blog for anything music related. It is at the address http://misclanous.blogspot.com/ and is purely about music. So I hope you will all enjoy it.

Just a little thing

Over the past couple of weeks I have been hearing that people think I'm not religious. I would like to clear something up. I believe in god. I am a christian and a soon to be member of the United Church of Canada. I also believe in evolution. My philosophy on life is that you need a balance in between faith and reason. If you have to much faith then you're just a blind rag doll who does what every one else tells them to. If you have to much reason then you do what I used to do (go around telling people they are wrong about everything). With a balance you have enough sense to know when people are "BSing" you but enough belief to know that this isn't it.

Power Ballads

As many of you have probably been able to deduce about me, I am a music lover. I listen to my favourite tunes whenever I get the chance. So obviously I was extatic when I found out my mother was getting a computer and I would be allowed to upload Frostwire. I've had it for 3 days and I've uploaded over 150 songs already. Well when I realized that I needed to make some mixed Cd's so I could listen to these wihout the computer I went searching for some way to divide my songs so I could have some order to my mix CD's (and yes I know that is somewhat Oxy-moronic). So I came up with the obvious ones; Metal, Alternative & Punk, and Prog Rock. Then I had like 14 songs left over that didn't really fit in the other categories. Songs like It's Hrad for Me to Say I'm Sorry by Chicago, I'll Remember You by Skid Row, and Every Rose has It's Thorn by Poison. So I decided to make a POWER BALLADS list.

One of the most popular forms of music in the 80's (now referred to has Hair Metal) was known for it's grungy, heavy sound. For about five years they ruled the charts. But around 1985 people started to want the softer side of music again. And the power ballad was born. Songs that had a softer more unplugged sound but still had that powerfull gut wrenching guitar solo. Bands from all over started spilling their guts out with deep and profound lyrics about love and heart break.
Although many music historians consider this to be the start of the breakdown of the 80's hair metal scene, they still acknowledge that these songs were some of the best.

So just for fun I've put together a list of my favourite power ballads including some that were not from the 80's.

15. 1979-The Smashing Pumpkins
Although it came out in the alternative rock scene it is one of the most mellow songs ever written. It talks about easier times when kids could be kids and didn't have a care in the world. Since it's realease t has always been considered one of the Smashing Pumpkins best tracks.

14. I Can't Stop Loving You-Van Halen
In my opinion the last great Van Halen tune was a major hit in 1995. With that beautiful guitar riff and pounding bass line it let people know that Van Halen was still around (even if not for long).

13.Hard to say I'm Sorry-Chicago
One of Chicago's greatest songs has been a wedding staple since it's release. Although it has been lost among the recent generation, parents will still sing along when it somes on the radio.

12.November Rain-Guns N' Roses
Axl and Slash's Masterpiece. This near nine minute epic has the longest and one of the greatest solos in history. Released on Use Your Illusion 1 in 1991 it has become a staple of the GNR catalogue.

11.Sister Christian-Night Ranger
Just like #13 this song hasa been lost upon the younger audience but if you go to any classic rock bar you will surely hear this track.

10.Hysteria-Def Leppard
The title track from their greatest album is one of the beloved songs among Leppard fans. It has that slow-but-not-to-slow speed that is perfect for slow dancing.

9.Love Rears It's Ugly Head-Living Colour
This song has all the necessary components to be a power ballad. The deep soulful voice, The guitar solo, and the gut wrenching chorus. The one thing that makes it an odd choice is the style of music it is. It is not the usual Metal style but a funk rock song.

8.I Wanna know what Love Is-Foreigner
This is a song that everyone knows. It is on every soft rock compilation out there and is still selling on Itunes today.

7. Dont Cry-Guns N' Roses
GNR's second entry on the list is an incredibly popular song that is still played on classic rock stations today.

6.Last Kiss-Pearl Jam
The most recent member of the list is a cover of an incredibly popular song. The reason that this stands tall among all the other covers is Eddie Vedder's voice. He just sings effortlessly but with emotion.

5.Every Rose has it's Thorn-Poison
Another song that everyone knows. This song has been the one song that has kept Poison popular through the decades.

4.I Remeber You-Skid Row
This song is another lesser known track on our list. There isn't alot more to be said. It's just a flat out amazing song.

3.Is This Love-Whitesnake
This song known more for it's video than anything else is still played at dances today. With Dave Coverdale's voice wailing through the speakers you just cant help but sing along.

2.Love Bites-Def Leppard
Their most populr song and the second one on this list is a template for every ballad that has come since.

1.Don't Stop Believing-Journy
Was anyone really suprised. This is the song that people sing when their drunk, sad, happy, in love, hell they sing it any time it comes over the radio. Everyone knows the lyrics and unlike the cococabana they aren't embaressed to show em. This is the power ballad.

Hello readers

Hello everyone. As you may have noticed, I have been on a bit of a dry spell lately. I've run out of things to talk about. Well I haven't run out. I'm just out of things to write a lot about. So instead of giving up something I really enjoy, I will start to blog about lighter, and smaller topics. I should start sometime after the break with my new posts. I won't completely give up my old 4 paragraph posts but until some more exciting stuff happens in the world I'll be on a bit of a sabbatical.

Update

Hello loyal readers. I'm sorry about my lack of posts recently, I've just been sick and haven't had the time. If anyone has any post ideas then please send them my way on the comment board.

I made a video and have uploaded it onto Youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QgEiBz0w9E

Realization #2

In case any of you have just started reading my blog, over the past year I have been very confused at times about my beliefs. Religion has always been something very important to me. It has been a blessing and a curse. It allows me to have a way to explain my life but it also gives me a reason to doubt the existence of a god.

Last year, I was going to go through confirmation at my church but I was worried because of my thoughts on the "Big Bang" Theory, and evolution among other things. I thought that I couldn't believe in evolution and god without being a hypocrite. So instead of talking to my pastor about it I just made a billion lies of omission so that everyone around me could go on living while I thought about what I should do.

Well lately things have been coming into focus. I've started to realize how I'm not a hypocrite and why. I've finally realized how you can never be sure in faith. You can't be certain. If you think that you are completely certain in your faith then you are not only ignorant but a hypocrite.

It is a fact that almost 90% of Christians have never read the bible cover to cover. I have (It took a long time). The one thing that I learned from that experience was how many parts of the bible have another part that contradicts it. Because of that 1 simple fact, I was able to realize that all the people who would put their lives in the hands of the bible and god on pure blind faith are hypocrites. I know this one girl who preaches that god is the only way and all who do not give their lives to him are going to hell. But when I ask her about rules from the bible (i.e eating shrimp, rabbit, pig, wearing two different fabrics together) she openly acknowledges that she does them until I mention that they are rules from the bible.

Last weekend I went to an inter-presbytery event to learn about lent. While I was there I found meaning in something I'd never found any profound meaning in before. The cross. Anyone who knows their history knows that the cross the the church uses is inaccurate. The Christian church has been using a lower case "t" to display how Christ was crucified for who knows how long. The one thing that not that many people know is that in ancient Rome the cross used for crucifixions was in the shape of an upper case "T". So to explain the meaning I found in the cross last weekend.

The cross is the perfect example of how to have faith you need to have doubt. It shows that the church and the bible is filled with misconceptions and contradictions. It shows that to have faith you do not need to put your entire life in the hands of your faith. It shows that everything in the bible is not true word for word and it should be left up to interpretation by the individual who reads it. It shows that you need a mix in between faith and reason to lead the life you want to live.

A Requested Topic

Someone finally requested a topic I can do something with. My friend S##### suggested that I should write a post about "friends" who take advantage of their "friends". I happen to know a few people who do this and think that they are horrible horrible people. Just a note, I'm not used to this type of writing so if it's not up to my usual standard don't be surprised. So anyways, onto the post.

Picture this: A "friend" asks you if they can borrow some notes before the next period starts. Any normal person would say yes becasue they expect the other person to hold up their part of the bargain. But no this person decides to keep the notes for the rest of the day. Now what would you do in this situation. I know that I'd reprimand (there are much harsher words I could have used) this person and probably begin to have doubt in their ability keep promises.

Now picture this: A person who does that, plus takes answers from you in class. Bugs you with their homework dilemmas all the time and then brags that they are smarter than everybody. What would you do. Well here's what you can do.

1. Tell them off and stop conversing with them.
2. Give them another chance and if they fail again revert to option one.
3. Be pushover and continue to take the abuse until the end of semester.

What you do is up to you but personally I would go to option one.

Slasher Flicks

Yes I know that this is a much lighter topic than I've had recently. I'm just in a more not-so-serious mood as of late. So onto the main event.

Recently I took it upon myself to do something not many people would willingly do. I decided to watch the entire Friday the 13th movie series. It took me a whole long weekend to do but I got through it. The one conclusion I drew from that series was, "how could legendary movies like Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Halloween inspire someone to make this heap of crap." I'm sorry to any fans of the series, but I just hate those movies. So then I got to thinking about the whole slasher genre. From it's earliest roots in Psycho to it's latest additions like Prom Night, the slasher genre has always been interesting in North American culture. Although 90% of these movies have horrible actors, directors, writers, and producers, people continue to shell out their money to go see them. I've always found this interesting, so after I had finished watching the Friday the 13th series I decided to come up with a guide to slasher films. I have a list of good ones, mediocre ones, bad ones, and unwatchable ones.

GOOD
A Nightmare on Elm Street 1
Halloween 1
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Psycho
Scream 1
Scream 2
Saw 1
Saw 2
Evil Dead
Evil Dead 2

MEDIOCRE
Black Christmas (1974)
Prom Night (1980)
Scream 3
I Know What You Did Last Summer
Halloween 2
Friday the 13th 1
Sleepaway Camp
Saw 3
Saw 4
Saw 5
Halloween (2007)
Final Destination
Final Destination 2
Wes Craven's New Nightmare

BAD
Friday the 13th 2, 3, and 12 (2009)
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 and 3
Halloween 3
I Still Know What You Did Last Summer
Final Destination 3
Freddy Vs Jason

UNWATCHABLE
Friday the 13th 4-10
Nightmare On Elm Street 4-6
Halloween 4-9
And last but not least any slasher movie from the past decade that was not in another category

Just to finish this off I suggest that no one should ever watch all of these movies like I did. I think I dropped a couple IQ points.

I am sorry

I used the wrong example to explain my point. I want to clarify my point from earlier.
I have nothing against black history month.
I think its great to recognize the men and women of the past that made a difference for the cause of equality.
My point was never supposed to imply that I think it is bad to do so.
My point was simply "You can not say that you want racial equality but also make it special to be black. Because then it's not equality, it's superiority. Anyone who says it's special to be part of their race and still wants equality is a hypocrite."

I am sorry to all who were offended.

My problem with the Black, Woman, and any other racial movement you can think of

I want equality. There is no good reason that women or African Americans, or Asian Americans or any other race or sex should be discriminated against. My problem with the whole equality movement can be summed up with one word. SUPERIORITY. You hear many black men saying that they want racial equality and yet they make a big hoopla about black history month. YOU CAN NOT HAVE BOTH. You can not say that you want racial equality but also make it special to be black. Because then it's not equality, it's superiority. Anyone who says it's special to be part of their race and still wants equality is a hypocrite.

I do have another problem with the equality movement. RELIGION. Religious people are saying that it is OK to be black or any other race. But when it comes to being gay, they want to stone you. I have family members who are gay. There is nothing wrong with being gay or anything else in this world. So to conclude, The equality movement should be restarted so that people are striving for EQUALITY, not SUPERIORITY.