The Muslims (self titled record)

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The Muslims - The Muslims

Wow. It's been a while. I mean, it's been a while since I've posted in the mood that I'm feeling right now: tired from the workday, getting sick, opting to blog for the goodness of blogging and actually having something to share with the reader, music searcher, blogger, Internet Cobra, etc.

I'm not sure how I fell onto this record - there goes that storyline. I can tell you that it's good if you want to hear a raw, garage, modern rock band that can propagate good vibes towards acting like a ninny, playing air drums and guitars, or simply rocking out while in the car. (Most of my music appreciation happens in the car.) Anyhow, I know the band's from San Diego and, no, I'm not sure or care if any of them are Muslims.

There are garage, early punk and pop-punk influences. There are the revolutionary Bob Dylan influences. This shouldn't enable any conclusions since many records have these things in common. It was just my first honest association.

The sexiest video I've seen in a long time...

Beyoncé is pure sexiness.

Better quality here.

Deerhunter - Microcastle

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Deerhunter - Microcastle

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Deerhunter - Microcastle

I enjoy this record. It's a new sound to me. I enjoy it and like a friend of mine on facebook simply stated, we should all find happiness through music. Or at a minimum, attempt to jam to it. This record is a part of that experience. I encourage anyone to download it.

Just a short history, the band started in 2001. They may be named after an old drama called "The Deer Hunter" with Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, and Meryl Streep or that may just be a coincidence. At this point I don't care enough to find validate this.

Tonight it's 62 degrees out. The Miami Heat lost to the Toronto Raptors. 2008 is close to it's death and so be it.

The title track surprised me around time stamp 2:25. The slowly vanishing heartbeat suddenly gets a kicky snare and suddenly your head ticks and tocks, left and right. Insert dance here.

Microcastle is either terribly boring or wicked awesome at a live show, the venue and the crowd would easily be variables in the enjoyment of the live experience. Sometimes when I listen to it I think I'm hearing noises from a vast hall. That's the experience for half the record. Not to be frowned upon anyway. There's some value in remembering childhood memories where something holds a holy or omnipotent awe. Like Notre Damn in Montreal for instance.

The other half has some trendy/catchy dance beats. Like Never Stops and Nothing Ever Happened - these are definitely upbeat bootyswaying tracks. I'm not mad at these tracks. They keep the gas in the car chugging. They keep the heartbeat alive and protect the sanctity of youth. The dance beats/lyrics reminded of something that Blur is likely to produce. Listening to Deerhunter made me write this post. The vocals can sound like Sonic Youth, Blur or Belle & Sebastian during some moments. I know they're all very different bands but those are the closest bands I could come up with.

My Ol' Dual-Suspension Mongoose SX 6.7 is for Sale

Checkout the reviews from mtbr.com here.

Product Summary:

Dual-suspension bikes allow anyone to ride longer and stronger on the mountain, but they're more of a luxury than a necessity for the first-time rider. However, this year(1999) finds many dualies, like the SX, slumming at unimaginably low prices, which make them extremely attractive first-time buys.

Strengths: An RST 281 fork with two inches of travel in front, three inches of travel in back, a journeyman 24-speed Alivio drivetrain with fingertip shifters, toe clips and a stunning brushed-metal aluminum frame.

Weaknesses: As you improve, you'll wish you had an extra inch of travel up front to match the suspension in back.

Bottom line: The SX is a great buy for the serious first-timer. As a bonus, it's the world's most beautiful budget bouncer. Take it anywhere to bring out its ugly side ($679).

My Take:

I bought it for $449 in 2000 brand new. Since then I’ve barely used it. It’s seen the most use in the last two years where I’ve begun taking it to Oleta State River Park and Amelia Earhart Park for their single track trails. I also used it at the Bike Miami ride and used it to vote for change in the 2008 election.

It’s available for sale now for $250 or best offer.

I will probably be upgrading to a Trek Mountain Hardtail 6000, (hi-res pic here). What I would like to buy is a full-suspension Trek FUEL EX 8, (hi-res pic here in rootbeer/white). I decided on Trek because of their brand name, their designs, and quality components. If anyone has any suggestions otherwise, please send them my way. See you in the trails.

Alienware M17 Notebook - ATI CrossFireX and Intel Quad Core in a 17-inch Notebook

So friggin' cool. Alienware's first notebook with ATI CrossFireX™ graphics and Intel® quad core technology... the Alienware M17 Notebook. Way to kick off the post Halloween season. What can HP, Voodoo, or Apple do to compete? Maybe those brands are raising a white flag and admitting defeat in the mobile high-performance gaming segment. Which notebook would you get this holiday season?

This is also the first Alienware notebook with:

• a 1066MHz FSB (front side bus) - Intel Montevinia platform for notebooks
  
• ESATA port - up to 300Mbps storage transfers
  
• fingerprint reader - Biometric Security
  
• 64-bit Windows Vista™ - up to 4GB of DDR3 1,066MHz RAM!
  

It also has the ultra-sweet soft black-touch cabinet previously exclusive to the Area-51® m9750. It has the 1920x1200p display option, HDMI 1.3b output for high definition gaming/media output, and RAID hard drives option.

It even starts at $1,399. Very tempting.