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There is a little known fact on the FupDuckTV set: Midd13M4n loves chocolate. In some cases, more than life itself… and in fewer cases, more than his guitar amp (why, yes, I acquired one of those beasts, and it is a BEAUTIFUL work of art… more on that another time). Yes, chocolate… and I don’t mean any of that Hershey’s stuff – I will refrain from calling Hershey’s “crap”, because like beer and music, all chocolate is good, some is just better than others. Much, much, much better. Hell, I’ve even been known to fall into the trap of Nestle’s semi-sweet chocolate chips. Fill a small bowl, munch munch munch. Actually, I’m talking about the mind-numbing, joy-laden ultra dark stuff that you rarely find in your big chain grocery stores. I’m talking about the stuff that has a MINIMUM of 70% cocoa content. That’s the stuff that makes you appreciate alchemy. But that’s not the point I’m trying to make… Has anyone EVER wondered where the hell the Mayan priest came up with such a concoction?!?! True, the Mayans origianlly used it as a drink, but really, to get a bar of chocolate, first you must harvest the pod out of the tree, remove the seed, then roast the seeds, then take the hull off the seeds, then crush what’s left and then add some sugar or other stuff. Then there’s the Dutch processing method to remove the offensive bitterness for cocoa powerder… There’s more steps here than there are to get a great cup of coffee – and THAT takes some effort, too!!! So, yeah – I’ve got something like 11 different chocolate bars on my desk: Dagoba, Rapunzel, Lindt, Chocolove, Asher’s Organic, Terra Nostra, Hershey’s, Endangered Species, and Green & Black’s (I will also refrain from giving you a blow-by-blow Pepsi Challenge break down of how each tastes – that step will be left to the student to fill in). Yes, that’s a rediculous amount of chocolate, I admit. But this is stuff you eat half a square at a time. You just drop a square on your tongue, lean back, and let it carry you away… oh, wait, that’s a little too suggestive. Suffice to say, you CAN’T eat much in one sitting because this stuff is intense – like a field full of wildflowers on an early spring morning, just one little bit makes you sit back, look at the ceiling tiles, and appreciate the subtle flavors and textures of this thing we call life. Yeah, it really is a lot like beer, isn’t it?

Drink more!!!

Tags: Rant by Midd13m4n
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Midd13M4n is a bit of purist. Most of you should have figured that out by now. I am going to open myself up to a lot of criticism right away: I prefer CDs. I prefer to have the actual physical media in my hands. It is true that I could download music and burn it myself. I simply prefer to skip that step and purchase the CD with the content, packaging, and everything all together. I prefer to have the full CD-quality source audio to do with as I please, and if that means I use a lossy compression codec, that’s my business. I guess you could call me old-school. Whatever. That’s not the point I’m trying to make – it merely sets up the background.

Using the whole CD argument as a simple backdrop, I ask the question, “What was the last CD that you purchased, borrowed, stole, swapped, that was a total, absolute home run and completely knocked your socks off and blew your mind away the first time you ever heard it?” Think about it: most CDs have 12 to 15 songs on them. How difficult is it to produce a CD with every single one of those songs being as solid as the rest? Not one clinker, folks! I look through my CD collection and there are discs in there that have 1 or 2 outstanding songs. Hell, there’s some that are complete trash, where every song is absolutely horrible (Why do I still own anything by Creed??!?!?!). There is another distinction that I need to make, too, and that would be the disc that you learn to appreciate over time versus the disc that is an aural religious experience right out of the plastic. Learning to appreciate a disc over time has its place – most complex pieces go in that category, but sometime they are so dense, that it takes a long time to get your hands around them, before you can being to appreciate them. A prime example of this would be “In the Absence of Truth” by Isis. More towards this challenge is to find the disc that blows you away immediately out of the plastic. Have I narrowed the field sufficiently? Not quite, because here’s another caveat: EPs, greatest hits collections, and live sets are disqualified because they are specifically made to eliminate the clinker tracks and to package the best of the best. Now, I believe I have an adequately challenging question. I know I have heard a few near misses: Buddy Guy’s “Sweet Tea”, Tool’s “Lateralus”, Guns N’ Roses’ “Appetite for Destruction”, Metallica’s “…And Justice for All” just to name a few. Each of these has one or possibly two songs that just didn’t “hit” for me upon the first listening; they sounded out of place – “Done Got Old”, “The Patient” and “Ticks & Leeches”, “Think About You”, and “To Live is to Die”, respectively for these discs. What’s my most recent “home run disc”? That’s a damn good question, and one that I’ve been pondering for a long time… My most recent, honest-to-goodness “home run disc” that completely knocked my socks off the first time I listened to it: John 5 “Vertigo”. I think my second-most recent “home run disc” would be Nine Inch Nails “Pretty Hate Machine”, although there may be something more recent than that… I’ll let you know as I think of it. Now its your turn, folks. Write to me, add a comment, let me know if I’m missing something. I know I am!!!

Drink more!!!

Tags: Rant by Midd13m4n
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 FupDuck - Episode 2 (small): Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 FupDuck - Episode 2 (full): Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 FupDuck - Episode 2 (iPod): Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

SHOW NOTES – Episode 2

SHOW NOTES COMING SOON

DaVe’s Notes:
BEER –
FUPDUCK STORY –
FUPDUCK STORY –
MUSIC -
MOVIE –

M!dd13m4n’s Notes:
BEER –
FUPDUCK STORY –
FUPDUCK STORY –
MUSIC –
MOVIE –

Other topics discussed

Tags: Video Cast by fupducktv
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Have you ever noticed that the music people listen to is largely reminiscent of the music they listened to in high school? There are lots of stereotypical types out there still sporting a mullet (business in front; party in the back, DUUUDE!!!) and listening to their ass-rock (PLAY FREEBIRD, MAN!!! FREEEEEE-BIRD!!!). Sadly, those people are stuck in their “glory days” when they came of age. There is a disease called complacency that precludes people from pushing their own personal boundaries to experience something new, something different, something unexpected, and (dare I say) something dangerous? I have been told more times than I care to remember, “But I’m happy this way…” Good, great, I’m so fucking happy for you, and your tiny happy fucking world. I’ve been saying this for a long time, “Some people think outside the box; others aren’t even aware that there is a box to think outside of…” Perhaps you could be even happier taking one step outside that box. Do you remember the first time you tried sushi? Do you remember the first time you had a *GOOD* martini (very dry, dirty Bombay Sapphire gin martini, stirred, NOT SHAKEN, with two olives), or even something other than Miller or AB products? Do you remember the first time you heard BB King, Django Reinhardt, “Stairway to Heaven”, Hendrix’s “Star Spangled Banner”, “Head Like a Hole” or “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, 2Pac, NWA, or any other musician or song that shook you to your core?

No, I am not speaking ill of our musical heritage, nor am I speaking ill of those stuck in a rut, although I would like to speak ill of that overarching lack of moderation and being forced to over-indulge on our musical heritage. I recognize that in the world before Hendrix, people just didn’t play the guitar like that, and the man deserves his credit… I just cannot stand hearing “Foxy Lady” a billion times a day / week / month… Moderation, folks! “Freebird” is a great song, although after the billionth time, it gets a bit grating. Today’s hip-hop and rap are radically different that what we heard before the likes of NWA and those early pioneers, but that doesn’t mean I need to hear these fresh, new, creative ideas at least five times an hour. I guess I simply don’t understand the incessant pushing of the same song over and over ad nauseum. If people want to hear the same song in an endless loop, that’s why Dog invented the iPood. Radio, both satellite and terrestrial, are there to expose us to something we haven’t heard before, or at least something we haven’t heard in a long, long time. Isn’t it a great lift when you hear “Alice’s Restaurant” on Thanksgiving (the ONLY day that you ever hear that song)? Those wonderful people who own radio stations like FRED or DAVE or STAN or whatever those stations are called have the right idea, but completely miss the point. If they’re going to claim they play ANYTHING, then play ANYTHING! Please, I BEG YOU, bounce me from Stevie Ray Vaughan to Notorious BIG to Roy Harper to Megadeath to Bob Dylan to… well, you get the point. And then, only play those songs a few times a year. Mix it up; give us something different, and don’t ruin it by overdoing it!

Simply enough: Everything in moderation, folks – even beer! And don’t be afraid of the new label or funny looking bottle – it might be your new favorite flavor!

Drink more!!!

Tags: Rant by Midd13m4n
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 FupDuck - Episode 1 (small): Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 FupDuck - Episode 1 (full): Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 FupDuck - Episode 1 (quicktime): Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

SHOW NOTES – Episode 1

SHOW NOTES COMING SOON

DaVe’s Notes:
BEER –
FUPDUCK STORY –
FUPDUCK STORY –
MUSIC -
MOVIE –

M!dd13m4n’s Notes:
BEER –
FUPDUCK STORY –
FUPDUCK STORY –
MUSIC –
MOVIE –

Other topics discussed

Tags: Video Cast by fupducktv
No Comments »