The Dillinger Escape Plan- Option Paralysis

The Dillinger Escape Plan is one of the most creative bands on the face of the earth. Not just in terms of metal or extreme music, they incorporate so many different styles and they do it masterfully. Option Paralysis is no less brutal than any of their previous albums, but they've finally written songs that are easily distinguishable from one another, which in turn makes them more memorable. This album isn't as big a leap forward from Ire Works, as Ire Works was from Miss Machine, but they do still push the bar yet another few notches higher. Standout tracks would be Widower, I Wouldn't If You Didn't, Parasitic Twins and Farewell, Mona Lisa. Greg Puciato, the vocalist, has developed his voice quite a bit since Ire works, and has put together some frightfully haunting combinations of eardrum shattering screams, and subdued crooner style singing. Dillinger has put to use all of their strong points and left behind nearly all (if indeed they had any) faults. Option Paralysis is most definitely a contender for the best metal album of the year (and its only march) and possible one of the best albums of the year period. Go have a listen!

She's Out of My League

She's Out of My League is a funny movie. The story has been done before. Its your typical geeky charming guy, meets hot girl, date, relationship, fight, get back together, happy ending story. Think Knocked Up without the baby stuff. The cast is quite humorous and i found myself laughing out loud on quite a few occasions. Bottom line is, its a fun movie that'll give you a few good laughs, but doesn't re-invent the romantic raunchy comedy at all. But it's worth the price of a matinee ticket for sure.

Animals As Leaders

Animals as Leaders initially began as a solo project for Tosin Abasi from the now defunct band Reflux out of Washington D.C. Abasi now has two other band members he performs with live, but on the recording he plays all the guitar and bass parts. Listening to the album for the first time, you'd think Abasi has about 20 fingers on each hand and plays two different guitars with two sets of arms. This isn't the case, he only has five fingers on each hand and one set of arms. Although his guitars have at least 7 or 8 strings apiece. Abasi is quite fleet fingered and flies through notes at an amazingly fast pace. He is however, extremely precise and quite creative with the sound he's created, fusing metal style riffing and solo's with more progressive jazz fusion and even bossa nova grooves. Its nearly impossible to describe just how technically proficient and creative Abasi is without actually hearing the music. Seeing him perform these songs live is even more mind blowing. Having heard his music live before hearing it on cd, i was just blown away, my jaw literally dropped more than once. I found myself laughing, (because i didn't know how else to react), when he looped an unbelievably fast set of sweeps and then proceeded to add yet another quite complicated riff on top. There is really no way to understand the awesome power of Abasi's music without hearing it, or if you're lucky enough, seeing him perform live. Take a listen and have your eyes melted from their sockets... its definitely worth it.

Avery Brewery

Avery Brewing is located in Boulder, CO in a small shopping center. The brewery itself is quite small compared to other breweries in Colorado (i.e. Coors in Golden, Co). However, Avery just stepped up in scale from a microbrewery to a craft brewer. They have quite good distribution for such a small brewery, and you've most likely seen their beer in your local liquor store if you've ever browsed the beer section. Their most popular beers are Ellie's Brown Ale, their IPA, and the White Rascal which is a beer brewed with orange and coriander, much like the more well known Blue Moon beer. Avery churns out some of the most complex and flavorful beers in America. Their menu offers about 15 beers at any given point. I happened to try about 10 of them the day of the tour. Tours are free, and beers are reasonably priced in their taproom at about $4 a pint, and if you pay an extra $1 during the tour, they'll give you a glass to take home with you. If you happen to find yourself in the Denver/Boulder are of CO. I'd highly recommend looking this place up. They won me over with their interesting beer and witty Scottish tour-guide.
All of their beers i tasted were quite flavorful and I wasn't disappointed with any of them. I'd recommend the dry hopped IPA and the salvation to start off with, but like i said, they're all quite tasty.

New Belgium Mighty Arrow 8/10

New Belgium Mighty Arrow

This beer happened to be on sale for only about $6.50 which greatly influenced my purchase. New Belgium makes quite a few top notch brews that usually run about $8 per 6 pack. This is a seasonal beer of the Pale Ale variety. This Pale Ale is not an India Pale Ale style brew which means nothing more than its brewed slightly differently and uses different types of the same ingredients. Certain types of malts and yeast and that sort of thing. However, the power of the flavor is still there. Many people find pale ales to be a bit too bitter, however, they are among the most flavorful of beers. If you enjoy your beer to have a flavor that is not subtle in the least, drink a pale ale. The flavors just explode on your tounge with ferocity. The Mighty Arrow is named after a dog that belonged to one of the people that ran the brewery for a time. (possibly still does, i didn't fact check) The flavors are all there, and what you would expect from a pale ale. The bouquet is flowery and smells of citrus. There is a tiny hint of honey in the finish, but it is not a "sweet" beer by any means. If you're looking for a bargain, this is definitely they way to go. Its comparable to a Stone IPA, but for a few dollars less. Being slightly less powerful than classic IPA's this beer may be a good starting point for someone who is looking to get in to more interesting beers. 8/10

Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Tim Burton directed this remake of a classic story and disney film, Alice IN Wonderland. We all know the story, Alice falls down a rabbit hole, thinks she is in a dream, and goes on a fantastical journey through wonderland. In this re-make, Alice is a bit older, nearly 20 in fact, and this is apparently her second tour through wonderland, or Underland as the residents call it. The animation is top notch, and the 3-D is well, Wonderful. Nothing in this movie is new territory, aside from the fact that its a somewhat live action version of the classic animated Disney story. Its all been done before, many times, and this fact causes some of the movie to become a bit stagnant for my tastes. There didn't seem to be any re-vamping of themes or much inventiveness on the part of the director. Of course everything looks beautiful and the sets are wonderfully decorated, after all it is a Tim Burton movie. But i found myself longing for his signature style, that gothic weirdness that typically surrounds his movies. I didn't feel much of that here. It was an enjoyable movie, i just found certain parts a bit tedious. So, it definitely is a movie worth seeing, especially if you're a fan of the new amazing 3D movies. However, if you want a story thats new and exciting, you might look elsewhere.

The Crazies 7/10

(I haven't seen the original '71 version of this movie, I've ordered it and its on the way)
The Crazies, having not seen the original, is a very classic style zombie conspiracy horror movie. Luckily the director didn't opt to add super gore and violence to this film and "modernize" aka ruin it. There is plenty of violence, however, what you mainly see is the aftermath of what happens. Bodies laying around, wounds that are implied rather than shown in unnecessary detail. I enjoyed seeing a horror movie that stuck to a more old school formula. Simplicity. Since there was already a story there, it seems that the director wanted to keep the original feel. Again, i haven't seen the original yet, but i will, and may possibly revise some of this blog. The only thing really lacking for me was emotion. The situation these actors find themselves in would be extremely emotional if it were really happening, yet somehow the filmmakers didn't quite capture it. Even with great actors like Rhada Mitchell. All in all this was a quite enjoyable little horror remake with plenty of blood and guts to keep gore hounds satisfied, while staying true to a '70's style movie. I'd give it a look.