Doc

As much as you'd like to go and hurt these people, they are exercising their right to.....uh....um.....what right would this be? I'm sure it's in there somewhere. Anyway, if they were to come to you and start spewing a bunch of lies about how they are Godless Freaks etc. then it's crossing the line and bigoted. Graham, if more people responded the way you did, and the way he did, I think this wouldn't be such a hugely heated topic between individuals. juanpe, not all social groups are FOR social improvement. One could argue that the ;) was just a really BIG social group. That spewed hate. And lynched people, etc. (this is in no way me condoning the :angry:, i'm just using it as an example.) Hobo, legislation for it was passed on Election Day, or had it been enacted long before, and not just pressed? Had those couples been married before the legislation was passed? I think what many people forget is that there is a large majority of people in the USA (if you go by election results) that still hold to a VERY traditional way of life. I mean, really, think about why the pilgrims came to the US in the first place. It was partly to escape a Europe that they viewed as becoming too immoral and liberal. We only have to look to the Salem Witch Hunts to really see what these people were all about. Are we naive enough to think that so much has changed over here in a couple hundred years? I mean, yes, there's been progress, but not THAT much. Kudos to Spain either way. Europe is really beginning to look like a great place to live. D

Gee sounds like all of the gasoline suppliers. Ever notice that everyone's price goes up the same amount at the exact same time? Lame Bizud, I'm interested to know what countries you're talking about... Examples? D

Bah! American Dad looked okay, but it seemed like it was a cheesy knock off of Family Guy. I've had the first 2 seasons for a couple years, I got the 3 over christmas, and I'm dying to see the new stuff. Futurama > Simpsons any day of the week. Still an old school fan of Looney Tunes though... D

His movies are formulaic. The bulk of the story is usually pretty good, then it gets all lame at the end cause you know there is some little twist that makes everything......weird. ie. Signs - alien at the end (still was more scary when you couldn't see them), Village - OMG It's happening in today's world, not 100 years ago!!! etc. I seriously thought Napoleon Dynamite was over rated. Maybe I just didn't get the point. I mean, don't get me wrong, it had it's moments where I actually thought it was really funny, but for the most part, I sat there wondering what the point of the whole thing was. The dance at the end rocked though. D

yeah, it's not something that you can just throw in your cd player/iPod and crank. It just isn't that kind of music. D

Just practice. And have fun with it. The crowd will be able to tell if you're all uptight and such, so it's okay to be nervous, but seriously, just go up there and have a good time. You shouldn't be overly concerned with how other people think you did if YOU had a good time. Really, you should be playing/writing music for yourself anyway. It's cool that you want to share it with others, but trying to please everyone at once is going to kill you. Some people are going to think you suck, IT'S OKAY!!! Listen to the radio sometime and you'll realize that every one of those bands has been/is still being told that they suck. It's okay. Just make sure that you learn something from your first performance, and build off of it for the second. Best of luck, hope it goes well.... D

Oh, to be a fly on the wall in THAT room. I wonder if Warne is going to be doing any producing, or if Matt's gonna take the reins himself on this. The pic on his site says Mr.Producerpants under his name, so it's kind of an interesting thought. D

That's quite a negative attitude, no matter how true the reality is. The only cost that really matters is the cost in lives and 'injuries' to both the Iraqi people and the soldiers that are over there. Now, that goes without saying, obviously, but if we are to consider what could be done with that money in say, Darfur, or Coumbia, or right inside the US, the results become pretty staggering. Congress needs to recognize that the money that is being pumped into Iraq could be better spent on say, Social Security or Universal Health Care. Unfortunately, arms contractors and big business don't see any real return in those areas, or those countries, so they see little point in making it happen. Do some reading on what the monetary cost to eliminate extreme poverty is, and you'd be stunned at why we haven't wiped it out yet... D

If you had, what exactly did you like about it? I'm a pretty big fan of RHCP, and I think he's an amazing guitarist, I loved Shadows Collide with People, I'm just not so sure about the 6 albums in 6 months that he put out last year... Thoughts? D

Forgive me, I'm new and going through old threads, finding things that interest me. Dallaire had more to say about how the UN was paralyzed by the lack of Western nations wanting to contribute anything to the process. There was so much bureaucratic back play that nothing ever was done until the very end. He lays much of this at the feet of the US and Britain, for good reason I think. The pervasive attitude at the time was that Rwanda was not at all strategically important to anyone, hence the reason for no one to get involved. Kind of makes the USA's current stand on human rights a bit of a joke if you ask me. BTW, don't know if anyone was aware or not, but Dallaire was recently made a Senator. As for the UN itself, it has never had the authority necessary to be really anything other then a place for smaller nations to comment on how it is oppressed or ignored by the major powers, at which point the smaller nation is summarily dismissed. The major obstacle for anything getting done is the fact that there are a) 5 permanent members and B ) those permanent members can veto anything with a single vote. Make the security council's vote a majority with no overriding veto and you have yourself a more effective tool, I'd think. D

If a business can open with a good plan, and expect that the minimum wage CAN increase, then there should be no reason why the business can't be successful. An outrageous increase in the minimum wage would certainly lead to trouble for msome small businesses, however, moderate increases over a decent length of time shouldn't effect a large portion of a small company's business. Also, just to clarify for myself, you say 'anything higher would cause a problem for businesses.' ???? Anythign higher then what, precisely? Oh, and no argument on the NDP/BC Liberal thing ;) D

mgb played a 3 night gig in Calgary just before BM came out. My friends roommate was at the show and wound up hanging out with the guys after the show. My friend was then invited down to party with them, then some how ended up having everyone but Matt back at their place. Turns out that they left the girls a copy of the tracklisting, and that's kind of how I got into them, on her recommendation. I remember seeing the video for apparitions on Much, and I absolutely hated it. This was in my heavy metal days though, i listened to a lot of Deftones and such. Beautiful Midnight was the first mgb disc i got and it blew me away. Picked up the others after that, and I still can't really get into LOTGA, although there are a couple songs that I really do appreciate now. So, yeah... D

Who gives a shit what you call it, if it sounds good and you like it, why bother with throwing a label on it? D

Yeah, so am I but at least I'm contributing to conversation. And making sure that topics are posted in the right areas..... D

I'm not looking forward to it. A friend of mine's mother works for elections Canada, and as a precautionary move, they've told her to be in Ottawa early in May to prepare 'just in case.' I'm not a large fan of any of the big three national parties....Liberals blow a ton of cash and don't know what happened to it, PC's aren't overly Progressive, and I certainly don't agree with either their foreign or domestic policies, and after hearing horror stories of how BC was run under the NDP, I can't imagine what would happen at a national level. I voted Green in the last one, and that won't change in any future election. I consider myself more in line with their policies then any other party. Oh and for whoever thought it would be good to have the Bloc in other provinces, I have to disagree. I just don't think that a provincial party really has the right to a national forum quite like the Bloc does. I'm all for ensuring the fine people of Quebec have a voice in national undertakings, but it's almost as ridiculous as giving the Separation Party of Alberta a national forum. D

itunes doesn't have the songs he's looking for. Seriously, just get your ebay issue sorted out, you'll be able to get everything that you're looking for on the cd's that are there. Or get someone that lives in Canada to get a copy of Raygun fo r you and send it down. That'll take care of some of what you're looking for anyway. Cheers D

then what is it? It certainly isn't fiction, yet it contains fact. A new genre perhaps?

Bizud, you obviously don't live in Alberta where the provincial government has cleared it's debt. I'm aware of the cost of this, ie. sacrificing money to education and health care, and I'm no fan of the conservative government, but one has to realize what this means. Matt, do you feel that raising the minimum wage hurts small business then? I'm all for it, especially here. I worked minimum wage in high school, and I found it tough to do anything with the money that I made, and I lived at home. I couldn't imagine what having a family and earning minimum wage would mean. Better pay for your workers, if all sides agree that it's fair, really does mean better productivity, hence the greater likelihood of success. BTW, I skipped all but the first and last pages, what happened to the debate over the queen? D

Um, that books been out for awhile. I saw it in Chapters before christmas I think. As for Moore himself, yeah he does happen to be one sided, but it's different then the side you get hammered with from mainstream media. Instead of being bombarded with one view constantly everyday from multiple sources, you get Moore's view all at once in a roughly 2 hour sitting. I have a friend who was over in Iraq recently, and how he describes it is closer to what Moore describes then how mainstream media displays it. He has a new found hatred of all things media now, let me tell you... D

As a generalization, yeah I thought it did. Garden State was one of my favorites, but there was little else released that really got me excited. I was more disappointed then anything with much that the studios had to offer. So far, 2005 hasn't been that great, either. I dunno, maybe the summer will save the year. D

The only reason it has a PG-13 rating is cause it's supposed to be the 'darkest' episode yet. I won't be lining up to see it on the 19th or anything, but I'll check it out. I loved the originals, thought the others were okay if you took them for what they were (entertainment) and didn't try to read too much into them. D

I was carded both times I saw it. Once I'd shaved, the other time I hadn't. I'm 24, and I look 12 I guess.... Loved it though. Can't wait for it on DVD now, I want to see the special features for this.... D

So do I. Listening to Audioslave actually got me INTO Soundgarden. There's very little chance that with this much talent in one room you could wind up with some seriously shitty music. Cornell is one of the best singers of our time, Tom is one of the most original guitarists. You really can't go wrong. I'm really looking forward to the new CD. I loved the last one, although, granted there were some pretty weak songs on it. I've always said that I wanted a follow up. VR can die as far as I'm concerned. STP wasn't doing anything anyway, so I guess Scott decided this was a good idea? Is this what rehab does for some people? D

Precisely. If any artist puts out the same thing time after time, it gets boring. (ie. listen to the new 3 Doors Down, you'll get an idea of what I'm talking about). Incubus has been doing it for years. Matt's work has undergone changes as well. If you listen to Avalanche, it DOES sound polished, but that's kind of what the idea was. He used a Kaos pad, for god sakes. I personally am a much bigger fan of WLR&RR. Recording live off the floor to me captures the essence of a performance better. With a program like ProTools, anyone can make a slick sounding recording, but doing it live with analog takes a lot more work and ultimately sounds better. Having been involved with both over the past couple of years with my friends band, ProTools is a million times easier to use, but I've always preferred the sound of analog, sounds warmer for some reason. You also have to consider that as an artist mature's, content is going to change. Could Matt have written something like Buffalo Seven or Fell in Love with a Bad Idea 10 years ago? Probably not. It likely wouldn't have been appreciated quite as much back then either. There's a lot to consider when looking at an artists collective works, especially when you're doing a paper. Good Luck with it, hope it turns out well. D

It wouldn't have been a full scale attack on the mid east, but their would have been a response similar to what occurred in Afghanistan (with Bush as Prez). Either way, there's no sense dreaming about it, we're stuck with Bush, we just have to hope that there's no funny business in November and that our American friends look forward instead of backward... D