All posts by Kev Brock

I'm a musician, singer/songwriter, blogger, writer, poet, bodybuilder, movie lover, music lover, video gamer, history/political buff, conservative/republican, etc. I like to do a lot of things.
Random/off topic posts

Music theory and ear training…

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My new goals in music is mastering music theory and get better at ear training. I’ve been working on both pretty hard, all summer long. Learning scales & modes, things like that. There’s a lot of songwriters and guitar players out there that don’t even have a clue with music theory at all. I learned that if you want be a serious songwriter and get better at guitar, you have to know music theory. If you master music theory and get better at ear training, you’ll be able play anything. That’s my goal.

I’m starting to buy guitar instructional books on this stuff from the bookstore. Time to study music again. I feel I’m okay at guitar playing, but I’m not afraid to admit, that I still need a lot of work too. I want to become a little more professional. I want to jam with other musicians and you need to know theory in order to do that. I know some music theory here and there, but I’m no expert at it, yet.

I just want to improve my lead guitar soloing so I can record my own guitar solos over my songs. It’s feeling good to start learning and studying music again. I’ve honestly been working on that more than songwriting. Just want to get better, that’s all.

Kev

music, World Wide Web

CD Review: Jaze Wade “Light Between Space”

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Supporting other musicians, is one of my favorite things to do. It doesn’t just have to be musicians in my area. I support musicians all over the world if I like their music, whether they are signed or not. It doesn’t matter. I just love listening to music whether the musician is famous or not. Jaze Wade is a musician from Shreveport, LA. He describes himself as an electronic and alternative rock musician. When I gave this album a listen that I downloaded from Itunes, he wasn’t kidding. There’s plenty of electronic and upbeat guitar driven rock music. When I started playing this album on my Ipod, I was immediately drawn to it and was hooked. The songs are catchy, different and unique. Jaze’s singing is listenable. You can really hear his passion and emotion with his vocals during the song, “Into the Faded Sun” which is one of my favorite’s off the album. The song “My Sweet” has a 70’s sound to it, it starts off with acoustic playing and here comes great guitar solos over the intro. The reason I love this album so much is because it reminds me of David Bowie. It seems he has a lot of David Bowie influence. He’s a talented songwriter, check out Jaze Wade. He has a gift with his music. The production on the sound of the album is really awesome. Professionally recorded and all. Great work Jaze, and looking forward to hearing more work from you in the future!

Listen to a few tracks off “Light Between Space” from his myspace here:

http://www.myspace.com/jazewadeaxiom

Kev

Celebrity news

New photo of Roman Polanski here…

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TMZ posted a new photo of Roman Polanski hanging at the Montreux Jazz Festival with his wife Emmanuelle Seigner, where she sang at. Look at the happy couple. Roman is smiling and all.

http://www.tmz.com/2010/07/18/roman-polanski-switzerland-montreux-jazz-festival/

How could Emmanuelle be married to that piece of garbage? They have two children together, ya know. After all this trouble Roman’s been through, she still supports him. She is probably insane and crazy just like him.

Kev

Health and Fitness

Thought: Don’t go to the gym just to work out, go as if it actually means something to you…

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Lately, I’ve seen a lot of people go to the gym just for something to do. They show lack of passion for it, like they don’t have the energy and heart to get in shape. Most people at the gym I go to, look pretty bored doing it and they don’t train with enough intensity. Many people in town, use that gym to lose weight and stuff. Not many folks use it for bodybuilding like I use it for. The thing is, you don’t want to go to the gym just for something to do, like if it’s nothing. You want to show your passion of going to the gym and take pride in doing it. Going to the gym that actually means something is important. Set goals for yourself each day you go to the gym and achieve that goal. Here’s what you do, think to yourself, “How intense do I want to train? Should I train heavy or light? Should I do more reps and sets? What workouts should I do today” Things like that.

I’ve had people at the gym stop what they’re doing to watch me a little bit ’cause I believe they admire my dedication and passion like going to the gym actually means something. Some people would even talk to me a bit while I’m resting between a set. Just to comment on my training skills. So this is one way to get in shape successfully, is train with passion and take pride in everything you do.

A lot of people work out just to be happier and get rid of stress. Just to help brighten up their day after bad days at work or at home. That’s the reason I do it too, to make me happier and become stronger emotionally, but I work out to get fit and at the gym, I like to show my passion for it. Just to show that I really love what I do.

Kev

movies

Report: Now a free man, Roman Polanski goes back to work immediately…

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Now that the Swiss has decided to let Roman Polanski go, he wasted no time to decide what’s next for film. Polanski’s next film is titled, the “Gods of Carnage”, an adaptation of a Yasmina Reza play.

Isn’t it kind of funny that after Roman is being accused of being a pedophile, he is still doing movies about children?

Although the play was set in New York City, the film will obviously be taken place in Europe instead since he is not allowed to step foot in the US.

More on it here:

http://www.darkhorizons.com/news/17754/polanski-unleashes-gods-of-carnage–

Enjoy your freedom, asshole…for now…

Kev

movies

Film Review: Inception

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Starring: Leonardo Dicaprio, Ellen Page, Marion Cotillard, Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy, Tom Berenger and Michael Caine.

Directed by: Christopher Nolan

Today, I went and saw the movie “Inception”, another film that I was looking forward to see for a long time. It is finally here, so I went and saw it. Before the movie, I did a little fun shopping for myself. Just got a couple of books from Barnes & Noble and a thing of Itunes cards to download albums with, that was about it. I didn’t buy any video games or DVD’s ’cause I didn’t see anything I wanted. When I buy videogames, I don’t just buy random games like a lot of video gamers do. I only buy a video game if there is something coming out that I really want ’cause PS3 games are pricey, I wanna make ’em worth it. Now on with my review…

Plot/synopsis: This is a heist film where Leonardo Dicaprio plays a father who is a thief, his name is Dom Cobb. He is an expert thief where he steal things that are valuable secrets. So what is Dom’s secret in committing these crimes successfully? He does them in dreams. Cobb and his men take control of the dream world to commit these robberies. There are a few rules in the Dream World, if someone is hurt in the dream world, they will experience pain in real life. If someone dies, they will be forced to wake up. Dom, was offered a heist job of “Inception” by a man named Saito, which he accepts, in order to get back to his two children. What “Inception” means it’s the implantation of a thought within a person’s mind. Ariadne (Ellen Page’s character) teams up with him as a guide to help what is haunting him. Does Dom successfully get the “Inception” job done in dreams? You will have to see the film to find out.

As I have predicted a long time ago, this film was very impressive. Very very very good, film. Christopher Nolan is such an amazing storyteller. Honestly, I LOVE his work more outside of Batman. You know what? I’m actually glad he was chosen to do Batman, because doing Batman indeed helped him make better movies other than, Batman. Even though “Inception” wasn’t a Batman movie, it sure did felt like one. It felt like a comic book movie even though this is an original piece of work. Chris Nolan has such an amazing imagination when it comes to writing. You gotta wonder, what goes on in that man’s head when he comes up with these crazy stories.

Yes, “Inception” is a big time special effects movie. Lot of CGI throughout the entire movie pretty much, but it makes sense. How else are they going to do that stuff? Ya know? I thought it was a perfect movie all around. No complaints here. Direction was excellent. Writing was excellent. The acting by the cast was just phenomenal. The special effects and the sound was a blast. It was action packed. It almost felt like a James Bond/Jason Bourne movie on acid. Hans Zimmer’s score for the film was amazing as well.

Most peolpe hate Leo Dicaprio, but I respect him and his talent. He’s not my absolute favorite either, but you can’t deny, this guy has got a lot of talent. His acting in this film was actually very good as well. Leo needs to quit doing these girly drama flicks and keep doing dark movies. He’s good at it. I really loved him in “Shutter Island”, and he was so good in this movie too.

Uh oh, do I have this feeling that Leo Dicaprio could get a serious role in “Batman: The Dark Knight 3”??? If the Riddler is picked as a villain, could Leo be the Riddler? Don’t be surprised. Christopher Nolan seems to have a fetish of working with actors that he already worked with in the past. So you bet your ass, Leo will get a role for the next Batman flick. Maybe Leo won’t get a villain role, but maybe a different character. Christopher Nolan is one of my top 5 favorite directors. I love all the work he has done. My favorite movie, “Memento” and “Insomnia” were both really good. Respect his work other than Batman please. Chris can’t do Batman his whole life, he’ll get bored with it. He needs to do different things like most film makers.

I look forward to seeing, “The Expendables” in August, which is my next movie I plan to see.

Score for “Inception” = **** (4 stars as in “Excellent”)

Kev

music

Report: Pink fell, but not seriously injured at German concert…

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At a concert in Germany, pop star Pink fell out of a harness that was supposed to carry her out into the crowd. Pink has always been well known to do high flying circus like stunts at her concerts. Finally, something went wrong and she had an accident. I’m not saying that in a mean kind of way though, nothing against her. It seems that she is always able to do these stunts successfully without any accidents.

How much longer will she keep performing like this? I know she’s well known for this kind of stuff, but man, the girl is going to kill herself one day. Owen Hart of WWE fame, tried to do stuff like this and he died for it. Maybe Pink should think about that.

Pink is a great singer, she’s very talented, but she’s gotta quit doing these circus stunts sooner or later. She could get paralyzed or something worse, maybe even death. I don’t see her giving up these stunts when performing though. She loves it too much.

http://www.billboard.com/news/pink-rushed-to-hospital-after-german-stage-1004104746.story?tag=hpfeed#/news/pink-rushed-to-hospital-after-german-stage-1004104746.story?tag=hpfeed

Kev

TV

Thought: I agree with Ryan Seacrest being a good replacement for Larry King…

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Replacement talks for Larry King Live has already started. Rumours are true that Piers Morgan is in negotiations…but the online world, prefers Ryan Seacrest to be host more. You know what? I actually agree with Ryan Seacrest being a good replacement.

I can’t stand American Idol, but Ryan’s radioshow is great stuff. He asks intelligent questions, he’s professional but  all around, he’s a good host.

I don’t care about Larry King calling it quits. I’d say it’s about damn time! Good riddance. I hope Ryan gets picked as replacement but it would probably end up being, Piers.

Kev

movies, World Wide Web

Thought: Why Hollywood wants us to watch David Fincher’s “The Social Network”, yeah, the Facebook movie…

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So two trailers have hit the internets now, of David Fincher’s newest movie, “The Social Network”, based on the popular social networking site, well, um, Facebook. You ask yourself? WTF? This is weird, there is nothing on these two trailers, how can the public give feedback on these? The thing that viewers don’t understand that, it’s the whole point. The film makers purposely made these two trailers this way, as their way to confuse you. It’s their way of getting people talking. I see reader comments in other movie blogs and message forums, saying, “Why don’t they make myspace the movie?”

Why isn’t there a myspace movie yet? Because there doesn’t need to be one. There are many reasons Facebook needs to be a movie. On the Facebook website, there are a lot of secrets and behind the scenes stuff that we don’t know about. Maybe the Facebook movie wants to reveal all the secrets? How the site started, all the stuff behind it, how the site got it’s popularity, the media, etc. Plus, try to remember that when Facebook first started, it didn’t start in a very good way. Mark Zuckerberg first started a social networking site when he was in Harvard College, that site was for that school only. Then he was sued for it or something. I don’t know the whole history. I’m sure the movie wants to get more into detail with that. Get the hint with the trailer in the video below, it even mentioned Mark Zuckerberg getting sued.

Is the Facebook movie being made for box office money? Of course, but I’m sure there are more important reasons Hollywood wants this made. “The Social Network” will be a learning experience. It’ll help us understand why we are all on the site to begin with. Why we were all drawn to it? The site was made by some bored college kid who probably had no social life, so being the computer expert he is, he decided to build a site of his own. It started off small with just himself using it at first…now the site is mainstream, worldwide. It is more popular than myspace now. Mark Zuckerberg still runs and owns the site today after all these years. He is still young and he is still in his 20’s.

The Facebook site and Mark Zuckerberg himself has quite a bit of history that we need to know about.

I know this film is getting tons of negative backlash, so I wanted to write in some thoughts to help defend the movie a little bit. I think this is a unique and interesting idea for a film. I’m looking forwardr to seeing more of it. I’m sure we’ll soon see another trailer with actually actors and clips from the film. David Fincher is a fantastic director, he’s made many great films in the past and I’m sure he made this a great one too. Make no mistake with David Fincher!

Kev

movies

Report: Angelina Jolie is going to San Diego Comic Con, confirmed…

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Lots of rumours and speculation hits the internets that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt both maybe at this year’s San Diego Comic Con to help promote “Salt”, the action spy thriller. It is confirmed that Angelina will indeed be there to promote “Salt”, in person.

Not sure if Brad will be there though, he probably will. Maybe Brangelina and their kids will be at Comic Con to help celebrate the other movies being celebrated at the panels. I’m sure Brad will be there to support her.

More on it here:

http://heatvision.hollywoodreporter.com/2010/07/confirmed-angelina-jolie-coming-to-comiccon.html

Brad and Angelina maybe a weird couple because of their super stardom, but I’ve admired both of their works for years. I’ve seen Angelina’s movies for years and watched Brad’s films for years too. Brad’s been in many great movies. Some of my favorites he’s been in are: “Inglourious Basterds”, The Ocean’s trilogy, “Fight Club”, “Sleepers”, “12 Monkeys”, “Legends of the Fall”, “Kalifornia”, and that’s about it. No, I still haven’t seen, “Curious Case of Benjamin Button” yet.

Kev