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.

Happy July 4th….

Remember, today isn’t about fireworks and cookouts with your family and friends. It’s about celebrating the Declaration of Independence.

Have fun in whatever you readers do. Watching fireworks, 4th of July parades, cookouts, parties, etc. Just be safe and behave.

Rock on.

Kev

Book Review: A Clash of Kings (Book 2 of “Song of Ice and Fire” series)

So I’ve finally finished the second book of the “Song of Ice and Fire” series (or better known as “Game of Thrones”), titled, “A Clash of Kings”.

The stories continue to be addicting and hard to put the book down. I can’t stop reading these books. The second book leaves off from where the first book ended. In this book, the Seven Kingdoms is plagued by a civil war. About 5 kings who fight for the iron throne. King Joffrey, the young king from the first book still sits on the iron throne. The book also continues the adventures of Princess Daenerys who wants to conquer the Seven Kingdoms. It continues the stories of Tyrion Lannister, the midget character who continues to feud with King Joffrey and Tyrion tries to help avenge the death of Lord Eddard Stark. Arya Stark, the daughter of Eddard, poses as a boy named Arry and goes on an adventure with new recruits of the Night’s Watch.

Just like the first book, “Clash of Kings” continues to be dark, sexual, and violent. It is also more controversial than the first book. It’s different without Eddard Stark though, that’s my only complaint is George R.R. Martin killing off that character so soon. This is not a really a spoiler ’cause everyone knows this is going to happen anyway.

If I had a favorite character of these books, I think Tyrion is the superstar here. Tyrion continues to be funny and entertaining just like the first book. Other than the comic stuff about Tyrion, there’s something more serious and dramatic about him too. That character is so special in a big way. Hard to explain. While all the characters in the books are great, I think Tyrion is the important part of the series. I’m not sure what, but reading these books, I think something bad is going to happen to Tyrion later in the books. Maybe he’ll get killed off too, I’m not sure. Don’t give me any spoilers, but I know something will happen to him.

The reason I love these books so much ’cause they are so insightful and detailed. Plus, they are easy to read, you’ll read ’em quickly. This book makes you feel like what it will be in the Medieval times in real life. This book is just as good as the first one.

I’ve started the third book, “Storm of Swords” today. If you’re not reading these books, then what are you waiting for? Starting reading them soon!

Kev

Thoughts: UFC 132 last night, brief review…

Last night, I ended up watching “UFC 132”. Simply because there was nothing else on TV, and I was bored. So I ended up buying the PPV.

I was very impressed with it. Every fight was impressive. Most fights were quick ones. Most fights last night ended in the first or second rounds.

While I do hate Tito Ortiz like most people, you can’t deny that he did a great job last night. I was actually pretty impressed with Tito. Like most people know, Tito hasn’t won a fight in a long time and having so many injuries in the past. Tito finally stepped up. He must of trained hard during his hiatus and he finally won a fight. I’m no Tito fan like I said, but I liked what he did last night. It was pretty amazing. If he keeps doing that and winning more fights, stop being a jackass, and maybe he will get everyone’s respect again. I was pretty shocked with Tito’s performance like most people.

Other fights that I liked were “Don Hyum Kim vs. Carlos Condit”, this fight was good because you couldn’t tell who was going to win this one, they made it unpredictable. I also liked Leben vs. Silva. I’ve been liking Chris Leben for a long while and I continue to be a fan of his.

I think the best fight of the night was obviously the main event, Cruz vs. Faber. Even though it was “unanimous decision”, neither guys didn’t want to lose over a knockout and it shows. Both men fought pretty technical and they made it exciting.

I think this was the best UFC ppv of this year, so far.

Read the full results, here.

Kev

Report: “Star Trek – The Next Generation” is now streamable on Netflix…

Announced today, all 7 seasons of “Star Trek – The Next Generation” are now streamable for Netflix along with “Voyager” and “Enterprise”. I’m such a huge Star Trek “TNG” fan and I’m looking forward to watching this show all over again.

I’m glad Paramount let Netflix stream Star Trek series, because Star Trek still deserves to get known. Star Trek isn’t for everyone, but I suggest people to try and get into it. I’m a big Trekkie, and quite proud of it too. Have been a Trekkie ever since I was a child.

Thanks to Paramount and Netflix for this. I’m excited!

Kev

Thought: My Casey Anthony trial prediction…

I have been following the Casey Anthony trial very closely. Wow, what a fucking circus this trial is! It’s like Anna Nicole Smith and MTV mixed together! A soap opera indeed!

It’s pretty amazing how the trial tried to make her look innocent.

My thoughts? I think she has guilty of murder written all over her face. She did it. She killed her own child. Everyone knows it. So far in the trial, nobody proved her innocence. It’s all just talk.

Some people think she’s innocent. She may serve some prison time and not get the death penalty. She could even walk out a free woman if acquitted. I don’t think either is going happen. This women is a monster. An evil woman who deserves to die for what she did.

Poor little Caylee had a whole future ahead of her, and Casey took it away from her. She killed her own daughter, and she thinks she’s going to get away with it? Whether Caylee’s death was an accident or not, Casey still killed her own daughter. How can people think she’s innocent?

The trial is almost over soon. Just get it over, and put the bitch away. If Casey didn’t want Caylee in her life, she should have simply sent her away to another family. The trial should be over this week and I can’t wait for the verdict! Will she be like OJ Simpson and get away with murder? I don’t think so, but it would be shocking if she did walk out a free woman. As soon as the verdict is announced, I’ll post it asap.

Kev

Trying to learn how to sing better too…

Not only that I’m trying to get better at guitar, I’m also trying to get better at singing. I would admit, that I was never really professionally trained vocally…but that’s okay. Most singers out there aren’t professionally trained, they just do it. Many of my favorite singers were never professionally trained like Neil Young and Kurt Cobain for example. I learned that if singing is what you want to do, then go ahead and do it. It doesn’t matter if your voice sounds good or not, it’s the songs that mattered, in my opinion.

Now I’m not looking to sing like Robert Plant or Barry Manilow or anything like that, I am still look to improve my singing some. My goal is that I would like sing high notes which is what I can never do. I am practicing and learning though. I’ve been working with “Metal Method’s Vocal Power” DVD and it really works. That instructional vocal DVD really does help make your voice a little stronger.

Singing is fun. I enjoy it. I learned that if you write your own originals, you sing ’em yourself. To me it doesn’t make any sense when people write lyrics and have someone else sing them. If you create it, you do the job yourself. I sing every day just like I play the guitar every day.

I know I’m not the best singer in the world. I just do it for fun but I would like to become better though.

Kev

Report: Bruce Dickinson, singer of Iron Madien takes shots at Metallica…

Metallica may have already buried the hatchet with Megadeth, but it seems that Iron Maiden still has a grudge against Metallica. In an interview with Metal Hammer magazine, Bruce Dickinson admitted he got a backlash for saying Iron Maiden is better than Metallica, but instead of being apologetic, he continued to slam Metallica even more.

Read what Bruce have to say, here.

While I’m sure the Metallica haters would agree and the Iron Maiden haters would disagree, I’m going to side with Metallica on this one. Hell, I fucking LOVE Iron Maiden! I’ve been listening to Maiden for years and even have a few of their albums on my Ipod. While I love the band, I think Bruce Dickinson is nothing but an egotistical asshole. This isn’t the first time Bruce took shots at Metallica publicly in interviews, he’s done it many times before.

On top of that, Iron Maiden has had a long feud with Ozzy & Sharon for years.

As far as Bruce slamming Metallica goes, I think Bruce is jealous that Metallica is more mainstream than them. Plus, Iron Maiden could be mad that they weren’t asked to play on “The Big 4” shows. I don’t think Metallica and Iron Maiden ever toured before. I can see why James Hetfield wouldn’t play with Maiden.

While Metallica isn’t for everybody, people shouldn’t hate on them. They’re good guys. They respect other bands and all they want to do is play their music for the fans.

I hate those kind of bands that think they are better than other bands. Like I said before, you need to leave your ego out the door and let the people do the talking. Thinking yourself as a “better” or “more” talented musician, just makes you look like an ass. That’s what Bruce is, an ass. I’m pretty sure that the boys in Metallica are all Iron Maiden fans as well, so what Bruce is doing to them is pretty disrespectful.

I’m sure we’ll get a response from James Hetfield soon, so I can’t wait to hear his thoughts.

Kev

After 12 long years, Duke Nukem is finally back!!!

I haven’t posted all day, because I spent most of the day playing the new “Duke Nukem: Forever” game. Yes, Duke Nukem, he’s finally back. He finally returned after a 12 year hiatus from the video gaming world! Welcome back, Duke!

This game is getting mixed reviews. Some hate it, some love it. Well, I’m loving the game so far. The game is actually pretty hard too. It’s getting harder as I go along. I think the graphics are great, and the game play is such a blast. It stayed true to the earlier Duke Nukem games, except this one has a current feel to it. So far, I’m very impressed with it. Just the way a Duke Nukem game should be, they did a good job, in my opinion.

After I complete the entire game, I’ll give a full detailed review. I still need to play “L.A. Noire” but I will move on to that game after I beat “Duke Nukem”. Before “Duke Nukem”, I was playing the new “Mortal Kombat” game.

I haven’t been playing video games in a long while and it’s cool to get back into it again. I only start playing games whenever new ones comes out that I like. Games are expensive, so I’m very careful on which I choose. I only buy the good games. I’m done with gaming for the night though.

Gonna watch “Friday Night Lights” tonight, then maybe more of “Lost” on Netflix after that.

Yeah, I did my tricep workout today at home.

Kev