Welcome Back

Greetings Dogma,

     After an extended absence from this conformed cyber journalism, I have come to an extreme and socially abstract decision in which I avoid commonly ingested, and gluttonously ego driven social media and technology. With that being presented my cell phone, laptop, and ipod became nothing more to me but over sized paper weights and mental stress balls that I could violently hurl at my gravel riddled drive-way. An unusual state-of-mind to purchase real-estate in, yet it has a rather simple beautiful hue to it. I learned to adapt a view that has been furthermore neglected by this competitive, capitalistic, self-indulging monster known as society. I really guess the tower I'm trying to construct here is...I have changed Dogma, I have changed in a way that is indescribable; no witty, vocab-infested, metaphor, no media-related, aggressively ill, wise crack...just nothing. Yet...I can describe how the events unfolded. The events that have forcefully convinced me to change directions of this over-clustered, over-advertised, media driven blog that I have created. (Only seems fair...seeing as I've only had 3 previous installments of this shab, this request is hardly unreasonable) I do apologize, yet I fancy myself a storyteller over a critic. More like a Homer...yea! A Homer! ...like maybe a better looking version of him but I posses far superior stories...if not at least ones of equal stature. Now all of my ridiculious tales are for the unbridled pleasure and entertainment of my listeners (In this scenario, I'm referring to you Dogma) All of my stories hold significant emotional and sentimental value to me, every different excerpt holds a stern life-lesson and an evolution of me as a person.  Now I'm no Ernest Hemingway, so conveying this evolution of human ambition through words seems down-right ludicrous. So as stated above, these stories shall only act as some-what humorous babble which your great minds will feast upon and immediately regurgitate like an overly expired TV dinner found in the back corner of your freezer. Now a majority of my stories are birthed from either my hometown of Hamilton NJ or my college town of York PA. Each town has a variety of key players and places I will attempt to convey as clearly as I may. Yet organization is never promised when reconstructing a visual lobotomy of previous events in my life. So I will do my best not to turn this mural of memories into a 3 year old's finger-painting session. I shall start from the beginning of my self-liberating proclamation.

     Hamilton, NJ- Several days after I had graduated high school (yea....I said it.....I graduated high school...get off my back world) I had brought it upon myself to sever ties with nearly every individual I knew in school. Why...you inquire? Maybe a coming-of-age revelation? Maybe some traumatic calamity that was bestowed upon me in high school? Maybe I was just bored? My best hypothesis is the undeniable fog of social smugness. An over abundance of fake popularity-driven sociopaths who I considered to be dear to me. HA! What rubbish, the illusion of happiness came from an unusually high Facebook friend count or the never-ending plethora of fraudulent endearing emails. Overwhelmed, yet with eyes wide open my outgoing personality shriveled and withered to a reserved shut-in. I didn't exactly plan my course for this mental genocide of high school acquaintances, so my older brother Aaron had decided to let me accompany him on his escapades one summer afternoon. What transpired was nothing of significant importance but of personal peace-of-mind. I had met two unlikely individuals, one a big, baby-faced, innocent brute; the other, a tiny, seemingly fragile, SEEMINGLY innocent little girl. (Notice the emphasis on "seemingly") The Minotaur looking man was Ryan Roberts and the little-red-riding-hood looking girl was Trish. (Her last name is extremely polish as well as being extremely hard to spell) These two, over the next few years, will become my closest compadres when looking to disrupt the establishment and through the rugged tertian of my social and emotional reconstruction of my life. These two, however I have seen previously through-out my journey of public schooling. Ryan, was once on an opposing handball team in a vicious "battle royal" during gym class, and Trish had been positioned adjacent to me in a world history class. No words where exchanged with either of them during our high school stay, except for the mutual understanding that Trish and I would alter each other's marks to our liking when grading one another's test paper. (Consistently perfect papers were dished out on both of our parts)
   
     Party after party we attended, introducing and inducting me into their comfortable social click, as if I were an orphan they'd recently adopted and wanted to show-off to the celeb world for a limited taste of the big spotlight on the social media sites. Almost instantly I was accepted, meeting a slew of new people accompanied with fresh mind-sets, brash personalities, and a consistently open mind for anyone or anything new. This is what we had in common. This is why I was so quickly accepted. The people around me, for once in my existence, did not care how the world judged them. I didn't feel as if I were trapped on an episode of "The Real World" congested with the obsessive arguments, pre-teen drama, and narcissistic ego's of muscle head scrubs. Sure, we didn't exactly keep our nose's clear (well...in the eyes of conformed society we didn't) yet...nothing was ever malicious, nothing ever negatively geared to sodomize or demoralize another's being...just ...generally good vibes.

     "Wow Dylan, great description, I feel like I can vividly depict each and everyone of your friends and their accompanied personalities."

     Hush, hush Dogma! I am merely organizing my thoughts in a manner that one can easily define the point I am trying to sharpen...my dearest apologies if you just think I lumber around with Goliath and the little white rabbit from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" and who have just recently introduced me to the group of free-flowing, open-minded individuals out of "Hair" yet an influx of heavy detail would make this blog severely over-whelming and extremely boring. (As opposed to moderately boring...which it is now)
   
     I digress, my social circle was slimmer then Natalie Portman in Black Swan, but just as appealing. Well maybe not just as appealing, (Natalie Portman is a tough act to follow) but still...pretty damn appealing.
Yet as the end of the summer season encroached, the tight social circle began to dispatch with many of it's usual party-goers shipping off to their respective colleges and universities. With a familiar, lonely gloom gracing my knowledge, my emotions spiked like gas prices as I had come to the brutal realization that I too will soon be relocated to the land of York, PA to start my first college semester. Vicious images of overly judgmental peers molesting my character with their closed-minded eyes poured through my cranium as my heart sizzled and shriveled with the painfully fear of loneliness. My agreement and acceptance to the college came long before I had actually thought about my decision and the consequences that accompanied it. I had unknowingly signed myself up for another constant grind, another never-ending struggle...a socially driven race to fit the ideals of the occupants at York College of Pennsylvania.

     Now Dogma as my newly stimulated blog draws to a close, I hope you may appreciate the little knowledge I have relayed to you of my closest friends. More description of them shall come in later installments of my blog, yet my message is fairly evident. People thrive off of new experiences, different places, and ripe youthful mindsets. Ryan and Trish were merely apparitions during my public schooling years, and now dearest friends of mine shortly after. This comes not from my social anxiety but from my security of leaving a socially deemed "click." People skulk by you everyday, whether that be on the street, or in the halls, or on a subway....those people that you remain silent around due to a terrible social phobia of not knowing that person. Yet it's that person who may brighten your day...and even change your life.

     

Rawrshack vs Champ

Greetings and salutations Dogma,

     1:30... 1:30 in the morning... This seems like a suitable time to write. It was either that or play with my majestic and undeniably picturesque cat, Rawrshack! ...I choose to do both. I have just told  Rawrshack, in vivid detail, of my affairs tonight (and in no way is that depressing) I enlightened him with the knowledge of quite possibly the most interesting dog, his name is Champ.

     Champ is the dog in the photograph... a friend of a friend's dog. She once called him the energizer bunny... she wasn't joking. Picture your dog on four loko, it's wild, crazy, hilarious but it doesn't  hook up with your girlfriend and continue to leave your bed untidy. The point is this dog was a rather big deal for this very brief period of my existence. He was lovable, playful, extremely humorous, yet I wasn't quite sold. His rugged hair (as opposed to fur) and shaggy appearance gave off a "Homeward Bound" type-feel. The most intriguing aspect yet is the origins of the dog. Champ is a rescue puppy...he is one year old. A regular tear jerker is always a selling point. With the fitting image, the name also is somehow seemingly perfect.  Champ seems to be high on life and after several continuous hours of chasing him around the yard, Champ still has enough ardor and vigor to run around the yard again when his owner's father returns home. (All of these event take place past mid-night mind you.) 

     Which beckons the question is there a cooler pet? I believe my new cat Rawrshack may be able to silence the critics. Rawrshack is the cat in the photograph, he is just under a year old. Rawrshack also bares an interesting history, in which he was born into a cage at the local pound with several brothers and sisters that were taken home immediately by cat lovers, cat enthusiasts, cat fanatics, or just regular everyday people. With Rawrshack being in a cage for the earlier time of his life, undeniably juggled something in his brain. He runs and scrambles around my residency like he is at a Barnum Bailey circus hyped up on cocaine and mescaline. He is by no stretch of the imagination a "picky eater." Having seen him consume noodles, french fries, popcorn, and cheeseburgers I have made the conscious decision to implement a "raw foods diet" for him. (Yes Dogma, that is the diet that is one stricter then a vegan regimen) 

So I ask for you opinion Dogma. Which pet intrigues you immensely more then the other? I have provided a voting poll to the side of the blog asking for your honest thoughts and views. Now I am not trying to demean the loser and this is not a call for flocci­nauci­nihili­pilification (and yes that is a real word) I am just simply inquiring as to your honest opinion, nothing more. You do not have to vote if you choose not to, you will not hurt my feelings. 

Them Crooked Social Networks...

THE SOCIAL NETWORK: I felt it was only appropriate to review The Social Network especially considering its' considerable track record of 8 Oscar nominations, 51 won nominations, and 53 other nominations. The Social Network grossed nearly 100,000,000 dollars in box office revenue and was largely considered the number 1 film in America at the time. I must admit I was rather skeptical at first, about a film revolving around the immature concept of social networking and its' large scale effect on modern culture. I anticipated a continuous downward spiral in revenue shortly after opening weekend, I was obviously ignorant to the complexity of this film. The score and screenplay for the film was absolutely breath-taking. With the combination of the ingenious script and integrate sequence of events, the film was both revealing and extremely compelling. Nothing to impressive in the cinematographic field, and still the shots felt perfect in many instances with a simple yet concise lay out and progression. Many of the actors in the film are unpopular or unknown entirely. With a fresh cast plaguing the film the acting is surprisingly exquisite and exceedingly talented. The young and believable cast make for a more immersive movie experience. With knowledge of facebook and how it has effected mass media and social interaction as we know it, The Social Network is a must see eye opener. If you are too, are a skeptic, like I once was. Denounce your doubts and give this film a try. The Guys Rating: 9 out of 10.

THEM CROOKED VULTURES: Quite possibly the greatest jam-band-super-group ever formed. A bold statement but one that I am willing to back up. Them Crooked Vultures formed in Los Angeles in 2009. Consisting of Dave Ghrol on drums (Foo Fighter front-man) Jon Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin Bassist) and Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone age front-man.) The group originally kept the band a secret project, playing underground venues and shows with little to no publicity before publicly announcing a world tour starting Oct. 1st 2009 called Deserve the Future. The bands self titled album is one of epic proportions. With beautiful flow                    and talented musicians behind the instruments the sound that is produced is both complex and dance worthy at the same time. With the music being delivered by pure passion and appreciation for music itself, Them Crooked Vultures care little for money and public opinion creating a natural flow of jam-band rock-n-roll. The beat induces one to feel the music like my middle school teacher felt me up after class one day when I preformed poorly on a test. The bottom line is Them Crooked Vultures is at the top of the heep in terms of the modern music scene especially for a more mature music taste. Their self debut album delivered everything a music addict could wish for and more. The album is extremely consistent, and won a Grammy for the group for their hit "New Fang" the third track of the album, which displays the quality and worth of the album as a whole. The Guys rating: 8.8 out of 10

So until next time Dogma...

Sincerely, That Guy

First time rookie here...

Hello friends/fellow bloggers/general public readers,

     If you are reading this, chances are, you have most likely expended every option and given up on all forms of entertainment completely...otherwise you would not be here. My blogs hold no value, they have no intellectual advancements, and contain no subliminal messages or underlying meaning. What you read is what you get. Yet, with the brutally honest truth now out squirming and flailing all over your newly painted, newly polished mahogany table it is safe to say I am not completely "there." I have been told on multiple occasions that I have many metaphorical screws loose in my head. You call it crazy, they call it insane, I call it artistic, my mother calls it "special." I however embrace this trait like a father embraces his son, by hugging him and giving him a snow cone after his first little league game. For I fortunately was graced with the vigorous ambition to write. And with new wave media constantly bitch slapping me in the face it was rather difficult for me not to become absolutely infatuated with the entire "blogging" craze. I attempted to stay away and distance myself from new wave media (such as social networking) like it was a cheap hooker on a New York city street corner who had an encyclopedia of STDs, but just like the hooker to no avail could I resist the temptation. The idea and act of being able to write what I want, when I want and distribute my radical and politically incorrect opinions to the masses just seemed extremely compelling to me. 

     If you have not already realized, I do not have a censor button. I do not believe in censorship nor do I approve of it in any form of media anywhere in the world. My head does not censor itself, therefore why should my blog? With that have been said, I have immense respect for various cultures, beliefs, and lifestyles. You will NEVER see me bash or degrade an individual, form of media, or piece of art based on those circumstances. I will also never force my views upon you (my viewers) you can take my writing for what it is worth to you.

     I should probably wrap this up soon.....I do not exactly know what a standard size for a blog is, yet, presumably you are in somewhat of a fetal position at this very moment crying over the precious lost minutes that you have just wasted reading this sham of rubbish that I happily call a "blog"

WHAT YOU SHOULD EXPECT FROM ME: In MOST of my blogs I will review a band, and a movie in great detail along with another completely unrelated subject. Some of the bands and movies I review will be obscure, while others I review will be more common and prominent. I will take requests for movies and music that you may want reviewed and I will always be happy to comply.

WHAT I WILL EXPECT FROM YOU: ...Nothing really. I do however, appreciate feedback (whether that feedback be positive or negative) and a strong interactive relationship between you (the viewer) and me (the so-called "blogger")

     Now before I finish my first official blog, and leave you with a tasteless feeling in which you have the urge to slap a pregnant panda bear and a compulsion to ransack a tiny, uncivilized village, you are probably wondering what you should refer to me as. In the circumstance that you do feel compelled to tell your co-workers what a scrub I was or your school mates on how you wasted all of 8 minutes of your life reading my shitty blog before proverbially touching yourself, your going to want to shout my name to the heavens in anguish, then quickly follow my name with controversial words or sayings that are usually not condoned by the rest of organized society. The answer is simple my friends, just call me "That Guy" or "Guy" for short. I have come to the conclusion that all great bloggers/musicians/artists have cool "pen names." Now granted my name is very typical and by most not considered cool but it is memorable and makes for an easy flow when stringing it together with a party list of swear words. Now you may be wondering "but guy, what if I want a cool pen name as well?" Oh ho ho! Ask and you shall receive my friend! Instead of simply referring to you as a "viewer" or a "reader" I felt it was only appropriate to refer to you as Dogma. Dogma is the established belief or doctrine held by a religion, ideology or any kind of organization: it is authoritative and not to be disputed, doubted or diverged from....so take it for what it is worth (plus it sounds super-bad-ass) 

     If you wish to talk, question, insult, mock, thank, provoke, or criticize just simply comment on any one of my blogs. I will blog regularly and hopefully entertain you through-out most of them. Until next time Dogma...

     Sincerely, That Guy