It's My World!

Thoughts Without Words: Trifecta albums

2018-01-07T21:09:00.000-08:00

Remember when I used to blog? Anyway, it has been awhile.

So I was thinking the other day about bands that released 3 albums in a row that are just "all killer, no filler". And as I thought about it more, I realized that making 3 great albums in a row is very hard. This post will look at some of my favorite bands and see if they every had a trifecta.

Metallica: definitely. I would say they hit 4 in a row. Their 1st 4 albums are all classics. But if you were to narrow it down to 3 I would say Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, and And Justice for All.

Megadeth: Yes. They actually could lay claim that their first 5 albums are all classics. But I would also go with their 2nd half albums, The World Needs a Hero, The System has Failed, and United Abominations.

Trivium: Nope. This hurts cause I love Trivium. Their debut and Ascendancy are good, but The Crusade ruins that run. Shogun and In Waves started it up again, only to be stopped by Vengeance Falls. And their last two albums aren't the beginning of a trifecta run either.

Shadows Fall: Yep. Of One Blood, The Art of Balance & The War Within. In fact, if not for Threads of Life, Shadows Fall could have had the perfect run.

Killswitch Engage: Nope. Alive or Just Breathing & End of Heartache are classics. As Daylight Dies kills that one though. ADD doesn't bring anything new to the game so to speak. And the songs, just don't compare. They almost did it again with Killswitch Engage II & Disarm the Descent, but Incarnate was just above average.

All That Remains: Nope. Their debut & The Fall of Ideals are classics. Their sophomore album is just blah. Sounds too much like KsE. Overcome is ok, but For We are Many is the beginning of the end of this band.

Into Eternity: Nope. Buried in Oblivion and Scattering of Ashes are solid, but Incurable Tragedy is too short and Dead or Dreaming suffers from some poor production.

In Flames: Yes. Whoracle, Colony, and Clayman are classics in Swedish Death Metal. Come Clarity & Sounds of a Playground Fading are great as well, but unfortunately that middle album A Sense of Purpose is just mediocre.

Nevermore: Yes. Like Shadows Fall, they come close to running the table. Their debut is un-listenable to me. But Politics of Ecstasy through This Godless Endeavor are all great examples of modern thrash metal.

Those are basically most of the bands I listen to and you can see only 5 really have done it. If I went to rock I would say Aerosmith and Guns N Roses.

Inside Four Walls: 2011-2012 CST results

2012-08-19T19:20:00.000-07:00

So a few months ago, but only two posts down :-( I predicted my scores for my Geometry class, but not my Algebra B. First I predicted my Geometry would be a 73%, which would be my highest scores ever. Well, I did better. It came out to be 75% of my students were proficient or advanced. And yeah, like I said in the post, if it was above a 70% it would be high for our school because we are usually in the high 50s. Well, the school average was in the mid 50%s. So yeah, really excited there.

But what about my Algebra scores? I didn't give a prediction because I forgot to update it, but I was looking at, hopefully, a 30% (based on their grade). Well, I guess I was a little too hard on them because they came back at 93%. That isn't a typo, 93% of my students were either advanced or proficient. School average was 57%. I got nothing to say.

So for those that stumble upon this and want to know how? In Geometry, I give a 15 minute weekly quiz over anything that we have done. So if it is March and I want to ask questions from Chapter 2, it's fair game. I think they have something to do with it. I started doing it during the second semester of the 2010-2011 school year and I ended up with the second highest scores. Or it could be I just had really motivated students.

In Algebra B, same thing. A 4 question daily quiz covering factoring, graphing, systems of equations, and whatever else (usually rational expressions). I barely covered word problems, like only two types. But if they can master those sections, they are almost guaranteed a proficient score. I also don't have any partial credit. It's all right or wrong. Plus multiple choice tests get them ready for the CSTs. In Algebra, they can just plug in their answers. In Geometry, they can eliminate some.

Finally, I don't allow calculators 2nd semester...at all. I don't want them to have their first test without a calculator being the CSTs. In Geometry, I make them solve right triangles with special angles or leaving answers with trig functions in the answers.

So do I think I am a good teacher? Actually, no. I think I have found a way to teach to a test. I put my students in the best position to pass. Kind of like a coach making adjustments at half time, that's all I have done.

Right Now: a little update

2012-07-02T05:22:00.001-07:00

So where have I been the last 2 months? Just sitting around waiting for some good music to finally come out, but it never happened. I'm in the middle of summer school and realized it had been a long time since I posted, so here is a quick run
-down of things I want to talk about;
- albums of the year (of course)
- saw the Avengers & Thor
- new cartoons (some soon to be cancelled)
- new school year It's a lot on my mind and I am going to try and post one topic per day...I say try because I probably won't post again until Christmas.

Inside Four Walls: CSTs are here - 2012 edition

2012-04-11T18:35:00.000-07:00

So here we go state testing is 2 weeks away and it is crunch time. Now I have been doing more work for my Geometry students this year than I have in years past, meaning trying new things. I started a weekly quiz that was 5 questions based on any material we covered until that day. My hope was that it would force the students to always be reviewing past material, in turn they wouldn't have to review as much before the CSTs.

So this week I took the state released questions, which is about 80+. However, the test is only 65, so I went old school and cut and pasted...literally a 65 question test for them. On top of that I selected the same number of questions they would have for each cluster. It took a long time to select them and get them all made so hopefully it will pay off.

So instead of doing the normal looking at grades to predict my CST scores, I am going to be looking at this test they took this week. Basically a proficient is about a 67% or so and that was the cut off I used. So for each period it broke down like this;
1st - 56%
2nd - 81%
4th - 72%
6th - 79%

Those are very good, unfortunately most of my students are in first so overall the average is just a 73%. If I could be above 70% I would be happy and would be looking at my highest scores ever, especially considering my 58% was high for our school last year.

Unfortunately, I don't know if the quizzes had any effect or not. What people don't understand about education is that we are simply a piece of the learning puzzle. Maybe I have great students? Maybe I had parents at home that valued a good education? Will I try it again next year? Yes.

Now comes the test and then the wait.

Music Non Stop: new Soul Cycle

2012-04-08T06:53:00.000-07:00

I have talked about Soul Cycle before. They play instrumental thrash. It's very good music. Well out of nowhere I received an email saying they were releasing a new album in a couple of weeks. These guys are pretty good at what they do and with only 4-5 albums on my radar right now (including this one) who knows where this will end up at the end of the year.

Here is the album sampler to get a feel for what I am talking about.

Music Non Stop: another batch of 2012 music

2012-03-01T17:48:00.000-08:00

Been kind of a slow year for music, but two bands that I do like have some new songs out. First up is Dirge Within. Their debut was really impressive especially some of the guitar work. This sounds pretty good...nothing special, but hey its new.

Next up God Forbid. They are a hit and miss with me. Some of their stuff I love, other stuff is just meh. They have changed up their guitar tone on this album, can't tell if I like it or not yet. I think I will have to hear the whole thing before I pass judgement.

Video Killed the Radio Star: Darth Maul returns...

2012-02-23T17:08:00.005-08:00

kind of cheesy, but looks awesome.

Inside Four Walls: Why do you want to be a teacher...

2012-02-13T20:30:00.000-08:00

I feel like I have asked this before...

In Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love, an 8th grader attacked and beat his science teacher.

An 8th grade student confronted Williams, his science teacher, about a bad grade, when it turned ugly.

"I saw him take a swing," one student told Fox 29. "I couldn't believe it."

I am really at a loss for words here...and if you know me, that's a surprise.

Venting the Anger: New Power Girl costume

2012-02-13T19:32:00.000-08:00

I have talked a lot how DC has screwed up costumes over the years, well with the new DC Universe some more characters got some new looks. The latest is Power Girl. Now for those who don't know who Power Girl is (or whatever she is now), she is a clone of Supergirl, a more mature version...which is funny that she keeps the "girl" tag in her name.

Anyway, here is a look at her suits through the years.

There seems to be one constant of her suit...the hole right in front of her chest. I really don't know how this started, but as you can see it has been a staple from the beginning. Heck they even made fun of the blatant sexual nature of the suit.

So now they are bringing her back into the new universe and here is the new look

What the...? How do we go from this

to this?

Let's look past the obvious chest and focus on the hair...it looks like Black Canary's hair from the 80's. By the way, if Power Girl's suit wasn't so bad I might focus some of this anger on The Huntress' new suit. What is up with those freakin' ears?!?!

Now if DC was getting rid of all sexual costumes I would be fine with it...but here is the new Starfire look

Yeah...explain that DC.

Thoughts Without Words: Prop 209 challenged

2012-02-13T18:28:00.000-08:00

Prop 209 basically got rid of race as a reason for admission into California colleges or as most know it as affirmative action. You can go read the story HERE, but I had to post the comment by a poster named mat3 who summed it up nicely;

I want to be treated as equal except for this, and this, and this, What a bunch of BS. You're either treated equally or not.

Video Killed the Radio Star: New Spider-Man Trailer

2012-02-07T06:26:00.000-08:00

I could have turned this into a Venting the Anger post, but let's try and be positive here. Spider-Man does have web shooters again and he does appear to have some of the classic wise cracking humor going on here.

So I won't mention Peter creating the formula to turn Connors into the Lizard or the fact that once again we will have a super long scene in which Spider-Man runs around the city without his mask on. Or the fact that Peter's parents are somehow related to Connors, even though they are best remembered for a 90's storyline in which they were spies/traitors/SHIELD agents...so I am sure this movie can clear that up.

Video Killed the Radio Star: How Star Wars should have ended

2012-02-04T13:12:00.001-08:00

I showed this video to a couple of friends a few weeks ago. No idea why it took so long for me to put it up here.

best part...Yoda's line, "awkward, this is."

Inside Four Walls: Wonder if American students would do this...

2012-01-21T10:03:00.001-08:00

...to get to school

just goes to show how in some parts of the world education is more valuable than others. I can see not only the students saying school's not that important and also the parents. Interesting.

Video Killed the Radio Star: Is this what I sound like?

2012-01-19T05:54:00.000-08:00

A short video of what comic book nerds say. I will admit to saying some of these. The one that sticks out is the whole "Galactus is a cloud?" because every time I talk about FF2 I always say that.

Inside Four Walls: Not surprised...

2012-01-19T05:27:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted a school story in awhile and this one doesn't have to do with my job, but the results are more of the mind boggling "why would you want to get into education?"

I have talked about teacher's rights and free speech and all that good stuff plenty of times on here. But teacher's and educators in general seem to get screwed in that department. Take this story via Joanne Jacobs' blog.

A middle school principal in northeastern Pennsylvania was shocked to see his photo online along with a description of him as a “hairy sex addict” and a “pervert” who liked “hitting on students” in his office.

A high school principal north of Pittsburgh saw a MySpace profile of himself that called him a “big fag,” a “whore” and a drug user.

And in West Virginia, a school principal found out that a girl had created an online site to maliciously mock another girl as a “slut” with herpes.

All three students were suspended and filed suit, claiming their free speech rights had been abridged. The two students who charged their principals with misconduct won in the lower courts. The girl who mocked a classmate lost.

I absolutely love how the students that attacked their principals on line are protected by free speech, but the student on student isn't. Open season on online attacks.

Music Non Stop: 2012 new music

2012-01-17T21:10:00.000-08:00

It's going to be tough to have another year like last year, but so far there seems to be a lot of promise that it won't be a crappy year.

First up is Into Eternity. Their last one was mediocre. I felt that they let Stu go a little to high too much. But by the sound of this clip he seems to be using his new found "mid-range" vocals from Iced Earth.

Another band that I have on my radar is The Resistance. It's a band made up of former members of In Flames and The Haunted. One of my favorite The Haunted album's is One Kill Wonder with Marco Aro on vocals and he is back for this album. Hopefully they throw in some nice guitar solos, but I am ready for this to drop.
COUP DE GRACE by The_Resistance
Also to note would be Lacuna Coil's Dark Adrenaline which sound better than their last album which was just ok...and that would be a positive spin. Add onto that I am also watching for some new Soulfly this year.

So even though this time last year, Times of Grace was already in my hands, I am optimistic it will be a fairly solid year.

Video Killed the Radio Star: Prometheus Trailer

2012-01-04T22:51:00.000-08:00

Late to the party that's for sure, but this looks good. I am a fan of the first two Alien movies...the rest were so bad...just bad. So when rumors of a Ridley Scott movie based of the famed "space jockey" was announced I kind of perked up. But when the trailer was released last week...

...I am at full attention now. This is a must see for me. This thing screams Alien prequel down to the ship. How can this not be the same planet in Alien/Aliens?

Right Now: Howard Jones out of KsE

2012-01-04T20:50:00.000-08:00

What a crappy way to start off the new year with the news of Howard Jones leaving/fired from Killswitch Engage. I am a huge Jesse Leach fan, but if you have to have another singer for KsE it was Howard. End of Heartache is a classic and easily is up there with Alive or Just Breathing. I have always said those two albums were so much like Metallica's Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets. Meaning the songs were similar and how both albums were at the top of their game.

What sucks is that their last album was a "return to form" so to speak after the mediocre Daylight Dies. I was really excited to see what they were going to come up with, especially with everyone sort of doing their own thing. It would have been interesting to see what they could have produced after being apart for so long.

Now this opens the door for Jesse to return to KsE, but who knows if he will. He did the Times of Grace project with Adam D. and the touring version of the band features a couple of KsE members. I hope he does. Times of Grace was awesome and at times was reminiscent of KsE.

If I couldn't get Jesse back there is only one singer off the top of my head that could pull it off and that would be Jimmie Strimmell of Dead By April/Nightrage fame. I think he would be great in that role. He isn't allowed to do the clean vocals anymore for DbA so why not?

Who Decides: 2011 Albums of the Year

2012-01-03T18:53:00.000-08:00

What happened to the end of 2011? I was on track to have close to 300 posts and then...well nothing happened. I stopped posting. I will try to get back to posting on a regular basis, so let's see how that goes.

First things first, my top 10 albums of 2011. There was a lot of great music last year and in all my years of doing this list, this was the hardest hands down. In fact when I was making the list, I actually ended up with 20 albums that I really enjoyed, so since i already did the Spinal Tap Edition, I will simply do a top 20 for this year, nothing full detail with the 20-11, just list them.

By the way, here is the list of the mid year albums. Most show up again with only a few not making it to the final 20.

20. Protest the Hero - Scurrilous
19. Deadlock - Bizarro World
18. Anthrax - Worship Music
17. Megadeth - Th1rt3en
16. Nightrage - Insidious
15. Unearth - Darkness in the Light
14. Revocation - Chaos of Forms
13. The Haunted - Unseen
12. Sylosis - Edge of the Earth
11. The Human Abstract - Digital Veil

Some really good albums in there. On any given day those 10 could have made the top 10 list...maybe not the top 4 or 5, but easily 10-6. Now onto the rest;

10. Lazarus A.D. - Black River Flows: This was a surprise for me, not because I'm not a fan, but because how much growth transpired between their debut and this one. This is the kind of maturity that you see between albums like Kill Em All and Ride the Lightning or KIMB and Peace Sells. Lazarus A.D. easily put themselves out there as one of the top new "thrash revival" acts. Before they were just an Exodus clone, but not anymore.

9. Cavalera Conspiracy - Blunt Force Trauma: This was another surprise, but for a different reason, their debut was meh. It wasn't great, it wasn't bad, it was just there. Their follow up really brings back the days of Arise. The guitar work, mainly solos, is awesome. Killing Inside and I Speak Hate are two great songs that just grab you and don't let go of you.

8. Evile - Five Serpent's Teeth: Another "thrash revival" band. I had heard of this band, but never paid much attention to them. I will never make that mistake again. The best way I can sum up this band is by repeating what i read about them; This is Metallica after AJFA. The vocal delivery is similar and the music is also in the same style as the classic thrash we all know and love.

7. Iced Earth - Dystopia: I already talked about this album HERE. All I will say is that it's nice to see Iced Earth back making classic heavy metal/thrash again.

6. In Flames - Sounds of a Playground Fading: People said In Flames were dead after their guitarist, Jesper, left the band. And I will be honest I was worried. Come Clarity was awesome, but The Mirror's Truth was bad. This one is back on track. Ander's vocals remind me of Reroute to Remain and the music is closer in style to Come Clarity than The Mirror's Truth. I was very glad to see that In Flames could rise up and make a stellar album without one of their key members.

5. Anterior - Echoes of the Fallen: Of all the "new" bands releasing sophomore albums (Anterior, Lazarus A.D., Sylosis) I wasn't too interested in Anterior's, until I heard the samples. This is easily the best of the other 2 bands. The guitar work is top notch and even thought there is no real change in vocal delivery, it works and I never find myself wishing something would change. Reviewed HERE.

4. Times of Grace - Times of Grace: This album was my choice for album of the year in January. As you can see it didn't quiet make it, but it didn't fall off the radar either. I have reviewed already and have nothing to add. It stands up through continuous listens and it is a nice change of pace when compared to other albums here. Reviewed HERE.

3. Mercenary - Metamorphosis: There was a time when I thought this might be number one because it really came out of nowhere. I was a fan of Mercenary's 11 Dreams, but when they lost their bass player/scream vocals I was worried. But when they released Architect of Lies all those fears were gone the new vocalist was great. But then short after their tour ended the band imploded and 2 members, including the vocalist, left. So I was nervous, but this album is everything that is great about Mercenary, heavy guitars, great vocals, and some excellent head banging moments. Review HERE.

2. Machine Head - Unto the Locust: Now if you remember in 2007, Machine Head's The Blackening was my number one album. Looking back and what I have listened to since, I sometimes think maybe DevilDriver's The Last Kind Words should have been number one. But fast word to 2011 and Machine Head's latest is good...really good. There are times when I think this is a lot better than The Blackening. With The Blackening, some of the songs were too long. Now these songs are long again, but for some reason they fly by. The songs are a lot easier to digest if you will. I have read the opposite from some reviewers, but this was an album that was very easy for me to get into and enjoy. But unfortunately it couldn't top the number one album...who knows maybe in a few years I'll say how Machine Head should have been number one.

1. Trivium - In Waves: Well let's hit the time machine again, in 2008 Trivium's Shogun ended up number two behind Metallica's Death Magnetic...mainly because I am such a Metallica fan. And there were some times towards the end of the year that I was thinking that Trivium could drop to number two again, but it didn't happen. Trivium's songs are so catchy it's amazing. There is only one other band that makes songs grab you on the first listen and that would be Bullet For My Valentine. While this wasn't as good as Shogun, it was still the best thing from start to finish I heard all year. Reviewed HERE.

The Last Laugh: Problems with new Teacher Evaluations

2011-11-09T05:55:00.000-08:00

When all the talk shifted to evaluating teachers based on state test scores, I immediately thought about all the teachers that don't have a state test attached to their course. By the way, that number is usually 60% or higher. So now everyone is scrambling on how to do it.

Because there are no student test scores with which to evaluate over half of Tennessee’s teachers — kindergarten to third-grade teachers; art, music and vocational teachers — the state has created a bewildering set of assessment rules. Math specialists can be evaluated by their school’s English scores, music teachers by the school’s writing scores.

This is just the beginning. I would love to see a Math teacher be fired for having low English state test scores. Someone explain this to me...and once again, if anyone would have asked a teacher, they would have told you that this wouldn't work. Not because they don't want it, but because it just won't work.

This Calling: Matthew 6:34

2011-11-07T17:50:00.001-08:00

Matthew 6:34 () 34 Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

#Bible http://j.mp/fX6Ctl&name=Matthew+6:34+

Right Now: No-Shave November

2011-11-06T06:13:00.000-08:00

So I forgot to shave this past week, really busy, and my TA asked me if I was doing the "No-Shave November". I had never heard of it before and did a little research and apparently it was founded to help raise awareness of prostate cancer. Now this disease is pretty close to home because my grandfather had it and so has my dad. Will I get it? Probably. So if I can do anything to help raise awareness I will. The worst part for me is that I shave my head every other day, so this is going to be tough for me.

Tirades of Truth: Lulu

2011-11-03T17:03:00.000-07:00

Wow...just wow. That is probably the best way I can describe the new Metallica/Lou Reed collaboration. I can see why so many people turn it off after the first song. Seriously. Lou Reed doesn't sing, he talks with a little bit of tone. I guess the best way to describe his vocals would be to say it is reminiscent of Johnny Cash's vocals for Hurt.

Now clearly, James Hetfield's vocals would have made this project a lot better. It would have been similar to Load/Re-Load, but a little bit more metal and less rock. He makes a couple of appearances as a background vocalist. It is a welcomed changed and you can almost hear how great this album could have been if he would have just done them all. I am sure that is what people thought when Dave Mustaine did his MD.45 project and then put Lee Ving on vocals. I guess the one positive thing for those people is that Dave eventually released the album with him doing all the vocals. But I don't see Metallica ever doing that. Heck, while every band has re-released albums with "bonus tracks", Metallica never has, ever. So while it would probably sell more and get a better reaction, I don't see it happening. By the way, someone re-edited The View and took out anything relating to Lou Reed. This is what I mean...it's not horrible. It is probably better than the Loads now that I listen to it.

I am a huge Metallica fan. Everything they touch is great. As I listen to this now (it is streaming HERE), there are times that I find myself laughing out loud because of the vocals or lack there of or I am laughing at the horrible lyrics (If I waggle my ass like a dark prostitute, would you think less of me) and there is more where that came from. I understand this is a concept album, but wow this story is difficult to follow for me. I just keep getting distracted by those lyrics.

Now for the positives, yes they are there. The music is great. Solid all the way around. I would love to hear this as an instrumental album. Like I said earlier, it isn't Master of Puppets or Kill Em All, but more in line with the Loads. There are times where it is pretty thrashy, Mistress Dread, but overall it stays within what we know Metallica to sound like.

Overall, it was better than I thought it would be. I kept hearing snippets of the songs and vocals and thought it would be horrible. Well it isn't. Is it great? No, and during this year of great albums, it probably make my top 10 list. But it definitely deserves a spin. Skip around sample here and there. I was able to almost tune out Lou Reed's vocals and just enjoyed the music. Someone get around and make this an instrumental.

The Sun Always Shines on T.V.: Dan LeBatard is Highly Questionable

2011-11-01T21:56:00.000-07:00

I don't get a lot of time to watch TV nowadays, kids, work, exercising...you get the point. But one show that has been apart of my daily viewing for about 10 years now has been Pardon the Interruption (PTI). It was basically the same format as The Sports Reporters, but with only two hosts and there was more humor involved.

Now the show is daily, but Mike & Tony take vacations and they need fill-in hosts. At first my favorite was Norm Chad, who gave more humor into the show than analysis. He started doing other things and hasn't been on for years. The next guy to really peak my interest was Dan LeBatard. He was funny like Norm, but you could also tell he knew what he was talking about. For the past few years he has been my favorite fill in host. This past summer I noticed he wasn't filling in very much and I was worried Dan was going the same way as Norm Chad. Well, his days on PTI might be over, but that's cause he got his own show Dan LeBatard is Highly Questionable (DLHQ).

I saw a commercial for it and set my DVR to record it right away. I saw the 60's kitchen set and was wondering what this would be like, but all of those questions were replaced when I saw his dad, thick accent and all, asking Dan sports questions. The interaction between father & son is always good for some laughs, heck Petros has his dad on every week for a segment on his radio show Petros & Money. It works.

Dan and his father are no different. The interaction is genuine and at times hilarious. Dan was never the serious guy on PTI and it is interesting to watch him try to be both the funny guy and serious guy at once. And so far he is doing a good job of pulling it off. Sure some of the topics are repeated on PTI, but the way Dan handles them is totally different than Mike & Tony.

I must admit I skip the interview segment, but unless it is someone that I really want to hear talk, I usually skip it on PTI as well. The edits were distracting at first, but now I just go with it. Dan seems like a person that could say a lot of stuff and it might not be too funny, but when he nails a joke it's good. And maybe that's what they are doing here. Maybe they are editing it because of his dad? Who knows, all I know is that I am loving it. In fact, the other night as I was watching it my wife sat down and watched a bit and started laughing at the interaction between Dan & his dad.

This show is something new, maybe not as revolutionary as PTI was 10 years ago, but it is definitely a show that you can't find anywhere else. Hopefully in 10 years DLHQ will still be around like PTI is.

This Calling: Psalm 121:7-8

2011-10-26T07:20:00.001-07:00

Psalm 121:7-8 () 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil;he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. #Bible http://j.mp/gszQsu&name=Psalm+121:7-8+