Computer Area

Off Topic CD Review Monster Ballads Xmas

Monster Ballads X-Mas. Razor & Tie, LLC. New York, NY, 2007.


Yeah, yeah, its off topic by a long ways but its my blog so what the heck. That and I love Christmas music so it seemed appropriate to me.

Coming of age in the 1980s allowed me to listen to some of the best in metal there has been. OK were not talking Led Zeppelin or vintage Black Sabbath but the hair metal era was a great time for music. Long may it live on great compilations like this one.

Monster Ballads Xmas contains 15 mostly rocking tracks. As with any compilation of course some are better than others. This one has extremes on both ends. Some songs are great versions and there are a couple of clunkers thrown in as well.

For me this CD gets off to a great start with Skid Row doing a somewhat punk sounding version of Jingle Bells. Its not Sebastian Bach but this track gets the CD going in the right direction right from the start. Winger does a great version of the John Lennon classic Happy Christmas (War is Over). I really liked the mixing of acoustic and electric guitar on this track.

Twisted Sister join forces with Lita Ford and belt out a version of Ill Be Home for Christmas that grew on me after a few listenings. It wasnt my favorite at first but Dee and Lita show they can both sing. Good musicianship backing them here. Geoff Tate and Queensryche do an admirable version of White Christmas. Its good but it didnt give Tate the chance to let his voice soar like he can. He could give Josh Groban a run for his money on Oh Holy Night if you ask me! For pure rock n roll fun you cant miss Firehouse belting out Rockin Around the Christmas Tree. Youll bang your head! I think Brenda Lee would be proud of them.

Tom Keifer (from Cinderella) contributes a great blues version of Blue Christmas. This really shouldnt be too shocking for those who remember Cinderella. This may be one of the under appreciated tracks on this CD. Stryper obliges our craving for live music with a really very good version of Winter Wonderland. Sure its kind of corny with the normal concert interaction between band and audience with Michael Sweet asking three times if the crowd was ready for Christmas. Thats OK because it leads to his singing a really powerful version "Stryper style" as he puts it. Good guitar and drum work. The album closes out with Billy Idol who really is out of place here. He never would have been considered metal let alone hair metal. That said his original tune Christmas Love is surprisingly good and as he says "if everybody gives then everybody receives".

There were a couple of middle of the road tracks for me. Dokken does a serviceable job on Santa Claus is Coming to Town. I grew up with MTV so its hard to beat Bruce Springsteen on this tune. While Nelson always seemed pretty corny the brothers did a pretty good job here with Jingle Bell Rock.

I really liked L.A. Guns and Faster Pussycat when they were at their best. The Guns version of Run Rudolph Run didnt do it and the Trent Reznor/Marilyn Manson inspired version of Silent Night from Faster Pussycat left me a bit disappointed. I kept waiting for it to explode and it never did. Danger Danger and Enuff ZNuff both performed what appear to be original songs that I dont think well be hearing too much of in the future. Poor Jani Lane from Warrant though may have laid the biggest egg on this one though. I have yet to get through Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.  My biggest non music complaint about this is the lack of liner notes. All you get is a song/band listing with song publisher information and in some cases what record label a band is on.

Despite these being Christmas themed songs the bands really did a fine job overall. While pretty well sticking to the original versions there was enough new and creative on these songs to satisfy. The guitar and drum work reminded me of how good some of these bands were musically and overall the vocals were strong.

If you were a hair metal fan in the 1980s you really should pick this CD up. Itll bring back some great memories. If you are having a Christmas party and want some great rock music playing in the background this could be your best bet. If nothing else itll keep the guests guessing as to who the bands are.

The PBS show American Experience has been broadcasting Death and the Civil War over the last week. The good people there were kind enough to send along a DVD review copy that I have been able to watch. Overall I was quite impressed.

Taking its inspiration from Drew Gilpin Fausts excellent book This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War (Vintage Civil War Library)this is a show that anybody interested in the Civil War should take the two hours needed to watch. While not breaking any new academic ground viewers can see photos of and hear the horror of the war. Despite early hopes this was not to be a quick event. With over 700,000 dead nearly every family in the country was affected.

Narration is broken up several ways. The main narrator is Oliver Platt and his voice lends a solemnity to the show befitting the subject. Letter excerpts are read by several others including Amy Madigan. Every documentary like this will have its share of "talking heads" and this one is no exception. Dr. Faust of course plays a main role. Others, such as George Will, J. David Hacker, and Vincent Brown may or may not be known by viewers. I personally found the contribution by David Blight a highlight. I came to know of him after downloading a course of his from the Apple University site and find him to be an engaging speaker. I have not read any of his books so I can say what I feel about those however. Another surprisingly interesting speaker was Thomas Lynch. Lynch is an undertaker by trade but also an author of note. You can read an interesting, but older, interview with him here.

The video portion of the program is really quite haunting. The photos used are a nice mix of well known and those I have not seen before. The lighting of the whole program is done in such a manner as to constantly remind the viewer of the seriousness of the subject. The background music for the program should be payed attention to. It helps set the mood but at no point is it overwhelming. I was not familiar with the name Brian Keane until searching out the music credits here. He is however quite well known and has scored numerous films and documentaries and has won multiple major awards.

Overall the program is broken into six major subjects including: dying, burying, naming, believing and doubting, accounting, and remembering. A major question that is asked by the program is if its citizens are expected to make the ultimate sacrifice (death) for the government what does the government owe to its citizens who make this sacrifice. At the time of the war neither government was able or ready to answer this. Out of the war however came improved medical care including the formation of an ambulance service, an improved ability and desire to remove soldiers remains from the field and to identify them thus giving families closure, and with the formation of national cemeteries soldiers and their families are able to give a proper burial to their brave men (and now women).

Again, while not breaking any new ground this is a show I can highly recommend. The images and subject are likely to stick with you for quite a while after watching this. Be sure to check your local PBS station for times or watch it online at your convenience.

Its pretty much common knowledge that PC is the best platform for playing Battlefield 3 on. You get more players on the field at once, better graphics, and greater control thanks to the humble mouse and keyboard combo.

However, you need a FAST computer to run Battlefield 3 properly. Nothing sucks more than laggy framerates and choppy performance when playing a game that was made specifically to look great. Now if you havent already taken a look at my quick guide to increasing your Battlefield 3 framerate, you should do so... but its important to remember that short of purchasing new hardware, there is nothing more effective at boosting your framerate than overclocking.
 
The biggest difficulty with overclocking is that it is a bit of a minefield if you are inexperienced (in fact, even experienced over clockers can run into trouble)

Thats where the Tweakboy Ultimate Overclocking Handbook comes into play. This is a comprehensive eBook guide to wringing the maximum performance possible out of your current PC hardware setup. Its basically a complete guide to take you from overclocking zero to hero.

Here is my Tweakboy Ultimate Overclocking Handbook review:

The main thing you will notice with the Tweakboy guide is that it is a complete blueprint for overclocking. Ive used quite a few different OCing guides in the past (I mean who doesnt love to get the most out of their hardware as possible?) but most of them deal with all the different components of the computer as totally separate entities, and dont relate them back together. What I mean is that you might get a guide to overclocking your CPU, and then another one for the video card, but there is nothing on how you can link your overclocking efforts together for the maximum possible framerate.

However, Tweakboy teaches you how to sync your overclocking efforts together to get the maximum possible performance increase. This is some seriously cool stuff, because by synchronizing everything you are going to get some much bigger framerate increases.

Heres a picture of a world record processor overclock made with the Tweakboy overclocking blueprint:

As you can see, thats some pretty impressive performance there. While Ive never managed to rack up anything that insane on my own machines (mainly because I dont want to push out the boat so much as to risk causing damage) I have absolutely no doubt that anyone following the Tweakboy blueprint is going to see massive increases in performance, clock speed, and gaming framerate.

The guide currently sells for $47 USD, which is a bit on the pricey side for an eBook. However, when you consider that you are going to see framerate and general PC performance increases equivalent to probably hundreds of dollars of new components and hardware, the Tweakboy Ultimate Overclocking Handbook suddenly becomes a lot better value. You also get a 60 day money-back guarantee in case you arent satisfied with the results you get, and payment processing is 100% safe and secure.

Finally, the Tweakboy support team are very friendly and easy to contact, so you can always get in touch with them easily and they will help you out every step along the way with your overclocking efforts.

Overall, I review the Tweakboy Ultimate Overclocking Handbook very highly, and truly recommend that you buy yourself a copy and get the maximum performance possible out of your PC. Click here to learn more about the Tweakboy Overclocking Handbook.

Premiering on the PBS show Voces, May 24, 2013 is the hour long documentary titled Rebel.

Romi Dias stars as Loreta Janeta Velazquez. Photo: Gerard Gaskin

Rebel recounts the story of Loreta Velazquez, a Cuban born woman who becomes a Confederate soldier before turning Union spy. This work, directed by Maria Agui Carter, is based upon Velasquezs post war memoir titled The Woman in Battle: The Civil War Narrative of Loreta Janeta Velazquez, Cuban Woman and Confederate Soldier (Wisconsin Studies in Autobiography).

Largely a forgotten figure, through the writings of Velazquez and the commentary of academics and historians such as Gary Gallagher we learn the story of a woman who could be considered a tragic figure who was ahead of her time.

Loreta was born to a well off family in Cuba who in 1849 sent her to New Orleans. Here her spiritedness began to show as she  refused what appears to have been a prepared marriage. She eventually marries a white man (i.e. not Hispanic or black) who appears to only be known by the name William. They quickly have two children with a third on the way when William is sent by the army to Indian Territory. Loretta and her children move to St. Louis where her infant child dies days after birth and soon after her other two children die from a fever epidemic that sweeps through St. Louis.

As the political situation worsens war becomes apparent. William resigns his army commission and joins the Confederacy with his home state (I assume this to be a Texas regiment and not the United States Army but this is unclear in the documentary). He is sent to Pensacola, FL where he is killed though it is called an accident.

With no family, no home, and seemingly no country Loreta transforms herself into a Confederate soldier by the name of Harry T. Buford. As Buford she fights at Bull Run, Shiloh, and other locations being injured several times. While serving as a Confederate she acquires a slave by the name of Bob. Bob serves her well until escaping to apparent freedom at Shiloh. It is unclear the relationship with Bob and if he knew Loretas/Harrys secret.

In July 1863 it is discovered that Harry is a woman and Loreta is considered to possibly by a Union spy. This charge could mean death. General John Winder however frees her several days later now using her in the Secret Service Corps. Shortly there after she goes to work in Baltimore for the Union Secret Service.

In 1875 she and her book ran afoul of Jubal Early, he of the Lost Cause. Early, who is portrayed harshly in Rebel with a wild eyed and untamed look, refuses to believe her story and essentially calls her a female camp follower; or prostitute. For the most part she disappears though she does show in printed records until 1902. According to the documentary her burial location is unknown.

While seemingly short on detail this is still a worthwhile program to view. In the filmmakers defense there really is little detail about Velazquez available. The filmmakers have used her own limited writings for much of the dialogue. During this story we learn of the race issues common in the south during this period. We also see that Velazquez sees a changing in the role of money and finances as the war drags on. Where strongest however is where we learn about the overall role of women in the time period. It is estimated that maybe 500-1,000 served in the war. The role of a woman was not questioned in the mid 19th century. The clothing and appearance of a woman was not open for debate or interpretation. Sexual roles were firm and not to be changed. Society was not ready for women such as Loreta Velazquez.

Cast
Loreta Velazquez--Romi Dias

Filmmakers
Maria Agui Carter--writer, producer, director
Calvin Lindsay, Jr.--producer

Academics and Historians
Catherine Clinton
Renee Sentilles
Kirsten Silva Gruesz
Christina Vella
Jesse Aleman
Vicki L. Ruiz
DeAnne Blanton
Elizabeth D. Leonard
Richard Hall
Carman Cumming
Gary W. Gallagher

Thank you to CaraMar Publicity for sending a preview copy of Rebel!