More Slurpee Cups Coming!

The Terminator cups are still plentiful in 7-Elevens in the metromess. Now comes word that Transformers cups are arriving soon along with a new flavor: Bumblebee Blast. I hope 7-Eleven keeps up this pace of releasing a new set of cups each month. I love the lenticular motion cups!

New Slurpee cups and flavor

The Wolverine movie has only been out for a few weeks and already 7-Eleven is shifting gears to promote the release of Terminator Salvation which hits theaters this coming Thursday [May 21]. Four new lenticular motion cups are available as is a new Slurpee flavor: Apocalyptic Ice.

I already have three of the four new Slurpee cups. Look for photos of the set and a review of the new flavor within the coming days.

BEHEMOTH reveals new album's cover art!!!

Polish juggernaut's BEHEMOTH have announced that their new album - Evangelion - will be released in the US on the eleventh of August. They also released the image that will be gracing the cover:



Behemoth frontman Nergal posted the following on the band's website:

Evangelion combines a pure art form with a direct message. It was also important for us to ensure that the graphical presentation did justice to the record. Again, we have worked with Tomasz Danilowicz who has created his best illustration yet for Behemoth. The picture is of The Great Harlot of Babylon riding the seven-headed beast. Saints bow before her in worship whilst the tablets of the Ten Commandments lie broken at her feet. It represents our vision and the interpretation of the New Testament parable where the “Whore of Babylon” is a symbol of rebellion and resistance against God. I am fascinated by stories whose source lies in the Bible and we have used biblical symbolism, coupled with my own experience and outlook, in our lyrics or on the covers of previous Behemoth records. I love to juggle with meanings and play around with symbolism which is exactly what I have done in this case. The main character of our new cover is an archetype of disobedience, individualism, self-determination and a free, unfettered will – these are universal keywords which are typical and crucial in understanding the character of our works, life as a whole and the true nature of man.

The band will be part of the Rockstar "MAYHEM FEST 2009" tour which kicks off in Sacramento, CA on July 10. Slayer and Marilyn Manson are the tour headliners. Look for tales from the final two shows of the tour in late August.

Live Footage of MBV in Dallas

I just stumbled across this nice little piece of footage on YouTube.  This is roughly around ten minutes into the coda/"holocaust section" of "You Made Me Realise."  You get a pretty good idea of just how frikkin' loud that show was.  To whoever captured this video I say "Good job...thanks for sharing!"

Happy Stinko de Mayo!

From yours truly!

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED - Set of "X-Men Origins - Wolverine" Slurpee Cups

This morning I acquired the "Sabretooth" Slurpee cup, the last one I needed to complete my set of cups promoting the release of X-Men Origins - Wolverine.  Each cup features lenticular motion which of course made them super easy to photograph.

Yesterday I received an email from Slurpee Nation regarding four new cups that are being released to promote Terminator Salvation.  Looks like it's going to be a busy spring and summer for Slurpee cup collectors!

I Saw MY BLOODY VALENTINE in Concert and All I Got Was This Pair of Earplugs

So last night finally happened! My Bloody Valentine graced Dallas with their presence. Why? I have no idea. But I'm glad they came 'cause I never did catch them in their heyday all those many years ago.

Upon arriving at Palladium Ballroom I was surprised to find that the usual screening for metal objects was NOT taking place. Oh no...instead the staff was handing each concertgoer a pair of earplugs. I took my complimentary earplugs and scoffed at the idea of actually using them.

Now I had heard all about how My Bloody Valentine closes their shows with the coda from the EP You Made Me Realise. And everyone was unanimous that this was quite possibly the loudest thing they had ever experienced at a concert. Accounts differed when it came to the actual length of the coda. Thirty to forty-five minutes seemed to be the most common estimates.

Having arrived late I missed the first of the opening acts - Josh T. Pearson of Lift to Experience. I did catch very brief bits of the second opener. Kurt Easley was armed with nothing more than his presumed charm and an acoustic guitar. Quite the juxtaposition from what was to follow.

At about 9:40 My Bloody Valentine took the stage and launched into "I Only Said" from Loveless. The wall of sound washing over the assembled mass was the perfect antidote to the seizure-inducing light show onstage. "When You Sleep" [also from Loveless] followed. During the course of an hour MBV took the audience on a tour of their various recordings: "Nothing Much to Lose" and "(When You Wake) You're Still in a Dream" from the album Isn't Anything as well as other songs from Loveless.

At roughly 10:40 the moment had arrived. And let me tell you, no amount of warning could have possibly prepared for just how LOUD the You Made Me Realise coda would be when performed live. It was pure white noise played at ear bleeding volume. About five minutes in it got even louder. Holy hell! The earth was shaking. You could feel the sound against your skin. People were checking to make sure that, yes indeed, their earplugs were still in their ears. Only a few of us remained sans some form of hearing protection. We were in it for the long haul. This coda was going to be an endurance event.

Ultimately the coda was only performed for around 15 minutes. And as loud as it was the board engineers seemed to squeeze out a few more decibels every couple of minutes. Then it was over. But the noise remained in my head. It was at that moment that I realized that my ears were going to be fucked!

So here I sit just a few hours later and I'm happy to report that my hearing has returned to normal. But as stupid as it sounds I would do it all over again. It was akin to riding the Judge Roy Scream. You fear that the car will hop the tracks plunging you to your death, but it doesn't happen. You feel more alive than you've ever felt in your life. And you're ready to ride it all over again.

And someday I hope to!