Eric: A Man ahead of his Time

Being marching band is pretty much over, I suppose I should start making non-band friends eh?

Usually when I go down to lunch I sit alone. I read the paper, I watch the news, I gourge myself. Today, for some reason, I decided to sit next to a random person. I noticed his t-shirt was completely in japanese, it turned out it translated to "Domi Arigato Robotosan" or Thank you very much Mr. Roboto, for all you styx fans that read my blog daily. Anyway, that shirt is pretty damn nerdy, so I was convinced that perhaps I could get along with this guy.

We talked about japan for a while, then foreign policy, then our conversation eventually turned to videogames and specifically RPGs. Wow, someone as nerdy as me. Amazing. After the dining hall had closed we talked for abit more, and he had a phone call that was very important or something, so he took my number and we decided that we would play some WiiSports sometime soon.

Posted by Eric Meyer at 3:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Last night, I went to my brother's apartment. We had a good time, ate some pizza, drank some... water, and played the Nintendo Wii. Before we started I asked Matt if he was tired after his long day of work, because playing Wii Sports can be somewhat exhausting. He said that he was, but he'd stand up for a few games. He seemed to love it, and really got into it. We played Tennis, Baseball, Bowling, Golf, and Boxing. I'm pretty sure Boxing was his favorite. Several times during our boxing matches I looked over at him, and he was crouching and leaning quite excitedly, trying to dodge my right hook. When we had finished our third game, he had beaten me 2-1. He had also beaten in the body moisture category. Matt was a bit sweaty, luckily he didn't have any detectable body odor.

The wii really brings people together. Nintendo had a good amount of foresight when they designed it. I truly think it will bring nintendo back into the era of the early 90's when the word "Videogame" and "Nintendo" were used interchangeably. Who knows, maybe grandma is better than you at videogames?

Posted by Eric Meyer at 2:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Have you figured out the gopher way yet? I made it my personal mission to learn how to navigate the gopher way. I can now succesfully go from the parking garage in front of my dorm all the way to Coffman Union. Not bad, eh? My next objective is to figure out how to get to Northrop Memorial Auditorium. That would be glorious, going to band and my classes and barely leaving the building. Heck, I could wear a t-shirt and shorts to class, maybe some sunglasses and a sombrero just to really bring home the point that I went to class in a 70 degree environment. Beautiful.

I wish it was easier to do though... I honestly think the U dropped the ball on that one. In some buildings you have to go up an elevator or walk through random corridors. There aren't nearly enough signs or maps in the tunnels to keep you oriented. They should've planned better for the Minnesota weather, especially on a campus the size of this one where you may have to walk a mile to go to class. If you are a first time Gopher Spelunker, it is best to print out a map online, or at take a few mental notes.

Posted by Eric Meyer at 1:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

In my english class, over the semester we have watched this video series called 7 up. It was a british documentary made in the 60's-70's that followed several children from the age of 7, to 14, then 21.

If I would have to say something about the 7 up series, I would say that they got progressively more boring. It was genuinely fun to watch those little kids at age 7. They had spunk, they said hilarious things, and they skipped and pranced around like bambi. 14 was a decent age, everyone was kind of in that puberty change and their bodies were all disproportionate. 21 was either depressing or downright boring. Take for instance the math guy, i don't remember his name.. He wanted to be a missionary at a young age, now he was just this incredibly boring and depressing mathmetician. Sweet..... Let's do a 10 minute interview. Zzzz.. On the whole though, it did show an interesting perspective. It showed how a lot of people do end up being how they were when they were 7, and some don't. It showed that a lot of the higher class people seemed to be doing well, whereas the lower class children lacked some of the motivation to excel.

You may think from the above paragraph that I didn't enjoy watching those kids grow up, but I did. Overall the show presented itself rather nicely and I would recommend it to anyone.

Posted by Eric Meyer at 1:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I made an album cover in paint last night because I was bored. This is alex and I's side project of death metal. Skull Grind, the album is Ocular Hemorrhage. Check it out.

Posted by Eric Meyer at 10:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

So, I played that metal song today in class. People seemed to like it, they were like "Whoa!" and laughed at the evil laughter parts. My professor either hated it or loved it, I'm not sure. He was speechless and the only thing he could really say was how well it fit into the genre. I enjoyed the lyrics "Head-grab, Skull-Crush, Instant Flesh Decay." I would say those are pretty poetic myself. As fun as that was to write a punishing death metal song, I'm not sure it's really my style. I couldn't see myself writing an entire metal album like that. I really like the Red Ascent sound though, tough guitars, yet clean pretty vocals with harmony. Alex is pretty much a genius.

This christmas, the plan is to do more recording for the CD. I'm not sure when it will be out, but we are going to take our time with this one. The first one was a bit rushed, and there are few ugly spots, that won't happen again. This is going to be polished like a mothafucka and studio quality, retailin for about $9.99. Be patient, anybody who is interested, it'll be worth the wait.

Posted by Eric Meyer at 10:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Alright, here it is. It is brutal and hard to listen to on purpose, remember that when you die in a few minutes here.

Skull Grind Meat Saw - Eternal Punishment Due Unto Sinners Who Do Not Heed The Seven

Heavy Metal Download

Posted by Eric Meyer at 12:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Alex and I did some recording yesterday on Garageband. He did the guitars ahead of time, and I wrote the lyrics. We came together, kicked ass for about 2.5 hours and finished a song. This song is also for my songwriting class and will not be used on the new Red Ascent album. http://www.myspace.com/redascentmusic/ If you want to check some of that stuff.

It is balls out, our first "real" metal song. Let's face it, we were more like Pop metal before, it just wasn't hard enough. This song is in drop C and features much screaming. It is rated M- for mature. Side effects of listening to it may include: "Neck breaking from too intense headbanging, extreme blood geysers coming from your ears, and simultaneous head explosion and implosion." Listen at your own risk.

Wait, it's not mixed yet! Oh shit. Sorry to get you all excited, I'll post it as soon as Alex sends me the final mixed edition.

Here is the lyrics as you wait.

Chorus:

Head-grab, Skull-Crush. Instant flesh decay.
Death comes to those who fear him. Open arms full embrace

V1.

Rise now and seek revenge
My headless corpse shall walk again
In life, you lord over men
Your mortal life has come to an end

V2.

Your body sold to heathens
Subsistence by pure shame
Your flesh shall go back from whence it came
Open arms full embrace!

Bridge
Your painful and brutal destruction. Submit and fall, on your knees

Your time has come, to fall from your throne
(Lust, Gluttony, Avarice, Sloth. Wrath, Envy, Hubris)
Don't worry, your screams will be masked by your families cries
(Lust, Gluttony, Avarice, Sloth. Wrath, Envy, Hubris)

Don't look now as your skin begins to fall away.
You'll scream in pain as your muscle tissue boils away.

Chorus

Posted by Eric Meyer at 12:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The marching band indoor concert was last Saturday and Sunday, and boy was it sweet. We played pretty well and I remember most of my music. hehe. One thing that didn't go so smoothly was the MC-ing job. Holy crap. They got this bimbo from FSN North or something. She wore a super short dress with red hooker boots, very classy. Then she proceded to make everyone on the stage and in the audience feel uncomfortable the entire show. She would just say wierd random things,and she'd say them in a stupid way. I remember one time she was talking to Molly about being the first woman drum major at the you, and she couldn't conjugate woman to women in one of her sentences. I think she said womans as in "They haven't been any womans before you." Another time, she was talking about our drumline and she didn't know how to pronounce the word "corps" She said something along the lines of "Let's hear it for the University of Minnesota Drum co....... uh..... Drum... Group!" It was painfully obvious.

Her greatest mistake ever was after we sang Hail! Minnesota (Our alma mater) on the stage. She told everyone that it was her first time hearing it and singing it, even though she went to the University of Minnesota. This resulted in the entire band hissing and booing at her, as we are apt to do at times. Maybe it was innappropriate, but it was damn funny and she deserved it. How can you get a degree here while not even hearing Hail Minn? I doubt she'll be back again next year.

Posted by Eric Meyer at 12:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Wal-mart sucks, plain and simple. They don't pay their workers anything, their goods are low-quality and likely made by sweatshop workes, and their store is too large to get anything you really want. This is why my friends and I refer to it as "The Great Satan". And I will refer to it as this for the entirety of this post.

Barbara Ehrenreich did some great research into the minimum wage workers' life. She worked at The Great Satan in Minneapolis area and reported quite a bit. First of all, her entire job was to pick up after the average fat, lower class The Great Satan shopper. She worked in the clothing department of The Great Satan and when people would try on a shirt/blouse/whatever and not like it, her was her job to put it back on the rack. Her hours were bullshit, pay was bullshit, and she couldn't find a good place to live. Rough life. Luckily she was a reporter and had a comfortable salary to keep her out of the "danger zone". She even tried to persuade some people to join a union or go on strike, but generally The Great Satan brain-washes people against these ideas. Overall, long reading assignment, but very interesting.

Posted by Eric Meyer at 12:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This is the song I did for my songwriting class. I performed it live with Bekah at the Whole music club. It went pretty well. In the original version there are vocal harmonies and more than one person singing, but this is just the rough acoustic take I had to do to turn in. Hope you like it!

Download file

Lyrics:
Intro
B5 otv F# -- B aug5 w, D sus4 6th – D maj7 sus4

V1

B5 E5 – F#5 -- G5
Witch smile, hypocrite
G5
You love with your hate
B5 E5 – F#5 -- G5
The life you have chosen for me
G5
Will destroy what you create

Chorus:

D sus4 6th | D maj7 sus4 | D 5
After all this time, still pickin' up the pieces of a broken life
D sus4 6th | D maj7 sus4 | D 5 | D sus4 6th
But they just don't fit anymore, no matter how hard I try

V2

B5 E5 – F#5 -- G5
Father, you think you know what's right
G5
But your plan just suits you well
B5 E5 – F#5 -- G5
The path you're not taking
G5
Isn't always a stairway to hell

Chorus

V3

B5 E5 – F#5 -- G5
You were my hero
G5
But loving and listening have never been the same
B5 E5 – F#5 -- G5
In the nights, I cried myself to sleep
G5 G5
I'm sick of being the cause of your shame

Chorus

PS. There is a possibility that this song will be changed a bit, and recorded with drums and some distortion and be on the new Red Ascent album!

Posted by Eric Meyer at 12:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

So, I got a Wii. I wrote a big entry about waiting outside in the cold, but when i clicked submit nothing happened and I was so frusturated I swore off my blog for almost three weeks. The Wii is amazing. The motion controls work damn good and Wii Sports and Zelda are incredible.

I introduced it to a few of my friends who pretty much hate nintendo and only play PS2, and I convinced one of them to buy one! In a nintendo nerd way, I just helped win a console war.

Posted by Eric Meyer at 11:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)