Just to really piss off all you Al Gore lovers...I have a t-shirt coming in the mail in the next few days that will REALLY tick you off.  It's a big picture of big Al with a caption under him that says "idiot".  HAHAHAHA!  If the shirt looks ok, then I have plans for a whole new line of radical right-wing clothing that will take the nation by storm.  Did you watch the Glenn Beck TV show this week about global warming?  It was quite interesting.  Now, it didn't say that global warming was bs or anything like it, the show was truly trying to present another side of the whole topic, and if anyone watched it, I hope they could see that the entire crisis is agenda-driven.  Sure, it may be taking place, but the REASONS are what's up for debate.  And the one thing that was stated truly showed how radical the movement is behind what Al Gore spews.  One guy said that if the case of man-made global warming is so slam-dunk, then why won't these guys engage in a debate about the issue?  GREAT question.  They won't because it might show how full of crap they are.  If some "expert" like Big Al Gore is SO right, then he would love to debate an opposing viewpoint to bury it, right?  Funny how those eco-freaks won't.

So how was the NoiseCult gig?  It was the best live practice we've ever had...hahaha.  Seriously, NO ONE was there other than the other bands...some of which had no idea what was going on.  Let me explain, and this will sound very chaotic.  I show up, a few bands are there, no one knows who plays when, one band from out of town wasn't even on the bill, the dude who was "promoting" the gig wasn't there, the band who was supposed to go on first wasn't there so we volunteered to open.  We set up and play to NO ONE.  Normally if I ever say no one showed up to the gig, it's kind of a catch-all phrase to mean there were just a few people, but this time the only other guy in the room besides the sound guy was a merchandise dude for one of the out of town bands who was setting some stuff up.  It was painful.  We finished the first tune and there was silence...I look back at our drummer Matt like "come on dude, start the next song" and he's sipping a beer.  It was honestly the first gig we've done where my mindset was "ok...play a few songs and go home".  As a lead singer who is supposed to talk to the crowd and stuff, oh man, it was rough because no one was there...hahaha.  Some people trickled in halfway through, but I was just very glad when the set ended.  We actually cut like three songs out of the set too.  Oh well, that kind of stuff happens.  I just can't believe how unorganized it all was.  No one had a clue as to what was going down...which is why I just wanted to play first and leave.  How can someone supposedly "promote" a show and act like some kind of booking company when bands appear that aren't even on the original bill?  It was such a weird night...and I couldn't wait to get home to the dogs...especially as much time as I've been putting in at work the last two weeks.  I wasn't pissed or anything...I just wanted to be done with it.  The really ironic thing is that out of all the times we've played The Muse, we probably sounded the best we ever have, and I didn't forget any of the lyrics to the new songs...hahaha.  Oh well...it goes that way sometimes.  I was just glad to come home afterwards and chill out, hang out with the dogs, and play some Def Jam - Icon.  This game rocks!  The funnny thing about it is, the character I created in it looks like me, but the voice they gave him is some hip-hop black dude.  So there I am, me talking all gangster.  Oh, I can't kick it old school?  Man I grew up in da hood...cradled to sleep by gunfire every night biatch!  Awww yeah...sippin on gin and juice with my homies...peelin some caps back...that's how we rolled back in the day!

Hey, did everyone celebrate Cinco De Mayo?  I did knowing Oscar De Lahoya got his ASS beat by Floyd Mayweather!  Well, it was close, but The Golden Boy lost and I was quite happy.  I can't stand stand pretty boys/golden boys when it comes to sports.  Be it De Lahoya, Tom Brady, Derek Jeter, whoever.  I always secretly hope for their failure.  Is that wrong?  Heck no...hahaha.  Take Sugar Ray Leonard for example.  He may be the nicest guy in the world, but when he was in the ring I wanted to see him pummeled.  Nothing personal since I don't know him.  And I still hope every time a new season of "The Contender" starts that Marvin Hagler will show up to whoop Leonard's ass and show the world that last fight they had where Leonard won in a decision was COMPLETE bs!  Yeah, you would think I could let that go after all these years, but I just can't, it was too traumatic.  Hagler was a man's boxer...tough as nails.  Leonard was a pretty boy who would throw a flurry in the closing seconds of a round to steal it.  I'm not saying Leonard sucked at all...but that last fight against Hagler was nothing but him dancing around, afraid to go toe to toe.  Then in the closing seconds of each round he'd step in and throw a quick flurry that did NO damage, but looked good to the judges.  I HATE when fights go to the scorecard, like last night.  I want a true winner, and hopefully there will be a rematch of last night's fight.  Mayweather proved one thing that my instructors keep drilling into our heads - conditioning is everything.  De Lahoya was tired and all his punches had no power late in the fight, where Mayweather is a freak when it comes to endurance.  That's what made Rocky Marciano so great...well that and the fact he could hit like a friggin sledgehammer.  I LOVE watching old Rocky Marciano fights.  The record speaks for itself:  49-0 with 43 knockouts.  The guy could and would beat anyone.  I don't care if people say that he only fought a few meaningful bouts or whatever, his style, power, and endurance would give him the edge over anyone.  For example, how many times have you ever watched a boxing match to grow bored seeing a dude keep covering up and all the shots just deflecting off his arms?  Well, if Marciano was fighting a dude who kept covering, he'd slam punches into the guys shoulders to where the guy could barely raise his arms after a few rounds.  That's some hurtin' power.  Since I started doing the mixed martial arts training, I have to say I have more respect for boxers than probably any other athlete.  I've loved boxing almost my entire life...grew up watching it with my dad all the time because he loves it...and the conditioning it takes to last a 12 round fight is unreal.  Here's some trivia - Do you know why matches don't go 15 rounds anymore?  It all goes back to a match between Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini and Doo-Ku Kim (I think that's spelled right?).  Anyway, it was like the 14th round and Mancini drilled Kim in the face, he goes into a coma and dies.  Boxing felt 15 rounds was too much and shortened it to 12.  When I was a kid, my three favorite boxer were Mancini, Marvin Hagler, and Bobby Czyz.  I like watching Ali fight, but don't care too much for him personally.  I'll never forget watching that Mancini fight on ABC's "Wide World of Sports" one Sunday.  When it happened, it was one of those "I'll never forget where I was" moments.  That fight ruined Mancini.  It was not his fault at all, but he never again fought with that pit-bull mentality he had.  Man he was so fast.  You know what?  Boxing really sucks today.  There's really no one I care about except Sergio Mora, the guy who won the first season of "The Contender" because when he goes into psycho mode, look out.  That guy is about the most exciting fighter I've seen in a while, and I hope he gets some bigger fights soon, because he's the type of guy people would lay out some bucks to watch.  Sucks his next fight isn't until sometime in August.

Speaking of fighting, is it just me or has the UFC become kind of boring?  I swear, it seems like every even I watch lately entertains me for only about 20% of the time.  Let me put it this way...when I watch I fight I want to see a fight, I don't want to watch two guys rolling around trying to get in position for a submission hold.  I want to see kicks, punches, elbows, and if it goes to the ground I want to see it done with the sole intent of slapping on a submission.  That's why I've been watching more and more of the Pride Fighting from Japan.  Pride is basically UFC in a boxing ring, however if the two fighters are locked in a grapple too long, the ref will step in and make them break the holds and stand up.  Yes, it's pretty interesting to watch the grappling part, but man I want to see fists and kicks flying!  Even though I do love the classes I'm taking, the grappling training part of it gets a little old to me.  I do think it's important, but I REALLY enjoy working on striking.  In a street fight, the odds of having a guy in the guard position on the ground is probably pretty rare...but if it does go to the ground it is important to know what to do.  However, I would hope it wouldn't come down to that.  That's why I love working on the punches, knees, elbows, and kicks.  I want to be able to incapacitate someone in the shortest amount of time possible and not break a sweat...haha.  Hopefully I'll never have to do it, but I do have to admit there's a part of me that wants to see how things would unfold in a real-world scenario.  It's one thing to spar and work on a heavy bag, but another to go against a "live" opponent.  Granted I've only been training now for about 3 months, but the stuff I've learned has been absolutely amazing...and I'm probably in the best shape I've ever been in.  I even amaze myself by how much speed and power I've gained in punching.  Oh, as part of my training I started taking a protein supplement.  It's been working, I can tell, but the next two weeks will be rough.  How come?  Well I went to GNC this weekend to buy some more since I was running out and I made a big mistake.  The one I had been buying was chocolate.  It's just a powder you mix with water and take before and after a workout, and I wouldn't keep forking out the $50 a container if it wasn't working.  So when I went to get some more, they were out of chocolate.  Now I'm not a big fan of vanilla...and there's a good reason vanilla is another term for "bland"...but I figured I could suck it up for two weeks and use it because that's how long a container lasts.  So I grab one with the picture of a white shake on it, and go home to take some before a session on the heavy bag.  I wanted to puke.  I looked at the container and found that I didn't get vanilla.  Yeah, I took a closer look at the picture and the color of the shake was an off-yellow.  I had picked up banana.  Let me tell you, there is nothing like drinking a banana flavored shake when you're dehydrated, tired, and worn-out.  I might as well have an okra flavored shake.  Now I like bananas, but that taste after a heavy bag session is completely nasty...and I have two more weeks worth of it.  BLAH!

Hopefully I'll get my Al Gore shirt this week, and I'll post a picture of it next time.  That's it from me for now...I'm out sportsfans!