lari

Men Behaving Badly was an awesome show. Makes me want to change my list.

I'm all about metal. More on the melodic side. My top ten favourite albums from 2004 and 2005: 2004 1. Skyclad - A Semblance Of Normality - folk metal 2. Nightwish - Once - operetic power metal 3. Saxon - Lionheart - NWOBHM 4. Blaze - Blood And Belief - just heavy metal 5. Chris Caffery - Faces - power/traditional metal 6. Feinstein - Third Wish - traditional heavy metal, ie. Dio 7. Iced Earth - The Glorious Burden - power metal 8. Jon Oliva's Pain - 'Tage Mahal - traditional metal/hard rock 9. Kotipelto - Coldness - power metal 10. Turisas - Battle Metal - pagan black metal 2005 1. Savage Circus - Dreamland Manor - power metal 2. Bruce Dickinson - Tyranny of Souls - heavy metal 3. Gamma Ray - Majestic - power metal 4. Demons & Wizards - Touched by the Crimson King - power metal 5. Nevermore - This Godless Endeavor - power metal 6. Sentenced - The Funeral Album - heavy metal 7. Judas Priest - Angel of Retribution - heavy metal 8. Helloween - Keeper of the Seven Keys - The Legacy - power metal 9. Exodus - Shovel Headed Kill Machine - thrash metal 10. Black Label Society - Mafia - heavy metal

Twin Peaks - suspense, tremendous characters and great dialogue. Black Adder - funniest thing Rowan Atkinson ever did. MASH - fun characters and dialogue, but in tragic surroundings in the middle of war. Transformers - frickin' bad-ass giant robots. He-Man and the Master of the Universe - my role-model growing up, but absolutely hilarious to watch as a grown-up, what with the inane plots of Skeletor, the ridiculousness of the characters and the timeless one-liners. Miami Vice - everything that was so great about the 80's. Knight Rider - my favourite show as a kid. Hasselhoff is such a pimp. MacGyver - the role model of all engineers. Seinfeld - funniest storylines ever seen on TV. Monty Python's Flying Circus - craziest thing ever on TV. WWF Saturday Night Main Event - turned me into a lifelong wrestling fan. Lost - love the mysterious storylines and the directing. Outer Limits - for when you want to see the world get destroyed over and over again. A science fiction show that was actually interesting Picket Fences - tremendous acting. Hill Street Blues - the ultimate police series.

Salary-wise, the deal would actually help the Rangers. And Seabrook is the real deal. That's why I don't want to see him moved. He is the kind of defenseman you can build a franchise on. Hawks have plenty of young defensemen and they need offense, but Seabrook is worth more than Prucha. Duncan Keith for Kyle Calder would have been a good deal and I was surprised nothing happened when the Hawks were in Philadelphia this week.

I've only heard three of those, and only like one.

Minnesota might actually be a contender. Of course it's only based on the one game I saw, and the fact that they are 10-2-0. Nashville leads Central but they certainly didn't look like contenders losing to the Hawks twice. Especially Vokoun was brutal.

Hawks on a seven game skid. Got to wonder when Trent Yawney gets the boot. Sure, top three players are out (and Ruutu only came back for the last two), but you can't just lose seven in a row. There's no excuse for that. The team has a week off now, so I'm guessing something will happen. The firing of Yawney or a big trade. Rumour has it Dale Tallon is trading in Petr Prucha from the Rangers, and involved in it would be Cullimore and Seabrook from Chicago and also Kasparaitis on the Rangers side. I really like Seabrook, so I hope this won't happen. Prucha isn't worth it. Duncan Keith is someone I wouldn't mind getting traded away, if the deal involved a young top two line centerman.

Just finished watching game one of the 92 finals. It's been just that, 14 years, since I saw it. What a great hockey game. You must see it. Steve Larmer is my all-time favourite player.

I think he gave himself that nickname, which makes that much bigger a douchebag. Everyone knows you can't give yourself a nickname.

It was announced today that the NHL has signed a contract with Google. Google video will broadcast games on delay and there's also a selection of classic games for you to stream or download. Check it out. Sweet. I'm downloading the 1992 Cup Finals.

There's a new candidate coming out next spring for all power metal fans: Gamma Ray's live DVD will be called, not a joke, "Hell Yeah! The Awesome Foursome (And The Finnish Keyboarder Who Didn't Want To Wear His Donald Duck Costume) Live in Montreal" :lmao: Tell me that isn't the best name ever.

10 periods without a goal. And a five game losing skid to boot. Go Hawks...

I have a bad feeling Dumb and Dumber will win. What does that say about EWB?

No fun playing with a girlfriend. Mine does try video games if I persuade her enough (she does other things, too, with a little persuation (Y) ), but after like 10 minutes she's all "this is stupid". I don't know if it's genetic that girls don't like video games, or if it's the environment telling them what a girl can't do, ie. they can't act like they like it, even if they do.

Maybe turn it into a top 10, not top 50. Otherwise everyone's #1 pick will end up on the list and that's not representative of any collective opinion.

YOU'VE BEEN DOWN TOO LONG IN THE MIDNIGHT SEA

Since it's not about objectively picking the greatest albums ever, just personal favourites, I can, with clear concience, use a list of my favourite heavy metal albums: 10. Skyclad - A Semblance Of Normality (2004) The pioneers of folk metal and this is their heaviest album to date. Awesome sounding CD. There's the Skyclad trademark witty lyrics and songs that really surprise you. New vocalist too, Kevin Ridley, who has a clean voice as opposed to Martin Walkyier's raspiness. Parliament Of Fools is my favourite song, but Hybrid Blues and Ten Little Kingdoms are right up there, too. 9. Angel Dust - Enlighten The Darkness (2000) Thrashy power metal with a nice use of piano and keyboards. "Cross Of Hatred" starts right after "First In Line" and it's among the greatest transitions in heavy metal I've heard. My favourite track is "Let Me Live", the opener. 8. Iron Maiden - A Matter Of Life And Death (2006) Newest entry to the list. I never expected 'Matter' to be this strong of an album. Previously Powerslave was my favourite Maiden album like forever. Favourite song: For The Greater Good Of God 7. Queensrÿche - Operation: Mindcrime (1988) Progressive metal in the 80's style. There is nothing I don't love about this album. I listen to Mindcrime regularly. For those times when I can't decide what to listen to, Mindcrime is the choice. Geoff Tate sounds incredible here. Favourite track is Breaking The Silence, but seriously, there's only awesomeness found here. Metal fans sleep with this CD. 6. Dio - Holy Diver (1983) Holy Diver is a great, catchy, fun, solid release. A metal classic in every respect. The title track is one of the greatest anthems in heavy metal. 5. Judas Priest - Defenders Of The Faith (1984) Big fan of the Priest and this is the the greatest album they ever recorded, in my opinion. Full of unbelievable riffs that rip your head straight off. And Rob Halford is just insane. My favourite track is Rock Hard Ride Free. The Sentinel is a terrific mini-epic too. And Night Comes Down is my favourite Priest ballad. This was also the first Priest album I heard. 4. Iced Earth - Night Of The Stormrider (1992) Iced Earth still sounded fresh when Stormrider came out. It's fast, heavy, aggressive and evil. "Travel In Stygian" is among my favourite songs of all time. Wicked. 3. Black Sabbath - Heaven And Hell (1980) Dio's definitely one of my favourites, as you can see from the fact he is featured twice in my top ten. I don't think Sabbath needs any introduction, but in my opinion it's Dio that really puts them over the top. The title track is the greatest song ever recorded. Ever. 2. Savatage - Wake Of Magellan (1998) Savatage is just about my favourite band of all time and this is my favorite 'Tage disc. It's a tough album to get through in one go, but a very diverse listening experience. Sort of a progressive epic hard rock album with two tied-together stories making the concept. The Hourglass is among the best songs of the 90's. 1. Blind Guardian - Imaginations From The Other Side (1995) Already talked enough about Imaginations in the power metal thread, but all of the songs here are awesome, the title track being my favourite. Also "Bright Eyes", "A Past And Future Secret", "Born In A Mourning Hall" and "Mordred's Song" still get played in concerts. Honourable mention: Helloween - Walls Of Jericho (1985) By no means a top 10 or even a top 20 album, probably not even the best Helloween has put out, because the production lacks and some songs are quite raw, but it's such a fun album, I can't help but always mention it among my favourites. Kai Hansen is the man. Just check out 'Ride The Sky'. I don't know if I want to use block votes. If someone likes something I don't, good for him. Maybe only if there's albums that I don't think match very well against others in the same genre/style, or are weak compared to the rest of the catalogue from the same band. That Metallica self-titled album probably fills both criteria, but I'll come back to it later if I feel like it.

Derek Boogaard is a monster. Todd Fedoruk was rushed to hospital after his face caved in. You can see the clip if you go to www.hockeyfights.com/videos/ Boogaard has been dropping guys in a fashion I haven't seen since Troy Crowder or Tony Twist. And he is every bit as intimidating: Ducks' O'Brien had to step up to a teammate getting checked by Boogaard earlier in the game, but after the gloves were off wanted no piece of him and his legs turned to pudding. Later, I suppose Fedoruk felt it was his duty to take on the Boogeyman, but got TKO'd in doing so. Might also want to check out the beating Boogaard laid on Raitis Ivanans three nights ago.

Since they're all getting one vote, I may spare me some headaches and not rank them. My top 15, in order I thought of them: - Slap Shot - The Thing (John Carpenter) - Reservoir Dogs - Trainspotting - (Monty Python's) Life of Brian - The Deer Hunter - Apocalypse Now! - Full Metal Jacket - Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - What's Eating Gilbert Grape - Clockwork Orange - Alien - One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest - Unbreakable - Mad Max 2 There. EDIT: replaced the Shining with Clockwork Orange. EDIT II: Crap, I hate this. Had to edit again. I cut Stand By Me in favour of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. EDIT III: More editing. This time took out Sixth Sense and Godfather and replaced them with Mad Max 2 and Trainspotting. Blasphemous, I know.

Hawks lose 5-0. Worst game of the season, but I think we'll see more of that in the coming weeks. I don't think this team is going to win any games. Vrbata is the only scoring threat. Salmelainen, Arkhipov and Hamilton are worthless. Just scratch them and play a full team of grinders and go for 0-0 every night. Oh wait, you need goaltending for that. Nevermind.

Iron Maiden's A Matter of Life and Death is in my opinion the best album Maiden has put out, and immediately went to my top ten. So, yeah, that's obviously a strong candidate. There's still plenty of releases left though. And I still didn't hear that new Circle II Circle.

World's Greatest Air Guitar Album (original 2002 print compiled by Brian May) 1. Queen - Tie Your Mother Down 2. Deep Purple - Smoke on the Water 3. Blur - Song 2 4. Run DMC / Aerosmith - Walk this Way 5. Billy Idol - White Wedding 6. Def Leppard - Animal 7. Rainbow - Since You Been Gone 8. The Troggs - Wild Thing 9. David Bowie - Rebel Rebel 10. Jeff Beck - Hi Ho Silver Lining 11. Joe Walsh - Rocky Mountain Way 12. Dire Straits - Sultans of Swing 13. Eddie Cochran - Summertime Blues 14. The Shadows - Apache 15. The Surfaris - Wipe Out 16. Foo Fighters - Monkey Wrench 17. Thin Lizzy - The Boys Are Back in Town 18. Black Sabbath - Paranoid 19. Hawkwind - Silver Machine 20. Santana - Black Magic Woman 21. Lynyrd Skynyrd - Free Bird CD 2 1. The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Voodoo Chile 2. The Who - My Generation 3. Derek and the Dominos - Layla 4. T-Rex - 20th Century Boy 5. Paul McCartney - All Shook Up 6. Chuck Berry - Johnny B. Goode 7. Placebo - Nancy Boy 8. Motörhead - Ace of Spades 9. Dick Dale and His Del-Tones - Misirlou 10. Free - All Right Now 11. Robbie Williams - Let Me Entertain You 12. The Knack - My Sharona 13. Iron Maiden - Run to the Hills 14. Ram Jam - Black Betty 15. ZZ Top - Gimme All Your Lovin' 16. Gary Moore - Still Got the Blues 17. Cream - Crossroads 18. Status Quo - Down Down 19. Bad Company - Can't Get Enough 20. Whitesnake - Fool for Your Loving 21. Steppenwolf - Born to Be Wild 22. Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody Beat that.

I didn't find S&M very good. First of all the band isn't very tight and secondly that's not how you should use a symphony orchestra. They are too much in the background and don't add much to the songs. You shouldn't force symphonic parts to songs that weren't written to support them. Seemed more like a gimmicky money grab, playing the same songs with special effects. Now Deep Purple did an awesome job in both their orchestrated live albums and had songs written specifically for the occasion. Not to mention the awesome musicianship. But as for my favourite live albums - there's quite a few favourites, I own 17 live albums and there's not many I've been really disappointed with. I often times sample through a live album before getting into a new band. I love the live album feel. To name a few of the best: Judas Priest - '98 Live Meltdown - Unleashed in the East is of course the essential Priest live album, but I loved the way they presented the 'new' Priest in Meltdown. Iced Earth - Alive in Athens - Real awesome setlist with such a tight delivery it makes the songs sound better than in studio. Dante's Inferno is just brilliant here, and so are Pure Evil, Last Laugh, Brainwashed and pretty much everything else here. The mix with the band and the crowd is just perfect too. Annihilator - Double Live Annihilation - Comeau is brilliant on vocals and the guitars sound crisp. Not crisp as in clinical - guitars are noisy instruments and I want them to be so in live albums, too. All the songs work well. Then there's Testament's Live at the Fillmore, Maiden's Live After Death and Dream Theater's Live Scenes From NY that are all real good. But I'd probably pick those three I first mentioned over them. What I hate about live albums recorded in latin countries are the soccer chants. What the hell is up with that? Ruined Bruce Dickinson's Scream For Me Brazil for me. A couple of other ones I didn't enjoy: Maiden's Real/Live One (flat, and Bruce sounds strained), Helloween's High Live (lacks balls and the intensity Helloween had in studio, and Deris sounds annoying) and Priest's Live in London (totally useless as a CD because of Meltdown a few years earlier). And some others I never bought that I've been trying to forget about. I think there's bands that record live albums so they can put out something on the market without having to go to the studio or write new songs. But to make a good live album you have to put a lot of effort into it - make it unique and bring something that hasn't been heard before, eg. new sound, new band members performing classics, totally insane rock-out parts that you wouldn't put in a studio CD, audience interaction etc etc. And you need good mixing. Sometimes you know the band has been great perfoming the recorded show, but it still sounds flat.

Of all those games reviewed, I only owned (and still do) Double Dragon III and Castlevania II. I actually think both of them were pretty good. I had a lot of games and those were definitely not among the worst. I had some real stinkers like Fester's Quest (Addams Family) and WWF Wrestlemania. That Double Dragon review is way off. Sure, the game gets harder towards the end, but it's not nearly as hard as he makes it seem. Using lots of dropkicks makes the game quite easy, actually. I've beaten it using nothing but regular punches and smart movement and jumps. It's all about vertical movement and timing. Sure Double Dragon II was a bit better because the moves were balanced out better and it was hell of a lot more fun in two-player mode, but the third one was good too.