Thursday, September 30, 2010

I Am The Horse's Mouth

For the next few weeks; every Friday, I will be posting up a new series of blogs called "I Am The Horse's Mouth". "Horse", as I call it, will pretty much talk about each week through my own eyes. Keep checking in.

Friday, March 5, 2010

Is J.J. Abrams up to it again?

A little over two years ago, J.J. Abrams showcased arguably his most ingenious creation to date - Cloverfield. The monster-movie was a hit in the box office and was generally met with critical praise. Prior to the Cloverfield being released, a HUGE viral campaigne was launched to promote the movie, which is common for movie promotion, especially with J.J. Abrams. And on January 11, 2010, Abrams said to MTV News that a sequel to Cloverfield is currently "in development". And he wasn't lying, apparently....


I learned of this interview with Abrams on March 6, 2010 at about 12:30 AM (EST). Immediately, I began digging into the internet for ANY information regarding the sequel and what I found is pretty interesting. I stumbled upon a blogger.com account known as CloverfieldClues, which is obviously a fan-site. I was reading some of the comments on his blog and I stumbled across a name - 500 rads.


I typed it in a blogger.com URL and I came across his blog. It is weird and bizarre, to say the least. The entire blog is kinda hard to "decipher" (for lack of a better word), but it seems to be centered around a man named Hal. The link to this blog is at the bottom of this post for anyone who wishes to investigate further. Despite the oddness of the blog, I was able to come across something familiar. One of his post's mentioned something about a "two-year" anniversary of a great disaster (the blog was posted on January 18, 2010. Cloverfield came out on January 18, 2008). This was an OBVIOUS clue.

Now, for those J.J. Abrams fanatics out there, Abrams recently announced that he was working on a project under the working title "500 RADS", which might leave some people to believe that the 500 RADS guy on Blogger is simply a fake. But here's the kicker: the first 500 RADS blog was posted on January 20, 2008, LONG before Abrams announced ANYTHING about a sequel or 500 RADS. This makes me believe that the story of Cloverfield WILL be continued. YOU be the judge...



http://500rads.blogspot.com/

Friday, October 30, 2009

Star Wars: The Continuation of the Force (part II)

In my previous blog, I layed out a small draft for the plot of Star Wars: The Continuation of the Force. Now, it's time to introduce the characters.

Corus Adi - Corus Adi was born on Naboo during the Great Jedi Purge. His parents, Sera Adi and Galek Adi, were rogue Jedi who escaped Order 66 and went into hiding. At a young age, his parents were both killed by Darth Vader. Adi, however, was saved by the Gungan Warriors and later raised by them. Soon after the death of Darth Sidious, Adi, a skilled pilot, flew to the newly rebuilt Jedi Temple on Coruscant to become a Jedi.

Even early in his training, Adi showed great potential in the Force. This caught the eye of Jedi hero Luke Skywalker who began to train the young Jedi personally. Within five years, at the age of 22, Corus had become such a great Jedi, he was awarded a chair on the Jedi High Council and was granted the rank of Master, the youngest Jedi to ever do so, surpassing the late Anakin Skywalker.

In just a year, Adi has annointed his Jedi Apprentice named Puel Garna, a human native to Ziost. Adi is very protective of the young Garna and is constantly watching him, making sure he does not fall prey to the Dark Side.



Darth Sauren - Shortly before his death, Darth Sidious annointed the young Darth Sauren to be his "secret apprentice" in the possibility that Darth Vader would, one day, fall victim to the Rebellion.

Sauren was kidnapped by the Empire at a young age. Like Corus Adi, Sauren's parents were executed at the hands of Darth Vader. The Emperor, instead of executing Sauren as well, decided to take Sauren as his "secret apprentice".

After Sidious' death, Sauren continued his Sith training alone by accessing many Sith holocrons in the then-destroyed Jedi Temple. The young Sauren read about many legendary Sith lords such as Darth Plagueis and Darth Maul as well as Dark Jedi like Asajj Ventress and Sora Bulq.

Sauren eventually grew up to be the one of the strongest Sith in the Galaxy, if not the strongest. According to Jedi records, Sauren has the Force ability to pull a starship right out the sky (albeit high Force concentration) and is especially skilled in lightsaber combat in which he uses a Juyo stance. Sauren tends to use Force power during battle and tends to disarm opponents before killing them.

Sauren is destined to continue his Master's legacy and rebuild the Sith. Over the years, he has recruited many young men and women. He has trained them to be Sith lords and carry on the fight against the Jedi. In addition, he has created his own army to battle the the reborn Galactic Republic.

According to records, he is approximately two years older than his Jedi nemesis Corus Adi (Sauren is 26-years-old while Adi is 24).



Puell Garna -Puell Garna is th young Jedi Padawan of Corus Adi. Puell was born on Tattooine and was 6-years-old when the Empire fell. Shortly after this, Puell's father fell into debt with gamblers, causing a price to be put on his head. In fear of bounty hunters, Puell's father flew Puell to the Jedi Temple in Coruscant to be trained as a Jedi and to escape danger.

Early in his training, Puell was noticed by the Jedi High Council to be especially skilled in lightsaber combat. However, Puell lacked power in using the Force. This often came as an extreme disadvantage as his young Jedi peers often beat him in sparring sessions. This, however, would not be a disadvantage for long.

At the age of 10, Puell was befriended by experienced Jedi Knight, Corus Adi. Despite the fact that Adi had not yet earned the rank of Master, Adi began to teach the young Puell Garna how to properly use the Force in battle. Within months, Puell had learned much about the Force and has become able to use the Force exceptionally well.

Four years later, at age 16, Puell officially became a Jedi Padawan of Corus Adi. Adi, however, has shown much fear in Puell's young, aggresive attitude and has been trying to suppress this by always being there for him. Adi is desperately trying to not let the 16-year-old Puell Garna fall victim to the Dark Side.


Darth Guara - Darth Guara (formely known as Guara Halem) is the young Sith Apprentice of Darth Sauren. Hulem's past is considerably unknown due to the Sith having wiped out most of his records within Jedi databases. What is known about Hulem is that he was born on Coruscant a little after the Great Jedi Purge and that he is 16-years-old (ten years younger than his Sith Master Darth Sauren).

Guara was discovered on Coruscant while training to be a pilot when he was 10-years-old by Darth Sauren. Sauren sensed much power in the Force within Guara and took him under his wing to be trained as a Sith Lord. Guara was brought up in harsh conditions, oftenly having bloody sparring sessions with his Sith Master. As a result, Guara has many scars.

Guara is considered by most to be very headstrong and always loves to duel with both his Jedi enemies and Sith peers alike. This has caught the attention of Sauren who keeps an eye on Guara at all times, always checking for the slightest act of betrayal. It is because of this that Sauren always keeps Guara under his thumb.

Guara is also often reckless and insists on going into battles with guns blazing. Sauren oftenly looks to this as a very big weakness that must be dealt with.

Star Wars: The Continuation of the Force

Just recently, I had a pretty cool vision. And in this vision, I thought "What if Darth Vader destroying Darth Sidious wasn't the end of this story but just the very beginning?"

So, I have taken the time to sit down and write my OWN continuation of Star Wars. This, however, is not your dad's Star Wars. This one is a lot more methodical and darker. Perhaps, even darker than Anakin's turn to the Dark Side.

This one will not feature any old favorites such as Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, or Yoda. Or dark villains such as Darth Maul, Darth Vader, or Darth Sidious. This is a complete RE-IMAGINING of the Star Wars saga AFTER the fall of the Sith.

In my revisioning, known as Star Wars: The Continuation of the Force, 20 years have passed since Darth Sidious' death. However, despite the Galactic Republic's rebirth, peace is still lacking in the Galaxy. A young Jedi, Corus Adi, has succesfully passed the Jedi Trials and is now a Jedi Knight. Native to Naboo, Adi has been trained under the watchful eye of famed Jedi, Luke Skywalker. Due to Adi's young age, Adi is very naive and often can be headstrong at times when not acceptable. Skywalker has noticed this and has taught Adi to focus his youthful energy towards holding the balance of the Force. However, he is not the only one.

Despite the death of Darth Sidious, the Sith have managed to survive during this tough time and have, once again, emerged to be the Republic's greatest threat. Among these new Sith is Darth Sauren.

Darth Sauren's past is by far peculiar. Prior to his death, Darth Sidious anointed Darth Sauren as his "secret apprentice" in case Darth Vader would eventually fall victim in battle. Sauren, a young, but powerful Sith, was taken by Imperial forces when he was 4-years-old. His parents, two rogue Jedi, were executed by the Emporer. Sauren, however, was sparred and was secretly trained by Sidious to wield the power of the Dark Side. Sauren is possibly, at this time, the most feared adversary in the Galaxy and is responsible for resurrecting the once fallen Imperial Troops. Sauren's self-proclaimed destiny is to destroy the Republic along with the New Jedi Order so that the Imperial Empire can once again rule the Galaxy.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

A Drummer's Worst Nightmare!!!

So I was practicing with my band last week. I was feeling good and my drumming was flowing so well. All of a sudden, a notice a HUGE gash in my china cymbal, MY FAVORITE CYMBAL!!!

The china, which cost me over $100, is a Paiste Alpha china and has a great sound. It STILL has a great sound. However, everytime I play it, the crack seems to get bigger. And with a show coming up in a few weeks, I'm pretty strapped for cash.

My other Paiste Alpha, an 18" Rock Crash, also has a crack in it, but it's very small and I can easily cut the damaged part out. However, my china cymbal's crack extends halfway to the middle. I don't know if I'll be able to cut that one out.

If it had happened any other time, it would've been ok. But now, I have a show coming up SOON and my china's still taking a beating.

Oh, boy...

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Ocean Full of Seamonsters, Once There Was A War, and beyond...

I am Zero. This is my first post with Blogger.com so bear with me if it comes out a little sketchy.

Anyways, there is so my much I want to share with all of you. So much I want rant about. So much I want to cheer about. However, I'll just start off with a simple history of my musical career.

My first musical endeavor was with a deathcore band known as Ocean Full of Seamonsters (OFOS). Despite its many lineup changes, it consistently remained a five-piece band (vocals, lead guitar, rhythm guitar, bass, and drums). I was the drummer. The band began its formation in February of 2008, but didn't get musically started until September of 2008. We created a total of eight original songs and played seven live from September of 2008 until June of 2009.

We recorded our first and only demo/EP in March of 2009, which included six original tracks. The tracks included "Nothing Blood Can't Solve", "Doomie", "The Cupcake Song", "Ralphie Saves the Snow Princess", "Bring the Bitches!!!", and "David - The Dead Goldfish". The EP was released on March 14, 2009. The EP is currently out of print.

A seventh original track called "Millimeter Peter" was created about a week after we completed the EP. While we never recorded the track, we did play it live on several occasions until the end of our tour.

Our tour lasted from January of 2009 to May of 2009. We went on a "hiatus" after that, creating another track known as "The Legacy". However, we broke up before we could record a second EP. Before our breakup, we had two songs ready for the EP ("Millimeter Peter" and "The Legacy") and were in the planning stages of three others.

After departing from OFOS, I founded a band known as Once There Was A War (OTWAW) with my girlfriend and her two brothers (they all perform in another band known as LifT). OTWAW differes greatly from OFOS, being an alternative metal group rather than a deathcore group. So far, we have created two songs ("Recreation Decay" and "Talk Shit, Get Hit") and have several others at the ready. What I love about OTWAW is that it allows me to show everyone my true versatility. For instance, Mike Romel (primary vocalist of OTWAW and drummer/screamer of LifT) and I often switch on and off between lead vocals and drums. It is also the only band that I am currently writing for. We have not yet begun to tour.

And most recently, I have another project still in the making. While I will keep the name of it anonymous at this time, I WILL tell you that it includes Joey Santiago and Pablo Gonzalez, both formerly of OFOS (Joey was our lead guitarist and Pablo was one of our vocalists). Due to the fact that the track "The Legacy" was never claimed when OFOS broke up, we will be using it in our new project. We do not yet have a complete band. However, we are moving at quite a fast pace and have two songs currently in development and another in the planning stages.