Food, Inc.

As some of you may know, I am a big fan of all things organic. This has been a pretty recent development in my life, spurred on by my Chiropractor, the great Ryan Osborne, Ben Lerner's life-altering book 'Body By God', and just being surrounded by Austinites for the last few years. I don't claim to have any authority on the subject, and I am still a student when it comes to matters concerning health, but it is something that I am very interested in (despite my lack of consistency and conviction at times).

My first big exposure to the 'evils' of the food empire was Morgan Spurlocks ground-breaking documentary 'Super-Size Me.' After that, fellow documentary lover Aaron Ivey informed me of a film entitled 'King Corn.' This documentary really opened my eyes to the globalization principles tainting our food system, and it revealed to me the origins of most of the foods we eat. I felt like the veil had been lifted from my eyes when I watched 'King Corn.' How can most of our food be made of corn? And not only that, but FAKE, genetically modified corn? Unbelievable.

Well my friends, Food, Inc. has taken many of the principles outlined in these films and put them into a well-produced documentary. This film is not for the faint of heart, however. There are many disturbing images of animals being mistreated and abused in the name of efficiency and turning a profit. If you want to see where your food comes from, check this movie out. It will make you think twice about what you buy and where you buy it. The film made me realize the importance of buying grass-fed beef and supporting my local farmer's market. I really hope that this film gets out into the general public. There is a glimmer of hope on the horizon that things can change, and it can only start by us making informed decisions about what we choose to eat. There is so much more to say, but I'll let the movie speak for itself. Go watch it.

BC & SL

And I call myself a diehard Dream Theater fan...

Last week, I received a text from my bro that asked, "Have you bought the new DT album yet?" I couldn't have been more surprised. A new DT album? How could I have not known about this? How this happened, I have no idea. I guess it had been a couple of months since I checked their website (which is longer than usual), but still, how did this one get under my radar? Usually, I have the anticipation of months before a release, which is a huge part of the whole album experience. Not this time. Needless to say, I dropped what I was doing to make a trip to Best Buy.

From the moment I popped the CD in, I dug it. I'm pretty much to the point of loyalty with DT that they could put out complete junk and I would still dig it. I have the same loyalty with other bands that transcends any musical travesties. I'm glad that I was by myself for the first listen, because I am pretty sure that I had a goofy, gleeful, child-like smile across my face as I thrashed wildly in and out of traffic and playing my air-drums to Portnoy.

Although it will take many more listens to fully understand and absorb this album, I have definitely gained an over-all perception of it.

The album consists of 6 tracks. Four of the 6 songs, true to DT form, clock in at over 10 minutes, with one coming in at 19 minutes. This is easily the best SOUNDING DT album to date. They have seemed to improve in this area with each release. Paul Northfield mixed BC & SL and also Systematic Chaos. He has worked on many prog. rock band's albums, including Rush. The guitars on this album sound huge and bass-heavy. There is some amazing Petrucci chuggage going on here. Easily his best guitar sounds yet. The drums are of excellent quality, namely the kick drum smashing you in the face with each hit. The album is mixed very loud, which I love. Every instrument is in-your-face and loud, yet easily discernible and tight. Portnoy's drumming is excellent on this album, but there is not much in the new idea department here, and he is sounding tighter than ever. LaBrie's voice is sounding beautiful on this album, probably some of his best performances to date. The biggest disappointment of the album is the lack of presence of Myung's bass prowess. The guitars are mixed so bottom-heavy that he is pretty much washed out, but even still, he usually has a lot more sweet moments on previous albums. Also, although Rudess gets some great new keyboard sounds, he is not featured as prominently as I would like.

On the whole, this album is pretty predictable for long-time DT fans, yet it still delivers. I was worried about the album being too metal-heavy with not enough proggyness, but 'The Best of Times' and 'Count of Tuscany' alleviated my fears. 'The Best of Time' sounds like it's straight from the 'Falling Into Infinity' album (which I dig for sure) with a twist of Octavarium mixed in. It also features a very 'Lifeson-esque' riff at the beginning. 'The Shattered Fortress' is any DT-lovers dream. It features countless references to previous albums (pretty much any song of theirs that has featured a seven-string in the past eight years) which leaves you guessing where in their catalog it is found. It's sort of like a DT trivia mind-bender. Awesome stuff. 'Wither' is a beautiful DT power ballad that is true to DT form. 'A Nightmare to Remember' is the kick-in-yo-face opener that will satiate any prog-metal head's desire for a musical beating. 'A Rite of Passage' contains a strong chorus that you'll find yourself singing hours later.

How can someone get so much joy from listening to a band? It is an awesome thing. I hope that you all out there have a band that you enjoy as much as I do DT.

Thanks for letting me geek out on DT stuff!

New Record from Aaron Ivey

Over the past year, I have had the privilege of getting to know what I have dubbed 'The Triumvirate of Doom' (Aaron Ivey, Jimmie Ingram, and Steven Bush). On June 23rd, the 'Artists Formally Know As Spur 58' released their debut album under the Aaron Ivey umbrella. The result is a cacophony of goodness that radiates the love of Father with a quality of which has not been obtained by any entity under the sun since the dawn of our planet. Please buy it. I had the honor of rocking some cello on the ol' hymn standard 'It is Well.' It was a blast getting to be a small part of this project. Also, be looking for my voice in the Choir of 'Oh Love Divine', 'Pieces', and 'The Name.' I'm the really high-pitched, ear-shattering, shrill one that sounds like a mix of Mickey Mouse and Woody the Woodpecker.