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Just waiting for people to wake up at my old apartment in san marcos. Had a great time at emily's art show/b-day party. Great to see old U. Star people.

cool article on 1up.com

It's about the lamest, most useless "power-ups" in video games. Pretty funny.

-playing: TR: Legends (XBOX)
-reading: No Man's Land by Greg Rucka

first post

Here's my CD review on Blogcritics. Obviously not a hard story to write, but it was the first one listed on Google. Eh? Eh? Cool, right?

Music Review

This is my first article I wrote for Blogcritics.org. I signed up for that and they gave me 24 hours to turn a story in, so I decided to review a CD by Galloglass I recently got off Amazon. The site sounds cool and I can start writing different things I want to write, so we'll see how it goes. Anywho...

Galloglass
Legends from Now and Nevermore
2003, LMP

In the vein of Helloween, Gamma Ray and countless other European power metal bands, German act Galloglass is not breaking new ground. But despite this, the group’s debut album, Legends from Now and Nevermore, still manages to stick out among other double-bass-infused mania.

The songs are up-tempo, the vocal register is high and lyrics center on dragons and battles as per the genre, but Galloglass’ trump card and distinguishing feature is the violin, played by Hartmut Richter on the album. And while many insist there is no place for violins, keyboards, etc. in true metal, I’ve always enjoyed this more than the traditional rock approach. It makes the music more interesting and developed.

And Galloglass delivers in that aspect. The violin winds in and out of several songs and is never too intrusive, but is used enough to validate its inclusion rather than coming off as a gimmick. Richter plays off Norbert Geiseler’s and Kai Muhlenbruch’s classic NWOBHM-esque solos like a third guitar, as each musician picks up where the other left off. Picture adding a violin to Iron Maiden’s presentation with Dave Murray and Adrian Smith and you have a good idea of the Galloglass formula.

The album kicks off with a subtle spoken passage in “Dragons Revenge” before exploding forth with crunchy riffs and a high-pitched wail from singer Carsten Frank. It’s a good indication of the solo-heavy attack that is to come.

Frank holds his own as well, sounding a bit like Fabio Lione from Rhapsody of Fire. The vocals aren’t as high as most in the field, which is a good thing here. Galloglass next serves up “Ancient Times,” one the of album’s standout tracks. This is mostly due to Muhlenbruch’s ability to get the most out of a slow and heartfelt solo during the bridge. Midway through is the title track, a heavier rocker that intros with punctuated notes and follows with a catchy chorus and backing vocals.

Other highlights include “The Conjuring” and “The Quest.” The former changes rhythms throughout the song, while the latter sounds like an acoustic folk tune from the Middle Ages. In all Legends from Now and Nevermore is a very good album, above-average power metal that will appeal to those who already enjoy this music. The drumming doesn’t stand out for the most part, relying too heavily on simple double-bass 16th notes. But it’s still a quality release, and makes me excited about what the band will do in the future (which hopefully includes a tour in the Unites States).

Latest 'H' article

My latest article appears in the May issue of H Texas magazine. It's about professional sports charity foundations in Houston. Logically, it will appear in the 'Charity' section of the mag.

Foundations on the Home Front
By Chris Boehm
Top photo courtesy Houston Rockets
Backe photo courtesy Stephen O'Brien

Brandon Backe is not a magician or master of mysterious arts. However, he and other local athletes still manage to better the lives of Houstonians.

Through the Astros in Action foundation, the pitcher and some teammates visited a comatose teenager in a hospital; two weeks later the child awoke in good health. The attending nurses said they had never seen such a response.

“He never saw us come. I don’t know what happened and I’m not going to say I’m a witch doctor,” says Backe, who provided the boy and his grandparents a trip to a ballgame, autographs and time in the locker room. “I don’t look at myself as different, but for others to look up to me feels pretty good.”

The Astros, Rockets, Texans and Dyanmo have foundations providing for needy Houstonians. “Many of our players come from similar backgrounds and didn’t live privileged lives,” says Sarah Joseph, Rockets director of community services. “We’ve always had a good group of guys. That’s just the culture of the Rockets.”

Joseph works with the Clutch City Foundation, established by Rockets owner Les Alexander in 1995. The foundation has raised $8 million since its inception and supports, court refurbishment, education and the Sunshine Kids, a program assisting cancer-stricken children.

The Clutch City Foundation partners with players’ individual efforts, such as Steve Francis’ scholarship donations to the Boys & Girls Club and Tracy McGrady’s softball tournaments to assist HISD school renovations. “Our players are very involved,” Joseph says. “We have the resources, and we view it as a responsibility.”

The Astros take this responsibility to heart. Backe, a Galveston native, is the spokesperson for Grand Slam for Youth Baseball and participates in Astros in Action. “It’s a good feeling personally to create goodness around your own community,” Backe says. “[Being from the area] helps tremendously; I’m always readily available for the team.”

Each year the Astros provide scholarships, refurbish baseball fields and raise money for youth leagues to revitalize the game in inner cities. “I think with inner city kids, baseball is being overridden by basketball and football,” Backe says. “This is because it’s easier; you just buy a basketball [or football], whereas to field a baseball team, you need nine players, nine different gloves. In that way baseball has gotten away from the inner city kids.”

The Houston Texans Foundation has raised $1.4 million since 2001, and the franchise is the United Way of Greater Houston’s top per capita supporter, having raised $500,000 for the organization in 2007. The foundation partners with the NFL and assists other charities. Efforts include Tackling Prostate Cancer, fitness programs and work with the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center. “That helps out the whole Gulf Coast region,” says Nicole Streeter, the Texans director of community development. “We want to help anyone we can that is a fan, could be or should be a fan.”

The strong focus on local involvement has done much for Houstonians’ relationship with the team. “Children and even grownups come up to me just because I play football,” says offensive lineman Chester Pitts. “I wouldn’t have a job if it wasn’t for them so anytime I can help I’m all for it.”

Pitts, an original Texans member, has teamed with the Houston Texans Foundation to support the Family Services of Greater Houston, Junior Player Development Program and “Teach for America,” where players read the elementary classes. “If you’re in a position to inspire and share with people what you’ve learned along the way, why not do it?” he says. “At the end of the day it doesn’t hurt you, and you’re doing a great service.”

The Dynamo, already a two-time Major League Soccer champion, has also come to Houston’s aid. Dynamo Charities provides programs to encourage reading at schools, as well as host food and soccer equipment drives.

The soccer team gives Houston two major franchises with league championships. And while the baseball diamond and gridiron have yet to be conquered, all four teams have found their greatest triumphs off the field.

SIDEBAR

In March the Rockets held their annual Tux & Tennies Gala. Proceeds went to the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation to help build Phase II of the Biamba Maria Mutombo Hospital in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This is the second time the event has benefited Mutombo’s foundation; the Rockets’ focus is primarily on local service but an exception was made for the team’s center. “You only have to meet Dikembe to know why [the Rockets are helping him],” Joseph says. “He believes he was born to build that hospital. He believes that’s why he was given the opportunity to play basketball. When you see a player invest that much into it, you know it’s going to be built, and we wanted to be a part of that.”

The End of an Era

This is a shout-out to cheeseheaddx@yahoo.com, which no longer exists in the Internet world as of 9:59 US Central Time.

You were there for me from the beginning, Deluxe Cheesehead, but it was time for me to move on. I'll never forget all the times we shared, though: Paypal confirmations, answered questions regarding eBay items, saved sent items with school projects and countless spam I never opened (but it still touched us all in some way). I'm eternally grateful for your services in these regards.

But as I grew older I felt we grew apart. Yes, I'm still a Cheesehead and Packer fan through and through; that will never leave me. But I started to realize I didn't need to scream it to the world (or the receiver of my message) every time I had a question regarding an item. There comes a time when a little more professionalism is needed.

So it is with a bittersweet heart I announce the culmination of your technological lifespan and introduce the world to crb1238@yahoo.com. This new address will honor you while upholding the standard you left us. I have already revamped my Gmail account (deleting hundreds of e-mails) as part of this new approach and, sadly, your demise was merely the next logical step.

But your legacy lives on. In addition to residing on the same Web site, memorable e-mails such as "mc 2374," "SA pics," "proj in pdf" and "must read this money tipper" were forwarded to crb1238 just before your termination. You were giving right until the very end; I guess I shouldn't have expected anything less, really.

It's only been a few minutes and already I miss you. This new crb1238 comes complete with weather updates, news feeds, advertisements and even custom colorization. But it feels hallow compared to your no-nonsense presentation of my inbox. I guess I'll accept it eventually, maybe even learn to love it. I'll try, because I know you'd want me to.

And now I say goodbye for the last time, cheeseheaddx. May you find the happiness in the Internet afterlife that you deserve.