Been a while, guess I got tired of how routine this can be. April was a month of highs and lows, and while the lows stung really hard, the highs were joyous. Music-wise, it has been an excellent month for me specifically; starting with Billy Ray's new single with Snoop Dogg and Miley's live album, which had bonus tracks released at the end of the month. Carrie Underwood is gearing up for a new album to be released in June, Ann Wilson released an album yesterday and Noah Cyrus is working on her first full-length album. Also, the next Ozzy Osbourne album is being mastered, with guitar appearances by Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Tony Iommi, Zakk Wylde and Mike McCready. This may also be the last album with Taylor Hawkins on it, as he apparently drummed on half the tracks. Taylor Hawkins was also the drummer on a track on the new Edgar Winter album that was dedicated to Edgar's late brother Johnny, released just two-three weeks after he died, and you can tell he's having fun playing on the song.
Whitesnake guitarist Joel Hoekstra has made a supergroup with Marco Mendoza (bass, Whitesnake and The Dead Daisies), Tommy Aldridge (drums, Ozzy Osbourne and Whitesnake), Michael Sweet (second guitar and backing vocals, Stryper) and Nathan James (singer, Inglorious). I am excited that Joel Hoekstra's dream is coming true, he is a great guy on Twitter (or whoever runs his account is), yet I still bear some scars from Michael's hypocrisy in supporting Trump and making an excuse for the "grab them by the [vagina]" remark, yet pretty much also said Miley Cyrus should go to Hell. The first song, "Nowhere to Run," made me afraid this album was going to repeat the same aggressive message I've heard since Obama got elected; "Christianity is under attack, Democrats are Satanists because they want to help gay people and disrupt capitalism, which will destroy the only security our religion has, stop turning the other cheek and stamp these ideals out." Thankfully, there are love songs on the album, which makes me hope my heart can mend and I can start to forgive my distant brothers and sisters.
I've been using Twitter a lot, probably more than I should, but it's hard not to when it makes you happier and more capable of facing and lightening loads you've carried too much of your life. My parents announced their divorce 2 months before 9/11, which sent me into confusion, disarray and anger. It didn't help that I got to school and first period, almost all the kids were talking about "nuking Japan." They didn't care about the facts or the truth, they just wanted bloodshed. The big downside of social media is you see that mentality over everything. There is a current legal drama between an actor in a beloved film series (and is a close friend of a famous director and several rock stars) and his ex-wife, who was in two superhero movies, presents a silly, dad humor, bad puns style on social media and claims he beat her. It guts me on multiple levels. I like all of those movies, I like both the people, but someone has definitely done something wrong and, sadly, the country is getting dragged into the blame game, rather than give them their space, accept the courts' ruling, no matter what it is, hope both get the care and treatment they need, and try to create a future where spouse-beating is more easily discovered and truth becomes clearer. We're not getting anywhere by name-calling and nerd-raging because we like one actor or one actress over another, or which series Hans Zimmer worked on is your favorite.
On the plus side of Twitter, I am now close enough and knowledgeable enough to write a response to a voice actress tweeting about Galaxy Quest and respond "My favorite part of that is "Yes, but the animal is inside-out!" (SPLURTCH!) "And it exploded." "You just tell me Gorignak turned inside out and exploded?!"
She liked it and so did someone else, who responded with the laughing-crying emoji. It is due to interactions like this with video games, their voice actors and fan artists that I'm starting to feel less depressed and more mature. I did some cleaning in the apartment and am going to make more of an effort on my budget. I also finally submitted a job application last night. Hopefully, soon, I'll be back out there. Talk to you later.
