chronicles of a soda

I hate using default or even free themes that you can just download. It's not a matter of being unoriginal, but rather an issue of them all being horrifically ugly. The only good looking themes are the ones that you have to pay for, and quite frankly, I don't care to blog enough to justify me purchasing a theme for it to only be used for a couple of months before I got sick and tired of it. At least, if I make the layout, it's the way that I want it. If I tire of it, as I always do, I can just create a new one. I used to do this with WordPress before it got too bloated and impossible to create a simple and working theme. I haven't been able to successfully create a theme since WP 2.7.x, and it's now at 3.1.1, so I'm sure you can see where my frustration comes from.

Anyway, I've been working on a new design, and it's coming along nicely. I have just a few more things to work on, but then it will be just a matter of figuring out how Posterous has the site laid out, and then I can go from there. It looks pretty straight-forward. For those of you that want to see what it's going to look like, here's a starting idea (but I've already made some fairly significant changes to it, since I saved this image):

I have a feeling I'm going to love the final product. I'm modeling this after my latest redesign of my design portfolio. I used to just copy the color scheme and then create entirely different layouts. However, this layout ended up working well for both a portfolio and a blog, I decided to just switch up the color schemes. This way, it's two distinct sites with the same layout so to also create a solid link between the two and their creator, myself.

Either way, it's now almost 1am, so I'm rambling. I feel that my night is coming to a close, and I will continue to chronicle my progress.

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Music in 2011

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 16:51:00 -0700

I'll come out and say it: I think that 2011 may end up being a disappointing year in music. No, I'm not talking about what the mainstream has to offer us. Every year is a disappointing year if we're talking about what's being played on the radio. Instead, I'm talking about the underground rock scene. Last year was a PHENOMENAL year for underground rock (specifically stoner rock, doom metal, retro rock, and blues rock). It seemed like every week, a great album (or two) was being released. Hell, I'm still discovering great releases from yesteryear. Realistically, how can we expect 2011 to hold up that trend? Honestly, I don't think it's feasible. At some point, it's going to have to taper off, and I think we're at that point. I think a lot of it has to do with the coincidence that 2010 ended up being this huge convergence of new music. Everybody and their brother had his band releasing a new album. It's entirely possible that the ratio of good to bad releases hasn't changed. Still, the fact remains that I am dramatically less excited for 2011 than I was for 2010.

Don't get me wrong, it's only the end of March. There is still 9 more months ahead of us for great music to be released. I get that. In fact, I've already discovered and have fallen in love with several 2011 releases. Also, I have a growing list of upcoming releases that continues to peak my interest. There's going to be plenty of music for me to get into this year. There just won't be AS MANY as we saw last year. Plus, some of the releases that I held as highly anticipated for myself have already shown themselves to be lackluster. For every 2011 release I have fallen in love with, I came across, at least, one release that disappoitned me. Maybe my expectations are just too high because we were spoiled rotten last year. Whatever it is, it's a fucking downer. The only sensible thing to do, at this point, is to forget about what was released last year and focus on what is being released this year.

Here's some upcoming releases that shall (hopefully) help me with that task:

Kamchatka - Volume IV
Radio Moscow - TBD
Gozu - TBD
Backwoods Payback - TBD
Graveyard - Hisingen Blues (if any of the current feedback is any hint, this WILL be a top album for 2011)
Freedom Hawk - TBD
Greenleaf - TBD
Parlor Mob - TBD
Mothership - TBD
Orange Goblin - TBD
Venomin James - Unholy Mountain

I'm sure there will be more, but that's a good (yet not quite as great) start...

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The Switch

Sun, 20 Mar 2011 20:34:00 -0700

Let me start this post off by stating the glaringly obvious: WordPress is a piece of shit. Don't get me wrong, I used to love it. Back around 2.7.x, the software was just fine. The software had far less features than it does now, but I think this is a good thing. For one, I was able to actually create a working theme. Now, not so much. I think a lot of the changes have to do with the fact that the WordPress team wanted the software to be for more than just blogging. Unfortunately, all they've done is just created bloatware, and that's not just my opinion. Every person I know that has worked with WP states the same.

Being fed up with WP and the desire to have a nice looking blog, I have decided to move to Posterous. This site is giving me the option to theme my entire blog, and I can do that all from this site and is contained in one file. The simplicity of Posterous is very attractive. I'm using a free theme at the moment, but I have my own theme in the works. Who knows how long that will take me. I'm notorious for not completing designs. Granted, that's mostly due to not wanting to try to trick WordPress into working for me.

Anyway, I'm being long-winded. Hopefully, this switch will make it so that I'm more active in blogging. If nothing else, it'll be where I can post my reviews that will also be found on The Soda Shop.

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Fucking Around

Sun, 20 Mar 2011 18:30:23 -0700

So, I guess I never have fully embraced the idea of blogging. At least, not blogging about personal stuff. Who in their right mind wants to blog about what inane shit is happening in their life. Even more puzzling is why do others care enough to read it? It just seems to me that time would be better spent elsewhere.

This, of course, is not to say that I question all blogging. There are political blogs and music blogs that make a lot of sense. Granted, I may be slightly biased due to the fact that I co-run a music blog. Still, informative blogs provide a service. Personal ramblings, not so much.

In all, though I may question the sanity of those that post about their lives, perhaps I should try it before I knock it, eh?

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Latest collection update.

Sat, 19 Mar 2011 19:32:32 -0700

Taken with picplz at Armory Arts Village in Jackson, MI.

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Music collection - Dec. 2010

Sun, 12 Dec 2010 11:22:23 -0800

Taken with picplz at Armory Arts Village in Jackson, MI.

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Eh

Sat, 26 Jun 2010 07:31:00 -0700

This is interesting. Perhaps I will expand on it... probably not.

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