My favorite albums part 1

Here is a list of my favorite albums. This will be a very wide range and if you ever watched Sesame Street "One of these just doesn't belong here, one of these things just isn't the same." that's right. but, must of these albums bring back times in my life that I either wish I could go back to, or forget.

Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young's Deja Vu: The first time I remember encountering this album was when  I was 9. My oldest brother was finding his groove playing the guitar and at that time I listened to whatever he did. Deja Vu was one of the first album, not song, album that I had any real feelings about. with songs like Our House, Teach Your Children, Almost Cut My Hair, and Deja Vu it had a combination of 60's/70's pop, and psychedelic. others would say different I'm sure, but there are not many groups that have that kind of harmony.


Slayer's Reign In Blood: I know it sounds like an oxymoron for a Mormon to listen to Slayer but that's me. I once went into a cd store in the town of Lynden, WA and purchased a Godsmack album and a Robert Carlisle cd at the same visit. but that's another story. I still remember when I heard Tom Araya's shriek at the beginning of Angel Of Death. I have tried to emulate it since. I was 16 and borrowed the album from my buddy Vince. With songs like Angel Of Death, Raining Blood, and Piece by Piece, fast paced, and heavy. It was one of my first taste of thrash that I liked. I liked it cause I could understand what was being said. I had heard groups like Cannibal Corpses and just couldn't get into it once they started singing.


FM Motion Picture Soundrack: Technically this is a compilation but still a favorite. I have nev er seen this movie. Never been able to find it not sure I want to. It has songs from the 70's from groups like queen, James Taylor, Joe Walsh, etc. I listened to this soundrack countless time on an 8 track, which I got along with a lot of others from my mom's friend Donna. I listened to it a lot with my dad in his buick station wagon we called old blue.


Peter, Paul, and Mary's In The Wind: I have had many of copies of this album. largely due to the fact that it's one of their most popular albums so when finding older copies it's hard to find one in good shape. It's popular for a reason. It's amazing. The vocal harmony is cannot be duplicated. The songs are both inspirational and dark. you got gospel songs like "Very Last Day",  and"Tell It on the mountain" and then you have "Polly Von" which is about a hunter who mistakes his girlfriend for a swan and kills her. Classics such as their version of Bob Dylan's "In The Wind" and "Stewball" are epic. There isn't a Peter, Paul, and Mary album I haven't liked yet and I have most of them on Vinyl but this is my favorite.

Whitney Houston: This was the first cd I ever got. I was 8 years old and our family got our first cd player OOOOOOOOOO!!!! with the coming of our first cd player, each got a cd. I decided I really like Whitney Houston at the time and so that was the first cd I ever got. it's a good album with songs like "How Will I know" (interesting fact, the song was originally intended for Janet Jackson), and "You Give Good Love", it propelled Whitney Houston to stardom.


Neil Young's Harvest: I like Neil Young's work but I will be honest, there are songs of his I don't like. he's not my favorite album artist. Harvest is an exception. I love every song on the album. I had it on cassette when I first got my license. I still remember putting it into the cassette player of my 1988 suburban the first time I went on a drive (legally) on my own. the famous songs from this album are "Old Man", and "Heart Of Gold". My favorites are "A Man Needs A Maid", "The Needle And The Damage Done", and "Words (Between The Lines Of Age)". You have to listen to it front to back.


The Moody Blues' Days Of Future Passed: This was one of the first albums I ever heard that told a story from the beginning to the end. it starts with morning and goes through a whole day of work ( including lunchtime ) and ends  with night. Nights In White Satin is the big song from this album that really launched them into stardom.


Guns N' Roses' Appetite For Destruction: When I heard "Welcome To The Jungle" for the first time when I was 14, I flew out of my seat. At the time it was the heaviest thing I had heard. Also, there are very few albums that come out where every song goes  on the charts. my favorite was "Rocket queen". only thing I hate about this album, Axl Rose.


Led Zepplin IV: I don't think there is a musician that made music after 1971 that wasn't inspired by this album. everything between the songs and the album artwork has a story. "When The Levee Breaks" was recorded in an old house. the echo from the drumwork by John Bonham was achieved by him playing in a hallway to achieve the sound. The song Black Dog came from a stray black dog running around outside the studio.

In Memory of Robin Williams: Movies of his I absolutly love (some you may not even know exist)

When I heard the news about Robin Williams' death, I found myself in denial and honestly sad. I felt like I had lost a friend. A friend I always wanted to meet but that I had been there for as long as I could remember. I do not want to hear about how people are getting tired of how ridiculous it is that we are making a big deal about a celebrity death but we don't care about other things that "matter". It's upsetting. plain and simple. what I do want to bring out is this.

I tried to think of which Robin Williams movie was my favorite and to tell you the truth, I've drawn a blank. There are so many movies that he was in that are great. There are also a lot of movies he was in that although are great, didn't receive as much attention as I believe they should've. I'm going to list off the ones that I love and maybe it can help others see that the world really has lost a great man.

1. The Survivers: It's been too long since I watched this movie. the most I can really tell you is that him and Walter Matthau were hilarious.

2. Awakenings: This I believe was one of his earliest serious roles. It's an amazing story about a doctor who is only able to find a job as a doctor in a field out of his element but while doing it, finds a way to bring people out of catatonic shock. it has Robert DeNeiro, and Julie Kavner. you might know her as Marge from The Simpsons.

3. Mrs. Doubtfire: this isn't one of his lesser known movies but still, if you haven't watched it in awhile or you have but love it. Watch it again.

4. The Birdcage: I don't know who was better in this movie. Robin Williams, or Nathan Lane. This movie is about a gay couple who own a drag club and have raised a son together. The son plans on bring his very conservative future inlaws over to meet his parents. in a scramble to get together a wife Nathan Lane comes out in drag and gives an epic performance.

5. Patch Adams: I remember seeing this movie in the theatres. I didn't know what to expect and while watching it, the theatre was packed and I had to sit away from my parents. I was sure that I was going to come out of the theatre to very disappointed parents because I had stayed and watched the whole movie. to my surprise, they loved it. This one is about a man who spends time in a mental hospital where he realizes he wants to become a doctor. it's a mixture of comedy and drama.

6. What Dreams May Come: I remember seeing the poster for this movie and then watching it about a year later and not really understanding what I was watching. it's definatly a trip. when they filmed this one, My cousin saw Robin Williams outside of his trailer.

7. Bicentennial Man: although this one tends to have some dry spells, I really liked the overall story. This one is about a robot that unusually has the capacity of human emotion and his path and fight to become a human being. "what a piece of fecal matter!"

8. Jakob The Liar: I don't even know if this movie came to the theatre. It's about a jewish man in a concentration camp who boosts morale by telling the people in the ghetto news that isn't true but makes people happy.

9. Insomnia: Im not going to reveal the plot cause it's kind of a suspense/thriller but it was one of his first famous non comedic roles.

10. One Hour Photo: this movie is both disturbing and captivating. it's about a one hour photo operator that has become obsessed with a certain family.

11. House of D:  my favorite scene is when Robin Williams talks about how they keep changing the term for his condition from being retarded to mentally disabled.

12. The Final Cut: I remember seeing this movie and couldn't belive it wasn't famous. it takes place during a time when people are paying for the children to be inplanted with chips at birth that can record everything that they see so that instead of having a funeral, they can have a movie played truly depicting their life. Robin Williams is a editor of these videos called a Cutter. Watch It!

13. Man Of The Year: although I have always differed politically with him, I loved this movie's depiction of campaigning for president. I do however
agree with the flaw of a computerized voting system.

change. don't like it.

At this time in my life I gotta be honest, things are pretty darn stressful! It seems like everything is going non stop and I cannot keep up. my shop at work looks like a warzone because I have so many projects and no time to clean up. every time I try to clean up or start another project I get a call and they want me to do something else. it makes it hard to get things done but that's why they hired me. I'm willing to be flexible. with every day it becomes more and more apparent that Joanne and I will not be the only humans in this house. The other night while laying on my side I could feel my baby making summersaults on my back. when she kicks you can see it visibly. It's both scary and exciting.

out of everything that's happening I've been able to find two forms of relief: Six Feet Under and heavy metal. I cannot recommend the show because the truth is it's terrible and depressing and unlike Fraiser, it fails to continuously be good from the first season to the last. I finished it tonight and although it did end well, it could've been better. now, heavy metal. Accept, Sepultura, Sammy Haggar, Europe, Yngwie Malmsteen. When I hear that fast paced guitar it's like for that moment everything's alright.  one that lifts me up in the hard times spiritually is Stryper. If you've never heard them look past the yellow and black spandex and Aqua Net and listen to one of their albums. if you don't know, they are a Christian Hair Metal band from the 1980s. most of their songs are filled with uplifting messages of religious nature. One of my favorites is a song called Holding On from their album To Hell With The Devil.  I love this part of the song "I'm holding on to the One from above
The One that's secure the one that has cured My broken heart with perfect love." Stryper has some great songs and although they're no Malmsteen but people tend to associate heavy metal with evil and death. Bands like Stryper and Petra proved that Gospel can be translated in any language. I wish Mormon musicians would try it. I've been told I need to listen to more "spiritual" music like Kenneth Kope, Hillary Weeks, etc. I keep telling people when they come up with Mormon artists that sound like Led Zepplin I might consider it.

Also, today I went into the optimologist. I'm getting glasses. I don't know what to think of it. I'm the last member of my family to get glasses. every one of them either has them or has had them. My vision's still good enough to not need to have glasses in order to drive, I just have a mild stigmatism is all. I still don't know how to feel about it. Joanne says they make me look charming.