Gurren Lagann

Commonly known as “Gurren Lagann”, it is the most epic anime EVER!!!  It was released on 2007 and won several awards at the Tokyo International Anime Fair, Animation Kobe, and Japan Media Arts Festivals.  Produced by the animation studio Gainax (Neon Genesis Evangelion, FLCL), the series is 27  episodes long (though is divided in 2 parts, but it is 27 in total).

Personally, I don’t like animes about giant robots (Mecha) but I started watching the show cause a friend recommended it (didn’t shut up), and said that it was “different” from other “Mecha” animes.  Well, she was right.  What have I been missing?  I can say right know that, even though I don’t like mecha animes, this is one of my favorite shows ever. It is about doing the impossible, fighting the power, and piercing the heavens. It has comedy, action, epicness that defies the laws of physics…and it ROCKS!!!  I don’t know how to describe it but it makes you feel awesome! So if you’re bored or feeling a little down, this is the best cure there is.

I won’t spoil anything, not even the beginning, just watch the first episodes for yourself and you’ll get hooked. You can watch it on Youtube here.  (Or you can watch it by other means, and in High Definition) If you watch it on youtube, add “&fmt=18″  after the address to watch in better quality (though the video loads slower).  If the address already has a “&” symbol delete everything after the “&” and then add “fmt=18″.

WARNING!!!! Don’t read the comments in Youtube! People are spoiling big events in the comments even in the first videos so don’t read any comment. Finish the series first if you don’t like big spoilers. You’ve been warned…

You can find the video here.

Basically, it’s a video of a drumline doing lots of classics. Such as Pokémon, Zelda, Tetris and Mario.
And it’s awesome.

Go in. Check it out. Comment what you thought.

I was blown away by the coordination they showed. It couldn’t have been easy.

Guitar

For those of you learning guitar (or those who want to pick up a guitar) but don’t have the time or money to pay for lessons, you now have no excuses! (that’s you Ryuujin)

Here is the best FREE site on learning guitar www.justinguitar.com

Justin is the best teacher you can find on the net, especially for beginners. He explains things very detailed with text and lots of videos, so you can see exactly how to do it. His beginners course is divided in “stages” which you don’t go into the “next stage” until you learn everything from the one you’re currently in. That makes sure that you don’t get gaps in your learning. Plus in each stage he teaches you songs which you can apply the knowledge gained. He is currently doing a new beginners course with High Definition videos in which he adds a stage every two weeks; but you can see the old course if you like (though the new one is a lot better). Plus, every lesson has a link to the forum in which you can get your questions answered by experts, or see other users questions (which may be similar to yours) already answered. If you already know everything from the beginners course… Congratulations! You’re already an intermediate player and there’s lots of lessons for intermediate players too. So go check it out!

Now on a personal note:

For beginners:

- If you prefer/want to have a book, I suggest these:

1) All About Guitar: A Fun and Simple Guide to Playing Guitar (click here)

I have this book, it explains really well all the basics and some intermediate things. It uses licks or parts from known songs as examples to explain many things. It has five full known songs in the end and explains in some detail how to learn them. This book gives you a good explanation for reading rhythm from a music staff (music notation), which is a very important skill.

(I still find Justin’s beginners course a lot better!)

- If you want to learn rock:

1) Total Rock Guitar: A Complete Guide to Learning Rock Guitar (click here)

This is not a newbie book, but still for beginners. I have only read the first two chapters (I been so busy studying other books, I’ve forgotten about this one). It seems like a good book, read the reviews on the link above.

If you are already an Intermediate player I recommend the following books (which you can buy on Amazon pretty cheap!):

-If you want to learn soloing:

1) Chord Tone Soloing: A Guitarist’s Guide to Melodic Improvising in Any Style (click here)

2) Guitar Fretboard Workbook (click here)

You should buy these two books together cause they complement each other!!! I can tell you from personal experience that these two books will help you A LOT!!! Chord Tone Soloing teaches you the theory and skills you need to make your solos sound awesome (check the reviews!). While Guitar Fretboard Workbook teaches you music theory, but specifically applied to the guitar (root notes patterns, making scales, making chords from the scales, etc) with lots of exercises; and you will learn all the notes on the fretboard with this book.

- If you want to play fast:

1) Speed Mechanics for Lead Guitar (click here)

Though this is a more advanced book, in the first chapters it teaches you the correct way of practicing if you want to gain speed. You should not use this book, apart from the first few chapters, until you learn theory and soloing (see books above) because, even if you learn the exercises, you wont be able to apply it to other keys without the necessary knowledge. But still, the first chapters teach you how to practice correctly with the purpose of gaining speed.

-If you want to learn more rhythm guitar:

1) Rhythm Guitar: The Complete Guide (click here)

2) Chord Progressions for Guitar: 101 Patterns for All Styles from Folk to Funk! (click here)

I have have first book. It progresses from very basic to very advanced (Very long, I think I’ve only studied about half of it). This is one of the books that I had to buy when I was taking lessons. It does not have a CD, so I recommend it only if you have a teacher that can explain/play the examples for you. I do not have the second book (I’m probably gonna buy it later this month), but I’ve read really good reviews and suggestions of using it as a compliment of the first. While the first is more theory, the second one teaches you how it is all used in different styles. (I’m probably gonna buy it later this month)

You can also check other books, if they have a lot of good reviews they’re probably alright. I’ve only posted here the ones that I have that are good. (I have other books, but they’re not good)

Personal Tips for Practicing:

1) ALWAYS WARM UP BEFORE PLAYING:

- You do not want to get a cramp or lesion in your hand and not be able to play for days or weeks (been there!) You can play random notes slowly, or scales, then chords, (but all slowly!) as a warm-up for about 5 minutes. If the temperature is cold where you live, run warm water on your hands for about a minute before doing the warm-up exercises.

2) DO NOT PRACTICE THINGS SLOPPILY:

- This means that you should not practice things badly and faster that you can really do, or you’ll develop bad habits! The body is learning everything you do, all the time, even if it’s not done correctly. If you practice things badly, you’ll learn things badly. First learn the part very slowly till you can do it correctly, then start using a metronome and gradually build speed. Think about it this way: “If you practice something fast and sloppy for 100 times, why should you expect that the 101 time will suddenly become clean and precise? However, if you practice something a hundred times perfectly, you can be sure that the next time will be perfect as well” -Troy Stetina

3) USE A METRONOME:

-This is the most important tool a guitarist can have in addition to his main weapon and his neighborhood alarm clock. If you don’t know what it is click here. Once you learn the exercise, lick, part of a song, etc; you should set the metronome to a comfortable speed and practice with it. When you feel that you can do the exercise without problems, start speeding things up but slowly; usually you can add five beats per minute first and when it starts getting like a workout add only three at a time. When it starts getting challenging use the following formula:

1. Add 2 beats per minute and practice till you can play the exercise four times in a row perfectly.
2. Reduce 1 beat and practice till you can play four times in a row perfectly.
3. Add 2 beats again and practice till you can play four times in a row perfectly.
4. Reduce 1 beat and practice till you can play four times in a row perfectly.
5. repeat…
6. ????????
7. PROFIT!!!

4) DO NOT OVER-PRACTICE:

- Beginners can probably do between 15-30 minutes before getting tired. Intermediate players can and should practice for at least an hour. But do not over-practice, this can lead to injury or you could have a sore hand the next day and not be able to practice well. If you feel that your hand is getting very tired and you did more time that you were supposed to… STOP!… Let your muscles heal, this is also part of practicing. (WARNING: If you do some movement that your hand actually hurts… STOP!!! You’re probably doing something wrong and could get a lesion. It is normal to get your hands tired but is not normal if they hurt. If they only start to hurt when you have been practicing for more that an hour you’re OVER PRACTICING! See above. If it hurts for days without even practicing, see a doctor.)

For beginners: your fingertips will hurt the first few weeks, this is normal. You will eventually grow calluses and the pain will stop. The warning above is if your hand or the wrist starts to hurt (like the connections inside the hand: tendons, ligaments, etc.)

5) TRY TO PRACTICE EVERYDAY:

-The key to getting good is consistent practice. Playing instruments is like any physical exercise. Think about it this way: If a guy does 30 min. of lifting weights everyday; and his friend does 2 hours but only one day of each week. Who is gonna have bigger muscles by the end of the month? It’s the same for guitar! You gotta practice everyday for a set amount of time according to your skill level (see practice tip 4). Don’t think that practicing one or two days a week for 2 hours will work (unless you want to progress very slowly).

So….. that’s it. I only have two and a half years of experience, but it is more like 1 and a half, cause I didn’t practice a lot at first, and I couldn’t practice for a whole semester when I changed universities, so… 1 and a half years of experience. I consider myself in a low intermediate level so do not expect me to know a lot. But since I was a beginner for a long time, I’ve had plenty of experience on HOW to practice things correctly and incorrectly (been there). SO… if you have any questions, please comment.

Oh, and if you want to play fast, here are the 3 commandments from God Himself.

Azumanga Daioh is definitely one of the best “slice of life” stories I’ve seen, on any medium. It’s just so funny and cool. It’s basically another high school Anime but at the same time it isn’t. There is no underlying plot where the characters need to save the world and there are no magical creatures or powers either. It just follows the daily life of a group of high school girls. Be warned that when I say this Anime is about nothing I really mean it. Also it has an all girl cast so if you don’t like that then stay away from this one. But why wouldn’t you like an all girl cast?!

I currently have my brother’s B.C. Rich Warlock:

B.C. Rich Warlock

And well, I’ve been playing for approximately one year, so I decided that it’s time that I bought a new guitar.

I searched around and found this site called RondoMusic. Read some reviews about how they make great quality guitars and how their customer service is amazing! I was sold on the site, now I needed to find a good guitar.
A friend had recommended a guitar some time ago, but sadly it was no longer available there. So I went with the second alternative!
I ended up ordering this bad boy:

Douglas Spad Black

Full Body Pic

I currently jam out with a Roland MicroCube, which is tiny and perfect!

What do you guys think?

Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood

Well, in case you didn’t know, there’s a remake currently being produced. And it’s AWESOME!

Here’s a small synopsis, in case you don’t know about the series:

Brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric hoped to resurrect their mother’s corpse when they attempted human transmutation, but their reckless defiance of alchemy’s Law of Equivalent Exchange resulted in no miraculous reunion. Their experimentation with forbidden science plunged the boys into a hellish nightmare; half of Ed’s limbs were torn from his body, and Al awoke to discover his young soul transferred to a suit of armor. There is but one way the Elrics can restore what was lost – find the fabled Philosopher’s Stone. In a land marred by war and persecution, where truth comes only with tragedy, they undertake their desperate search. Every step closer to the mythical Philosopher’s Stone brings the broken brothers deeper into the darkest shadows of reality. Sinful abominations, both unnatural and human, will try to keep the boys from their redemption – but the Elrics must forge ahead if despair is to be transmuted into peace.

This new saga is more “loyal” to the manga’s storyline.

Well, I bet you’re extremely anxious to watch it now! Many of you probably watched it in Cartoon Network (Adult Swim)…
But as you know, they only show things in English there… No problem, though!
FUNimation has decided to sub the episodes as they come out and put them up on their website so you can watch them!
It’s very easy. Just go here. And select the episode you want to watch, and it streams quick and easy, like Youtube.

As of writing this post they have 12 episodes available.
They supposedly take two weeks to release every episode with subtitles after it’s released in Japan.
However, many groups are still doing their own subtitles. I’m downloading episode 13, which was subbed by [Eclipse].
You probably don’t want to go through all the hassle of downloading the episodes, so I’d recommend you wait. But if you _REALLY_ need it I can upload it, just convince me .

Discuss the original, manga and Brotherhood in the comments!
This is probably one of my favorite anime out there !

This event was called Anime Blade, here you can see the poster:

Anime Blade Poster

In these conventions you don’t really have to do anything. You can go just to hang out, meet new people, buy stuff or even get free hugs from total strangers!

It wasn’t the best convention ever, but it was still fun. I met some new people and took a couple of pics! Hugged a couple of strangers and hung out with some people I already knew :3.

Continue for a slideshow of all the pics I took!

Tell me what you think about the pics, convention or people.

Oh, and a female friend of mine made me a kickass panda, here’s a pic:

Mike, my panda!

Do you like the video game God of War? Do you like Rock/Metal? Do you like…… Jack Black? If you answered yes to at least 2 of this questions keep on reading!

Eddie Riggs is the world greatest roadie. When an accident in the middle of a concert summons a demon, Eddie is sent through time to an ancient Age of Rock.  He soon find that the people in this world are being oppressed by Rock hating demons, so it’s up to him to save the people with what he knows to do best and sets on the path to fulfill his destiny and become a … ROCK GOD!!!

Click here to view the embedded video.

“Brütal Legend is a 3rd person Action/Adventure game starring Jack Black in the role of roadie Eddie Riggs, who sets on an epic quest to build an army of rockers with only a broad axe, a big block V8 and his faithful guitar in hand.“   From Tim Schafer (the creator of Psychonauts) and EA Games.

Click here to view the embedded video.

-”What do you do with a bunch of kids who don’t know how to do anything but, bang their heads all day long???”

-”We start a revolution!”

You can find more info here http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/988/988429p1.html

Official web page: www.brutallegend.com

Coming this Rocktober 13th for X360 and PS3.