The Year In Review: 2004

  2004 sucked. Big time.

  The highlights were my trip to see KMFDM, and my first-ever visit to New York City, but that's about it.

  But we all know what overshadows anything good this year, and that's the fact that I'm in the situation I'm in right now.

  2005 will bring another first: Jail Time. Joy, eh? Yeah, I'll get to see the inside first hand. But there is a silver lining to that, trust me. I don't know how it'll go, but rest assured that I'm in Self-Preservation mode, and there won't be anything holding me back from saving my own well-being.

  Let's see. What all funny stuff happened in 2004? Well, Erina got married and moved to Florida, where she will hopefully remain. There was the wonderful incident where her husband spit in my face because she thinks I owe her $40. Trust me, I don't think anyone outside of their families will miss them. I know I won't...

  This year also saw Love escape me yet again. Liza got rid of Mike, but after a short reunion with me, she moved on yet again. Jill is getting married, then not getting married, then getting married again, then not getting married again. And none of that has to do with me at all, so I've given up for good on her.

  In October, I left Tempered Edge, and have since begun work on a few solo projects, as well as producing some other material for friends. I've been singing off an on with John and Sherry, as well as did a show with C-Moore after the "breakup" of Those Meddling Kids. And now, with my future in limbo, I'm trying to push these projects through so I can get the singles to release before I go in.

  The final blow, though, came yesterday in the form of Mary Jane, my beloved pet hamster, dying. It's too quiet in my room now, no MJ clawing at her tube, running in her wheel, munching on sunflower seeds or digging around in her bedding. After all this time fighting, I'm alone in the end. Fitting, eh?

  2K4 also brought a few surprises. I was given the chance to meet and work with one of the sweetest girls I've ever met, Candice. And since my little foray into the world of accidental felony, I've been surprised by the amount of support I've gotten. People who I was sure would misunderstand the circumstances and hate me without hearing my side have listened, understood, and actually shown that they're backing me up. They know that I'm not the person these events portray me as. They know not to listen to a bunch of redneck gossip kings and queens. And that... That amazes the hell out of me.

  Finally, this marks the first full year of entries here at the Ranch, and also it's 7th Birthday (in September, an event I forgot to mention then). Where it will go from here is unknown, but I will be tweaking the design a bit, and probably getting rid of a few things. While I'm away, though, I've asked Gary and Melissa to keep things going until my return, at which time the fate of the Ranch will be decided.

  The near future will see a few Ebay auctions of nifty movie-related stuff I got from the Rowland, since losing my job at the Avenue due to recent events has put a hurting on my income.

  Well, folks, unless something happens in the next 10 hours that warrants an entry, I'll see you all next year. Have fun, be safe, and lets make a New Years Resolution to impeach George W. Bush, OK? Right then...

Posted by Eric @ 1:36am, 12-21-04

The Tussin, The Tussin!

  Rock! Great news. Looks like, according to mcchris.com, that my favorite Geek Rap artist (and the only one I know of, honestly), MC Chris, will be doing a tour! Yes!

  Provided that my current issues don't prevent me from doing so, yours truely will be going to Richmond, VA on February 1 to witness the spectacle of the first MC Chris Tour Show firsthand.

  Not like any of you care. You're too busy with your Ja-Rule's and your Chingy's and whatever other flavor-of-the-week rappers are cool during this particular 5 minute span of the day. Well, open your minds and your ears to something new, kids.

  For those of you unfamiliar with MC Chris, here's the breakdown: MC Chris (real name Chris Ward, when not rapping, is a voice actor for Williams Street, the Adult Swim division of Cartoon Network. He has played Hesh on Sealab 2021, Ward Willoughby in Welcome to Eltingville, and has a recurring role(s?) on Aqua Teen Hunger Force as the many incarnations of MC Pee Pants, Meatwad's favorite rapper(s?).

  You must download "Fette's Vette," "Robotussin" and "F**kin' Up My Christmas" from MC's first album, Life's A Bitch And I'm Her Pimp. Classic MC at his all-time funniest and finest!

  So go get yourself some culture. Meanwhile, I'm gonna go party with the hottest rapper you've never heard of. Sucks to be all-a-y'all...

Posted by Eric @ 2:49am, 12-29-04

Say, Say, Say

  Well. I seem to have made a new friend.

  A couple of them, actually. It would appear that some people feel some need to make themselves feel better, so once again, Eric becomes the target of misguided insecurity.

  Oh yes, let's make ourselves feel more self-important by exploiting certain facts about someone who's in a less-fortunate situation than me. How very very drol...

  And the other one thinks he's funny by using javascript to redirect my Guestbook to porn sites and what not. How very original of you.

  You know, seriously. What is it? Why do you care? Hmmm? Why is it such an important thing in your life to do stuff like this? This site is here for the few people on this Earth who care enough to know what's going on with me. Granted, few is not many, but still. It's not here for people who don't like me, or for some reason see the need to humiliate me further than I already have been over the years.

  So, exactly what is your malfunction? Apparently, my shortcommings are the perfect fodder for you, let's hear about yours, eh? That sounds like fun...

Posted by Eric @ 10:11am, 12-25-04

The Marching Band Refused To Yield

  Well, tirades aimed at blinded-by-Jesus relatives aside, I do have a small piece of happy news. The foundation has been laid for my first single. It's not quite a solo project, though, since John Baker is helping write the music, and Gary Weyandt is producing, but this is the first time I can honestly say that this is MY single.

  I wrote some of the lyrics for Tempered Edge, including two entire songs ("Nowhere in Sight" and "In Black"), but mostly it was patchwork and restructuring of already-written stuff. And since it was for the unit as opposed to just me, I can't really call any of that music "my own."

  But with this song, "Did You Know," for the first time, I have a song I can really call my own. "In Black" was the only song outside of a love theme that got anywhere, and even then, I'll be the first to admit it wasn't my best work. You see, I'm in this love song rut. Everything I write lyric wise ends up being a love song, and I'm never really happy with them. "Did You Know" is different.

  For the first time, I'm happy with how it came out. And since I've written it, I've been able to piece together lyrics that I'm happier with in other types of songs outside of the love song. For the first time in my musical career, I actually feel comfortable calling myself a songwriter.

  We're getting pertty far in getting our studio space set up, and our recording capability is somewhat ready to go. Right now, we can only do scratch tracks, since there's a smidge of faint white noise coming from an unknown source wiithn the computer we use. I'm going to see if I can talk Gary into trying Linux as a recording platform, but that hinges on my ability to get Audacity to run, and run well, first. The box I have now isn't strong enough...

  But yeah, once it's copyrighted and happy like that, I'll release it here (via outside hosting, of course, since Tripod is paranoid that I might be distributing somthing those evil freaks at the RIAA might own. Oh, heaven forbid). That won't be for a few weeks yet, though. Right now it's a matter of getting John to work on it. Given the fact that I have limited time to work on it, I think that won't be too terribly hard. And maybe by then, I'll have enough for a mini-EP, who knows...

Posted by Eric @ 9:12pm, 17-23-04

Brand New Family Tradition

  Dear Aunt Judy,

  Shut the f**k up. Never. EVER. Discuss religion with me again.

  I am Atheist. Like it or not, that is what I choose to be. Deal with it.

  It's time to ask yourself a question. Which is more important to you: Love of God, or Love of your Nephew? Because right now, I'm calling you out. Choose whichever one is more important to you. Just know that if you choose God, you lose me. Forever. And that, my dear Aunt, you can take as GOSPEL.

  Love, your Nephew,
    Eric James

Posted by Eric @ 11:30am, 17-23-04

Fallen Hero

From www.damageplan.com

Posted by Eric @ 2:19am, 12-10-04