On no he didn’t say that!

Researching for a class assignment I found a review from one of my favorite albums this year, Within Temptation’s The Unforgiving. You can read it here but the whole thing is in the picture above. I have to say I am not surprised at all with the review, but it is kinda funny to see how some music critics overlook some facts and don’t invest time doing some research before making an statement like the one I pointed out in the picture above. The fact that Within Temptation has been playing music and consistently releasing albums since 1996, and people like this guy have no clue about it , irritates me. I think the only thing that bands like Within Temptation have to thank Evanescence for, is that they opened a door of discovery for people like me.   Thanks to them I got into two music genres, Goth Metal and Symphonic Metal. This is music that I totally love and bands like Nightwish, Within Temptation or Lacuna Coil are among my favorite bands today. I owe that to Evanescence, that’s why they are important to me.  There are enough reasons why these bands were not influenced by Evanescence in any way. That’s why I feel that most music reviewers and some music fans should do their homework.

Only three reasons come to my mind right now:

1. These bands are Symphonic Metal or Goth Metal bands and Evanescence is Alternative Rock. Evanscence is not a Metal band, that’s a total misconception.

2. These bands have been playing since the late 90′s. Evanescence was founded in 1995 but it wasn’t until 2003 that they achieved success in the US with their first LP Fallen. By that time Nightwish already had four albums out, Within Temptation had two and Lacuna Coil had three.

3. These bands are heavily influence by another famous Gothic Metal band called The Gathering. The Gathering has been playing this type of music since the late 80′s. Go check their music if you haven’t. They are awesome and you’ll see what I am talking about.

The Queens of Metal

BTW This dude’s last words in the review say it all. “Every white-faced Goth will want this one” I hate people like this. Stereotyping people just because  they like a particular music style is disgusting. I have to end this short post saying that I am not questioning Evanscence achievements at all. I like Amy Lee’s voice. I love most of her songs with her band, and I can’t wait for their next album to come out.

Have a great Sunday,

Cuban Nerd

Tags: Evanescence, Goth Metal, Lacuna Coil, Metal Queens, Nightwish, Symphonic Metal, Within Temptation

The Girl in the Space Suit

Yesterday I read a Doctor Who spoiler about River Song and it was exactly what I was thinking about her after watching Season 6 first episode, “The Impossible Astronaut”. I don’t really think this is a real spoiler but just a rumor but it fits perfectly with my theory about River’s real identity.

So here goes my awesome theory:

Most characters in the show think that River is the Doctor’s wife. That’s totally unknown but what I am pretty sure is that she is connected to Amy Pond, The Doctor’s current companion. The clues came out in full force in “The Impossible Astronaut” and putting all the information about River since her first appearance in Season 4 I got to the conclusion that River Song is Amy’s daughter and she is the one in the astronaut suit.

Ok, this is how I see things.

Season 4

“Forest of the Dead”

Before River whispers the Doctor’s real name in the his ear. She tells him she is “sorry, very, very sorry”  (Why is that?)

Season 5

“Flesh and Stone“

River is in prison because she killed a man who was a hero to many.

The Doctor asked her what man? and she answers “the best man I’ve ever known”.  (The Doctor, duh!)

Last Episode “The Big Bang”

The Doctor: Who are you?

River: You are going to find out very soon and I’m sorry because that’s when everything changes.

(Obviously, the best man she’s ever known is who? The Doctor)

Bang! New Season

“The Impossible Astronaut”

We see the astronaut killing the doctor but before that happens the docto says “It’s OK, I know it’s you” (RIVER, RIVER, it’s RIVER)

Amy tells the Doctor she is pregnant

The there is a girl inside the astronaut’s suit. (Not exactly sure why I think that girl is River)

My theory again is that River Song knows what is going to happen because she is the one in the astronaut suit. She kills the Doctor. Now another question, Why?

Tags: Doctor Who, River Song, Theories

A Good Man is Hard To Find

I just finished reading this Flannery O’Connor’s short story for a class’ homework and I found it extremely unpleasant to read. I just didn’t like it at all. I’ve never read story with such a twisted, violent and awkward narrative before. I hated every single character, from the grandmother (the main character) and her entire family to The Misfit and his two companions. It was so weird to read how all the family members were murdered one by one. Now I have to write about it, another reason to dislike the story even more.

Tags: A Good Man is Hard To Find, Flannery O'Connor, Short Story

Deadlines can give you nightmares

I guess the title for the post is not surprising for a lot of people, but I was one of those people who didn’t used to get so stressed out when a deadline for a school project is coming. I’m one of those who probably finished everything in time and have some free time to waste. That, my friends, was in the past. At least in the real world and working on a real project. I had a really stressful experience the last couple of weeks. I began a new quarter with tons of school projects and with a lot of things to study. School is definitely getting more intense, but also I’m finally starting to get more freelance jobs, yay! You could say I am happy because I have no real job right now. The classes I was teaching on weekends got cancelled by the School Board of the county. Apparently they were loosing money. That left me in a very bad situation.

But anyways I’m back in business, sort of. Thanks to my school career services, I found a freelance job designing a few pages of a magazine issue. It was my first time doing something like that. Everything started pretty good, but complications came eventually. The articles never came in time, the pictures had the wrong size and resolution. The man who hired me, asked me to do pretty weird stuffs with the pages’ layout. The printer wanted to change some parts of some pages, but they work with InDesign CS3 and I work with CS5. I had to check the copy of the articles myself and they had tons of mistakes that I was not able to identify. Sorry, but English is not my native language. I am still struggling in my English Composition classes to write a decent essay and suddenly I have to edit a bunch of articles? I don’t know maybe I need some advice from my teachers on that matter. It was a miracle to finish everything in time.

I had a lot of limitations in terms of creativity and that made me feel a little down. I felt the pressure of everything two days before the deadline, mainly because I was still working on the job, but I had all my school projects unfinished. I really freaked out. I have never felt so desperate before. But I have to say that, despite all the troubles I went through, I enjoyed it because I like layout design. I have a little more experience and all the mistakes I made with this job, I can solve it and be more efficient with future clients. Now I am done with it and moving onto my next project that is building my own portfolio website.

Uprising was really that awesome?

So yeah. I watch Idol since Season 8. I watch it mainly for entertainment purposes and because I follow Idol Chatter and I have met pretty cool people there. I only like a couple of singers from that show. In this season and the previous one, my favorite contestants were girls. I stopped voting after they were voted out of the show.

Now back to explaining why I am kind of mad at the show and most of its fans. First of all, the judges this year, OMFG! How annoying they are. They are always praising these singers even if they have evident flaws. Even I know that my favorite singers (Not just from Idol) are not perfect at all. And some fans are even more annoying when they say that the covers are way better than the originals.

The best example was last night. There was a particular performance of a song, James Durbin’s cover of MUSE’s Uprising, that I didn’t like at all. I have to admit that I am a fan of MUSE since I was 16 years old and that I am not an expert in vocals or anything like that, but I do have ears and I like to think that they are still functioning correctly. Durbin was, in my opinion, a total train-wreck in terms of vocals and the worst part is that idol fans loved it. I really did not care about the whole staging, the drummers and all the craziness.

Now back to Idol fans and more to be more specific, James’ fans. Last night I was reading all their comments on YouTube and most of them are laughable. “Oh, I’ve never heard this song before. I like it, but James did it better”, ”what a performance, those high notes were spot on”, ”BEST PERFORMANCE ON IDOL STAGE EVER “, “MUSE was out-mused”. At this point I am completely rolling on the floor laughing. It is incredible that some people actually think that this was completely amazing and it is more laughable that some others believe that by Durbin singing a MUSE song on Idol will bring more attention to the “BEST FREAKING LIVE ACT IN THE WORLD” or other singers like Miles Kennedy or Maynard Keenan. Nope, not at all. Most James fans probably don’t even remember who Zakk Wylde is. Another thing that bothers me is that when Naima was dancing on stage or bringing ethnic flavor to her performances everyone seems to hate it, but James can do all kinds of crazy things on stage and everyone loves it? Why?

James has had other performances on the show that were kick-ass. Last night? It was NOT GOOD at all. Last night he was singing pretty much like when he sang “A Change is Gonna Come” in Hollywood week. In other words, it was a total mess. The studio recording sounds decent though, but my questions to James fans, especially for those who haven’t heard the song, are:

Did you honestly like the song?

Did you buy it?

Did you buy the original?

If your answers are NO, then you are just being hypocrites. You are going to vote for a guy whose albums you are not going to buy. A guy who has no real chance to have a career in mainstream music because, his voice is more suitable for Metal, a singer who should be fronting a band. Let’s face it, most of you don’t even like Metal and as much as I love the genre, I have to admit that it is not mainstream in the US.

If you agree with me great, if you don’t, I’m sorry, but it is my opinion. Have a great day,

Cuban Nerd

Trip to Orlando

Ok, like I said on my tumblr I went to Orlando this weekend with the family. I went to Islands of Adventure last January in a school trip and I had a lot of fun. I saw The Wizarding World of Harry Potter for the first time and it was amazing but I couldn’t enjoy it as much as I wanted to for different reasons, one of them being that we left early and the second one is that I couldn’t take pictures to send them to my friends in Cuba.  I wanted to go again and my uncle wanted to take my oldest cousin to Orlando. It was the perfect time to convince him that it was a good idea to go. After two months I finally got what I wanted.

The day before the trip I decided to hide my dad’s mp3 player because we have a rule in the car. The one who is driving plays the music. He was going to drive and I really dislike Pitbull and other groups and singers he has on his mp3 player. My plan was successful until I discovered he burned two cds to play on the car’s stereo. Luckily one CD was a Steve Wonder’s Greatest Hits and the other one a Michael Jackson hits album as well. So it wasn’t that bad. In a way it was an extension of the theme week on American Idol, “Motown Week”. I managed to convince him to put my music after two hours, yay! The trip to Orlando was not that boring mainly because I speak too much, hehehe. My oldest cousin was in the back seat but he was listening to his awful music and texting his girlfriend all the time. It was better that way. For some reason I hate all the stuffs he likes, from the music (Reggaeton) to the way he dress (Ed Hardy).

We got to the hotel pretty late but the kids wanted to go to the pool. It was like 10:30 p.m. and THE FREAKING KIDS WERE STILL IN THE FREAKING POOL! I only had one cocktail made of vodka and only Merlin knows what else, a beer and an empty stomach. Enough alcohol in my system to get me drunk. I didn’t do anything weird. It was just the usual me but saying more random stupid things than usual and laughing at everything. We ate at 12 a.m. can you guys believe it? I went straight to bed.

I woke up the next day pretty tired but I recovered after a cup of coffee. It was the big day after all. Long lines, hours walking, pretty hot weather and dealing with the rest of the family. Anyways, we drove to Islands of Adventure and we got in. The Harry Potter part of the park as awesome as usual, with the brilliant level of detail on every single corner and the delicious butterbeer (Note: My uncle says butterbeer taste like Diet Doctor Pepper). I really didn’t want to leave that part but I was practically the guide of the family. The main ride of the WWoHP called Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey had a 30 min delay while we were in line. How lucky we were right?  But the wait was worth it, even my dad and my uncle who are not really Potter fans loved it. It felt like the first time I ride it. It’s mega awesome to feel like you are inside that world sharing an adventure with those characters you love since you were a kid.

The rest of the day was pretty good too. I spent the next hours scaring my cousin before we got into every dangerous ride, specially The Incredible Hulk. It is fun to scare people when they are about to ride a roller coaster. We got soaking wet after the “Ripsaw Falls” and Popeye’s rides. There was a pretty uncomfortable incident when we were about to get into the Spiderman ride. Some douchebag  stole one of the kids’ seat. Seriously? Aren’t you too old to steal little kid’s seats? The staff of the ride didn’t help either, one of them said that I told him we were seven. For real? I told him in perfect English we were eight and I know how to count you idiot. I was so pissed with that guy that I barely enjoyed the ride.

We ride Harry Potter and The Forbidden Journey again and it was even more awesome, this time I paid more attention to the little details of the journey. I got into Honeydukes because I wanted to buy one of those Bertie Botts boxes with the weird flavors. But the box comes with a flavor guide so you know what are the wacky ones.  They killed the element of surprise. Now I’m trying to avoid the vomit bean because I know how it looks like. In Dervish and Banges there are three broomsticks: a firebolt, a nimbus 2000 and a nimbus 2001, flying above the people and one of the girls who works there told me that they were the originals used in the movies. That fact was pretty cool. It looks like everytime you go there you discover something new. It is pretty small but with so much to discover that you have to go several times to see everything.

We got out of the park at 9 p.m. and went back to the hotel.  The trip back to Miami was boring.  I was sooo tired, constantly falling asleep and with no topic of conversation. The only things that kept me awake were a few magazines I had on the car. Pretty good ones BTW, specially Digital Artist. It has an interview with Phillip Straub, an illustrator with an amazing body of work and lots of experience in the video game industry. you should check his book Utherworlds, it’s pretty amazing. I’m currently saving to get a copy. And that’s how my weekend went.

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Tags: Harry Potter, Islands of Adventure, Springbreak, Weekend, Wizarding World of Harry Potter

I’m back, kinda.

This blog has been like a dead space for a long time. I barely update it but I really want to give it one more try. I know no one reads it. My tumblr is more popular that this one but I don’t want to cancel it because I know this one has more posibilities in my near future.

Right now I’m working on my own website. Lots of sketching and brainstorming involved. I want to make it right. I’m planing to include this blog as well but since there is an over-saturation of design blogs on the internet I don’t want to make this about graphic design only. I want this to be about all the things that inspire me and of course a way to express myself. Blogging is something that takes time and effort and right now my main focus is my school and freelancing. That’s another reason why this is my first post in almost a year.

I’ll be updating cubannerd as much as I can. Stay tune.

Why Cuban Nerd?

A lot of people online and offline have been asking me lately why Cuban Nerd and specially why Nerd. Well if you know spanish the you can read my first post on this blog here or just keep on reading this one.

First of all Cuban is because I’m Cuban. It should be obvious. lmao. Then there is the Nerd part. Yes people I’m a Nerd in a way and proud of it. I love to read books, any kind of books as long as they are good. I’m not a big fan of studying all the time. Specially for those school classes like Math and Grammar. But I like to know about things that I find interesting.  I don’t want to stay ignorant about the world around me for the rest of my life. I want to know as much as possible. Is that a sin? Hell no.

If you know me for a long time then you’ll know that I am very friendly but I’m very picky with my friends. I need to feel comfortable with the people around me. If I really like you then you’ll know the real me. Only a few people know me well and most of them, sadly, are not around me anymore. I’ve been in the US for a year and 9 months and the only thing that has helped me during this process of changes has been music. It is my obsession, it changes my mood and keep me focus on my goals.  Changes like the ones I’ve been through are hard. In the beginning you want to return to the place where you were born, even if you know that place sucks but it’s where all your memories come from. It’s still difficult today. I already had found my place there, I was in college,  I had a great group of friends and I was being more social. Now here means a new beginning. Start from scratch again and it takes a while. It is a trade, all that for more life opportunities, having all the family together and freedom of doing what I want and say what I want.

I guess that’s all I have to say about me.

Peace, Love and Rock ‘n’ Roll

-Cuban Nerd-

Adam Lambert is not copying Bill Kaulitz. Deal with that.

Adam Lambert and Bill Kaulitz back in the old days of obscurity.

Today Adam Lambert tweeted to some delusional Tokio Hotel fans that he did not copy Bill Kaulitz’ style on the cover of his new single “If I had you”.”It was Elvis inspired” He tweeted. But Adam dear trying to convince TH fans that Glam came before Bill were born is pointless.

I know you tried to shut them up but still useless. Why? What would you expect from delusional teen girls? They are basically living in denial. They love Bill and they think that he is the most wonderful and beautiful human being that have ever walk on the face of the earth (Some of your fans think that about you too, lmao).  No wonder why TH wikipedia profile changed from Alternative Rock to Teen Pop, lol.

Now for all those girls who have put God Bill Kaulitz on a pedestal. I’m gonna try one last time:

Adam is not copying Bill at all.Ignorance reigns among your fandom. Keep on dreaming. Yes, you are right that your dear Bill had that style since he was 9 but he was unknown along with his other band members. TH became somewhat famous in the US in 2008. By that time Adam was already a pro performing and changing his looks like a chameleon. Got it?

But I can tell you this:

Men have been wearing eye makeup for millions of years. Another thing is that Bill didn’t invent GlamRock either. Glam was popular in the 70′s, then different genres were influenced by it like Hair/Glam Metal (United States) and Visual Kei (Japan) back in the 80′s.

David Bowie and T.Rex. This guys were alive and wearing make up. Bill wasn't even a fetus.

See?? Hair Metal and Visual Kei Bands wear make up and crazy hairdo too

If Adam is a copycat then you can call Bill a copycat too. Bill copied the looks Visual Kei bands like Nightmare, Versailles and X Japan. All these bands are gazillions times better than Tokio Hotel.

One last thing Adam can copy Bill’s styles but Bill can’t copy Adam’s vocals. Not in a million light years.

I don’t expect that TH fans understand what I just posted here and I really don’t give a damn. but at least I tried my best.

Happy Mothers Day

-Cuban Nerd-

Songs, Singers and Bands that changed the way I listen to music

Today while I was walking from the bus stop to my house I was listening to an albums that always take me back in time. There are a few album, songs and bands/singers that were a huge influence in the way I pick music today. I guess that happens to a lot of people. As we grow old our appreciation of things change. Here are the reasons why my taste in music changed so radically:

1. Queen: I’ve listened to this band since I was a fetus,^_^, seriously. My dad is a huge fan so Queen was constantly playing on his stereo. Up today Queen is my favorite band and I’m totally fascinated by Freddie Mercury.

2. Hybrid Theory by Linkin Park and Fallen by Evanescence: These two albums were the beginning of the process. It opened my mind to explore more. I know they are considered mainstream and all that but they still have a place in my heart.

3. Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Californication” and “Otherside” and “Zombie” by The Cranberries: Three songs I totally I love, love, love. Those songs represent my first year in the technical school where I was studying  and the friends I made there.

4. Madonna’s album, Music: I wasn’t a big fan of Madonna when I was a teen. Too much Britney perhaps but in 2000 she released this album and a friend from Switzerland gave it to me as a gift but I wasn’t into Madge so I decided to give it to a neighbor. He loves her so he was really happy for the gift. I’m thankful for what he did after that. He shared his love for the Queen of Pop with me and now I’m a fan.

5. Nightwish: My favorite band after Queen for sure. I will always thank one of my friends for introduce me to this band. One word to describe them, Epic. Tarja’s voice is unique. There is no one like her. I was so sad and mad when she was kicked out. Sometimes when I remember what happened my mood completely changes. But nothing is perfect.

6. Enigma’s “Sadeness” and “Return To The Innocence”: Another reason why I have to give thanks to that neighbor. I’m a huge fan of Enigma after listening to this two songs he gave me.

7. “I Want Out” by Helloween: This is a song I can relate to. I had the cover of Sonata Arctica first so I kinda like that one more but both versions are great.

8. Kelly Clarkson’s Breakaway: I really love this album. Non stop for weeks. She is probably my favorite winner from American Idol.

9. Marilyn Manson: He is crazy, he is evil, he is OTT and I love it. He is such an inspiration. His videos are so rich and awesome. I really don’t care what other people think about him I love his music.

10. Los Hijos De Guillermo Tell by Carlos Varela: I wasn’t a huge fan of trova when I was younger, but a friend of mine gave me this album when it was released back in 2004. It totally changed my mind about this genre. Thanks to Varela I began to listen to more and more of this music style and I’m totally a fan today.

This last one is apart from the rest since he totally changed my world in such a short amount of time. He came to my life when I least expected to. But becoming a fan of Adam Lambert is probably on of the best things that have ever happen to me. After months of feeling down and with no idea of what to do with my life and in a foreign country. Adam appeared on my tv one night during one of his performances on American Idol. The moment I heard his voice I was hooked forever. You can say it was Love at first listen. After that day my live began to change. My inspiration came back and a lot of great opportunities too. I’ve meet a lot of amazing people on the internet. Not only amazing, super mega sweet and cool people. I also lost the fear to speak because my English used to be a mess (I’m still working on it). Being his fan has made me a better person too.

And these are the singers, bands and songs who have influenced me musically and spiritually.

Peace, Love and Rock and Roll,

-Cuban Nerd-