So... after about a solid month of Iron Maiden, two brain cells collided somewhere, and I got the urge to dig out my Queensrÿche CDs (all 4 of them :? ). Among them is one of my absolute favorite concept albums, Operation: Mindcrime, which I've been listening to almost non-stop since the end of the last IM review blog.

(In fact, at the end of the week, I'll be putting my thoughts on that and Mindcrime II into a short review blog. Mindcrime confirmed for me that being independent politically was a wise move; it deserves its own place.)

At least, I was until I wandered over to the local Wal-Mart for coffee, and decided to look in the CD section. Lo and behold, QR has a new album out!

Of course, I snatched it up almost immediately. :)

It's called American Soldier, and I like it almost immediately. The band took the time to talk to actual soldiers from WWII all the way up to the current conflict, recording some of them, and used what they found out to write a concept album. It takes no stand on war; it just tells the stories of soldiers. I'm hooked.

I also picked up SPORE: Galactic Edition for the PC. The price was right (same price as the regular edition) and with the loosening of the restrictions they put on it, it seemed like a good idea.

It's pretty good: a bit cutesier than I ususally play (cartoony-bright and cartoony-violent) but it sucks you in. While the early stages are somewhat shallow, the last stage is trickier than it has any right to be. I'll play it for a bit longer, and then write up a review.

With the network TV season wrapping up, two shows have taken center-stage as "must-see:"

One is "Deadliest Catch." Season 5 is shaping up to be as good as the previous four: one captain has to sit out the season with health problems; all four boats have had massive upgrades (the Northwestern captain put $800,000 into its repairs and upgrades); two shows in, and there's already a tragedy at sea (an 11-man cod boat is down, and one man is confirmed dead, with 10 missing)... it's a tough show to watch, but I find it rewarding on so many levels.

The other is basically a 13-week-long murder mystery/slasher movie, "Harper's Point." Before the show, 6 people were murdered by a serial killer named John Wakefield. Years later, a resident of the island is coming home to get married to a rich family who vacationed there; among his guests is a woman who's mother was killed by Wakefield.

Oh... and there's a killer who's depopulating the island. Again.

So far, 3 weeks in, the body count stands at 6 (best kill: a man tied to the propeller shaft of the ferry to the island, with a scuba mask to keep him from drowning; propeller starts, man is sucked in... very clever).

I have 2 suspects in mind (in fact, I believe 2 people are involved in the murders, working at cross-purposes). I won't give anything away... I'll just say that I don't think Wakefield is back, like some of the characters seem to feel.

Last thing: NY is thinking of making gay marriage legal. I don't really care one way or the other about it, but I will say that it reeks of desperation on Gov. Patterson's part (his approval rating is somewhere in the teens, due to his miserable handling of the budget and economic crisis in the state: cutting jobs and funding for education, while taxing everything in sight and raising existing ones). This isn't a cause for celebration: the gay population of the state is being played as pawns for votes in next year's election. Hopefully, someone calls him on it, and the ploy fails. Miserably.

And I thought he'd be an upgrade from Spitzer. Shame on me. :evil:

That's all, folks. Have a great week. :D