Morbid Melody has been updated, and given a new name... welcome Caustic Cassandra! She has many of the same opinions as your old friend Melody, and a few new ones. If you had previously linked to Morbid Melody, don't worry... all of your links are automatically updated so that Cassandra can carry on the tradition of darkly humorous sarcasm that y

The first three songs from the upcoming Second Construct release, tentatively titled "The Long Hard Fall", are now available as free downloads! To get the mp3 tracks, visit the official Second Construct website.

I must admit I have been a bit dissapointed by Tim Burton's recent films.  Not that I've hated them, but neither did they earn a place in my DVD collection.  So, it can easily be said that I did not have terribly high expectations for Sweeney Todd.

Fortunately, I was pleasantly surprised.

The first thing that really struck me was the production design, leaning heavily towards the dark, dirty underside of 1890's London.  While this aspect is to be expected, it is the very theatrical handling of the violence seen later in the story that is interesting -- it is at this point that the movie takes it's final step into a "stage-like" realm, tempering the particularly bloody scenes.

last night i drempt of a parking lot where you park cars on top of each other. no one cares... you have 15 days before the rape detection chip resets itself... and i woke up with anorexia nervosa in my head
-thok

Take a long look, my child,
Take a look at this town,
See how vibrant it is,
With its easy-going citizenry,
Look at the woman there,
With long, golden hair,
In the blue jeans, white shirt, and flip flops,
Putting the laundry out to dry,
Singing a beautiful tune,
And dancing joyously,
As cars drive by,
Look at that large gathering over there,
At the outdoor restaurant,
Laughing and talking,

We all start out well enough, I suppose. Naive, and allegedly innocent. Beautiful dreams and endless possibilities lie stretched out before us, and the world is a wonderful place. Everybody cares about us and loves us because we are children and we are vulnerable. We only care about making friends and having a good time. We're pretty bright, and our curiosity is encouraged, for the most part. We have potential, and we are open to life's myriad experiences. We grow older and accomplish some pretty cool things, and the adults in our lives support us and tell us how we are going to be something in this world. We are told to do the right thing and follow the light, then everything will be okay and we will have a place in paradise. Being young and impressionable, we believe this and at least attempt to do it.

Tristia is now available at Sony Connect and iTunes!