Just when you thought it was safe to ride the bus. . .

Police don't know what prompted vicious bus attack
Updated Thu. Jul. 31 2008 6:50 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

Police in Winnipeg said Thursday they do not know what triggered a vicious attack on a Greyhound bus the night before that led to the beheading of a passenger.

Witnesses say a man was stabbed to death and then decapitated in what appears to be a random act of violence on board the bus that was en route to Winnipeg late Wednesday.

At a news conference Thursday afternoon, RCMP Staff Sgt. Steve Colwell said a 40-year-old suspect is in custody and police were preparing to interview him. No charges have been laid.

Colwell would not confirm passenger reports that a man repeatedly stabbed his seat-mate before beheading him.

He said passengers had already left the bus when officers arrived at the scene near Portage la Prairie, Man. He added that police apprehended the suspect when he tried to escape the bus by jumping out a window.

Colwell said the actions of the passengers and driver may have prevented any other attacks from occurring.

"It's not something that happens regularly on a bus," said Colwell. "You're sitting there enjoying your trip and then all of a sudden somebody gets stabbed. I imagine it would be pretty traumatic ... the way they acted was extraordinary."

"They were very brave. They reacted swiftly, calmly in exiting the bus and as a result nobody else was injured."

Shocked witnesses said the victim, described as between the ages of 18 to 20, was sleeping with his head against the window when the attack occurred.

Garnet Caton, who was sitting in front of the victim, heard the commotion and turned around thinking he was going to witness a fight.

Caton told CTV News that once he realized what was going on he screamed: "Stop the bus, somebody's getting stabbed, everyone get the hell off."

The bus driver pulled over on a section of the east-bound Trans-Canada Highway -- about 15 kilometres west of Portage la Prairie -- and many of the 37 passengers began to flee the bus.

Passengers attempt rescue

Caton gathered a small group of people to go back and help the victim, said CTV correspondent Murray Oliver in Winnipeg.

"They returned to the back of the bus to find that the person who was stabbing the person in the neck had now sawed off the head of (the victim)."

The man, with the head in one hand and the knife in the other, then tried to attack the other passengers, said Oliver.

The group was able to exit the bus and slammed the door behind them.

The man then stabbed the door with his knife but was unable to break through and get off the bus. Eventually, he attempted to start up the bus to drive away but the operator had hit a switch, disabling the vehicle.

Oliver said a truck driver then arrived at the scene and handed out wrenches and crowbars to several men. The small group gathered around the door to the bus and prevented the man from exiting until police arrived.

Cody Olmstead, a Nova Scotia man who was on the bus, said that the killer taunted the men who were blocking the door from the outside.

"He cut (the victim's) head off and then walked up to the door holding it and just looked at them crazy-like and then dropped the head and walked back to the body and started cutting it some more," Olmstead told CTV News from outside a hotel in Brandon, Man., where he and other passengers were taken.

The man was left alone with the body and witnesses say that he performed further indignities to the victim.

"We have word from people on the scene . . . that when the killer was alone with the body . . . that there may have been some small acts of cannibalism on the body," Oliver said.

Oliver said that police have not confirmed that, but have not denied it either.

Criminal profiler Pat Brown told CTV Newsnet that the killing may have been planned in advance, even if the choice of victim was completely random.


"This may have been planned -- to have this moment of rage," she said.


A number of witnesses referred to the suspect's actions as "robot-like." Brown said that fits the profile of some high-profile psychopaths who go into a "trance" while performing ghastly acts, ignoring the world around them.


The suspect

RCMP eventually arrested the man after a standoff lasting several hours, said Oliver.

Witnesses said the suspect was tall, large and wearing sunglasses, even though it was dark.

David Eastwick, a passenger on the bus, told CTV News that he noticed that there seemed to be something "wrong" with the suspect even before the attack.

"He look kind of suspicious when I saw him," a clearly-tired Eastwick said Thursday. "Most people if you say 'Hi' to them they say 'Hi' back to you but this one just looked back and (stared.)"

"I knew something was wrong (with) his mind."

Greyhound provides counselling

Abby Wambaugh, media relations spokeswoman for Greyhound, said the company is now working with Transport Canada to review bus security.

She called the situation tragic but said travelling by bus is still "the safest mode of transportation in the country."

Wambaugh also said Greyhound is fully co-operating with the RCMP investigation.

Passengers will be escorted to Winnipeg once they are interviewed by RCMP, said Wambaugh.

Once there, Greyhound will provide counselling for any passengers who want the service, she said.

Government responds

Meanwhile, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said Thursday he was shocked when he heard about the incident.

"Like most Canadians I'm horrified to hear of the account," Day said. "It's more than most people can even contemplate."

He said it was "probably one-of-a-kind in Canadian history."

The minister said he's not entertaining any notion of registering knives as dangerous weapons given that millions of kitchen knives alone are sold annually.

Priscilla Ahn

Metal Cow - Mooo

My roomate played his first official show with his new band 'Hung'. Here's a review from what is supposedly a major critical force in the metal community.
from MetalSucks.com:



THE TRIUMPHANT RETURN OF HUNG
Monday, July 28th, 2008 at 1:21pm by Vince Neilstein
To say that Hung is back and better than ever would be an understatement. After nearly 10 months without a drummer, the New York progressive metal outfit absolutely killed it at the Ace of Clubs in downtown Manhattan Friday night. New drummer David Mieloch fit right in with the band, offering a level of precision and stage-presence never before seen on the Hung drum throne, and the result was a completely riveting set that had the usually tame Manhattan audience in an absolute frenzy. Levels of rockingness and audience excitement this high are rarely seen in New York, let alone at a show of a “local” band. Record labels ought to start paying attention; this band is the fucking real deal.

Hung barreled through their set of precise European-styled melodic progressive death metal (got all that?) playing mostly songs from their 2007 release Progeny (read my review), and to the delight of the fans a brand new song which highlighted guitarist Evil Jon, violinist Lyris Hung and bassist Sam Roon’s shredtastic playing and is without a doubt the most serious facemelter the band has written to date.

Shit was so intense that an overzealous mosher had to be dragged out of the pit after nearly starting a fight. Even MetalGF, who could call this event her first-ever metal show (congrats!) was impressed on some level by the virtuosity of the band’s players. She didn’t hate the show, which I guess is all I can ask for — even vocalist Dmitry Kostitsyn’s bone-crushing death growls, a vocal style long known to turn off many a would-be hesher. “I could tell he’s talented underneath it,” she said to me. Touche, and talented with it as well.

Now that the band has solidified its lineup, it’s time to write some more new tunes and get that shit back out on the road.

-VN

Way awesome stop motion short films

Zuton Fever

I love The Zutons!!!!

Muppet Goodness

5 amazing muppet videos up on myspace.
Click here for one, and then look at the top 4 friend's videos.

NEW BEN FOLDS!!!!

Ben Folds to Release New Record, Way To Normal, September 30, 2008


LONG AWAITED FOLLOW UP TO SONGS FOR SILVERMAN FEATURES RAUCOUS TRACKS, TRADEMARK HUMOR

Epic Records is proud to announce the release of the much-anticipated new album from Ben Folds, WAY TO NORMAL, on September 30, 2008. The album, Folds' third as a solo artist since the break up of the Ben Folds Five in 2000, was mostly recorded at his studio in Nashville and produced by Dennis Herring (Elvis Costello, Modest Mouse, The Hives). Featuring Folds on vocals and piano, Way to Normal also features long-time bassist Jared Reynolds and drummer Sam Smith as well as a guest vocal from indie pop heroine Regina Spektor on the album's first single, "You Don't Know Me.
"

Way to Normal is an exuberant, raucous, and sometimes profane mix of sure-fire crowd-pleasers ("Hiroshima," "Bitch Went Nuts," and the frenetically fuzzed-out "Dr. Yang"), cheerful snark-fests ("The Frown Song," "Brainwascht"), and thoughtful, moving ballads ("Cologne," "Kylie From Connecticut") that Folds wrote at the end of 2007 following the finalization of a two-year divorce.


But it should not be assumed that Way to Normal is Folds' version of Marvin Gaye's Here My Dear or Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks (though Folds says that in the early stages of recording he came close to calling the album "Blood on the Keyboard").


"The songs are not topical," Folds says. "I was not interested in making a record about the D-word. I got all that stuff out of my system on the last record [2005's pensive Songs for Silverman], which was deliberately stoic. This new album is really about me being free, which is why it feels cathartic and expressive. It's about me coming back to being myself." (Hence the title.) "I came out of the courthouse, kissed the ground, and walked straight into the studio. I felt like a bottle of champagne that had been shaken for 18 months and popped open in the studio. That's why this record has so much energy.
"

Folds has been going pretty much non-stop since the 2001 release of his debut solo album Rockin' the Suburbs. In short order, Folds has released a live album (2002's aptly titled Ben Folds Live) and a pioneering series of three Internet-only digital EPs: Speed Graphic, Sunny 16, and Super D in 2003-2004; co-wrote and produced William Shatner's 2004 solo album Has Been; released Songs for Silverman (which featured the Adult Top 40 hit "Landed"); contributed three original songs to the soundtrack for the 2006 film Over the Hedge; and produced a forthcoming solo album by Dresden Dolls frontwoman Amanda Palmer.


In 2006, Folds released Supersunnyspeedgraphic, The LP - a compilation of tracks from the Internet-only EP's and B-sides, including an inspired cover of Dr. Dre's "Bitches Ain't Shit." Along the way, there have been numerous tours, including a few with The Bens, a "supergroup" Folds formed with fellow singer-songwriters Ben Kweller and Ben Lee in 2003, as well tours with Rufus Wainwright and Guster in 2004, The Fray in 2005, and John Mayer in 2007. A classically trained percussionist whose musical chops could not be denied, Ben Folds also performs with orchestas, including a stint with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra in Perth, which led to his dvd "Ben Folds and WASO: Live at Perth" as well as Baltimore, Boston Pops for their season opener in 2007 and a stint of residencies with all five major Australian symphonies in 2006: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide which set a number of ticket sales records for the esteemed Australian orchestras. In 2008, Folds will perform with the Nashville Symphony, opening their 2008-2009 season (September 7, 2008) and will also perform with the local symphonies in Philadelphia, Ft. Wayne, IN and Louisville, KY.


Ben Folds has been performing at many summer festivals this year, and will continue to tour worldwide in support of Way To Normal throughout the fall and into 2009.

Dr.Horrible

This is great! A miniseries designed for the internet, starring Neil Patrick Harris, and is a MUSICAL!!!!!!

http://www.drhorrible.com/index.html

Weezer = summer

It's not summer without Weezer.



Check out some of their videos.

http://www.youtube.com/user/weezer

Money Money

HAHAHAHAAHAHAAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHA!

I made it on Geekologie.com

As soon as I found the Radiohead video on YouTube yesterday, I sent an email to geekologie.com where I first heard of the video. So on the update of their original post, I totally got a shout out. I am such a dork!

Thanks Dan, what're you doing this weekend? You wanna come over and take turns staring directly into a power burning laser? Oh, and thanks again for letting me know the video is out. You rock.

Here is the link to the post:
http://www.geekologie.com/2008/07/radioheads_new_video_shot_with.php

Say what you will. . .

OMFG!



(don't judge me)

House of Cards

THE NEW RADIOHEAD VIDEO IS HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



No cameras or lights were used. Instead two technologies were used to capture 3D images: Geometric Informatics and Velodyne LIDAR. Geometric Informatics scanning systems produce structured light to capture 3D images at close proximity, while a Velodyne Lidar system that uses multiple lasers is used to capture large environments such as landscapes. In this video, 64 lasers rotating and shooting in a 360 degree radius 900 times per minute produced all the exterior scenes.



For more info on how the video was made, go here:
http://code.google.com/creative/radiohead/

Sit On My Face

This is awesome (NSFW):



Check out more here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/cjuvenile117

"Let Them Eat TastyKake!"

Happy Bastille Day everyone!!!
Today I went to the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia for the 14th annual Bastille Day celebration. There was a little street fair during the day with french food and jazz standards, but the real fun was later on. At 5:30 everyone gathered in front of the Penitentiary for a renactment of the storming of the Bastille and capture and beheading of Marie Antoinette. People were dressed in period costumes and read from scripts (which were actually pretty funny). The whole thing was very farcical. Marie Antoinette was atop the battlements with a bottle of champagne (sham-pon-yah) when she delivered her famous line. But, in Philadelphia the translation is a bit off. She said "If the people have no bread to eat, then let them eat TastyKake!". This utterance was followed by over 2,000 TastyKake products being hurled over the wall into the croud below. Everywhere you looked someone was being hit in the face with a butterscotch krimpette. The Revolutionaries replied with cannons and gunfire and Antoinette was eventually brought down into the crowd and beheaded, Technically, the only thing that was beheaded was a watermelon, but it was still fun.

Here's a video. I think most of the footage was from last year, butyou get the point:

Hamlet 2

Any movie that stars Steve Coogan, is written by people who wrote for South Park and Arrested Development, and is about mounting a production of a musical sequal to a Shakespeare play must be hilarious. You don't even need the video below. Its just icing on the cake.

The Jonas Brothers Are Everything That's Wrong With The World

That's right, I went there.
Here's why:

1) Their music sucks.

2) They are openly christian and encourage others to be, causing thousands of impressionable young people to stop thinking for themselves.

3) They vocally support abstinance and wear purity rings, sending the message that sex is something that should be guarded and secret, while at the same time supressing their own sexual urges and setting themselves up for a scandal in the future.

4) They are slaves to the Disney conglomerate and are force fed to the ignorant masses of teeny-boppers who don't know better.

Yo, I'm On Fire!!!

Bodysnatchers

I would be remiss if I didn't include Radiohead in my first week of regular posts.
If you have yet to buy 'In Rainbows', go get it. What are you waiting for?

Republicans Eat Babies, Fear Cows

Today I wore my "Republicans Eat Babies" T-Shirt my lovely fiance got me for my birthday. The past few times I wore it, I would get a few cheers here and there from the nice, friendly democrats or a dissaproving scowl from the bitter, old republicans. Not until today had I had a real altercation. . .

I was walking down High St, across the street from the Historical Society, and past the gaudy over-decorated house. You know the one. At Christmas time there are 7-10 inflatable snowglobes, 20 light up toy soldiers, 3 manger scenes (one "artsy" set with no faces), and 4-5 Santa and reindeers sets scattered about the lawn and roof. Well, the house is currently done up with assorted patriotic chotchkies such as flags and banners. The left over Christmas decorations on the porch add to the down-home charm. So as I pass this landmark of downtown West Chester, the couple who live in the house are outside "gardening". Mr. Gaudy-Eye-Sore-House is killing weeds in the sidewalk with a fancy spray-bottle backpack filled with weed killer, while Mrs. Gaudy-Eye-Sore-House is walking back and forth the path around to the back of the house. As she walks, she trims the bushes on either side of the walkway, but only the pieces sticking far enough out to touch her arms. Already I am intrigued by these people, and somewhat scared. Who knows what they will do when someone walks past and distracts them from their unique landscaping chores.

Mrs. Gaudy-Eye-Sore-House sees my shirt first and offers the standard disaproving head shake. Of course they are republicans. Who else would need that many flags in their lawn to prove their patriotism? As I pass by Mr. Gaudy-Eye-Sore-House, he slowly reads my shirt. He raises his head and makes eye contact, snarles and points his weed killing death nozzle at my feet and pulls the trigger. I jump to the side, and by jump I mean step quickly, but jumping is more dramatic. So I "jump" to the side, look my enemy straight in the eye and let out the biggest "Moo" I could muster. What a mighty Moo it was! As i continue to walk away, I turn and in my most condescending Daniel Plainview voice I say, "Go eat some babies, Republicans!" I then continue on my way home without incident.

True Story.

I'm Not Here To Make Friends

This is hilarious.

Fear of Being Alone

Call me sick, demented, twisted, whatever you like. But you watch this video, and try not to laugh.

WALL-E

If you have yet to go see WALL-E, you must go asap!!!
Its one of the best sci-fi films in the last decade, as well as the best animated film I've ever seen (yes, better than the Little Mermaid).

Besides, any film that opens with showtunes is instantly brilliant.

Jesse Helms - DEAD!!

Dear Jesse,
I'm glad you're dead. The world is better off. You shall no longer spread messages of hate and intolerance in the world. You will always be remembered for the hateful things you said and did. Its too bad you didn't die of AIDS.

Rot in Hell,

Dan


For those of you who don't know who he was, read up on him here so you too can rejoice in his overdue demise:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Helms

The Bird and The Bee

Since I've been listening to a lot of new stuff lately, and I want to update my blog more frequently, I thought I would combine the two.



Today I introduce you to 'The Bird and The Bee'. I noticed them about a year ago while browsing iTunes, but then never followed through and forgot about them. Then a little while ago my friend Dave reintroduced them to me. I shall not forget them this time around. Heres two songs off their album:

John Wayne Gacy Jr.

I've recently become re-obsessed with Sufjan Stevens. And while this isn't a new song, its one of his best and one of my favorites.

Dandelion Lovers

Here's the music video for "Dandelion Lovers", the latest from singer/songwriter Kate Branagh. Kate is a friend of a friend and is way awesome. Check her out!!!