Poof...

...I'm in vacation now.

I'm going to see wallabies.

Adieu.

The list (Pt. 1)

This is the first part of the list of the 10 14 most important bands on planet Earth.
The idea started with a list of 10 bands. Then I realized that it was impossible, so this is the first part, and I don't know how long it will be.

The list is (kind of) in order of importance and I will try also to explain why they are so important. Starting from now, this will be the one and only list to follow.

You're welcome.

1) ISIS. This is it. This is the most important band in this entire known Universe and all the parallel universes out there. They own the Music. They are the Music. Every single song is a concentrate of everything you could ask from a song. Listen to the "Grinning mouth" and shed tears of joy. Best album: everything.

2) NEUROSIS. They took the metal how it was in the '90s and mixed it with agony, pain and heavy riffs: Neurosis were born. Listen to "Stone form the sky". Isis were possible because of them. Best album: "The eye of every storm" (but my heart says "Times of grace").

3) MIKE PATTON (and all his bands, projects, ideas). Mike Patton is the crazy artist of the list. He can do whatever he wants. Mike Patton is god. Even better: if god exists, he listen to Mike Patton. Mike Patton is like 20 years ahead. Best album: impossible to say. Too many, too good.

4) TOOL. Ah, TooL: you love them or you hate them. They've created a legend with only 5 albums. Musically and technically over the top. Lyrics from another planet: to understand the meaning of "sarcasm" listen to Stinkfist (for example). Best album: "Aenima" beats for a nothing "Lateralus".

5) PINK FLOYD. Do I really need to spend words on them? I saw them live: suck this rest of the world. Best album: "The wall".

6) AMENRA. Deep, black, pure suffering. In Amenra, everything is black and dark. Amenra is suffering in music. If you want to feel the real (addictive) pain, listen them. Do not over-listen though, it could be fatal for you mood and your life. During the show, the singer usually performs body-suspension: is that enough? Best album: Mass III.

7) BURZUM. One man band of Varg Vikernes. The dude has been in jail because he murdered another dude and burned down churches in Norway (I'm not judging here, I'm just reporting the fact). Read "Lord of chaos" for the details (or watch the documentary "Until the light take us"). This is black metal. He is black metal. Best album: "Filosofem".

8) METALLICA. I grew up with Metallica and James Hetfield is like part of the family. They've changed a lot after the black album while my taste where going in other directions. But it doesn't matter what I'm doing or where I'm going: when a Metallica' song is playing it's instant love. Let's be honest here: we can judge 'tallica, we can argue the fact that they sold themselves and all this kind of bullshit, but they basically invented thrash music. So, respect. Best album: "Ride the lightning".

9) SLAYER. They complete what Metallica started. Slayer are the thrash metal. RIP Jeff. Best album: hard to say... I follow my heart and I say the live album "Decade of aggression". 

10) FLOGGING MOLLY. Irish punk. Simple like that. Nice tunes, catchy songs and great live shows. I saw them 6 times in a row. Best album: "Swagger" probably, but they are pretty much all good. Special mention for the song "Float".

11) BAD RELIGION. Good punk-rock with smart lyrics. They started in 1979 and they are still here. Best album: probably "Suffer", together with "Against the grain" and "The process of belief".

12) SEX PISTOLS. Punk's dead. Do they really need an introduction? They released only one album in 1977, and we're still here talking of them. Best album: "Never mind the bollocks".

13) BRUTAL TRUTH. "Still ugly... Still broke... Still grindcore..." is from them. Grindcore with class and without compromises. Grindcore as it supposed to be: fast, violent and furious. In all these years they've never changed attitude. Actually, they split few months ago, but they will come back like they did in the past. Best album: "Need to control".

14) GAZA. Speaking of violence. Not sure what they're playing, if is grindcore, or death, or whatever, and, honestly, who gives a fuck. They are violent as hell, and that' what matters. Unfortunately they don't exist anymore because of a bad story. Note: if you like Gaza, check Scalps* ("Serenades of abomination"). Best album: "No absolutes in human suffering".

14) IRON MAIDEN. My youth. I don't like classic heavy metal, but Maiden are the exception. My passion for music born because of them (remember?). Another band that -hopefully- don't need an introduction. They've written the history of metal. Respect. Best album: you pick one between "Piece of mind", "Powerslave", "Somewhere in time" and "Seventh son of a seventh son", because I can't really decide.



*Here...

Brainstorming (Pt. 6)

...I'm working on a couple of long posts, but they take time, so here you go, some random, unrelated, stupid, meaningless thoughts.

- My car looks like an aid-station.

- The North Park Mall in Dallas has 235 different stores and not even one book store. This means a lot of terrible things.

- I love dinosaurs.

- I really need to work (and improve) my nutrition strategy when I'm running.

- I've just discovered Primordial: EPIC!

- I want to climb a real rock.

- ...and by the way: what's the deal with those pathetic climbers climbing modest multi-pitches routes, but bragging like they're climbing the Nose under 30 minutes?

- Fibroblasts are honest cells.

- People with GoPro are ridiculous. Stop pollute the Internet with your stupid senseless videos.

- Very interesting video about Europa (Jupiter's moon) and life existence in its sea.

- Dudes wearing beanies in the gym (every kind of gym) are douchebags and should be banned by our planet.

- How about those fatties lecturing others about nutrition?

- I should redefine my definition of "short run"

- NASA has just postponed the launch of Orion due to technical problems: bummer...*

- Jealous jerks: they cannot go up at your level, so they're trying to drag you down at their low level.

- These random thoughts are really random.

- I finally found the name of my favorite G.I.JOE ever (when I was a kid). Interestingly, he was the expert in bio-weapon...

- ...and finally, watch this (I can't stop laughing).

*Up-date: today, Friday 5, the launch (and splashdown) was successful. One step closer to Mars!

From a different angle...

Pacing my runner yesterday made me think about what we do.

I had the opportunity to watch at the thing under a different angle, like an outsider.

What we're doing is amazing: how many people can do that?

We're not running a marathon or a half marathon in a friendly neighborhood with smiley faces and a bunch of unknown people cheering you up during every single mile.

We're out there, running alone, with a burden of suffering and fears on our back, on a really hard course for a shitload of miles.

We don't get any big clapping during the course, we don't get any support.

All we can do is just pat ourself on the shoulder and carry on with life.

There are no winner or loser in this thing.

Just a bunch of troopers doing in a couple of hours what 95% of the rest of the world would not probably do in their entire life.

I was staring my 50 miles medal this morning, but I was looking at it with these new knowledge in my head. My memory goes back to that day with this new concept in my head: damn, I was great that day, like everyone else in that course that day.

Like everyone else decide to challenge her/himself.

It looks like I'm bragging here, but I'm not.

It's just a consideration on something from a different point of view.

This thing can be applied on everything we do.

All I'm trying to say is: don't live a pathetic life. Try to do something great for yourself.

Pace out.

Is not a typo.

I will be a pacer for a 100 miler tonight.

Running all night, in the wood... Probably it will rain... It sucks, and I love it.

I'm a nightingale...

...and I'm singing when I'm listening to Iron Maiden. I don't care if I'm completely off-key and I can't reach the levels of Bruce Dickinson.

When the song starts, I have to follow. Nothing can't stop me.

Iron Maiden makes me happy and takes me back when I was a kid.

So, if you don't like my singing, sorry, but is not my problem.

"Flyyyyyyyyy, on you waaaaay, like an eagle..."

Here, try to NOT sing...

Syndrome.

From the guitar player of Amenra.
One single long wonderful song.
Listen to it.
Quietly.
In the dark of your room.
Enjoy it.

Space vs. selfies

Today, the Rosetta spacecraft will land on a comet* (the first time in human history).
[up date: the spacecraft landed!]
A big step for Science: that's what we are able to do if we want it.
But for most of the people today the highest point of their day will be a selfie (I hate this world).
So pathetic.


*here some info about the comet.

About the gym (the regular one).

Thanks to the very inspiring mood and the exciting vibes of the climbing gym, plus all the things connected to (too many and too sad to explain. ...in few words: climbing as I love it is decaying really fast), yesterday I went to push some cast iron into a regular gym.

I fit in a regular gym like a satanist fits in the Vatican.

All the progress...

"Only the miserable, the failures, the outcasts will crouch for days to observe the mating habits of a salamander. Or to study a boiling teakettle.

The avant-garde in every field consists of the lonely, the friendless, the uninvited. All the progress is the product of the unpopular."

It's a quote from Chuck Palahniuk's "Doomed".

He's so damn right.

Cactus Rose 50 miles: definitively not a boring report...

Today I'm feeling light.
My mind is happy and nothing can disturb this nice feeling.
This is the result of running 50 miles at Cactus Rose (Bandera, TX).
I could write a boring and technical report. A cold analysis of every single mile.
I could, but I won't.
I'm just saying that it was great. There are no words good enough to explain and describe it.
...and it doesn't matter how hard it was, how much I've suffered or how I felt during.
Today I'm feeling a better animal being because I did it. That's what really matters.
I challenged myself and I won.

- 48 hours to the Cactus Rose...

Shitty ankle? Check.

Electrolytes? Check.

Headlamp? Check.

Food? Check.

...the list is still long, and it's about all the things I will need for my 50 miles in Bandera, Texas.

I'm leaving tomorrow morning and the race is Saturday morning.

If I survive, I will write the report.

Meanwhile, listen to grind core:

Majestic.

...simply majestic.

Hi. :)

A good damn quote.

"Ultra running is like a spiritual experience—you get the most out of it when you approach with a pure and humble heart. An ultra is something you can’t finish for anyone else. You have to do it for yourself.

The runners who give off a vibe of “Hey, look at me!” generally don’t stick with ultras. This is because if your goal is social acceptance and praise, there are much easier ways to get it.

When you run a marathon, all your non-running family and friends think you’re a superstar. They might meet you at the finish line, talk about you with pride, and tell you how awesome you are.

But when you run an ultra, you are out on those trails by yourself. You’re facing your demons alone on a terrain that is foreign. There are no motivational signs to lift your spirits. There are no cheering fans to scream your name. If you’re lucky, you may get some weak claps or cheers at the finish line.

But that finish is unlike anything else. It’s yours and yours alone. Nobody can know what it took for you to get there, and nobody can share in your glory. That finish line is where you first realize that you can do anything.

You’ll go into the world the next day to brag about your accomplishments, but instead of looking at you with admiration, people will look at you like you’re insane. Your non-running friends will not understand. Their first reaction will probably not be, “You’re awesome!”

If it’s a nod from society you’re looking for, run a marathon. But if it’s a life-changing experience of personal strength and perseverance that you want, finish an ultra."

Comparing Science...

Science is like running an ultra-marathon.

It doesn't matter for how long you're gonna suffer. It doesn't matter if you sweat, bleed or puke.

You have to cross the finish line, no matter what.

But there are two differences.

First: there is no finish line. You have a mirage of a finish line, but once you get there, you'll find out that someone has moved the line a little further. So you will keep going, until, eventually, you die.

Second: there is no cheering in your race. No happy faces high-fiving you or encouraging mottos for you. Just a bunch of assholes, ready to tear you down, drag you down, eat you, destroy and ruin you for no reasons. Just because you might step on their feet, or just because life has been bitter with them and they want to make you feel like what they feel. Or, (and this is the best one so far) just because -as they told me- "You're alone out there in this world, and nobody loves you".

But just like when you're running an ultra, you keep your pace.
And you're doing it because you love it, just like running.

Rest in peace little buddy squirrel...

...we tried everything, and you almost did it, you were so close.

RIP little buddy

Ebola.

I've always found fascinating how a simple little thing like a virus can threaten all of us.

So, should I talk about the Ebola outbreak?

Naaaaa...

What would you like to read anyway?

A cold-scientific version based on facts and numbers?

A warm "everything will be fine" version, based on nothing?

An apocalyptic point of view?

What is happening in Africa is terrible for several reasons, and the situation over there must be resolved.

On this side of the Planet is different, but...

Like good scientists, we should just wait, observe and take notes...

Here a happy tune to cheer you up!

Still ugly... Still broke... Still grindcore... (Pt. 3)

...no time to do too much lately, but at least I have time to buy good music.

In the last two weeks I bought something that everyone should have at home (at list once, I got them twice...), plus other interesting stuff.

Enjoy it.
...or don't.
I don't care.

Note: no time to edit. In case of typos get over it.



1) The good ol' ones:

Deicide, "Deicide".

That's it. Glen Benton declared war to christianity with Deicide, and this one was the first album. A must-to-have. In the 1990, this album was probably one of the most evil thing in the air.

Deicide, "Legion".

Two years later, Deicide came back with another master piece of Evilness. Even faster and heavier than "Deicide", with this album Glen Benton literally declare war against a lot of people.

Anthrax, "Attack of the killer B's".

Crazy EP from the NY thrasher. Funny songs, hard-core songs, ra songs.... All together mixed with their classic sounds. A lot of "pure" thrasher complained about this album, and this is already a good reason for having it.

Napalm Death, "Fear emptiness, despair".
...because they are the father of grind core for a reason.

Sepultura, "Schizophrenia".

Second album of the Brazilian thrasher. Not too much to say: "Troops of doom" is in this album. 'nuff said.

2) The old, but somehow new:

Deftones, "Around the fur".
It was the only Deftones' album that I was missing. It is so damn good. There is anger, desperation and sickness in it. Those are the Deftones I love.

Baroness, "Red album".

I love Baroness, and I'm so sad that they split after the van crash.I love the blue album, and I've literally consumed the green & yellow album... Finally I got the red album, their first work: still a little direct and not so rich in melodies like the other two, but still a really good masterpiece.

3) The dark, depressed and black corner:

Wolves in the throne room, "Celestial lineage".
Brrrr, it's cold in here, really cold.

Watain, "The wild hunt".

I knew them only by name, and honestly it has been a really nice surprise. Classic old school black metal, with a touch of melody here and there. Really nice surprise!

Sometimes you eat the bear...

...sometimes the bear eats you.

I'm quoting the greatest movie ever to explain my situation here.

After the super-hard august, I'm a wreck: terrible ankle pain, terrible back pain and so on.

It's not the age, it's the mileage (quote from another great movie)...

...well maybe it's also the age.

Anyway, with the age/mileage, comes the wisdom. I don't want to increase the damage, so I won't run the Rough Creek this weekend. I was supposed to run the 40 miles, but in these conditions I just don't want it.

So fuck it: it's time to heal now.

I will have my revenge on the 50 miles of Cactus Rose at the end of October.

Peace & GFY.

All the sadness of the World in a plastic hold.

Yesterday I went to climb in the damn climbing gym.

It was a while since last time, 'cause I'm very busy and I'm more focusing on my next ultra.

Anyway, I thought it could be nice being there and climb, but it wasn't like that.

Not at all.

Climbing on plastic is so sad and pathetic and ridiculous and demotivating.

I was staring at the other climbers: like brainless monkeys, we're trying to reach the top of a wall, and then jump down.

Where's the thrill? Where is the danger? Where is the "being out of the comfort zone" feeling? Where is the smell of the rock, the feeling of the pain, the magic of a wood, the blood on your fingers? Where are all of those things in the plastic-climbing situation?

Plastic climbing is so damn stupid and useless.

It's only train. You train during the week and you climb (real climbing on real rock) on the week-end.

For a lot of people (new generation?) climbing starts and ends in the fuckin' climbing gym.

Climbing is something completely different.

...and this thing really pisses me off.

I love climbing. Climbing is part of me. And it really chops my heart in half knowing that nowadays for a lot of people (and unfortunately, also for me), climbing is just a pathetic "aerobic activity" performed on plastic inside a damn gym.

So sad.

Brainstorming (Pt. 5)

Busy like crazy, not time for doing anything.

Here some random thoughts.

Peace and gfy.

- Sick and tired of this hot, humid weather.

- I'm so NOT prepared for the Rough Creek 40 miles.

- ...but at least i'm getting back my motivation.

- *clongk* this is pretty much the sound that my ribcage made 3 days ago: it was painful, but now I can breath again.

- Ah, the fine art of writing grants.

- I'm constantly hungry...

- "I'm an immovable stone in your world of weak" Pantera, Regular People (conceit).

- Listening to Reinhold Messner talking shit about indoor climbing was priceless. Unfortunately, most of those shirtless-douchebags-brainless-climbing-gym hamsters don't even know what I'm talking about.

- Lately I'm listening a lot of really bad & nasty music. It's relaxing.

- CFH.

- My list of injuries is longer than my grocery list.

- Still waiting for the new TooL album...

- Milky way galaxy cool pictures.

Chewed, partially digested and spitted out...

...that's exactly how I felt after the Capt'n Karl's night ultra 60 km of 2 weeks ago (August 8 2014).

As I promised 2 weeks ago, here is the report.

Let me start with an observation: Colorado Bend State Park is a really nice place to go and visit. So do it.

...and this is true. I arrived there and the place inspired me, and before the starting gun I was psyched and ready to go and kick some assess.

Off course it was warm as hell, we're in Texas, in August, but the heat didn't ruin the mood.

7 pm arrived, and it was time to go.

After 1 nice smooth km, the course changed radically, and it was time to climb some hill. I really enjoyed the first loop, I was really fast and everything was working well.

I immediately understood that the course was really, really, really, really, really hard. Up- and down-hills on stones and gravels and rocks and boulders coming out from everywhere. Every steps was a step toward a possible fall with a possibly dangerous outcome. Anyway, I managed it and in the end of the first loop I was 4th (or something).

Unfortunately, my ankle (already in pain for the stress of the last 5 weeks of races) started to bother me. And not just a simple small and manageable pain.

Nope.

Real fucking pain that went straight to my brain at every steps.

...and off course, in these occasions, it looks like that every step is made intentionally to hurt  the ankle a little bit more.

In a couple of miles, the dream turned into a nightmare.

Every normal human beings would have already given up. But not me. I'm an asshole, and the only idea to give up was even more painful than my poor ankle. So, go ahead jackass, finish this fucking thing.

Did I mentioned it was night? Because it was. We started at 7 pm, so at the end of the first loop it was completely night.

Headlamp on and keep going. Off course in these situation everything was harder: you have to figure out where to land your feet and where the course is going.

Poetically (aka, lamely), I like to think that I was out there alone, completely in the dark surrounded by my nightmare and fighting my own demons. And somehow it was like that. But I won.

...but I suffered for every single steps.

At lot of runners drop off, a lot of runners didn't finished it.

I finished it in bad conditions, bleeding, in pain, tired, but I finished it and I'm proud of it.

I finished 15th overall out of 75 (or 100something, don't remember), and it took 9 hours and some minutes...

I should be up-set for the bad result, but I'm happy instead because I learned a lot of things.

After the finish line I was a wreck: vomiting on one foot because I couldn't use my right foot.

Someone could call this "insane", I call it "epic".

Did I like it? Off course.

Did I enjoy it? No. Not in those conditions.

Will I do it again? Off course.

I could go on and on and write about "the need of pain" for the "feeling-better-later" feeling, or more easier, the need of "punish myself"(for something that maybe I deserve, or maybe not, I don't know) but it would be very lame, and I don't know if it would be understood by someone: it's a very personal process...

So, go fuck yourself.

That's it.

Hug a tree in the dark.

"Pissing and spitting from bottom to top

picking up viscera, tendons and broken remains..."

Exactly. Well done Baroness.

Milestone.

We are the leftover of society.

(CSH, 8/15/2014)

Leaving for Cold Spring Harbor...

Quick post: I'm leaving now for Cold Spring Harbor for the conference "Mechanisms and models of cancer".

I won't be able to post anything for a week.

When I'll be back I will write my report on the Capt'n Karl's 60 km: the most difficult thing I've ever done in my life.

...so far.

Since then, listen to Slayer.

Peace and hug a tree.

P.S.: my talk is on Friday afternoon. Wish me good luck.

In case you're wondering...

...I'm still alive.

Very very busy week.

Experiments to do, a talk to prepare for the next week (they selected me for a talk at the Mechanisms and model of cancer conference at Cold Spring Harbor [yes, I'm bragging...]), a grant to write.

Time to think about other things: 0.

...and I should think about other things, like for example the Capt'n Karl's 60 Km at Colorado Bend of tomorrow night.

...or at least get in the mood for that.

...oh, and in top of all of that, my car decided to die.

Again.

I'm done here, back to Science.

Wish me good luck for the ultra.

Peace.

Still ugly... Still broke... Still grindcore... (Pt. 2)

Here some good tunes for the week-end.

Scalps, "Serenades of an abomination".
Like being kicked straight in the throat. Pure violence. Exactly what I need.
Here, listen to them: http://escapegoatrecords.bandcamp.com/album/serenades-of-an-abomination
...and buy it.


Townes Van Zandt, "Live at the Old Quarter Houston Texas".
Not too much to say about him. Just let his music talk.

Peace.

The sound of the Universe...

It sounds new-age/hippy but is not.

Actually is the opposite.

I found that Voyager have recorded (is recording) the "sounds" that planets emit.

Here some Science to explain what is happening.

Basically: everyone should know that in the space sound can't be propagated. But is not actually true.

Every planet (asteroid, comet, everything basically) emits an electromagnetic wave that can be recorded and converted into a sound (= a vibration that can be propagated in air/water/etc. and that can be, in this case, perceived by human hear).

Ok, beside the scientific (and maybe boring) side of the story, the cool part is the sound that comes out from this recording.

It's amazing and little bit scary.

Scary because it gives me (once again) the idea of my meaningless compared to what is out there.

My life (our life, the life of everything) doesn't mean anything. Humans will be extinct and this giant planets will still "sound" in this way. They won't care about us.

We are zero, we are nothing, we are insignificant. Everything we do, say, think, build is nothing. And this "sound" is here to remind us this.

...and, once again, I don't see any trace of "god".

Here some of examples (on youtube you can find all of them and CD are also available):