Recently, I came across the torrent for “Balance” – a Van halen album from the mid-90’s Hagar region. This album was one of my favorites, and it brought an entire plethora of memories from my teenage years when i really liked and listened to alot of Van Halen.

This got me thinking… Which lead singer of Van Halen is the best? I almost titled this thread as “Roth v. Hagar”, because in all seriousness, who can even compare Gary Cherone to either of them? He was a short lived wonder and an overall bad thing to happen to the entire music industry.

So that leaves David Lee Roth and Samuel James Hagar. For me, this decision comes quickly and easily. Sammy Hagar was a much better frontman for VanHalen than Dave R. was. For me, Hagar is a better singer, songwriter, frontman, and entire persona. Obviously, Roth was the first, so he has his group of loyalist who think anybody else is garbage… But the truth is that the band is completely different with these two singers. With Roth, the songs always seemed to be sexual in nature… Either that or drugs/drinking/overall partying.

With Hagar, Van Halen’s songs take on a depth. They don’t have meaningless lyrics about wanting to have relations with your teacher. They are real, heartfelt… the songs have an emotional side that Roth’s just don’t. Obviously there are exceptions on both sides to this argument (Jump, Poundcake..etc.) but the general consensus i believe to be accurate.
Other things to consider…

• Roth’s Jumping splits
• Roth’s “spandex”
• Hagar’s Perm
• Tornadoes (only enfuego and vanbergs will get that reference)
• Eddie VanHalen

Regardless of the frontman, Eddie VanHalen is probably the best guitarist of all time… It’s hard to even consider somebody who is more of an innovator. I don’t usually like instrumental music very much… but some of the instrumental songs by Eddie VH are amazing. (Eruption and Baluchitherium for example.) Digress, the debate is not Eddie VanHalen… Who was a better frontman for VanHalen… Roth or Hagar??

Russ is going…. #11.
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1. Vanberge
2. Vanlandw
3. Flo
4. Tom
5. Vanbergs
6. Enfuego
7. Aaron Meyer
8. jjafuller
9. skinny
10. Payner
11. Russellteee
12. Devin Brown ?
13. Darrin Bamm ?

Honestly, I pretty much like everything Google makes/does. Since that is the case, I signed up for the Google Page creator service as soon as I saw it posted on slashdot (this was a few months ago.). Well, they finally enabled my account. I havent done too much with it yet, and I dont even know if i will but I definitely wanted to see what it had to offer. Major weakness that I see right now is that it yields no content management aside from creating static pages. I’ll give it more of a go to see what it’s got

www.vanberge.googlepages.com

I had heard a few people mention the game “Guitar Hero” for playsation 2. I never really thought much of it… I used to somewhat play guitar when I could leech on enfuego’s Ibanez’s… Learned the chords to a few easy songs, etc. That was years ago. I am far from a guitar enthusiast.

So, on Saturday at Best buy; they had the Guitar Hero game on demonstration. There were a couple of guys playing and I thought “Hmm… that looks pretty cool”. This game has an actual guitar that acts as the controller, with 6 fret buttons and a little fin that flips up and down (to act like you strumming the strings). I wandered around for a bit, and finally the guys left and i grabbed the guitar (controller) to start playing. Instantly, I was severely addicted to this game. I first played “I love rock an roll” by Joan Jett… It was one of the easier songs so I could quickly get the hang of how the game played. Then I played “Iron Man”… The game was just absolute fun. A functional whammy bar… the sound in the game is amazing… the controls of the ‘guitar’ are very fluid. Basically, i took saturday night to read some reviews, do a little research into the song listing, and to sleep on it (and see if i could maybe get it for valentines day). c 8 on that.

So, Sunday I purchased it. The cost seems maybe 10 dollars too steep at 70 bucks… But already this game is worth every penny. I spent 10 hours rifling from everything through “Thunderkiss 65” by White Zombie to “Unsung” by helmet. The songs in the game are really well picked. There is a great mix of some various different kinds of music (Boston, Sum41, etc.). Although I dont necessarily like all of the songs on there, they are still totally fun to play. Obviously i’m not serious about becoming a rockstar… It’s never been a dream of mine. But you can’t help bobbing your head and jamming out a little. Guitar Hero does a pretty damn good job of making you feel like a rockstar. I suppose 5.1 surround sound cranked way the ef up doesn’t hurt either.

IGN rated this game at a 9.2. That’s right on the heels of games like Halo 2 and GTA San Andreas. I agree with the ratings completely. This game totally took me by surprise and I absolutely love it. When I get paid this week I’m going to purchase an additional guitar controller – as I’ve read (and it looks like) the multiplayer aspect of the game is what really does it.

Next Sunday is super bowl sunday. Last year, this resulted in a moderately sized get together at my place where food, barley, football, and vanhood were all consumed.

This year, the plan is the same. Anyone who wants to come over next sunday, feel free. Just contact me at some junction.

The agenda will include the ever famous cheese dogs, marshmellow dipped carmel krispy treats, etc, etc This year however, will bring the addition of a chocolate fountain. So, food will be flowing – but BYOB.

The following scripture outlines codes, conduct, rules, regulations, responsibilities, clarification, and definition of Vanhood.

Being a Van
Minimum Requirement: In order to even possibly be considered a “Van”, a person’s last name begin with “V – A – N”. This is typically followed by a capital consonant; such as VanBergen, VanSoest, or VanLandschoot. This is only the first and minimum step to being ordained in vanhood.

The Basic Code of Vanhood
As a Van, one is expected to abide by the following codes:

A: Vans play video games – As a Van, one must play, enjoy, and support general video game entertainment. This may be embraced via PC, console, or handheld device.

B: Vans listen to “Disturbed” – As a Van, one MUST listen to, enjoy, and audibly consume the lyrical and musical content of the band “Disturbed”.

C: Vans enjoy fine food – As a Van, one will consume fine meals. This
typically involves eating ‘all of your food’, as well as ‘not wiping with a
napkin until you are finished with your meal’. Fine meals include
establishments such as “Jimmy John’s”, “Old Country Buffet”, and “Famous
Dave’s”
C.1 subcode – Fine meals must be finished.

D: Vans shoot weaponry – As a Van, one is expected to have shot firearm style weapon. This can be rifle, shotgun, or handgun variety. Fully automatic, sem-automatic, and even single fire weapons are successful requirements to Code “D”.

E: Vans utilize Emoticons – As a Van, one will use emoticon chat icons by ctrl + X shortcuts. These can be applied via instant messenger chats, and instant-messenger based chat rooms. Some of the more popular emoticons include the “Yelling face”, “Kissy Face”, and the elusive “Cool Face”.

F: Vans buy and watch DVD’s – A Van will buy, view, and re-view DVD’s. This typically
involves cinema titles such as “The Boondock Saints”, “Heat”, and “The
Matrix”. When viewing DVD’s, Vans typically utilize “Surround Sound” 5.1 or
6.1 audio.

G: Vans watch 24 – As a Van, one watches 24. Nothing more necessary for Code
G.

Codes A-G are only the first. There will certainly be countless amendments
and editions noted to the Basic Code of Vanhood. Amendments to the formal
Constitution of Vanhood must be submitted and agreed upon by the Knights of
Vanhood.

Degrees of VanhoodThere are varying degrees of vanhood, each requiring different characteristic of member Vans.

“Van” – The title of “Van” is achieved when a person or persons meets the minimum requirement, and upholds it with the basic code of Vanhood. “Van” is the basic title associated with Vanhood

“Knight of Vanhood” – This title is bestowed to only the
greatest Vans. As a knight of Vanhood, one upholds all basic codes of
Vanhood, and is intrumental in defining new codes. A “Knight of Vanhood”
generally goes above and beyond the call of basic Vanhood. For example, if a
fellow Van gives a valiant effort to finish a meal and fails, a Knight of
Vanhood will pick up the Vanhood slack and finish the fellow Vans meal for
him. Examples of “Knights of Vanhood” include Vanbergs, Vanlandw, and
Vanberge.

“Honorary Van” – An honorary Van includes a person who’s name
does not meet the minimum requirement of Vanhood, yet this person displays and
upholds whole Vanhood. An ‘Honorary Van’ is defined if the Knights of Vanhood agree on the status of the proposed Honorary Van. Examples of Honorary Vans include “David Draimen” of Disturbed, and Kiefer Sutherland / Jack Bauer.