My Take on: The Last Airbender

I am PISSED. How do you take a TV show with amazing Asian tradition, Asian culture, and oh...Asian names and make everyone white. I don't know if it was intentional. But, still. Oh, wait I lie. All of the Fire Nation is Middle Eastern. Because there is not subliminal messaging there.... Oh Hollywood. One word. Fail!!!!

Flash Gordon Theme

So this will be rather quick. Flash Gordon is an awesome movie, comic, and cartoon. I thought I'd share the theme with all of you. Btw, this song was done by the great Queen. Enjoi

Lame Sidekicks

So recently I saw G4’s Olivia Mun give a quick little commentary on the top 3 lamest sidekicks. Now I have an issue with her list. Before I get started, I know the list was possibly created just to get fanboys like me all riled up. Anyway the list was Speedy, Aqualad, and Robin Alright, I’ll admit it. Except for some bad ass magic powers, Aqualad is pretty lame. I want to comment, however, on the number 1 contender Speedy. I will admit that his name was pretty lame and ill conceived. I mean, you hear a name like Speedy and you think he should be the Flash’s sidekick.

Diagnosis Check Up

Starting off right, I guess I should address something. This blog is not just going to be reviews, interviews, and my commentaries. While this blog is an attempt at professionalism, I still think that it can also be a place for me to talk about things in my life. There are a few reasons for this and it will be discussed in an Origin post.

As I have mentioned on Back on the Street numerous times, I am transsexual female. Do any of you understand that means? If not, here is the short version. I am born with male gentiles. So, that means my sex is male. However, what’s in between my ears tells me I am a girl. So, I am working towards becoming how I feel.

Origins: The URL

Origins: The Url by Sage_Gnosis

My Take on: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Hey folks. I am not going to give you guys the back story to the Scott Pilgirm. Sorry, that's what Google is for. What I am going to tell you is how awesome this movie project looks. Lets get started. First off, the casting seems spot on. For once Michael Cera is not playing a slacker high school student. No, he's playing a slacker college drop out. Sooo much classier. But, I am glad that I am not tired of him replaying the role again and again. Based off the trailer, the movie seems to be following the comic series pretty spot on. Which is why I am scared. Kick Ass looked like it followed the comic, till the ending. Granted, that series is still on going. Although, it seems Kevin Smith endorsed it for the same reason I am going to. I feel like I am watching a Scott Pilgrim comic. Which I guess is another point of a good comic book movie. Sometimes it isn't about being continuity accurate, it's about looking like a comic.

Labels

So, I have been dealing with labels a lot lately. People call me tranny, fag, shemale, transsexual, girl, boy, you name it. Let it me phrase it this way. I am human. I exist like you do. I feel as you do. Well, maybe not exactly as you do. But I think you catch my drift. I'm Amanda. Who are you?

Found Moment in NYC

Found moment from Amanda Stevens on Vimeo.

Just a found moment once while walking the streets of NYC.

You and Me and Killing Floor

You and Me and Killing Floor by Sage_Gnosis

Going through the Motions

Hey everybody, sorry its been a while. I am now home for about 52 days. What does that mean for Back on the Street. Well, a lot of things. For one, it means there will be a lot more audio posts since I can do them anywhere with my computer. Two, it means you will be getting bum rushed with posts on a single day. So, if you blink, you may miss it. Last, if you haven't caught the drift yet, it means a slowdown in content. This is just because I am way too busy with work and other things to get around to uploading content like I do during the semester. I do apologize for this. I just hope you all don't lose interest and stop following the blog. Well, I'd like to introduce two new blog tags. The first up is You and Me. These post will tend to be audio in nature and will discuss various topics from video games to identity to just plain silliness. The other tag is Origins, the first one is already up. These will be like a behind the scenes aspect of Back on the Street. It will give insight into how I came up with the blog title, URL, layout, and so on. Also, it will touch upon any major changes. And, because I am such a major nerd, I might even use it to talk about some of my favorite comic characters. Well, I'm off kiddies.

Peace, Love, and Ass Kicking.....
                                  Amanda <3 <3

Origins: Back on the Street

Origins: Back on the Street by Sage_Gnosis

Interview with musician Jesse Lyons from Gabriel the Marine

*Audio edited by Machine Should Be's Timothy A. Mahr

On the same night that I got to meet Joe Mach from Hotspur, I got to have a second interview with Gabriel the Marine. The first being at Bayside Haiti Relief Show at SUNY Albany this past Spring semester. This time I got to have one on one time with different members of band. I apologize for all the background noise, it was just a lot easier to do it inside the bar.

Review of Mel Kano (Manga)

Synopsis

Shinjou Shouryuu is a healthy 17 year old high school boy. Many of his kouhais wonder why such a great guy doesn't have a girlfriend. Ask him and he'll tell you that between school, work, and saving his kouhais from bullies doesn't leave him much time to go on dates. So he instead goes online to "F.I.L. GATES". There in the chat room his alter-ego, Kakeru, is infatuated with the girl called Hal. Hal sends a message reminding him that Sunday will be the 6 month anniversary of when they first met (online) and that she wants to meet him in person! And let's just say it's not your typical first date.


# of chapters available: 18
Score: 3 out of 5

Interview with singer/songwriter Sarah Puig

I was at the Muddy Cup on Monday for the Open Mic night when I came up with a decent idea. The idea being to interview the acts I liked. In comes Sarah, an amazing singer/guitarist/songwriter. I enjoy people who are talented. And modest to boot. Hope you guys like our interview. I apologize if it's choppy, this is my first time doing real audio editing.

Interview with Chrisitina Kahrl

Back this past Fall semester, Christina Kahrl came to SUNY Albany and spoke about baseball and her life as an out transsexual sports writer and activist. We had exchanged Facebooks afterward and recently I was given the pleasure to talk her more about those two subjects

From the Muddy Cup

More from the Muddy Cup from Amanda Stevens on Vimeo.

For those of you who don't know, the Muddy Cup is a decently trendy coffee shop in downtown Albany, NY on Western Ave. I frequent it from time to time since it's a short bus ride from campus. The video above is from sometime this past spring semester when a jam band decided to come by and play. Over the next couple of days I will be posting content from interviews I conducted at this past Monday's open mic night. Hope you guys enjoy

Review of: Blassreiter

Faced with an outbreak of demonic blood, which transforms humans into insane and hideous creatures bent on violence and death, only one man can stand against the tide of destruction. Joseph Jobson, the only man able to control his cursed demonic form, must hunt down the man who cursed him and save the world from apocalypse

Score: 3 out of 5

Dan Cox on the move

 Many of you remember Dan Cox, one of my earliest interviews. He, like me, is now heading into the realm of more professional blogging. His has more direction than mine and its call The Nerd Notion. The topics covered over there are based around tech and nerd related news. It be very appreciated if you guys could go and so him support since we all know how difficult starting a blog can be.

Dead Rising Review from PancakeMastr

So, its been awhile since we've heard from my good friend PancakeMastr. Well, I was browsing through his video list so you guys could a taste of what his film making is like. Eventually, I stumbled upon this little gem. It's his review of the video game Dead Rising for the XBox360. And since its been awhile since a review has been posted here, I thought this be a good one to throw up. This belongs to him, not me. So, go say hi to him over on his YouTube channel.

Interview with musician Joe Mach from Hotspur

So, a few weeks back I was given the opportunity to interview Joe Mach from the band Hotspur at a concert back on Long Island. We sat and tried to talk over the sound of the LIRR about college and what Hotspur's musical inspirations were.

Interview with cosplayer Jennifer Wicks

photo credit to  Christina DiSessa

 Jennifer Wicks can usually be found at the local convention scene in myriad of costumes. I met her a few years back at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Genericon. I just had the opportunity to chat with her about what cosplay is and the fun she's had doing it.

Interview with nude photographer Richard Rasner (UniqueNudes)

Interview with Usdanite Miriam Manber

Miriam Manber is a recent graduate of Barnard College with her B.A in English. Her passion has always been in the arts and so I decided to talk about the days we spent together at the Usdan Center for Performing Arts and how it impacted her life.

Interview with LGBTQ Activist Nathanael Rey

Nathanael Rey was the 2010 Grand Marshal of the Hudson Valley Pride March and Festival. Recently discharged from the US Military under the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, he has been thrown into the Capital District spotlight as an activist of sorts.

Somewhere amongst the rainbow: A look back at the 2008 Northeastern LGBT Conference, Albany Student Press

*Original Printing: Tuesday, April 15, 2008*

I kind of feel like Dorothy swept away in a tornado. This weekend for me was chaos. Chaos in a good way, mind you. This weekend I was a volunteer (read: Slave) for the 2008 Northeastern LGBT Conference hosted here on UA's campus.

Soap Box #1: What's in a Name

So I have been getting a lot of chatter as of late. A lot of people have wanted to know whats going on with this new name business. Which, believe me, I know needs an explanation. I am not that dense. But I want to lay some ground rules a head of time. I am not in the mood for anyone to tell me that I am reading too much into my name. Nor would I like to hear about how pretty of a name Alexandra is or how hard it is going to be for you to adjust. I know everyone is allowed to have their own opinions. I get that. But, I've heard it all before. This isn't the first time I have made a major shift in my identity. Or rather, it's not the first time I have changed my name. It will be the last though.

Bayside Haiti Relief Show, ATV Albany

Watch FRP - Alexandra Stevens - Bayside in News  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

This was a rough shoot. Not only did everything possibly go wrong, but some edits got lost in the upload. I may have to talk to ATV Director JB Biunno about editing it again. It was a great experience to interview Bayside and other bands. This was the type of story I waited for all semester to do. Quick story, I used to go by Alexandra and the change will be part of my first Soap Box message.

Review of: Bloody Monday (manga)

Synopsis

A virus deal clinched in Russia on the Christmas eve. Purpose: unknown. Two clues: a mysterious lady "Maya", one of the gangsters, and "Bloody Monday", the keyword for the project. Then an incident happened in far-distant city of Tokyo. Fujimaru Takagi, a second grade student at Mishiro Gakuin high school, is commissioned to find out the truth by Public Security Investigation Bureau for his great ability as a super hacker. Now, Maya, approaching to Fujimaru, as his high school teacher.

# of chapters available: 96, complete
Score: 2.9 out of 5