I Could Do This All Day

I stumbled across this challenge. I could seriously sit here all day doing this.

1. Go to the Wikipedia random article page. Whatever the title of the article is, that���������s your band name.

2. Check out random quotations. Go to the very last quote on the page. The last four words of that last quote are your album title.

3. Hit up Flickr���������s ���������interesting photos from the last seven days��������� section. The third picture on the page, no matter what it is, is your album cover.

4. Use Photoshop to combine all these things into something coherent looking. If you don't have photoshop (like me) - MS Paint works pretty well.

Here are my albums:


Gunters Mountain - Hurts the First Time: very, very emo. Songs are without exception about very recent painful breakups or how their father didn't understand that they prefer eyeliner over footballs.



One Dimensional Man - Has Any Survival Value: Cali beach rock - lead singer is tall, gangly man. All with long hair that hasn't been combed in a month, with the exception of the bass player who has stick straight black hair. Has a decent local following, but will never make it out of San Diego.




Potirendaba - by a simple smile: goofy, experimental indie rock. Endlessly amused with themselves that they worked "pot" into their band name.

Runners up:
Whitehorse Star - Another Form of Duty
Levitate - Law of Personal Growth
Frank Ball - Lives We Might Like

Rock It Hardcore

I was supposed to help my mom and step-dad move into their revitalized home this weekend. Unfortunately, as apparently all things involving contractors, construction, and houses go, it's not finished on time and got pushed back to next weekend, to the chagrin of my roommate*. So, now that carpet is going in at the end of this week and they move in next weekend, I was invited down for this:


(Poster designed by the lovely Emily Neveau of Calico Horse)

I do random stuff for Calico's record label. I've had a chance to hang out with the everyone several times and they're a really rad bunch (even this guy, who ruins movies and lies a lot) who make me laugh almost non-stop (with the exception of watching depressing documentaries - again the fault of movie ruiner up there).

But that's not really the point of this post.

The point is that I also saw MGMT - who put out what is my new favorite record:



They also put on a seriously awesome live show. With vocals eerily similar to beloved rocker Jack White, tone straight outta ArcadeFire-ville, and energy + chops to convincingly pull it off as their own sound, they put on my favorite set of the year thus far (even if it is only 28 days old).

The similarity to White and AF really struck me while watching them, because it's a sound I didn't initially hear in their studio album. On second and third listen, though - it's definitely there, but their live set accentuated those features.

The album is more full of subtleties - the asian flute inspired opening phrase and bridge of Electric Feel (the rest of which is more 80's synth), the organ build in Future Reflections and Time to Pretend, but out of the entire album, this is my favorite:



I love the distortion, the synth keys, the melody. Any song that can make me automatically start dancing in my chair is a winner in my book - and this song does it in spades. Love.

*Who has seriously been nothing but patient. I'm pretty sure the only reason she hasn't stabbed me in the middle of the night for my cat still being in the apartment is precisely because the cat is in my room and she'd die of allergic reaction in 2.5 seconds upon entering.

The Coolest Bird EVER

Check out this guys moves. So sweet!

Say It Isn't So

Can I be real with you?

Can I get down with you? Can we talk mano y mano (which, by the way, means "hand to hand", and not "man to man", although this case would be fingertips to eyeball, or possibly fingertips to voice text reader if a blind person happened to "read" my page [but, to be honest, that's not really the demographic I'm going for - sorry possible blind person])?

I turn 25 in 4 1/2 months and it's fuckin' flipping me out, man! Here's what I get at 25:

- Cheaper car insurance (awesome)
- The ability to rent cars without my parents co-signing (awesome)
- A $478 tax deduction if I'm single without children and make less than $12,750/year (awesome out of something not very awesome)
- TO BE A QUARTER OF A CENTURY OLD (not awesome)

Guess which one I'm focusing on? No, not renting cars, as awesome as that may be - it's the last one.

It means I no longer have any chance to be on one of those "Fabulous and Fierce Under 25" lists in a magazine. IT COULD HAVE HAPPENED, but not anymore. There's no way I can make the several million dollars it requires to make one of those lists in just 4 1/2 months (hmm ... lottery *mental note: start buying lottery tickets*).

25 is also the start of adulthood. Who the hell wants that? Why, oh, why couldn't I have been a successful pop star or actress at a young age so I could make the millions necessary to stunt my emotional growth at the age of whenever I was able to surround myself with yes men and thus be a teenager for life? I blame my parents for not signing me up for singing lessons.

So, this May 31st I will be celebrating the 4th Anniversary of my 21st birthday .... and you can't stop me!

Sleeeeeep

I'm currently running on about 10 hours of sleep for the last four days. I randomly get insomnia that makes me want to shoot myself in the face. Basically, it works like this: I'm tired all day and want to crash as soon as I get home, but I know if I go to bed at 6:30 p.m., I'll just be awake at 4 a.m. with nothing to do with myself. If I do decide that I'm tired enough to crash at 6:30 p.m., I'll inevitably wake up 30 minutes later with a light nap under my belt and push back the likelihood of sleeping like a normal person that night even further.

If I decide to not go to sleep when I get home, I'll putz around, make dinner, watch some T.V., play some guitar hero, read my email, read a book, play solitaire on my iPod ... until 1 a.m., when I realize that I've now stayed up way too late. I head to bed, with the knowledge in my head that I can't get enough sleep even for THIS night, much less to catch up on the previous nights.

By the time my head hits the pillow the only thing in my brain is "sleep! Please, for the love of God, let me fall asleep tonight" - which of course is the one thing that makes me unable to sleep. As soon as I feel myself drifting I inevitably think "thank god, sleep's coming" which takes me back to consciousness and pushes sleep further away.

Sometimes, though, I make a compromise between crashing as soon as I get home and accidentally staying up way too late. Last night I attempted to go to bed at 9 p.m. - but was insanely unsuccessful. I think the last time I looked at the clock it was sometime after 1 a.m.

Insomnia - you're a bitch.

Top Twenty Two of 2007

I meant to do this at the end of 2007, or at least within the first few days of 2008, but I've been busy and I got sick, so it's belated, but still valid. Here, in no particular order, are my twenty two favorite songs of 2007.

Why twenty two? Solely because I'm a big fan of alliteration. Why no particular order? Because I'm way too lazy/busy to argue with myself over which ones I like more - they're all awesome.

Oh, and check it - I even put together a nifty little playlist for you, so you can't be all "Oh man, that's a great list, but I'm way too lazy to go hunt down the songs on my own to listen to them." Now you have no excuses!



1. Silversun Pickups - Lazy Eye
2. Peter, Bjorn & John - Young Folks
3. The Shins - Phantom Limb
4. Arcade Fire - Intervention
5. Modest Mouse - Dashboard
6. Blonde Redhead - Spring and by Summer Fall
7. Boddicker - Pretty Baby (Part I)
8. Thom Yorke - Videotape
9. Paramore - Misery Business
10. Foo Fighters - The Pretender
11. Foo Fighters - Skin and Bones
12. Plain White T's - Hey There Delilah
13. The Killers - When You Were Young
14. The Fratellis - Flathead
15. Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars
16. Feist - 1234
17. Pepper - Give It Up
18. Mickey Avalon - Jane Fonda
19. Jimmy Eat World - Big Casino
20. Death Cab for Cutie - I Will Follow You Into the Dark
21. The Kooks - Naive
22. Ok Go - Here It Goes Again


This video is too awesome to not include with the song list.

Note: The people that know me well are probably confused that they reached 22 without a mention of John Mayer, but he didn't release anything in 2007, so nothing counts! Actually, that's not true, he released an acoustic EP of songs off his full length album, which I really like, but my favorite songs on the EP don't trump my favorite other songs of 2007 - plus, I couldn't find the acoustic versions for my playlist, so out they went.

Other People Are Funny

If you live in this country, are alive, have at least basic cable and are under the age of 50 you have probably watched The Office - one of the funniest shows on television (along with Flight of the Conchords and the duo of The Daily Show and Colbert Report). If not, where have you been and why am I friends with you?

The lovely girl up there is Mindy Kaling, who writes for and plays Kelly Kapoor on the show - one of my absolute favorite characters. She has some of the best lines.

She also writes a blog (sporadically updated) on things she buys and loves. Of course, considering she's a writer and actor on an incredibly popular show she has WAY more disposable income than the average person and thus considers things like $150 dresses to be a steal, but she's pretty good at acknowledging the fact that she has a larger disposable income than most and is able to buy frivolous things, so I end up not minding that I can't afford a single thing she's ever blogged about. She's also seriously hilarious and I find myself being able to identify with her - can she please be my friend?

Go check her out, read the archives and giggle your butt off: Things I've Bought That I Love

Seriously?

Is Jennifer Connolly - one of Hollywood's most gorgeous actresses - really supposed to look like this in what is presumably a ad put into, at least, nationwide circulation? Is that dress supposed to look like it's made from papier mache and impossible to sit down or breathe in?

Is this ad supposed to make me want to wear Balenciaga? Because right now all it does is make me feel itchy and restricted and possibly that wearing Balenciaga makes you need to wash your hair, get some fake bake and take some yoga to loosen up.

Image source: perezhilton.com

I <3 Dave Grohl

Who doesn't, really? Liking Dave Grohl is one of my friendship requirements. You don't have to love him, but you can't hate the man. Why would you? He's an insanely talented musician from two wildly successful bands (you could argue that Kurt Cobain's suicide was actually good for Grohl - it got him out from behind a drum set and into front man position where he shines), yet isn't the least bit pretentious. I, obviously, don't know the man personally, but from what I've heard he's a genuinely nice guy, who's down to earth and loves to have fun.

This interview makes me like him even more: Dave Grohl's Principles for a Happy, Successful Life

My favorite part:

Anybody who has to focus on being real has a problem. It's like having a panic attack over how you're prone to panic attacks. Be a guy. Play music.

Oh, and this part was pretty good too:

I'm nearly 40. The last thing I want to do is wake up with a raging hangover and have to listen to Elmo songs with my daughter.

It's short, just read the whole thing then bask with me in Grohl love. -le sigh-