Yknow what else?

Animal Collective's album "Merriweather Post Pavilion" was pretty dang good too. Shoot I wonder what else I might have forgotten to give a nod, ah well enjoy this song about providing the necessities in life.

Animal Collective
My Girls



100(for realz this time)

New LC

Life is boring, yet excitement can be found. Life is tough, but if you keep persevering things will get easier. Time moves on, light some fire crackers, have some adventures. Don't submit to boredom. Don't submit to sadness. What am I talking about? I don't know, But have some fun, please.

New Los Campesinos

There are Listed Buildings
Los Campesinos



99

hmm

correction: that was only my 97th post..I guess the computer was counting drafts among published posts, but I got it sorted out. No big deal, and you probably do not care anyway.

Hope everyone is still doing well, having a fun wintry Christmastime. Perhaps you already had a good Hannakuh. The past few days have been fun, on Sunday my family, a friend and I went to the botanical gardens. It was a little like actually being in the rainforest. A little bit. Also there were a lot of really cool ginger bread houses, cause apparently they hold the contest for that at the botanical gardens because nothing goes better with plants like candy houses. We also went to Little Italy for lunch and then topped the day off with a visit to the art museum. Great fun was had all around.

Sound of Arrows is a Swedish pop/dance band that I have been plugging for awhile now, but still no one has really heard of them, maybe I'm talking to the wrong people.

Into the Clouds
Sound of Arrows



98

I Don't Know if you Care, But,

I think I have reason to celebrate. A little bit anyway. You see, fine sirs and madams, this post marks a small momentous occasion of sorts. Has anyone been keeping track? Yes, you sir, in the back? In the green top hat with the monocle. Oh...you were simply scratching your ear, my mistake, good fellow. No guesses? That's fine, that gives me the pleasure of telling you.

Today marks the 100th post that I have made on this blog! Who's excited? Everyone? Good, me too. If I knew a way to html some balloons into the page to float around a little bit they would be here, alas, that is not something that falls under my knowledge at current. I have been trying to plan something stupendous to unveil, or write, etc. Let's see what I can pull from my magician's cap.

So mostly I suppose I'll let you in on what I thought was best in music this year. And I will stress, that perhaps it is not the "best", nor did some of it even get released this year. But this is some of the music I did fancy this year, and that I listened to quite a bit, so gather round(like we're sitting by a fireplace and I just added another log, everyone has hot cocoa and now I will serenade you with tales from the land of music).

Alright, shall I begin? One artist I listened to, probably too much over the past year was Blind Pilot. Its a band made up primarily of two guys with guest players on a lot of songs and just I don't know lyrically I think the songs on the album are quite great. Most of the album is quite laid back and good for listening to during a long walk through the woods. Here's a video so you can judge for yourself:

Go On Say It
Blind Pilot



The band Islands came out with their third album this year, Vapours. Not quite as good as their debut, but definitely better than their sophmore album. There's just some really good lines in some of the songs that seem to stick with me like on "Heartbeat" which goes "And I might be wrong, but I don't think you could sing-along to my heartbeat".

In terms of fun Nate Reuss ex-member of The Format, founded the band Fun. I think in many ways they stand the test of their name. Sing-alongability? yes. Just good, enjoyable music I thought.

All the Pretty Girls
Fun.



Some dancey music which has quickly exploded in popularity this year: Passion Pit. Now I did have a conversation this year at school where the argument was stated that the only guys that like Owl City or Passion Pit are guys that are trying to get girls who like those bands to like them. I disagree with this statement. I do. I suppose judge for yourself, but really that is quite a bold charge I would say. Also this video is pretty innovative, just don't get dizzy.

Sleepyhead
Passion Pit



OH! almost forgot! Yknow who we're really pretty good this year? The XX. I can't really explain their sound at all, its good though. That's what I do know. Memorable line: "I think that I am losing where you end and I begin" from this song:

Basic Space
The XX



I think I have just one or two more. Like the band Said the Whale. Their album that I have been listening to this year is a few years old, but I think its pretty great. I posted a video from them a few days ago but another one wouldn't hurt, surely? This one is in honor of the light, and by light I mean very light sprinkling of snow coating the ground outside.

This Winter I Retire
Said the Whale



Also Wave Machines. I like them too.

The Greatest Escape We Ever Made
Wave Machines



There's a couple other things I should mention, but I would be surprised if you were still reading by this point anyway, so I shall have to mention them another time!

Until Later/Thanks for reading so far!
Eric

Today

Today, I am anticipating adventure. Does that mean its coming or that it will happen? I do not know. Maybe its just a feeling that today's going to be a good day. That could be too. I've got some things planned, I've got some things unplanned, hopefully things turn out great.

Ideas be a brewing, adventure be a brewing, World,
Today I am ready for you to

Take on Me
Aha



And if you ever get the chance to enter the world of a crazy comic book, check and make sure the other occupants of the diner are not looking, then jump in.

Don't Judge a Book by Size Either?

I had a random thought this morning, maybe that's all I ever have. Have you ever thought about the term "Light Reading"? I think its a bit of a misnomer, you see, size of the book is not directly proportional to difficulty of said book. I think a lot of people still think this. At times small thin books are a much harder to get through than big thick heavy books.

For example Philosophy books: many times they are very thin and light, but incredibly hard to get through(this is not always the case, sometimes they're gigantic and really hard to read too-see Martin Heidegger's Being and Time)

On the other end of the spectrum, Harry Potter books, extremely long, very quick reads. I mean I got through the last one in a single day. Pretty sure that equates.

Just a quick random thought for your day.

Wacky Dreams

I had a series of wacky dreams last night/this morning.

In one I ran 14 miles with some old cross country teammates.

In another I got in a fight, ripping off my opponents hat at one point, to find he had on another hat underneath that one, I then ripped that hat off to discover he was hiding his baldness under the multitude of hats.

In yet another dream I had a twin sister, but she wasn't really my sister, more like just another projection of myself? I dunno you had to be there. Eventually I ended up on a platform standing next to an old man. He said to me "You know what you need to do". And it was not a mysterious message, as I did know what to do. You see the platform connected to a walkway that lead about ten to twenty feet away to a pillar. The pillar was covered in different sized stones on every side from bottom to top. Near the very top of the top there was a orange bar that ran across the four sides of the pillar. There were also three walkways identical to the one in front of me that reached out on the adjacent sides to mine. They lead to a two story sort of veranda type thing. Also between the walkways was mist or smoke, leaving the impression that the old man and I and the whole building were up a decent height. Anyway the thing I needed to do was rock climb the stones to the top of the pillar and touch the orange bar. I did this and then the dream morphed sending me to

A living room in a house. There, a decent number of people sat with me, though now I cannot recall who they might have been. We were all sitting on the floor. A woman was doing slight of hand magic tricks, which were quite good. She ended her act by asking for assistance from one of us in finding a Winnie the pooh token. She picked me. Instead of telling her where the Winnie the pooh token was, I told her where a goat was in the next room. She told me this was correct and everyone clapped. Apparently there was a farmer in the room with us, the dream followed him home, but I was not with him. He greets his wife and asks where the livestock are. She says they are all still in the attic where he left them penned up. He scoffs, calling me and the magician a bunch of cheats as the goat is obviously in his attic and not in that room. Then I woke up, kind of laughing at the absurdity of it.

And then when I was getting ready and turned my radio on and this song came on. So earlier in the year I told you all about how the Silversun Pickups were going to come out with a new album. They did. Its not bad. The song I heard was this one:

Silversun Pickups
Substitution

blah

Its rainy outside, and cold. I've been trying to come up with a decent Christmas mix all day, it hasn't been going well. I wonder if it would be hard to learn how to play Ukulele? sorry just a random thought..
Anyway all I really have for sure so far is one song that's a little different that I like.
Here-

Low
Just Like Christmas


enjoy...

Where is the Tenderness?

Wa Wa Wa Where is the Tenderness? oh oh oh...left in the 80's? or with The English Beat/General Public probably. Did I tell you guys I saw The English Beat this summer? and they played this song? Cause I did/they did. And it was great.

General Public
Tenderness



In other news, it got colder outside. Like tear frozen on the face cold. Like don't go out there, you're better off inside, that kind of cold. I'm telling you man, its not worth the risk. Please, please don't go! Or if you do bundle up as if you are braving the tundra! okay? alright?

Boy from School

I used to be part of Model United Nations at my old High School, I think I mighta mentioned that before. Anyway with not too much to do on break I thought I would visit. Its true what they say, and I knew this was true..you can never really go back. Or in other words you can never have the same thing twice. Its just...the club used to be a great time, I recollect on those times quite fondly. And you get there, where did the fun go?

And so I used to be a boy from school who was in this one club... but I guess some things are better left as memories. Why should it be my problem, they can't take away the joy I had there, right?

Hot Chip
Boy from School

This City's a Mess

Today started off with a sort of ennui(thanks rob, that described it well) that I couldn't shake off. But the day ended all right, I managed to rise out of my stupor a bit and I think I'm getting closer to the holiday spirit, maybe. And it's December, how did that happen? And why are we always baffled that time does move and weather changes? Oh well I do not know if I would have it any other way, and I guess that means you do just have to enjoy the moment as soon it will be further along down the line.

I do have some music for you all, and a video as per usual.

Said The Whale
This city's A Mess



a)this city is a mess(that refers to any and every city, where I am or wherever you are dear reader) b)said the whale has many a good video for their songs and I will be sure to host more here soon...so, don't look them up on youtube, I got you covered, unless you for some reason don't like the song..oh well I'm doing it anyway.

Wet and Rusting

Its beginning to get cold outside yet again. Took my dog for a walk today and almost froze my hands off. But I made it back hands intact, do not fret. And its cloudy out, and I'm layered up with clothing to keep warm. Its a good day for music.

And there's this band, Menomena,yes they are called Menomena, and I had listened to their album Friend and Foe near when it came out back in 2007 but it didn't really hit me as hard as it has lately. Especially the song Wet and Rusting, quite good. And maybe this is a testament to the fact that everything has its own time and place, sometimes you just have to wait.

Anyway luckily there turned out to be a video for the song too, and I cannot enumerate the ways in which this video is awesome. But they do some really cool stuff and I hope you enjoy.

Menomena
Wet and Rusting



oh also this might the start of a few low-fi/low budget videos I showcase, just wait...

FPF

As I sit here at my computer on a rainy Monday night wondering what to type, my stomach is full from eating quite a bit from dinner and I think of what to tell you all. There's always so much on my mind, it hard to find some coherence and interest in it all though sometimes. Anywho, so I am home for break for a while now, I am going to try to not go on the computer incredibly frequently, but I am going to try to keep blogging. So we shall see how that works out, maybe well maybe not.

Do you know what goes well with a rainy night/afternoon? A nice dose of indie-pop. Is there also going to be a love story you ask? Why, yes, yes there will be, it would be silly of you to consider that there might not be. Here's another band that I have gotten to fancy lately and a nice song by them.

Faded Paper Figures
Metropolis

Instincts

Sometimes in life the best thing to go off of is your instincts or your gut feeling. Sure advice from others is good and helpful but in the end only you know what you know and only you truly feel what you feel. So when in a conundrum or a kerfuffle or just life in general go off what you think is right, use your commonsense, and remember everything in moderation, including moderation.

Don't be afraid to take chances,
Just...
Look out for yourself too
Y'know?

Hello,

Can I do some dual introductions that I think I should have done a long time ago? Okay here goes, first I'm from Barcelona. They are my favorite 27 person band from Sweden. They are just a ton of fun and I really can't even explain...in fact, to further explain for me I have brought with me La Blogotheque a premier group of outdoor, spontaneous video makers that are based in France. So now here is the video that is how I first discovered I'm From Barcelona, I hope you enjoy.

I'm From Barcelona
We're From Barcelona



And I did already showcase I'm from Barcelona once before, but I didn't say anything about them, so I guess this makes up for that a little bit.

Rules of the Game

I'll start this off with I was in my humanities class a few days ago and we have been giving presentations lately. Now I am not here to critique anyone specifically, this is more a general set of tips for people giving presentations, because really I thought its maybe a skill that some people do not learn and it might be helpful.

• When giving a presentation, try to stand up if it is possible. This gives you a sense of authority and prevents you from being overly relaxed and helps with posture. If you are not able to slouch in your chair while speaking about your topic then you will probably sounds less bored about it.

• Make eye-contact with the people you are presenting to. This means both the teacher and your classmates, or in a business setting or other, just try to give equal eye-contact I suppose. The eye-contact works in a two fold manner: firstly if individuals in the audience are being directly looked at during your speech/presentation, then they will feel more engaged in what you are talking about and more likely to pay attention. Secondly by looking out into the audience you can for yourself judge by body language how your speech is going so far.
  

• Keep Things fresh if possible. If you overly plan out what you are going to say you might end up sounding robotic, or if you are nervous about presenting in front of a crowd and plan on just reading off of your paper, well this is not the best idea either (in my opinion, perhaps you are an excellent reader of papers like Morgan Freeman). Here's the two options I think work: either a) use a power point or set of note cards to give you something to go off of. With a power point it also gives you a visual aid to give your audience something else to engage them, some people are more visual learners vs audio. If you do use a power point don't overload the slides; just a few quick notes to give you a spring board towards what you need to say. Same thing with note cards. b) if you absolutely need to read straight off of a long written paper: take breaks. You read faster than you know, probably which means the audience needs some time to have the information settle in. Maybe look around, ask if things make sense, don't be afraid to re-explain things in a different way.
  

• Here's a simple one, don't chew gum while presenting/speaking in front of a group. It muffles your voice and effectively removes any authority you might have had going in. Basically it tends to be distracting and gives the impression that you do not care about what you are talking about.

• And lastly Don't Panic. I'm sure you're going to be a little nervous for whatever reason, I get nervous about presenting sometimes too. In the end there's nothing to worry about, the rest of the people in the class probably also have to present and are going to be forgiving if you mess up, your teacher probably will understand also. And maybe you aren't excited about your topic, but fake it if you can. Make your audience believe what you are talking about is incredibly exciting. If you are nervous then this is a good way to overcome that and its a good way to embed what you are talking about in your audience's mind.

Okay that's about it, maybe I should have split this up into two posts. Oh well, you will just have to suffer through it in one installment. Also I might give helpful little tips like this from time to time. Not that I'm going to pretend to know much more about life than anyone else, but I think I have picked up a few things so far.

Keeping Afloat

The waves are rollicking and romping across the sea here. A smash here, a crash there. Quick men, tighten the ropes! To the Starboard flanks! We're taking on water, prepare to bailout! We are going to make it out of here alive men, as Captain of this ship I swear I will steer us to calmer waters and out of this storm. Krakoom! Oh no! Lightning hit the secondary mast...Now it's on fire! Okay well, this predicament might be more tricky to get out of, but I still have hope. Look there! It seems to be a lighthouse we might just make it!

.....

Would I be a good captain of a boat? I have no idea. Maybe. Perhaps. Well I guess we are each captains of our own lives, and there were a few stormy weeks of stress and busy-ness, then on top of that I have been sick for the past almost two weeks and I am just ready to be done with school for the quarter and go home. That is the truth.

On another note, completely changing the topic Royksopp is pretty awesome. Royksopp is an electronic duo from Sweden that creates some of the funkiest, most awesome, disco tinged beats you will encounter (maybe that's over the top, but I enjoy them). On some tracks they have other artists add vocals for them. check it out.

Royksopp
What Else is there? (vocals by Karin Dreijer)

Can we Call this All Hallow's Eve?

Since its the day before Halloween and all? I think that fits even if its not accurate. Maybe it is, I'm not fact checking. Today was the first beautiful day in a long time, it had to be in the mid 70's out, I am wearing shorts and a t-shirt and it is awesome! The leaves are crisp the sun was shining shinily, the sky was blue and it was just nice. This is how October is supposed to feel, warm in the day, and crisp, then cooler at night so you maybe need a long sleeve shirt. The air should almost taste like apple cider, smell like pumpkin pie and have that faintly magical feeling. That kind of Linus sitting in a pumpkin patch waiting for the Great Pumpkin type of feeling. I mean this could just be my take on the month, but for the most part that is how I feel.

On to Music! Wooo! I like Sea Wolf, I believe they are a good band who can be described as kind of a folky-poppy-indie band. For awhile they were on my misguided no play list as I was only going to listen to one band out of all the variations of bands involving "bear" or "wolf"; that being the band Sea Bear from Sweden I believe. Anyway eventually at some time in the last year I gave them a try, there was probably a reason, I do not remember. And I ended up really liking them. They came out with a brand new album recently which I quite enjoy. I thought I would share with you all if they had a video to accompany one of their songs, and they delivered. Not only do I like this video, it also covers the theme of Halloween, which is nifty. I was about to describe how it is themed in this way, but I better not ruin it for you. Oh and this one is not really scary at all, it is in Black and White...perhaps you are not comfortable with that for some reason, oh well pretend there's color I guess?

Seawolf
Wicked Blood

Zombies

Its still October. It has not been my favorite October. But nonetheless it was and is October which is usually nice. On the note of this month, its less than a week til Halloween. When it hits all hell will break loose. I mean that it is going to get somewhat crazy here at college, hopefully nothing is lit on fire.

Anywho I am not really feeling terribly inspired in the way of words right now, but I do have a video to share with you all in the spirit of the holidays. I am not much of a fan of Rap or Hip Hop and such, but I think Aesop Rock is pretty good. And this video is like an old horror flick. So enjoy.

Coffee Ft. John Darnielle
Aesop Rock



( I will try to write some more things soon, it has been ridiculously busy lately. I think I forgot I had a blog for a bit)

Its October, My favourite Month

Once again we have reached October, when the air is crisp, the pumpkins get ripe and the nights are cold, there are piles of leaves with which you can jump into or upon,and things are just great. Not to mention this is the month when my birthday occurs... And Hot apple cider! Just altogether this month is great and definitely my favourite, and I do not take favourites in many things.

Even more exciting than all of that, Halloween is this month, which means that I have every right to host videos of a more spooky nature than my norm, you know what I'm talking about; I went through this whole thing last year. If you do not know what I'm talking about feel free to browse the archives of last years October videos. The thing I am unsure of is if I will be able to find quite as many as I did then, but whatever I have a few.

For the past month or so possibly a bit more, I have gotten into the band Handsome Furs, I quite enjoy them. They have this song "I'm Confused" with some great guitar riffs and its kind of catchy and dark, and the video is a little on the scary creepy side. If you do get scared for one reason or another, I recommend closing your eyes and enjoying the duration of the song.

Handsome Furs
I'm Confused

School

I am back at school. Things are not too bad, in fact they might be alright. yes i still have clutter in the room a bit, but it'll probably clean itself up. I have an Idea for a slightly more in depth post that should be fairly interesting if i find the time to do the musical analysis which shouldn't be too hard to do. I've also been meaning to find a good video to share, but they've either been weird or..oh wait, well no i suppose that one was slightly on the strange side also. ah well, Florence and the Machine is what I am referring to right now, they/she is fairly good, she has a decently amazing vocal range. check it out.

Florence and the Machine
Dog Days Are Over

that's it for now

Back from Vacation

Wow, where the heck did August disappear to? I just got back from vacation in the north woods of Wisconsin, where much Kayaking was done, golf was played, books read, and general relaxation had(if I have never made a point of it, I enjoy making use of the passive tense).

A lot has happened this summer.

sometimes the things that happened were little things, like tonight I was coming back from the library and I had to cut through the woods and I realized that sometimes I get really scared of the dark. It really freaked me out for some reason. Ah well it happens, its probably good to be scared every once in awhile.

There's only a few days left in August but I am going to try my hardest to even up my posting. So be ready! Things will happen!

yes

things.

They

Will

Happen.

This I am sure of.

Whoa!

Today, ladies and gentlemen, for any who might care: is the one year anniversary of this blog! Crazy! So I guess that means I need to put something awesome up, like at least twice as awesome as what I might have been planning normally. And you say, what could possibly be that awesome? Um, good question. Let us pretend that I actually planned something out instead of crazily surfing the internet as I post this.

Okay I think I found something satisfying. You see I am pretty sure that today is also the hottest day of the summer, its been in the mid 90's all day and barely bearable. So what do you think of when its super hot out? Well, maybe you think of places that are usually even hotter than where you are right now, for example Mexico. Then to further take your mind of the heat you start mentally rattling off all the things you tend to associate with Mexico: like Mariachi bands and Masked Wrestlers. Are you thinking of other things? Well good job, write them down perhaps they'll come in handy later, but those two were really all you need. Now here's an awesome music video with both of those things.

Shape of My Heart
Noah and the Whale



Thanks for reading for the past year! stay out of the heat!

Bubblegum Pop and Elevensies Cookies

Lets start with the latter and then carry onto the former, sound good? Elevensies is apparently an extra snack time that the british celebrate, not necessarily at eleven 'o'clock, but usually sometime before lunchtime and after breakfast. So basically they have this awesome excuse to have cookies around an hour before lunch time. Look on average(this is referring to no actual scientific data, just what's in my head) the english tend to be less obese than americans. Could this in part be due to their day being broken up by delightful snack times which leaves the body more time to digest and so you never get as devastatingly hungry as you would if you keep your meals so separate, and thus over eat. What I am postulating could be wrong, but in any regard its a good excuse to take a break and have a snack. I found/remembered about elevensies from reading The Greenstone Grail by Amanda Hemingway, first book in a great trilogy.

Onto Bubblegum pop, which sounds a little too sweet for comfort. At times it really is, and I am not even quite sure if this band fits under that category, but they make me dance and smile like the sunniest happiest day, so I think it might qualify. The band I am referring to is Throw Me the Statue, which is kind of a strange name. Are they referring to some colossal game of catch between The Hulk and King Kong? Maybe its just a small statue...Also I was looking for a video and came across their one for Lolita. The song has some good references to the book of the same title by Vladimir Nabokov, I recommend it and also caution that it might be a little strange and definitely inappropriate at times. So two things 1) when I heard the beginning of the song I realized I finally found this song that I had been looking for for some time, 2) there are a surpising number of songs with references to Lolita, I should compile a list if I ever get around to it. Without further ado:

Throw Me the Statue
Lolita


until next time!

Mission: Moleskine

A few days ago I realized that I needed a better journal/notebook to write in. Upon this fact I remembered while at Borders that Moleskines are pretty awesome. After returning a day or two later, I sat locked indecisively trying to make up my mind which type of Moleskine I wanted to own. Perhaps I should explain a bit further. The tough time making a decision was made up by two factors: a) there are many different variables in the types of this brand of notebook, 3 sizes, lined, unlined, sketch book, red or black, soft or hard cover, etc. b) One of the things that I know most definitively about myself is that I am indecisive.

It took me the better part of an hour and a half to choose which type of moleskine to get. I finally decided on a nice lined, soft cover, medium sized one and I think it was a good choice overall. So maybe its not entirely a matter of being indecisive so much as it is liberally weighing my options. Another Thing that I have had consistant trouble deciding on is a major or a career towards aspiring after graduation. This means that when asked what field I am going into dutifully, my answer/response is none other than "undecided"or in another word; "indecisive". Sometimes its a bit like wearing a sign around my neck announcing my inability in handling decisions.

In the end its fine: really. I would not trade in my indecisiveness for any being completely decisive and rash. It just gets a little frustrating not knowing sometimes. But I guess that's like the future in general; where's the fun in knowing before you get there? Would anyone run a race if they knew for certain who the winner would be every time? There's no surprises in that, so in that way I think my indecisiveness is great. In this way it postpones the surprise of what the heck I am going to end up doing with most of my life.

Summer Revelations

I would like to start off by saying that I am pretty sure that I do more theoretical blog posts in my head than actual ones. Is that a little weird? Don't really care, or not too much anyway, just I think about great stuff to say and arrange it just so in my head, but fail to at any point in time write those beautiful thoughts down on paper, so they just get lost into the ether of my mind. Maybe its good that way, maybe I should make a conscious effort to write some of this stuff down, well I try, but its hard sometimes.

In other news, I don't think anyone ever really informed me until this year how great Paul Simon is solo. I was driving home from work one evening, one of my mixes in the car's stereo, and the song "You Can Call Me Al" as covered by Noah and the Whale came on. I have to tell you, I had no idea this was a cover until this point in time, I thought it was just a quirky song that had just been thought up and put on a set of b-sides. My Dad listening, remarked "oh a Paul Simon cover, good song", which left me a bit befuddled. I did some mental math and figured it out. I didn't really even realise that Paul Simon had a career outside of Simon and Garfunkel. So tonight I am giving Paul Simon's Graceland a full listen. Wow. Just wow, it is good. Sometimes I am really glad of these little revelations and discoveries I have every once in awhile, otherwise I would know about these things already and they would not be nice surprises.

And to top things off, there's a video for the song, which features Chevy Chase with Paul Simon, and its just Great. This is the kind of stuff that summer is about. I implore any and everyone to enjoy-

Paul Simon
You Can Call Me Al

Last day of june

On a first note, I have been feeling a bit too much like Holden Caulfield lately, probably from a job that is way too repetitive and mind numbing. Since it is such a repetitive job I get a lot of time to think about a wide range of topics. One such topic is as follows: Over the weekend I was at a graduation party of a friend of mine from High School. At one point someone made some joke about Karl Marx, something along the lines of "Name me the douche who is responsible for the worst idea ever" or maybe "who's one of the all time worst people of all time". I don't remember exactly, the point was that they were ripping on Karl Marx and Communism, which is fine, I guess....its just...I don't know, yes I am pretty sure that communism can never be put into practice successfully, but on the other hand I think that writing the communist manifesto or taking part in writing it, does not make him the worst idea haver of all time. In fact, he seems (from pictures at least) like he might have been a nice man to have tea and cookies with, yknow? I mean or for instance here's another way to look at it, what if instead of writing the communist manifesto, he had started a band? The result let's say would have been the creation of a genre such as...I don't know, punk maybe? or jazz? decades or almost a century and a half before its time. The probabiblity of that having had happened, is probably somewhat on the low side, but it would have made history's events in a certainly interesting pattern.

Or maybe that doesn't make any sense, but its an example of one of the half formed ideas I come up with while working. So I think That's all I have time for, its bedtime for me tonight, I will see you guys in July...

Teeter Totter a go!

Did you ever get to ride/play/use a teeter totter when you were a kid? or in the recent past? I mean you did have to get the equation right, sometimes doubling up on one side to make the weight balance just right so both sides could get equally flung high into the air. Oh, good times, basically one of the hallmarks of summer. There used to be a quality set of them at the nearby park, but when they put in new equipment they took out all the fun stuff that I enjoyed as a kid: like that spinny ride where everyone would grab a bar, and someone would stand outside of the metal platform and spin it as quickly as possibly, everyone would get dizzy; or the giant metal slide; or the great tire swing-they did actually replace the tire swing but the one they have now can barely fit one person on it. I was a park attendant/(i prefer the term ranger) for two years and we had a much better time when I was a kid then when the kids came and I was there to entertain. Boy I just got really side tracked, okay my point in the whole thing was that Teeter Totters are inherently awesome.

And by that fact this video is also inherently awesome, and very summery. (plus the lead singer is pretty cute)

The Joy Formidable
Cradle

Party in an Art Museum

Saturday night there was a party at the Cleveland Art Museum celebrating both solistice and the reopening of their east wing which primarily houses modern art. It was quite possibly the best way that I have ever spent $15. There were and assortment of tapas(spanish word for snacks kind of, kind of like french hors d'oeuvres) which were all tasty, there was a bacon roll with cream cheese and like a cranberry inside, oh it was so good. The place was packed, people of varying degrees of dressing up, which was definitely interesting to behold. and then there was live music. That live music included quite a few good bands and dj's; even Dan Deacon who put on a great set that resulted in a great dance party. I got picked out of the crowd for some crowd involvment which was pretty awesome...and after the show we did some sweaty art perusal. A solid night all-in-all.

Survived to Summer

So I survived Freshman year..I think. There were good parts and bad parts, annoying things, and situations I never expected I would have to deal with, such is life. Hmm I tend to always have great ideas for things to write up until the point at which I sit down and start typing/writing them, so I assure you that ideas were had, great ones at that, that I was very willing to share, but they are gone for the moment, hopefully they will return. Let's see, well finals were hard, some of them anyway. I never want to do four English papers in the same day again, not in anyway fun. I really am just kind of burnt out of school work and what not and need to recharge, but now I have to work again. Ah well...
On the brightside: Its summer! and I am home for the time being. Both are things that I am happy about. Although I have never preferred summer as a season the most because I do feel that it tends to get a tad overheated at times. Tentative plans for said summer include: post on here a decent amount(I want to try to get up to 100 posts by the end of the year, or should it be the anniversary of when I started? bah whatever), write a story maybe, take some bike rides to book stores or crocker park, build something, see the sunrise(I should figure out what time that would require waking up..), swim some more, go to concerts, hang out with friends, read a lot of books, watch many movies, and have some adventures.
Okay I said a lot but didn't really say much of anything yet again, this might be a hidden talent..On the music side of things there are quite a few videos I have in mind to showcase for you all. Lets start with some Bishop Allen, who I put up here for one of my very first posts.
Bishop Allen
Dimmer



video is pretty sweet, its got maybe stop motion and projection and some other sly effects that I cannot identify.

Ciao for now.

I Seem to be Forgetting how to Walk

Not sure why this is, but it is happening. Maybe it's always happened and I never realized it. As I walk my right heel kicks my left ankle(which might be slightly hard to imagine). So yeah, not every step, but sometimes when I'm not paying particular attention I kick one foot into the other. Perhaps my right foot is angry at my left foot; or they could both together be just telling me its running season(strange way to say it but they're feet so..best they can do?). Whatever the reason, its kind of getting on my nerves.

Damn, there are quite a few really sweet looking movies coming out this summer/year. That is one thing I am definitely excited for. Also bike rides, book stores, record stores, seeing friends from home, and no homework. And I just hope its a constructive summer, I want to build something, or do something. Something so that the summer is worth the time off and worth the work I will have to do. So I will hopefully be cooking that up in the back of my head.

But right now I've got papers to do and subjects to study. And I have got to hold steady, Once I get these papers done, everything is downhill from there. One step at a time.

So time to kick some paper ass and get this done. Hopefully, nothing distracts me.

Pinback
Fortress

Up

Before I forget, because I tend to forget things, although I do have a sixth sense about when I have forgotten something; knowing what that thing is, is not the same. Anyway Up was really good. I give it two thumbs up, or 5 stars. I liked it quite a bit, it was a fairly heartwarming movie. The problem I had with it was that the previews kind of make it out to be a comedy, which is not really true. Up has more tearjerker moments than it has comedic ones, and I didn't really see it as a real children's movie either, but perhaps they would all thoroughly enjoy it, how would I know? And maybe I just made the movie sound a bit more adultish than it is, it does have its silly moments and really it brings out the kid in you. It is one of the few movies I have seen in a long time that really knows how to tap into your imagination and childhood this effectively.

So that's about all I've got, you should check this movie out I say most definitely.

Mariachis on the Prairie

Up is coming out tomorrow night at midnight, and forbidding a catastrophe or a rush of kids, I will be there to watch it. So sirs and madams, ladies and gentlemen that is exciting; or rather I am excited about it. Cause Pixar films tend to be pretty good/great and the premise has to do with a crotchety old man attaching enough balloons to his house to make it fly, which is great, fantastic in fact. I will let everyone know how it turns out to be in my opinion.

I have not been writing here as much as I would like, and I would make promises, but it just sucks if I end up breaking those promises. So I will try to post more posts and keep whoever reads this blog entertained and informed, that is about as much as I can say. School has just gotten busy as heck lately, and classes range from boring to ridiculous. Hopefully by the time the quarter is over everything will be okay. And really I am ready for summer already, or at least ready for a bon/camp fire, or sitting in the prairie at dusk as the lights turn purples and oranges on the horizon and the land would stretch out in every direction and a trio of mariachi players would be approaching playing trumpets and acoustic guitars. Or in a café somewhere foreign and far away with a canal or river and mountains in the distance. Or in a hot air balloon high above the ground. Or scuba diving at the great coral reef myriad colors of fish and coral on all sides. Or just on an adventure I guess, that would work too...

Y'know sometimes you watch a video, or hear a song, or see I do not know what, just some sort of experience and say wow, that was amazing. Well I am probably building this way out of proportion, but I think that it is a very cool song and video, the concept is just great.

Oren Lavie
Her Morning Elegance



Hope you enjoy, I'll be back soon

Crazy Mind Powers and Revenge

(seriously, I should turn some of these titles into stories or songs) The mind powers refer to a new band that I think are pretty cool, the revenge refers to a snippet of a conversation that was overheard as two women passed me earlier today. I was going to workout, these two women were walking towards me on the same path. The only part of their conversation I heard was one woman saying to the other "That would be the ultimate revenge on him(her)". The parenthesis are because I cannot quite remember how it ended, but that had be cracking up for the duration of the walk. I wonder if whatever the scheme they were referring to was as epic as it sounded. I will never know.

Unless I had crazy Telekinesis! but really that's just the name of this band. Telekinesis! yup, I guess they were pretty excited about it, they put an exclamation mark on it. Well their music is pretty poppy, and pretty good, and kind of catchy too.

Telekinesis!
Tokyo


Hope everyone had a good April!

Not a Crime Fighting Duo

Let me introduce you all to a duo I know. Ladies and Gentlemen, Matt and Kim, Matt and Kim, ladies and gentlemen. Are we all squared away with introductions? Yes? Good. And unsurprisingly my friends here are a musical duo, not a crime fighting duo(so far as I know, in reality they could really be today's Batman and Robin). They make some good poppy music that you should all listen to.

Daylight
Matt and Kim



also as a side note, I have kind of taken to watching The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross almost every morning. That is an extremely calming show, if you're feeling a bit off, or just need to wake up in a good way, or want to learn how to paint, well check it out on PBS.

Pastels in the Sunrise

That sounds Easterish to me. I have not seen a sunrise in quite some time, maybe one of these mornings I will just wake up take a walk to a clear place sit down and wait for it. I did get to see a few spectacular sunsets over spring break, perhaps I'll post one...maybe in this post. Back to Easter, so still got to have an Easter egg hunt at home this year, which was great and fun. And now I am back at school with a new cache of chocolate to eat, rain outside, tests to take, business as usual.

So a good Easter band, I am not sure that a lot of bands really fall under this classification, but Frightened Rabbits or at least this one song from them with the video fits the bill pretty well. And if not Easter, cause, well that is just a holiday for one religion, well a great spring song in any case.

Frightened Rabbits
Heads Roll Off



okay I think cool pictures next time maybe.

Lay it Down

So Peter Bjorn and John, what the hell? Your new album is completely different, the one song sounds like a rip off of a Justice track, and the whole album...well okay its just, its really pretty good. Like this song, when I first heard it I kind of did a audio double take, and it just boils down to, yes it may be ridiculous in some ways, but it makes up for everyone of those ways with its awesomeness, its great beat and lyrics that get straight to the point, "Hey shut the Fuck up boy/take your hands off that girl/you have already had enough".

And then on top of all that, this video is equal parts strange and awesome.

Peter Bjorn and John
Lay it Down



PS you should check out the instrumental album, Seaside Rock, they came out with last year, it was quite good.

Those furry boots won't save you this time!

Mostly I just had that title rolling around in my head for the past couple days as the temperatures roll up and down anywhere from 70 to 20 degrees and no matter the temperature you see the girls with those boots, and I realize that they are supposed to be incredibly warm, but some commonsense should be factored in too. So for now its the title of a blog post, but eventually I might turn it into a song or something, or a crazy scene in a movie or book.

Anyway I have had about 5 different ideas for things to show and tell about, having forgotten the other four I will go with this one for now. Now, who liked the movie Clue? or the game for that matter? Chances are you like at least one of the two, but really I could be completely misjudging the power of the genre of whodunits. So everyone remember Malajube? I think I have actually posted two videos on here so far. And they came out with a new album recently, which is pretty good overall and with new songs come new videos. I don't think you can get more Clue-esque that this, but I could be entirely wrong.

Malajube
Porté Disparu

Good Year for Music

This is a good year for new music. Some bands releasing new stuff-The Decemberists, OK GO, Malajube, Peter Bjorn and John, Conor Oberst, Coconut records, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Strokes, Stars(possibly), Andrew Bird, Franz Ferdinand, and Silversun Pickups(who I am going to be talking about shortly). There are probably many many more, but that is a brief list of some of the ones that have come out already and are yet to come out, excited? Good.

So back in 2006 Silversun Pickups released their distortion laden, rocking debut album Carnavas. It had tons of hits such as Lazy Eye, Future Foe Scenarios, Well Thought Out Twinkles, Little Lover's So Polite; basically it was a good album all around. This year they are coming out with a new album entitled Swoon that should be entirely worth hearing.

Hear is a video from their last album to get you ready.

Silversun Pickups
Little Lover's So Polite

A New Chapter

That title makes this probably sound a lot more epic than it really is, or maybe it is more epic than i think it is. Either way I suppose. A new quarter begins, the spring is beginning, this is a new blog post, new haircut, new sunglasses(I forgot to bring my other ones along on vacation, not that anyone cares about the welfare of my sunglasses that strongly..), and last but in no way least, I have a Specialty Show on our campus radio station here, starting next Monday at 10:00 to 11:00PM, it can be found at www.acrn.com then(shows called Volcanoes in Winter). So yeah, that is that. And I could very well not be talking to anyone, but I do not care.

Riding in the car this afternoon, I look out the window all I can see in the reflection white cords of my ipod headphones. I thought it was kind of funny because it reminded me of the commercials with the dancing silhouettes with only white cords visible, from that my mind jumped to music so that brought up Arcade Fire in my mind which was there since the day before I had watched a new video for Where the Wild Things Are and their song Wake Up was the background to the trailer which in turn made me think of how many movies that look pretty great are coming out this year. That right there is a look at a track of the train of thought of my mind.

I am pretty sure this movie is going to be fairly awesome.

Where the Wild Things Are

You better look out below!

End of the Quarter

Woo, the end of winter quarter is here, with the exception of finals which are this coming week. It feels great to almost be done, to almost be on spring break, although this was a pretty good quarter overall. All of my classes this quarter were not bad, the teachers overall were cool, I guess its just nice to be at the end. I still have a ton of studying to do and more than half a paper to finish, but it should all be okay.

In other news I finally have finally listened to Jens Lekman, and wow, he plays some pretty good stuff. I do think that its kind of funny that it took me until a recommendation from Scary Go Round to check out his music. Ah well that's the way things go.
So this music video is kind of crazy awesome, and if I ever get arrested, I want it to go down something like this.

You are the Light
Jens Lekman




PS you should definitly check out Scary Go Round and read the entire archive, I started in maybe October and have yet to finish. Mostly cause I save it for times of maximum procrastination.

The Return

I have returned. And maybe you're thinking, "what's he talking about?". Well I feel like its been awhile, and I would like to apologize to anyone who's been anxiously awaiting a new post. I have been really kind of busy lately. Have I had any crazy ideas lately that I need to let you guys in on? Probably, sadly I can't think of any as of right this minute. Well actually there is one kind of project-y kind of thing that I am trying to get together, but that is fairly much in my peripherals. But let me just tell you this, its going to be pretty great, I'm hoping anyway.

Oh! One cool thing I did the other day, I possibly created a new soft drink. Basically if you took the holiday of Easter and put it into soda form this is what you would arrive at. The formula is about 80% lemonade and 20% root beer, give or take. I thought I had outgrown mixing flavors at restaurants, but now I'm really glad that I have not.

And arriving at the point that I always try to get to get to; music. So this song or maybe the video or the two together remind me of winter. If you had not noticed, it is indeed still winter, and apparently I feel the need to illustrate this point. I wonder if anyone has ever done Joan of Arc's story in elementary school play form before this...

Phantom Limb
The Shins



I'll try to be a bit more consistent for awhile, if I can.

Cold Adventures

A gust of wind, strikes cold, leaving my eyeballs frozen in their sockets as I walk back to my dorm after class. It's Friday morning, all the tour groups of high school students and their parents are set upon the campus. I don't know about you all, but this week was really long, Monday seems like four weeks ago.

And several hours went by since I started this post, and I had quite a good adventure. Me and my roommate went walking uptown to get my DARS which are a scheduling tool you need here at OU to schedule classes each quarter. We did that, and it was much easier than I expected. Then we went to the record store that is down the street, a very cool place. I found a $2 Clint Eastwood movie called Firefox, which well it has Clint Eastwood, and it should be pretty badass. I guess its supposed to be about the air force and the future, and he's a pilot? I'll post once I've watched it as to how the movie turns out to be. Also got the Kaki King album Dreaming of Revenge, I have not heard it yet so I am kind of excited for new music, I'll maybe review that too later. So after the record store we went in search of a bookstore I had seen before which was closed at the time. After a decent walk we found it full of old, new and used books of all types. I liked it, seemed kind of cozy. From there we walked back to the dorm and on the way got to the topic of donuts. I was under the impression that there was no place on campus or in Athens to get bakery donuts. Apparently I was wrong, there is a great place across the high way called Mchappy's just a short walk away.

So we went there.

In other exciting news there are a lot of videos I would like to show you all, or at least enough to keep me going for a little while. The hard part is deciding which to showcase. Okay so I found this girl who plays ukulele and sings and plays covers of songs and she is pretty good. Her name is Julia Nunes, and I hope she doesn't care that I'm posting her video. Here's her cover of Spoon's Underdog:

Underdog
Julia Nunes



Enjoy the weekend!

Valentine's Day part 2

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Hope everyone is doing something fun. If not..well that's not good, and well you should check this video out, it may cheer your spirits up. Possibly,I can't say for sure if it will since I really am not a magician, well maybe I am..that is not the point.

Justice vs Simian
We Are Your Friends



now, I should probably say don't do that to your friends, that's not cool.

Enjoy the day.

Valentine's day part 1

Yes, I realize that today is not Valentine's day. Anyway what I have planned...well I am not actually certain that its completely germane to the holiday, but who cares? okay so its going to go a little something like this: Today I'm going to post the original version of a song, then tomorrow put up the remix, both of which have videos. You can compare, contrast, not watch at all, enjoy, or whatever. Also I might put up a Young Love video at some point too, that seems appropriate.

And furthermore this weekend should be fun with two, count 'em two papers to write. Woo, let's see if I can actually not procrastinate too badly.

Simian
Never Be Alone




maybe what I am trying to say here, by showing you all this video is well We are Your Friends, and really no need to be alone, so find some friends this weekend, and hang out.

Also, if anyone is curious or knew about one or the other, Simian and Simian Mobile Disco are not the same band. Actually that's not quite right, you see, I always wondered if they had some connection, and they do, Simian came first, then they broke up and created Simian Mobile Disco. So that is how that is. There, bam, learned you something new.

stay tuned.

Was crazy Awesome outside Today

Hmm..I am realizing that I am getting a bit behind in the whole posting area, only 2 so far this month. Well, in my defense I have been really busy, plus I am forgetful, so I tend to get awesome ideas to write, then they are lost in my brain for awhile. Anywho, I promised a Lisa Loeb video, didn't I? On that promise I shall deliver, and on that note, if I do promise something, I try to stick with that promise as close as possible.

Also, not sure if I mentioned this last time, but I have some cool stuff planned for Valentine's Day in terms of posts. Topical? Maybe..maybe..So look forward to the end of the week.

Lisa Loeb
Stay




In other news it was about 70 degrees outside all day until five 'o'clock when it started torrentially down pouring. This rain probably marks a return to the freezing temperatures. Winter..why must you play these games?

Confusion

Ever made a really strange mistake? Or just been confused by things that maybe to other people were not in any way confusing at all? I tend to have this type of problem at times. For instance, I seemed to have the impression that Jenny Lewis and Lisa Loeb were the same person. Or at the very least I would think that one was the other. I mean they are both female musicians who play the guitar and sing and they are both very cute, but other than that, I am not sure they are commonly confused... haha.

To bring a slight bit of relevance to the story I was listening to Rilo Kiley's album more adventurous last week and I remembered Lisa Loeb, but not her name. I tried to find her online with the idea that her name also began with "Jenny", I thought if I mixed them up that would be the most logical reason, no sadly that was not the case. So I did not find her then. But I did go to the record store later that week. There, in the used section were two of Lisa Loeb's albums and it clicked. That was my misadventure and revelation in music last week.

Now I think I am going to feature a Rilo Kiley video for Jenny Lewis, then maybe later this week a Lisa Loeb video. Sound good?

Rilo Kiley
Portions for Foxes


Also I've been finding quite a few good videos lately so I will try and keep posting them.

Another wintery song

I looked out the window and it still seems to be winter, especially this morning when it was really blindingly bright from the sun but there was a bone-chilling wind. There is ice on the ground which is dangerous and surprising when you don't look for it. But really, I mean at least its not Montreal, which I think might be a fun place to visit, but its most likely colder than cold during the weekend.

Take this song by Malajube for instance: there's a line that talks about it being so cold that polar bears ride the buses. And if that's not crazy cold I do not know what is. Without further ado.

Montreal -40C
Malajube

enjoy!



and I'll try to come up with something interesting to talk about for next time..

Snow Day

I feel like I have not had a traditional snow day in a long time, its more usually for ice or unbearably cold temperatures. Today school was canceled, I presume for the icy paths but that's just hazarding a guess.

Last night was undeniably fun, had a snow ball fight, went ice sliding all along the paths. That was a good time. I did try to make a snow man, but that did not happen, largely due to the layer of ice covering the snow.

Woo, it just started snowing again since the start of this post quite possibly. Anyway I don't really have much else to say, only that I am trying to convey the fact that it is snowy and cold out there. Drink some hot chocolate and relax.

Motion City Soundtrack
Hold Me Down



oh, just remembered something. So I was having an argument the other day. A friend of mine was coughing, and had a pretty intense cold. I suggested that drinking some tea might help. I did not though state that tea is a cureall of the common cold. Which is what my friend took me to mean. No, tea does not cure it, but I would say it helps, a)water is good for you b)herbs also good for you c)hot water dries you out when you are phlegmy making breathing easier. So no, it does not cure, and I would like to think it is not a placebo, but it does help.

People

I wake up this morning, well after hitting snooze twice. And by morning ritual I ventured to the dining hall to get some breakfast while being half asleep. Step out the door hit directly by a blast of cold. After getting cereal, some tea, a banana and a cup of juice I sat down to eat. Basically the whole premise has nothing to do with the nugget unto which I am about to impart upon you reader, but nonetheless it does set it up. Carrying on I'm eating(now that I'm thinking about it, I'm not positive it was this morning it could have been a different meal), and there's other people in the dining hall, and when large groups of people get together it always results in half heard conversations that out of context seem absurd or funny. So I hear this girl behind me say(in an what may have been an outraged tone) "He hasn't called me bitch in four days".

Now why that struck me as weird or singular, well I really do not know, I just thought it was kind of funny at the time. Should I have a plan in writing this? Yes probably. Do I? No not really, I didn't have much of anything else to say and I wanted to say something.

Anywho onto business.

Of Montreal
Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other fun games

Ghost in a strange house

tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tock

Story unfolds like a night blooming flower.

There's a shadow stretching to the window. Following it back to its source there is a body in a chair. It seems to be a man, middle-aged looking serene in repose of either sleep or death...no, there's no sound of breathing; death's probably the best guess, least he died happy or at peace anyway.

Move out into the hall, its dark hardly any light to see by at all. Flip the switch and the darkness is swept away. There's another door at the end of the hall, drifting on through the doorway; seeing a desk upon the floor. Atop it rests a piece of paper with a paw print imprinted, next to the paper is a wind up mouse with the key stuck in. Getting closer the mouse starts running around the table of its own volition. Strange is what this place is. Pale moonlight shines through a skylight in the ceiling. The moon is full and the sky speckled with stars.

====================================================================================

so that is a fragment of a story, or maybe that is a short story, not sure quite what it is, but I wrote it and thought I would share.

Fighting the Cold

It might be under zero degrees out there, there might be ice, it might be cloudy, it might be unbearably sunny. Jack Frost or Mother Nature or Old man Global Warming might be playing dirty, but that does not mean we have let them win. We can fight the cold. It may feel like the tundra out there, but it doesn't have to. Well unless you are actually physically in the Tundra right now. If that is so I have to ask, sir/madam, what pray-tell are you doing in such a place? If the answer be "to hunt the great white bears that roam this frozen land", then shame on you, those Polar bears are endangered. There for a Science research project? Well, that's marginally better, but you are one crazy person(tell me how it goes).

I digress.

Back to what I was saying. We can fight the Cold. No, not with a sword, well try it, it could work; what do I know? Nay, I propose a different method. It involves something called Music, a particular type in fact-Dance Music. See we may not be able to completely stay warm physically, but we can warm up our souls, and that can be just as good. Also you can be smart and layer up out there, so you are partially not cold. But yes, I believe through Dance Music, perhaps this foe can be beaten. Maybe we can't be warm, but we can be happy.

Justice
D.A.N.C.E.




Feeling warmer? I am.

Vaulting the Canyon

If only I knew what that meant...well I suppose you could imagine a person with a pole-vaulting pole running, planting, and being flung across the whole of the grand canyon to land on the opposing side. Or maybe it has some underlying meaning; who knows heh.

Its always fun when it gets to that point of winter where I refuse to go outside without a scarf or neck warmer plus all the other winter accoutrement. I only mean that half sarcastically, I mean I do sincerally love winter, but when it hits four degrees outside thats a tad too chilly. In the theme of winter and more clay-mation here is Fleet Foxes.

Fleet Foxes
Winter White Hymnal




now for a nap, mmm.

Peanut Butter, Nutella and Bananas

That title is in not completely random, those ingredients on a sandwich are brilliantly amazing. No lie, its really quite incomparable so I won't try just that you should go find those things and make one today(Do it!).

You know what else you should do today? Other than punch a shark in the nose, well I suppose only if its attacking you, not out of no where, that's not cool. You should check out this Architecture in Helsinki video that I just stumbled upon. Architecture in Helsinki are an extremely versatile band that tend to be crazy and many times non-sensical, but to a larger extent; fun. I'm going to post this video, but later I'm going to have to go back and show you guys the rest of them, they have quite a few cool videos and songs.

Architecture In Helsinki
That Beep



Now go do those other things. Plus have a good day.

The Bees

I did something yesterday; adventurous? You might say that. A friend of mine wanted to audition for a play and asked me if I wanted to also, and sure why not? So he printed off some monologues randomly from the internet and away we went, me really considering not doing it. But I did go through with it, read the whole monologue in front of the panel, thought I gave it a pretty decent shot. Sadly neither of us got callbacks, but I'm really just proud of the fact that I did something I didn't think I would be able to.

On another note there's something about clay-mation that has always seemed cool to me. Perhaps not all of it, but for the most part its usually pretty cool. For instance I thought Gumby was awesome as a kid, I should watch it again at some point to see if it stands the test of time. I've been listening to this band called The Bees every once in awhile lately, they are pretty good and I thought would they have any cool videos? The answer was yes, yes indeed.

The Bees
Who Cares What the Question is?

Never stop Skanking!

Spanish homework looms reliably in the near future, snow sprinkles down intermittently and it is more than a little bit cold outside. It's been interesting getting back into the swing of things these past few days with the start of a new quarter. Mostly its been a smooth transition, with the only disturbances being mildly humorous e.g. me taking a 400 level seminar class mostly out of the naivete that it would be awesome by the sheer power of the fact that it was called Adventure Programming, which yes, was slightly misleading. So I got that straightened out and I'm into a safe freshmen level Sociology course.

Sadly I have not concocted an inherently awesome thing to do yet, well I might post some short story type things from time to time, but that's not really what I was shooting for. On a happier note I still say that Ska music is quite awesome and in fact the opposite of sadness, feeling just a little down? Have a listen and maybe skank a little if you want.

Catch 22
Keasby Nights




Now time for some español, olé!

Pineapple Pencils and coconut sheep

I want to do something awesome or amazing probably soon, mostly the problem is brainstorming it. And not necessarily since its a new year and time for new starts and all that, but because why not? So I think I am going to work on cooking something up. Basically that's all that I have to say...I think.

Nothing really on the side of music right as of yet, I posted at least ten videos last time and I bet you have not even watched them all yet, so watch those first then we'll talk.

I'll keep you guys updated on if that awesome or amazing thing comes into fruition at all.