Winter Jazz

We are more than halfway through December, and some of you are probably sick of me referencing the date in these posts. Well time..its a big part of our lives, it is. It keeps moving, it never stops. Sometimes it seems to go really fast and fly by as if powered by rocket-fuel. Other times it goes slow as molasses, or sap running down a tree. And for the most part, we cannot change that. We have no time machines, nor does it seem like we will anytime soon. Nor teleportation devices, the world has gotten easier to traverse but not that easy yet.

My past winter breaks have passed at near a snail's pace. This year's break has been much faster.

I saw the Dave Brubeck quartet perform with the Cleveland Orchestra this past Thursday night, they were really good. Some really awesome upbeat jazz music. I spent half the concert thinking of awesome ways to swing dance to it. I'll leave you with one of his most famous pieces, though it was so much cooler live.

Dave Brubeck Quartet
Take Five

Show Me Something New

Everything that begins must end at some point. This quarter seems to have started practically yesterday, but a lot happened, I was pretty busy. There were in equal parts a lot of fun and a lot of stress. But I've practically made it out alive. Then its winter break and isolation for near to a month and a half. Am I looking forward to it? Yes and no. I dunno this past week has been odd in a way I cannot define. Possibly that feeling at the back of your neck when there's change about to come, right around the bend. For better or worse sometimes you just have to take the plunge, jump into the freezing water and go.

Shout out Louds
Show Me Something New



and sometimes it all turns out okay..

So its November

Somehow it its November already. Time, it just moves way to fast, and keeps on going. Which is fine as long as you don't sit around as things are happening around you, join in!

The weather cannot seem to make up its mind as of late, freezing cold one day, in the 20's, way in the 60's a few days later. A veritable roller coaster of weather we have seen lately. Hopefully mother nature will settle down soon and pick one way to go over the other. But I kind of doubt it..this state never really likes to have predictable weather, but most days that suits me just fine as I like to be unpredictable as well. Consistency is entirely overrated. Reliability on the other hand is not.

Onto more exciting things, a few weeks ago I found an artist I hadn't heard of before, Jeremy Messersmith. He tells some simple but emotive stories through his songs, well sometimes simple sometimes entirely complex. A few of his songs have really nice videos that I would like to share with you now. Two in fact, its your lucky day! The first is Star Wars themed, yes, you read that correctly, and its quite fantastic. The second is a bit ghoulish, but also sweet, and a bit halloween themed, so we'll count it as a late halloween video for this year.

Tatooine



A Girl, A Boy and A Graveyard

Don't Turn the Lights On

Some of the best advice I think I've heard is from Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer. The clay animation one, from the 60's, you've probably seen it a hundred times. Do you remember when the prospector says "make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other is gold!" or something to that effect? Very true, and it can be hard at times, it can. There's only so many hours in each day, never enough to be as productive as we'd all like to be, not enough to see as many people as we'd like to see, not enough to sleep as much as we'd all like. So we all do our best and I hope that is enough.

My birthday was last week, good day, entirely enjoyable. Got to swing dance with some great friends on my birthday, and later had cake and ice cream what more can a guy ask for?

Earlier today I was surfing the internet and found a new music video/song from one of my favourite bands, and it turned out to be slightly Halloween themed. Which I think is pretty awesome timing.

Chromeo
Don't Turn the Lights On


Hope you all liked that, hope it wasn't too weird. Oh and one last thing I wanted to tell you guys. I found this website that showcases pictures of kids dressed up as superheroes. I think the concept is pretty great and shows a lotta heart. Check it out here

And here's to hoping I make it out of this week alive and to Halloween~! Hiyah!

Running

Running: Its kind of an addiction. There's no such thing as a one time runner. Once you've been doing it for awhile it kind of gets in your blood, maybe its the endorphins your body receives the longer you do it. You can try to deny it, you can stop running for long, long periods of time, that doesn't change anything. You pick it back up again like riding a bike. The muscle strain and lack of breathe will feel like old friends; the kind you don't get to see every day but when you do, its like you take back up from whenever you last saw them.

It kind of aggravates me when people say things like "I could never run 3 miles" or a mile, or any distance. YES YOU CAN. In this world, you put your mind to it, you can do just about anything. No you might not be able to go that far on your first time, but take a try or two, build up.

I think in general running above all, along with other forms of exercise keeps my emotions in check. I think exercise in some form keeps the body at a..near happy equilibrium. If you get stressed out from all the work, don't just keep pushing through it, your productivity will go down the longer you're at it. Rather go outside, do something that gets your blood pumping then go back to it. This is the only method I've found so far to keep from going completely crazy. And I've been horrible at utilizing it this quarter. Hopefully that will not be the case for the duration of the quarter.

The Naked and Famous
Punching in a Dream

Allergic to Waffles

"What?!" the boy cried, "How can you be allergic to waffles? That's like saying you're allergic to awesome, or rhinos. I don't believe you!"

Instead of offering up an explanation the girl stared off into the distance, eventually she broke her reverie by saying, "Do you believe in ghosts?"

This reply surprised the boy greatly as he was fully expecting a long tale about waffle related ailements and how they came to pass. So he offered up a quick, flippant reply "No, course I don't, I'm not a scaredy cat or anything." He smiled bravely.

The girl laughed, then shook her head gently "No, no, seriously! Do you believe in ghosts?"

The boy thought carefully for a moment. "Well, I couldn't say for sure as I've never met one. On the one hand I'd like to think our loved ones are watching over us, lingering. But that's sad I suppose, why couldn't they move on? I do believe in ghosts as memories, yknow? Like old friends who move away or you don't talk to anymore and you think you see them in crowded hallways or old hang-out spots. Sure I believe in those."

Happy October!

It is October, for those of you without calenders this may be a bit of a shock, I'll give you a moment to let it sink it. The year is 2010 for those of you who have just traveled back or forward in time and are checking the internets. So...Everyone over both of those major shocks? Good! October, as I have mentioned ample times in the past is probably my favourite month. Fall is starting, my birthday is this month, its got Halloween, I like to post Halloween/scary/fall inspired videos during this time. Its a win all around. Without further ado I present the first October video:

Okkervil River
For Real



Now hopefully I can actually get myself to start my Spanish presentation. Saturdays are horrible for being productive..

Weird Weather

The past few days have been unseasonably warm. Thursday was around 95 degrees if I remember correctly. It was at least a good 4 days of crazy temperatures. Today seems more on track with autumn temperatures for sure. In honor of all the heat, and partially in procrastination of me starting my homework, here's a summery-video/song.

Tokyo Police Club
Wait Up (Boots of Danger)



other than unseasonable heat the past few days have consisted of a quest for golden shorts, fitting 7 people in a smallish car to see a movie, swing dancing for 7 hours, hanging out with some awesome friends, and that about covers it more or less.

Not just a treadmill band

Hey guys!

How is everyone out across the interwebs? Good I hope..Hopefully nice and snug in bed as I'm typing this at 12:40am on a Monday night. I'm sitting here listening to Rilo Kiley, PJ's and glasses on, air conditioner rumbling in the background; life is alright. Should I be doing homework? Yes, probably, but it will get done, don't worry.

So are you guys familiar with the band Ok Go? I've posted some of their stuff on here before. If you've missed that, well you probably know them as the band with "the treadmill video". I think they are a pretty fun band sonically, their albums seem pretty solid to me and besides the infamous treadmill video(which I am a fan of) they have done some really cool things in the area of musical videos. They have one video from an older album where a guy does a back flip on a pogo stick, both he and the pogo stick are covered in matching wallpaper. And recently they went independent from their record label, it was an amicable break-up. This way they decided they could better market and produce music videos and music together which had been restricted before. So you get extremely cool things like this stop motion video, check it out:

OK GO
End Love



Am I going to bed now? maybe..no guarantees though

Some Serious Kung Fu

That was some serious Kung Fu back there for sure. There were bodies flying everywhere. I coulda swore that one dude was a zombie but his flying dragon kick was alive. And did you see Bruce Lee's ghost as it swooped through a couple of times? That was a sight to be seen. Kicks and punches snapping. Flashes of speed. Reflexes beyond any normal capacity. That girl snapped a whole tree in half with her fist. The splinters turned to toothpicks on impact. I'm pretty sure that old man was throwing fire balls, but then again I could be wrong. There were ninjas with throwing stars, elephants doing roundhouse kicks, turtles slicing with swords. It was all some serious Kung Fu that is for sure...

A cloudless Sky

Sitting underneath a cloudless sky
Hawks circle lazily above
Green grass all around around around
Sounds of never-ending construction reverberate across the riverbed
How can there possibly be so much blue in one sky?
I can clearly feel the late-summer sun on my skin
warm, over-bearing, reminding me I am alive
the wind passes through brushing away the worst of the unmitigating heat
as if to say "It'll all be okay, don't worry."
and yeh wind, I would like to shake your hand
be on my way
But I'm not ready

We Forgot How to Fly

We forgot how to fly, now running's the way we get by. I whipped up some chocolate chip waffles for dessert, put the ice cream on...top. Let the heat pour down, from that sun outside. Its sweltering, oh yes it is! So stay inside, don't go out there! Cuz out there you'll surely melt! Melt like a wax harmonica on the dashboard of a car.

Jump in the water, curled up; Cannon Ball! Ker-Plunk! Water shoots up at all angles spraying the onlookers nearby. Stay underwater, swim like a frog until your lungs give way and you need to come up for breath.

So you end up back in front of that fan, speaking into it to make robot noises. Your hair getting blown every which way. If you close your eyes you can pretend for a bit that you're up in the clouds flying. Drifting by on your back you gaze at the night's stars speckling the sky like white sparkly freckles. The sky smiles with a shooting star and you smile back and wink.

Tales of Javier Pt 2

The predawn light was just sprouting in the crevices and corners of the sky. The air was cold, the morning quiet. Javier was still sitting cross-legged deep in slumber. The quiet and his slumber were broken by a low ominous noise. The noise started small and grew into a ferocious growl, followed by a blood-curdling howl. Answered by a chorus of howls.

The Man with the oar opened one eye and cocked his head to the side. Out of the one open eye he saw beach wolves. Standing six feet tall on four legs, they are about 3 times the size of ordinary wolves. They are both great scavengers and tremendous swimmers, able swimmers able to hunt like silver torpedoes through the ocean. There was a half dozen and they had Javier surrounded in a semi-circle; ocean to his front wolves on every other side.

Javier opens the pocket watch, winds it a few times and drops it into his pocket. The air reverberates, a low bass beat seems to come out of the ground, like a timpani drum; BOOM...BOOM...BOOM... the sand seems to vibrate slightly and glow with a faint green hue. The growl and the ghostly, earthly syncopated beat go eerily well together. The man tightens his grip on the oar, the closest wolf lets out a louder growl and lunches into the air. In one swift movement the sailor cranks the oar and spins himself to a standing position. The oar strikes the wolf on its underside flipping, to land on its back with a thump.

Turning, Javier sees two of the wolves standing close to each other. Rushing at them he swings the oar catapulting one wolf into the other, knocking the beasts out on impact. Three left. From behind a wolf attacks, raking its claws across the man's back leaving four bloody scratches, cringing only for a moment then turning Javier catches the wolves throat, raises it up, like nothing more than a sack of potatoes, and pile drives the beach wolf into the sand.

Just two left, the largest; the Alpha of the pack and the second in command; the Beta wolf.

Surviving College Pt 3

Here's one I thought of, get to know your campus before running from point A to point B in the dark. I'll explain: at the beginning of freshman year I was interested in two clubs; fencing and the campus radio station. The problem was both orientation meetings for said clubs were on the same night. Luckily the meetings started a half hour or more apart so I was fairly sure I could go to fencing first, get info/see how things are, then leave early and still make it to the Radio meeting.

Seems like a solid plan, right? And it was. Except I thought I was a little late and decided I'd take what I thought would be a short cut. Also I was lightly jogging. I saw the building I was shooting for directly in front of me when WHUMP! all of the sudden I was on the ground light flashing white in my eyes. I had sent my hands out so I did catch myself a bit, largely I landed on my face and hands. Scraped my palms up pretty bad and a bit of my face too. Other than that I was fine, just mildly shaken. What had happened was the path I was following has a section without lighting, that same section unfortunately has a chain going across it. I got to the meeting with a few minutes to spare in fact, went to the restroom cleaned myself up a bit so it wouldn't look like I had been in a fight directly beforehand and went it.

Also on an unrelated note, I hate waking up in the morning. Its hard, especially when the bed has gotten to its optimum comfiness factor just before you have awoken, thereby making the exit from the bed even more challenging. I think this video illustrates that point pretty well. And The Thermals are pretty great.

The Thermals
I Don't Believe You

Surviving College Pt 2

So you're at college, and maybe you have your first day of classes coming up. Perhaps you have some qualms. I'm here to assuage them(that is a fun word to use!). If you're unsure where your classes are, print out your schedule and walk around campus the day before. I still usually print off a copy of my schedule for the first few days, it still takes me way too long to memorize the order. You might still get lost and show up late, don't worry, it happens. You might get to your first class of the day only to find a sign directing you to a different building entirely, it happened to me once, no big deal.

Did you make it to that class in one piece? Good. Now that you're there first off let's say its a large lecture hall, don't spend 10 minutes looking for a seat next to someone you know, if you see an open seat anywhere go for it. I tend to ask if its already spoken for, but that's just me.

Most classes the first day is actually pretty unexciting as it means syllabus day. The professors pass out their syllabi go over it, possibly get into a bit of notes and usually let you out early. That's the formula anyway.

And maybe you're thinking, oh no, is this class going to be hard? Will the professor be nice? Don't worry probably most of the rest of the class are thinking the same thoughts. Pretty much everyone is on equal footing on the first day. If you miss something the professor says or part of the notes ask a neighbor or raise your hand. Some concepts are going to seem crazy complicated, please ask the professor to explain it again, the good ones can make just about anything understandable.

Surviving College (and maybe life?)

In the past two years of college I believe I have gained some experience and learned some tricks which may help you make it out alive. I'm going to try to split this into a few running segments. Some of these things are going to sound dumb or commonsensical, I do hope it helps though, if nothing else hopefully a little entertainment can be derived.

Where to start..? Don't Panic.

The Weakerthans
Our Retired Explorer



More to come!

Tales of Javier

The man on the beach is known as Javier. He wears his head clean shaven, you can see he is well built from a life of labor of some kind; possibly a sailor. To further this possibility he's carrying an oar over one shoulder. It's late, the moon is gleaming in the rolls of the ocean's waves. He has a strange tattoo on his left shoulder, eerily similar to a small series of zebra stripes.

Javier keeps his measured gait along the shoreline, entirely focused on a goal. He is a stranger to these lands..where did he come from? and how did he get here?

Every now and then jagged pieces of flat wood wash to the sand, spewed out of the jetsam. A shipwreck perhaps? what could have caused it?

The constant gait slows to a stop, Javier bends down and picks something up from the sand, it shines in the moonlight. A silver pocket watch. With a sigh, the man sits down cross legged, putting the oar across his legs and closes his eyes.
"Now..Now I can rest for a bit.", he says to the night.

Thoughts while Kayaking

I really like to kayak because it has a great rhythm to it: right, left, right left right, left-hold, right ad infinitum. I like how the paddle is double bladed, balanced. I like the ease of cutting through the water, like a knife through butter, it feels so natural.

So I squiggled through the water like a doodle from a pencil, eventually ending up in the middle of the lake and looked around, I saw the panoramic view of the trees encircling the lake. Looking around in this fashion made me wonder where does it end and where does it begin? And in this same train of thought - are circles infinite? There's no visible start or stop.

I also thought about how kayaking is nice as no matter how many times you go out on the same body of water, that body of water will still be new and different. The wind changes, waves change, lily pad formations change, the sky is never quite the same either.

And looking at the sky made me think of Bob Ross and how he paints clouds and landscapes. He layers them, just like in nature. If you look at the sky on a good day you can see a multitude of different cloud layers; straight flat ones that span the entirety of the sky practically, then on top fluffy cumulus ones that move on top of the flat back drop behind them. Scenes are enacted as you watch, space battle cruisers approaching the front lines, dinosaur herds migrating to a new place to graze. Whatever your imagination comes up with. Isn't it amazing how these random floating bits of water come together to form familiar or exotic shapes then depart again? This is another type of infinity, yeah? breaking up then coming together on and on and on. A kind of symmetry that seems just right.

"Everywhere you go in life, well there you are" - Buckeroo Banzai

The Knife
Heartbeats

RUN to YOUR grave

When you can't quite find the book you want to read, write your own. Make it one you would love to read. Forget all the fancy analogies and symbology, just tell a great story. Just tell a story. Half the time that's all we need, a good simple story.

Cuz we have to do what we can to get by. Its easy to be cynical, hard to be happy. Or at least thats the way it feels sometimes. There are good times, I swear! and they make it all worth it I think. When Life pulls the rug out from under you, do you jump or end up on the floor? Well if you can jump, I applaud you, sir or madam, you are much more prepared than I. So most times, when you hit the floor...wait til the stars clear from your eyes and get up, bit by bit. Everything will be alright.

And when your friends end up on the floor, broken, pick them back up again.

Here's a song I've been liking lately, not sure about their other music but this song is pretty great anyway.

The Mae Shi
Run To Your Grave

Happy Belated Anniversary

Yesterday, the 9th of August was my blog's second anniversary! I was real busy plus I was under the misapprehension that it was actually on the 13th for some reason. oh well. I've got so much to say but not time to say it now, but soon I will say more. Vacation was fun and later is when I'll talk about that.

Here's Tokyo Police Club, Me and my brother saw them in concert a few weeks ago, they were really great!

Tokyo Police Club
Breakneck Speed

Why not?

Might go to the zoo today with some friends of mine. It was a good weekend. I had so so much to tell you guys, but when I try to think of it everything slips away. Ah well, I am here now and that's something I suppose.

Oh saw Tokyo Police Club over the weekend, they were great! Really put on a pretty good show, crowd was pretty into it, singing along, left side of the crowd was crowd surfing a bit. Oh and me and my brother tried wearing ear plugs to the show. Something we should have done a long time ago that is for sure. They dampen the noise by far, we couldn't hear each other standing right by each other, but the music still got in just fine, I pulled one out half way through the set and the sound was over powering so I put it back in. Better late than never, eh?

Have I told you all of my love for steel drums? They seem to almost have a magical quality about them. They make me think of the deepest part of summer, sweaty, with a cool drink in hand. Of palm trees over head. Of that feeling that anything is possible. The proverbial "why not?" of summer, the sound that kind of reverberates through your body.

I'm not postive these are even steel drums throughout this song, but it reminds me of them, yknow?

Future Islands
Tin Man

Hot Days and Paper Mache

These past two weeks or more have been ridiculously hot, lots of days in the 90's. Which is amplified in a stuff warehouse. So if you have a hot job like mine please stay hydrated and take lots of breaks.

But even not at work and at home, wow it can get warm here! my room can stay pretty nice most of the time but some parts of the house get fairly heated. So sometimes you just need to say screw it and so stuff like in this video; will it keep you cool? nah but you'll have fun and that's what matters! and really if you haven't heard this song yet, you really need to. I swear, it'll be stuck in your head in the best way.

Kid Kudi, Rostam Batmanglij(from Vampire Weekend) and Best Coast
All Summer



these 3 artists teamed up especially for this song as a promo for converse and I have absolutely no problem with that.

Summer Nights

Summer nights consist of bonfires and walks in the dark, bike rides and movies and rain showers and lightning bugs. Gazing at stars laying on the ground. Swimming in pools really late at night. This video and song symbolize those things fairly well I would say.

Matt Pond PA
Starting



Enjoy!

Monday shall henceforth be Funkday

I was talking to a friend of mine, and well Mondays have a tendency to stink and be less than fun. But what if they were funky in a good way? All sorts of dance and groove and dancey-ness from beginning to end? It would probably be much much better. Sadly I cannot change the very fabric of the day, but I can do a little and we can all change the mindset? Maybe..?

we'll start with James Brown and go from there!

James Brown
Get Up offa That Thing

This summer

has been great so far. Although yesterday I did swim a bit too far and sat out in the heat a bit too long, ah well it happens I survived. Saw two sets of fireworks. Some last night in my town which were really cool. There were weeping willows and whistlers and red ones that seems to dance around like lady-bugs! Also this past Thursday I went with a few friends down to cleveland to hear the Cleveland Orchestra play for free and then there was a fireworks display afterwards too. Saw Toy Story 3 at some point, really really good, go see it! Saw a minor league baseball game last wednesday with my family and a friend of my mine. It was a pretty fun time, though the game did go pretty long for minor league haha.

So apart from some days being way way too hot and some being way too stormy and my job waring me down a bit, things are fantastic.

I hope you're all doing just fine in your neck of the woods where ever you might be.

Yeasayer
Tightrope

Brown and Blue

I went ghost hunting in the sunlight. I looked for those little shimmers in the air above the asphalt, most people mistake that for humidity but we know better.

Or when you look at the sun and blink and see spots, yep those are ghosts as well.

Diving underwater, ker-splash, snorkel and mask and fins on. One deep, strong kick and I torpedo through the water. Up ahead a sunken ship faintly glows in the moonlight. I thought this was just a small lake, but look! there's dolphins swing dancing.

Some wackiness

  I read a book about sharks til my eyes turned green. Laughed until I fell down. Tried to find out what it all means ended up with an another enigma bout 42. Raced a sailboat on the sea but ended up on the moon. I jumped on a trampoline, did a flip couldn't stop spinning for days. Dreamt I was a doctor but my stethoscope was a snake, he kept biting everyone. Found out how to use a hula hoop, ended up with a barrel of apples. Pulled the cork and my cup filled with apple sauce. Lightning strikes in the distance, acoustic guitars strumming in my ears bugs light up across the lawn. I heard the whip crack on the hillside, looked around for Indiana only found a kid named Jones. Discovered I had super powers, flew off to all my far off friends' houses.

Blee-Bop-Doo-wop-a-Dooo!

Friday night, and here i sit, home yes, bored? maybe. maybe not. Listening to good music, reading fun short stories by Isaac Asimov . So time has been okay, I'm kinda worn down from the work week anyway.

Currently I am reading "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest" by Stieg Larsson. And its great, so far an awesome end to a stupendous trilogy. Makes me want to be an investigative journalist. The only problem with that outlet, is that I would probably try to solve mysteries such as "why is there a pack of 10-15 squirrels running rampant through the woods?". I will explain the situation I am referring to: a few days ago I was walking my dog down the bike path that is near my house. We were standing there when all of the sudden a kerfuffle of about 10-15 squirrels burst across the path like some sort of furry tornado. When did squirrels start forming gangs/packs? It was crazy!

And tomorrow is the summer Solstice festival at the art museum, which should be great! Last year Dan Deacon played and it was one of the best concerts I have seen. Great fireworks + a bit of rain + dancing + awesome hors d'oeuvres = made for an awesome time.

And writing this is keeping me from being too bored on this quiet Friday Night. And you are probably extremely curious by now to what it is I am listening to(prolly not, but I'm going to pretend you care out there haha). I will keep you in suspense no longer: I am listening to Generationals. They are a bunch of fun, I first heard of them when I saw them open for The Apples In Stereo, they were so much fun. Here is a sampling, enjoy!

Generationals
Angry Charlie



After all of that, am I going to call this post finished? ehhh..Yeah I guess. I think this was a good batch of muffin puddles..mmm I could go for a chocolate chip muffin.

Holy Crap May

I think someone should get me a better calender or something, as where the heck did May go? It kind of swooped in, said hello and left and leaving a few thunder storms in its wake. Just wow, that flew by. this whole school quarter has flown by.

Any-bally-who its June! Its a sunny day! Yes perhaps I have a bit of something like a sinus infection still but yet I have the persistent feeling that things are going to be great today!

So right now I will impart upon you, the masses a video that my good friend showed to me. A) the concept is pretty cool, see if you can pick out as many of the references as you can B) the song is pretty sweet too, I haven't heard much by them but it sounds decently fun

Audiobullys
Only Man

audiobullys - only man from EL NINO on Vimeo.

and yep its vimeo, so enjoy or not I think its a decent format and who needs consistency? Not me, that's for sure!

head upon arm

I rest my head upon my arm which is lying across my desk. Close my eyes. the room is mostly dark. my brain starts to cloud over slowly. like fog entering a city, street by street. do I let myself sleep, do i give in?

when can it be said that we have done enough? when is it time for a break? when the eyes won't stay open anymore? when each thought does not connect to any other, there is no longer any train but rather only disconnected cars racing. crashing into walls.

but the sun is not yet down, push on they say, stay the course. so i will ride a horse of productivity into the dying light. to fight off the demons of procrastination and slumber.

this battle will be fought and won. you can sing your siren's call, but i will resist you, sleep. for a little while anyway.

No! Korea is not an island!

I just need some sort of catalyst, or inspiration. I have got so much to do, and all of said work would help if it was worked on. Okay think I've got it. I'll try the ole carrot on a string method. I will work for 15 minutes(hopefully) then watch this new LCD Soundsystem video. alright let's try this out. Also video is directed by the great Spike Jonze:

LCD Soundsystem
Drunk Girls


woo! go team!

Oh yeah

Thought I had a few weeks ago

Life: its like simultaneously playing Hungry-Hungry-Hippos whilst splaying Twister.

Think it over.

Undercover Martyn

Time moves forward. Things change, we become slightly different people. Along the way we acquire new friends. I joined the Swing Club here, if you told my future and told me half the things I would do in college..Not sure if i would believe you or not. But the point is that it has been really fun. I'm becoming somewhat proficient at Lindy hop, starting to do some Charleston which is kind of like Skanking wih Ska music, or at least I think so anyway.

see this is where I should have a video with cool dancing to go along with that, I have a cool video but no cool dancing. I apologize.

Two Door Cinema Club
Under Cover Martyn

Cause there is always a wrong to your right!

Do you like Queen? Do you despair that they just do not make music any longer? well I have got something for you, it's not quite new Queen, and possibly I shouldn't even compare it to them, but I think they are pretty fun. ( I need to stop writing like I talk, or talking like i write; one of the two) Anyway upon times of greatest procrastination is when I can become the most productive in my side/fun projects; like this.

So here's Foxy Shazam ( fun name too)
with their song Oh Lord!



now back to studying!

Consistently Inconsistent

I know, I have been MIA for about a month or so, things got pretty busy. I wish I could stick to some sort of regimented schedule for this, but I can't and it would probably take the fun out of it. Today I got accosted by an undercover monk, he fist-bumped and tried to give me a golden book. Yep, strange day.

On a different note the sun has come back outside, and it is beautiful out today!

R. E.

R. E. What does it stand for you ask? I will explain henceforth: earlier tonight I was studying in our quiet study room. To give you a mental picture its 10 ft by about 20-30 ft(I'm guessing, I could be way off), there's 3 tables in there and some windows. Anyway, over the years different groups of studying students have taken pains to carve messages into the ceiling. So I was studying, and looked up after reading a wearying piece of text to find the words "Romance Explosion" written on the ceiling. Cryptic, unusual. I thought I would share.

Happy V-day

So also on the topic of socks(see below), I have for you a wonderful music video full of sock puppet played music. A what? you say, how is this possible? Through the ingenious of Hungry Kids of Hungary that's how! By the way I am still in awe of that band name, quite creative. And lastly before I let you behold the magic, VHS tapes, this video incorporates VHS tapes (pretty sure you are hooked now if I didn't have you on the line before, time to reel you in).

Hungry Kids of Hungary
Scattered Diamonds

Sunday, February 14th

I made a wholly great discovery. At some point either deliberately or not I seem to have hidden an extra stash of socks from myself. Yes, this discovery is quite great and clearly explains why I seem to be running out of socks at an accelerated rate previously.

That is all, just thought I'd share the good news.

Come What May

Its cold, you breath out. Your breath is like pure white smoke; stark against the increasing dark skies. A single tear rolls down your cheek; hands cold, gloveless, they ball up into fists. Eyes close for a few seconds...calm, calm...eyes open again, pupils focus themselves, a wolfish smile plays across your lips. You are ready.

things

So I think somewhat often I talk about things that are awesome. I like adventures and things you can do in an afternoon or long term plans that follow through or don't, or scavenger hunts. (I need to find a more focused direction in writing) Anyway, so this video from OK GO is awesome, they shot it all in one take, used a unvirsity's marching band and used people in disguises. It is great, and reinforces my belief in things that are awesome/fun can happen and be created/happen in an afternoon.

OK GO
This Too Shall Pass

OK Go - This Too Shall Pass from OK Go on Vimeo.

11th Dimension

Julian Casablancas of The Strokes has released a solo album somewhat recently. I really like this video and single from it, not sure if the rest of the album is as good, heck I don't even know if this song is that good but this is entertaining anyway.

Julian Casablancas
11th Dimension

Dear Internets

I am having a good few days, have been and am happy. I hope this lasts and if not I shall enjoy it whilst it lasts. Right now I am sitting listening to some Bruce Springsteen its dark outside, everything is alright. So I am going to go have dinner and keep having a good time.

turn it up,
Eric

A break in Work

these weeks go by too darn fast..This weekend was kind of mushy like an old peach without a pit. What do I mean by that? I don't know it was just a very strange weekend with not much actual substance to it. I am in the process of getting a lot of spanish homework done, taking a quick break between two papers to be precise. Well one paper down, not sure how its level of quality is, but whatever, its done; onto the next one.

Wish I could just freeze time, do a whole bunch of stuff and then do fun things that I wouldn't have time for otherwise. Or I should just stop complaining and get my stuff done so I can do fun stuff anyway. And I think I'll try to write a story(not now that would be irresponsible; in the near future).

Right now here's some music, and a fun video, I hope you are having fun right now, wherever, whoever you are.

Because We're Dead
Slow Club

Class transportation

okay, listen. Why do people seem to have such problems getting to class in efficient manners? It just seems many times when walking from class to class outside, I am in the minority of people who walk with a sense of purpose, which is fine, maybe you don't always have a need to be moving fast, I don't. Just...hmm maybe if the sidewalks were larger, that might help. This is just something that irks me slightly, forget about it, its probably not important..I don't have a solution yet anyway.

an observation

Here's just a simple observation I am making. I think perhaps strangers can be the most perceptive and capable of giving the best advice. Without the fences of pre-existing relationship perhaps its easier to see what's really going on. Maybe not, Just a thought..

This year

I plan to accomplish things in this next year. Yes, accomplish things, I will explain further. I do not mean resolutions, I try to be a good person and take care of myself normally. More so I think this is more like a to do list. One that I will probably add to from time to time, until I get bored of the idea or finish it. That sounds reasonable. First let's think of some things I did in the past year that are worth mentioning.

• I started swimming laps near this time last year, by the end of my spring quarter at school I was up to a mile or 64 laps, that I think to be an accomplishment. Possibly I can add to that this year..

• I got certified as a DJ at my radio station down at school and started my own show.

• Successfully put a watermark on a handout, yes it was 10x more classy and awesome.

• learned rudimentary binary and hexadecimal conversions

• took a SCUBA class, so I just need to get certified at some point now

• made some new friends

• started/participated in some awesome dance parties

• made a ten day temporary tattoo of a panda last at least 21 days, maybe 30, yes I washed it, it just wanted to stay.

• Knitted around 4 washcloths, woo

There's probably a lot more but that's all I'm coming up with right now. So as for things I would like to accomplish in the future year that we are 2 days into:

• Be able to successfully do a handstand(I started trying to learn when I was bored one night over break, I will finish!)

• Pick a Major

• Have more awesome adventures

More to be added later.