Press Envy

For fuck knows how long I've been seeing stuff (articles mostly) on NME.com about the Arctic Monkeys. That didn't really bother me mostly because there was an equal amount of articles about the Kaiser Chiefs so I was cool. Before I go much futher I would like state a couple of things:

1. My favorite band is the Kaiser Chiefs. They're not my desert island disc, but I love them all to pieces.
2. I've heard about 4 complete songs off of the Arctic Monkey's debut. Most of what I know is through press. Mind you from what I've heard I think they're pretty spiff.

I woke up this morning, had breakfast and found myself the Arts section of the New York Times. Who should I see on the front page, above the fold but Alex Turner looking like a goon. Alex Turner being the lead singer of the Arctic Monkeys. A nice long article about their music and how they've broken UK records and all that great stuff followed the rather bad picture. A small though lingered around my brain in the after moments of reading the article: Why them?
I'll admit the Kaiser Chiefs rise to stardom was slow and despite their 8 NME Shockwave award noms and 5/6 Brit Awards noms, they haven't gotten the press of the Arctic Monkeys. But what I find sad is how little press they got on this side of the pond. They've gotten good press my Chiefs have, but not in the US. The Arctic Monkey's haven't even released their CD and not only did they get a frontline article in the New York Times but they got a little blurb in this week's Newsweek. So, the question remains: Why them?
Franz Ferdinand is pretty big here. Not anywhere near as big as say Coldplay or U2, but still pretty big. Got some Grammy noms in their basket in fact. As far as I know they got their article in Newsweek after they released YCHISMB. Mind it was bigger and not about breaking records but the point remains.
I don't hate the Arctic Monkeys. I'm sure when their CD comes out (Feb. 21) I'll get it and really like it. I just sort of wish...I wish the Kaiser Chiefs were this big. I want to know more than one person (outside of my friends who can't help but know abou them) who knows who the hell the Kaiser Chiefs are. Seems silly I know but that's just my little dream. Kind of like meeting said band or working for NME when I get older. Dreams that don't seem too outlandish.

I'm breaking my own rules
Becoming someone else
Everybody says I oughtta get over myself
I'm thinking I can't move
If there isn't somewhere else
To go

W.A.S.

This rocked my socks. I would suggest reading the rest of the archive and then go onto the advice section. Tis hi-larious. Anyhoo, I've got work/reading to do. Just dropping by to say hi and all that good stuff.

New Band. Same Deal.

I've listened to the same band for the past 11ish months. Sure there have been variations but at the heart of it all, it's been the same band. This band has grown in intellect or diminished. The band has piano at times but mostly guitars. The lead singer is mainly a man but sometimes he has a sex change and becomes a female. That's a rare occurrence though. The songs the band plays are jumping about rollicking sorts of tunes with occasional depressing one or anthem every once in awhile. The band has a peculiar sense of humor and pessimistic view on the world. Mostly though the band is biting, refusing to give up on mankind even if things look awfully grim. Lots of heartache and such things. Sometimes the band plays utter nonsense, which I like in particular because I don't have a boyfriend so why should I listen to someone complaining about their relationship? I can read the gossip column for that kind of stuff. The band veils they're message at times so you're never quite sure who it is they're talking about or to. I like the band though. Lifts me from sheer boredom and is background to my more important moments. They're songs are constantly stuck in my head so at any time I can recall one and hum it to myself so I'm not as bored as I might have been. Basically the band is awesome to a lesser or greater degree. Shimmery awesomeness in fact. :nods: So who is the band? I thought you might ask. This is the band (I'm doing this person by person, so it's going to be long. I apologize):

Ricky Wilson
Nick Hodgeson
Simon Rix
Andrew "“Whitey" White
Nick "“Peanut" Baines
Brandon Flowers
Ronnie Vannucci
Dave Keuning
Mark Stoermer
Paul Smith
Tom English
Duncan Lloyd
Archis Tiku
Lukas Wooller
Steve Bays
Dante DeCaro
Dustin Hawthorne
Paul Hawley
Damian Kulash
Tim Norwind
Dan Konopka
Andy Ross
Jenny Lewis
Blake Sennet
Pierre de Reeder
Dave Rock
Keith Murray
Chris Cain
Michael Tapper
Win Butler
Regine Chassagne
Richard Parry
Tim Kingsbury
Will Butler
Sarah Neufeld
Jeremy Gara
Alex Kapranos
Nick McCarthy
Bob Hardy
Paul Thompson
Tom Chaplin
Tim Rice-Oxley
Richard Hughes
Julian Casablancas
Nick Valensi
Albert Hammond Jr
Nikolai Fraiture
Fab Moretti

That's the band. In actuallity these are the bands that compromise the band. I probably should have put this first but making the above list was kind of fun. So now I'm just going to list the bands. Sorry. (The bands are in the same order as the above list. You can figure out who's in which for yourself.)

Kaiser Chiefs
The Killers
Maximo Park
Hot Hot Heat
OK Go
Rilo Kiley
We Are Scientists (the new band)
The Arcade Fire
Franz Ferdinand
Keane
The Strokes

You should try the band on for size. Test out the different components. Have fun. I know I do.

!!!

Elanorrose asked:
Will you come to my school? My German lessons aren't as super-fantastisch as they should be!

Nick:
ja klar kein problem
nur wo ist deine verdammte Schule. Egal wir gehen fuer dich bis ans ende dieser Welt.
bis dann

From the online "chat" Franz Ferdinand had. According to reports the server crashed and according to Alex computers were melting. Anyhoo, I just kinda wish I knew what Nick said. I'm sure something horribly witty/snarky because that was the tone of the whole thing, but still. I wish I spoke German. Well proper German. And could read it. :rolls eyes: Ja.
!!!

I sort of feel like a hermit these days. I barely spend anytime with my family. Kind of my nature but it seems sort of strange. Oh I don't really know though. I feel so drifty these days. Like a balloon. Floating through the clouds unaware that a plane or buzzard is coming at me. With a pin to pop me. Yup that's exactly how I feel. Like a balloon.
!!!

I'm off to read Soundbites. Which, for those who don't know, is a column Alex writes for the Guardian food section. Basically, I get to read Alex be incredibly articulate and witty. Much fun.
!!!

Bloody Cliches

I was thinking about writing a deep meditative on the many times I've faked stuff. Sort of pointless though. Everything goes back to the same subject and honestly what can I do now? I can't go back and slap myself in the face and say "Buck up. It only gets worse from here." No the only thing is to move forward and try to do things differently. Admitely it's not easy but it's the only way to go about things. So no deep meditative on depression or my past mistakes. I made them and now I'm trying to make up for them. Won't always work but the point is to try. Get back up on the horse and ride around the coral a few more times. That's the bloody point. Forgive and forget. All those bloody cliches. But to paraphrase T. Pratchett, they're cliches because they're true. So there you go.
Jittery. Yes I would say I'm jittery right now. I know why too, which is slightly disturbing. Maybe this will help fight off the lows of depression but damned if it doesn't feel weird right now. I'm glad I'm starting this experiment today instead of later. Tomorrow I'll be fine to be jittery or whatever the hell will happen with a double dosage because I've got my good classes. Band will no biggie and jitteriness in English doens't hamper my analysis skills and Mr. Vagts is the most forgiving teacher I know. Besides I'm one of his favorites. If I'm bouncing off the walls he'll forgive me. Aaaarrggggggggghhhhh! Jittery hands make typing hard.
(I get to listen to the Arctic Monkey's new CD a month in advance. I love the internet!! I love Xfm!! But more importantly I love the internet.)

Bored. Can Ya Tell?

So I thought I would look at the most recent entries on LJ. I'm just bored enough to find that enjoyable. Noticed that a lot of it was unreadable. In any event I stumbled upon this little survey. Thanks to zooteevee for posting.
Your Life: The Soundtrack
Opening credits: Road to Nowhere - Talking Heads
Waking up: When The Cows Come Home - Blur
Average day: Island of the Honest Man - Hot Hot Heat
First date: You Can Have it All - Kaiser Chiefs
Falling in love: I Never - Rilo Kiley
Love scene: The Crown of Love - The Arcade Fire
Fight scene: Nothing is Good Enough - Aimee Mann
Breaking up: For No One - The Beatles
Getting back together: A Case of You - Joni Mitchell
Secret love: David - Nellie McKay
Life's okay: Float On - Modest Mouse
Mental breakdown: Modern Way - Kaiser Chiefs
Driving: Snowed Under - Keane
Learning a lesson: Waiting - Cake
Deep thought: Confusion - The Zutons
Flashback: The Last Song - The All American Rejects
Partying: Do You Want To/Micheal - Franz Ferdinand
Happy dance: Crash the Party - OK Go
Regreting: Postcard of a Painting - Maximo Park
Long night alone: Let it Rain - OK Go
Death scene: Golden Slumbers/Carry that Weight/The End - The Beatles
Closing credits: Ask Me Anything - The Strokes

Take My Temperature

This week I'm actually sick! Not that it makes being sick any better, but still, I'm not faking!
Anywho, the honor band thing went well until Sunday when I got sick. I was this close to actually going up on stage!! Went through the run through and then about 2 bands in I just decided that there was no way I could play. I felt just god awful. Felt poorly all the way home. Not feeling to hot today either, but my throat doesn't hurt as much. Just a lot of nose shit. In any event the weekend was pretty fun until Sunday. I got into the hightest band (last chair) and really enjoyed playing the music we played. Bunch of lovely pieces. The nights, needless to say, where pretty boring. Blacksburg is not hot spot. Went to the one good resturant there on Friday night. Had dinner at a ver ver fancy resturant in Roanoke on Saturday. Sunday night I was back home so yeah. All in all though, time well spent. I really liked Dr. Casey and Mr. McKee as well. Really nice guys. As I told mums much better than anyone I've ever worked with before. Anywho, good weekend. Except for the whole getting sick thing.
I feel so fuckin' incoherant right now. Mmm...Not much to say. Yeah. See y'all later then.

Quickie Comment

This is frickin' hilarious
My friend Jasmine is a huge fan of Gorillaz. I'm a huge fan of Franz Ferdinand. In the end it all works out lovely and having a sore throat and laughing is hard as shit to do, but damned if I didn't try!! In any event, go read.

So Tired

:mumbles something about getting Ricky's birthday wrong, but she'll be damned if she doesn't make up for it somehow: :mumbles something about being so tired that nothing is right and she's pretty sure if she tries to practice she'll break her clarinet on purpose: :a little more mumbling on Franz Ferdinand and chocolate donuts and how messed up her subconscious is: :rambles on about how tired she is, how she wishes she could sleep and how she's definitely going to bed early. Definitely:
I love this song. It's such a beautiful song, I can't get over it. Every time I listen to this song I think it's so beautiful and how wonderfully talented these guys are and how amazing it is that they could write such a beautiful song. I don't know. Ever since I heard it the first time I have loved this song. I don't think that's always true with me either. Sometimes it takes awhile for a song to grow on me, but with this song I just loved it from the first time. I suppose the only other song that's like that is For No One. I'm fairly certain I've always liked that song (or at least I've always liked that song since I seriously understood it musically.) Yeah. I love this song. (The song is "Eleanor Put Your Boots On.")
Fuck I'm tired. Damn stupid math test. I hope I do well. God I hope I do well.
Franz Ferdinand on repeat. Not such a bad thing really. Oddly enough, incredibly comforting in it's own way. Dunno what it is about them. Franz Ferdinand on repeat = The Beatles last year.

A Rather Silly Update

:shock face: I have a connection speed of 36Mbps!! I love this thing!!
You see I have a new computer. My very old one is currently sitting on the chair I have in my room, which is used mostly to hold things, and only very rarely is sat upon. The old thing almost looks forlorn, a bit like the Luggage, except I know it's not alive. This new one though...light as a feather and all silver shinny. I like it. :sigh: Good old computer.
Brandon Flowers, I've decided, could have been singing crap and I would have liked the Killers. He sold them and I bought them. But you know who I get all giggly about and who's birthday I'm "celebrating" on Wednesday/Thursday? The guy who's liner notes picture I thought was ooogly. No, the Kaiser Chiefs sold me their music without a pretty face. I suppose that's why I "care" about them more. That and the fact that I have no real life, so what else is there to talk about?
:shrugs: I'm feeling slightly incoherant right now. I best get to work now.

A Message From Nore

HAPPY early BIRTHDAY RICKY!!!!!!!!

This week is the boy's birthday. Here's a wonderful pic spam that ohsparrow made in honor of such things. Proper celebratory things will be done on...Wednesday because I'm leaving for Blacksburg on Thursday. But my friends will know it's his b-day. In fact they won't here the end of it. :)
Proper update my occur. We shall see. Otherwize, enjoy the picspam and listen to t'Chiefs, cuz ya know you want to. Besides, you love them as much as me...right?

Mind Ramblings (Sundays are Slower Every Week)

Sundays seem like really good days to let the time go by real slow and let ideas pass through like molasses and such substances. Sundays always bring to mind that song by the Zutons. "Not Much To Do." Slow song, mentions Sundays and rain. Good song actually. In any event Sundays are possibly one of the slower days of the week as I think I mentioned last Sunday. But this Sunday seems to be going by particuarly slow. I think this is due to the fact that I haven't done jack shit in the last 4 days. 3 days actually, though today is looking like it's going to join the club. I have done part of my history homework which I hope to finish in the next 3 hours along with some practicing. I also ripped a bunch of CDs I thought would be good to have. Otherwize I've done as close to jack shit as one can without being dead. :nods: Yes this Sunday is going by very slowly.
I tried listening to all of Fall Out Boy's latest CD. I didn't make it, which made me disappointed. I keep trying to listen to groups that don't fit the "mold", try to expand my horizons and all that crap. Sometimes it works but there are quite a few times when it doesn't. I feel slightly bad because I don't want to be a indie ilitist who only listens to unsigned bands and thinks everyone on the radio is a sell out. Mind you most of my favorite bands don't make it to the radio, or if they do they aren't played very often by any station I can listen to. Nonetheless I want to be more broad minded than I use to be and so the fact that I can't get all the way through a Fall Out Boy CD makes me rather sad. Until of course Sophs reminds me that it's okay not to like Fall Out Boy, just as long as I give them the old freshman try. You can't simply dismiss bands on pretense without even giving them a listen. Still. I'm a bit disappointed. I might try again later this week. We shall see.
While I was ripping CDs, Sophs and I listened to the XM radio. We were listening to the Top 20 station (which I think is actually channel 20, but that's beside point) when Hoobastank came on. The Reason. I'm not particuarly proud to admit this but I still remember the chorus and most of the inflections in the song. As I was singing along to the song I started thinking about the CDs I got around that time. A few good songs and the rest of the CD was usually a disappointment. I have a lot of CDs in my room sitting on nice little CD holder things that in hindsight I wish I didn't have. I rarely if ever listen to them and thinking about it, seems like a rather expensive waste of money. It seems to me that what with the mass whine that was coming out of the radio around 2002/2003, the fact that I was getting CDs that ended up being disappointing overall and an incredibly depressing outlook, I can kind of understand why I stopped trusting pop music. Or at least anything new coming out of the music industry. A nice final explanation for why I listened to nothing but the Beatles for a year and half. Maybe now I can stop feeling guilty about making fun of Hot Hot Heat and not paying attention to Franz Ferdinand.
Hmmm...not much else to say. Still glad I have the Zutons. I might not listen to them very often, but when I do I'm glad I have them. :smiles: I just remembered something. I go the Zutons and Interpol at Planet 9, which is where I heard the Kaiser Chiefs for the first time. :smiles: Liverpool and Leeds. I wonder who will come out the winner in the long run?

Survey, thing. I was bored

10 LAYERS OF Nore (Baron Bon S)

LAYER ONE: ON THE OUTSIDE
Name: Nora “Nore”
Birth date: May 10th
Birth place: Washington, DC
Current Location: Reston
Eye Color: Hazel, green, according to my uncle blue
Hair Color: very very nearly black, though it’s gotten lighter in the past year
Righty or Lefty: Righty
Zodiac Sign: Dragon, though most people wouldn’t think that

LAYER TWO: ON THE INSIDE
Your heritage: European mix of sorts
Wut Shoes Did You Wear Today: none, stayed inside all day
Your weakness: NME recommended music
Your fears: failing again and again and bees
Your perfect pizza: UNO’s pepperoni pizza
Goal you'd like to achieve: somehow meet Ricky Wilson and not seem like a complete fool

LAYER THREE: YESTERDAY
Your thoughts: Ricky…assorted made up characters…the Strokes
Your best physical feature: lips and hands
Your bedtime: 10 on week days, 10-11 on weekends
Your most missed memory: Too many

LAYER FOUR: YOUR PICK:
Pepsi or Coke: Coke
McDonald's or Burger King: McDonalds
Single or group dates: Single
Adidas or Nike: Nike
Lipton Tea or Nestea: neither, I don’t like tea
Chocolate or vanilla: chocolate
Cappuccino or coffee: Coffee

LAYER FIVE: DO YOU?
Smoke: nope, death on a stick/prolonged suicide
Cuss: in my head mostly, though sometimes I slip and say it out loud. I think people would be shocked to know that I curse quite a lot.
Take a shower: yes, works better than baths
Think you've been in love: I thought I was, maybe I was, but now I hate him so it doesn’t matter
Liked high school: this year is going alright, but for the most part no
Want to get married: yup.
Do you believe in yourself?: Most of the time. In English and History. And in singing for the most part. Otherwize no.
Get motion sickness: Only if I’m reading
Think you're a health freak: No, unless eating deserts all the time counts
Get along with your parents: most of the time, though there are plenty of off moments

LAYER SIX: IN THE PAST MONTH
Drank alcohol: I don’t think so…no I haven’t
Gone on a date: -_-
Gone to the mall: Despite the recent holidays, I haven’t been there recently. Not that I mind.
Been on stage: Yup. Band, band and more band.
Eaten Sushi: yuck no
Been dumped: -_-
Gone skating: No
Gone skinny dippin: yes because you know I love being seen naked (glares)
Dyed your hair: I like my own hair thank you

LAYER SEVEN: HAVE YOU EVER
Played a game that required removal of clothing: no
Gotten beaten up: no, I’m too invisible to have anyone want to hit me.
Changed who you were to fit in: no, I haven’t done that in a long time. I rather prefer being crazy.

LAYER EIGHT: GETTING OLDER
Age you hope to be married: sometime after I leave college
Numbers of Children: I haven’t thought about that, though I think 2 is the limit really
Describe your dream wedding: Sleeveless white dress, small church, lilies and imprudent thoughts of the wedding night :)
How do you want to die: I don’t want to know…I don’t like thinking about that sort of thing
What country would you most like to visit: UK, UK, UK, UK, UK, UK, UK, UK!!!! Anywhere, anytime. UK!!!!

LAYER NINE: IN A GAL/GUY
Best eye color?: blue, green, brown…doesn’t matter as long as their beautiful
Best hair color?: brown region, though veering on the side of blonde is alright, just dark blonde really
Short or long hair: Indie-punk, but a bit shorter and not so much hair gel stuff.
Height: 6 foot or above
Clothing: Franz Ferdinand, Kaiser Chiefs, OK Go…classy, not preppy.

LAYER TEN: IN THE NUMBERS
Number of people I can trust: 2 to 3
Number of CD's: a lot, a lot
Number of piercings: one in each ear
Number of tattoos: none but I’d like one
Number of times been on T.V: never, not that I want to be on TV. Rather be crucified or something.
Number of times my name has appeared in the paper: Never. See above answer for feeling on this.
Number of scars on my body: Bug bites, time I fell of the toilet seat and hit the sink when I was little…that’s it.

A Post with Links

You can see her nipples!! No bra. All the while she just looks like she has a sack on. As if it were no big deal. And that is why (or part of why) I could never be a model. I would insist on having a bra.

The Strokes - Ask Me Anything. Mind you the lyrics (looking at them now) are highly repeative, but the way Julian Casablancas sings it, you can't really tell. The music behind him is glorious, but when he sings "I've got nothing to say" you know he's telling the truth. I know that feeling, when everything seems to have been said and as much as you would like, there's nothing to say. Which is why I love this song. And a lot of what the Strokes write.

Clicken Gold. The most damn obsessive game in the world. Especially when you set up your own special rules that make it slightly harder. Like, in the first four level you have to clear all the blocks. Or in the in the first 10 levels you have to get all the coins. Preferably of course it would be nice to get all the coins up through the first 12 levels, but sometimes it doesn't always work out like that. In any event people get up to level 96, so I'm not the only person who's a little obsessed. I just don't have the patience to get that high. I think the highest I've gotten is 50. I was really bored.

In any event that's all for the links. I haven't got any real interesting news. Mostly just boring tidbits. For instance I started and finished "Equal Rites" today. I've started "Mort." :nods: The Redskins lost their game today 10-20. It was agains the Seattle Seahawks. I wasn't really paying attention to the actual game, but my Dad was which is how I know that we lost. I think it's cool that we got the play offs. I was impressed with that. Anyway, that's the jist of today. Incredibly boring.

I corrected this post. I would like to point out that if anything seems amiss it's because I don't usually check to make sure it all reads well untill I've posted it. And spell check doesn't check grammar. Just spelling. In any event, I just thought you might like to know that. Bye

Playing Sick

(Prays that nobody in her family actually reads this journal. Continues...) I'm going to get a 5 day weekend. Today and yesterday I said I was sick. I'm not actually, I'm just glad I didn't have to go to school. You see both mums and Sophs have been sick recently and so have a couple other people I know at school. I figure it's pretty logical that I would get sick eventually. So yesterday morning I told mums I didn't feel good, that I just couldn't go to school. I feel slightly evil, but really I kind of needed today and yesterday off. You see on Wednesday I woke up tired. Really tired. :shrugs: I probably won't do it ever again the rest of the year. I just needed someone (laughs) to know.
That's kind of it for this post. Not much has happened in the past two days (shock!) so I figure I'll just leave it with this. Have a nice weekend.

R. Wilson

(drum roll) The new and improved R. Wilson (booya for crazy fangirlness):


There are two theories as to why he changed his haircut from this:

Sophie's theory is that when he went home for Christmas is parents/friends/possible girlfriend(hopefully not) berated him and told him he need a good shave and no crazy "monk" hair cuts. My theory is that someone tipped him off to the fact that multiple (and by multiple I mean whole insane masses) of his fan base did not like the new look. Mind you it could be both. All I know is that I'm glad the semi-beard is gone and that he combed his hair proper like. And that every single time I look at the top picture I start giggling. Because I'm a loon. I also know that there are a running total of 35 comments on his new hairstyle, though some of them are by the same people.
The fangirls rejoice. (Not only for the hair style change. The Kaiser Chiefs were nominated for 5 Brit Awards: British Group, MasterCard Group, Breakthrough Act, Best Live Act, and Best Rock Act. I hope they win them all.)

Memories

I wrote this as extra credit for English. It seems a bit formal, but I rather like it better than the other piece I'm going to turn in. In any event the piece is called "Wonder Wall (A Memory." The wall described is actually in my room (shock!). When I go off to college I'll probably take it all down, pack it up and bring it with me. Every last item. I love my wall. (P.S.- The lyric quoted at the end of the piece is from Chicago. I use to sing that song at the top of my lungs. It meant a lot to me. The song is called "Nowadays.")

The wall stares out into my room. I can feel the memories as I walk past to my bed, as I walk out of the room to the downstairs. The faces in the picture, smiling, unknowing and ignorant of the future and all that it entails. The post card a friend sent me from Edinburgh in 8th grade. The drawings made by that same friend, one of them my alter ego. The caricature drawn of me when I still had braces and long hair. I remember sitting for it, wondering what was being drawn on the other side of the table. My eyes move up to the bumper sticker I got in 8th grade as an advertisement. “Shenandoah Shakespeare: We Do it With the Lights On.” A little bit to the left my first rated-R movie that I saw by myself and the ticket to my first real rock concert. Memories contained in pieces of paper, bound to the trash can when I’m much, much older. When I have forgotten the paper’s importance, what it meant to me. When all the memories have seeped out into the ether, obtained by someone new. Below the Beatles poster sit four smiling faces. One is mine, one of the friend I relied upon in 8th grade, one of the friend who had worse it than me, one of the friend who left and changed completely. We smile for my mother’s camera, not realizing that in 50 years it will all be forgotten. Our futures on the other side of the lens, which we can’t see. A piece of paper, laminated, pinned to the wall with a push pin. A wall full of memories and stories. “In fifty years or so/ It’s going to change you know/ But oh it’s heaven/ Nowadays.”

If You Knew What I'm Thinking, You Would Be Scared

I need to start practicing soon. I don't really want to practice that much, so I'm holding off as much as possible. Mind you I have to practice for an hour, so the longer I put this off the closer I am to practicing right into dinner. In any event, I only have a few minutes before I need to get my ass down stairs, so this will be fairly quick.
Yesterday was District Auditions. In general I hate auditions for anything. If I have to do an interview for college I'll probably freak out and mess up. I just don't do very well under high stress conditions. Yesterday though went very well for me. I only messed up on one scale, did pretty alright on my chromatic (which you have to play super fast, every note on the instrument up to a really high evil note and tongue down, which is mean at a fast tempo) the prepared piece went mostly as expected and the sight reading was crappy but somewhere in tempo and mostly in rythem. I was actually really pleased with how I did. I think yesterday's audition was the best audition I've done. :claps for herself: Now I just have to wait and see.
I've finally finished my math investigation. The intro and conclusion are complete crap and I think the part in the conclusion where I talk about what I learned is so smart alecky, I'm almost embarrased to turn it in. But this whole thing has been a complete waste of time for me and I'm genuinly pissed off at Mr. Sharp for picking this particular one. But then again I only have 2 and bit quarters left of this class. Hopefully we won't have to do another one. If we do, I will kick and scream profusly (in my room mind you. Not in class.)
So, that's it. I'll see you tomorrow or Tuesday. We shall see.

Between Love & Hate

THE STROKES LYRICS - Between Love & Hate
I love this song. Especially the chorus. Really, really speaks to me. :gags on her new age sentence: Just a quickie post to mention that. Because ya know, no one really updates on Sundays.

Strokes

Strokes do bad things to people. The most recent example of this Ariel Sharon. Poor guy.
Strokes don't do things to people as well. The only example I can of this is when you stroke a cat. Except I think that's suppose to lower your blood pressure. In any event you can stroke a lot of other things as well. Like fur, or cloth, or people. The last one can be a bit disturbing though. So forget about that. You can stroke your hair. You can stroke a guitar. If done in a certain way, stroking a guitar can sound very pretty. I think you get the jist of this. In fact according to dictionary.com there are multiple definitions for stroke. And now that I've typed it enough, stroke is startin' to look kinda weird. Moving on!
The Strokes first CD came out in 2001. I was in 7th grade. (Redskins just won the wildcard game. My family is yelling in happines. Thought you might like to know.) I was depressed more than likely. They used some weird effect that kind of seemed to cover the lead singer's voice. I was particularly partial to it. I was kind of moving towards hating all popular music. Needless to say, I haven't listened to the first, or for that matter the second, CD in...well since either first came out.
I think this is sort of funny. I really got into the Kaiser Chiefs and so started searching for anything that would give me information about them. In the course of things I learned about the hype around Franz Ferdinand, mainly from NME, listened to their first CD and fell. I've been checking NME everyday (or almost everyday, at least once) for awhile now. At least since the summer I think. In any event, the Strokes 3rd CD was highly hyped. But not only by NME. By, seemingly, everyone. Juicebox, the first single, was highly hyped. I was vaguely interested, at least interested enough to watch the video. I heard the song on our new XM radio and, ya know what, I thought "Hey. Not so bad."
So what's funny? It seems to be that I have to be told what I should be liking to even pay attention. Sometimes what I'm suppose to like, I don't actually like but for the most part it turns out for the best. I guess what I'm trying to say is that for all the obscurity and trendiness of the music I listen to, I'm not really a trendsetter. To me, the fact that it took 2 CDs and 5 years for me to get interested in the Strokes kinda tells you something about me. The only exceptions are the Killers, Kaiser Chiefs, Keane, and Maximo Park. Somebody (Sophs) told me I would like OK Go. Somebody (NME) told me that I would like the Strokes new CD. Somebody (more than likely NME) told me to pay attention to Franz Ferdinand. Somebody (Yahoo) told me I would like Arcade Fire. Somebody (Yahoo again) told me I would like Rilo Kiley. Mind you, I had to listen, I had to approve. But except for the exceptions, I was informed, I did not find.
I keep thinking I'm a hypocrite. Sure, everyone to some extent is a hypocrite but I think I'm a pretty big hypocrite. :shrugs: But what can I do? I just need to be nudged a little. Besides, I don't claim anything. I am who I am. No lables that aren't true, no boxed in title I need to somehow fufil. So yes, I am a hypocrite. But so are the Strokes. And everyone else.

Pic Spam

At Live Journal there is a tradition of sorts that involves something called a pic spam. People collect a bunch of pictures, put them under a "lj cut" and other people comment on the spam. The main places I've seen these are at communities devoted to one person or one band. Mostly I've seen them at the former, though every once in awhile you see them at the latter. Sadly, I'm what you would call a lurker. I don't post anything, I don't say anything, I don't comment on anything. I look at everything, right click-save what I like and nobody is bothered by me. I currently have about 16 pictures or Ricky, 9 pictures of Brandon, 6 pictures of Tom and an assortment of other pictures of other people. I thought y'all might be interested in seeing some of these. :shrugs: Hell why not?

Ricky wearing a "gumby" hat. Gumby is a character from Monty Python's Flying Circus (as well as the blue one. I'm not talking about the blue one.) He wore a hat like that and suspenders. He was a bit of an idiot. In fact the character was a complete and utter idiot. Ricky isn't. He just wearing a similar hat.

Monkey/Bat boy. Need I say more?

There are multiple pictures of Ricky doing silly things. Some are sillier than others. I like this one because he's eating his mic. There's no other way to put it, there's nothing else to be said. He's simply eating his mic. And you wonder why I think rock stars are crazy.

And then there's the dork in everyone. No, I don't think video games are cool. I think video games are incredibly dorky. And Ricky just looks so happy. Ya know for all their supposed coolness, I honestly think rock stars are very similar to the weirdos and oddities that you see in high school. Except now nobody thinks they're weird. They think they're the coolest things since sliced bread. Unless of course you see pictures like this. Then you remember where rock stars come from. :smiles: Kinda makes ya feel better doesn't it?

Peanut (to the left) plays keyboards/piano and doesn't talk. Ricky (to the right) drinks beer, pogos around the stage, sings, and in general looks rather dashing. When I saw this picture I thought of Schroeder and Lucy from Peanuts (the comic strip.) :smiles: Either that or it's Schroeder and Snoopy. Either one works really. :smiles:
Well that's it for my pic spam. These are some of my favorites because really, everything I save is my favorite. I don't just collect pictures for the heck of it. I do it only for the ones I like. I hope you enjoyed this episode of "Nore Goes Crazy a Wee Bit More."

Friends

You can't deny the power of influence close friends have. If you hang around people who are motivated, both academically and socially, you're bound to act the same way. If you hang around people who do drugs all the time, eventually you'll do drugs as well. If your friends are cheerleaders, chances are you're either a cheerleader or pretty peppy too. That's sort of the point of friends. They don't necessarily have to be your identical twin in any way, but chances are you and your friends have a lot more in common than you might think. But if you deny the influence they have over you, you're essentially denying that peer pressure exists. Sadly I have a few too many experiences with such influences, largely bad. Because of my "friends" in 7th grade I started on a downward spiral to bad grades and bad feelings. My friends at Stu were a slight improvement, but honestly I never got close enough to the people who could have done me some good to let the good vibes pour over me. Instead I got close to the people who were almost as fucked up (or just as fucked up) as me and who weren't really motivated to do anything. In 10th grade I didn't have any friends. Well, Loghman was sort of a friend, but I wouldn't really call him that. At least not in 10th grade. I had acquaintances, but not much else. And we all know how great 10th grade was. It wasn't until this year that I a) have friends and b) have friends who have a positive influence on me. So yes, I do partially "blame" my friends for my success this year.
But no I do not blame Sophie's friends for her depression. Honestly, I don't think they helped, but they didn't make it happen and they didn't make it worse. But I do believe that if Sophie hung out with people who were more academically minded, things wouldn't have been so bad. I could be wrong, but as much as my depression wasn't anyone's fault I honestly don't think it would have been so bad if I hadn't been hanging out with the people I did in 7th and 9th grade. So the fact that Sophie is ignoring this, denying that her friends have no influence over her and her choice of friends has nothing to do with her depression or low self-esteem is bullshit. Yes I have been through depression with "crappy" friends and yes I have been through some damn stressful periods with "non-crappy" friends. I know in my heart of hearts that I wouldn't have made it through the way I did if it weren't for the fact that I had Jackie and Loghman to bitch to. Sophie's never had that. So yes, I do think her friends are losers. But until she realizes that being socially fucked up and academically motivated is better than being unmotivated in general, then there's not a goddamn thing I can do. I just hope she figures it out sooner rather than later.

Lyrics (a continuation of me posting lyrics)

There isn't a lot I wouldn't do to post lyrics to songs that I really like. But see, usually, someone else has already written them up and posted them somewhere. So it's simple matter of copy/paste. A few minor changes and such and such, but otherwize fairly simple. Sadly though this is not a normal situation. No one has posted lyrics for Oh No. So I get to write them up from the liner notes. Which is really annoying and tedious, but for the sake of posterity, worth it. So here we go.

Let It Rain (exactly the way it's written in the liner notes)
Super automatic pilot motor running in the parking lot. Self-sustaining system bit her in the neck and quick and kissed her and took all she got. Did you come here to dance? What's in your glass? Do you feel better? Let it rain, let it pour. Hallelujah. Let it rain, let it pour. Cruise control distressed her, kind of cursed and kind of blessed her engine running on the fumes. Vision blue and blurry, fallen angles in flurry spinning through the empty room. Did you come here to dance? What's in your glass? Do you feel better now? Let it rain, let it pour. Hallelujah. Let it rain, let it pour. Super automatic pilot motor running down circles in the parking lot. Self-sustaing system bit her in the neck and quick and kissed her and took all she got. Let it rain, let it pour.

Crash the Party
You're not the prettiest girl in town, and I'm not the only boy with sullied clothes and a sullen frown, so to hell with Valentine's, to hell with perfume, to hell with chocolates and picnics and Sinatra tunes. 'Cause while the rest of the girls are drowning in roses and songs he composes, and while the rest of the guys are all trying so hard, oh, let's crash the party. El Dorado on the lawn. Let's burn holes in the carpets, kicking, shouting, dancing on the tables all night long. I'm not so good with subtlety. You wouldn't say that I'm the picture of urbanity. Never put much stock in suavity or courtesy or chivalry or gallantry or all that useless jewelery, but while the rest of the girls still sigh for the night he was smiling politely, and while the rest of the guys are all trying so hard, oh girl, let's crash the party. El Dorado on the lawn. Let's burn holes in the carpets, kicking, shouting, dancing on the tables all night long. All night long.

I would write up another one, but I'd rather not. In any event.
In any event. (Smiles. Thinks about Ricky and Damian. Thinks about her little dream of being a rock star, knowing full well that she couldn't actually be one. She'd be no good at it. Dreams of meeting all the rock stars she loves. Hopes that maybe one day someone will write a song about her. Smiles again and finishes the entry.)