Exam Week Interruption

:Minor brain explosion: (See here for reason)
I haven't actually read the article (don't have time don't ya know) but just the headline causes my brain to explode ever so slightly. That and the photo, but really that's to be expected.
I'll be off then. Cheers.

Three Weeks

The following is three weeks of Friday Fives. I'm bored and stressed and need something to take my mind off of my stress and boredom. That and Dr. Baker scares me and I need to focus on something other than that.

1. Whats harder to live without, chocolate or alchohol?
Chocolate, since I don't really like alcohol to begin with.

2. Does the colour yellow remind you of anything?
PEO? My Kaiser Chiefs tour shirts? The Yellow Pages?

3. Who most annoyed you last week?
You mean besides my roommate? And my relatives? (Yes I am answering everything in question format because it's fun)

4. Do you have a cutesy romantic nickname for your partner (or previous partners)?
No. -_-

5. What is your favourite Stephen King movie?
I don't have one! Ha ha!

1. Love at First Sight: Fact or Fiction?
I want it to be fact, I really, really do!

2. Fortune Telling: Fact or Fiction?
Fiction, unless you're in a movie in which case it's fact.

3. Other Life: Fact or Fiction?
Other life? What the hell does that mean? Parallel universe kind of stuff? If so, then in between the two.

4. Afterlife: Fact or Fiction?
Gah. Dunno.

5. Bigfoot: Fact or Fiction?
FACT!! Because that would be awesome.


1. If you had the ability to legally change your name, would you? To what?
Yes and I would change it to Trillion or Fenchurch, just for shits and giggles.

2. What do you with with change that you receive from banks/purchases/find on the ground?
Well most of the time I use it to buy junk food and soda, but yesterday I divided up my spare change between by two roommates because I was feeling particularly nice.

3. If you could travel back in time to change the course of one historical event, what event would it be?
I wouldn't because then Reapers would come and destroy the world.

4. Would you rather live a safe, stable, moderately interesting life or one where every day was dangerous, volatile, and different?
Can I have a mix?

5. What do you think you'll be remembered for when you die and, if you could, would you change it to something else?
Being an absolute looney and no I wouldn't change that. I like being known as an absolute looney.

Mercurial

Well things have improved dramatically since last night, at least in terms of my "home" situation. It's amazing how mercurial she is.
In other news, Last Bus Home wrote an interesting entry that oddly enough reflects many of the entries I've written over the past four years. Namely, the pointless entry for the showing off of X. Or this entry actually. Anyway, I would have something else to write about if NME.com would load. But it's not, so I have nothing. Sorry.
Ta until laters.

Lord Get Me Through This

So, I've been having a bad time of it lately, mainly because it's the last week of classes and don't handle the end of the year/semester that well. I never have and I suspect I never will, but nonetheless it is a very stressful time of the year. What doesn't help, however, is the fact that my New England roommate has turned into an iceberg around me. She barely acknowledges me presence and when she does her tone is just slightly above civil. So I'm being made to feel like a piece of shit by one of my roommates which only compounds the stress I'm feeling from finals. Last night I went in my stocking feet down to the basement and when I found that place had people in it, I speed walked my over to the practice rooms at Pollard. In my bare feet without my key-card. Granted I did feel a lot less stressed when I was done, and didn't have to wait at all for someone to show up to let me in, but I don't think I should be in such a desperate state as to walk out of my dorm in my barefeet, just so I can get away from my roommate(s). Sadly, there is nothing to be done about it. B**ch roommate handles stress one way and I handle it in a very different and opposing way and ne'er shall the twain betwixt. Or something like that. I just wish my life wasn't such in such a shitty place right now. Thankfully I have my classes and my time away from my room to counteract the horribleness of my "home" life. I just wish I never had to "home."

My Lyrics are Bottomless

I have said this before, but I will say it again: Ain't no party like my nana's tea party! Hey! Ho!
God I love Flight of the Conchords sometimes.
Edit: There is something to be said for either an artist or a band that insist on being fair to their fans. Case on point, Alex Turner side project The Last Shadow Puppets have released their single "The Age of the Understatement" in the US through someone other than iTunes. It makes me happy, what can I say. Also, I miss Muse. I really want to see them again. 0_0 They're so much fun!

A Rather Silly Update

This update will be done in the form of headlines with links, because I'm lazy and a little busy. Enjoy

British Kaiser Chiefs fans bitch about warm-up gigs not being "close enough." American fans blow raspberries at them for complaining at all.

The Pipettes lose two members and no one cares.

The Washington Post live reviewers get something right. Nore is shocked. (Second review after, the Mortensen trio)

That's it. Nikki is currently making it impossible to type with both hands, so I'll bid you all adieu until I have some more time. So hopefully the next time I write I'll be posting the Kate Nash set list avec comments. Till then, adieu

Quiet

I'm currently sitting in the study room at Trinkle putting off writing a complete thought in my history paper. I've been at this since 6 and so far I've gotten three pages, based mostly on the fact that I have somewhat lengthy footnotes. The paper is only suppose to be four pages, so the fact that I have three is a good thing, but it also means that the majority of it is crap and quotes from my primary resources. However, from past experience, all this means is that I'll get an okay grade on the paper and comments similar to the ones I had on my first paper. However, it is nice to be some place quiet, especially considering how hectic today has been. I actually thought it was Thursday based solely on how stressed out I was.
In the little spare time that I did have today I cut my bangs. According to Prof. Tavenier it makes me look Irish, but in my opinion I cut them too short. Thankfully my bangs grow quickly and will soon be covering my eyebrows again. Also I'm fairly certain they are in no way even, but what can you expect from someone who has no training in haircutting?
I'm going home tomorrow to see Kate Nash, so a play list will be up probably on Friday. Saturday is Mums birthday and then Sunday I have a chorus concert. Monday is my final recital and the beginning of my last week of classes. I'm in utter shock that it's the end of the year, but given the amount of stress I'm currently under, I really shouldn't be.
On a final note, Dr. Long is an absolute sweetheart and complete looney. I'm really glad I get to have him as a teacher again next year. And the semester after that. Oh, and I got a bear from the University of Westminster. His name is Richard Kent. ;)

Cute

Summer season has started (as the weather in this town can prove) and in the vain hope that my favourite band might be venturing out into the wide world (they are, just not here) I checked their site for any updates. First thing I see is a petition to give Leeds United 15 points back. I've absolutely no clue what they're talking about or how Leeds United lost 15 points over the past football season, but there you have it. A petition to get those damned points back. On the front page of the Kaiser Chiefs website. So cute.

Music Critics

Music critics are some of the most pretentious pricks known to man. Here is my reasoning:
In effort to broaden my horizons while also following the rules of the radio station, I've decided to feature one new album a week. For this week I was thinking of featuring Los Campesinos! who are a Welsh band that have gotten much attention and an A from the AV Club. However, I was also hoping to shed some light on the album/band I'm featuring and so I was gathering reviews from other outlets such as the NME, Drowned in Sound, and Fake DIY. This was obviously a bad idea because now I'm not going to be featuring Los Campesinos! and I think music critics are pretentious pricks with sticks up there asses and a God complex to beat the bands.
First we have Drowned in Sound. The reviewer, Dom Passantino, starts the review by bashing the demise of Britpop and then goes on to bash the Kinks. Now, I know I'm prejudice against anyone who bashes the Kinks, but I'm willing to accept such a bashing if it makes sense. And yes, I also understand the most people in Wales identify themselves first and foremost as Welsh and then British, but this does not mean they are somehow immune to what's happening on the rest of the island. Making Wales out to be France is idiotic and claiming that someone from Wales could never be influenced by one the of the biggest names in rock (not just British rock) is even more idiotic. Culture permeates and can not be avoided, no matter how much wish it weren't so. In making a claim otherwise you are showing cultural ignorance of the top order. So that's Drowned in Sound.
The NME spends the first paragraph of it's review talking about how good music goes beyond genre and how "indie" music is "more a mindset than a musical style, and one that values ideas, imagination and anti-sexist, anti-racist ideologies above record sales and profit margins." The reviewer then goes on to say that musically the album is boring but lyrical provocative in that it sticks to the above mentioned epitaphs. Los Campesinos! are, as they say "a band to believe." Just like every other indie band.
Thus far I've got pretentious culturally ignorant prick and bollocking grandiose prick. Let's see what Fake DIY and the AV Club have to say about it.
AV Club: Twee!! But the good kind like Belle and Sebastian twee. Also, those lyrics, oh they are to die for.
Fake DIY: Lyrics!! And happiness!!! Hurrah!!!
So two pretentious and two taking the thing at face value and not reading into the album or bending it around to fit the reviewer's views. As you can see music critics come in two forms: Pretentious dicks and people who actually enjoy music. Yes I analyse the Kinks and Kaiser Chiefs to death, but hypocrisy is my middle name and the Kinks were born to analyse. Kaiser Chiefs are another matter.

Frazzled

I'm beyond frazzled right now (band set-up gone awry, dealing with little kids and my inability to make small talk, life in general) and so I'm listening to the Cribs. They're cynical "I hate everyone" attitude makes me feel better about hating everyone at the moment. So in honour of my mood and the Cribs, here are the lyrics to one of my favourite songs by them. Hopefully I'll give a real update sometime in the future. Or not, we'll see.

"Things Aren't Going to Change" --- The Cribs

Well I've been drinking for days and I'm happy to say
That we've been leading you on so you'd do it our way
You've had a little success but you're too hard to impress
So raise your standards, change your number
It's for the best
And though I don't want you to stay
There's something about the way that
You say the words that you've rehearsed, now
I think I should explain
Things aren't gonna change
And last October when it took over
The boy was grabbed by his new controller
I'm shifting all the blame
But I still I feel the same

I didn't know what to say when I saw you alone
You say you do what you want but you do what you're told
I fell in love with you gaze, I fell in love with your name
We need to know what to say if we're playing your games

And though I don't want you to stay
There's something about the way that
You say the words that you've rehearsed, now
I think I should explain
Things aren't going to change
And last October when it took over
The boy was grabbed by his new controller
I'm shifting all the blame
But still I feel the same, yeah

And although it makes no difference I still know that
It's got nothing to do with the way I'm without you

Panic (!) at the Disco

This past summer I giddily read that Panic! at the Disco was no more. Of course the writer's at Drowned in Sound were just playing with my mind and the band had merely gotten rid of the exclamation point and had not, as I thought, disbanded. Little less than six months later here I am, listening to them. It's odd how the world works.
Panic at the Disco's new album Pretty. Odd. is a complete rip off. It seems that the band listened to everything the Beatles ever recorded and decided that they were going to do the same thing. In one album. Add to the mix an orchestral arrangement to every track and you have Pretty. Odd. Now the last three sentences might sound like I'm going to rip the album to shreds, but I generally don't listen to things I don't like and so I'm just as shocked as you when I say, completely ripping off late-era Beatles with orchestral arrangements works for this group. This is not to say that the album is brilliant (the Beatles did it better) or terribly original (the Beatles did it better) but Pretty. Odd. is peformed by a band whose last tour was a circus. Literally. So over the top theatrics and vocal harmonies work incredibly well and make for an album that's fun and completely radio friendly.
I know nearly zilch about Panic! at the Disco nor do I know much of anything about Panic at the Disco. The only thing I know about the band is that they got bottled two years in a row at the festival(s) formerly known as Carling Weekend and that in 2006 they lost their original bassist. I've never listened to more than a snippet of their first album and so have no idea whether Pretty. Odd. is an improvement, complete departure, or typical sophomore album. However, I do know that the band seems to employ nonsensical lyrics to make a point about typical rock band song topics. They have catchy hooks and choruses that lure in the listener like a fish to bait. Vocal harmonies are in heavy use and can be heard in every single song on the album, save "I Have Friends in Holy Spaces" which instead pretends that it's from the late 1920's/early 1930's. All in all it is what I've said before: A radio-friendly singles-laden album that hipsters in NYC won't feel too bad saying they own. It is neither brilliant nor horrible, merely passable in a good way.

Firsties

First: Ain't no party like my nanna's tea party. Hey! Ho!
Second: I almost died at Border's on Saturday because, I found out, there was a time when Glen Hansard had long hair.
(Directions for the above pictures: First one he's on the right hand side. Second one he's on the bottom left side, the one with the really long curly hair.)
Third: I spent basically my whole weekend either at the radio station, Central Park, or my room. It was brilliant.
Fourth: I'm taking a history of jazz, social issue, and music theory as of right now. I also broke it to my voice teacher that I'm not going to be a voice major. All is right with the world.
Fifth: Finished my first Washington Post crossword on Friday and my second one today. Very proud.
Ta until much later.

Jump Up, Jump Down

Shocking fact: I don't have a good picture of R jumping. I was trying to show Clark a good picture of the man's signature and I couldn't find one on my hard drive. As Allison pointed out, I could have just googled for a picture, but the point, in my mind, is I don't have one. On the other hand, Clark is my best buddy and tried to show me the difference between different kinds of guns. It was almost sweet in a way.

Insanity is Fun

My English paper has changed again. The topic hasn't changed, but the formatting has, but the formatting change allows me to do what I've always wanted to do: Beat people over the head with the idea that the Kinks are gods by comparing Kinks songs to other bands songs and going "See?? See?? Told you they were the same." In essence, I've lost my mind. I'm now going to go through and edit what I have for basic readability and then watch an episode of Buzzcocks to calm down. Which doesn't actually make sense, but will be done anyway. Just a quick update to prove I'm alive. Ta

Love

I'm in love.






Not really, I'm just super excited about something I just read on the AV Club site. According to their Newswire the Raconteurs are releasing their new album next week. That's right folks, no publicity, no singles, no videos, nothing, just a release. And, to top it off, here's a quote from their press release:

The band have done no interviews or advertisements for this record before this announcement. The purpose: to get the album to the fans as soon as possible and as we promised. We wanted to get this record to fans, the press, radio, etc., all at the EXACT SAME TIME so that no one has an upper hand on anyone else regarding it’s availability, reception or perception

Thus, I'm in love.
Meanwhile We Are Scientists have announced the American release date for their new album which is May 13th. Almost exactly two months later the UK release (which is today by the by.) Not in love with them. On the other hand, Rilo Kiley is coming to the 9:30 club in June and on a weekend, so their high up on my love list.
Finally, I got into a good dorm and got a really, really, really good grade on my Western Civ midterm. Overall, life is good.

These Days

The past 24 hours have been exceedingly stressful/weird for me. The English paper I had due yesterday changed topics on me yesterday, so I was up until midnight writing about why the Kinks are rock gods and then I spent another half hour sending off the not completed draft to my English prof and getting ready for bed. I decided that despite the fact that I wasn't done, it would best to stop were I did because I couldn't create coherent sentences. It was Allison's idea to send off this incomplete thing, which I thought was a good enough idea to do. (All apologies for the incoherence that just transpired. I may be awake, but my brain hasn't started working yet.)
I also met my roommate for next year. She's a nice enough person, a bit excentric, but I suppose social graces aren't something I should be the judge of. My main concern is that we both are the type to go to bed early and that she has a really good lottery number. Everything else is irrelevant, especially if she ends up transferring to another school like she thinks she might. Honestly I'm just glad I have someone to room with for next year.
My brain is mush. I can't wait for this week to be over.
Well now that I've checked in, I'll be off.

Reality Shows Make Me Happy (Along With Some Other Things)

After being forced to walk the dogs an hour earlier than I wanted to (I know it's incredibly petty, but it's the principle dammit!) by my father (who I plan to avoid eye contact with until Sunday) I watched the season finale of Project Runway. I've always (read: since this summer) been a fan of Bravo produced reality shows (the hair cutting one was amazing, love Top Chef and am super excited about the new one about dancing) and since I really haven't had much to do this break (other than write a five to seven page paper, history reading, and study for a math test) I got wrapped up in the show (damn you marathons!). I recorded the season finale and watched after my forced march. It was brilliant and Victoria Beckham was a guest judge and obviously grew up in London. (Actually she grew up in Hertfordshire which is a county incredibly close to London, so basically the same thing.) The point of this whole thing though is the following quote from the AV Club's review of the episode:

"Even though we've all heard her before, it's still very unsettling to hear Victoria Beckham speak. Honestly, high-pitched croaking sounds would be more reasonable coming from her than an actual human voice"

It's sad and made me laugh so hard because in it's own mean way is true, though Project Runway had this amazing way of making her look human, I was impressed.
So I'm going to link you to a couple other things that are making me happy at the moment as well as some really obvious information. All in a neat little list.

• Alex Turner and Miles Kane's collabo. Watch the video and listen to that beautiful orchestration. According to previous articles I've read the whole album they've recorded is orchestrated, so we all know I'm going to buy it. But yeah, absolutely brilliant and set in Russia thus making it that much better. That and the fact that they look like Help! era Beatles
• Useless information time: Going to a concert can make you deaf. I don't need research to tell me that. I don't need no fucking survey telling me I might go deaf if I go to clubs a lot. I know I'll be deaf before I'm thirty if I do that. I also already knew that from the loud ringing in my ears after going to concerts and not being able to hear people. :shakes head in a disgust:

Burger night! Real home made burger night! I'll be off now...

How Wonderful It Is to be Bored

1. How long ago did you join LJ?
I joined in 2004 but didn't start "participating" until 2005.

2. How did you find out about LJ?
Umm...the internet?

3. If someone introduced you to LJ, is s/he still on your friends list?
I joined because of someone, but they are no longer on my friends list

4. Have you introduced anyone to LJ?
No

5. Is your LJ public or friends only, and why?
Public, unless it's very, very private in which case it's friends only, but that's a rare occurrence

Name five...
1. ... things you can't live without.
Music, food, internet, water, and music

2. ... of the best moments in your life.
Five? I don't think I have five best moments. Let's see...first Kaiser Chiefs concert, Killers concert, getting into UMW, seeing Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova at the 9:30 club, and...any time I watch NMTB (that last ones bollocks by the by)

3. ... celebrities you can't stand.
Pete Wentz, Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, Preston, and Pete Doherty (that was a lot easier than the previous question, which scares me)

4. ... books you enjoy(ed) reading.
HHGG (all five of them, but only counting as one), Discworld series (again, counting as one entity), Vile Bodies, Metroland, and Thank You For Smoking

5. ... items in your purse/backpack/on your desk.
My wallet, pens, pencils, chapstick, and throat lozenages

1. What smell reminds you of your childhood?
Ummm...exhaust fumes? Dunno really

2. Would you ever consider getting laser eye surgery?
Yes, but only if I could afford it and the doctor could assure me that my eyes wouldn't get worse after the procedure

3. What food do you love now, that took you a long time to develop a taste for?
Huh. Dunno.

4. Do you have sensitive skin? Is there any material that you don't like touching your skin?
Yes and no. My mom thinks I have sensitive skin because I did when I was little, but I'm not entirely convinced that I do now. Then again I hate the smell of strong perfumes so I'll never know. As for any materials I don't like touch my skin, I would say wool because it's so itchy

5. Whose speaking voice is your favourite to listen to?
David Tennant, Ricky, anyone with a British/Australian accent :drools:

Cancellation

In the past few months I've rarely concerned myself with the deeds and don'ts of the music industry. I've had more important things to deal with, mainly doing well in my classes and trying not to have a melt down. In fact it would take something pretty horrendous (or KC doing anything) for me to get worked up enough to write about. Well, Vampire Weekend has done just that.
As frequent readers of the blog will know, my big thing (besides CDs being released at the same time on both sides of the Atlantic) is how frequently a band tours the States. Most of the bands I focus on mainly tour Europe and Europe. They make few and infrequent excursions to the American continent (and I do mean the whole thing) and make very little effort to build up any kind of fan base over here (and then they complain about it.) This is true even with certain American bands who feel that building up a fan base in Europe is more important than building one in their home country. So when bands cancel American tours (even if said tours are really just three dates) to work on their next album it annoys me a little. As I've stated before I can deal with "fake" medical reasons for cancelling tours, but the example I'm about to present to you just makes my blood boil.
Vampire Weekend has cancelled three gigs so they can play on SNL. Some might argue that it's an excellent idea, that playing on a nationally broadcasted show is a brilliant way to get their music across to everyone, that I'm just being a stick in the mud. Yeah, explain that to the people who thought they were going to get to see the band live and in person. Seeing a band on a crap TV show were they perform two songs does not make up for a live performance were they might play, oh, maybe all of their songs and you don't have to pretend to enjoy the comedic stylings of the SNL troupe. Sure, they've rescheduled for June, which means that the money those fans spent on tickets hasn't gone to waste, but cancelling three tour dates for a cumulative eight or ten minutes on a show that a relatively small number of people watch. (I can't actually substantiate that last statement because I've no clue how to find viewer numbers. If somebody can point me in the right direction, that would be very much appreciated.)
So what's the bottom line folks? Tour before television. Tour, tour, tour, tour, tour. And then tour some more, preferably in the US/North America.
On a lighter and more vain note NME will be launching an American version of it's "highly influential" (there exact words are "the world's most influential") awards show this April. The article goes on to say that the show has helped launch the careers of many important acts such as The Killers, Pete Doherty, Arctic Monkeys, Kaiser Chiefs and My Chemical Romance (yeah, they really said MCR.) The whole thing is just so obscenely vain it's actually funny in a way. Sadly I don't know enough about popular or current musical acts to help skew the voting, but god I wish I did.
Finally, the Young Knives recently bit off the hand that feeds them as well as everyone who reads DiS and makes comments. Also Take That won best single at the NME awards and the Kaiser Chiefs came away with nought to show for their existence this year. The world continues to turn on its axis and I continue to hoard episodes of NMTB in my secret lair.
Ta!

More Fangirling

So I'm home for a week, which means that if I'm not really careful, I'll use up all my means of entertainment today and be bored the rest of the week. Hence why I'm updating my journal.
One of the things that I like about LiveJournal, other than the easy access to DW fanfiction/smut, the ability to show off my insane side through little pictures called avatars or icons. I currently have 270, of which I can only use 15 at any given time. Granted most of the icons are just taking up space on my hard drive, but some things are just to hard to get rid of. (Note to self: Icon folder needs pruning.) Today I added two more of which I'm going to show you one. The one I'm going to show you is related to this post and more specifically the bits that come after the capslock section. Now onto the icon:

For niceness and fear of retaliation the icon that I posted was created by mediocrechick over at LJ.
Of course the downside of making that particular icon my default over at LJ means that I might spend more time smiling at staring at the upper left hand corner of my screen than is really necessary. Oh well.
That's it for me. Toodles.