This is What I Do

The posting of articles will be in chronological order, starting on 17 July. Some of the articles are news, others are op-ed, and a smattering of them will allow me to bitch about how unfair the world is. Mostly though, they're news related. Enjoy.
Don't ask me why, but I feel old. I'm not sure why Brandon Flowers having a son makes me feel old, but it does. I'm sure I'll feel really old when Kaiser Chiefs Member X gets married and has a kid, but at the moment, all I know is that I feel old.
Ah, the Mercury Awards. Raise your hand if you really that surprised that Arctic Monkeys got nominated. Now raise your hand if you were surprised that Lily Allen didn't get nominated. Now go look at the list DiS came up with of who should have gotten nominated.
I wouldn't go to a one second concert, even if I was told that it was a one second concert before hand. I don't care if it's the White Stripes, what's the bloody point? What has this world come to, a one second concert. Jesus.
Now Rilo Kiley knows how to make me happy. They're releasing their new album in the States before they release in the UK and their spending two nights at the 9:30 club. If only other artists I like would follow suit...
Like the Arctic Monkeys. Who aren't even coming to the metro-DC area. Or Kaiser Chiefs, or are also not coming anywhere near the metro-DC area. A pox upon both their houses. And don't give me this shit about announcing more dates later, I know you're lying (well, not lying, just prolonging my misery.) Anyway, I think more artists should be like Rilo Kiley.
Okay, so it seems now that festival is nearing it's end (just a week until Virgin festival baby!) a bunch of little known artists are going back to the studio to record new material. Like the Spinto Band. Except it doesn't seem like that long ago that I got their first album. Oh well, best of luck boys.
Congrats and best of luck to Queen guitarist Brian May for going back to school to finish his doctoral thesis in astrophysics. That is all.
Not this again. Okay, so you're a semi-famous indie rocker from Yorkshire, Mr. Jarman, but that does not mean you have to bash the rest of the music world. Sure you look tough and cool, but really you just look a hypocritical dick. Yes, you have some good points (hurrah for bandwagons!) but really, calling the whole of the indie music scene rubbish is just a bit much. And this is coming from someone who only listened to the Beatles for a year and a half. So please Mr. Jarman, do us all a favour and don't comment on the state of the indie music scene. You'll regret it later.
Now this is nice. I can totally understand road-testing new material in your home country (especially when said country is kind of small) and so I only hold a slight grudge against the Scottish fanz of Franz for getting to see them this fall when I've never seen them in my life. Only a small grudge against those lucky bastards.
You know what I think about Kaiser Chiefs adding a second Birmingham date? Why don't they add a second (fuck, a first) metro-DC date. By the way, have I mentioned that I'm a bitter old lady recently? Because I am.
Oh Carlos. Don't you know what happens when you try to a movie star and a rock star? Bad things my friend, bad things. Either that or nothing. Your choice.
Well now that that's done, onto the concert review. Ooh boy, I'm just on a writing frenzy. Or something, like that.

Because As Much as I Say Former, I Don't Really Mean It

Kill me now, lay me to rest, and for my epitaph just say that she died having seen Nick molested by a yuppie in a music video. Honestly, there ain't much else to say. Just watch. You'll need Windows Media Player. Also, much thanks to Wiz, the director of this video, for maturing the boys well beyond their current image. I think they needed this.

The Silence is Deafening (and Slightly Deadening)

But not to fear mes copines, because despite the deafening silence that has enveloped the internet (damn you JK), the real world is slightly more alive. While the UK fights off torrential rains, I've continued my mission to completely smut-ify my mind by reading smuty/crackalicious/sappy DW fanfic, courtesy of the "Oh She Knows" Ficathon. As some of you might have guessed, I also finished the last Harry Potter book in a approximately a day (taking into account the short breaks I took, sleeping, and eating) and I was extremely pleased with how things turned out in the end. I shan't reveal anything for those of you who haven't finished it yet, but I think the masses will pleased. In any event, these trivial events are not the reasons I have broken my silence. Nay there is something far more exciting that has prompted me to write. Brace yourselves, my dearest ones:
ONCE, LIVE AT 9:30 CLUB, THIS THURSDAY!!!!!!!!!!!
Let me explain: Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova are going on tour under the guise of "The Swell Season" which is actually the name of an album they recorded together before they worked together on Once. Although the show doesn't technically count as seeing Once live, since they will be performing songs from that movie, that's how I'm thinking of the concert. I'm more than excited, in fact one could go so far as to say I can't think about anything else and the way I'm feeling doesn't have a word to describe it. All in all, uber-YAY!!!!!!
The next time I write, be prepared for an intesive course in music news from the past two weeks (possibly more, depending on when I write next.) Enjoy the silence, I'm off to continue my education in smut.

Without Protein I am Nothing

Okay, so I made it two days without blogging. Not a record, but not too bad. Anyway this is more of shout out to my readers in the great wide world. I've been keeping track for the past two weeks of who is reading my Blogger blog and by proxy where they're reading it. It's been interesting, mostly because the amount of time people spend on the site can only be counted in milliseconds, possibly less. The average actually is 2min and 21sec, but that's because one of the more anonymous readers spent 19 minutes on the site, while one person from Italy spent 8 minutes. Interestingly, someone from around my area spent 13 minutes reading my blog. In terms of geography, I've gotten hits from Tennessee and Greece, from England and New Jersey, from Austria and Finland, and from LA and North Carolina. Again, the average visit length for the majority of readers is 0 seconds, so I suspect most of the hits consist of "Oh, this isn't what I wanted" and going back to Google Search. In any event, I'd like to thank everyone who comes to this site, especially the ones who come back for more.
I'm going to finish cleaning the bathroom now and then I will collapse. As a token of my affection, here's my fall semester schedule:
Newsgathering (T)
Rock/Soul/Progressive:1955 prs (MWF)
Western Civ I (MWF)
Chorus(Fredericksburg Singers) (W)
Instmntl Ensemble (M)
Music Theory I (MWF)
General Psychology (TR)

Quick Return for Kaiser Chiefs

I'm still on hiatus, but I got some news this morning that I was kind of right about some information I stated about les Kaiser Chiefs. They are coming back. Three of the dates (Dallas, Houston, and Atlanta) are confirmed by ticketmaster (the almighty bible of tour dates), and hopefully the rest will be confirmed soon. Although I loathe the Sonar, I would go back if it meant I got to see KC. In any event much love and thanks to Sarah, fellow Kaiser Chiefs fan, for the info. I now have something to look forward to.

Lyric Post 9,542 (Let's Try this Again, but with Fragments)

It's fucking cold down here. At least I thought to bring down my mp3 player, otherwise I would be without inspiration. So here are some fragments, the important bits in my mind, of Cribs songs. Except for "Hey Scenesters!" all the songs are taken from Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever which is released State side today. After this, I'll be taking another prolonged lunch break. What with registration, general anxiety over moving out and various other things I've decided, again, that it would be best just to avoid this portal of insanity. So on with the fragments:

I'll never forget how all this begun
And I will never regret a thing I have done --- "Our Bovine Public"

There’s not much to say for me...
You leave a lot to be desired
I never wanna be desired --- "Girls Like Mystery"

because the man's needs
man's needs
are full of greed
full of greed
a man's needs
man's needs
are lost on me --- "Men's Needs"

Hey scenesters, hey hey scenesters!
You all are in trouble now --- "Hey Scenesters!"

Cut off your nose to spite your friends --- "Shoot the Poets"

I'm a realist
I'm a romantic
I'm an indecisive piece of shit...
no one will ever do
no one will ever do for you --- "I'm a Realist"

Guarded thoughts
firing off
Parting shots --- "Moving Pictures"

The Nice Men are Coming to Take Me Away

But first - HAPPY BIRTHDAY AVERY!! You're legal now, hurrah!
So I'm loosing my mind because of class registration. I don't get to register until the last day and I'm shitting bricks over what the hell I'm going to end up taking, considering it ain't (and I'm using ain't purposefully) going to be what I thought I would be taking this semester. The majority of my friends are prepping themselves for Otakon, which is next week and I'm stuck in this house of two lunatics, two dogs, and my mother. All I have for entertainment is the computer, a shit load of films I don't want to watch and a really big book of British history that I need to finish before Saturday. The summer's practically over and I, in no way, feel prepared to go off to college. I'm going to be going to the beach the week before I leave home, which is the last thing I want to be doing that week. I'm fucking loosing my mind and no one can hear, or cares to hear, me scream.
In other news, Lily Allen is in fact going to be touring the West Coast this September. I would also suggest reading this from the genius mind of infinitemuppets. He's a Brit you likes to say c*** a lot and I found that particular entry immensely amusing, because Johnny Borrell and Razorlight by proxy are wankers. You see, Razorlight could have been good, but their lead singer has such an ego that it's hard to tell where he ends and the band begins. It's like Pete Wentz and Brandon Flowers (to a lesser extent): the personality of the lead member gets in the way of the band, thus ruining the band for everyone else.
Anywho, I'm going to go find something to entertain me for an extended period of time before my neurosis kills the joy within me and I'm back at the computer staring at the "Currently Open Class" list and trying to figure out who the fuck stole my freshman seminar from me, so I can kill them. Toodles mes copines.

The Chronicles of New Caledonia

I'm thinking of running a spike through my temples in the hope that the pain in them will be relieved. Either that or the new pain caused by the spike running through my brain will be kinder to me than the current pain in my brain. In any event, I have to find a spike first and that might prove tricky. Still, a spike through my temples doesn't sound too bad right now.
So, in my British history crunch, I've discovered why the Brits were such pissers about taxes in the colonies. The reason is, is that because William (of William and Mary fame) was also the head of the Dutch Republic the UK got dragged into the Continental war that was going on and the treasury got sunk. The mainland Brits were already up to their teeth in taxes and if any of the Georges (George I, George II or George III the looney) had tried to tax them any more there would have been nation wide rioting and probably another civil war. Better to tax the people who can't directly kill you than to tax the people who can. I also found out where the terms 'Whigs' and 'Tories' came from (Scotland and Ireland respectively.) Unfortunately I'm still waiting around for the first Prime Minister, but I don't think that's going to be happening in this book. I don't know, so we'll see. What else have I learned...oh, I learned how Scotland became apart of England after about a century of British kings (and Oliver Cromwell) trying to force them into being friends (money, always money.) I now better understand why the Scottish, the English, the Welsh, and the Irish all either out rightly hate each other or just sneer at each other with an air of loathing. And, despite my love of all things British, it's basically the English's fault. Damn limeys.
As stated in my previous post, iLike fails at life and gives me false hope. I'm just hoping that some band (We Are Scientists, Arctic Monkeys, the Fratellis [though that's very unlikely], Keane, KT Tunstall) pulls through and does a US tour this fall/winter so that I can be horrendously cool and drag my new friends with me to see them (oh yes, I have plans.) Nonetheless, iLike fails at life.
Finally I would like to point out that very few people read my Blogger blog. In fact I kind of suspect that I'm the only one who really reads it. Oh well, it's fun.

Correction on Erroneous Information

Right, so the iLike application on Facebook said that KC were going to be in Colorado. Because a reader of mine (hi!) asked about it, I thought I would check everything, just to be sure and whatnot. Now, iLike has reversed their statement. So, yeah. Complete and utter disappointment and lots of stupid Brits commenting on the bands winter tour. :'( Lily Allen on the other hand is still doing some dates in the States (ooh I rhymed.) Hopefully she'll schedule something for my part of the country. Toodles for now.

I Love My White Jacket

This will be short, I promise. Short and vastly more insane than normal. Teehee...

1. Lily Allen is coming back. Sure, there are only a few dates listed, but she's coming back. You see I've become very adept at figuring out when bands and artists are gearing up for tours. The dates are usually random but somehow connected and if one were to look at the shows listed at the artist's page, there's some sort of gap in scheduling that would allow for the new dates. Anyhoo, Lily Allen is coming back and hopefully this time she'll actually show.
2. KAISER CHIEFS ARE COMING BACK!!!!!!!!! Sure, there's only one date and that's in Colorado, but, as I said with Ms. Allen, you can tell these things, and I can tell they're coming back. I'm pumped and I'm not even entirely sure of anything. Yay for crazy fangirlness!!!
3. A friend of my mums' who is a sport's journalist is going to hook me up with some rock critics that she knows. I'm so pumped it's not even funny. Though this might be a side affect of KC, but I don't care. I'm uber-pumped.
4. I have room-mates! And other people live on my hall! Yay!

Well that's it really. I'm planning on doing a massive British history crunch so that by the time the new Harry Potter comes out I won't have to worry about trying to remember what was happening in British history when I finish HP. Anyway, YAY!! For no apparent reason, other than yay.

I Had Roommates

I had room-mates, then I didn't have room-mates. Because of this, I declare UMW deficient at web page maintenance.
In any event, I'm in a triple in the dorm I wanted to be in (go storage!) on the top (fourth) floor. I'm nervous about being in a triple, because I predict doom, but we'll see how things go. One of my room-mates is from around here (NoVa) and the other is from New Hampshire. Cecilia and Allison. At least I'll have something to talk about with Farber.
So lets see, what else has been going on. Not much actually. I've been impatientally waiting for my room-mate and dorm information and not much else. Reading DW crack fic, wondering what the hell I'm doing reading DW crack fic, learning about how idiotic politicians were in Stuart England and how the horror that is Ireland came about because of the idiocy of Stuart England politicians, realizing that I have no life and slowly loosing my mind. But I do have some news articles! They're fun and funny.
First off we have an announcement. Hot Hot Heat are releasing an album! Now that's not really news to me, but it's more about how Mr. Kharas imparts this news. Really, the only interesting thing about the article is the last sentence/word: Sword. To which I reply: Cheese.
Now we all know I have a small obsession with Metallica. It's not that I like their music, I just think that most of articles related to them are hilarious. So as I go to have lunch, I leave you with this: Metallica singer stopped at airport for 'Taliban' beard.
Have a nice day.

I Need to Practice

I need to practice some more for my lesson (damn you Tim!!), but...but...WATCH!!!!
Can't breathe, too much Ricky exposure...
Quick side note - Tim Rice-Oxley has crazy ass hands that can do magic. 0_0 I kid you not.

Quick(ish) Stop

So I was hoping to take another respite from blogging this week, but I've already got three (techincally four) non-music articles waiting to be written about and I'm really bored. Which explains the sort of music related article I want so desperately to post, but that will have to wait. First! Random articles!
As some of you might know (and if you've been paying any attention at all, should really know) Doctor Who recently ended it's run in the UK and much has been said about recent casting news and how absolutely bollocks the season finale was, etc, etc. What I found to be most interesting was an article that was reposted on Behind the Sofa. I'm not much of a boardie on Oupost Gallifrey and so I don't know how accurate the article is, but it's hilarious nonetheless. Now you don't really have to know anything about Doctor Who to understand the jokes, you just have to have some knowledge of how message boards and sci-fi/fantasy fandoms work. The article itself is terribly long, but skim through it and laugh when appropriate. So, I present without further ado, "The Doctor Who Fan's Phrasebook."
In 9th grade I was forced to read The Catcher in the Rye and hated almost every word of it. I thought Holden Caulfield was a whiney pretentious son of a bitch who didn't really present a strong case for why he moped around the whole time. I know the majority of the reading population disagrees with me and that the book is considered to be a seminal piece of literature, something everyone should read at least once. I personally think it's a bunch of crap. Interestingly the author, J.D. Salinger is something of a recluse, which brings us to our next article which is the AV Club's list of the 12 Famous Living Recluses. The list is filled with names I know (accept for the Residents) and I found it to be an interesting read. One has to wonder what made these people turn away from the spotlight (besides the bright lights and potential for fiery downfalls) and become recluses. Second question is whether their hermits or just very private about their lives. The best part is Thomas Pynchon's response to the rumours about him: "My belief is that 'recluse' is a code word generated by journalists... meaning, 'doesn't like to talk to reporters." Trueche Mr. Pynchon, trueche.
This next article is for Alex who loves biking. The article about the Tour de France prelude that happened in London this past weekend. I suspect he doesn't actually read this journal because he has more of life than me, but you never know. Anyhoo here is one man's perspective on the London prelude: Le Tour triumph.
I'm going to take a short break and then come back with the last article. You won't actually know I'm taking a break, because I'm putting everything into one entry, but I thought you might like to know that I'm taking a break. So, break (small freak out) and then the last article.
And we're back...
A simple fact should be known by all about me: I'm a horrible person. By horrible I mean a ridiculous human being, like Missy Eliot or Ryan Jarman. And by a ridiculous human being I mean a former obsessive fangirl. In an effort to not be such a horrible person, I limit how often I check the Kaiser Chief's official website. I think that part of my past problem was that I was too involved with their goings ons and so lost sight of the fact that I live in Virginia and am 10 years younger than most of them. But sometimes, when I'm really, really, extraordinarily bored, I check to see what's up and all that. Well today was one of those days, and boy did I get a treat.
I know as much about soccer/football as I know about football or cycling. Most sports in fact are a mystery to me, but I do know one thing about soccer/football: The people of the British Isles are obsessed with it. Everyone plays, the players are as famous as rock stars and their girlfriends and wives have a special category (their called wags for no apparent reason.) All in all, soccer/football is a very popular sport and I know jack about it. But who cares right? Not me, that's for certain.
Some might be grumbling at this point, "Get on with fucking article Nore." Fine, I will. But one last thing: Just remember that I'm a horrible person. So, for you're viewing and reading pleasure, Living the Dream: A Vice Captains Blog

Clap if You Believe in Fairies

So the season finale of Doctor Who was incredibly disappointing. It's going to be kind of sad re-watching the whole thing from "The Runaway Bride" because there was so much about the season that was so good. I almost hate Russell T. Davies for what he did with that finale and also what he's going to be doing, which brings us to our first news item (oh you can't get away from them, and yes this is a huge spoiler if you haven't seen season three): Catherine Tate is back! Yes the tacky ginger bride you'll be watching tonight (8pm, Sci-Fi Channel) will be back as the Doctor's companion in season four. I about screamed when I read the news, but decided better of it, because screaming isn't the answer. Boycotting might be, but I have awhile to decide whether I'll be doing that. In any event, best of luck to Ms. Tate and the rest of the Doctor Who cast and crew. I have a feeling you'll be needing it.
In other news, I have the maturity level of a 13 year old. The reason? My response to the this headline on the DIY site: "Kaiser Chiefs New Manchester Show." What was my response? Stick out my tongue at the computer screen and call the lot of them bastards. Oh yes, I'm a mature one.
But at least I have a proper roof over my head, thank you Mums and dad. You see, Pete Doherty is currently living in a van under a bridge in London. That's right, a fairly famous rock star is living under a bridge. He's also been charged with drug possession again. Yeah, I know I nag on this guy, but for fuck's sake. In any event I hope that living under a bridge, even if just for a little while, will teach him something. Like self respect.
So besides T in the Park and the Oxygen festival, the big thing this weekend is Live Earth. Al Gore is hoping that by having a lot of musicians all over the world play music that this will somehow get everyone off their lazy asses and do something about global warming. Now Arctic Monkeys have something to say about this and I kind of agree with them. Matt Helder, whose the drummer, said recently that it would be hypocritical of the band to play the concert, given the amount of electricity they use for their shows. Bassist Nick O'Malley added that they're always flying around in air planes, which isn't exactly ozone friendly. I have to agree with the boys' logic. I won't say anything more, but let's just assume we can all infer what my opinion is of Live Earth.
I had a bunch of other articles I wanted to share, but after some thought, I decided not to burden you with them. I know most people don't give a shit about what I write (oh yeah, I can hold a grudge) and since most of this entry is nonsense to the majority of you, I leave you with this:
Falling Slowly.
And a really long personality quiz. Mwhahahahaha:
---------------------RED-----------------------
1. Closest red thing to you?: Stuart hall bag
2. Last thing to make you angry?: oh, things
3. Do you have a temper?: >_>
4. Are you a fan of romance?: dear god yes
-------------------ORANGE-------------------
1. Closest orange thing to you?: moxie t-shirt
2. Do you like to burn things?: the shiny fire is fun
3. Dress up for Halloween?: I use to, not any more
4. Are you usually a warm-hearted person?: until you piss me off
5. Do you have anything against redheaded people?: ginger heads are lovely…
6. Are you usually full of energy?: sometimes, but not most of the time
-------------------YELLOW-------------------
1. Closest yellow thing to you?: :looks around room: funky bag
2. The happiest time[s] of your life?: killers/keane concert and first kc concert
3. Favorite holiday?: christmas
4. Are you a coward?: yeah, but only in a social aspect
5. Do you burn or tan?: I am a ghost, who repels the sun (burn and then tan)
-------------------GREEN-------------------
1. Closest green thing to you?: ummm…well my sheets and practically everything else in this room
2. Do you care about the environment?: yes, I recycle
3. Are you jealous of anyone right now?: everyone going to Oxygen/T in the Park festivals
4. Are you a lucky person?: depends on what you think of as luck
5. Do you always want what you can't have?: no, not always
6. Do you like being outdoors?: just as long as it’s not humid, hot and there aren’t any annoying bugs
7. Are you Irish?: I wish
-------------------BLUE-------------------
1. Closest blue thing to you?: walls
2. Are you good at calming people down?: dunno
3. Do you like the sea?: I like the sound of the sea
4. What was the last thing that made you cry?: don’t remember
5. Are you a logical thinker?: in my own way
6. Can you sleep easily?: pretty much yeah
---------------------PURPLE-------------------
1. Last purple thing you saw?: umm…t-shirt online
2. Like being treated to expensive things?: definitely
3. Do you like mysterious people?: kind of
4. Favorite type of chocolate?: all
5. Ever met anyone in royalty?: no, sadly
6. Are you creative?: in my own way
------------------PINK-------------------
1. Closest pink thing to you?: a couple of books on my shelf
2. Do you like sweet things?: oh yes
3. Like play-fighting?: umm…
4. Are you sensitive?: yeah
5. Do you like music?: that’s a silly question
-------------------WHITE-------------------
1. Closest white thing to you?: sheets (partially at least), lamp
2. Would you say you're innocent?: for the most part
3. Good at keeping the peace?: I try, doesn’t always work, but I try
4. How do you imagine your wedding?: depends on where I am
5. Do you like to play in the snow?: I use to, but now I shun the outdoors, so not really
6. Are you afraid of going to the doctors or dentist?: no
-------------------BLACK-------------------
1. Closest black thing to you?: trash bag, chorus dress, mp3 player
2. Ever enjoy hurting people?: no
3. Are you sophisticated or silly?: oh depends on my mood
4. Would you like to go to space?: just as long as I’m in a blue box
5. Do you have a lot of secrets?: mmm…some
6. What is your favorite color?: green!!!!!!!!
7. Does the color you wear affect your mood?: not really no

Ta for Now, Back by Tea

And so I bid adieu for awhile. I feel that I need an extended lunch break, this whole summer business has gotten to my head in a rather bad way. I'll be back before long, don't you worry. So I leave with this my 510th (or 478th, depending on where you're reading this) post with a little Hamlet:

The Post Were I Bang My Head Against a Brick Wall

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
GODDAMN FUCKY FUCKY BITCH (thank you Dead Again)
TUSK!!!!!

Declaration of My Age

Since it seems that everyone thinks I'm a prude and blush at the reference of penis :titter:, here for everyone's enjoyment is a declaration that you can be 19 and not think sex is hilarious. So, for everyone to see:
SEX
BOOZE
PORN
DETACHABLE FUCKING PENIS
Now can we fucking move on?? Just because I don't revel in sophomoric humour doesn't fucking mean I'm the world's biggest prude. It just means I don't fucking laugh at stupid ass jokes about dicks, booze, and porn. Goddamn. Ever hear of Monty Python? Now they knew how to mix sex into comedy without waving around dicks and laughing at every single fucking hint of innuendo.
Now I'm off to take a shower. And then read about British history. So fuck you all.

Music News 103

I don't know if colleges and university actually have classes with 103 in them, but I don't really care. In any event, here's a syllabus of what I'll be talking about today:

• Guillemots
• Jenny Lewis
• Arctic Monkeys
• Morrissey

Onwards and upwards as they say...
Guillemots
If anyone actually took the time to read my journal the might realize that I'm highly obsessed with music and that I don't care about naming people. For the most part I use my friends real names mostly because I can't take the time to think up new names for them and probably wouldn't remember the new names anyway. But because I'm trying to hide the fact that I'm not actually writing about music but about my friends and sensitive issues concerning my friends, today I'll just be using just the first letter of their names. You see recently (last night) I've come to the realization that I am to my friends now what I've always been to my friends: A pair of ears. They seem to care very little about my feelings and even less about my interests. They only seem to put up with my interests before they move onto whatever it is they want to talk about. The reason I've only just realized this is because I tend not to push my interests because I realize that I'm the only person who actually knows what I'm talking about. The thing is that my friends want me to be someone I don't want to be and they find that incredibly frustrating. The whole situation from last night made me realize how very different I am from my friends and that there is nothing to be done about it.
Jenny Lewis
J has a fierce personality and she doesn't really give a shit what other people think about it. She just does what she wants, with very little constraints and almost no regard for the consequences of her actions and words. So, in turn, she doesn't realize how very often I come to wanting to screaming at her to shut the fuck up. J just has no sense of how aggravating she can be or how very wrong her impression of me is. She thinks I have no back bone because I don't like calling people and because I don't push my views and opinions on other people. Now I may not be the most outgoing of people, but continually telling me to "man up" and pushing her view of how I should be isn't going to get her anywhere and just guarantees that come this fall she'll be out of my life is a quickly as possible. And the most frustrating part for me is that I know she doesn't see and wouldn't understand any of this. She just wouldn't.
Arctic Monkeys
Oh A. Perfectly naive and innocent A. He thinks I don't know anything because I don't know that much about sex, drugs, and booze, but he doesn't even know the half of it. He thinks that because I don't laugh at stupid jokes and don't revel in previously mentioned topics I'm uptight and need to loosen up. If I don't laugh at sex joke it's because I don't think it's funny. What annoys me about A though is that there are times when he seems to be more than stupid jokes and lude innuendos. I wish he would show that side more than the side I so often see. Maybe once he gets away from J (who seems to be the driving force in any conversation, ever) he'll start maturing a bit, but who knows. I guess he just who he is. All I hope is that he realizes sooner rather than later that there's more to me than he thinks there is.
Morrissey
In the end none of this matter and things will be just what they are, for better or worse. I have my complaints but there's really nothing I can do to change the people around me and so I'll just have to live with what I have at the moment. I know that there are people out there more like me and eventually I might get to meet those people but for now I just have to live and wait. Ultimately none of it matters and I'll just be who I am despite what people may think. The world will continue to rotate and the universe will continue to be really, really huge. Life goes on, and so do I.
Well this entry ended up being a lot longer than I thought it would be, sorry. Hope I didn't take up too much of your time ;)

Love Thy Name is Fozzie Pt. 2

I saw Once again with Jasmine and Alex. I mouthed along with most of the songs and realized that all of the songs are played during the movie, I just didn't remember them. I fell slightly more in love with the movie, which made up for the way I felt before the movie. I wanted my friends to like it so much and I was worried sick that they wouldn't and then we got lost on the way to the theatre which sucked, all adding up to a very tense Nore. As much as I loved the movie, yet again, I was tense the whole time wondering what Jasmine and Alex thought of it, whether they would like it, what they would say when we left, etc. I know ultimately it doesn't matter, I would go back to Arlington in a heart beat to see the movie again and again and again until I had every line memorized, but for once I would like to not be alone in my like (or in this case deep and utter devotion) of something. I know I can be a bit obsessive at times (eg: Kaiser Chiefs) but it would be nice if once someone else felt the same way I did who I was friends with. Obviously, there will eventually be a time when that is true, but it would just be nice if I had it now.
I want one brilliant, absolutely perfect and romantic and brilliant weekend. I would be eternally happy if I had just one weekend like they did. Just once.
His falsetto is beautiful. How could you not love a falsetto like that?

The Summer Has Arrived

Bored. Bored, bored, bored, bored, bored. So bored in fact that writing out bored is more interesting than what I was doing before. So terribly incredibly bored. Oh well, at least I'll be doing something tomorrow! Oh yeah...
Well I got my eyes checked today and because this was the first time I had seen this doctor, they wanted to dilate my eyes. So my eyes were dilated, which is always annoying. But this new guy is really great, so the whole thing was kind of worth the it. I'll be going into the city tonight to see my dad play with his band, which should be interested. They'll be playing at the Black Cat, which is were the Cribs will be playing in August, so I'll be able to survey the place, see what it's like and all that. Hopefully it won't be anything like the Sonar. But yeah, the time in between is incredibly boring. So let's move on.
Lily Allen has started in on her next album. I'm interested to see what she does with album, at least in terms of lyrics. I assume that musically it will be very similar to Alright, Then, but in terms of topics I'm interested in see what she decides to discuss, as it were. But yay for Lily.
Speaking of new albums, despite the fact that Rivers said they'd broken up, Weezer are starting recording their sixth album. I'm not a huge fan of Weezer, but it's interesting nonetheless. I'd gotten the feeling from news earlier in the year that the band had dissolved, but according to the article, they were just on hiatus. So yeah, good on them.
And now for some exciting news if you're a mean cold hearted person. Preston and Chantelle have split up!! As I have previously stated, I'm a mean cold hearted person and so I'm actually quite excited about this little piece of news. I'm mainly excited about their split up because Preston was a twat on NMTB and towards Simon and so really I'm just glad to see him get his. I know for the majority of you, this will mean absolutely nothing, but that's what you get for reading this blog: a whole lot of nonsense about the UK.
In other British pop news, the Spice Girls are back!!!! You might be surprised at how enthusiastic I am about this news, but why shouldn't I be? The Spice Girls were a happy part of my childhood and weren't that horrible. But to be perfectly honest I just think the whole things hilarious. They must be so desperate. :sigh: Silly Brits.
So I've been listening to the Once soundtrack for the past couple of days. There are thirteen tracks on the album, but I only remember like 7 of them actually being played in the movie. Yes, I realize that seven out of thirteen is a little more than half, but I wish I could remember when the rest were played, if they were in fact played during the movie. I like the majority of the tracks nonetheless, though I wish there was more consistency of quality throughout the whole album. Mind you, all of this has fuelled my desire to see the movie again, which I will be tomorrow. Hopefully my friends won't kill or maim me tomorrow during the movie. There's every chance they will, but I hope they don't. Anywho, yay Once!!!!!!!!
Constrained yelling is the new screaming. Or maybe he's just screaming.

A Slightly More "Sane" Entry

By slightly, I mean I'm not going to talk about Once. Otherwise this entry is like every other entry I've ever made, which means absolutely nutters. In any event, moving on...
Keith's gone grey, Keith's gone grey, Keith's gone grey, Keith's gone grey, Keith's gone grey!!!!! You see, if you go through the pictures in that post and look at Keith you'll notice that in just a little over a year he's gone from dark, dark brown to grey. The only reason I'm excited about this is because I've been very slowly going grey since I was born and so the fact that someone really cool and semi-famous (and is only eleven years older than me) is going grey makes me feel slightly better about my own white hairs. So yeah, Keith's gone grey!!!
In the world of Arctic Monkeys, "Fluorescent Adolescent" was released yesterday which means that Yahoo! will have it in it's catalogue soonish. But because DiS runs does it's reviews based on the Gallifrian calendar, I was fairly surprised to see that there was actually a review of "Fluorescent Adolescent" today. The majority of the review is a non-sequitur, relatively speaking, but the actual review is good. Also the bit at the end about TABASCO is totally true.
Kaiser Chiefs are going on tour. Specifically their going on tour in the UK. This November, and I can guarantee you DiS won't enjoy themselves. But you see what all of the above articles fail to mention is who their support will be this November. Well, not to worry because I know. And guess what? The lead singer of their support and Ricky will be ruling the world by the end of November. That's right my friends, We Are Scientists will be supporting their good ol' friends Kaiser Chiefs. I'm going to go die now.
One last word before I go: James Blunt is saving the UK, one horrible falsetto note at a time.
He's got big eyes, big blue eyes, that stare, all big and blue.

Love Thy Name is Fozzie

Yesterday I finally got the chance to go see Once which I had heard about, mostly because of the soundtrack, on Filter. I had also read a review on A.V. Club, which had given it an A and all in all I had heard good things about the movie. Because of this I thought it might be worth my time to go see the film, if only because it meant I would be out of my room for a few hours, which is always a good thing. I left the theatre with a pain in my chest and a huge smile on my face, feeling like I had just left a concert. I'm literally scared to listen to the soundtrack for fear of what it might do to my psyche. My sister and I have also given the lead actor the nickname of Fozzie or Fuzzy Bear, depending on whether or not I can remember Fozzie. All of this because of one little Irish indie film. I would highly suggest seeing this little indie film, but only if you take me along, I'd like to see it again.
Also I've decided that I have to marry someone with ginger hair who can pull off facial hair as well.
:runs off to Ireland to find her busker:

Say Hello to My Little Friend...

My bored little friend, not this automatic rifle I store under the bed, cuz you never know when the boogie man is gonna come get ya. Anyway, I've got non-music related articles to share, so shall we move onto the final act?
DON'T LEAVE THE DAILY SHOW JON!!!!!! You see, the last time a host from the Daily Show left for late night broadcast channel fame, it didn't happen. I just don't want you to become the next Craig Kilborn, that's all. It's not that I don't think you're talented, I just don't think your Late Late Show material. So please, for the love of all that is right in this world, don't leave the Daily Show!!!
So a really long time ago (December) I got all excited about my two favourite things in the whole wide world being brought together by one of my not so favourite magazines. Now, many moons later, I'm seeing the fruition of this combination, though I won't actually be seeing for another many moons. You, my lovely readers, see McFly is going to be on Doctor Who. Now some of you may be confused. "Nore, I thought Kaiser Chiefs and Doctor Who were your two favourite things?" Well you'd be right. Oddly enough though, McFly rates pretty high in my book and have been interviewed by my favourite on-line music website, DIY, but more importantly two of their members have been on NMTB, which means that although I may not love their music, they still rock at life. Unfortunately the episode they're going to be guesting on is part two of the three part season finale for DW, so I won't actually be seeing the episode until it's aired in the States. But look who else is going to be on the episode...that's right Sharon Osbourne!! Yes, there is much to look forward to in the coming months, lots and lots.
I really only have one reason to post this article, but I'm going for it anyway to make up for the lie I'm going to have to commit in a moment. Enjoy!
"Look at this, we’re sailing in the Carribbean. As pirates. We are pirates."
Now...a music related article.
Lies. Filthy, dirty, vicious lies. Also incredibly poorly written lies. Pete Doherty will never clean up, never, not a million years. I have no faith in the man, especially now that I've read some of his writing. Some might call this cynical, but I remember way back in December of 2005 how he said he was going to stay clean. Well look were that got us. Yes, I predict there will be no wedding because Pete Doherty won't be able to keep off the smack. Now I'm going to act all indignant for awhile longer. Hurmph.
This actually coincides with what I'll be doing tonight, but could also be considered a continuation of something I said on Facebook. Anywho...
We're off to see the Wizard, the Wonderful Wizard of Oz
You'll find he is a Whiz of a Wiz if ever a Wiz there was
If ever, oh ever, a Wiz there was the Wizard of Oz is one because
Because, because, because, because, because
Because of the wonderful things he does
We're off to see the Wizard, the Wonderful Wizard of Oz!!!!!

Intermission Cont.

:in a sing-song manner: I've got no self control, I've got no self control, I've got no self control and I'm in love with Ricky :end:

Especially when he does stupid things. Like sticks a drill up his nose. Also, I don't remember when this photo was taken, it was a long time ago. Before April. Anyway...the intermission continues.

Intermission

Opened with Middling Reviews

Uuuuhhhh....Glasto. Possibly the worst weekend for a Brit music fan who lives in the States, because anyone whose anyone plays Glasto. Mind you it's suppose to rain again this year, but still. Mud at Glasto is different from other festival mud. It's god-like mud, not normal human mud. Anyway, NME is going to be a disaster area for me this weekend for me. I'm fairly sure that DIY and DiS won't be updating this weekend and I'll be able to avoid their coverage, but NME is just ridiculous in their coverage, so yeah. I definitely have a love/hate relationship with Glasto, unlike in '05, where I knew shit. God, festival season.
Anyway! Moving away from the frustration of festival season, onto the snarking of the outside world! Yay!
Let's start with a tongue twister of sorts. You see much of the East Coast is littered with the remains of English colonization, particularly when it comes to names. If you ever get to visit upstate New York (near the Vermont border) be sure to visit Leeds. Or if you're in Vermont, hell even New Hampshire, visit Londonderry, it's fun. Anyway, the point is that there are two states that are named for cities (and actually dukedoms) in England (not Great Britain, England.) One of them is New Jersey. So...we finally get the piece of music news. Kasabian is headlining the Jersey Live two day festival. But not the cool Jersey in the States, the lame Jersey in England. So yeah, lame Jersey = Festival, cool Jersey = No Festival. And that's the point of this really long paragraph.
And now a dialog between the Brothers Jarman:
Ryan: Let's tour the States.
Gary and Ross: Okay!
Gary: Where should we go?
Ross: Places
Ryan and Gary: Duuh.
Ryan: How about we start out West and make our way to the East?
Gary and Ross: Okay!
Two months later...
Here are the East Coast dates and I'll let you decide for yourself what the Brothers were thinking: Toronto, NYC, Philly. That's it. >_< is all I have to say.
:as she listens to iTunes Paul McCartney ad: See what you get for smoking? A low voice that only kind of sounds like you when you were in your thirty's. Yeah, that's right, I'm dicking on Macca.
Moving along!
Sgt Pepper must die! That is all. Oh and total yay for Wayne Coyne and Jackie McKeown.
Okay, now non-music stuff. In a second entry, this one is way too long. Onwards and upwards!

Lies

I need more Kaiser Chiefs and distractions. I don't have enough of either. You see if I let my mind wander for even a second I start thinking about all the lies I've been told over the past year and I can't handle that right now. So instead I've been listening to YTAM since 2 and have some how distracted myself for an equal amount of time. Unfortunately the distractions are running out and YTAM will only last me so long before it's magical healing powers stop working. I would listen to Employment but there's less angst on it and I'm kind of in the mood for angst. In any event, the point is I need more Kaiser Chiefs and distractions. Also, I'm un-hiding everything having to do with KC because my mental health kind of relies on this action right now. After I do that I'm going to practice the piano until my wrists hurt or I master "I'll Fly Away", which ever comes first. I think this will help.
She's been living in two worlds, one a blatant lie and the other nothing but failure and loneliness. But she lied, lied to my face and said everything was alright. She said she was going to classes and doing her work. When I visited her she wasn't even enrolled, but she said she had classes. She lied when we went to the Kaiser Chiefs concert and she lied this summer. All she's been doing is lying to me, to my parents, wasting so much money on a lies and more lies. I hate her for lying to me, but at the same time I feel like a hypocrite because I've lied so many times in the past. But not like this. Maybe that's the difference. I lied and never got away with it. She lied a did get away with it. She's like Jack (dear God I can't believe I'm referencing DW), someone I can't even look at without cringing. How could she do this to us, to herself?
I need more Kaiser Chiefs.

The News and Nothing But...

...The News:
Remember all that time ago when I said that Noel Gallagher confused me? Well, he continues to confuse me with his comments about the Sgt Pepper re-recording. I haven't had the chance (or want) to listen to the second part of Radio 2's docu on this re-recording, but supposidly Oasis was set to cover "Within You Without You" which was one of George's songs. Also the song uses sitar which is really hard to play and so my question is, "Shouldn't you be embarrassed that you're not George Harrison?" But yeah, the Gallagher's (and yes I am lumping Liam into this) continue to be twats. All is right with the world.
There are times when I hate everyone everywhere. These times are usually sparked by my constant disappointment at the fact that I don't live in Western Europe or the UK and thus do not get to attened any of the festivals that occur in that wonderful land (of sugar and happiness and free beer.) Most of my news sites are a reminder of this disappointment, no more so than NME who garnered this headline a few days ago: "Kaiser Chiefs and Hard-Fi added Ibiza Rocks." To this I say; I hate you all and your dogs.
This article confuses me greatly. That's all I have to say really. I'm greatly confused by the article because I am. Maybe I'm just thick, but yeah. I can't even comment because I'm so confused. And creeped out ever so slightly by Jarvis Cocker but that's neither here nor there. Mostly I'm just confused.
Alright, I'm off to get a diet Coke and then watch some Doc. Who. This will be my last episode before the season starts up here in the States, so I'm rather excited. Except for a few hiccups :cough:Daleks:cough: this season has been remarkably good and I'm really looking forward to rewatching it, starting July 6th at 8pm (if you want to watch "The Runaway Bride") or 9:30pm (if you just want to start with the first episode of the season "Jones and Smith.") Anyway, I'm off.

I Can't Think of a Witty Title So Your Stuck with This

Bollocks. My soft romantic core isn't being helpful at the moment and hopefully I'll be able to salvage something from this god awful situation, but who knows. I'm shit at this sort of thing, have been since forever. Damn my lack of adequate social skills. Damn the Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault. Damn myself.
Umm...my sister is horribly awkward, more so than myself, and thus dented my enjoyment of Knocked Up, though overall I thought the movie was alright. I didn't absolutely love The 40 Year Old Virgin so I'm not surprised that I didn't love this one either, but it wasn't awful. I didn't really feel like going to the movies yesterday anyway, which may have added to the overall experience. Guh...
I was feeling really witty last night and so I saved a few news articles to make fun of, but I was too tired to actually do anything with them, so now I'm stuck with these articles that I don't feel up to writing about. Hopefully after watching some Black Books (which I now own), I'll have regained my sarcasm and so I'll be able to write about the previously mentioned articles. They're quite good too, so it should be fun once I get my shit together.
Blehck. Why oh why must life be so damn complicated? I try my hardest not to make things complicated and then I do one thing and everything gets complicated and shitty. Then again my wonderful sense of paranoia may be the one doing the thinking and so this all been made complicated because I'm a paranoid little shit. Ultimately, I will go back to my little hole and everything will settle itself out and Farber can just shove it up his. So there.
Just in case you were curious I'm a music explorer.

I Downloaded This from Friday Five

1. Do you download music not from the popular genres of Top 40, pop, rock, rap, dance, R&B, or country?
Umm...Does British indie rock count? If so, then yes, rather enthusiastically.

2. Are there any musicians for whom you've downloaded a significant amount of their material yet own few or none of their albums?
Well, technically speaking I've downloaded more by the Arctic Monkeys than I have as albums, but...well they're ep's so I don't if that counts. If that doesn't count then no. I like buying albums for the liner notes, even if they're useless :cough:Arctic Monkeys:cough:

3. Have you ever enjoyed a downloaded album so much that you went and bought the physical album?
We Are Scientists, OK Go, the Long Blondes, Rilo Kiley, Lily Allen, Kasabian, Muse, KT Tunstall, Blur, Belle and Sebastian, the Cribs (when Men's Needs... eventually comes out), the Futureheads, and the Young Knives. So..yes.

4. How many different ways of playing music do you own (such as radio, stereo system, computer, Walkman/Discman, mp3 player, mp3-ready phone, etc.)?
For all intents and purposes I have three different ways of playing music, but I only use two (mp3 player and computer.)

5. Do you still have and/or play a favorite vinyl album, cassette tape, or 8-track tape?
No. 0_0

Post-Graduation

Well, now that graduation is over I have something to admit: I have a strange half-crush on someone whose name is not Ricky. Who (and what) he is will remain confidential for the time being for the sake of the few others involved because I can never make my life simple so of course there are other people involved and they need to be protected from my f-upped-idness (if that made some sort of sense.) Also in other bizarre news a very old friend of mine has added me as a friend on Facebook. 0_0 The days just get stranger and stranger.
There really isn't anything else I need to say at the moment, so I'll just leave it with the above. I'll be back later with some sort of reflection shit or maybe just random shit, I don't know. But yeah, I've officially left secondary education. Yay!

News from the Graduation

Today Nore was subjected (and tortured by) a large mob of people, most whom did not know she existed and thus did not care that their loud yelling, screaming, and almost continuous clapping might (almost definitely) have caused serious damage to her hearing. This loud mob also exhausted Nore, but for our poor heroine, there will be no relief. Nore will now have to spend at least two hours with her relatives, possibly without the aid of sarcasm and a noticeable lack of British accents/music. Hopefully Nore will be able to make a full recovery from this horrendous nightmare in the coming days. Until then, this Charles R. Wilson with News from the Graduation.
[Don't worry I haven't lost my mind, just my sanity.]

Something Else

There's something else I wanted to post, that Tom Chaplin said. You see the way the Keane website works the url for it is always http://www.keanemusic.com no matter what you're looking at, which means that I can't give you guys a link to look at. Instead you just the quote of what Tom said. For context, there's this kind of anonymous person who does short little interviews with the members of Keane and also keeps up the website and the newsletter. I suspect that that it's actually more than one person, but I have no way of verifying this. Anyway, this is what Tom said which just proves what a tough shit he is.

"8. What is the magic word?
Fuck is a pretty good one. So many possibilities etc."

You see when he says that, you have to remember the type of music Keane records. And then wonder, what did rehab do to him.

A Week

So that's what a week without blogging is like. Hmm...
So this was my last week of secondary education. Most of it was spent thinking "dear god I'm bored" and "shit, shit, shit." I got most everything done that needed to be done this week and haven't touched my clarinet once in the same amount of time. Makes a girl happy, not having to touch one's clarinet. Mind you I have discovered that my left hand is relatively uncoordinated while my right hand laughs and points, because it has mastered the I-IV-I-V-I hand position/transitions. I got my yearbook and scrambled to get everyone I wanted/needed to have sign it sign it. Unfortunately I've been guilted into going to the Senior BBQ which means I'll be spending my Monday night bored out my skull. Oh well, besides graduation this probably the last time I'll see many of these people, so I might as well suck it up.
Let's see what else is there to say? I've decided that after graduation I'm going to say somethings in this journal that I wouldn't have normally said during the school year because I probably won't see a lot of people who could possibly be offended by what I'm going to say...basically there will be a slightly confessional journal entry in the days after graduation because I can. Also I feel like shit for no apparent reason, which annoys me because I like having a reason for feeling like shit. But yeah...I'm basically done with high school. Mwhahahahahhahahaha, now I can be the serial killer I always wanted to be (j/k.)
Recently there has been some news about Blur. Some people might be happy to hear that they'll be going back to the studio this fall. I'm in the minority. I'm in the minority because I think this whole thing is fueled by the not so successful band members (Rowntree, James) who need to accept that they need to move on. Their time has come and gone. I mean look at Oasis. Do you really want to be like them? In any event, I hope Graham keeps his head about him and doesn't give in. Damon has always seemed like the soft type, so I'm not surprised he's doing this, but I really truly hope that Graham doesn't give into David and Alex's requests. Oh, and yes, I am a bitter old woman.
I read this little article awhile and found it amusing in a rather cynical way. You see Patrick Wolf is a British solo artist whose a bit flamboyant and has bright orange hair. His debut CD (at least for us in the States) was rather good, though it had some songs that seemed to go on for a bit too long, but was otherwise good. In any event I always find it amusing when people or bands decide to go "political." I find it particularly amusing when they go political over something that has nothing to do with them, such as the American political situation. Now I realize that with the world we live in, everything affects everyone, so what happens in the States affects someone in the UK almost as much as it affects me, but still. What business is of theirs if the political situation over here is fucked up? Last time I heard (which was quite awhile ago, and wasn't very in depth) the political situation over in the UK wasn't all wine and roses either. So, why not write an album about that, instead of writing an album about the US. We already have people who do that like Neil Young or Nellie McKay. Hell we have Kanye West for Chrissake, we don't need a Brit too.
Editor's Note: The above might make me seem like a conservative quack. I'm not, I just don't like politics and so music that has to do with politics annoys me a bit. I figure if the Beatles didn't see fit to comment on Vietnam, why do all these artists have to comment on nearly everything that is bollocks about politics. Anyway, just remember that I'm not a conservative quack, just a normal loon.
Bleh. I'm seriously thinking about taking a nap even though I've done absolutely jack today. So I'll leave you with this little goody. I swear I've watched that episode of NMTB way too many times and that particular bit always cracks me up. Ryan Jarman is fucking hilarious. And now I'm off.

I'm a Realist

I'm a realist
I'm a romantic
I'm an indecisive piece of shit

I'm a realist
I'm a romantic
I am indecisive and that's about it

and you dream that's the same thing
that's the same life you lead
I don't agree and so you drink
don't wanna think
that's cos your mind is already made up

I'm a realist
I'm a romantic
I'm an indecisive piece of shit

I admit it
I'm up to my old tricks
did you see her eyes (oh no I tried)
she looked surprised

and you dream that's the same thing
that's the same life you lead
I don't agree and so you drink
don't wanna think
that's cos your mind is already made up

how you dream that's the same thing
that's the same life you lead
I don't agree and so you
drink don't wanna think
that's cos your mind is already made up

no

I know that it's only a matter of time
before you know it I'll be leaving town
see it in my eyes
no one will do
no one will ever do

I know that it's only a matter of time
before you know it I'll be leaving town
seen it in your eyes
no one will ever do
no one will ever do for you

Genie of the Toaster

I'm really rather pleased with this, so I hope you enjoy it as well. This is a short story I wrote based on a quote from an episode of Never Mind the Buzzcocks. It's about a genie, a toaster, and a girl named Verity. Enjoy!

A response to a quote from an episode of Never Mind the Buzzcocks
“I am the genie of the toaster. You have three wishes, providing they are of a toast based nature."
The idea of a toast genie intrigued Verity. She had never heard of such thing but as the toaster stared at her with its toast slits for eyes, she wondered, “What is there to wish for that is of a toast based nature?” As Verity pondered this question, the toast genie wondered how the hell he had gotten himself into this situation. First of all he wasn’t really a genie, just some poor elf that had somehow ended up in this girl’s kitchen. Using the age of old trick of throwing one’s voice, the elf had convinced this girl that he was the “genie of the toaster” or some such nonsense. Thank the gods he had decided on the toaster otherwise he would have been in real trouble because what can one wish for that that is of a toast based nature?
“I want a piece of the best French toast known to man,” Verity proclaimed after about five minutes of awkward silence. The “genie” had convinced himself that the girl wouldn’t ask for anything and that she would just go away. But no, she wanted something called French toast. What the hell was that?
“Also,” Verity continued, “I want a slice of toast with in an egg in the middle like the English do it and I would also like a slice of garlic toast.”
“Oh shit,” thought the elf, “What the hell am I going to do now?” So the elf let the girl stand there for a second before announcing in a very stern and principal-esque manner that…
“Thank you for your call. The genie of the toaster is currently unavailable. Seeing as your call is important to us, please leave a message after the beep and the genie will grant your wish when he gets it. Thank you and have a nice day.”
When Verity’s mother came home that night she found the toaster smashed into lots of little pieces in the kitchen and Verity eating some sort of toast, with a very satisfied grin on her face.

I Have One Thing to Say

Bastard. Smug befringed sexy bastard.

A General Beatle Related Announcement

On Saturday BBC Radio 2 will be broadcasting the Sgt. Pepper "re-recording" as they're calling it at 3pm EDT (eastern daylight time) or at 8pm BST (British summer time). I know that I'll be listening to see who covers what and to hear what the artists have to say about the great album, so you should listen to.
I'm going to go explode now. Stupid chorus.

Apologies in Advance

I would like to apologize in advance for any and all mood swings I may exhibit in the next few weeks. I would also like to apologize for ignoring anyone, yelling at anyone, and generally acting like a bitch at anyone in the next few weeks. Furthermore I would like to apologize for any past behaviour that fits into any of the above categories. Why I am acting like this and will be acting like this for the next few weeks is both logical and illogical, so I just want all of you to know that I'm sorry if I hurt anyone's feelings and such. Most of what I'm going through is out of my control and what is under my control I'm doing my best to control (hurrah for using the same word three times in a sentence.) So yes, apologies in advance for being a total bitch.

Things I Learned This Week

This is a list of things I learned this week. Enjoy.

• I can do basic html so as to make my entries pretty. Yay for me!
• Toshiba has really nice costumer service people and they fix things really quickly. All of this means that I should be getting my mp3 player sometime after the long weekend.
• Jackhammers don't like me and I don't like them.
• Mrs. Thompson's husband is a beast on the piano.
• School is incredibly boring and pointless and I get tired when things are boring and pointless.
• The history of American popular musical trends is long and complicated and incredibly interesting. It's a damn shame I can't do a more in depth look at the whole mess.
• Christian is a hell of a lot cooler than I thought he was and it's a damn shame I'm only learning this now.
• Whitey is a vegetarian and for some reason is considered "sexy."
• On a similar note, Ricky is a vegetarian.
• Although I respect vegetarian's I don't think they could possibly respect me because I'm basically a carnivore. I think this would ruin any chance with a certain person, thus dashing all and any fantasies based around said person.
• Alex is so much braver than me. I wish I'd had my camera with me yesterday so as to have documented this braveness.
• I want Kirkland Ciccone's life so badly.
• My sister is psycho.
• I need to have my bangs trimmed.

That is all. I'm off to see a movie in about a half hour. Should be fun.

Oh Shit

Over at LJ they have this nifty thing were I can have 15 icons that represent me. Because I was bored with the ones I had, I decided to delete all of them. Also because of resent developments in romantic interests (and because I actually miss my Kaiser Chief related images) I decided to un-hide my KC LJ icons. I'm glad they're back. Right now I'm trying to decide which fifteen will get to represent me, but first I have things to say, so the icon search will have to wait a bit.
I should warn you I'm tired and feel like shit, both for apparently no reason, so this entry might be a bit fucked up. This is not to say that my entries aren't usually somewhat fucked up, but this one will be particularly fucked up. So, let us continue.
I have this shirt. It says "pants" across the front in orange lettering. It's cool because pants is actually British slang for something that's shit or not very good. No one but me knew this before I began having to explain my cool shirt and now a few people curious about why I have pants written across my chest know what pants actually means. Now, there is this reviewer over at TWOP who is part of the reviewing team that reviews American Idol. Everything I know about AI is because of them and the Washington Post TV column. Well, last night was the season finale and this afternoon I read Jacob's review of the show. Coincidentally I'm wearing my pants shirt. I was gleefully surprised when I read this line:

Then, Ryan's "good friend" GWEN STEFANI, looking pants in a weird Astro Boy bubble tutu dress...

Boy was I excited. So excited in fact that I saved the link so that I could take the quote from the review and show it to y'all. See I'm not crazy, pants really means what I say it means. So ha, I'm cool.
(Told y'all this would be a fucked up entry)
So I have some music news for y'all and because I'm feeling more spacey than witty, I'm just going to give the headlines and move on to the important things, like how the Cribs are cool and that tomorrow is an important day. But first, music news.

• Good Shoes Gig Not 'Secret' Anymore
• M.I.A. cancels US festival appearance
• Mystery Jets Cancel U.S. Tour
• Soundscan Wednesday
• The Strokes to take a break; four-fingered chocolate snacks reported stolen from NYC corner shops

So, way back when, like a week or so ago, I reported that the Cribs new album would be released in the States on July 19th. The only confirmation I had for this information was Sound Bites, a music blog, and a wonderful commenter on the Blogger edition of this journal. The band themselves have not announced a release date for the album in the States and my meager resources didn't have any information to the contrary, so I figured I wouldn't be hearing the Kapranos-produced album until July. I was wrong. It seems that the Cribs have released the album for download only internationally this week. The only reason I know this is because I noticed that Filter had a review of Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever and I thought this was a bit odd given the fact that it hadn't been released in the States as far as I knew. So I checked with Yahoo! Jukebox and found, hey, they have released it. I'm guessing that I'll still have to wait till July for the CD version of Men's Needs..., but I'm happy to be able to listen to it now. I would recommend having a listen to the album mainly because it's a terribly good album and also because it is Alex Kapranos' first stab at producing and we all like Alex Kapranos. So yeah, the Cribs are terribly cool and their new album is terribly good.
I have 9 more school days left until I don't have to go to school anymore. I have no idea why I'm even going to school now, but at least I only have 9 days of it left. This means that I have 12 school days until I graduate, which is both thrilling and scary as shit. All I know is that I want all of this to be over as quickly as possible so that I can get out of here and move onto the great things I plan on doing.
I'm going to collapse now. Have fun.
Oh wait! One last thing: Tomorrow is Towel Day so be sure to have your towel with you. I know I will.

Paranoia

"But I'm really not as cool as I'd like to be
'Cause there's a red, under my bed
And there's a little yellow man in my head
And there's a true blue inside of me...
Paranoia, the destroyer.
Paranoia, the destroyer."
--- The Kinks, Give the People What They Want, "Destroyer"

Okay, so the guy in the above mentioned song is a hell of a lot more paranoid than me, but I have my own kind of social paranoia. Because for such a long time I lacked the necessary skills and hearing comprehension to properly participate in the social world we live in, I developed the coping mechanism of staying quiet at all times. Unfortunately there were some down sides. I became acutely paranoid about people talking about me, even when there was no reason for them to be talking about me. Despite my grand achievements in the past two years, that paranoia still lingers leaving me nervous and slightly (okay, completely) unsure of myself in strange (daily, recurring) social situations. You see the people over at that table? The ones who looked over here for no apparent reason? Yeah, I know one of them. So now, they're talking about what a freak I am. Those girls over there, the ones I don't even know? They looked at me in the hall and now they're laughing, so obviously they're laughing at me. The list goes on and on.
There's another side to this paranoia. Not only do I fear that I'm constantly being commented on, I'm also always worrying that I'm being taken for granted. I fret in my head about whether or not I'm the third wheel in any given conversation or social situation or that people, even people I know really like, don't want me around.
It's a strange paradox of sorts because part of me knows that all of these worries I have are baseless, but on the other hand the worries haunt me throughout the day, plaguing my self-confidence. If you don't know, if you aren't sure, whose to say it isn't so? In any event, it's my paranoia. Another in my lovely little treasure chest of psychological problems. At least I'm too much of a wallflower to do anything about it.

Why...

Why do I have always seem to fall for the unavailable for one reason or another kind of guys? It's like one friend of mine who seems to always fall for straight girls. It's like, why do our hormones hate us? It just doesn't seem fair. I find a guy who seems to share a million similar interests, whose tall and fairly attractive, can pull off facial hair, and has read HHGG (at least the first book anyway) without any kind of pestering from me and ya know what? My best friend likes him too. I say friends are more important than romance, but for chrissake! I don't know, I just don't understand. Also, Farber can never find out. He'd freak and bother me continually about it until I leave for college. But yeah, the trend continues.
So my party went really well last night. Everyone seemed to have a good time and I got good presents from the people. Lots of chocolate, not that I mind. Learned that you should never declaw cats because it's a nasty-mean process and you can live with the cat scratches. Also learned that tail bobbing is equally mean-nasty and really wished Alex didn't know so damn much about these things. Overall a good time. So yay!
See y'all on the flip side. I've got evil psych to do.
One last thing:

My male alter-ego, by the absolutely wonderful *stressedjenny

Righteous Indignation at its Best

Why I Have a Love/Hate Relationship with the Love Story in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Movie:
Having read all five books in the trilogy, I know that the love story in the movie is false. It becomes fairly well established in the first three books that although Arthur and Trillion might have had something, they don't now and although they sire a child, they never will. In the fourth book we, the readers, are introduced to Fenchurch, who, it becomes quite obvious, is Arthur's soul mate. As a die-hard romantic, I can't help but be annoyed with the movie because Trillion is not Arthur's soul mate, Fenchurch is and saying otherwise is blasphemy. I have nothing against love, I just don't like obvious swipes at canon. Makes me very indignant. -_- That is all.

And We're Going to Party Like It's 1999...

Since my room is mostly clean and I hate organizing shit, I've been taking a break for the past hour. I'm now going to prolong this break by writing up this journal entry. haHA! I can beat the system any day of the week. It just has to be the right system. Edit: I had to end my break before I could finish the post, so if the end seems disjointed, that's why. Now I have a clean and pretty room as well as a throne. Mwhahahaha.
By saying the following statement, Paul McCarteny is degrading his image by like a hundred million points: "Elvis [Presley, not Costello, obvs] influenced Sgt. Pepper [aka Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band one of the best albums ever written, ever]. Seriously, for anyone whose listened to Sgt. Pepper and anything from Elvis' catalogue, you'll know that Macca is lying through his teeth. Why he would decide to do this, I don't know, I didn't actually read the article. All I know is that Sgt. Pepper was not influenced by Elvis. Macca is high.
I hope that Hillary Clinton doesn't choose KT Tunstall. Please let the voting public that cares about her campaign song choose U2. You know why I hope this? Because if Hillary Clinton's campaign song is "Suddenly I See" I will never be able to listen to that song again. Never. So please, if you care about Hillary Clinton's campaign song and my sanity, vote for U2. I could give a shit about them.
Did you know Amy Winehouse was engaged? Because I didn't. Seems not only was she engaged, she is now married. So congrats to the new Mr & Mrs. Fielder-Civil. I hope your marriage is a long and happy one. And nothing like Brit and Kevin's.
Finally, before I make the final preparations for my superphantastisch belated-b-day party, I have absolutely even more superphantastisch than my party news: I'M GOING TO VIRGIN FESTIVAL!!! I'm so super excited about this. I'm just unbelievably thrilled. My first festival! Yay!!! Unfortunately I will not be able to go to the Siren Festival because my grandparents will not be in town so I will have nowhere to stay. I am sad, terribly sad, but at least I had a glimmer of hope for a little while. Unlike every single European festival this summer. But yeah, I'm still going to Virgin Festival because no one can stop me. Yay.
Huh. Now I'm off to make the final preparations for the party. I wonder what everybody got me...

Quickie Review for those with ADD and Then Some

Certain things that should be kept in mind: At least one of these bands (I'm not saying which) has been highly praised by NME as being the next big thing. I'm also in a terribly snarky mood and we all know I'm a picky bitch. Otherwise, enjoy!

The View -- :mumble, mumble: We're from the '90's! :continues to mumble: :tries to steal the guitar moves of Alex Turner: These blokes are from Dundee, Scotland. They are an exception to the "Everything from Northern England and Scotland is Genius" rule.

The Clientele -- Imagine the '60's, now. The early '60's mind you, not the late '60's. Imagine the Monkees, before they started the heavy drugs. Imagine happy flowers and smooth pop and flowy dresses. Imagine a French New Wave movie without the possible political undertones and Briggite Bardot smoking a cigarette. Or possibly a more laid back, more understandable Bob Dylan, at least for the vocals. Add it all up, and you have the Clientele

Au Revoir Simone -- American female bands seem to have a problem, at least vocally. From my very limited sampling, it seems that none of them have any emotion in their voices. This isn't true of their solo counterparts, or even the limited number of British counterparts (The Pipettes for instance.) Now when I say female bands I mean that all of the members are female. Obviously Jenny Lewis has no problem emoting during say, "I Never", but the lead vocalist for Au Revoir Simone does have this problem. Which is sad because otherwise Bird of Music wouldn't be too bad.

Since Au Revoir Simone put me in the mood for some belting, the reviews end. Now onto something that makes my blood boil. Almost literally...
This is not fair. Sure maybe one day I could be doing what Derek is doing, but he get's to do it now which is what makes it unfair. I want, would give my first born and limbs, to spend the summer in the UK. I would spend it anywhere (just try me, I'll go anywhere) and I wouldn't care what menial tasks I was given. I just want to be in the land of brilliant festivals (that I wouldn't be able to go to anyway because the really cool ones have been sold out for months.) Anyway, I find it completely unfair and I protest.
In other news...I have my IB music test tomorrow! Sure I don't really know Bartok that well, but hey I've got the rest of the test to show off. Also my IB Bio Paper 3 went really very well in my opinion. I might not get the best grade, but I answered all but one of the questions to the best of my ability and that's what counts. That and a passing score. Otherwise life is fairly boring. I'm waiting for Toshiba customer service to send me a reply so I can send my mp3 player back to them to hopefully be fixed. I now have an account on facebook (bleh). Umm...not much else.
On final note, I'll leave you with this: Scouse = someone from Liverpool = Coastal accent, with mixture from other places (port city) = Even Londoners can't understand what they're saying.

Semi-Non Sequitur

I know, I'm posting a lot but this will be short. What can I say, I haven't posted in four days. I'm just making up for lost time XD Anyway, some lyrics. They are good lyrics and I like them very much. Sure, their semi-autobiographical, but the last two lines can apply to almost anyone. So yeah, lyrics:

Boxing Champ

We went to the youth club and we looked out of place.
I didn't know where to look
So I, looked at your face.
But you were a boxing champ, and I was a weakling.
You didn't give me a chance,
You gave me a beating.
And I thank you very much that you did.

And as the time went by we stayed out of trouble,
Before I could realise my age had doubled.
The man I became is a tragic bore,
And he's not a boxing champ anymore.
If there's one thing I've learnt it's to run away,
At least I enjoy what I do today.
And I thank you very much that I do.

One small step backward for mankind, one huge leap backward for Nore. With all apologies to Neil Armstrong.

General News

Oh the news, the news. I say it's general because I have a few things that aren't related to music, but really it's mostly just music news. And the non-music things that I'll be posting don't even really count as news so much as random things that I found and liked on the internet. Anyway, onwards and upwards...

Music! Working backwards from the 9th

• Hot Hot Heat are touring! No where near here! But they are releasing their new album in September, which is a good thing. Mind you this does mean they've taken longer to release their newest than it took any of the other bands I keep track of to release theirs. I hope it's good.
• Poor Green Leafe Cafe. I've actually eaten there more than once and it's always seemed like a nice place. According to a friend of my sister's they had an outbreak of salmonella there, which would explain why the bands and crews got sick. Still, death threats are completely unnecessary. I suspect they're coming from MCR fans, but don't tell anyone I said that. You never know whose listening...
• Yay new Rilo Kiley!! Too bad their isn't a US release date yet, I would love to know how soon I can get my hands Under the Blacklight. Sounds very 60's. Anyhoo, terribly exciting.
• Oh how I wish I could go to Austin City Limits. Texas in the late summer/early fall is solovely I've heard. Oh who will be there, let us see:
• Arctic Monkeys
  
• Kaiser Chiefs
• Amy Winehouse
• Zap Mama (a favourite from my younger years)
• The Little Ones
• Muse
• Arcade Fire (a band that should be seen live at least once)
• And many, many, many others
Yes I wish I could go to Austin City Limits
• I love snark. I love when music critics make fun of the music scene. I think it's absolutely grand, which is why I always enjoy reading DiS weekly music charts round-up. It doesn't apply to me because I don't live in the UK, but it's still great. Besides, if they think they're music charts are whack, just imagine what they'd think of ours. Anyway, good ol' snark.
• I find it interesting what Lily Allen decides to post in her blog. It's almost as if she doesn't realize that the media is going to eat up every word she writes and then spew it back all out of context. No link for this bullet, seeing as the entry I was going to link to isn't nearly as interesting as the post she made after that one. I would just suggest, if you're really truly interested to go to her myspace and read her blog. I just find stupefying what she'll post on it.

Other Things!

• Random picture having to do with a conversation my sister and I had. I find it funny anyway, so here ya go!
• A L33T keyboard for the truly lazy at heart. Just in case you can't type out LOL or OMG, here it is, all layed out for you. Dear god I hope this not happens in real life. That would just make me cry.
• A Chart to how the Seven Deadly Sins apply to you. My favourite; 2nd place.
• And finally, 12 Films that Defined Their Decades. I suspect that by the time my sister passes, which won't be for many, many, many, many, many years, she'll have seen all of these movies at least once. I, on the other hand, will have only seen a handful and probably only a few times each, if that. By comparison I will, hopefully, one day have a complete knowledge of popular British rock music and will have listened to all of it. So hah.

Well that's it my pets. I'm going to one last check of everything and then off to bed. Let's hope that I don't fail tomorrow.