The Major Key

The Magic Position (Patrick Wolf)
So let the people talk
It's Monday morning walk
Right past the fabulous mess we're in
It's gonna be a beautiful day
So do the bluebirds sing
As I take your hand
And you take my kiss
And I take the world
'Cause out of all the people I've known
The places I've been
The songs that I have sung
The wonders I've seen
Now that the dreams are all coming true
Who is the one that leads me on through

It's you
Who puts me in the magic position, darling now
You put me in the magic position
To live, to learn, to love in the major key

And I know how you've hurt
And been dragged through the dirt
But c'mon get back up
It's the time to live
So give your love to me
I'm gonna keep it carefully
Deep in the treasure chest below my breast
'Cause out of all the people I've known
The places I've been
The songs that I have sung
The wonders I've seen
Now that the dreams are all coming true
Who is the one that leads me on through

It's you
Who puts me in the magic position, darling now
You put me in the magic position, darling now
Let me put you in the magic position, darling
'Cause I'm singing in the, the major key

Let me put you in the major key

Breakin' Up (Rilo Kiley)
It's not as if new york city
Burnt down to the ground
Once you drove away
It's not as if the sun won't shine
When clouds up above
Wash the blues away

Are we breaking up?
Are we breaking up?
is there trouble between you and i?
Did my heart break enough?
Did it break enough this time?

Here's to all the pretty words
We will never speak
Here's to all the pretty girls
You're gonna meet

Am I breaking up?
Am I breaking up?
Is there trouble on the line?
Did your heart break enough?
did it break enough this time?

Ooh it feels good to be free
Ooh it feels good to be free
Ooh it feels good to be free

Betrayal is a thorny crown
You wear it well
Just like a king
Revenge is the saddest thing
Honey, I'm afraid to say
You deserve everything

Am I breaking up?
Are we breaking up?
Is there trouble between the lines?
Did your heart break enough?
Did it break enough this time?

Ooh it feels good to be free
Ooh it feels good to be free
Ooh it feels good to be free

The Underdog (Spoon)
Picture yourself in a living room,
Your pipe and slippers set out for you,
I know you think that it ain't too far,
But I,

I hear the call of a lifetime ring,
Felt the need to get up for it.
Oh, cut out the middle man
Get free from the middle man.

You got no time for the messenger,
Got no regard for the thing that you don't understand.
You got no fear of The Underdog,
That's why you will not survive.

I wanna forget how convention fits,
Hmmm, but can I get out from under it?
Well I cut it out of me.

It can't all be wedding cake,
It can't all be boiled away,
I tried but I can't let go of it,
Can't let go of it, uh huh.

You shouldn't talk to the water boy,
And there's so much you can learn but you don't want to know,
You will not back up an inch ever,
That's why you will not survive.

The thing that I tell you now,
It may not go over well.
Oh it may not be for a while,
In the way that I spell it out.

But you won't hear from the messenger.
Don't want to know 'bout the thing that you don't understand.
You got no fear of The Underdog,
That's why you will not survive

Go listen and dance and be merry.

People

I shouldn't be allowed near people when it's anywhere within a week of my visit with Aunt Flo. I become a danger to those around me but thankfully not to myself. Just to my social interaction. In all seriousness though, I do become a raging bitch who shouldn't be allowed around people who might annoy me. Which is basically everyone ever during this time of the month.
You see the thing is, is I swing between hating everyone and laughing my ass off at the stupidest things. I find everything annoying and suspect everyone of treachery. I laugh and act happy but in the back of my head I'm suspecting all of you of hating me or just putting up with me. I'm just that paranoid around this time of the month. I hate this, probably more than I'll hate you in the next five minutes. That's the beauty of hormones.
God I hate the world.

Irony is Best Served Cold

Yesterday I was finishing up an entry for my seminar blog and I was trying to find out when Parva (the original Kaiser Chiefs) disbanded. So, I went to Wikipedia and searched "Parva." Wikipedia then redirected my search to the Kaiser Chiefs page, which didn't help my timeline at all since that page's history starts with Employment. The damned thing doesn't even mention Parva. In any event, I was looking at the sidebar in the hopes that it would lend some help with my search. Instead it gave me the sweet satisfaction of being able to call Drowned in Sound hypocrites. You when t'Chiefs first released "Oh My God" they weren't signed to their current label, B-Unique. So, the released that nifty little song through the Drowned in Sound label. Three years later the self same people are calling them bland shite. :) I love irony. It makes me happy on the inside. That and finding out hypocrisy and laughing at it. All things that make me happy. In any event I have to scoot off to an advisor meeting and try to convince Prof. Gately that taking only three real classes and a whole bunch of ensembles is a really good idea. Anyway, I'm off my loves. Till next time.

Bandwagon

I wrote this for my seminar blog. All the quotes, save the last one, is from The Commitments and absolutely fabulous book which you should all read.

It's been awhile. I know it's been awhile. But I have a feeling The Commitments is going to make up for my lapse.

"Jimmy knew what was new, what was new but wouldn't be for long and what was going to be new."
Ever since the beginning of popular music, I suspect there has been an "indie-er than thou" crowd. When Stephen Foster hit it big, I truly believe there were some people who said "I knew him and liked him when he was nothing." This crowd though might be more prevalent starting sometime after though the Beatles simply because that's when people started really caring about "the next big thing" and knowing of "the next big thing" before anyone else. Knowing the Rolling Stones before anyone else added to a person's "indie" "cred" and knowing who the Libertines are (still, and after beforehand) adds even more to a person's indie cred. And let me tell you it's all about the indie cred.
The NME (as all the proper Brits call it) is the bible of "indie-er than thou." They, much like Jimmy (as compared to Derek and Outspan), know what's what. They declare what's what in fact and also declare what's not, something that usually happens after six months (or less depending on how truly terrible the band/artist is). There are other such publications and websites that declare things and everyone who knew about the highlighted band declares themselves more indie than the rest of the world (mwhahahaha.)
"Jimmy always got genuinely angry whenever Top of the Pops was mentioned although he never missed it."
The thing though, about being indie-er than thou is that there are a few guilty secrets in everyone's closet. There's a band in every elitists iPod that they wouldn't want anyone to know about. Songs that the cool crowd wouldn't approve of (such as the whole Keane catalogue) and would mean the stripping of any indie cred you might have if anyone found out. So you hide your Keane CDs and rain scorn upon them whenever possible ("Tom Chaplin was in rehab? God what a..."). Such is the way of the elitist. Insist that you knew band X before anyone else and deny that you love and have been to multiple concerts of band Y.
"So get off the bandwagon, and put down the handbook" (Arctic Monkey, "Fake Tales of San Francisco")

What Kind of Fuckery is This

In my heyday of fangirl-ism I put up with a lot of shit. Truth is, I still put up with a lot of shit, but now it's on a wider scale of life, as compared to earlier times. But back when I was truly apeshit, I...well...put up with a lot of nonsense, more so than most Doctor Who fans put up with and to be a Doctor Who fan you have to put up with a hell of a lotta nonsense/bullshit. So, to say that I put up with more is really saying something. Now that the scales have fallen from my eyes though, I've realized, beyond the fact that bands get away with a hell of a lot, that with Yours Truly, Angry Mob the Kaiser Chiefs have gone from their videos making some sort of sense to absolutely disconnected from the song and generally making no sense whatsoever. So now, for your viewing (dis)pleasure the videos of YTAM and commentary:

"Ruby"
If you a video that plays out a literal interpretation of the song, this video will not please you. The thing about this video is that, although it is rather surreal in nature, it's visually pleasing and overall has a sort of logic to it. In the grand scheme of music videos (and I mean everything) its one of the better ones I've seen, not only showcasing the artistry of the director while also showing off the band. A good one.

"Everything is Average Nowadays"
Not only does this video make sense given the overall gist of the song, it's also highly entertaining to watch. The best of the bunch, both in terms of logic and the concept of the video staying true to the lyrics of the song.

"The Angry Mob"
I've been going back through my journal entries trying to find where I slagged off this video, because this video freaks the hell out of me and I've only seen it once. Although it has a sort of thin connection to what the song is about, mostly it's just fucking crazy...

"Love's Not a Competition"
But not quite as crazy as this video. Not only is the image of rather poor quality, but it makes absolutely no fucking sense. There isn't even a vague connection to the song. It's just...absolutely and complete nonsense. With a trained dog. [Edit: My sister told me that this video referenced a movie scene. She didn't think I'd get it, but then when she mentioned it again, after I told her in didn't make sense and that the film quality was crappy, I answered her question. The video, quite cleverly, references The Conversation with Gene Hackmen. It's the first scene of the movie which is why I got it. Anything past that and I would have been lost. In any event, the above comments still apply, but there's some movie cred in there as well.]

So there you have it. All the videos for YTAM dissected by me. I'm feeling a bit jittery and incoherent, so I apologize for that. I need food. I'm going to take care of that now. Till later darlings.

Christmas Comes Early

There are certain things in my life that mark the passing of time and the year as a whole. Some of these markers of changed a bit (mid-terms in place of first quarter report cards as an example) but most of them have stayed exactly the same. One of the markers for the end of year for instance is top X lists on music websites. Another marker for the end of the year, beginning in 2005 was Fake DIY's Beard of the Year Contest. Traditionally music webzines and the like do things like "Beard of the Year" and top X lists towards the end of the year because a) not much is happening because of b) nobody being around really. Well it seems DIY wants an early start on the contest this year and so they're blogging about "musical beards." I was "shocked and appalled"* at this development and though not completely thrown off by it, I'm a bit weirded out by it. Silly nonsense like this is suppose to entertain me when I'm really bored and have nothing to do, not distract me when I'm suppose to be working. In any event, who here thinks I should nominate Simon again?
If you're a fan of Doctor Who and want something funny to read, I would suggest this. If you don't know what a chibi is, read this. Mix and enjoy!
*A quote from the second episode of the 20th season of Never Mind the Buzzcocks. According to rumours the show should be returning this November. I can't wait

Home Again

It's odd to consider what is essential temporary living "home." But there you have it. I'm home.
My computer is mostly in the right now. I had all the essentials back up-ed on my portable drive, so I didn't lose too, too much thankfully. I didn't lose any of my important music and pictures, thank god. So everything is back to right now, thankfully.
I'm very sleepy and had a very nice convo with Jasmine and so I'm off to bed. Further updates when necessary.

The Day the Computer Died

For the past week or so my computer has been running at sub-par speeds. The kicker though was when Word stopped working properly and I had to uninstall Yahoo Music Jukebox and Firefox for inexplicable reasons. So I called and complained to Mums and I got an appointment to have the rummy thing fixed. Turns out I was working at almost full capacity and the stupid thing was rather near exploding I suppose. In any event the person working on my computer said I had to completely wipe the thing and reinstall Windows XP. This in turn means I've lost all of my links and a good portion of my music, though none that I can't re-burn at a later date. The biggest annoyance is trying to recall where I save things and all my bloody links. It's amazing how many amassed over the past year or so, but there you have it. Can't do a damn thing about the saved things until I get back to school and I'm not going to do anything really about the music until I have more RAM (which seems to be main problem), just in case having all that music was part of the problem. Personally I think having a shit load of large programs on the bally thing is what caused the problems, but having an equally large amount of music probably didn't help matters. So that's the state of things. Not exactly in the soup, but pretty damn close.
(I've been reading P.G. Wodehouse for the past week and some of the jargon has gotten in my head and refuses to leave. Neither has the posh British accent that has accompanied the book, but that's besides the point. This is just an explanation for the strange words.)

Re: Short

Radio went eh on Monday, much better on Wednesday though. After the fainting spell, was worried things would be awkward on Wednesday in class, but they weren't thank god. I do have a bruise on my knee from were I fell, but it isn't too bad. I have my history mid-term tomorrow which I'm way not looking forward to. Music mid-term went well-ish, but I made the math more complicated than necessary. Ended up with a not horrible grade, but not as good as it could have been. Things are good in general though. On something of a KC binge because of mid-terms. Definitely need some sleep, but will have to wait. Going home for fall break tomorrow. Until then mes petites.

Short

Radio in (less than) a half hour. Nervous as all get out and hope to god I do things right. Fainted this morning and scared the crap out of everyone in the class. Libertines fan tried to be to the rescue, but was too far away. I think I have a bruise on my knee where I fell. In any event, made the rest of the day really weird for me. Skipped instrumental ensemble because I was still feeling shitty. Took calculated risks during my music theory mid-term, hopefully things will work out for the best. Had an advisor meeting at four which was utterly useless. Have to start thinking about what classes I want to take next semester. :sigh: My head hurts. Nothing else really to report. We'll see how tomorrow goes for me.

Accents

I wrote this up on Friday after a brief discussion we had my seminar. Someone asked why it was the Brits didn't always sound like Brits when they sing. Prof. Campbell gave a good answer and then I added in, without going on too much of a tangent. Because of the discussion though I had to write something on it, since I know more than I said. This is what I produced. Don't know how good or completely accurate it is, but here it is, nonetheless.

Accents in the UK
In 1066 the Normans invaded England through the south and gentrified the accent of the entire area. The northern part of the country, most of the west coast, Wales and Scotland were saved from this gentrification, retaining the more Anglo-Saxon/Celtic edge in their accents. In the south and south eastern areas of the country, the lower classes retained some of that edge, particularly in London where the cockney accent originated.
The Normans didn't care for anyone who couldn't give them power. Thus accents, even the largely gentrified areas, began to be divided by economic class, education, and birth place. The more education the more posh the accent. The difference in accents between a lord an commoner would be fairly obvious, even now. A Highland [the very northern part of Scotland] accent is thicker than a Lowland [southern half, closer to the England-Scotland border], just as someone from Manchester would sound quite different from someone who is from Leeds. Country is different from city and Wales is it's won country, and accent.
I'm not going to touch Ireland. Talking about that is asking for a trouble and a long winded speech about the country's history, which is incredibly long, depressing, and slightly confusing.
[This bit is all new, just to tie things up] Accents in the UK can identify someone just as well, if not better, than a driver's license. An accent call tell the listener where the person is from, their economic status, and even whether they went to University or not. And it all started with that Norman invasion in 1066.

I'm off to bed. I had a very long weekend, or actually a very long Saturday night, and I have a mid-term and a presentation tomorrow and I need my beauty sleep. Until next time mes petites.

Rum and Diet Coke

So today I went on a shopping spree. Seriously, this was no day for small purchases. Mind you Old Navy was having a sale and all my purchases there were cheap (comparatively speaking) but still, overall it was a spree. A major spree. But it was rather fun in it's own way. I will now be able to properly entertain myself when I'm on my own and I have cute new shoes and pyjama bottoms. The weird thing though was hearing the Cribs' "Girls Like Mystery" in Old Navy when I was waiting to check out. It was quite bizarre. Allison was less impressed a declared that I need to get into American (her inflection not mine) bands. I told I knew some American bands, just not one's she'd heard of. In any event it was a good day, especially considering how not very good last night was.
Besides the major spending spree today, most of the day was spent hearing stories from last night. Most of the stories are funny, some rather concerning, but overall I sort of wish I could have been a fly on the wall last night. But yeah, today was a good day.
So what's with the title of the entry you say. Well...R's choice of drink is rum and coke and since I shouldn't be drinking coke, you get rum and diet coke. Besides, it sounds good.

The Lure of Forbidden Fruit

I'm watching the season finale of "Doctor Who" by myself right now. It's not as depressing as it sounds since I watched it by myself the first time around. But since the SciFi channel has the longest commercial breaks known to man I'm going to tell you a story, because I know better than some who lurks on the internet and some things are best left to fiction.
Once upon a time
She sits at her desk trying to ignore the conversation behind her. None of them are older than 19 and some haven't even reached that mark yet. Yet there they are talking about vodka like it was orange juice. The only difference is that for this little huddle, such orange juice is quite illegal. She doesn't care if they drink. She doesn't care if they get themselves completely shit faced. She won't be the one with the hangover the next morning. She even has a medical excuse for not drinking. But for some reason it bothers her. This groups talk. Bothers her more than her favourite band cancelling tour dates, more than scalpers. She tells herself as she flicks around the internet, that it doesn't matter. It's not her problem.
They're out tonight. Her friend, one of the few she has, knows not to include her, so she's alone for the night. It doesn't bother, not really. She'll get to watch her movies, go to bed with out worries of being an annoyance to her room mates. Really it's rather nice to be alone. Except she knows what they're doing. The friend had the thoughtfulness to tell her what they'd be doing. Chinese and vodka. And there again, that gnawing feeling in the pit of her stomach, despite the logic in her head, telling her that something bad, something wrong is going to happen and she has no control over it. The idea of self-medicating and being woken up in the middle of the night to sound of the inebriated overwhelm her, ruining this otherwise relaxing evening.
All of this will happen again. She suspects it will happen tomorrow night in fact. Another night alone, left to her own devises. She'll have to go to Central Park if that's the case. Her conscious gnaws at her, not to tattle but to berate. She wants to convince someone that she's right and not just a prude. She'll blame the expenditures on simple necessities. Something like that. She hates this, more than anything else about college. Not necessarily the being alone. The knowing why she's alone. Ignorance is bliss.

The Art of Concert Going

Today is Rocktober Fest (don't ask me how one day can be considered a fest, but I digress) at good ole UMW and right now there is a very long line outside of GW Hall. Chances are people have been waiting at least an hour, maybe more (maybe less) depending on where they are in line. The headliners are Plain White T's (pardon me while I go gag to death at the thought of those posers being on my campus.) My roommate and a friend of her's are thinking of going, even though they don't have tickets and the concert is suppose to have already started. The logic is that since they're giving away tickets (though probably not now) they'll get in after the opening acts have gone and just see the PWT's. I feel like screaming because that is not how you do the whole concert thing. There is (as my title might have suggested) an art to concert going. Part of it involves seeing all of the acts.
The Art of Concert Going
1) You go see all the acts. I think it's incredibly rude to talk through the openers, but the point is, you don't just go to see one part of a concert. That's what festivals are for.
2) Get tickets ahead of time. Part of the thrill of going to a concert is getting the tickets ahead of time so you can drool over how awesome the concerts going to be etc, etc. People giving away tickets (even if the show is free) are bad people. Bad, bad people. And no, I don't care if the show is free, unless the person giving the tickets to you are a part of the venue, it is bad. Bad, bad, bad. Almost evil, but not quite.
3) Did I mention the whole, go see the whole show not just part of it? Yeah, that's an important one.
4) Unless you are me, or have an equally good reason as mine, don't leave part way through the headliner. It's a bit rude and chances are you'll regret it. If you really want to leave (not that I'm suggesting that you leave) do it before they come on stage, especially if you're in a club, because I can promise you once the headliners come on it will be almost impossible to leave. So really, don't leave part way through.
Oh yeah, I'm a total hypocrite. Complete hypocrite.
:Goes to see Plain White T's, because she's a horrible person:

From the Shear Boringness of Life

I'm very bored at the moment and feeling slightly brain dead as well, so I'm going to fill out a meme. Oh yeah, I know how to have fun.

CHILDHOOD
1. DC
2. Oldies 100
3. Red door
4. Woods
5. Creek

SCHOOL
1. Reading
2. Stories
3. History
4. Library
5. Biographies

LOVE
1. Music
2. Great Britain
3. Music (I know I've said it twice, sue me)
4. Doctor Who fanfic
5. Club concerts

PASSTIMES
1. Reading
2. Watching various TV shows
3. Singing
4. Listening to music
5. Writing

WORK
1. Reading
2. Writing
3. Computer
4. Music listening
5. More reading

FUTURE
1. Love
2. London
3. This is Fake DIY
4. Club concerts
5. Music

What a Girl Wants

Pardon the crappy title. I've had it in my head all day as a title for an entry and I'll be damned if I don't use. In any event it is somewhat appropriate given the topics I wish to address tonight. It's all girl business my friends, all girl business.
My friend Allison is in a crappy place as of today. Complicated relationship issues along with long distance make life a general shit hole, something she's experiencing at the moment. Oddly enough, as bad as I feel for her (and I feel really, really awful for her and wish she would accept my offer of chocolate, if only to make me feel better) I see it as a good example to present to Farber when I tell him about Guy X and how I haven't been making any moves on him. I'll say, "See how fucked up her situation is? That is why I'm not doing anything about Guy X." Farber will sigh in exasperation and we'll move on. There will be about two months of gossip to cover, so we'll have to. But in any event, Allison is living in hell right now and I'm cowering in fear. Life is wonderful.
Speaking of Guy X, he doesn't have the crush I thought he had. Which makes my life slightly less complicated, that is until the woman I will call Bimbo stepped into the room. I really don't like Bimbo. She is blonde and ditzy and might be considered attractive. She's friends with Guy X and is a bimbo. Allison is incapacitated at the moment and I don't know anyone else to talk to about this. In any event I hate Bimbo.
I now have a cold. It's official. Kind of like how I hate Bimbo is official. Hopefully I will get better soon. I would like that.

Frak

I fucking hate hormones. I fucking hate accounts. I fucking hate...the world. A nice generalization for this evening. Oh wait...I fucking hate my low-grade paranoia. I fucking hate colds (or the beginnings of colds.) I fucking hate the world. But ya know what? I love House. I also love chocolate and it's aural equivalent. In fact I love House as much as I love Doctor Who and Never Mind the Buzzcocks. All of this love though is countered by how much I fucking hate the world.
I'm currently working on withdrawing from my journo class. I decided on Saturday that I was either going to explode from the stress I was feeling or that I would flunk out of the class by the sheer number of times I would skip it from the stress of not having the assignments done. In any event I have to have the professor sign off on my withdrawal which is going to be an uncomfortable experience. Then I have to have Prof. Gately sign off on the withdrawal as well, another uncomfortable experience. Then, after all this uncomfortableness, I'll be free.
Nothing else to report. Guy X is still the head, the low-grade paranoia and hormones are making it worse that he's there. Oddly enough he's been in my room a lot too, but that's because of House and studying with Allison. All of which adds up to more low-grade paranoia in the end. Ah, such is life.
And now...back to House and hating the world.

Stop Me...

Stop me, oh, stop me
Stop me if you think that you've
Heard this one before
Stop me, oh, stop me
Stop me if you think that you've heard this one before

Nothing's changed
I still love you, oh, I still love you
...Only slightly, only slightly less than I used to, my love

I was delayed, I was way-laid
An emergency stop
I saw the last ten seconds of life
I crashed down on the crossbar
And the pain was enough to make
A shy, bald, Buddhist reflect
And plan a mass murder
Who said lied I'd to her ?

Oh, who said I'd lied because I never ? I never !
Who said I'd lied because I never ?
I was detained, I was restrained
And broke my knee
And broke my spleen
(and then he really laid into me)
Friday night in Out-patients
Who said I'd lied to her ?

Oh, who said I'd lied ? - because I never, I never
Who said I'd lied ? - because I never

Oh, so I drank one
It became four
And when I fell on the floor ...
...I drank more

Stop me, oh, stop me
Stop me if you think that you've
Heard this one before
Stop me, oh, stop me
Stop me if you think that you've heard this one before

Nothing's changed
I still love you, oh, I still love you
...Only slightly, only slightly less than I used to, my love

Set free me why don't you
get out my life why don't you
Cause you don't really love me, no
You just keep my hanging on

Set me free why don't you girl
get out my life why don't you babe
Cause you don't really love me, no, no
You just keep my hanging on

My heart is hurting and I'm ever so slightly paranoid. He's still in my head though. Where's Farber when I need him?

Tired and Shocked

This will be short, because my brain isn't functioning really, but I got the Across the Universe soundtrack today and I just listened to the first track "All My Loving." It was at tempo compared to the original. This is kind of a first in Beatles covering land. Usually the covers are faster than the original. I'm in shock.
Unsurprisingly, the "I Want to Hold Your Hand" cover sucks major balls. The fates don't like me that much.

Blue Peter

I decided to look at the NME office blog today, and saw something very funny. The topic for this Friday's Fun is bands as TV shows. As a preface, here's a link to the Wikipedia entry on Blue Peter, which is a children's show in the UK. Also, remember Pete Doherty...well he's Pete Doherty. Now laugh children, laugh!
"Blue Peter Doherty"
That is all. I'm actually in class...so yeah. I'm off.

The "House" Marathon Continues

I was going to get to see the Swell Season again, but Sophie shot me down quickly and quite painfully, which is the only way the conversation could have gone: either she was going to say "cool idea, let's do it" or she was going to say no, in which case we end up with me being very sad. Oh well, at least I have "House" to keep me entertained.
My classes are going well, considering how poorly journo is going, but for the most part I'm content in my performance, and hopefully I'll make it through journo with a semi-respectable grade and an only partially marred reputation. This weekend is family weekend which means I get to show my family around campus and legitimately avoid homework for most of Saturday. The again I'm doing much better in that area today (I've done most of my history reading) for no real reason, but hey, don't look a gift horse in the mouth right?
Umm...I've been watching a hell of a lot of "House" lately, which means that I've added Hugh Laurie to the list of British men that make the world a better place, along with Bill Nighy, Simon Pegg, David Tennet, the members of Arctic Monkeys (feel like putting them first today), Franz Ferdinand, Kaiser Dicks, Maximo Park, and Terry Pratchett. On a side note, I'm now only mildly annoyed with Kaiser Dicks instead of being really, really pissed at them. This is because, as I've stated previously, they are the aural equivalent of chocolate, and at the moment I need all kinds of chocolate. And "House." I really need "House."
Why is it that all the guys I like tend to be shorter than me? My favourite singers, for the most part, are shorter than me and I'm fairly sure most of the male actors I like are shorter than me. And yet in my head, the fantasy prince is always taller than me. But at least I'm semi-consistent in the humour department. :sigh: Farber would be so happy if he knew. Then again he would be really, really happy with all the socializing Allison makes me do, but that's beside the point. The point is...a guy other than Rick is in my head, and I'm so not ready for that.

I've Got A Score to Settle

Blur is set to start rehearsing/recording sometime soon. The article is a wee bit old, but is still rather relevant, given the person talking. As far as I'm concerned, the moment all four men step into the studio, the world will implode. Not that this seems like such a bad thing right now, but it might be regretted later on.
Charlotte Church has seemingly named her daughter Ruby after the Kaiser Chiefs song. The image used in the article (look to the right and you'll see what I'm talking about) as well as the happiness of the article makes me miss being a light-hearted fangirl quite a bit. The fact that I'm also way behind in my homework for this week also makes me miss being a light-hearted fangirl as well, but that's not the important bit.
Finally (because I have things to do that don't include my journo class) Filter has posted "The Angry Mob" video. Their cheeriness, compounded by the above news story and my own stress, makes me really, really wish I was as ditzy as Cecilia. And as hard a worker as Cecilia. If I had to pick between the two though, I would go with hard worker. :sigh:
If you had to argue that "(Sittin' on ) the Dock of the Bay" is a rock song where would you start? Maybe I should argue it's progressive because of the whistling...

The Arrogance of Youth

Or maybe just the arrogance of fame. In any event, New Young Pony Club cancelled a gig tonight in Brighton and didn't apologize. Even Kaiser Dicks apologized for their cancellation. I'm not entirely sure whether the White Stripes apologized, or if the Noisettes bothered, but I'm sure most artists take the time to say "Gee, sorry for the inconvenience." But not New Young Pony Club. Oh no, because one of them was sick, they cancel without an apology. Didn't I say things were only going to get worse?
In other news I continue to be eternally grateful that I ended up with Allison as a room-mate. Eternally and forever thankful.

Not Much to Say

I don't really have that much to say. Wednesdays are a bitch for me because I'm always (or at least for the past three weeks have been) really tired and I have the most going on, on Wednesdays, so generally I hate Wednesdays. But really I have nothing to say, but the AV Club reporter Sean O'Neal has something to say about the Austin City Limits Festival, which of course I find fascinating. I found one comment particularly interesting, in which I learned that a certain lead singer is still a complete idiot. Sadly I can't link directly to it, but if you scroll down to the comment section of the above link, and look for "Ricky's Mangled Ankle" you too will learn about a certain lead singer who is still a complete idiot. Just as a reminder, I'm a very bitter old hag, particulary when tired. Also, I'm using an old version of IE that has no tabs, so I'm very annoyed, as well as being bitter. And I'm tired. All in all, I shouldn't be allowed to comment on Kaiser Chiefs, because I'm so terribly bitter and tired. :sigh:
I have a speech/lecture/thing to go to today and I'm not terribly excited about it. I can't decide whether I want to get dinner or not and I burned my tongue earlier today on hot chocolate. All of this, plus a nagging self doubt about my singing ability despite the fact that Prof. Tavernier saying I'm a natural singer, adds up to...something not good. I just hope I don't miss "America's Next Top Model." I'm really looking forward to that, in a strange and mind numbing way.

A General Announcement

I miss my dogs. I'm going to be on the radio. AP hand outs annoy me to no end. I'm tired and I want to go home. Oh wait, I am going home, at least for the weekend. Baaaaaahhh.

Roommates, Girlfriends, Highlights, Wikipedia!

So at the moment I'm dealing with room-mate issues. Allison and I get along great (as an example: she and I spent all of yesterday watching "America's Next Top Model" marathon) and Cecilia may as well not exist. Thing is, Cecilia has a strange idea of where her territory is and where Allison's territory is and this has caused some minor problems (in the grand scheme of room-mate problems.) I'm the neutral party, though there is a slight bias towards Allison simply because I know her better. So Cecilia comes back from a weekend at home (it was her birthday on Thursday) with a whole bunch of shit we a) don't really need and b) doesn't really fit into our room. That annoys me more than Cecilia moving Allison's flip-flops (which isn't cool, but doesn't affect me.) Allison and I have talked to our RA (though I didn't mention the small table, second fridge, and coffee maker) and she suggested that we talk to Cecilia about our concerns. Since our main issue is actually just Allison's issue, Allison is going to take care of it, but the whole thing is putting me on edge. I had a feeling that something like this would happen, but I was certain that it would involve the other two having issue with something I do. All in all, the situation isn't as bad as it could be, but Allison and I are both stressing about it, so yeah. Not good at the moment.
So what does all of this mean? Damn Kaiser Chiefs being played on my mp3 player because they are the aural equivalent of chocolate. Damn backstabbing bastards.
In other campus-y news I saw Alex today and his girlfriend. (And as I realized who she was exactly, a small part of me freaked for no real reason.) Allison and I took the time to bitch to him about Cecilia and he bitched about a mutual acquaintance of ours (Alex and I) from high school who gets belligerent when drunk. All in all a nice meeting, especially since I haven't seen him for a long time.
Finally I would like to add that I'm getting some shade of red highlights, thanks to Allison, and that I'm going home this weekend. Please god, don't let these two events not totally destroy me.
I'm going to go read about "The Clouds" on Wikipedia. All hail Wikipedia!

Harpy Bitch

If it seems that I'm harping on certain things, it's probably because I am harping on certain things. My main beef this week (and for the past year or so) is the utter bullshit that pop stars can get away with and the utter bullshit the record labels can get away with. This whole "utter bullshit" thing has been epitomized by a recent slew of artists cancelling tours for rather idiotic reasons. First we have Dick Chiefs cancelling their tour and then a few hours (or something along those lines) the Noisettes cancelling their tour because they "need a break." In the past few months, particularly during the heavy days of July, we had a handful of artists cancel tours because of exhaustion. Now we have artists cancelling tours because they basically just don't feel like it. Now I didn't particularly care for Ms. Allen cancelling a whole slew of her tour dates, but at least she had a doctor's note and a honest to goodness illness causing her to do this. Amy Winehouse also has as extremely good excuse (drug/alcohol addiction), as does Meg White. I didn't even mind when artists cancelled because of exhaustion. But saying you need a break? Jesus people, have some balls and lie to the fans at least.
Now the reason I've decided to address this issue today, when there's so much else to talk about (hahahahaha), is because of some ads I've been seeing on the Filter site. I did screen-caps for your viewing pleasure, but basically t'Chiefs are trying to make it seem cool and thrilling that they've just cancelled the majority of the their NA tour:

And...

I hate false advertising. Over the summer when I was seeing adds for The Last Legion I bitched about how the adverts made it seem like this was the real story of King Arthur, etc. My sister got annoyed, but I really hate that kind of blatant false advertising. Which is why t'Chiefs' adverts on Filter really piss me off. A week ago, there was a whole NA tour. Now there's "exclusive" shows. It's like the band is rubbing it in that they've been complete twats this past week, as well as shilling YTAM in the process. So let's see; they release the album a month later in the States than everywhere else (which is an industry wide problem) and now they've cancelled tour dates for a completely bullshit reason (remember when critics use to harp at Mariah Carey and Britney Spears for pulling the exhaustion card?). The truth is, the music industry is being allowed to get away with bullshit (my new favourite word) and nobody says a word about it. Something has to change, or this situation is only going to get worse.

Your Awww For Today

Right, so I was checking my various new sites for any new information on my previous news, and I saw this article about Mr. Jarman. Seems our little Ryan is seeing Kate Nash, which is just beyond adorable. It's even cuter when you consider that when he threw the bottle, he missed. Seriously people, find me a boyfriend and soon. I'm getting desperate.

This Is Not What I Need

I know I haven't been writing that much, and most of it has been about things other than my life (though that's pretty typical.) I've been adjusting fairly well to this whole "college" thing, and pretty much trying not to suck at life. Overall I've been doing a good job of it, with only a few exceptions. Nonetheless, there's a certain amount of comfort "food" that is needed, especially when I start thinking about my bed at home. As we all know, Kaiser Chiefs tend to fulfil that need very well, with their catchy tunes and "Boxing Champ." That is until today. You see today they announced, through Mr. "Boxing Champ" himself, that they were cancelling all but three of their upcoming North American dates. Now, I was pissed to begin with because they were stopping in NYC and then leaving, so no DC, but still. The announcement Mr. Hodgson gave, made the band sound like a bunch of twat bastards, which isn't exactly a good thing. Essentially, what comes down to is this: "We're screwing you over by cancelling these dates so we can fuck around in our rehearsal space, because we can. There aren't that many American/Canadian fans, so we can get away with this without too much of a backlash. Hahahahahahaha." As you can see, I'm now super pissed because a whole slew of fans are being completely screwed over, and those fans who live (or can somehow get to) Mexico City, Austin City Limits, or NYC will be lucky enough to see the band. And of course, their UK tour hasn't been cancelled. Nor have their European dates. Funny that.
In other news, Allison and I have a mind meld that is wicked scary and rivals my family's mind meld. Also, Lipton raspberry White Tea is delicious.
Oh yeah, Hot Hot Heat's third LP comes out today, so go buy that. I'm off to do laundry.

The Fragmentation of Rock

Based on a comment Dr. Campbell made on my previous entry

Back in the day, rock meant one thing. Everyone listened to rock because there wasn’t anything else around really. Rock was a unifier, something the collective could listen to and somehow, quite miraculously, appealed to almost everyone. Sure there were the really uptight squares, but even they had their rock to listen to. There was a certain amount of splintering, between hard rock and highschool, but mainly there was just rock. Pure, unwholesome rock.
But with innovation comes the need to push the boundaries and go further. In the 1960’s there was barely any fragmentation, possibly just between Motown and the Beatles, but even that was an insignificant break. In the 1970’s the main fragmentation was between pop (think disco and the like) and rock (Southern rock, Led Zeppelin, etc.), but it wasn’t a particularly big fragmentation, and even if you were completely devoted to ABBA, you still knew “Stairway to Heaven” or had heard of Elton John. Rock was still a major unifier during these decades, and would remain so (for the most part anyway) into the mid 1980’s. But beginning in 1975, and even more so with advent of the synthesizer, the major fragmentation of music culture began to happen and has not stopped since.
In 1975 Patti Smith released her first album, “Horses.” Shortly there after, sometime in 1976, the Ramones released their self-titled debut. And thus the need for any kind of guitar technique, or even knowing more than the very basic “power chords,” giving way to the music of the uncouth masses. Anyone with any kind of musical ability could pick up a guitar and start banging away two minute ditties about how cruddy life was, pick up a bassist and a drummer and…voila you have yourself a band. The style and “grace” that had been introduced to rock in the previous decade or so was thrown away, along with the gratuitous guitar solos that had become so beloved. In the mid 1980’s synthesizers became widely available, and so the DIY attitude that had come with punk flourished. Plunk away at keyboard, add guitar, bass, drum (machines) and a practically monotone leader singer and…voila you have a band.
By the 1990’s and the advent of the internet and Myspace, rock had fragmented beyond the scope of what was known back in the late 1950’s when rock was just beginning. Innovation and the need to sound more unique than the person next you (either because you wanted to, or because you felt you needed to, to get signed) drove what had once been a single entity, rock, into a million (actually more around a hundred) little factions, sub-genres, that overtook the whole. Meanwhile, completely new genres came forth from the world, hip-hop, R&B, electronica, and rap, all from the same need to show the world who you are, according to you.
And thus, with innovation and drive, the two things that birthed rock and roll in the very beginning, has torn apart, fragmented the genre. Rock is no longer a unifier for the masses. There isn’t a single artist that everyone knows and likes (though there are plenty of artists that everyone knows). This doesn’t mean rock is dead though. Rock has simply grown.

The Day the Music Died

When did rock die? Has it died? If so, was it when the Beatles started bickering about money and the egos got in the way of everything else? Was it when hair metal became a viable sub-genre and disco ruled the airwaves? Did rock die in February 1959 in an airplane crash outside of little known town in Iowa?
When did rock die? Was it when the image or a single person became more important than the noise being created? Was it when the noise makers started thinking about what they were composing and started putting "art" ahead of a danceable beat? Did rock die when the sub-genres overtook the genre?
When did rock die? Was it when the splintering of the masses finally led to the end of a united force? Was it when punk came around and it stopped being about the music/noise. Did rock die when the King died on the loo in 1977?
Can anyone answer the question of rock's supposed death? Or will the critics and laymen continue to bicker over the "death" of something that hasn't really died yet. The first incarnation of rock has left, but it left a new incarnation, and another one and another one. (Much like Doctor Who, the general sound of rock can be changed over and over, but that doesn't mean it isn't rock, it just has a slightly different face and personality, it's still rock.) The sub-genres of rock collect and grow, but that doesn't mean that rock it's self has died. The music is still there, pulsating and thumping with strings and horns and techno-babble. Rock doesn't have to be corny, it can be thoughtful. All rock has to do is stretch and push limits, and when it does, it is rock.
Rock is not dead. It has merely grown.

I've Got Links that are Rotting in my Links Folder

Yeah, I still collect links to post and snark about. Unfortunately this whole "school" thing has put a damper on my regular blogging schedule, so I've got some links smoldering, waiting to be written about. Again, unfortunately I'm not going to write a whole lot, but they are there and I will write, for I must.
So Robert Daltrey totally has it right when it comes to Mr. Doherty. He does have a death wish. I won't say anymore because I could go on and on about how much of a death wish Doherty has, but yes Mr. Daltrey, you are correct.
Some sad news before I leave: Pavarotti died a couple days ago. He was probably the only male opera singer I knew about, even now, and it's quite a death in the music world. So much so that DiS felt the need to write up a little thing on his death. So RIP sir, RIP.
Till next time my dears, till next time.

Scales of Life (from Savage Chicken)

I Just Have This To Say

"Though a relatively small country, England has, ever since the Beatles, played a disproportionately large role in the cultural economy of rock"
--- James Miller, Flowers in the Dustbin

Welcome to College

Welcome to College! We hope that you are enjoying your stay and all that entails. Below is a list of rules you should follow to insure complete success:

1. Do not leave your keys in your room. Ever. You might get locked out for two hours, miss having dinner with people, be forced to spend more of your very limited FLEX account, and look like an incredibly socially awkward person (like that one in your Western Civ I class).

I am currently in hate of the world, most immediately because I was locked out of my dorm for two hours with nothing to do but listen to my mp3 player and pray to god one of my roommates showed up soon. Right now I would really like to be alone so I could belt out whatever the heck I feel like belting out, but my saviour Cecilia is in the room still and unlike Allison, I don't know whether she'll mind if I do belt out, say, Keane. I might test her though. Very soon.
So I had a good weekend. Hung out with Allison, and then yesterday a couple of her friends. Got absolutely none of my journo homework done (which I'm now deeply regretting) and watched "Hot Fuzz" with Allison and Paul last night. Had a WordPress account for a couple of days before realizing it's the exact same thing as having a Blogger account. Farber would be so proud (of the socializing, not the WordPress fiasco.)
Today I signed up to participate in Giant Productions (who will bring Kaiser Chiefs to our campus because I say so dammit), the radio station (where I will brainwash everyone into loving Kaiser Chiefs, so that bringing them to our campus will be that much easier) and to find out about auditions for one of the a Capella groups (which had nothing to do with Kaiser Chiefs unfortunately). Earlier in the day I contained myself during FSEM when we talked about the Beatles, to insure that I didn't scare anyone too much, because that is possible when I talk about things I like. Talked to my Western Civ prof about accomadations which took all of maybe five minutes. Even in private he says "umm" more than any normal person should, which is kind of endearing in a pathetic way. Then there was the clubs carnival and getting locked out my room for two hours. I will not forget that any time soon.
I also saw Alex when I was getting my very, very delayed dinner. With a girl. So now I know what he's been doing.
Beware the machete my friend, beware the machete

Depth of Passion

Taken from my blog for my freshman seminar
Since starting this course, I've gone back and listened to some of the older Beatles records I have (which is all of them) and then I think about "Abbey Road." The disappointing thing about that album (other than it being the last by a hugely influential and amazing band) is John Lennon's output on it. Most of the songs are incomplete and lack the feeling that his earlier recordings with the band have. When you listen to "Money" or even "Dig a Pony" there's a passion in his voice that you don't hear in any of the songs he recorded for "Abbey Road." Maybe that's why I don't listen to "Abbey Road" as much as the other records. Either that or because most of the songs are only partials, and the whole thing is slightly depressing because it was the band's last.
Depth of passion. Amy Winehouse, despite her problems, still has passion in spades which makes her recent issues so sad. Kaiser Chiefs (a name you will soon learn to appreciate) have passion, despite what a certain seventeen year old reviewer thinks. Franz Ferdinand, for all their giddiness and very danceable beats, have passion. But if you really want to hear passion, listen to the "Once" soundtrack. Passion, and how much passion an artist, is what makes rock good or bad. If you listen to any song on "London Calling", despite being almost indecipherable, Joe Strummer has passion when he's singing. The passion that Glen Hansard, Joe Strummer, Ricky Wilson, Patti Smith, and all the great rockers (and quite a few of the not so great rockers) is what draws the audience to listen. That's why, thirty years after his death, Elvis is still considered a legend. Listening to his back catelogue, particularly his early recordings, you can hear why people were interested. He meant what he sang and meant it with every fibre of his body.
The list of passionate singers is long and crosses nearly every genre of popular music a person can listen to today. But those passionate singers, those who meant what they sang the most, will be the ones who are remembered in fifty years, when their bands have long since broken up, or they've long since stopped recording for whatever reason. The exploits of bands and artists will be forgotten, but the words, the passion, will be remembered. That is what makes rock (and R&B, pop, country, jazz, punk, and "Once") great: the Depth of Passion.
Train in Vain --- "Train in Vain" The Clash

God I Hate Myself

There are certain downsides to a) being a fast reader and b) reading about the beginning of civilization multiple times. These two factors lead to me doing stupid things like checking the Kaiser Chief's site and their blog. Which leads to even worse things like this entry. You see tonight I found out, quite coincidentally, that I really do have a critical personality and so when I read something along the lines of this I'm practically forced to draw the oh so obvious comparison to this. Now if you didn't click the links, what I'm comparing is the latest entry of the Kaiser Chief's blog to a previous entry in Lily Allen's blog. If you didn't read the links, I suggest you do because a) the comparison will make more sense and b) you'll be able to understand why I'm currently trying not to become a complete idiot, because both of my roommates are in the room. The problem is compounded by the fact that I'm listening to YTAM, and for some reason can't stop. In any event, I will end this section of the entry with a very simple sentence/declaration: I hate Ricky Wilson because I love him too much.
In other news Amy Winehouse continues to be a sad, sad example of what happens when you mix drugs, alcohol, an immense amount of talent, a song called "Rehab", and today's media. So, so sad. Also, the Wind and Percussion ensemble (aka band) is ten million times better than high school band and Prof. Naylor is a hundred million billion times better than Mr. Fore. So that means I'll be in three performance groups and taking two different private lessons. I will be living in Pollard for the next semester.
Alright, I'm off for now. Again, till I next write mes petites, until then.

The Cribs (and guests) Set List

Takka Takka [I actually have the handwritten set list for their part, so I'm just copying that]

1. Fight On
2. Coco
3. Sofia
4. Silence*
5. Ratio
6. You & Universe*
7. Safer

White Rabbits

1. Kid on My Shoulders
2. Tourist Trap
3. While We Go Dancing
4. Navy Wives
5. Stanford Town*
6. Fort Nightly
   
7. The Plot
8. Maggie's Farm [Bob Dylan cover]
9. I Used to Complain Now I Don't

The Cribs

1. Major's Tilting Victory [aka MTV]
2. Hey Scenesters!
3. Our Bovine Public
4. You're Gonna Lose Us
5. Girls Like Mystery
6. I'm a Realist
7. Moving Pictures
8. I'm Alright Me
9. I've Tried Everything
10. Women's Needs
11. Martell
12. Men's Needs
13. Mirror Kisses
14. Another Number
15. Ancient History
16. Wrong Way To Be

*New Song

Upper Classmen with Cars

So I've suddenly become very "popular" in the world of the wide web. I swear, I've been getting like five hits a day on my blog. Mind you, they're probably all accidents, but still. That's well above the former average of like two hits a day, if that. In any event, a big hello to my international "readers."
So I'm a wee bit tired from today. You see I've been up and about, and quite active, since like 7:30am, and that's gonna take some getting use to, considering how I've been waking up around 9am most mornings this summer. Nonetheless, my classes went really well today, except for showing up late to the instrumental ensemble. Thankfully we weren't really doing anything to do, so my life isn't totally ruined. My history teacher has a thick-ish Russian accent and crazy eye make-up which was bugging the crap out of me during the class. I also know way more about history than most of my classmates which was kind of awkward because I felt like I was the only one answering questions. To back track a bit, I'm absolutely in love with my seminar. Which isn't really a surprise, since it is about rock and roll, but I really, really, really love the class. I plan on indoctrinating my fellow students in the ways of good Britpop (not the Libertines, thank you very much) and Kaiser Chiefs. Other than that, I love my seminar and am very pleased with the calibre of my classmates. They know their shit.
So I come back from chorus auditions (yet again I'm in the all female group, why is that?) and Allison asks if I want to go to dinner. I was hungry since I didn't have the much for brunch (cereal and peanut butter sandwich) and so I said yes. Now I was expecting a rather awkward dinner without much talk, but it turned out to be anything but that. You see, Allison and I bumped into some upper classmen that she knows and we had dinner with them. It was quite cozy with eight of us around a little table meant for less, but a lot of fun. One of the people there was Bryan, who is not only cute but absolutely hilarious. All in all a very good dinner for me.
Not much else going on. I've got band and Newsgathering tomorrow, so I'll probably do laundry in the intermittent hours I'll have. That and the reading I have to do for theory and history. Yay for practically free days! Well I'm off to finish the reading for seminar. Till then my pretty ones, till then.
P.S. Set lists for the Cribs will be up tonight, but no review, sorry.

Incredibly Bored and Nothing To Do

Since I'm bored, I think I'll post a few links. I will also tell you that my clarinet audition went horribly because I had very little control over what my hands were doing. There are two reasons for this: 1)I'd only just had my first meal of the day at 1:15pm and 2) I was nervous as hell. Somehow I got asked to be in the Wind and Percussion ensemble, which means I won't really have a life outside of the music department. I met my theory prof through this experience and he has bright white hair, which might prove distracting. In any event the audition was horrible and I'm planning on apologizing profusely to Prof. Gately, because I feel bad he had to listen to such garbage. Anyway, that was my day in a nutshell. That and some NMTB after the hellish audition. Now, onto the links.
So as we know this weekend was Carling Weekend, which is possibly the best festival known to man. There were some excellent bands playing there, like Kaiser Chiefs, Maximo Park, Interpol, Kings of Leon, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Hot Hot Heat, and loads of others. Well one of those bands were the Cold War Kids, who made the same mistake they made when I saw them: They played "Hang Me Out to Dry" in the middle of their set. At least they did at Reading, but still. It's like the anonymous poster says, end with a massive (aka your number 1 hit) song. :sigh:
Oh, the Smashing Pumpkins played as well, and Billy Corgan is a twat. He said that American girls are sluts and thus he is a dick/twat. And just because you're alternative, doesn't mean you get to say nasty things Mr. Corgan, that's for me to do.
Finally, Panic! at the Disco got bottled again this year, which makes me happy, because I hate them. That is all.
So classes start tomorrow. I'm not really nervous (yet) more worried that I won't wake up on time to get to breakfast and class on time. So here's to hoping that Nore gets to all her classes on time. Oh and big hello to all my random readers from basically all over the world. HELLO!!
P.S. I got some really cool posters including: The Ministry of Silly Walks, "Is your washroom breeding Bolsheviks?", and Tournee du Chat Noir. The room is starting to feel more like a room and less like a dormitory.

Pure Sugar and Artifical Flavouring

The world is conspiring against me slightly I believe. The weather in Fredericksburg is 99 degrees while in Leeds (at 11, almost midnight) it is 69 degrees. Also, Kaiser Chiefs played there this evening, as a surprise, so I hate the world. But otherwise life's not too bad. My vocal audition went well, so all is good. Hopefully my clarinet auditions will go well as well. So I'm off, just thought you might like to know that injustice still exsists in the world, especially when it comes to the weather. God I miss A/C. I'll update later, when classes start and all that. Till then my little ones, till then.

Surely I Could Retire...

So my internet is slightly buggered, but I can get on and check my things and go to my sites, so I'm happy. My other two room-mates are mostly moved in, Allison is putting her clothes away and Cecilia is off doing something with her mum. I've got my printer out, though I haven't installed/hooked it up yet, but it's sitting pretty at the moment. Basically, I'm completely moved in. Yay!
What else is there to say? I met this really nice guy who lives on my hall named Hunter who really likes hip-hop and can break dance. We watched "Eureka" together last night, which was nice, having somebody to watch the boob tube with. My RA, Becky, is really nice and I suspect that we won't be having too many problems, even though she's right next door. At the moment I feel like hiding, but lunch started at 11:30 and we have to be back at our rooms by 1, and I know I'll get hungry between now and then, so no hiding unfortunately. Hopefully I'll be able to find Alex, but who knows.
By the way, Franz Ferdinand is up to something and I'm wondering what. Otherwise, not much happening in the music world. Pete Doherty will never be clean, Amy Winehouse needs to get her shit together, and a bunch of bands are splitting up for some reason. Carling Weekend is sometime soon in the future, in fact it's this weekend. I wish I were there instead of here, but them's the breaks. Yup. That's it.
Now, to lunch or not to lunch, that is the question...

Here Comes the Rain

At this moment it is pouring outside. Thunder, lightening, heavy rain sounds, the whole gamut. I don't think I've seen this kind of rain in...oh months probably. It's nice in a way though because there's a very cool breeze coming through the window, which along with my lovely semi-silent fan, is helping to cool the room. All in all, the rain is a good thing.
I've moved into my dorm room, though the desk area is in entropy at the moment. Cords and shit lying everywhere. Oh well, at least it will give me something to do after orientation tomorrow. Other than some random athletes and possibly other LD kiddos, the dorm is practically vacant. I'm wondering whether Alex has moved in or not, what with crew, but eh. Anyway, I'm in F-burg, loving my top bunk status.
I'm off to sleep now, very stressful day, what with my card key not working and getting connected to la internet being a bitch and a half. Plus the general anxiety of moving in and whatnot. I did get my books though! Beowulf, The Odyssey, and The Aeneid are currently staring at me along with Ricky doll and my mini-TARDIS.
Alright off to sleep...sort of.

Building Blocks

Uuuuuhhhh. I have a horrible cold, which is horrible because I'm auditioning in a little more than a week and haven't been able to practice a note for the past few days, dammit all. Mind you this hasn't kept me from keeping update with the music news of the world, which has been very interesting. Amy Winehouse has been in a whirl-wind of controversy for the past week or so, the poor girl. Seems she should probably stick to rehab, which means the shirt I got of her's that says "I don't wanna go to rehab" is now even more ironic than before. I feel bad for her because she's so talented and being a drunk druggie is not going to do wonders for her career. Otherwise, not much news. BBC Radio 1 is coming out with this totally awesome album of covers from the past forty years, which incidentally is how old it is. I want it, kind of like I want to work for DIY, but I don't think I'll be able to get it, which is sad. Ya know what else is sad? The fact that I'll never see Franz Ferdinand, Arctic Monkeys, Lily Allen, or anyone else ever. They hate the Metro-DC, which means I will never see them again. Hopefully this means the White Rabbits will be available for most of the late-fall/early winter/winter season for my enjoyment. Mind you they are touring with KC, which might rub off on them. But god I love them. Especially the two main vocalists, who will be continually referred to as the blonde keyboardist and the brunette shorty. But really I love them all because they're all absolutely amazing. A proper review of the Cribs concert sometime in the future (promise!), but let's just say that the main act wasn't nearly as gratifying as the openers. In the mean time I'll be here at the beach with this awful cold and then moving off to college. Just a few more days and then I'm off, free! Something like that anyway. Uuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhh.
Ooooh, look at the block of rabbling. So much fun.

Unplanned For Post

So I wasn't actually planning on posting anything today, but then I did a search on deviantART for DW related works, and saw that the much anticipated Doctor's Boys had been posted by Miss Mimi-Na and so I felt I needed to post that lovely piece of art. If you'd like a closer look at what's going on (as well as who is in the picture) just click "Doctor's Boys" and click the picture itself, as well as looking at the what mimi-na wrote for the cast. Anyway, my mouth is killing me (damn dentist) and I've got some music cramming to do (hurrah for the Cribs tonight!), so I'll be off. Have a fantastic week, day, whatever.

And Tonight...

We can truly say/Together we're invincible

There are certain downsides to getting into a band rather late in their career, relatively speaking. For instance, much of their back catalogue may be unknown to you, so when fans who've been into the band for years and years get excited and you have no idea what the band is playing, it can be a bit discouraging. Fortunately for all of us who don't have the conviction to troll through and memorize over 30 songs from the past 8 years, there is the internet. The incredibly helpful and loving internet. So, instead of having to figure out last nights set list based on my somewhat inaccurate jots and barely deciphered lyrics (damn your falsetto Matt!) I've got Muse Wiki to fill in all the blanks in my list. So, to start off, here's the set list!
1. Knights of Cydonia
2. Map of the Problematique + Maggie's Farm outro
3. Hysteria
4. Supermassive Black Hole
5. Butterflies & Hurricanes
6. City of Delusion
7. Apocalypse Please
8. Riff + Feeling Good
9. Invincible
10. Starlight
11. New Born + riffs
12. Misirlou Twist riff + Man of Mystery
13. Time Is Running Out
14. Bliss (extended) + Balloons [I'll get to that in the main review, it's not a song]
Encore:
15. Plug In Baby
16. Stockholm Syndrome
For more information on some of the songs (Like "Man of Mystery", "Feeling Good", and "Maggie's Farm") be sure to check out the original at Muse Wiki. (Might as well give credit where credit's due right?)
:sigh: The concert itself was excellent, which it would seem is par for the course with Muse. They have so much enthusiasm and have an impeccable sense of showmanship. Sure they're not exactly chatty Cathies, but given the type of music they play and thus the type of audience they play to, a lot of jibber-jabber doesn't really seem appropriate. As for the Cold War Kids (the opening act) it felt a little like a flash back to when Kaiser Chiefs opened for Weezer and Foo Fighters. They aren't a very well known band, and although the kind of music they play is similar to what Muse plays, people just didn't know them well enough to get pumped. The only problem I had with CWK's set was the fact that they played their major single, "Hang Me Out to Dry", in the middle of the set, which made the rest of their set less exciting because for the majority of the audience there was nothing to look forward to. Muse on the other hand only disappointed me in that they didn't play "Soldier Poem", which is my favourite song. All in all though the show was incredible and I had a fantastic time. And now last but not least, the notes I took during the show, with some explanation.

Cold War Kids

• KC flash backs
• Trickle down effect [people kept coming in and out of the stadium during CWKs set, either because they were just getting there or because they needed more beer. It was only annoying because I had an aisle set and so these people would keep passing in front of my view]
• Ginger fan front row [she started standing up, but then realized no one else was, so sat down. She also changed shirts in between CWKs and Muse, which was interesting.]
• Roaming bassist
• For the love of syncopation [oh boy, lots of syncopation in their songs lots]
• Lead conducting [the lead singer would sort of conduct when he was singing at times, which was amusing to me]
• Lead's cousin Laurie [was present, so if we saw her, we should say hi]

Muse

• Bravo for heavy handed political statements [at the beginning of their set they played a speech given by JFK that was heavy in irony given the current American political situation]
• Blonde crowd surfer coming back for more [literally this chick would surf to the front of the standing area, get sent to the back, and then crowd surf back to the front. Complete idiot in my op-ed]
• ENGLISH FLAG!!! [yes there's a difference between the British flag and the English flag]


• In love w/drummer [he's so cute!!]
• Balloons of Doom [huge balloons partially filled with confetti]

Dog Days of Summer

The further I get away from Saturday (aka Virgin Festival) the less enthusiastic I am about writing about it. The day started out optimistically enough, but by the time Amy Winehouse's set was over, I'd had my fill of the heat, the heat, the heat, and I just didn't want to stick around for another 3-5 hours to see the Police. There was no point. I had gone through two one litre bottles of water and a standard Gatorade bottle. This is not to say that I had the worst time of my life or that I've somehow changed my mind about festivals in general. I just realized that festivals in Europe are a hell of lot cooler (even without the massive amounts of rain they got this year) and so are more enjoyable than ones in 90 degree heat with a heat index temperature of over 100. Mind you, depending on next years line-up, I'll probably go again, but I'm just that crazy. Hopefully though, next year won't be as hot as this year.
Now, as to the performances: I was incredibly impressed with all of the artists I saw (Fountains of Wayne, the Fratellis, and Amy Winehouse) and would love to see them again in a cooler venue. I have to admit I wasn't really paying a lot of attention to any of the artist I saw, either because I didn't know them that well or because I was feeling absolutely wretched from sun over-exposure (I was wearing a hat, I had sunglasses on, and I had sunscreen. I still felt like shit.) For the artists I did go to the festival to see (Fratellis, Amy Winehouse) I was very impressed with their ability to play tight sets (not as easy as it looks) without that much time in-between sets (about 20 minutes between each act, including switching gear and sound check, the one's I've experienced take much longer) as well as their overall musical performance. Basically, if it hadn't been for the god damn miserable fucking shitty heat, I would have had a lot of fun.
Oy, I'm off to bed now. Got all my accommodations and then some, yearned to be in London where the current temperature is a nice 71 degrees (God I hate them) and to answer Mr. Last Bus' question: I DO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now, bed.
Oh, and if you want a set, go listen to the previously mentioned artists' albums and add "Valerie" to Ms. Winehouse's list. To tired to write them up proper.

A Day of Relaxation

So tomorrow is V(irgin) Fest(ival) which means I'll be out for the count for a couple of days (at least). After that I have my meeting about accommodations down at UMW on Wednesday and then Cold War Kids/Muse concert Thursday and the Cribsies on Saturday. What does all of this mean for you my well meaning reader? I'm going to be incommunicado for a week to two, depending on how this upcoming week goes and whether I'll be actually be able to check things while we're at the beach (leaving Sunday after the Cribs' show.) Thus, no blog updates. Anyway, just a warning ahead of time.
The Friday Five of Randomness
1. If you were a fruit, which would you be and why?
Umm...Granny Smith Apple and not just because it's green.

2. If you wake up and smell smoke, and you have to get everybody (pets included) out of the house safely, but you have time to grab one item, what would you grab?
That's a toughie. Oh, who am I kidding? Mp3 player, duh.

3. If you were stuck on an island, who would be the one person you would want with you and why?
Okay, now this actually hard. I don't know maybe a man (or woman) made of electricity, who never runs out, so I could constantly have my music. But, in loo of that...dunno.

4. If you could change one thing about your physical appearance, what would it be?
My doughy physique. Either that or my height.

5. If you could spend the day with one famous person, dead or alive, who would you choose?
Oh god. I'm not answering this.

Music News
It's the end of the Arctic Monkeys as we know it. Ya know why? Alex Turner is cheating on his band with some punk named Miles. It's all down hill from here my friends, all down hill. Pretty soon Alex will think he's better than the Monkeys and won't want to work with them any more. Then the band will break up, because the rest of the guys won't be able to put up with Alex's inflated ego, and Mr. Turner will start writing shite songs about being betrayed by his friends and the "good ol' days." Yes, the end is nigh!
While we're at DiS, let's look at a review they wrote for Kate Nash's debute album. Normally what I do is read the opening sentence or two, just to get a feel for how things are going for the artist, then scroll to the bottom of the review to see the how they ranked out of 10. With Ms. Nash's review, reading the opening sentences is useless. So I read about the different eras of popular music and then gave up. I don't normally read reviews for artists I'm not really fond of, but this review is just ridiculous. If you take the review and copy into Microsoft word, the whole thing comes out to about four pages. The actual review (without all the background nonsense) is a respectable, if slightly above average, page and a half in length. In essences Mr. Adams thinks that the album is light fluffy crap, along the lines of...no one I listen to, and he gives the album a four out of ten. But for chrissake, does it really take four pages to say that Ms. Nash is a product of her era, if a slightly less talented than some? And aren't there word limits over at DiS?
Now, over to a place where I'm sure there are word limits for their reviews, NME writer Jamie Fullerton thinks that all the British music festivals should be taken abroad. Now, as Mr. Fullerton points out, this would nullify the festivals British-ness, but I think this is a great idea. I vote for Carling Weekend being moved to DC and Baltimore. Glasto could be in upstate New York and O2 could be in Maine. Wouldn't that be nice?
In my own psychotic way, I've been waiting for DIY to post their reaction to KC's new video. Since they seem to love the band as much as I do, I knew that eventually they would do one of their quick little write-ups and put it up for a few days under the videos section. Well they didn't fail me and this is what they have to say:"We're a bit confused by this one, to say the least. And not just 'cause Simon's hair looks weird..." To read the rest (and watch the damned thing if you desire to have your eyes scarred), click "this." I agree with them (as I usually do) and was glad someone else noticed the way Simon's hair looked. Anyway, I love DIY, I want to work there when I graduate university and the people who work there are the coolest people alive. God I wish I could work for them.
:sigh: I'm such a ridiculous human being.

Medium Psychic Christian Ninja

So the concert was brilliant. Amy Lavere, the opener, was brilliant and I was not expecting that. Glen and Marketa were pure genius and there's more chemistry between the two of them than is fair. I've been putting off saying anything in the hope that I would write a proper thing, but the notes I've made next to the songs will have to suffice. The title of the entry, by the way, was part of the very long introduction to "Drowned Out." I would explain, but if you're really that interested, just comment on the entry. All in all, the concert was brilliant and I had a fantastic time. Glen is an amazing communicator and performer, as was Amy, and I couldn't have been happier with the show. To finish off, here's a review by the Washington Post and a little write up by NPR, which also allows you to listen to the concert if you'd like. And now the set list plus notes:

1. When Your Minds Made Up [the gap in the middle isn't meant for clapping cheering, or wooting, it's for silence]
2. Lies
3. All the Way Down [Marketa on vocals]
4. Drowned Out [really long intro]
5. This Low [about making it through the shitty parts of relationships]
6. If You Want Me [Marketa again]
7. Fantasy Man [not the final name, a new one]
8. Falling Slowly [Nore "belts" the chorus without fear]
9. Leave [men actually don't like being confronted by their girlfriends :shock:]
10. Say it to Me Now [ah the drunk girls]
11. Golden [Glen said the room was completely wrong for this song, and I wonder why]
12. Cactus [aka the Pixies sex song]
13. Pavement Tune (I Want My Life to Make More Sense to Me) [and the group sing-along fails]
14. Once
15. Broken Hearted Hoover Fixer Sucker Guy [this is the one everyone remembered]
16. Into the Mystic [by Van Morrison the greatest Irish songwriter ever, according to Glen]
17. Star, Star [the "Freebird" of the concert, by the Frames]
18. You Ain't going Nowhere [by Bob Dylan, everyone on stage, and no we aren't going anywhere {second encore}]

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.