Music Sunday: Brick by Boring Brick

Today's post is the latest music video from Paramore. I am really liking it for a number of reasons, including:

*visually, it looks amazing

*Hayley pulls off being a blonde really well

*they are using images and themes from their album instead of what they did with their first video for this album, which had a decent concept, but sometimes just felt like people crunched in a room, and honestly came off a little lazy, just in my opinion

Here is the video for "Brick by Boring Brick":



Here is the thing about this video though. As much as I like what they did, I'm not exactly sure what they are saying/doing at the end. If you know for sure, or have a creative guess, let me know.

Happy Blog Vacation To All

At least, I'm assuming that's what Thanksgiving is going to be for most of us. I'm already assuming the posts and comments are going to slow down over the next few days. Mine for sure. Because Thanksgiving is going to be action packed enough. But the very next day is the Iron Bowl.

I was actually going to go into quite a bit of detail about the Iron Bowl and what it means to the state of Alabama, but time has slipped away from me. Maybe next year?

For now, I will let this video explain:



(editor's note: The video is a little outdated. Sadly, we lost last year, bringing a 6 year winning streak to a halt)

And to give you some insight, here are a couple pics from my first Iron Bowl in 2005




Now, I won't be attending the actual game because I sold my ticket (big game = big money) but I will be in the city. And I can only hope we get as excited as when I took this:






So, with this said, if you happen to check some college football scores and see that Auburn beat Alabama, then you will know I had a GREAT Thanksgiving. If it's the other way around, you may want to cheer me up cuz I may be in a deep dark depression. (just kidding... kind of)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Chaos and Giveaways

*I feel like I am getting sick. That's never good.

*In the span of two weeks, my car that I have been rockin for a month shy of 7 years finally died on me and I FINALLY got a new car. Expect a post dedicated to that soon.

*If you read my guest post I had, you can see Thanksgiving isn't a really great time for me. Too many memories. Amount of time I plan to spend at "home" this year? 4 hours max.

*One reason for the shortened time is the Iron Bowl coming up. Expect a post dedicated to that as well.

*And now the main reason for a post, if you haven't followed my friend's blog at this is me; consequently, head over there now. I mean, RIGHT NOW. She is doing a giveaway and the more that enter the merrier. I mean, it's free stuff. How awesome is that.

I will even make it easy for you, just click HERE

Random lyric of the day:

Symbolic gesture for a card in your hand
Shake it up with the cake in the sand
I want more money than a bank can hold
And all the things I've already sold
Need some time to wake up
Time to clear your mind
Time before you erupt
Need someone before you screw up

Music Sunday: The Concert I Am NOT Attending Tonight

Fucking economy...

Violence is in me I think I have developed a Passion

So as you guys have probably become aware, I have a best friend in the blogging world. Jme (actually spelled Jamie, but this is how I choose to spell it), from this is me; consequently, and I have known each other since middle school, but didn't become friends until early high school (that's a whole different story, haha) Being friends that long, you start to have some things in common and share a lot of things. We share things that happen to our hometown, favorite shows we watch and bands we listen to, and develop the kind of friendship that allows you to be a male on the bride's side at her wedding. But with that closeness, you also start to have the same friends. And when you both lose a mutual friend, you can turn to each other for comfort. Four years ago this month, we both lost a mutual friend and after conversations about it, we decided to do something for him. That is where this idea of guest posting has come in. She took the time to jot down her thoughts and they can be found below. If you are interested in mine, they can be found at her blog.

I remember it like it was yesterday. This moment was permanently burned into my memory. I will never forget.

I was sitting in my dorm room with my roommate, watching t.v., talking, waiting for Aaron to call me, trying to decide whether or not to go to the Ludacris concert on campus. The phone rang. I just assumed that it was Aaron, but instead it was Matt. He told me he needed to tell me something, and I could tell, from that phrase, from the tone in his voice, that something was not right. I couldn’t even fathom what it could have been, but I knew it was bad. My heart dropped and I started feeling queasy. I can’t remember his exact words, but I remember it being so blunt that I couldn’t wrap my head around it. “Shedrick died.”


It was almost like my ears stopped working. I couldn’t hear what he was saying. No, I could hear it, but my brain wasn’t processing it. “Who? Who?” Shedrick? Shedrick who? Not our Shedrick. Not the guy that wanted me, his little punk rock friend, to rap the intro to his mixtape. Not the guy that was just asking me two weeks ago to come visit him the next time I came home. Not the guy that got up in front of our class to recite the Gettysburg Address with a tape recorder of himself playing in his pocket so he didn’t have to memorize it. Not my unconventional friend. It finally sank in, and I broke down. I waited for hours for someone to call and tell me that it was just a joke, or that they brought him back to life. SOMETHING. Please.


That never happened. I mourned. We mourned. At his funeral, I couldn’t even cry. All my tears had dried up. I wanted to, but my eyes were tired. They burned.

I couldn’t even bare to look at him in his casket, because I didn’t want that to be my last memory of him. I wanted my last memory to be warm and happy, not cold and sad.

For a while I felt so guilty. Like, some how, some way, there was something I could have done to stop it. There wasn’t. And eventually came to terms with it. Since then, there hasn’t been a day that has gone by that I haven’t thought of him. Some days more than others.
It has been 4 years, and I can still hear is voice when I close my eyes and try.

So this one’s for you, Shedrick.


Keep watching over us.

(Editor's Note: The above picture was made by jme herself, and the caps read "I would much prefer it if you were alive and well")

Music Sunday: Opening Bands

It's pretty obvious that one of the greatest things about going to concerts is seeing your favorite band perform live. The added bonus though is the show's opener, sometimes hand-picked by the headliners themselves or they are on the same label and trying to get some promotion. This post is going to be about opening bands I have seen that have made the show even more enjoyable, and I have enjoyed far after the night was over.

Honorable mention: Carolina Liar, Armor For Sleep, Underoath, Anberlin, Envy On The Coast

These were great opening bands that I was lucky enough to catch for three different Taking Back Sunday shows. However, I knew of the bands before hand and this post is focusing on bands that I saw for the first time, or was just beginning to get into.

The first two bands were names that I heard in magazines and such and knew maybe one song, but after seeing them live, started getting into them heavily.

Manchester Orchestra (opened for Say Anything)


Shake It Out

Manchester Orchestra | MySpace Music Videos


Wolves At Night

Manchester Orchestra | MySpace Video

The Sounds (opened for No Doubt)





The next two are the bands that opened up for Paramore, The Swellers and Paper Route. I dug both bands, and was hooked up with their music by jeanette afterward. However, I'm all about different opinions and one person who definitely didn't like Paper Route was Smart Ass Sara. But here are some songs from those two

The Swellers





Paper Route





And last, this is the band that kind of inspired this post, Pierce The Veil. This is a true example of my story of opening bands. I went to a small show in Stockton, California with my brothers where a band called Dance Gavin Dance was playing. Pierce The Veil were the second band to play and I have never heard these guys names or anything before. But after I few songs, I was hooked. I bought their cd a few weeks later and instantly added it to my top ten list. I think what keeps me coming back (I have since seen them two more times, once when they opened for Emery and again at Warped Tour 08) is thier live performances and dedication to thier fans. They truly put on a show, fading tracks, keeping tracks going, getting the crowd involved. They are writing for a new record and they have said that they are going to include some tracks that will get the crowd involved. They have a line that if I ever get a tattoo, I would consider getting this lyric "So I'll toast every beat of my heart like a miracle." His voice is something you are either going to love or hate, but the band keeps it going. The added bonus is that they are really cool, really approachable guys.

Pierce The Veil



This is the song with line mentioned above


This is the same song from above, but live, with a bonus song added in. They often do these tricks at shows.


And one of the most awesome covers I have ever heard

Not Sure How To React

Apologies for the double posting, but I am facing a dilemma. I am wondering if I am starting to become uptight, or if I am finally starting to have some values and beliefs. For example, I realized some time ago that I don't like the "F" word. Not Fuck, cuz I love that word. I fucking love that word. But, and it pains me type it, the word "faggot" or even "fag." I have no idea how it started, as I am a heterosexual man myself. However, I am also white and the N word offends me as well. I remember a time when all the cool white kids were even calling each other "nigga" and even that bothered me. Maybe it is because I even got caught up in it and it slipped out one time and my roommate pulled me to the side and told me that it bothered him. I have not had a gay person say to me that the f word offends them, but I'm pretty sure it is the equivalent. This has nothing to do with what brought me to this post, just a setup.

I get on facebook tonight, and see this as a status.

When i heard about the JayZ vs Eminem DJ Hero game i immediately thought Big Lipped Monkey vs The Wigger King. All in all it's like winning the special Olympics, no matter who wins you're both retarded.

This was from a guy that I sorta knew in high school and for a while he went to the same college as I did. He may still, but I don't really keep up with him. But for whatever reason, this status slightly offended me a little bit.

So I wonder what you think? Do I need to lighten up? Is it offensive? Is it just not funny? Or is there a different type of reaction?

(Editor's Note: I have no idea why the copied and pasted portion is showing up the way it looks. I apologize if it is hard to read)

Can't See The Forest For The Trees

So I haven't really talked much about my brothers, but one of them, his name is Nick, is also a journalism major at Fresno State. Nick is someone who I feel, if he can put stupid things to the side and focus on important, can go very very far in life. We often trade music reviews and thoughts on movies and such, but every once in a while we will talk sort of serious, or discuss something more important. Today is one of those days. He sent me a copy of an essay he turned and asked for my thoughts. I told him mine (I actually disagreed with a couple of his points, but thought it was great overall) and I am curious to what you guys think, so I am going to post it here. It looks kind of lengthy, but please don't let it scare you off. I read through it pretty quick as, and I'm sort of bragging on him, I feel he does write really well. But here it is:

Can’t See the Forest For the Trees

Do you remember your childhood and all the big dreams you had to conquer this world? Surely, those memories are long gone, made way for some logical thinking of college, a well paying career, and one day a family of your own. This path of logic consists of stability, with the hopes that if you work hard enough for so long you will strike your riches eventually and be able to retire off into the sunset happily. This appears to be what the general population would most likely be satisfied with; nowadays you can give a man a car and a house and he’ll be fully content, never realizing he worked his life away for another two material items. This is when I pose the question, what are we really seeking in life?
The reason I titled this piece ‘Can’t see the Fore/st for the Trees,’ is because according to About.com the definition is generally “overly concerned with detail; not understanding the whole situation (Beare).” This appropriately describes how I feel today’s modern society is towards life, in a sense. We as a society are too overly focused on today’s way of living. We are seemingly stuck in a rut of unimportant necessities that we think complete us. A man can mow the same lawn of grass for decades of his life, and be proud to call it his patch of earth that he can then show off how nicely kept it is. Is this really what humans are meant to do? Work a nine to five job and then proudly trim grass just to stay up with proper standards of a community or society? When we were kids, I doubt any of us wanted to grow up living an eventual dull life of routine existence. I know for a fact that I still want to get out of this apartment and climb up the nearest mountain, just so I may attempt to rid my head of this constant illusion of society. Maybe then consumer products will not be the first things to enter my thoughts when I ask what do I want in life.
The constant dream, to become successful and settle down, runs deep in mostly all of our consciousnesses. A ‘big house to settle down in’ seems to me a big fantasy that we are all taking a part in of dreaming; an illusion we live for to keep us calm, quiet, and working, to keep this bee hive of a society ever progressive and functioning. But what are we seeking? This question is really meaningful because so many of us lose sight of our outlandish aspirations and conform to the grasps of the economy. Why is it that in the land of the free, the economy can crush so many dreams? A friend of mine is a rather exceptional guitarist and is in a touring rock band. Thanks to the overly pressuring voice of society, he is now preparing for the extreme student life at one of California’s better colleges, but pretty much forgoing the fact that he is in a successful band so he may soon fit in with the upper echelon of society and be revered as successful. This makes perfect sense, as he isn’t a teen anymore, and he is ready for the real calling the world has to offer, but honestly why give up the freedom of the road? Why not escape the hardships of civilization and the economy the best he can? I know there are responsibilities to life, but I really don’t see the point in growing up too fast to where you let the world pass you by as you do.
In the words of Four Letter Lie vocalist Brian Nagan, “Half of knowing what you want, is knowing who you are (Nagan).” I was never a kid who was extremely enticed by the seasons; I never dressed up for trick or treating during Halloween, and although I graciously accepted the presents, I knew all along Santa was fake and Christmas was just like any other day. If I may, this realization of what is actually real and what is not really helps me relate to Chris McCandless. He was a man with a college education just like a good number of us, but unlike most of us, he decided to break away from the norm of society to live a thrilling, nation- crossing, vagabond life style. Prior to making this radical and life altering decision to skip town, he had to be asking himself what he truly wanted in life. To be honest, I too from time to time get the urge to just abandon this whole new age network of living and live off on the road just as McCandless did. I see in my life that man is cluttered, ever the busy body with the constant places to go; our days are routinely spent and wasted on things like school and work, and we don’t see the harm in living our lives away behind desks. It’s sad to be caught in a generation where technology is becoming more predominant than nature.
Another eerie thing about the times today is that according to Walmart, a household name, family time should be spent playing Xbox 360. During a promotional commercial for Xbox 360 and Guitar Hero World Tour, the actress mother goes on to say, “Thanks to Walmart’s great prices I was able to buy Xbox 360… and now my family is always together.” I just find this a bit awkward, questioning if this is really where the times have gotten us. Speaking from experience, things like video games only occupy our youth and waste their time, light-years away from the farfetched message Walmart is trying to promote by saying video games bring families together. This new age of families thrive on and lusts for technology, information and connection. We crave products to ease our stressful workload in life. Great minds before us, such as McCandless, Henry David Thoreau, and Everett “Nemo” Ruess most likely held the most opposite of things with warmhearted hands and eyes. They would have believed in things like Freedom, Solitude, Nature, and one-ness. Why is it so many people of today have lost this similar connection to those great thinkers, trading in darkness and silence for constant lights and sounds? I believe it is because the majority of our population has conformed to the fast paced times, just like my musician friend. Where McCandless wanted to live life to fullest and explore the unexplored, we are in a time were fashion runs amok, and fame, money, love, respect, and ease all shuffle around in our heads on constant repeat.
Due to this, many people would not be able to put themselves through what McCandless put himself through; He had the mental toughness to completely believe he could make it, showing amazing amounts of courage and determination, where as this would be a true struggle for most of us as we tend to rely on the comforts of modern-day life and chose to just take it easy. McCandless took extreme charge of his life and dictated where he wanted to go and how he wanted to get there. He didn’t settle his sights on a prestigious career to spend years working forward to, and he made enough of a statement in his life to influence others even after his death. In my eye he was a man who truly knew what he was looking for, which was not some fairytale façade that a good number of us full heartedly believe in. He was able to prove a good life and happiness were obtainable without the need of a substantial money source. He pretty much lived the life of a vagabond, and yet he was thrilled with his journal saying, “ his spirit is soaring (Krakauer).” I think this properly shows what exactly I was getting at when I brought up examples of today’s society, and things like how technology is wrongly influencing us into what we think we are seeking in life.
As I write this, I am on the open road; destination Reno, Nevada for my musician friend’s music gig. Turns out my friend will be accepting the higher calling of ranked society, as if his grades uphold he is guaranteed acceptance to UC Davis and he will be set to explore an education and career in electrical engineering, something that should be of great demand in tomorrows’ computer infused world. So while we are on this 5 hour drive, changing states and temperature with time and miles, a calming realization sets in: This logic and way of safe thinking isn’t bad at all if it keeps us living to the next day, with our works and trifles paying off into bigger riches if hopeful events turn out the way we intended. My friend has spent his time in this music scene and made his mark, with an e.p under his belt and another one on the way, and yet this college path is just another way for a young talented man to prove his worth just like Chris McCandless did many times throughout his existence. But what I admire immensely about McCandless was his will to set about what he said he would do, such as living off the wild in Alaska for an extended amount of time. I look out the van windows, and instead of busy buildings and constantly motion filled people, I see maybe hundreds of thousands large beautiful trees. I cant help to remember and think about McCandless’ love of nature and ever long lure his heart felt for it, and compare it to how at peace and calming this extensive view of nature is from inside this van looking out into the wilderness along this California and Nevada roadtrip. I am thrilled to be here on the road and see the abundance of life, and that fear of having to grow up and face respectability and ranked stature is far off in the back of my thoughts. So to find closure to my argument, I’d like to re-ask what are you seeking in life? I know it would be rather reckless for us all to forgo social constraints just as McCandless, and I would definitely be a hypocrite to try and preach or impose such a thing. So rather than the latest madden for xbox 360 or high definition television, maybe a little self re-evaluation for us all would do us a mighty deal of good in correcting and setting our eyes properly on what it is we want in life.

Once again, just to reiterate, this was my brother's work and not mine, but I am still very curious as to what you guys think.

Music Sunday: Minus The Bear

Confession: I am 100% stealing the "Music Sunday" idea from miss*H. I have always wanted to do something similar and I hope she doesn't mind if I take her idea. Especially because I am giving her full credit ;)

I know it seems like I am always talking about a show I'm going to (I didn't even talk about the Drum and Bass event I went to in October) but I guess you have to live when you are young and able, right? On Tuesday, I will be seeing a band I have liked for a while, Minus the Bear, in Birmingham. I usually go to Atlanta for shows, but Bham is also about two hours away. I have only been there once, for an Armor for Sleep/Underoath/Taking Back Sunday show in 2007. But this place I'm going to called The Workplay seems to be much smaller venue which should be nice.

We started listening to Minus the Bear during my freshman year when my roommate at the time, Hedman (who I am still friends with now -- he has been mentioned here before), brought them into the house. He and Frisco got into them first. For whatever reason, it took me a little longer. But once I did, and the entire house did, we REALLY got into their sound. It's just... different. Especially for what I usually listen to. It's very chill, but they can also jam with the best of them. We have kept up with them over the years and thanks to torrents were able to get their entire discography a few years back.

Last week, my brother went to a show of theirs in California. He was texting me telling me he was there and I was telling him I was jealous and that we were contemplating going ourselves. Afterward, he said the entire show, openers and all, was "perfect" and said that MTB was "fucking amazing." That pretty much convinced me to get on it and upon realizing that tickets were ridiculously cheap, they were purchased.

Now I would like to share some of the music I will be jamming to, in progression form.

From their first release, "This is What I Know About Being Gigantic" (September 2001)



From their debut album, "Highly Refined Pirates" (August 2002)



From an EP released between albums, "Bands Like It When You Yell "YAR" At Them" (May 2004)



From the album that has gone down as a classic, "Menos el Oso" (August 2005)



From the remix album, "Interpretaciones del Oso" (February 2007)



From their third full length, "Planet of Ice" (August 2007)



From an acoustic album, "Acoustics" (October 2008)



And finally, their latest single, off an album due out next year (October 2009)

If You Understood, You Would Understand

So you may have seen this story already if you visited here, but I want to give you the view from my side.

Tuesday I was just sitting there minding my own business when I get a text from jeanette concerning the Anberlin/All American Rejects/Taking Back Sunday show she was attending. I got a picture message from her to tease me about the same show I will (hopefully) be attending at the end of this month. Some time later she sends me a text saying "Guess who I am talking to?" to which I reply "If you say Adam Lazarra, I'm going to punch you in the face."

Explanation: Adam Lazarra is the lead singer of my favorite band, Taking Back Sunday. He, along with the likes of Chris Martin, Johnny Depp, The Rock, is the kind of person that if I were to ever meet I would be speechless. The "punching in the face" was not meant to be literal, just a show of jealousy.

Her reaction was "haha, no Anberlin." I told her to tell them they are amazing, she said "will do" and I thought that was the end of it.

Until a few minutes later when she TELLS me she is going to call me in 30 minutes. Sure enough, some time later I get a phone call.

Me: "hello?"

(commotion in background)

jeanette: "Hey, hold on a second" (to somebody else: "here, talk to my friend")

voice gets on the phone: "Hey, don't punch her in the face, that's mean. And besides, she is more clever than you as most women are" then at some point the voice said goodbye.

While those may not have been the exact words (it all happened so fast), that voice belonged to Adam Lazarra, and my reaction was to stand there in shock.

Turns out, he also said to her that if I were to punch her, they would just double team me afterward. I'm not gonna lie, it sounded pretty enticing.

I would like to publicly thank jeanette for making that happen. That was 7 seconds of my life that I will never forget.

In other news:

*I would like to ask for the blogosphere's forgiveness in my absence. Not in blogs, but of comments. Some of my favorites have been posting (looking at you Lisa, Tennyson) but for various reasons I just haven't been able to sit down long enough. That will come eventually, I promise.

*As I am typing this, I am getting ready to take a day trip to Troy. Jme will be visited and I am pretty much looking forward to it as the second highlight of my week. But I will be back in time to watch yesterday's Ruins, and my Thursday night line-up of The Office and the greatest new show ever: Community.

*I joined a group on facebook called "I am..." and its basically phrases that our going to go in our yearbook. There were some basic ones like "I AM an Auburn Tiger and LOVE it!!!!" and some like "I am one of 87,451 who is in love with Auburn rain or shine, win or lose!!!" There were also some funny ones such as "I am in a glass case of emotion!"

Mine?

"I am Jack's smirking revenge. I am someone whose name you will see in a magazine one day. I am a spreader of music at WEGL. And (if) I am just bad news, then you're a liar."

sidenote: just found out while checking that someone "liked" it and another commented on it, liking the inside references. Nice.

*I haven't posted any pics in a while, but we took some during bowling the other week. If you are wondering what my friend is wearing, it was the Wednesday before Halloween and she was a bag of jelly beans. She one second place in the costume contest (she lost to a slutty pirate). So pics is how I will end this...






Bonus points: For those of you who have been keeping up with my blogs for a while, BOTH of these girls have been mentioned before.

Random lyric of the day:

My inarticulate store bought hangover hobby kit
It talks, and it says, "You,are, you are so cool."
"Scissor shaped across the bed, you are red, violent red."
You hollow out my hungry eyes
You hollow out my hungry eyes

And we lay, we lay together just not
Too close, too close (How close is close enough?)
We lay, we lay together just not
Too close, too close