My Most Epic Wordless* Wednesday Ever

*I am actually going to speak a little bit, but whatever.

Remember this post? Well, I actually left something out that I did at the beginning of spring break.

While we are going back, remember this post also? Well I teased an "epic" WW post and one of my friends has informed that I am nearly considered a liar if I don't get around to posting it, so here it is:



Why is this considered "epic"?

Well, you can click at the bottom of this post on the tag "tattoo" to see that I've been talking about it for a while on here. But I've only had my blog for a year (as I type that, I think I realized that it's like officially a year old).

Yep, I just checked. Blog is officially a year old as of last Saturday :)

I posted stuff on myspace about it back in the day as well. Basically, I've wanted to do this for a long time.

Some of you have already seen this and you know the story. If you don't know it but want to know, just ask me (okarmmr@auburn.edu). For some reason, even though I've talked about it on here, I don't feel like explaining it on here.

And yes, it did hurt. Not excruciating pain, but annoying pain.

And I almost passed out at first. But I'll save that story for later...

(50) Sundays of Music: #40

#40: Hoobastank - Hoobastank


Mowing the yard.

That's what I think of when I think of this cd. It came out during that transition from middle school (junior high) to high school. It had that sound that was pretty dominant during that time, not really nu-metal like Korn or System of a Down, but not what you were used to hearing on the radio (this was the release that came before the cd that contained "The Reason" that got way too much airplay).

I had my little portable cd player (again, pre-iPod days) and this is one of the ones I used to jam to while doing my yard work (for trivia purposes, this and Eminem). It had just the right amount of energy. The instruments did their part and I could understand what the guys were saying, which is always a plus.

Honestly, because of the way their career has gone, it's kind of embarrassing to admit liking Hoobastank. But as I'm listening to this cd, it not only is good to me because of nostalgia, but it actually was a damn good release.

Some of the songs went over my head at the time, I just liked to rock out. But now, I can appreciate some of the lyrics in songs like "Running Away" (And when I get close, you turn away
There's nothing that I can do or say So now I need you, to tell me the truth You know I'd do that for you)

Ok, now I'm listening to it more, maybe it's more nostalgia than greatness. But it certainly was a great time.

MVP: Edition 1 - Substitution

So I thought about going back to an old theme I used to do, but I think I will just start a new one and go back to the other one maybe next week?

MVP = Music Video Post.

You would think that with MTV officially coming out and saying they are no longer a "music" channel, music videos would be dying. But it seems to almost be the opposite. Some of the greatest and coolest videos are still coming out, you just have to know where to find them.

So that's what MVP posts will do. Showcase awesome music videos, from the present and occasionally from the past. (Well, the ones that the internet will let me).

Here's what you do: Watch. Enjoy. Tell me what you think.

In this case, an emphasis on the "tell me what you think" part, because this is one of those videos where I'm not necessarily sure of the meaning.

I've been doing a top 50 countdown of my favorite cds on Sundays (just click the tags "Music Sunday" or "Top 50" to see recent posts). At some point I had to make a cut off, but if I were to do that list now some things would change. For one, "Continuum" would be much higher. But also, "Swoon" by the Silversun Pickups would have to make the list at some position. The more I listen to it, the more I love it.

"Substitution" is the second single (Panic Switch was the first and Royal We is in current rotation) and a song that I still get excited about when it comes on. It just has a really cool feel to it. The music video is awesome in my opinion, even if I have no idea what it means.

So help me out, what do you think they are saying? Or is it just random, which would be fine by me...

A Slice of My Life

So Spring Break came and went. What did I do?

*I had an interview in Valley, AL. It's a town about 30 miles away that our entire class is doing a presentation on.

*Worked, though not very much. I think I worked a total of 10 hours this week? But that's what happens when everybody in the town is college students and they all go away.

*Hung out with this guy

And a few of his friends. We were chillin on an island, though I'm not sure if we're ever getting off considering I only got to the end of season one. But I've heard that Lost gets better with each season so I am looking forward to it.

That's pretty much what I did. Today, I went back to school and everything hit me. I have some stuff coming up, mostly school stuff but there are some fun things sandwiched in there.

Here is my upcoming schedule:

Thursday, March 25 - Sociology Test, Nutrition Quiz
Sunday, March 28 - Wrestlemania
Tuesday, March 30 - Envy On The Coast new cd (legally) comes out
Tuesday, March 30 - Speech in the afternoon (question of values -- that we got assigned today)
Tuesday, March 30 - (a few hours after the speech) PENDULUM in Atlanta!
Thursday, April 1 - Nutrition Quiz
Friday, April 9 - Paper on Valley is due
Tuesday, April 13 - Self-Evaluation paper in Public Speaking

While all this is going on, I need to be doing interviews for that major paper due on the 9th, working on a photoessay for sociology and trying to secure an internship for the summer.

Now, this is going to sound like I'm complaining but honestly I'm not. Two reasons. 1) I know some students have it way worse than this. 2) As hectic as it is, it means I'm still a student. Sure, I have all these crazy tests and papers coming up, but I still have concerts and events.

I guess I've just been thinking about the future a lot. And as excited as I am, it's starting to scare me just a little bit. Only because just the other day a friend of mine was talking about what he was going to be doing in October. I realized that I have no idea where I will be. Guess it's all part of the adventure, right?

Random Lyric of the Day:

I'm the bloodstain
On your shirt sleeve
Coming down and more are coming to believe
Now we know it all for sure

Make the hair stand
Up on your arm
Teach you how to dance
Inside the funny farm
Not alone, I'll be there
Tell me when you want to go

(50) Sundays of Music: #41

#41: Linkin Park / Jay Z - Collision Course


I kind of always had an appreciation for Jay Z. He was never one of my favorite artists, but I liked what I heard. However, Linkin Park has always been up there and is on my short list of bands I have yet to see live, but NEED to. So when it was announced that they were doing some kind of collaboration, I got excited at the potential.

Then I heard the first (and I'm presuming only) single, "Numb/Encore." This was before I was heavily into downloading, so I circled the release date on my calendar and counted down the days till it came out.

I worked at Dairy Queen when I was in high school (the time period of this release) and in the same parking lot we had a Sam Goody. So I left for work early, bought the cd and listened to it in my car before I clocked in. I just sat there and smiled. Smiled at how beautifully the sounds came together. I'm a big fan of well done mashups, and taking into consideration that these guys professionally came in there and did it with Jay Z actually getting in the booth and re-recording his verses, the results were amazing.

The only thing sad about it is that it was short. Only six tracks in length, but thankfully there was enough in there to keep you satisfied.

I will say this, usually when a cd comes with a DVD I just skip right over it. But this was one of the most well produced music DVD's I have ever seen as well.

So go back and rock out/jam out with me.

If I Didn't Know Myself Any Better, I Would Think I Was An Anberlin Fan

So j sent me this the other day and it almost inspired me to write a whole new post...


But for some reason I abandoned it. So if you ever want to hear my take on people like Zooey Deschanel vs. people like Megan Fox, hopefully that will come soon.

For now, I want to talk about my top 25.

What am I talking about? I'm talking about that little section in your iTunes playlists that lists the top 25 most played songs in your music library. My current top 25 is a little surprising, but understandable. Before I reveal it, here are some minor details you need to know.

*I have to update my iTunes library every once in a while. This can be due to a change in where I keep my music or I get OCD and go on an organizing spree. When this happens, it resets my play count. Being accurate, this is my top 25 most played since July 13, 2009.

*Some of these tracks are kind of cheaters. When I do my radio show, I try to see where a song ends. When it goes to the end of the track, it counts it as one play. So I've had to go back and forth with some songs and so the play count has been bumped up. But still, I think this is a pretty good idea of my top plays.

*I guess at some point, I went on an Anberlin kick. Which isn't bad, they are in my top ten definitely. But that is the only thing I don't think this list accurately reflects. I don't listen to them that much and there are other bands I probably listen to more. But still, this is a small window into what I listen to. A window that apparently reserved one corner exclusively for Anberlin.

Without further ado,

1. A Day to Remember - I'm Made of Wax Larry, What Are You Made Of?
2. Silversun Pickups - Substitution
3. Anberlin - The Haunting
4. Anberlin - Dismantle. Repair (from Lost Songs)
5. Taking Back Sunday - Lonely, Lonely
6. A Day To Remember - NJ Legion Iced Tea
7. Anberlin - Blame Me! Blame Me!
8. Death Cab for Cutie - What Sarah Said
9. Broadway - Don't Jump The Shark Before You Save The Whale
10. Paramore - Misguided Ghosts
11. Taking Back Sunday - Catholic Knees
12. Taking Back Sunday - Carpathia
13. Anberlin - Naive Orleans (from Lost Songs)
14. Death Cab for Cutie - Grapevine Fires
15. Death Cab for Cutie - Brothers On A Hotel Bed
16. Saosin - Changing
17. Taking Back Sunday - Cut Me Up Jenny
18. Anberlin - Breaking
19. Anberlin - Retrace
20. Anberlin - Feel Good Drag (New Surrender version)
21. A Day To Remember - Welcome To The Family
22. Paramore - All I Wanted
23. All Time Low - Damned If I Do Ya (Damned If I Don't)
24. Anberlin - Feel Good Drag (acoustic)
25. Anberlin - The Resistance

So that's my top 25 (my apologies for the ATL. I don't know what happened...)

I kind of just wanted to share that, but really I am interested in yours. Now, I know 25 is a lot to type, but feel free to share some highlights. Unless you don't have iTunes, then we're not friends.

(Edit: Of course we're still friends)

Blog Love

aka The Shoutout Post
aka Lots O Links

Basically, this post is going to be dedicated to other bloggers.

I'm going to start off with JerseySjov, because she showed me how easy it was to add wordpress accounts to my page.

Because of that, I am currently listening to a mix of music provided by Nic Lake. I know I do a lot of music posts, but I may have to join him in Music Mix Up Monday. I've already discovered a cool new band (new to me) Number One Gun.

Also, wordpress allowed me to connect with another music fan, DrBrainspiller.

Staying on the music, do you like reviews? Check out some of Mike's finest work. I swear, this dude needs to be in magazines one day.

Some new followers to the blog include Allison and Liz. Looking forward to reading more of their stuff.

Some of my favorite bloggers have returned recently. The Caped Tirader! (sort of, haha) and Faker have both come back and their return is great news.

Jaime, who has the coolest way of spelling her name, has also came back. But to a new address and because of that, at press time she has only two followers. Please don't allow this to continue.

Kayla is also relatively new, but she is awesome because she is a bowler and because she is Canadian. Ok, there is more to her than that but she was my first Canadian follower, so that's awesome.

Before I forget, I must give shoutouts to the bloggers that have been here with me since around the time I started. Natalie, Miss*H, and Melissa are longtime readers. I have been slacking on you guys lately and that sucks. Consider this my way of making up for it (please).

Hey, can I pimp myself while I'm at it? I have a movie blog that I've been slacking on. But I posted a new one today and I hope to have that trend continue.

One person who reads that blog and watches some great shows that I am currently getting into is Cassie. She is literally my second follower, and the sister to my first...

My first follower and the one that got me into this whole thing is my best friend ____j. I mean, I was in her wedding. On her side. How much bester of friends can you get?

And lastly, I want to end this with a couple stories. You know, it feels great to pour myself out there and have people actually get to know me. (For example, if you see any advertisement for the upcoming Wrestlemania, I do hope you think of me). So it was really cool that when Coldplay played a new song at a show and the video surfaced, Lisa was quick to send me a message. About that, and some Jimi Hendrix on Rock Band which totally made me smile.

Sara also was quick to let me know about some new Coldplay, as well as sending me photos and texts and calls from her Muse concert that I was unable to attend when they came to Atlanta. But she let me in, horrible view and all :) (sidenote: you want comments? Follow this girl. It's a given).

Lola Lakely also attended a Muse concert... AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN! I was fortunate to get a pic AND an attempted phone call. She is a gamer, a red head and in my personal opinion a female Tyler Durden.

And the final person to get a shoutout is someone that embodies the last couple stories. She is always quick to give me new music, she also sent me a pic from her Muse experience AND she effing met Lola during her recent road trip. To say I am jealous of her is an understatement. Of course I'm talking about jeanette.

So, next time you are bored and need somebody new to read, come back to this post. Check these guys out. Give me some brownie points and tell em I sent you ;)

And if I get up to posting it, tomorrow's Wordless Wednesday will be epic. Either tomorrow's or next week's. One of them will be epic...

(50) Sundays of Music: #42

#42: Taking Back Sunday - New Again


Much like having a Coldplay cd at #47, I'm sure it may be a little surprising that a TBS entry is so far early. Well, let's get the bad out of the way. There are a few tracks that are forgettable and you can hear the new direction without the dual vocals with Fred Mascherino out of the band (however, I'm not 100% against the new sound, but more on that later). Personally, one of the tracks I still skip over for the most part, "Capital M-E" which is a direct shot at Fred. I just don't really like "drama songs" in general, but when it's my favorite band I just wish they would have taken the high road.

But this cd made the countdown for a reason, I didn't just put them there because of who they are. Let's see why.

As much as their sound has changed, I like it. Maybe I came at just the right time, but I feel I am growing with Taking Back Sunday. I would actually be put off if I heard songs like they were still in high school because I'm not, and neither are they. This cd was definitely a step in the direction of them becoming more of a rock band and less of an emo band. And I like this type of stuff. The other day I put this cd on while I was cleaning my room and listened to the whole thing because I was jammin out.

Some of the "good, but not great" tracks include include the title track, the first single "Sink Into Me," and what seems to be a lot of people's favorite "Summer, Man" which I also kind of don't like because there are a couple of lines in there that also take a shot at Fred. But even in these songs there are some amazing lyrics: "I'd like to be a note / The kind / You could sing but don't because you're shy / That way I'd live inside your throat / ...and hang from every word you spoke." Their second radio single "Where My Mouth Is" is a good slow track for them and this time I appreciate him being heartfelt as he sings "Where I lost not one, but two friends" referring to his early music feuds. Unlike songs like "Capital M-E" he is just baring his soul, not trash talking. I can't emphasize it enough, I could have done without that song haha.

But what shines here are when the band just go all out. My favorite tracks are "Lonely, Lonely" "Catholic Knees" "Cut Me Up Jenny" "Carpathia" and "Everything Must Go." Whenever "Lonely, Lonely" would come on in my car, I would just about blow my speaker system. The other songs are great and read like poetry, but "Everything Must Go" is the track that shines. Now, I am going to sound contradictory because this song is basically a huge F U to his ex, but it came at a time in my life when I could really relate to it. Plus, I have seen him perform it live twice and you can tell it is a song that he put a lot of emotions into.

So this cd, though mixed, deserves a spot on the top 50. And here a few songs that got it there.

**Editor's Note: Actually, youtube is sucking for these songs. They are there, but the voice sounds distorted and I can't do that injustice. So check out the cd, it is pretty good. But till then, check out this:

Wordless Wednesday: (Some) Celebrity Crushes

Zooey Deschanel

Amy Adams

Mila Kunis

Anne Hathaway

Scarlett Johansson

And since the overwhelming majority of my followers are female, here are a few of my man crushes

As defined by urbandictionary.com:

"When a straight man has a "crush" on another man, not sexual but kind of idolizing him.

Many straight men end up having man crushes on Johnny Depp (I don't blame them)."

Johnny Depp (obviously)

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson

Anthony Kiedis

What's On My Mind

My teeth hurt.

(50) Sundays of Music: #43

#43: The Offspring - Greatest Hits


2005 was a unique year for the relationship between myself and music. One of the most significant moments came at the Sacramento stop of that summer's Warped Tour. In what would seem absurd today, All American Rejects and Fall Out Boy were two of the headliners while other bands on the rise such as Senses Fail, Hawthorne Heights and My Chemical Romance were there as well. But a moment I will never forget came when I realized The Offspring were a headliner and I got excited but my brothers could care less. I guess four years between us in age really makes a difference. After FOB finished their set we left, and I never got the chance to see The Offspring live.

I'm not sure when their greatest hits cd came out (and yea, I know a compilation cd is kinda cheating, but it's my countdown so I'm allowed to cheat), but I got it somewhere around my freshman year in college. I had only ever bought one cd by them, Americana. I don't remember liking the cd as a whole, but "The Kids Aren't Alright" is still one of my favorite songs by any artist to this day. And yea, I bought that cd because of "Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)." What can I say, I was a product of the times.

A band like The Offspring is perfect for greatest hits releases. I don't know if I would like to stack up on their records, but when their songs come on the radio it's great to sing along. So that's what I'm about to do as I find some songs to showcase here

I Want to Win/More Reflections

So I'm really late to the party, but I've had a hectic week. You can relate right?

But there is a giveaway going on that ends TOMORROW and you need to do your damndest to get over there and enter. Where you ask? Right here. Get this.... THREE winners and a bunch of random shit, along with some surprises. Head on over to see Smart Ass Sara and tell her Mr O sent you.

Random thoughts before I get into this post:

*We are four episodes away from finishing Heroes but my sister and her husband want to stretch it out. I don't know if I can do one episode a week...

*Speaking of TV, I watched the first episode of the new show Spartacus. If you are my facebook friend you already saw this but my mini review is that it seems some people were like "Let's put Troy, Gladiator, 300 and softcore porn into a pot, stir it up, get some cheesy actors and cheap graphics." You would think I didn't like it, and while I wasn't wowed, I am going to watch the next episode at least.

*Speaking of reviews, I have been slacking on my movie blog. What's crazy is I have at least ten movies to talk about (after this weekend, you can add Alice in Wonderland to the list). But I vow to get it going, so if you haven't started following, you should do that.

*Lastly, after a conversation with jeanette around new year's, I realized I needed to read more. So I looked at my autobiography of Red Hot Chili Pepper's frontman Anthony Keidis, "Scar Tissue," that I had bought but never read. I've read a little bit everyday and I am halfway through. It's amazing.

Let's get to the story.

It was my freshman year in college and I had just wrapped up my third final out of the four I had in the semester. This was on a Saturday (yea, we had a final on Saturday morning) and my next final wasn't until Monday. So I wanted to get out. I asked Hedman if he felt like driving so we came up with a plan to surprise our friends, Myke and Ace Baisa (who we just call "The Baisas" haha). They go to our rival school, the University of Alabama, in Tuscaloosa. It's a little over a two hour drive from Auburn so we sneakily got confirmation that they were there and then we were off.

I lay out the details in the video, but I mumble. Basically my mom put some money in my account as a birthday present so I used that for gas money and we videotaped the walk to the door because they didn't know we were coming. There is some hesitation because we aren't sure what house it is, so bare with that, because their reaction to us randomly showing up was great.





After hanging out for a little while, we decided to go to the mall. And that's when this great picture was taken:


Good times.

Random lyric of the day:

Take me out tonight
take me anywhere, I don't care
I don't care, I don't care
and in the darkened underpass
I thought Oh God, my chance has come at last
but then a strange fear gripped me
and I just couldn't ask

Wordless Wednesday: Band of Brothers

*I promise you guys, these are my legit brothers. We just have different dads...

**I thought I had some from when we were little. But I guess they've disappeared :(

***We live in different states (them = Cali, me = Bama) so that's why I have so few pics

My spring break, 2006

Greeting me at the airport after my HS graduation, 2005

Thanksgiving, 2007

Sacramento stop of Warped Tour, 2005

Jammin out when I stopped in Modesto during our cross country road trip, 2009

Raging Waters in LA, 2005

Their graduation (they are twins), 2008

I Should Be Studying

I've gotten some new followers lately and I would like to say thanks to all of you. And also I'm sorry. This isn't my usual kind of post, so please bare with me.

(sidenote: I am horrible at following wordpress blogs. I usually just see what's in my blogger dashboard and forget to check my reader. I lost a good follower by not paying attention to her because she had a wordpress account and I kept forgettin to check it...)

Anyways, I'm at a weird point right now. Some things are making me really excited, like the fact that March is here and that is bringing two concerts that I just found out I am going to this weekend (Envy on the Coast, Pendulum), Wrestlemania, Spring Break and of course Alice in Wonderland on Friday.

But I feel like that is all I'm looking forward to and when I'm not looking forward to these things, then other things just aren't that great right now. I'm sure a couple of readers can relate to this (in fact, I know some can) but school is starting to come down on me. And I am the kind of guy that waits till the last minute. And sometimes I just feel defeated. Like right now. I have two classes that I feel really good about and two that I am like "why the hell did I sign up for this?" I just want to graduate. But even that is bringing it's own problems. Sort of.

I have to decide where I want to intern. I've sent out applications and such, but right now it's looking like it's going to come down to three places: South Dakota, Montgomery or staying right here in Auburn. Now, those become "choices" only if I get accepted. But we will see...

I think what's been getting to me is that people have been bailing on me lately. Like, it's starting to become a pattern. To the point where my over-analyzing self is questioning if it's just a random set of coincidence or is there something about me that makes it easy for people to bail.

Sometimes I just feel that nice guy complex. Like that I am too nice. But truth be told, I don't really have an asshole bone in my body. By the way, if you guessed that I am not only talking about friendships but relationships as well, you would be right. I guess it's got to the point where I have been single for a good while now. And at the sake of getting "all emo up in here" I've honestly kind of gotten a little bit lonely. But again, I'm at that weird position where I am also not actively seeking anything because I don't know where I am going to be in a matter of months and don't want to end up in anything complicated.

Some days I am just thankful for my friends. And I'm talking about the real friends, the ones you can count on your hand. What I hate is that most of them are spread out and on days I break down and just send simple texts stating: "I wish we lived closer." But then I am thankful that Frisco has been right here by my side since day one of our freshman year. We talked today about how "the end" may come in May, may come in August. It's going to be a sad, sad day.

Really, I have no idea what this post is supposed to be about. I just started typing. I feel I have been slacking on commenting on blogs lately but as you can see I have a few things rolling around in my head and I'm just trying to make sense of it all.

What's crazy is that I will probably wake up tomorrow, stress about this test, take it and then come home and be in a great mood and think to myself "I shouldn't have posted this." But for now it seems like a good idea.

I made a commitment to myself that I am going to see Envy On The Coast on the 11th, even if I have to go alone (some friends can't make it, some said they will go but are kind of unreliable). And I really hope this time around they perform "Lapse," which is the RLOTD for this post, I guess making it not so random.

Random Lyric of the Day:

it's not as deep as it seems
and unfair as it may be
i'm just here to remind you
remind you not to forget to remember me

now i've died, you question so much
i don't possess the strength to answer straight
and no, i'm not afraid, at least not to die
i'm afraid to live and not remember why
sweet chemical indifference
i can't stop, can't change the evident

predisposed to perpetual sickness
i refuse to let you all be witness
make sure the needle is clean when you let me go back to sleep
and situate the piece of her picture underneath my fingers
it protects me in my dreams

it's not as deep as it seems
and unfair as it may be
i'm just here to remind you
remind you not to forget to remember me