Life Update

I have a few things on my mind that could make for their own posts, but I like bullet points. Think I'm gonna go with it and develop over time. Let's do this.

Quick hits:

*I saw Iron Man 2 this weekend. This is what I thought of it.

*I start my internship next Monday at the Montgomery Advertiser. It's not paid, but it's time consuming and I talked to my dad about it and I'm not going to get a second job this semester. What does this mean? It means no friggin income. Which sucks. But it also means I can see my friends and have a little fun before I get kicked in the face by the real world.

*Speaking of this summer, here are some things I plan on doing and some things I would like to happen. Possible beach trip with friends, at least one trip to Troy to see my bfff, Silversun Pickups concert, seeing my friends before they ship off to Texas in June, seeing my sister and brother-in-law when they visit from South Dakota, making the most of my last two months with my roommate since 2005, and if I can work it out I would like to attend this year's Warped Tour in Atlanta. Basically, I plan to make this one hell of a summer.

*Summer is going to be cool because of something else. I don't want to go in to too many details, but I'm kind of working on a "project." I'm trying to get other parties involved because I know if left to myself, it won't get done. But stay tuned about that because if it goes through, I am really excited about it.

*I just want to put out there that if I had time and resources, I would love to visit blogger friends. Just sayin.

*Less than three months till I graduate. I can't wait.

*I think I'm starting to realize that if my life takes a certain turn after I graduate, the thought of being a relationship may be a future thought. I might have to be one of those "career-first" kind of people. More on this later.

*Another story to talk more about in the future? How my iPod broke. And how I got a new one. It's a great story. Warmed my heart.

*I'm pretty sure the percentage of my friends that have a kid has been raised to at least 60% now. It's kind of ridiculous.

*I rented a video game. Specifically, some Spider-Man game. So if you will excuse me, I'm going to go web sling around New York City for a little while.

Random lyric of the day:

Now that I'm grown I've seen marriages fall to pieces.
Now that I'm grown I've seen friendships fall to pieces.
Weekend warriors and our best friends.
The writers weren't kidding about how all good things must end.
Then again somethings, then again somethings are far too good,
Somethings are far too good, to go when you let go.

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...

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)

Little Lover's So Polite

So it's late on a Friday night/Saturday morning and I figured I would take the time to FINALLY update on my life, both for anyone paying attention or myself when I go back and read these one day. I am currently listening to the Silversun Pickups and getting pumped for their concert with MUSE, though I guess I shouldn't get excited until I actually get the tickets. Well, here is my life in no particular order.

*Saw Avatar tonight. I read a review before going in that it would "change the way you look at movies." Whoever said that was right. The story was nothing new (I heard someone say it was the same story as Dances With Wolves while Frisco and I had flashbacks of The Last Samurai) but it was still interesting and easy to follow. But the visuals, oh man the visuals. That movie looked absolutely amazing. So add a pretty good story plus stuff that I didn't mind looking at for two and a half hours THEN add in the fact that the 3D aspect of it was mind blowing at times and you had a five star movie that was well worth the price of admission.

*We were late, but I did happen to catch the new trailer for Alice in Wonderland. In 3D. And if you guys weren't excited already, start now. The 3D is going to be nuts and they explained what was already reported that it was Alice returning after being gone, so it's a new story. I can't friggin wait.

*School is over and now it is time to rest. That time officially starts Sunday when I get on a plane to go to South Dakota (thanks everybody for the insight when I have mentioned the trip before). I can't wait to see my family and have two weeks of no school, no work, no drama.

*My birthday was Tuesday and I turned the big ol 23. Had a pretty good day that consisted of buying and watching The Hangover and going out to eat with friends. It was also a day of celebration as any of you that have been following my blog for a while will remember, I gave up pizza, doughnuts and soda back in early September and said I could eat them again on my birthday. I think it actually worked sort of because a) I feel like it helped my body (inside and out) and when I went to eat the pizza our work had for lunch I could only eat two slices before I was done.

*I'm slowly but surely getting into Twitter. If you are as well, follow me here

*One more bit of entertainment news. Next to The Office, Scrubs is my favorite TV show. However, last season (minus the first and last episode) left a bad taste in my mouth. To be more honest, it kinda sucked. So when I heard this season that they were basically changing the whole thing around, I became REALLY apprehensive. But boy am I glad I gave it a shot. Only four episodes in, and I have that good feeling Scrubs used to give me. And then of course I randomly read online somewhere that Scrubs has gotten low ratings and will be done by January. Way to ruin a good thing ABC.

*Before I end this, I just want to say I probably won't post much from my vacation except for the Music Sundays, which I have something I am working on for the entire year of 2010. I don't imagine many of you will be posting either, but part of my new year's resolution is to overhaul this whole blogging thing. Getting rid of the blogs I don't read or haven't connected with so they don't clutter up my space and I get back to regular commenting, start reading in Google Reader instead of the dashboard so I can have a number on what I haven't read and trying to get some new followers in the realms of music are goals of mine in 2010.

*Now I am ending this with the topic of my best friend's wedding. I was going to go into a little more story, but I will save that for an entire post. For now, I would like to share a few more pics with you

Bride w/ bridesmaids... and me? (Don't really know how to refer to myself)

Chillin with Frisco waiting for everything to start

Yea, this is a fun picture with the tinsel, but I'm not gonna lie... I like it because I feel my facial hair is lookin good

Just before we were all getting ready to walk out

Hanging out that night, getting denied for a pic with my bfff

Random lyric of the day:

so much for the showdown
keeping up while keeping off
choking on the cold feet
rolling up the plastic sleeves
can't control the slow ride
little lover's so polite
turning off the low light
tell me did the bones collide

So I Know It's Not Sunday, but Whatever...

STOP... Music time


1) Seems like bands are having the worst luck lately. Last month a bunch of bands (including Anberlin and Mae) had their vans broken into and now, within the past WEEK or so, Every Time I Die, Weezer and Underoath have all been in accidents. What the f is going on?

2) On a happier note, I saw that Muse has released US dates for next year with the supporting act being SILVERSUN PICKUPS! Where will they be on February 27th? If you guessed Atlanta, you would be correct :)

3) Lastly, this song is quickly becoming one of my favorites of all time. Take 7-8 minutes of your life and please check it out here

I'm caught
Somewhere in between
Alive
And living a dream.
No peace
Just clicking machines
In the quiet of compazine.
The walls caved in on me.

And she sings
My bird dressed in white.
And she stings
My arm in the night.
I lay still
Still I'm ready to fight.
Have my lungs
But you can't take my sight.
The walls caved in
Tonight.

And out here
I watch the sun circle the earth
The marrows collide in rebirth
In God's glory praise
The spirit calls out from the caves.
The walls fell and there I lay
Saved.

The walls are caving in
As far as I can see
The walls are caving in
The doors got locked for sure
There's no one here but me

Beat my body like a rag doll
you stuck the needles in my hip
Said 'we're not gonna lie
Son, you just might die
Get you on that morphine drip, drip'

The walls are caving in
As far as I can see
The walls are caving in
The doors got locked for sure
There's no one here but me

I fought a war to walk a gang plank
Into a life I left behind
Windows leading to the past
Think it's time I broke some glass
Get this history off my mind

And what if we were married forever?
Like the past never happened
And time did not exist for us at all
I still think we'd still be traveling together
Through all kinds of weather
Everything's a piece of everyone

As far as I can see
Walls are caving in
Doors got locked for sure
But I see these doors have keys

Walls are caving in
As far as I can see
The walls are caving in
Doors got locked for sure
There's no one here but me
There's no one here but me
No one here but me, yeah.
There's no one here but me
No one here but me.

The Response Blog: WW, Mr. C, & Contests

Taking it back to the UFC layout:

Preliminary Fight:First off, I hope you guys appreciate my commitment to the first word in "wordless wednesdays." However, the responses from yesterday's post require some feedback. Just to clear things up:

1) It was a friend's house, not mine. But we still had fun nonetheless.

2) I know some of the poses looked flamboyant, but I was trying to replicate some of my favorite wrestlers poses like this:

and this:

haha, i don't think that made it any better, but the above is a guy from back in the day called "Macho Man" Randy Savage, and that twirl thing I was doing with the cape was trying to be like he used to do. We kind of had the same one, huh?

Undercard: So the other day I posted an Under My Covers blog and Mr. Condescending asked if I knew any artists from today that would go with some of the bands he listened to. I'm choosing to respond in a blog because I only have a couple so if anybody reading this wants to help (jeanette, i'm looking at you my musical buddy) feel free. But here is the few I came up with right now.

*Note* these bands don't sound exactly like the ones he mentioned, but my theory is that if you enjoy those bands, you should enjoy the following:

Kings of Leon
Example: Notion & Crawl

Manchester Orchestra
Example: I've Got Friends & Wolves at Night

Silversun Pickups
Example: Well Thought Out Twinkles & Lazy Eye

Cage the Elephant
Example: Ain't No Rest for the Wicked & James Brown

That's all I can think of right now, but maybe some more inspiration will hit me (or fellow bloggers will be able to chip in). But yea, Mr. C, I hope you like these but don't be afraid to tell me if you don't.

Main Event: So I came back from a surprise one day trip to Crestview yesterday and found I had a package. These were the contents of said package:
It's basically what winners get in the mail. Well, winners of cool blog contests. Please click on the image so you can see the awesome artwork on cd's.

jeanette: Disc 1 is playing as I type this, ya know, cuz it's music to blog to. Thank you!

So that's it, but I wanted to let you know to drop whatever plans you have, because this weekend you are ALL going to be guests at my house ;)

Random lyric of the day:

I am slipping through, I am slipping through
I am slipping into the airwaves
(The static's where you'll find me)
And this is nothing new, you are slipping through
My fingers and into the airwaves
Into the airwaves