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

(50) Sundays of Music: #44

#44: Fight Club Soundtrack


This one should come as no surprise.

I first saw Fight Club in my freshman year of college so I was about six years late. But that movie changed everything for me. Ever since that first viewing it has stayed on my #1 spot and it will probably never leave. I could go on and on about why I like the movie so much, but seeing as how this is "Music Sunday" I will just talk about the soundtrack.

Even though there were a couple songs by different artists (The Pixies "Where is My Mind?" to close the movie) the soundtrack was mainly done by The Dust Brothers. And contained on this cd is all the songs that were featured in the movie.

What I love is listening to the songs and them taking me back to individual scenes in the movie (last time I counted, I lost track of how many times I've seen that movie). I remember my birthday was coming up and my sister wanted to get me something so were at the mall and I was like "how about this?" and bam, I have a new soundtrack.

Now, you can't really listen to this in your car or anything like that. Actually, I don't really know that great of a place to sit down and listen to it, though I have used it to study in the past. With that said, there's not many songs to post as they are mainly instrumentals, but enjoy some of these and maybe a bonus song from the movie itself.

And remember: "You are not your fucking khakis"

(this video doesn't necessarily highlight the soundtrack, but you can hear a track in the background -- and I just think the video is really cool)

WW (Sort of): Ten Things

So while not entirely wordless and not entirely pictures, it still sort of fits that category. But this post was inspired by a recent offering from Kaylalala at Cinnamon on Toast who was inspired by Lisa at A Day in The Life. These are ten things that are currently making me happy (though "currently" is debatable because most of these are stuff I am looking forward to)

10. Alice in Wonderland - March 5

If you aren't excited for this movie, I don't know what to say. Depp + Burton + classic story + 3D = Effing Magical

9. After trying to find some classic Alice in Wonderland footage from the Disney cartoon, I came across this. And I could not stop laughing.



8. And then when I went to show Frisco that, he in turn showed me this. And I almost cried from laughing so hard.



7. March Madness

I don't know much about college basketball, but it's fun to play in the brackets. And my uncle is a big UNC fan, so that's who I go for.

6. Resistance - The Tiesto Remix (I was a little unsure about this at first, but it has grown on me)



5. Netflix

Netflix has allowed me to watch this season of Heroes with my family in South Dakota over Xbox Live, get started and finish Arrested Development, start 30 Rock and various other movies that I have been meaning to see.

4. Spring Break

Yes, that is a picture of Lost going with my spring break plans. My family has moved and most of my friends have their break at a different time so I will be spending my break playing video games and catching up on shows. And thanks to the above mentioned Netflix, one of those shows will be Lost.

3. Meeting new blogging buddies (and reuniting with old ones)


2. Wrestlemania 26

Don't hate, it's our Superbowl. And it's about a month away.

1. Graduation

Granted, this is the one that is the longest away. But it is the one I am looking forward to the most. The countdown has begun.

Good News for Those Who Like Music News

Man, I'm on a blogging rampage this week. Hope you guys don't mind.

First off, I FINALLY have release dates for two of my favorite bands. Envy On The Coast's new cd, Lowcountry, comes out March 30 and Minus the Bear's new cd, OMNI, comes out May 4. Consider these dates marked on my calendar.

But on to the news worthy story: Fearless Records will release another "Punk Goes..." on April 27.

I have been a fan of this series for a while, with them releasing such stuff as Punk Goes (Pop, '90s, Crunk) which are all cover songs. (They also released two versions of Punk Goes Acoustic, but that doesn't really apply here).

Anyways, the one they will release in April will be called "Punk Goes Classic Rock," which means some of your favorite tracks are going to be butchered. But same may be given justice.

In these releases, they are always hit or miss. I have some huge favorites such as Halifax's cover of Paula Abdul's "Straight Up" and Alesana's cover of Justin Timberlake's "What Goes Around." There is plenty more, but I would just be rambling. Some songs just straight up suck. And I can already tell from the following list, some of these are going to as well. But I think there are going to be some gems in there.

The following is the track list for the release. I'm sure some are already out as I have seen one of them in a past post by jeanette at Cooler Ranch or Nacho Cheese? But the ones in bold are the ones I am looking forward to. The ones in italics are the ones I am curious about because the original is one of my favorites. The rest I guess we will just have to wait and see.

1. Hit The Lights "More Than A Feeling" (originally recorded by Boston)
2. VersaEmerge "Paint It Black" (originally recorded by The Rolling Stones)
3. The Almost "Free Fallin'" (originally recorded by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers)
4. Mayday Parade "We Are The Champions" (originally recorded by Queen)
5. The Summer Set "Rock 'n Roll All Nite" (originally recorded by KISS)
6. We The Kings "Caught Up In You" (originally recorded by .38 Special)
7. A Skylit Drive "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" (originally recorded by Journey)
8. I See Stars "Your Love" (originally recorded by The Outfield)
9. Pierce The Veil "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" (originally recorded by Blue Oyster Cult)
10. Forever The Sickest Kids "Crazy Train" (originally recorded by Ozzy Osbourne)
11. The Maine "Pour Some Sugar On Me" (originally recorded by Def Leppard)
12. Envy On The Coast "All Along The Watchtower" (originally recorded by Bob Dylan)
13. Every Avenue "Take Me Home Tonight" (originally recorded by Eddie Money)
14. Never Shout Never "Bohemian Rhapsody" (originally recorded by Queen)
15. blessthefall "Dream On" (originally recorded by Aerosmith)

Remembering the Times

So before we get started on this little post, I must put out there that you only have till Wednesday to get in the running for a FREE poster print at my friend's blog over here.

I know you guys like free stuff, so sign up. I'm especially looking at you, you, you and you. I would put more, but I think you guys like a free poster thingy and you have to be in the US.

Now, let's get down to business.

It's starting to hit me that I am mere months away from graduation. While I am ecstatic to close this chapter in my life and begin a new one, the time has come that a person like is me starts to reflect on all the details of these last 5 years. So every now and again I will post a blog telling a story about what happened during my time as a "college kid." I hope you enjoy reflecting with me.

This one goes back to my freshman year, as a lot of these things do. I had just gotten my camera before I graduated high school and used it a lot my first two years, then it gave out on me and I just got a new one a few months ago. But here is as much of a back story as I can remember.

Don't ask me why, but for some reason when we moved in we put a loaf of bread in a drawer of an extra dresser we had in the living room. After a couple months in, Hedman and I discovered it and realized what happened if you leave bread sitting there for that long. So of course we couldn't eat it, so what did we do? Naturally, get out brooms and play a modified version of hockey using the bread as the puck.

We set up chairs as the "goals" and I'm not kidding, for about 15 minutes we tried to score on each other but to no avail. We got pretty loud at one point to where our fourth roommate, who lasted all from August to November, actually came out and said something to us. But it was more curiousity so when he went back in, we continued. But this time, we got Frisco involved.

We explained the situation and asked him to be the cameraman. We even came up with a mini story -- Hedman would be sitting at the table eating his dinner when I would "challenge" him to a match. He would accept and our match would be under way. However, after that we freestyled it because as I said, we were playing for like 15 minutes with no one making a shot. That's why the following video is so magical.







Hope you enjoyed that and don't forget to enter the contest!

(50) Sundays of Music: #45

#45: Band of Horses - Everything All The Time


This is one of those indie-type releases that I got into, ironically, when a buzz started being created about it both from my friends and in popular culture.

The story goes like this. I had sort of heard a few of their songs from a combination of my ex-girlfriend and my friend Hedman. I think after listening to them on my own I came across the songs "Funeral" and "No One's Gonna Love You," the second track not being on this cd, but it was on the same release of "Is There A Ghost" which I first heard on Alt Nation, the Siruis channel where I get most of my music. But back to this album.

I started to get into this cd's chill vibe, but thinking it was a little weird so I didn't really grasp it at first. But as with most releases, it takes a spark to get me back into it and this album had two. One was "Funeral" showing up on the video game Skate (which I would have never put together, but it worked) and "Our Swords" showing up the soundtrack to Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. "Our Swords" has an awesome bass line intro that I tried to get my roommate to duplicate (he said it was pretty easy haha).

Another stand-out track is "The Great Salt Lake," which I started playing more when I became a dj at my college radio station and it was in the automation system. I think that track is one of the few that I could see making it onto the alternative radio stations. Some of the rest, like the closing tracks, would be perfect to the soundtrack of some indie movie that that hipsters will tell you is the best release of any year, primarily because you haven't heard of it.

But if you want to chill out and relax, just click play on the following videos.