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(editor's note: The video is a little outdated.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)