Music

Ahh music. I love it and I am surrounded by people who work with it (my dad works in radio and my boyfriend is a sound engineer). But here's the thing, people shy away from non-mainstream music until someone they know drops it in front of them like a cat does with a mouse. "Here, I found this, and I love you, so here." Consider this post your mouse.

I like to share my thoughts on everything, so I figured that music should be no different. Some of these bands you may have heard of, some of them you may not have. None of them are local bands, all of them have CDs available to purchase either through an online source or in a store. Away we go. (And they are in no particular order).

Death Cab for Cutie

This is one of my absolute favorite bands of all time....ever. This band is hot and are getting more popular every day. :( Which means they will go mainstream and I hate it when they do that! Then I don't feel special anymore, I don't feel like I discovered them on my own (which I did with Coldplay and Maroon 5 before they hit it big). But, they deserve all the money they are about to earn.

Here are 2 cool things about Death Cab For Cutie (DCFC): 1. They release on vinyl (which I have a new appreciation for), and 2) they are going to be playing a show in Chicago in December with the psychedelic Furs and Hot Hot Heat. I would remove a body part to go to that show.

Favorite Song: "Movie Script Ending"

The Killers

I am assuming most of you have at least heard of this band. They have scored with a couple songs: "Somebody told me" and "Mr. Brightside". This is another one I discovered on my own and a few months later KABOOM!! This is one of Aspen's favorites as well. She loves this band almost as much as I do and is constantly asking to listen to them.

Cool things about the Killers: 1) they also release on vinyl, and 2) Brandon Flowers (the lead vocalist) has the most ridiculously mesmerizing eyes. I don't know what happened to that kid as a child, but I honestly feel like he's looking into my soul when I see him on tv. Huh...amazing what some good eyeliner can do!

Favorite song: "Mr. Brightside"

Dar Williams

This chic...wow. This chic rocks. I have loved Dar for years and I wish that more people knew about her music. She has a very folksy sound to her, but not tooo folksy. Her music is smart and socially conscience, which you know I LOVE!! Her 1996 CD Mortal City is one of my all time favorite albums.

Cool things: 1) she is playing a show in St.Louis in April that I hope to go to. I think I might faint. 2) Another one of my favorite artists: Ani DiFranco, appears on Dar's latest album "My Better Self".

Favorite song: "Christians and Pagans" (which, subsequently, is one of my favorite holiday songs).

Keane

Keane is an interesting band. They are not a traditional band because they don't play with a guitarist. They got their start playing Oasis, Beatles and U2 covers in England in the late 90's. They then transitioned into playing originals. They are also a band you may very will have heard of, they are somewhat popular on the radio and MTV.

Cool stuff: 1) they have done a lot of charity work, trying to eradicate world hunger and poverty. That alone makes them F*cking cool. 2) The very first album each one of these guys bought: Tom (vocals) Michael Jackson, Thiller or Bad, Richard (drums) Depeche Mode, Violator, and Tim (piano) INXS, Live Baby Live. They had good taste even when they were kids...can't say as much for me. Mine was Tiffany. Cringe if you must.

Favorite song: "Somewhere only we know"

Dashboard Confessional

Yes, they are emo, and these guys are really popular in college towns, including this one. I wish they would come play here. That would make me happy. Some of their stuff has been pretty popular and they have songs that have done well like "Swiss Army Romance" and "Vindicated" (which was from the Spiderman2 soundtrack).

Cool: Dashboard Confessional refers only to Chris Carrabba as he originally intended it to be a solo project, 2) MTV picked up on Dashboard Confessionals popularity and started playing the video for "Screaming Infidelities", then made Dashboard the first non-platinum act to get its own episode of Unplugged (fittingly, the DVD release of the special was later certified Platinum).

Favorite song: I have two and I can't decide "Vindicated" and "Screaming Infidelities". Oh how I love them.

There you are. Your first 5. I will try to do another 5 each month. Enjoy your mouse. :D

Wanna blog?

Here is the suggestion I read about getting a blog started.
1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.
5. Don't search around and look for the coolest book you can find. Do what's actually next to you.

That will give you something to start off with. So, just to show you how to do it, here's mine.

Book: The Rural Life by Verlyn Kinkenborg.
Page 123, 5th sentence:

"A tendril of wild cucumber spiraled upward from the branch of a peach tree." Now, seriously? I couldn't make that shit up if I tried.

Try it, its fun.

Sites I've found over the years that I really really like

So I haven't figured out how that whole links section works, so I will devote a blog entry to telling you all where I hang out on-line. Things I've found that are pretty cool and mildly amusing, just for you. How special.


http://www.sweetjesusihatebilloreilly.com/

As you may have guessed, it expresses the hatred of some people (including me) for Bill O'Reilly, who, in my opinion, is one of the most dangerous men on television today.


The next one is www.airamericaradio.com

Why do I love it so? First of all, Al Franken is a god. I would lick his shoes. Second, the commentary is smart, entertaining and informative. Third, its radio! Yes, it is ok to put down the MP3 player and listen to that pretty FREE sound that comes out of your alarm clock. I just wish it was in my market. :( (*BUT ITS IN DAVENPORT!!!!!! WKBF-AM 1270 AM*)

Heres another good one:

http://www.populist.com/

Read the article about the Dems who are whining about Dean not coddling their balls enough. F*ck them. Give us your money, let us do our jobs and shut the f*ck up. Until you decide to actually WORK in politics, don't criticize the strategies (that are WORKING, by the way) of those of us who have an idea of what we are doing. Thanks.

Anyway, for all my liberal brethren out there, you now have lots of stuff to read. YEA! That's what liberals do!

My birthday

OK, so I am fully aware that my birthday was over a week ago, but I wanted to share with you all what I did. Last week was a little too hectic to sit down and do this, so with 14 minutes before class starts...away we go.

First, on the night before my birthday (Friday, October 28), I went to dinner by my mom, my step-dad, my daughter and my boyfriend. We went to Biaggis and it was good.

The next day (my actual birthday, October 29th), my boyfriend and I went to dinner at Habeneros (my favorite Mexican place). It was also GOOOOOOOD. But before that we had gotten a phone call from one of Eric's (my boyfriend) friends. His band was playing and they desperately needed a sound guy. So...we went to Lumpys (the place we first met...don't laugh) and he ran sound for the band, who are called Katalina. Check them out at www.katalinamusic.com.
Here is a pic of some of them: thats Terry, Shannon and Josh.

After that, we went to an independently owned theatre in downtown Rock Island called the Rocket Theater, which is owned by a friend of Erics. In which we saw:

Oh yeah, we did the Time Warp and yelled "SLUT" every time Susan Sarandon came on the screen. It was good times. After that, we went to Eric's cousin Jimmy's house. That was a crazy party. We didnt stay long.

All in all, it was a lot of fun. Thanks baby!