Indie By Default

blog moving (again)

2007-04-22T23:49:00.000-04:00

So recently blogspot got bought up by google or something so they've combined services. Unfortunately I screwed up somehow when I tried to combine my google account and blog, so this blog is not attached to my account. So I've decided to ditch this scene and move to a new blog. It can be reached at scarymuppet.blogspot.com, or the newly minted brianglidewell.com. Will it be any more frequently updated than this one? Probably not. Peace out.

INDIE BY DEFAULT TOP 100 SINGLES OF 2006

2006-12-05T23:44:00.000-05:00

From the lack of comments I'm guessing no one's reading anymore. Well, hopefully that will change if I keep up the posting. Anyway, here's the biggun. 100 singles that struck me as worthy. If you disagree, you're just wrong.

001 Jarvis - Running the World
002 Justin Timberlake ft. T.I. - My Love
003 The Divine Comedy - To Die a Virgin
004 Nelly Furtado - Maneater
005 Hot Chip - Boy From School
006 T.I. - What You Know
007 Liars - The Other Side of Mt. Heart Attack
008 The Pipettes - Pull Shapes
009 Texas Lightning - No No Never
010 Beirut - Lon Gisland EP
011 Hot Chip - Over and Over
012 Christian Falk ft. Robyn & Ola Salo - Dream On
013 Belle & Sebastian - White Collar Boy
014 Zeigeist - Tar Heart
015 Broken Social Scene - 7/4 (Shoreline)
016 Nelly Furtado ft. Timbaland - Promiscuous
017 Lil' Chris - Checkin' It Out
018 MSTRKRFT - Easy Love
019 Danielson - Did I Step On Your Trumpet
020 Prince - Black Sweat
021 Shitdisco - Reactor Party
022 Ghostface Killah ft. Ne-Yo - Back Like That
023 The Concretes - On the Radio
024 TV on the Radio - Wolf Like Me
025 Kleerup ft. Robyn - With Every Heartbeat
026 Scissor Sisters - I Don't Feel Like Dancin'
027 Lupe Fiasco - Kick, Push
028 The Flaming Lips - The W.A.N.D.
029 The Futureheads - Skip to the End
030 The Killers - When You Were Young
031 Nelly Furtado - Say It Right
032 Shakira ft. Wyclef Jean - Hips Don't Lie
033 The New Pornographers - Sing Me Spanish Techno
034 The Hold Steady - Chips Ahoy!
035 Jay-Z - Show Me What You Got
036 I'm From Barcelona - We're From Barcelona
037 Missy Elliot - We Run This
038 Beck - Cellphone's Dead
039 The Strokes - You Only Live Once
040 Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth
041 Kelly Clarkson - Walk Away
042 Love Is All - Busy Doing Nothing
043 Gnarls Barkley - Crazy
044 Old Crow Medicine Show - Down Home Girl
045 The Thermals - A Pillar of Salt
046 Hot Chip - Colours
047 Cassie - Me & U
048 Teddybears ft. Iggy Pop - Punkrocker
049 The Flaming Lips - It Overtakes Me EP
050 Loose Fur - Hey Chicken
051 Ratatat - Wildcat
052 Ghostface Killah ft. Q-Tip & Lateef - Enuff
053 Belle & Sebastian - Funny Little Frog
054 Franz Ferdinand - Eleanor Put Your Boots On/Fade Together (Avalanches remix)
055 Junior Boys - In the Morning
056 Ghostface Killah ft. Trife - Be Easy
057 Broken Social Scene - Fire Eye'd Boy
058 José Gonzales - Heartbeats
059 Lil' Chris - Gettin' Enough
060 Prince - Fury
061 The Similou - All This Love
062 Christina Aguilera - Ain't No Other Man
063 The Whitest Boy Alive - Burning
064 The Pipettes - Your Kisses Are Wasted on Me
065 My Chemical Romance - Welcome to the Black Parade
066 The Roots - Don't Feel Right
067 Gnarls Barkley - Smiley Faces
068 The Go! Team - Ladyflash
069 Madonna - Sorry
070 The Futureheads - Worry About It Later
071 The Rapture - Get Myself Into It
072 Yo La Tengo - Mr. Tough
073 The Divine Comedy - Diva Lady
074 Peter Bjorn and John - Young Folks
075 Justice vs. Simian - We Are Your Friends
076 The Flaming Lips - Yeah Yeah Yeah Song
077 Lupe Fiasco - I Gotcha
078 Beck - Nausea
079 People Under the Stairs - Tuxedo Rap
080 Clinic - Harvest
081 Belle & Sebastian - The Blues Are Still Blue
082 United States of Electronica - It Is On!
083 Clogs - Lantern
084 The Concretes - Chosen One
085 Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - In This Home on Ice
086 Fergie ft. will.i.am - Fergalicious
087 Sondre Lerche - Phantom Punch
088 Art Brut - Nag Nag Nag Nag
089 The Roots - In The Music/Here I Come
090 Kelis ft. Too Short - Bossy
091 Man Man - Engwish Bwudd
092 Prince - Satisfied
093 The Strokes - Heart in a Cage
094 Bodyrox ft. Luciana - Yeah Yeah
095 People Under the Stairs - Pass the 40
096 Islands - Rough Gem
097 Gorillaz - Kids With Guns/El Manana
098 Danielson - When It Comes to You I'm Lazy
099 The Streets - When You Wasn't Famous
100 Kanye West - Drive Slow ft. Paul Wall & GLC

Here's a few of the higher singles that I haven't mentioned yet:
Liars - The Other Side of Mt. Heart Attack
The Divine Comedy - To Die a Virgin

The worst named band since A.C.

2006-12-05T00:22:00.000-05:00

I'm not going to tell you what A.C. stands for if you don't already know. Hint: it's not Animal Collective.

NME always has something to hype up. Nowadays they are praising the bands that play "New Rave." Which is basically dance punk, but by a different name so NME can both say that they found the bands and that the genre is a British invention. The biggest of these are the Klaxons, with their little Pynchon-y ditty, Gravity's Rainbow. Not bad, but certainly not worthy of the hype.

However, lesser known (esp. on this side of the pond) are the horribly named Shitdisco. Instead of the Klaxon's Rapture-aping, Shitdisco go with a decidedly older sound. They mix a good deal of Devo with loads of the punkier new wave acts. It's quirky, danceable and fun, and deserving of hype. Looking forward to an LP from these guys, but for now we have their single "Reactor Party."

Shitdisco - "Reactor Party"

The Mystery of Zeigeist

2006-11-29T18:19:00.000-05:00

Earlier this year experimental synth-poppers The Knife released their meh-worthy third album, Silent Shout. Like most albums anyone gave a shit about this year, it leaked a few weeks before its actual release. The album on the whole was pretty lackluster (though the rest of the blogosphere seems to disagree). They abandoned the pop sensibilities of Deep Cuts for voice modulation and general weirdness. However, at the end of this leak was a total gem. It was entitled "F as in Knife." Karin Dreijer Andersson's distinctive voice floated over electro-perfection. They seemed to have saved the best for last with a pop number that might have trumped even "Heartbeats," their breakthrough single.

Strangely, though, "F as in Knife" was not the first single they released. Or the second or the third. It actually turns out, the song wasn't even on the album. Or called "F as in Knife." Or by The Knife.

Instead, it was a song called "Tar Heart" by another Swedish synth-pop group called Zeigeist (the spelling is supposed to be lie that). Zeigeist hadn't had as much success on the indie circuit. Really, they were completely unknown and hadn't actually released anything. However, I believe a really discovery has been made by this "accidental" addition to the leak. I expect great things from Zeigeist, as evidenced by the various songs on their myspace and their arty, flamboyant, Fischerspooner-esque performances. So, enjoy the best song The Knife never made.

Zeigeist - "Tar Heart"

I promise the next post will not be about Swedish synth-pop.

Return to form/Dream On

2006-11-27T22:23:00.001-05:00

I'll try this again. This time around I think I'll blog only about music. Reviews and shit. We'll see how long this lasts. My prediction: two posts.

So my tastes over the past few months have really started to skew pop. For most of my college career I shunned pop altogether and dwelt in a sea of indie music. I tried to ignore gems like Britney Spears's classic "Toxic" amongst others. Well, I've finally come to terms with the top 40. I still dig on the indie rock/pop scene (watch for my indie-heavy 2006 albums list in a few weeks), but I now know that not only "Holland, 1945", but also "Fergalicious" has a place on my singles lists. So, to start off what will be the first of many pop single posts:

Christian Falk ft. Robyn and Ola Salo - "Dream On"

Swede Robyn has been a pop singer for some time now. She gained credibility with the rock snob set with last year's Dave-Chapelle-referencing "Konichiwa Bitches." Ola leads the Swedish glam group, The Ark. They've been pretty successful in their native country, but are still a bit obscure in the States, even in indie circles. In fact, their biggest impact on the US thus far was when they were nearly sent to Guantanamo for an ill-advised joke about a passing plane possibly hitting the White House. While in DC. Oops.

Dance producer and fellow Swede Christian Falk brought this unlikely couple together for the above masterpiece. Robyn emotes over Sola's backing vocals, urging all the ne'er-do-wells of the world to just relax for tonight. The lyrics are simple. The music is simple. The song structure is simple. Yet the passion and ennui in Robyn's voice over the twinkling synths packs a massive emotional punch. Where "Konichiwa" proved Robyn relevant, "Dream On" proves her a talent.

Just released or soon-to-be-released (dunno which) is a ballad called "With Every Heartbeat," once again demonstrating the beauty and emotion of her voice. Looking forward to any and all future releases.

Watch for further rambling, incoherent, hyperbolic single and album reviews here in the coming days and weeks.

Hey bigots...

2006-08-29T10:00:00.000-04:00

Walmart likes the gays now. Can you boycott them now? I know you probably wouldn't do it because of their anti-union, anti-competition, anti-women, anti-american-made-goods, pro-locking-their-illegal-immigrant-employees-in-the-store-overnight policies, but perhaps your irrational hatred of those who are different from you can make you join the cause.

Look! I'm still alive

2006-08-21T08:08:00.000-04:00

So it's been quite a while since my last post, but I'm going to try to be more frequent with my entries now that I'm settled and all. Most anyone that has any reason to read this blog is quite familiar with the fact that I've graduated and am now working and living in Manhattan. I'm living with Tim and Lindsi on the upper upper east side (hey, it's south of 96th - barely - so you can't call it Harlem). Things had a bit of a rocky start in the household, but things seem to be smooth sailing at this point.

Work's been pretty cool. The first month was fairly boring, as they took forever to bring me on to this project, but now I'm constantly travelling to Washinton D.C. to work on a project for XM Radio. Apparently XM's office is in one of the worst neighborhoods of DC (which in that town is saying something). In fact, when I told some local friends the location I worked, they cringed. One indication of how bad it is, is that despite the fact that there's a Metro stop two blocks away, we take a shuttle to the next stop down from the office.

I've been meaning to start classes at the Upright Citizens Brigade, but with the constant travel to DC and all these events occuring on the weekend it's been impossible. Hopefully in the near future...

Well, I should get in to the office. I'll try my best to post more often. Oh, and not that anyone cares, but I'm not posting lists for 85-94 but should have my 95-04 lists in the near future.

Spittin' out butterflies

2006-06-19T12:35:00.000-04:00

Okay, this is probably even a funnier commercial than the Nutrigrain "I feel great" one (that was only on the internet). I hope this actually makes it to TV unlike the Nutrigrain one.

Update on various

2006-06-14T17:43:00.000-04:00

Well, it's been forever since I made a real post, so here's what's going on. As previously mentioned, I have a job in NYC. Still start on July 3rd. We already signed a lease on our apartment on the upper Upper East Side. It's kinda small, but I suppose that's to be expected in Manhattan. I graduated and surprisingly got pretty damn good grades in my final classes. School is over forever. Oh word. I'm in ye olde Hobart towne until the 28th. I suppose I could talk about more interesting things such as when I brought down the house at a drag queen karaoke bar or how the filming of Spiderman 3 kept getting in my way in NYC, but I still don't really feel like it. Too bad for you. Oh, and check my singles below. I heart the list.

TOP 100 SINGLES 1975-84

2006-06-14T17:41:00.000-04:00

001 Prince and the Revolution - I Would Die 4 U
002 Talking Heads - Once in a Lifetime
003 The Clash - Train in Vain
004 Wire - Outdoor Miner/Practice Makes Perfect
005 Mission of Burma - Academy Fight Song/Max Ernst
006 The Jam - That's Entertainment
007 Tom Tom Club - Genius of Love
008 David Bowie - Modern Love
009 Cheap Trick - Surrender
010 The Buzzcocks - Everybody's Happy Nowadays/Why Can't I Touch It?
011 Warren Zevon - Werewolves of London/Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner
012 The Undertones - Teenage Kicks
013 Elvis Costello - Radio, Radio
014 Electric Light Orchestra - Mr. Blue Sky
015 Dexys Midnight Runners - Come On Eileen
016 Thin Lizzy - The Boys are Back in Town/Emerald
017 ABBA - Lay All Your Love on Me
018 X-Ray Spex - Germ Free Adolescents
019 Ramones - Blitzkrieg Bop/Havana Affair
020 The Jam - Town Called Malice
021 David Bowie - "Heroes"
022 Iron Maiden - Run to the Hills
023 Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five - The Message
024 The Modern Lovers - Roadrunner
025 Richard Hell & The Voidoids - Blank Generation
026 Ian Hunter - Cleveland Rocks/Bastard
027 Stiff Little Fingers - Suspect Device
028 Elvis Costello - Alison/Welcome to the Working Week
029 Kurtis Blow - The Breaks
030 The Specials - Ghost Town
031 Prince - Little Red Corvette/All the Critics Love U in New York
032 R.E.M. - Radio Free Europe
033 Dexys Midnight Runners - Dance Stance
034 Patti Smith - Gloria
035 Echo & The Bunnymen - The Killing Moon
036 Television - Marquee Moon
037 Cheap Trick - I Want You to Want Me
038 Talking Heads - Psycho Killer
039 Queen & David Bowie - Under Pressure
040 Prince - Controversy/When You Were Mine
041 X-Ray Spex - Oh Bondage! Up Yours!
042 The Smiths - This Charming Man
043 Wire - Dot Dash
044 The Buggles - Video Killed the Radio Star
045 Electric Light Orchestra - Turn to Stone
046 Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart
047 Television Personalities - Where's Bill Grundy Now? EP
048 Duran Duran - Rio
049 Hüsker Dü - Eight Miles High
050 The Knack - My Sharona
051 Ramones - Sheena Is a Punk Rocker
052 Madness - Our House
053 The Buzzcocks - What Do I Get?/Oh Shit!
054 Patti Smith Group - Because the Night
055 ABBA - Dancing Queen
056 Warren Zevon - Lawyers, Guns and Money
057 Michael Jackson - Rock With You
058 Prince and the Revolution - Purple Rain
059 Lime - Angel Eyes
060 Cyndi Lauper - Time After Time
061 The Clash - London Calling
062 Thin Lizzy - Jailbreak/Running Back
063 Nick Lowe - So It Goes
064 Dexys Midnight Runners - Geno
065 Felt - Penelope Tree
066 Big Country - In a Big Country
067 The Smiths - Hand in Glove
068 Orange Juice - Falling and Laughing
069 The Flamin' Groovies - Shake Some Action
070 Prince - Dirty Mind
071 ABBA - Mamma Mia
072 The Jam - Down in the Tube Station at Midnight
073 The Clash - Remote Control
074 The Style Council - Shout to the Top
075 Josef K - Sorry for Laughing
076 Dexys Midnight Runners - Plan B
077 The Smiths - William, It Was Really Nothing/How Soon Is Now?/Please, Please, Please
078 Jilted John - Jilted John
079 Human League - Don't You Want Me
080 Wire - Mannequin/12XU
081 Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run
082 Ramones - Do You Wanna Dance?
083 Prince and the Revolution - When Doves Cry/17 Days
084 The Jam - Start!
085 Dexys Midnight Runners - Jackie Wilson Said/Let's Make This Precious
086 Bonnie Tyler - Total Eclipse of the Heart
087 Modern English - I Melt With You
088 Delta 5 - Mind Your Own Business
089 Kraftwerk - Tour de France
090 The Damned - Neat, Neat, Neat
091 Electric Light Orchestra - Livin' Thing
092 David Bowie - Young Americans
093 U2 - I Will Follow
094 Freez - IOU
095 Elvis Costello - Oliver's Army
096 Dexys Midnight Runners - There, There, My Dear
097 Pete Shelley - Homosapien
098 Quiet Riot - Cum on Feel the Noize
099 ABBA - Does Your Mother Know
100 David Bowie - Fame
101 The Replacements - I Will Dare
102 The Clash - Tommy Gun
103 Tom Tom Club - Wordy Rappinghood
104 Police - Roxanne
105 The Specials - A Message to You Rudy
106 Violent Femmes - Blister in the Sun
107 The Buzzcocks - Orgasm Addict/What Ever Happened To?
108 Talking Heads - Life During Wartime (Live)
109 Rush - Tom Sawyer
110 Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf
111 Stevie Wonder - I Wish
112 Elvis Costello - Less Than Zero
113 ABBA - S. O. S.
114 Associates of Christ - Party Fears Two
115 Electric Light Orchestra - Sweet Talkin' Woman
116 Gary Numan - Are 'Friends' Electric?
117 Cyndi Lauper - Money Changes Everything
118 Joy Division - Transmission
119 Prince - Let's Pretend We're Married
120 The Jam - Beat Surrender
121 The Clash - White Riot
122 ABBA - The Winner Takes It All
123 Television Personalities - I Know Where Syd Barrett Lives
124 Cybotron - Clear
125 The Damned - New Rose
126 The Buzzcocks - I Don't Mind/Autonomy
127 Talking Heads - This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)
128 The Clash - (White Man) in Hammersmith Palais
129 Stevie Wonder - Sir Duke
130 Elvis Costello - Pump It Up
131 Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel - White Lines
132 Echo & The Bunnymen - The Cutter
133 Madness - One Step Beyond
134 Cheap Trick - Dream Police
135 X - White Girl
136 C-Bank - One More Shot
137 Ian Huner - Once Bitten Twice Shy
138 Prince and the Revolution - Let's Go Crazy
139 Wire - Map Ref. 41ºn 93ºw
140 Dexys Midnight Runners - The Celtic Soul Brothers
141 Talking Heads - Take Me to the River
142 The Style Council - My Ever Changing Moods
143 Talk Talk - It's My Life
144 Prince - 1999
145 Ramones - Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?
146 David Bowie - Let's Dance
147 Police - Can't Stand Losing You
148 Elvis Costello - (I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea
149 Delta 5 - Try
150 The Jam - The Modern World
151 Television Personalities - 14th Floor/Oxford St., W1
152 ABBA - Money, Money, Money
153 Madness - My Girl
154 Ramones - Needles & Pins
155 The Jam - David Watts
156 Talking Heads - Buring Down the House
157 The Clash - Complete Control
158 David Bowie - Beauty and the Beast
159 Electric Light Orchestra - Don't Bring Me Down
160 The Buzzcocks - Love You More/Noise Annoys
161 The Specials - Gangsters
162 The Smiths - What Difference Does It Make?
163 The Jam - Strange Town
164 Indeep - Last Night a DJ Saved My Life
165 Joy Division - Atmosphere/She's Lost Control
166 Ramones - Rockaway Beach
167 Prince - Do It All Night/Head
168 Dexys Midnight Runners - Liars A to E
169 Tom Tom Club - Lorelei
170 Elvis Costello - Watching the Detectives
171 Yaz - Situation
172 Pere Ubu - Final Solution
173 The Clash - This Is Radio Clash
174 David Bowie - Fashion
175 Taking Heads - Love --> Building on Fire
176 Aztec Camera - Obilvious
177 Pat Benatar - Love Is a Battlefield
178 Shannon - Let the Music Play
179 Prince - Let's Work/Ronnie, Talk to Russia
180 Echo & The Bunnymen - Rescue
181 Kim Wilde - Rescue
182 R.E.M. - Talk About the PAssion
183 The Jam - Eton Rifles/Smither-Jones
184 ABBA - Take A Chance on Me
185 Madness - Tomorrow's Just Another Day
186 Cheap Trick - Ain't That a Shame
187 Hall & Oates - Private Eyes
188 Maximum Joy - Stretch
189 Michael Jackson - Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough
190 Ramones - I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend
191 Electric Light Orchestra - Telephone Line
192 The Pop Group - She Is Beyond Good and Evil
193 Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five - The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel
194 The Jam - In the City
195 Wire - I Am the Fly
196 Talking Heads - I Zimbra
197 ABBA - Gimmie! Gimmie! Gimmie! (A Man After Midnight)
198 Prince - Uptown
199 Stevie Wonder - Happy Birthday
200 Scritti Politti - Wood Beez

TOP 100 ALBUMS 1975-84

2006-05-30T15:47:00.000-04:00

001 The Clash - London Calling
002 Prince - Purple Rain
003 Dexy's Midnight Runners - Searching for the Young Soul Rebels
004 Husker Du - Zen Arcade
005 Talking Heads - Remain in Light
006 The Jam - Sound Affects
007 Prince - Dirty Mind
008 The Buzzcocks - Singles Going Steady
009 Dexy's Midnight Runners - Too-Rye-Ay
010 Wire - Chairs Missing
011 Billy Bragg - Life's a Riot with Spy Vs Spy
012 Elvis Costello - My Aim is True
013 Television Personalities - And Don't the Kids Just Love it
014 Cheap Trick - Live at Buddokan
015 The Jam - All Mod Cons
016 Mission Of Burma - Signals, Calls and Marches
017 Wire - Pink Flag
018 Tom Tom Club - s/t
019 The Clash - s/t
020 Talking Heads - Fear of Music
021 Philip Glass - Glassworks
022 Television - Marquee Moon
023 Ramones - s/t
024 Electric Light Orchestra - Out of the Blue
025 Thin Lizzy - Jailbreak
026 Cheap Trick - Heaven Tonight
027 Elvis Costello - This Year's Model
028 Orange Juice - You Can't Hide Your Love Forever
029 The Go-Betweens - Before Hollywood
030 Brian Eno - Another Green World
031 R.E.M. - Murmur
032 Prince - 1999
033 David Bowie - Young Americans
034 Billy Bragg - Brewing Up with Billy Bragg
035 New Order - Power, Corruption, and Lies
036 The Undertones - s/t
037 Ian Hunter - You're Never Alone With A Schizophrenic
038 David Bowie - "Heroes"
039 The Replacements - Let It Be
040 Patti Smith - Horses
041 The Cure - Boys Don't Cry
042 The Modern Lovers - s/t
043 Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures
044 ABBA - Arrival
045 Talking Heads - More Songs About Buildings and Food
046 Lou Reed - The Blue Mask
047 Duran Duran - Rio
048 U2 - War
049 Magazine - The Correct Use of Soap
050 Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks
051 The Smiths - s/t
052 Josef K - The Only Fun in Town
053 Cheap Trick - s/t
054 Madness - One Step Beyond
055 The Police - Outlandos D'Amour
056 Flamin' Groovies - Shake Some Action
057 X-Ray Spex - Germ-Free Adolescents
058 The Jam - Setting Sons
059 Fela Anikulopo Kuti and Africa 70 - Zombie
060 Elvis Costello - Armed Forces
061 Gang of Four - Entertainment!
062 Echo & the Bunnymen - Ocean Rain
063 Violent Femmes - s/t
064 Big Country - The Crossing
065 The Specials - s/t
066 Brian Eno - Before and After Science
067 AC/DC - High Voltage
068 Nick Lowe - Jesus of Cool
069 New Musik - From A to B
070 XTC - Drums & Wires
071 Daniel Johnston - Hi, How Are You?
072 David Bowie - Low
073 Parliament - The Mothership Connection
074 Prince - Controversy
075 Cheap Trick - In Color
076 Richard Hell & the Voidoids - Blank Generation
077 Talking Heads - Talking Heads '77
078 Electric Light Orchestra - A New World Record
079 Human League - Dare!
080 The Jam - The Gift
081 Warren Zevon - Excitable Boy
082 The Damned - Damned, Damned, Damned
083 The Feelies - Crazy Rhythms
084 The Minutemen - Double Nickels on the Dime
085 The B-52s - s/t
086 Brian Eno & David Byrne - My Life in the Bush of Ghosts
087 Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life
088 X - Los Angeles
089 The Knack - Get the Knack
090 Stiff Little Fingers - Inflammable Material
091 Style Council - Cafe Bleu
092 Pere Ubu - The Modern Dance
093 David Bowie - Station to Station
094 The Raincoats - s/t
095 The Clash - Give 'Em Enough Rope
096 Talk Talk - It's My Life
097 Dead Boys - Young Loud and Snotty
098 Bad Brains - s/t
099 Suicide - s/t
100 Michael Jackson - Off the Wall

Dog thinks it's people

2006-05-14T02:33:00.000-04:00

I'm a working man.

2006-04-27T10:50:00.000-04:00

I finally accepted an offer yesterday. That's right. I've got a big kid job. Starting July 3, I'll be working at Avenue A/Razorfish in New York City. Oh word. Looks like Tim, Lindsi, and I will be sharing an apartment as well. So... that's news.

Sorry I haven't talked about spring break. As far as the rum thing, just know I wasn't drunk at the time. I just happened to pee rum.

Regarding spring break...

2006-04-06T00:08:00.000-04:00

I literally peed Rum. Pure rum.

That'll do it for now. I'll probably say more on a later, less stressful date.

TOP 100 ALBUMS 1965-74

2006-03-23T04:53:00.000-05:00

Leave for spring break Friday. I'll come back with pictures, and likely a hangover. BTW, what d'ya think of the new banner?

001 The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
002 Isaac Hayes - Hot Buttered Soul
003 The Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed
004 Brian Eno - Here Come the Warm Jets
005 The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground & Nico
006 Mott the Hoople - Mott
007 The Who - Who's Next
008 The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
009 Simon and Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water
010 The Kinks - The Kinks Are Village Green Preservation Society
011 Lou Reed - Transformer
012 T. Rex - Electric Warrior
013 David Bowie - The Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust
014 The Beach Boys - Surf's Up
015 Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited
016 The Rolling Stones - Exile on Main Street
017 Donovan - Donovan's Greatest Hits
018 Os Mutantes - s/t
019 The Rolling Stones - Between the Buttons
020 Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison
021 David Bowie - Hunky Dory
022 Stevie Wonder - Innervisions
023 The Beatles - s/t
024 The Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers
025 Mott the Hoople - All the Young Dudes
026 Otis Redding - Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul
027 Various Artists - Nuggets
028 Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde
029 Electric Light Orchestra - Eldorado
030 The Who - Tommy
031 Dolly Parton - Coat of Many Colors
032 The Byrds - Sweetheart of the Rodeo
033 Serge Gainsbourg - Histoire De Melody Nelson
034 The Kinks - Lola vs. the Powerman & the Money-Go-Round, Pt. 1
035 Dusty Springfield - Dusty in Memphis
036 The Beatles - Revolver
037 Nico - Chelsea Girl
038 Cluster - Zuckerzeit
039 Bob Dylan - Bringing It All Back Home
040 T. Rex - The Slider
041 Sparks - Kimono My House
042 Mott the Hoople - The Hoople
043 George Harrison - All Things Must Pass
044 Lou Reed - Berlin
045 James Brown - The Payback
046 The Velvet Underground - White Light/White Heat
047 Aretha Franklin - I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You
048 Al Green - Let's Stay Together
049 The Band - s/t
050 The Spinners - s/t
051 Sly & The Family Stone - Stand!
052 Bruce Springsteen - The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle
053 Isaac Hayes - Black Moses
054 Leonard Cohen - Songs of Love and Hate
055 Love - Forever Changes
056 The Velvet Underground - Loaded
057 Van Morrison - Astral Weeks
058 John Lennon - John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
059 Stevie Wonder - Talking Book
060 John Cale - 1919
061 Roxy Music - For Your Pleasure
062 James Brown - Sex Machine
063 Van Dyke Parks - Song Cycle
064 Brian Eno - Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)
065 Kraftwerk - Autobahn
066 Sly & The Family Stone - There's A Riot Goin' On
067 The Sonics - Here Are The Sonics!!
068 Faust - Faust IV
069 The Who - The Who Sell Out
070 Al Green - Call Me
071 The Beach Boys - Wild Honey
072 Gene Clark - No Other
073 Roxy Music - Country Life
074 Neu! - s/t
075 Curtis Mayfield - Superfly
076 Os Mutantes - Mutantes
077 Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass - Whipped Cream & Other Delights
078 The Velvet Underground - s/t
079 Van Morrison - Moondance
080 John Cale - Vintage Violence
081 The Rolling Stones - Beggar's Banquet
082 Leo Kottke - 6 & 12 String Guitar
083 David Bowie - Aladdin Sane
084 Rita Lee - Build Up
085 The Beach Boys - Today!
086 Steely Dan - Countdown to Ecstasy
087 Paul Simon - s/t
088 Roxy Music - s/t
089 Jimmy Cliff - The Harder They Come
090 Rolling Stones - Aftermath
091 Simon and Garfunkel - Bookends
092 The Who - Quadrophenia
093 Monkees - Head
094 The Kinks - Something Else
095 Todd Rundgren - Something/Anything?
096 The Who - Live at Leeds
097 Nilsson - Nilsson Schmilsson
098 The Beatles - Rubber Soul
099 New York Dolls - s/t
100 David Bowie - The Man Who Sold the World

TOP 200 SINGLES 1965-74

2006-03-23T04:52:00.000-05:00

001 The Beach Boys - Wouldn't It Be Nice/God Only Knows
002 Mott the Hoople - All the Way from Memphis
003 The Rolling Stones - Honky Tonk Women/You Can't Always Get What You Want
004 Looking Glass - Brandy
005 Lou Reed - Satellite of Love/Walk and Talk It
006 ABBA - Waterloo
007 The Beach Boys - Good Vibrations/Let's Go Awat for Awhile
008 Dolly Parton - Jolene
009 James Brown - It's a Man's Man's Man's World
010 Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water/Keep the Customer Satisfied
011 David Bowie - Changes/Andy Warhol
012 Isaac Hayes - Walk On By
013 Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell - Ain't No Mountain High Enough
014 Sam & Dave - Hold On, I'm Coming
015 The Who - Won't Get Fooled Again
016 The Supremes - You Keep Me Hanging On
017 Ike & Tina Turner - Proud Mary
018 Tommy James & the Shondells - Crimson & Clover
019 The Beach Boys - Surf's Up/Don't Go Near the Water
020 The Velvet Underground - Sunday Morning/Femme Fatale
021 David Bowie - Starman/Suffragette City
022 Love Affair - Everlasting Love
023 Mott the Hoople - All the Young Dudes
024 The Sonics - Psycho
025 Love - Alone Again Or
026 Bob Dylan - Like A Rolling Stone/Gates of Eden
027 The Rolling Stones - Wild Horses
028 David Bowie - Life On Mars?/The Man Who Sold the World
029 The Jackson 5 - I Want You Back
030 T. Rex - Jeepster/Life's a Gas
031 Frank Zappa - Peaches En Regalia
032 Lou Reed - Vicious/Goodnight Ladies
033 Wilson Pickett - 634-5789 (Soulsville, U.S.A.)
034 The Beatles - Eleanor Rigby
035 Dionne Warwick - I Say a Little Prayer
036 Donovan - Mellow Yellow
037 The Rolling Stones - Let's Spend the Night Together/Ruby Tuesday
038 The Carpenters - Superstar
039 T. Rex - Children of the Revolution
040 The Who - I Can't Explain
041 The Temptations - Ain't Too Proud to Beg
042 Bob Dylan - I Want You/Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues
043 The Velvet Underground - Sweet Jame/Rock and Roll
044 The Beatles - Get Back
045 David Bowie - Rebel Rebel
046 The Kinks - Victoria
047 Leonard Cohen - Joan of Arc/Diamonds in the Mine
048 The Band - Up On Cripple Creek/The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
049 Roberta Flack - Killing Me Softly With His Song
050 Lou Reed - Walk on the Wild Side/Perfect Day
051 The Kinks - Waterloo Sunset
052 Simon & Garfunkel - The Boxer/Baby Driver
053 The Beach Boys - Long Promised Road/'Til I Die
054 T. Rex - Bang a Gong (Get It On)
055 Stevie Wonder/I Don't Know Why
056 The Beach Boys - Heroes and Villains/You're Welcome
057 The Rolling Stones - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
058 Elvis Presley - In the Ghetto
059 Curtis Mayfield - Move on Up
060 The Who - Pinball Wizard
061 James Brown - I Got the Feelin'
062 Aretha Franklin - I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)
063 The Kinks - Lola
064 Paul McCartney - Live and Let Die
065 Simon & Garfunkel - Cecilia/Only Living Boy in New York
066 Gladys Knight & The Pips - Midnight Train to Georgia
067 Bob Dylan - Positively 4th Street
068 Jackie Wilson - (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher
069 John Lennon - Whatever Gets You Thru the Night
070 Donovan - Atlantis
071 The Jackson 5 - Never Can Say Goodbye
072 The Beach Boys - Caroline No
073 Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - I Second That Emotion
074 Stevie Wonder - Higher Ground
075 John Fred & His Playboy Band - Judy in Disguise
076 James Brown - Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine
077 Sparks - This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us
078 Sandie Shaw - (There's) Always Something There to Remind Me
079 Donovan - Hurdy Gurdy Man
080 Curtis Mayfield & The Impressions - People Get Ready
081 Roxy Music - Virginia Plain
082 Dusty Springfield - The Look of Love
083 James Brown - The Payback
084 Shorty Long - Function at the Junction
085 The Who - My Generation
086 The Temptations - Papa Was a Rollin' Stone
087 Stevie Wonder - Superstition
088 John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band - Power to the People
089 Mott the Hoople - The Golden Age of Rock'n'Roll
090 Diana Ross & The Supremes - Stop! In the Name of Love
091 Donovan - Sunshine Superman
092 Mott the Hoople - Honaloochie Boogie
093 T. Rex - Metal Guru
094 Elvis Presley - Suspicious Minds
095 The Jackson 5 - I'll Be There
096 Simon & Garfunkel - The Sound of Silence
097 Otis Redding - Try a Little Tenderness
098 Wilson Pickett - In the Midnight Hour
099 Roberta Flack - Feel Like Makin' Love
100 Donovan - There Is a Mountain
101 The Rolling Stones - Jumpin' Jack Flash
102 Dusty Springfield - Son of a Preacher Man
103 The Who - I Can See for Miles/Mary Anne With the Shakey Hand
104 Sam & Dave - I Thank You
105 The Beatles - Paperback Writer/Rain
106 Wilson Pickett - Hey Jude
107 The Rolling Stones - Brown Sugar
108 The Band - The Weight/I Shall Be Released
109 Simon & Garfunkel - Mrs. Robinson
110 Van Morison - Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile)
111 Sly & The Family Stone - Everyday People/Sing a Simple Song
112 Mott the Hoople - Foxy, Foxy
113 The Temptations - (Lonliness Made Me Realize) It's You That I Need
114 Electric Light Orchestra - Can't Get It Out of My Head
115 Paul Simon - Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard
116 Serge Gainsbourg - Ballade De Melody Nelson
117 The Velvet Underground White Light/White Heat/Here She Comes Now
118 John Cale - Big White Could
119 The Rolling Stones - Happy
120 Al Green - Let's Stay Together
121 The Rolling Stones - Paint It Black
122 Aretha Franklin - Do Right Woman - Do Right Man
123 James Brown - Make It Funky, Pt. 1
124 Slade - Cum On Feel the Noize
125 George Harrison - What Is Life
126 Sly & The Family Stone - Family Affair
127 The Velvet Underground - All Tomorrow's Parties/I'll Be Your Mirror
128 Elton John - Tiny Dancer
129 Love - Seven & Seven Is
130 Spinners - Don't Let the Green Grass Fool You/One of a Kind
131 Bob Dylan - Tangled Up in Blue
132 Aretha Franklin - Respect
133 Steely Dan - Reelin' in the Years
134 Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass - Casino Royale
135 The Who - 5:15
136 David Bowie - Jean Genie/Ziggy Stardust
137 David Bowie - Space Oddity
138 Sam & Dave - Soul Man
139 The Sonics - Boss Hoss
140 James Brown - Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud, Pt. 1
141 Otis Redding - Sittin on the Dock of the Bay
142 The Who - Behind Blue Eyes/My Wife
143 The Beatles - Day Tripper/We Can Work It Out
144 Sam & Dave - You Don't Know Like i Know
145 Brian Eno - Seven Deadly Finns
146 The Rolling Stones - It's Only Rock and Roll
147 Harry Nilsson - Jump Into the Fire/The Moonbeam Song
148 Marvin Gaye & Tammit Terrell - Ain't Nothing Like the Real THing
149 George Harrison - My Sweet Lord
150 Sam & Dave - You Got Me Hummin'
151 The Rolling Stones - Street Fighting Man
152 Martha Reeves & The Vandellas - Nowhere to Run
153 Bruce Springsteen - 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)/The E Street Shuffle
154 Donovan - Epistle to Dippy
155 Steely Dan - My Old School
156 Wilson Pickett - Land of 1000 Dances
157 The Who - Love, Reign o'er Me
158 The Kinks - Days
159 Chicago - 25 or 6 to 4
160 Lou Reed - How Do You Think It Feels/Lady Day
161 Curtis Mayfield - Freddie's Dead (Theme from Superfly)
162 The Sonics - Witch
163 John Lennon - Instant Karma
164 T. Rex - Ride A White Swan
165 Lovin' Spoonful - Summer in the City
166 Steely Dan - Do It Again
167 The Kinks - Apeman
168 Ike & Tina Turner - River Deep Mountain High
169 Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - The Tears of a Clown
170 Sparks - Amateur Hour
171 Mott the Hoople - One of the Boys
172 Martha & The Vandellas - Dancing in the Street
173 Badfinger - No Matter What
174 Simon & Garfunkel - A Hazy Shade of Winter
175 T. Rex - Telegram Sam
176 Otis Redding - Satisfaction
177 The Rolling Stones - Tumbling Dice
178 The Marvelettes - I'll Keep Holding On
179 Todd Rundgren - I Saw the Light
180 Sam & Dave - Said I Wasn't Gonna Tell Nobody
181 Stevie Wonder - You Are the Sunshine of My Life
182 David Bowie - Rock 'N' Roll Suicide
183 Tony Joe White - Polk Salad Annie
184 Donovan - Colours
185 The Temptations - Just My Imagination
186 Electric Light Orchestra - Roll Over Beethoven
187 Simon & Garfunkel - Homeward Bound
188 Donovan - Catch the Wind
189 The Kinks - Dead End Street
190 Al Green - Call Me
191 David Bowie - John, I'm Only Dancing
192 The Beach Boys - Do You Wanna Dance?
193 The Temptations - Just My Imagination
194 Tom Jones - What's New Pussycat?
195 Mott the Hoople - Sweet Jane
196 Simon & Garfunkel - Scarborough Fair/Canticle
197 The Kinks - Wonderboy
198 Donovan - Wear You Love Like Heaven
199 Stevie Wonder - Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing
200 Pipkins - Gimmie Dat Ding

I wish I had thought of this first

2006-03-20T10:43:00.000-05:00

Second Annual MySpace Stupid Haircut Awards

Hilarious. The best is third from the bottom.

Perhaps later I'll recount St. Patty's in San Fran (went for another interview). In other news, I'm not good enough to know that Dan has a girlfriend. I obviously will just fuck things up for him.

The San Francisco Treat: crack

2006-03-10T04:07:00.000-05:00

I'm in SanFran right now for an interview tomorrow. I get to the airport a little whil ago, and go in to use a stall in the restroom. As I take one of those protective seat covers out, a small glass pipe burnt on both ends falls into the toilet. That's right, a crack pipe. Then I see right next to the sinks a needle disposal thingy. And I don't think it was for diabetics. And this was at the airport. Crazy Californians.

Water balloons, youtube, and seizures

2006-03-01T02:37:00.000-05:00

Crazy story to tell, but first, other crap.

High-speed video me and my lab partner shot of a water balloon bouncing. Probably will be more of this as the term goes on.

Best music video of the year so far for one of the best, if not best single of the year so far. Hot Chip - "Over and Over"

I love the thing I put these videos on, youtube. Tons and tons of both videos people rip from shows and really strange stuff people shoot themselves. Search for some random words and you'll find people doing the weirdest things. Modern culture, baby. I love it.

Anyway, the story. Was in the student center working on some stuff for the class I made the balloon video for. Went down to the first floor for some Vitamin Water (green tea flavor is the best liquid ever). Was waiting for the elevator when I hear the guy behind me make a weird noise. Kind of a "Gok!" I look back and the guy's laying on the floor. At first I think he's joking around with someone, but then I see no one who he appears to be with and that his hands are clawed up and that he's shaking a bit and has a pained look on his face. Holy crap, he's having a seizure. Me and some Asian girl are just like "Ummm... hey?! Someone?! Help... he's having a seizure" etc. Some guy a lot more clear-headed than us runs up and starts taking charge. Someone calls 911 etc. I'm freaking out a good deal here, because his lips are turning blue. I'm desperately trying to remember what to do in case of a seizure from Boy Scouts. Unfortunately, I didn't learn much in Boy Scouts. The only thing I can think of is that you shouldn't put a spoon in his mouth. Well, I guess I'd be ready for that if someone tried it. Luckily some dudes who apparently know what they're doing come by. They loosen clothing, get him laying on a couch and other crap. He starts to calm down (though I don't think it had anything to do with their actions) and his face goes back to normal. He appears pretty dazed but okay. I left a bit after that and saw him in the hall today. Guess everything turned out alright.

There actually is one thing still of interest in my life..

2006-02-25T21:49:00.000-05:00

KARAOKE!

Myself and a certain Miss Betsy Eames at the Thirsty Ear Pub singing Meatloaf's "I Would Do Anything for Love." Not quite as good as Tim and I's version of Neil Diamond's "America," but a quality performance nonetheless.

nothings really of interest, except for music

2006-02-22T00:09:00.000-05:00

There is honestly nothing interesting going on in my life. Just school. And that's pretty much it. To take up space, general ratings for albums this year:

Hot shit:
Destroyer - Rubies
Hot Chip - Warning
Man Man - Six Demon Bag
The Flaming Lips - At War With the Mystics
Belle & Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
Johnny Boy - s/t
Half-Handed Cloud - Halos & Lassos
The National Trust - Kings & Queens
The Strokes - First Impressions of Earth
Danielson - Ships
Stereolab - Fab Four Suture

Not bad and/or haven't listened to enough to make a decision:
Islands - Return to the Sea
The Concretes - In Colour
Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan - Ballad of Broken Seas
The Liars - Drum's Not Dead
The M's - Future Women
The Knife - Silent Shout
Loose Fur - Born Again in the USA
Mogwai - Mr. Beast
Film School - s/t

Not so great:
Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
The Kooks - s/t
Grandaddy - Just Like the Fambly Cat

TOP 100 SINGLES 1950-64

2006-02-14T18:34:00.000-05:00

This is how I roll, yo.

001 Paul Anka - Diana
002 Stan Getz & João Gilberto - The Girl From Ipanema
003 The Dave Brubeck Quartet - Take Five
004 Johnny Cash - I Walk the Line/Folsom Prison Blues
005 Dionne Warwick - Walk On By
006 Beach Boys - Be True to Your School/In My Room
007 Jackie Wilson - Lonely Teardrops
008 Johnny Cash - Ring of Fire
009 Roy Orbison - Only the Lonely
010 Beach Boys - I Get Around/Don't Worry Baby
011 Patsy Cline - Walkin' After Midnight
012 Them - Gloria
013 Elvis Presley - Can't Help Falling in Love
014 Esquivel - Whatchamacallit
015 The Animals - House of the Rising Sun
016 Hank Williams - Your Cheatin' Heart
017 Buddy Holly - Wishing/Because I Love You
018 Jackie Wilson - To Be Loved
019 Ray Charles - What'd I Say
020 Gloria Jones - Tainted Love
021 Ricky Nelson - Lonesome Town
022 Bobby Darin - Mack the Knife
023 Booker T. & the MG's - Green Onions
024 James Brown - Please, Please, Please
025 Buddy Holly - Peggy Sue
026 The Shadows/The Drifters - Apache
027 Shirely Bassey - Goldfinger
028 The Everly Brothers - Bye, Bye Love
029 Martha & The Vandellas - (Love Is Like A) Heat Wave
030 Petula Clark - Downtown
031 Bobby Freeman - Do You Wanna Dance
032 Buddy Holly - Rave On
033 Elvis Presely - Don't Be Cruel/Hound Dog
034 Ray Charles - Georgia on My Mind
035 Marvin Gaye - Can I Get A Witness
036 Bob Dylan - Blowin' in the Wind/Don't Think Twice
037 The Marcels - Blue Moon
038 Jackie Wilson - I'll Be Satisfied
039 The Everly Brothers - When Will I Be Loved
040 Rolling Stones - Time is on My Side
041 Buddy Holly - That'll Be the Day
042 James Brown - Prisoner of Love
043 The Supremes - Where Did Our Love Go
044 The Ronettes - Be My Baby
045 Ray Charles - Hit the Road Jack
046 Darlene Love - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
047 James Brown - Try Me
048 The Beatles - Love Me Do
049 The Crystals - Then He Kissed Me
050 The Dave Brubeck Quartet - Blue Rondo a la Turk
051 Fats Domino - Ain't That a Shame
052 Elvis Presely - Heartbreak Hotel
053 Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers - Why Do Fools Fall in Love
054 The Ronettes - Baby, I Love You
055 The Four Tops - Baby I Need Your Loving
056 Ricky Nelson - Hello Mary Lou
057 Bobby Vinton - Blue Velvet
058 The Mirales - You've Really Got a Hold on Me
059 The Rolling Stones - Not Fade Away
060 The Five Blobs - The Blob
061 The Righteous Brothers - You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
062 Solomon Burke - Everybody Needs Somebody to Love
063 Barbara Pittman - Everlasting Love
064 The Searchers - Needles and Pins
065 The Kinks - You Really Got Me
066 The Shangri-Las - Leader of the Pack
067 The Penguins - Earth Angel
068 Dionne Warwick - Anyone Who Had a Heart
069 The Miracles - Mickey's Monkey
070 The Blossoms - That's When the Tears Start
071 Johny Barry - The James Bond Theme
072 Roy Orbison - In Dreams
073 The Crystals - He Hit Me (It Felt Like A Kiss)
074 The Zombies - She's Not There
075 The Everly Brothers - All I Have to Do Is Dream
076 The Shirelles - Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?
077 The Flamingos - I Only Have Eyes for You
078 The Kinks - All Day and All of the Night
079 Dusty Springfield - Wishin' And Hopin'
080 The Beach Boys - When I Grow Up to Be a Man
081 Sam Cooke - You Send Me
082 James Brown - Night Train
083 The Kingsmen - Louie Louie
084 Little Stevie Wonder - Fingertips, Pt. 2
085 Chuck Willis - CC Rider
086 Little Peggy March - I Will Follow Him
087 Hank Williams - I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry
088 The Everly Brothers - Wake Up Little Suzie
089 Ricky Nelson - Poor Little Fool
090 The Dells - Oh What a Nite
091 John Leyton - Johnny Remember Me
092 Elvis Presely - What'd I Say/Viva Las Vegas
093 The Marveletts - Please Mr. Postman
094 The Miracles - Shop Around
095 Flamingos - I'll Be Home
096 The Dave Clark Five - Any Way You Want It
097 Elvis Presely - Blue Christmas
098 The Everly Brothers - Cathy's Clown
099 Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers - I'm Not a Juvenile Delinquent
100 The Isley Brothers - Shout

The Penthouse Forum from hell

2006-01-25T02:35:00.000-05:00

My suitemate was on her blog and had no idea what to write, so I started dictating. This is what came out. I was even scared by the results. You might want to note that it starts out mildly inappropriate for younger viewers, and ends up just bizarre:

Dear Penthouse Forum,

I never thought that this would happen to me, but dreams really do come true. Today I was in the library studying ancient erotic arts when I was approached by a very attractive lady librarian. She was wearing her hair up and glasses like a prude, but you could tell by the rest of her that it was only an act. Her skirt only rode a few inches down her legs and she was about ready to bust out of her white oxford shirt. I could tell she wasn't wearing a bra because her nipples poked through. She said, "I think I found the book you were looking for." I was confused because I had not asked that one for a book let alone see her before, but I figured I'd play along. I followed her through the stacks of medical journals and cultural criticism publications to a dark back hallway. She opened the door to a small closet. Before I could express my puzzled state she grabbed me by my collar, pulled me into the closet and began to kiss me passionately. Our tongues intertwined like Oscar-contender cowboys. She stood back and began to unbottom her blouse. She looked at my coyly and said, "Are you ready big boy?" I could only manage a slight nod but it was approval enough for her. She ripped open her blouse and I stood in utter awe of what I saw. I expected two perfect breasts but instead saw the giant eyes of a hideous beast. A large toothy mouth spread across her abdomen. Two spidery arms jutted out from her sides. The horrifying mouth began to show a disgusting hungry grin. Suddenly it pounced. The spidery arms grabbed me by my neck and shoved my head into the quickly opening mouth. It bit down sharply, snapping my neck like a carrot. In my dying moments as my head began to digest in the strange beast's seven stomachs, I thought to myself, the guys in the office are never going to believe this.

Adventures with bastard people

2005-12-11T14:39:00.000-05:00

On Friday myself and the other Boston-located Hobartians went to see Mista DeBonis play Mary Sunshine in Chicago. He was friggin' hilarious and the play was good, but that's beside the point. There was rudeness to the max going on in the audience.

We get to the play about 5 minutes before the scheduled showtime. Oddly, they haven't opened the doors yet. Turns out there was some problem with the drummer getting his equipment there due to the crazy snow, but once again, beside the point. The doors open and any pretense to a real line breaks down and everyone rushes for the door. Dan had reserved us seats by puttin' a sign on them as par usual for unofficial reserving of seats. We walk to where Dan said the seats would be, and encounter a disturbing scene as we approach.

Three girls are near the seats I would soon learn to be ours. There is paper on them saying "Glidewell" to save them for us. These girls apparently have a friend sitting right next to our seats. They are talking about the saved status of these seats and the girl sitting down is telling them to ignore the reservation and just sit. They seem somewhat hesitant, so the girl sitting says "oops" and knocks the reserving sign down. It's at this point I see "Glidewell" on the sheet. I immediately throw my coat over the seat from the row behind and say "uhhh, no. there's a sign there, see?" The girl replied with "It looks fake." I say "Yeah, it's not." And we get ourselves to those seats. We proceed to retaliate for the rudeness in one of our usual passive-agressive manners: talking to each other rather loudly about the rudeness of the people next to us. Tim repeatedly uses the phrase "poor breeding." Ryan complains about their extreme rudeness. I mostly laugh. As were are leaving, Ryan refers to them as "bastard people."

Funny thing is, the girls who were trying to take the seats ended up ignoring the reservation signs on the seats in front of us. A few minutes before the show begins, one of the usher-types approaches them and tells them that the seats were reserved and that they would have to move. Sha-booyah. They probably had to sit seperately way in the back. Karma, yo.

The situation actually reminded me of the Arcade Fire concert Tim and I went to back in February. We're with sizeable group of people fairly close to the stage. Three or so girls start trying to push into our group. I'm not having it, however, as I am a wall when at a concert. No one gets through me. The leader of the threesome says "We're trying to get to the restroom." I immediately apologize and let them pass in front of me. However, their bathroom quest seemed to end pre-maturely. In fact it ended right in front of me and several other members of our group. This set the outrage button to "on" for sure. All of us started the good ol' passive agressive tactics. I began talking about their apparent remote-control bladders. Others stated how freaked out they were by the fact that they must be peeing in the middle of the crowd. And the girls had the balls to stay. The nerve. I hate that bullshit.

BRIAN'S TOP 50 ALBUMS OF 2005

2005-12-06T02:10:00.000-05:00

Here's what you've been waiting for. A little different from what I put on the Sound Opinions board, but mostly the same.

01 Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
02 Architecture in Helsinki - In Case We Die
03 Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
04 The Decemberists - Picaresque
05 Spoon - Gimmie Fiction
06 Kanye West - Late Registration
07 Junior Senior - Hey Hey My My Yo Yo
08 Seu Jorge - Cru
09 Ninja High School - Young Adults Against Suicide
10 Of Montreal - The Sunlandic Twins
11 The White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan
12 Blackalicious - The Craft
13 Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! - s/t
14 Franz Ferdinand - You Could Have It So Much Better With Franz Ferdinand
15 Animal Collective - Feels
16 Half-Handed Cloud - Thy Is A Word & Feet Need Lamps
17 The Go! Team - Thunder Lightning Strike
18 Antony and the Johnsons - I Am a Bird Now
19 The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema
20 Fannypack - See You Next Tuesday
21 Devendra Banhart - Cripple Crow
22 Pit Er Pat - Shakey
23 Broken Social Scene - s/t
24 Caribou - The Milk of Human Kindness
25 Gorillaz - Demon Days
26 Isolée - Wearemonster
27 Sam Prekop - Who's Your New Professor
28 The Russian Futurists - Our Thickness
29 Tom Vek - We Have Sound
30 The Most Serene Republic - Underwater Cinematographer
31 Common - Be
32 Xiu Xiu - La Forêt
33 Tim Fite - Gone Ain't Gone
34 Deerhoof - The Runners Four
35 DJ BC - Glassbreaks
36 Art Brut - Bang Bang Rock And Roll
37 Sigur Rós - Takk
38 Blood on the Walls - s/t
39 The Mountain Goats - The Sunset Tree
40 The Go-Betweens - Oceans Apart
41 LCD Soundsystem - s/t
42 Out Hud - Let Us Never Speak of It Again
43 Dungen - Ta det Lugnt
44 Sleater-Kinney - The Woods
45 Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary
46 Missy Elliot - The Cookbook
47 M.I.A. - Arular
48 Doves - Some Cities
49 The Mountain Goats - The Sunset Tree
50 Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning

BRIAN'S TOP 100 SINGLES OF 2005

2005-11-22T00:38:00.000-05:00

This includes anything that's been on the charts or had a video.

001 The Futureheads - Hounds of Love
002 Architecture in Helsinki - Do the Whirlwind
003 Basement Jaxx - Oh My Gosh
004 Kanye West - Gold Digger
005 Jens Lekman - The Opposite of Hallelujah
006 Bloc Party - Two More Years
007 Arcade Fire - Rebellion (Lies)
008 Flaming Lips - Mr. Ambulance Driver
009 Gwen Stefani - Hollaback Girl
010 Franz Ferdinand - Do You Want To
011 Spoon - Sister Jack
012 Doves - Black and White Town
013 Antony & the Johnsons - Hope There's Someone
014 Missy Elliot - Lose Control
015 Three 6 Mafia - Stay Fly
016 Kylie Minogue - Giving You Up
017 Common - The Corner
018 Bloc Party - Banquet
019 The White Stripes - Blue Orchid
020 Gorillaz - Feel Good Inc.
021 Arcade Fire - Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
022 Caribou - Yeti
023 The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema
024 Louis XIV - Finding Out True Love Is Blind
025 Bloc Party - Pioneers
026 Amerie - One Thing
027 Ninja High School - By Purpose Not By Plan/It's All Right To Fight
028 LCD Soundsystem - Daft Punk Is Playing At My House
029 The Decemberists - 16 by 32
030 Blackalicious - Your Move
031 The Go! Team - Bottle Rocket
032 Of Montreal - Wraith Pinned To The Mist And Other Games
033 Spoon - I Turn My Camera On
034 The White Stripes - My Doorbell
035 Interpol - Evil
036 Kanye West - Diamonds (From Sierra Leone) Remix
037 The Strokes - Juicebox
038 The Futureheads - Area
039 Fannypack - Yeah Yeah
040 LCD Soundsystem - Tribulations
041 The Mountain Goats - Dilaudid
042 Fischerspooner - Just Let Go
043 Of Montreal - So Begins Our Alabee
044 The Knife - Pass This On
045 Franz Ferdinand - Walk Away
046 LCD Soundsystem - Disco Infiltrator
047 The Knife - You Take My Breath Away
048 Devendra Banhart - Heard Somebody Say
049 Broken Social Scene - Ibi Dreams Of Pavement
050 Art Brut - Good Weekend
051 Green Day - Wake Me Up When September Ends
052 Junior Senior - Itch U Can't Skratch
053 Daft Punk - Technologic
054 Gorillaz - Dirty Harry
055 The White Stripes - The Denial Twist
056 M83 - Don't Save Us From the Flames
057 Gorillaz - Dare
058 Kanye West - Heard Em Say
059 Animal Collective - Grass
060 Deerhoof - Wrong Time Capsule
061 Kylie Minogue - I Believe in You
062 Sleater-Kinney - Entertain
063 Fall Out Boy - Sugar, We're Going Down
064 Freeform Five - Electromagnetic
065 Kelly Clarkson - Since U Been Gone
066 Basment Jaxx - U Don't Know
067 Devendra Banhart - I Feel Just Like a Child
068 The Killers - All These Things That I've Done
069 DFA 1979 - Black History Month (Alan Braxe & Fred Falke Remix)
070 Art Brut - Modern Art
071 The National - Abel
072 Caribou - Barnowl
073 Sigur Ros - Glosoli
074 Sleater-Kinney - Jumpers
075 PAS/CAL - Summer Is Almost Here
076 Bloc Party - So Here We Are
077 Sam Prekop - Something
078 Gwen Stefani - Cool (Richard X Remix)
079 Chromeo - Rage!
080 The Game - Hate It Or Love It
081 Broadcast - America's Boy
082 Doves - Snowden
083 Common - Go!
084 Trick Daddy - Sugar
085 Stars - Ageless Beauty
086 Madonna - Hung Up
087 The Go-Betweens - Finding You/Born to a Family
088 Art Brut - Emily Kane
089 Interpol - C'mere
090 Daft Punk - Robot Rock (Soulwax Remix)
091 Ada - Maps (Thomas/Mayer Remix)
092 Out Hud - It's For You
093 Annie - Wedding
094 Girls Aloud - Biology
095 Melt-Banana - Cat In Red
096 Green Day - Holiday
097 Missy Elliot - Teary Eyed
098 My Chemical Romance - Helena
099 M.I.A. - Bucky Done Gone
100 Kelly Osbourne - One Word

DVD Crap

2005-11-21T12:04:00.000-05:00

To prevent the awkardness of previous xmases,

my dvd collection

when will i make a real post? who knows. my year end lists coming soon.

Uncyclopedia

2005-08-16T23:51:00.000-04:00

Fantastic web site: Uncylopedia

I'll make a real post soon. Actually, probably not.

Fox 25 anchor Maria Stephanos did hallucinogens

2005-07-20T23:11:00.000-04:00

So I was just watching Fox25 news for some piece on a new Boston radio station. The anchors start making small talk about what music technology used to be. Then Maria Stephanos (pictured above) states that she used to "listen to Frank Zappa on 8-Track." Do you realize what this means? Maria Stephanos must have done acid, or at least shrooms. I mean, no one who listens to that crap doesn't do at least one of the two. It's nice to know that one of anchors for the most shameless local news in Boston used to be (and I would guess still is) a stoner.

Note that other than what she said on air, this is all speculation and likely not true. Please don't sue.

Art ain't for everybody

2005-07-19T00:02:00.000-04:00

Well, multiple things have happened since the last update, but I can't really think of the older stuff. Just Sunday. Went all the way to Mass MoCA (Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art) in the northwest corner of Massachusetts. The museum was pretty great. There's no permanent collection, so everything there is pretty new. There was this great massive exhibit by this guy Cai Guo-Qiang called Inopportune. It was all about death and fireworks and stuff. Anyway, there's a few funny stories from the trip:

We decided to go on the tour to get a bit more insight on the exhibit. Nick, Lauren, and I were by far the youngest people on this tour. First of all, there was a woman with a very heavy European accent who kept making sure everyone knew her insights on the paintings (which were totally out of left field) and also stated them with a ridiculous amount of confidence. Secondly there was this guy who you could tell was not happy there and had been dragged along by some family member. I say this because after seeing a couple of German paintings in which some Germans were apparently wearing bombs, he said "Better not let them into America!" and after seeing the the somewhat shocking pig-woman of The Young Family (probably not safe for work, though quite interesting) he said that someone should kill the animal (despite its inanimate state). Yikes. The tour guide was pretty speechless at that one.

Oh, funny thing Saturday too: I was 'round Harvard way and I got hungry. I headed over to Filipe's for a burrito. I get in there and there's a completely normal looking girl in there ahead of me. However, when they start asking her what she wants on her burrito, she keeps asking "Can love conquer evil?" She wasn't joking. In fact, she kind of looked like she wanted to cry. The guy behind the counter was totally confused. They eventually just put whatever on it and got her to pay for it. After that, she proceeded to annoy the other customers asking them similar questions. I got out as quick as possibly as to avoid her wrath of crazy. The weird thing is later when Ryan and I departed the dorm he was in to go see Willy Wonka, she was standing RIGHT OUTSIDE just staring across the street. What a weirdo.

Good deeds and more strange dreams

2005-07-03T10:39:00.000-04:00

I did a very good deed last night. But first, crazy dream from last night featuring three B-list stars and Bill Gates and, once again, the future.

At the part where I can remember back to in the dream, I'm in a cabin alone. I'm waiting for someone to get there and I'm trying to protect something or another until they do, and I'm pretty damn scared. Luckily, the person I was waiting for arrives: Bob Saget. He informs me that we have to go to somewhere or another to meet up with someone or another. We start preparing the cabin for us leaving. Not sure what Bob was doing, but I was writing some note on what appeared to be a projection screen. I forget what was in the note. Just as I finish the note, some robbers come to the window and try to hold us up. Apparently the cabin is also a bank. They aren't the brightest robbers, though, as I am able to pretty easily convince them that the bank has no money right now. So they demand a ride to such and such place, which is where we're going. We agree. They start getting upset because they're outside and it's raining and we're taking a while getting shit ready. Bob gives them an umbrella. Just as we're about to leave a woman shows up in a futurist car (it was like one of those British Swatch cars, but like a hover car, and bigger). Apparently Bob had written some novel, and she wanted to option it for a movie. She offers to give us a ride while Bob thinks about it. So she gives us and the robbers all a ride to our destination, which is some sort of mammoth futuristic mall. I look up and there's all these transportation tubes and crap. We get out of the car, and the woman is about to talk about optioning the novel, when all of the sudden Bill Gates zooms in on his own little rocket hover car thing. He also asks for the rights and offers an assload of money. I think at this point "Oh yeah. Bill Gates made that Noah Baumbach movie," which isn't true. Bill Gates has never produced any movies, let alone a Noah Baumbach movie. Bob zooms off with Bill to talk about the movie. The woman who brought us there is pissed. She comes with me to find the people we came there to meet up with. We go to take an elevator, but it doesn't stop on our floor. The woman gets upset and asks out loud why it did that. A waiter with a valley girl-esque voice (played by Michael Ian Black in this dream) explains quite saucily that the elevator in question is the April Express and doesn't stop on this floor. The producer lady gets pissed at him and hangs him over the guard rail at the elevator shaft. It's a long way down. She brings him back over and he makes that whole valley girl "what's her problem" face. As we're leaving the area, someone comments that it's called the April Express because it doesn't reach terminal velocity until April Fools' Day. I don't get it. We eventually find an elevator and come out on another floor where we see a sign for the Flava Flavabrarian. Apparently "librarian" means "library" in this dream. The dream definitely took place in the future, because a voiceover starts talking about all the good deeds Flava did in his life. Also he was apparently on the White Sox. There was an assload of Flava Flav White Sox merchandise. The dream kind of fades out from there.

Also, earlier in the dream (in the part I can't really remember) there was something involving me having to take care of a 4-inch-tall baby at DRWP. Yeah, I don't know.

So last night I did a good deed. I was at a party Tim was co-throwing at Harvard. Me and one of the girls who was also co-throwing it went outside to talk. We witness some drunk guys get in a car and we starting whispering "Should they be driving?" Our question was answered a few moments later when the car scrapes up against another car. They get out and start surveying the damage while I go and and try to get their license plate number. I get it and while I do someone says something like "What are you looking at?" which I ignore. They drive off so me and the girl go inside and write a note stating that we saw the incident and left the plate number and my email. There was no visible damage besides the side window that snapped back into place, but we wanted to be safe. I'm such a good person.

Oh, also I made 5 bucks in a bet off Tim because he kept insisting that Paula Jones was Monica Lewinsky's confidant. Ha. When he heard the words "Linda Tripp," he nearly wept.

The Magic Rewind Box

2005-06-26T10:33:00.000-04:00

I have dreams with very complicated plots.

I don't remember the first part of this dream, but the last part is what was really good. I'm on this spaceship that's captained by this really evil guy who tries to kill people all the time. While he was distracted trying to kill someone, I went over and picked up what I knew within this dream as "Roo's Teddy Bear." I guess it must have been mentioned earlier in the dream or something. I also knew it would help me somehow in defeating the captain guy. I squeezed and then yelled to the captain that I was using the teddy bear. He was apparently aware that it would try to defeat him, so he immediately ran over. For some reason a blanket started coming out of the bear. While that happened the bear actually said to "use the rewind box." There was some box that had the power to rewind time. So I run over and grab it and start cranking it and time starts rewinding... sort of. Instead of time running backwards, people's clothes start changing to, like 18th century clothing, then midieval, etc. The bad guy is chasing me around as I crank this, as he is aware that this will defeat him (though it's not immediately obvious to me). Someone who is helping me (I guess) yells to keep cranking because I'll eventually get back to Roman times where a lion could eat him (I guess a reference to the coliseum). So I keep going and things get to Roman times. I run into a room and barricade the door with my body. A big cyclops helps me, but for some reason, Colin Farrell is attacking him. I guess he's dressed as Alexander even though I've never seen the film. Any way the cyclops gets defeated by Colin and now I'm having trouble holding the door closed. Suddenly the resistance on the other side stops and someone in the other room yells that a lion ate the bad guy. I open the door and the lion runs in the room. I'm at this point worried because I think the bad guy is going to burst out of the lion's stomach (he's magic or powerful or something). Luckily a hole suddenly appears in the ship and swallows the bad-guy-filled lion and sends him out into space. Then the hole closes back up. Hoorah! He's dead! And then there's something about the rewind box being filled with diamonds.

Greatest GIF ever?

2005-06-21T01:40:00.000-04:00

likely so.

perhaps a real update soon.

I'm a damn crazy magnet

2005-05-15T18:45:00.000-04:00

Things I forgot yesterday/more things for Ryan to read so he doesn't kill himself out of boredom:

A week ago today I went to see The Mountain Goats, which is generally pissy folk-rock who sounds like the nasal guy from They Might Be Giants. The concert was pretty great, but once again, that's not what was of note. Once again, I find the crazies present to be much more of note. About halfway through the headliners set, a girl came barrelling through the crowd. She just walked forward at a normal pace as if there was no one in her way. People were just thrown to the side by this nut. She gets to the generally accepted spot for crazies which is a few feet from the stage and then starts rocking. I don't mean like, "rocking out," but actually rocking back and forth, and quite vigorously too. People were actually falling down because she was rocking with such force. She eventually stopped that craziness. Some guy pleaded with her to not do these crazy things (I suppose, at least. I was out of earshot.) Later the singer pretended to forget the bassist's name, which for some reason prompted the crazy to yell "COME ON! MAKE AN EFFORT!" which just confused everyone, including the band. Later on, at a point that seemed absolutely random, she decided to take another ridiculous action. You know that guy who tried to get her to stop acting so crazy? She spit a big mouthful of beer on the back of his head. Ouch. He actually didn't freak out or anything. He was likely just to shocked/afraid she was going to rip his face off if he at all confronted her. I love crazies.

I've been listening to the Anthology of American Folk Music. It's pretty great stuff. Definitely some stuff schnocone should play on his show. Finals start tomorrow. Gah.

Who reads this shit?

2005-05-14T18:49:00.000-04:00

So whatsa going on with me, you ask? Classes are finally over. Just got two finals, and then I'm home free. There's been some craziness with housing recently, but it seems like everything is going to be all sorted out and I'll still be rooming with Tim for the summer.

Today the Bexley underclassmen played the seniors in softball. Us underclassmen won even though we had substantially fewer players. Yipee.

The date of the Air Guitar Competition is growing ever closer. Boston natives should note that they just added a Boston regional as well. Hope to see one of you folk in the Nationals. Oh word.

So I was at this site which allows you to see who has linked to your page and I found something interesting. People I don't know are actually linking to my blog. This means that people I don't know are actually READING my blog. I'm thinking this may be the result of my notorious Wilco post from a couple months back, but that doesn't explain actually linking to my site. Trust me, quality content is hard to come by on this site.

Finally, I think I'm going to Isla Mujeres, which is a Mexican island a bit away from Cancun, but luckily nothing like Cancun. If you haven't already guessed, foam parties and free shirts for flashing yer boobs ain't my scene. Besides, I would be jealous of those getting free shirts.

Shit-talking has consequences

2005-05-06T02:32:00.000-04:00

Since last update:

Beast Roast happened. It went well, though the tarp fell down so everything needed to be moved inside. Harry & the Potters were good, though some 12-year-old groupies tagged along. One of them was really odd and kept waving around a sock. I'm going to pretend that I don't get the reference that sock makes when in fact I definitely do.
Last week Bexxxley finally played softball against one of the teams we were scheduled to play. We beat Senior Haus by a point. As we are Bexxxley, we shit-talked our heads off. Fun stuff there. However, this came back to haunt me. The following weekend was Senior Haus's Steer Roast, which is a weeklong celebration of debauchery. Quite a bizarre and inappropriate-for-children event. As I wandered around the Haus's sacred halls, I realized that one of the softball team members did not take so kindly to my especially loud shit-talking. After recieving several threats by this person, I ended up trying to balance by desire to not get beat up with my desire to party my ass off by hiding on stair wells while every so often running out to get more beer. After the weekend he apologized for his threats, so now everything is A O.K.
We actually had another softball game this evening. It was against Lucha, which is some Chicano cultural group. We lost horribly. We really should be in the C League, rather than B League. Whatev. We went to the Thirsty afterwards for my third straight week of karaoke. I really need to lay off.
We mostly just played asshole, though we did do a couple of songs. Once we started "Bohemian Rhapsody," more and more people we don't know started coming on stage. This would have been fine, except that one drunkard decided to dance in front of the screen with the lyrics on it. He didn't really seem to respond to gentle pushes either. I guess that's what one should expect out of drunkards.
Oh, by the way, Tim and I are sharing a room this summer. Should be a great summer.

Oh, I also will briefly mention another Old Lady Girl sighting. As Tim stated on his blog, at the free Walkmen show this past Sunday we sighted OLG in all her bizarre glory. She was once again alone at the show and paced around like a rabid dog. I'm slowly becoming obsessed. What a great figure in the Boston scenester scene.

Sleepwalking is for suckers

2005-04-22T01:53:00.000-04:00

Bizarre happenings last night. I went to sleep 'round two o'clock, which is fairly normal. I awoke at 7am. Normally I would fall right back asleep at such an early time, but I noticed an abnormality: my blankets were missing. I had a sheet, but both my fleece blanket and the comforter my grandmother made were missing. I figured I had just kicked off my blankets while sleeping so I looked around my bed. No blankets were to be seen. I searched around in a sleepy haze for about fifteen minutes to no avail. I eventually gave up and returned to sleep thinking I would find the missing blankets later in the day. This was not quite as true as I had hoped. All day my blankets remained missing. This freaked me out, as I believed this meant I had sleepwalked 'round Bexxxley and that I had placed my blankets in some random, yet undiscovered, place. Later I decided to clean my room some. Finally, while getting some things out of the far back of my closet, I found the missing blankets. So now, putting together events I don't recall, I must have sleepwalked only in my own room, and put my own blankets far back in my closet. Bizarre and slightly disturbing, but less so than if I had actually left my room.

Me and Tim karaoked at the Thirsty tonight. No one else desired to make fools of themselves. We were kings of karaoke. Even though Tim was far off key. I SAID IT!

Crazy people go to concerts

2005-04-13T14:26:00.000-04:00

First of all, the "I Jerk Off" sign made a recent appearance.

Photo credit: Daniel Shultz

Bexxxley freshman Jake did this for his sculpture class apparently. He told the grounds people that he wanted to put up something to represent our dorm's culture and bring it to the wider MIT community. He didn't lie. It stayed up for about 2 hours and 15 minutes (longer than usual) and then was removed by a facilities administrator who said that "you'd have to be a fucking idiot to not find that offensive." I'm such a fucking idiot.

I've been going to more concerts than usual. I'm not going to talk about the concerts themselves (that'd be for the Wizz Bang blog if I was going to write about them) though the last two were excellent. Instead I'm going to talk about the crazies I encountered at these events. Last Tuesday I went to see Bloc Party and the Paradise Rock Club. They're the latest next-big-thing from NME and pitchfork, though much better than the usual NME-approved bands.
Before I go into what happened there, let's rewind to this past summer. WMBR had a couple of free tickets to a Hives concert and I had nothing better to do, so Arshan and I went. At the show we notice someone about 15 feet away who appeared to be an old woman. This confused us greatly. Eventually we decided she was in fact a teenage girl with extremely unfortunate looks. Oddly, she was wearing a mammoth braided gold chain, much like rappers and old ladies wear. Also, she was throwing something. I have no idea what, but something. Eventually people told her to stop. I also got some extremely blurry photos of her after the show.
Returning to modern day, myself and Anjuli, as we neared the venue were rushed by none other than old-lady-girl. She got up in our faces begging for extra tickets. We of course had none. At this point I'm freaking out because I'm so glad to see old-lady-girl again. Though I already thought she was kind of nuts, we soon found out how crazy she really was. Eventually she found some guy who actually had tickets. She did her normal rush-up-and-ask technique, but unfortunately for her, was followed by some attractive young ladies. Needless to say, when faced with a frightening and not exactly beautiful girl or some good looking women, the man is going to choose to sell the tix to the pretty girls. This did not go over well with old-lady-girl. She began yelling at the guy and blocking him from the girls. Eventually he walked away, but she even still tried to get in his way. Some guy, who I'm guessing was her father pulled her aside and stopped this madness.
Though I thought the event humorous at first, I eventually felt bad, because I started hypothesizing why she was so crazy. I guessed that she probably got tormented a great deal in school when she was younger so she didn't really know how to handle people. This upset me. Luckily, I later saw her jumping around like a madman to the music inside, so this made me happy again. It's okay to laugh about old-lady-girl once more.

Last night I saw Of Montreal. Show was great and a total dance party. As we were waiting outside (once again myself and Anjuli), however we saw another crazy, though. This time we see a overweight scraggly man dragging a wet-vac behind him. This is an odd thing to see at 10 PM in Central Square, but I didn't think that much of it. But then, he revealed his true identity: he barked. Yes, it was the Cambridge-famous barking bum. Now, to inform those who don't of know, the barking bum, well, barks. But not some normal imitation bark. No, when you hear him, you think an actual dog is nearby. He seems to bark whenever he's around several people. Always a fun time when the barking bum is around. And now he has a wet-vac. Happy trails, barking bum. Good luck with your heavy duty cleaning. Or with trying to hock a wet-vac. Whatever your plans, good luck with them.

high school yearbook, in bar form

2005-04-02T20:26:00.000-05:00

I'm done trying to be clever (and generally failing). Back to regularly posting about things in my life that nobody gives a damn about. Things have been mediocre to poor since I returned back in the Boston area. Ever since returning, I have found it nearly impossible to start any real work. As a matter of fact, I'm procrastinating right now! We'll see if I ever get anything done.

Spring break was fairly uneventful until my last night at home. To celebrate Sarah's 21st, we (Sarah, Christi, and I) went bar hopping. First we went to this place in Portage which was nice enough, but sadly had a huge screen on which they were constantly playing cross-over country songs. Erica something or another (Symanski?) who I hadn't seen, like, since swim team in grade school was there going on about her rich boyfriend. After a few cheap-ass beers (compared to Boston, at least), a kamikaze, and the weakest Long Island iced tea ever to grace Earth, we continued on to the Paragon. Yes, I entered the legendary Paragon Pub. I don't know what I expected, but what I got was an assload of Hispanic people. Wasn't what I expected. I actually believed it was an old man's bar. I actually would have possibly preferred that, mainly because I kind of think that would have been funny for some reason. However, this was made up for by some damn strong Long Island iced teas. They cost five something, but those had to been about three or four drinks worth of liquor. Due to the long drive from Portage to the Paragon, however, I'm not particularly soused. We finished up the night at The End Zone, another bar I thought generally reserved for old men. Wrong again. This time it was populated by my entire fucking graduating class. It was the most bizarre thing I could have possibly encountered (with possibly the exception of finding what Ryan and Dan encountered in a Turkish bath in there instead). All these people I knew (and in the case of many, loathed) from years back were in the same damn place. Paul Cusamado (horribly spelling there. my sister went to a dance in middle school with him) actually approached me. It was so strange. By the time we left my head was about to explode, but not from the alcohol. Anyway, fun, but odd night.

Nothing's all that interesting 'round here. We've been electing our new GRT for Bexxxley. Also, I plan to participate in the regional air guitar competition while I'm home for Kelly's graduation. Come watch that. BTW, Sin City is awesome.

Wilco's webmaster still not exactly a genius

2005-03-10T01:19:00.000-05:00

So now they've put up an index page so you can't browse the files. However, you can still directly access the mp3s if you have their URLs (no need for the CD). Since I have already caused enough damage, I'll let you try to find a friend to tell you the location. Oh, and my little discovery got posted on BoingBoing (hence the excess of comments on that last post).

Wilco's webmaster is an idiot

2005-03-09T14:39:00.000-05:00

Today Wilco released an EP that is supposed to only be reachable by those with the A Ghost Is Born CD. Sez wilcoworld.net:

Wilco and Nonesuch will be re-releasing A Ghost in Born in Europe with a 5-track bonus disc in conjunction with the band's March tour. For those of you who already own a copy of the CD, It will also be available as an "enhanced content" free download. Meaning you'll be able to access the download only with the CD in your computer drive.

Well, guess what kiddies? Wilco's webmaster doesn't know shit. Anyone who has the URL can access the mp3s. No need for a CD. Quick! Download them before they figure it out!

A Ghost is Born EP

NOTE: I am not hosting these. This is a link to Wilco's site. Thanks Wilco's site for being stupid.

It's not gay if you're the man

2005-03-08T19:49:00.000-05:00

Sorry about the lack of recent posts. I've got some ideas brewing in the old noggin. Hopefully there will soon be a burst of creativity.

Bexxxley Hall (my dorm) throws an all day party every April. I've been making some posters for the event. One is of the traditional Beast Roast style of caption-picture, but the other two are some bad photoshopping of existing unintentionally humorous ads I found. Check them out here.

A series of actual spam messages I have recieved containing bizarre messages

2005-02-25T18:01:00.000-05:00

From Dewey A. Novokuznetsk:

How do you do?

[LINK TO PORN]

Every failure made me more confident. Because I wanted even more to achieve as revenge. To show that I could.

Mi mas lego yu noa

[LINK TO PORN]

----

From Items S. Recurrence

Howdy!

[LINK TO PORN]

There is no substitute for accurate knowledge. Know yourself, know your business, know your men.

Mikonan

[LINK TO PORN]

----

From Kurtis K. Host:

Adieu.

[LINK TO PORN]

Mankind, when left to themselves, are unfit for their own government.

Salang sentle

[LINK TO PORN]

----

From Destroy O. McDonald:

Hi!

[LINK TO PORN]

Ain't no man can avoid being born average, but there ain't no man got to be common.

HalaikNzia wefwe

[LINK TO PORN]

----

From Surplice V. Poignancy:

I know the face, but...

[LINK TO PORN]

Diplomats are useful only in fair weather. As soon as it rains, they drown in every drop.

Ila wala b'ay

[LINK TO PORN]

----

From Fathoming L. Mecca:

Hey baby :)

[LINK TO PORN]

What we learn only through the ears makes less impression upon our minds than what is presented to the trustworthy eye.

Minmonchar

[LINK TO PORN]

----

From Fishbowl P. Dudgeon:

What's your pleasure, squire?

[LINK TO PORN]

The most perfect expression of human behavior is a string quartet.

Quin 'e na

[LINK TO PORN]

----

From Critically E. Siphons:

Howdy!

[LINK TO PORN]

I drink to forget I drink.

Chawila awib

[LINK TO PORN]

----

From Chaplaincy G. Complexions:

Wakey wakey!

[LINK TO PORN]

Now stiff on a pillar with a phallic air nelson stylites in Trafalgar square reminds the British what once they were.

Saamal

[LINK TO PORN]

The agony of defeat

2005-02-25T16:23:00.000-05:00

Retard had a socially acceptable name as well. It was Carl. By the time he had gotten to this, his third child, he was pretty much worn out on the whole idea of children altogether. Out of semi-conscious spite, he gave this child one of the most generic, yet ridiculous name for a child he could think of (not that he gave the matter much thought). Who actually names their child Carl? Peter let this question flow through his mind as he ignored the words coming out of Carl/Retard's mouth. He concentrated on the harsh aura the child-eclipsed sun gave. He watched as the sun-blinded spot in the middle of his field of vision shrank and disappeared. Anything to ignore the whining ramblings his child was spouting. Eventually he ran out of possible distractions and was forced to let the utterances register.
"Daddeeee! I want in my pool!"
Your pool? Fuck that, he thought. Who's money paid for this piece of rubber?
The child refused to listen to his father's psychically transmitted vulgarities. "I want my pool! Let me use it!"
Peter let out a completely indecipherable (even to himself) string of syllables flow in a hopes to shut up the short annoyance. Carl tilted his head a like a dog who heard a word similar to his name, but wasn't sure if he was being referred to. He itched his arm on one of the many red splotches covering his body. A few days ago he had the bright idea to roll on one of the pieces of pink insulation being installed in the attic. Instead of trying to stop his child, Carl just shook his head and walked away as his son giggled while embedding microscopic pieces of glass in his skin. Most of the glass had dislodged itself, but apparently not all of it.
Distant lawnmowers were audible as Carl continued to stare and pout. He then decided the best course of action was to shake the man with the open beer on his stomach while squealing like a tea kettle. The pool fizzed as it mixed with the bargain beer. Peter sighed in defeat as he rolled out of the tepid beer-water. He lay staring upwards as an alcoholic mud formed around him. You're lucky, he thought at the blinding bright spot.

Yeah, I don't like this too much. It's too cruel. Oh well. I'll probably stop writing it.

The end of the world as seen from a kiddie pool

2005-02-21T01:51:00.000-05:00

This is my attempt to recreate the beginning of what I was trying to write over the summer. This may have been posted on my old blog over the summer:

He laid in a four-foot round plastic inflatable pool. The water had not been passable as cool for a good thirty minutes now. Lukewarm was pushing it. Some Anheuser-Busch product or another was perched on his stomach, dangerously balancing over the sea of mild hose water. The beer itself was about to cross that line of "cool" and "not cool." He had more important things to concentrate on. He stared through tinted lenses at the bright starburst he assumed to be the sun. He attempted to concentrate all his mental power into a single point. He felt as if his head might explode from the sheer force of his awesome mental capacity in its current dense state. Finally, he released this force in a thin, though extremely powerful, beam of psychic energy. Air sizzled around the beam as it sped past. The energy poked through the atmosphere like a pin in 3-2-1 Jell-o Brand gelatin Dessert, though with less sugar attaching to the puncturing entity. Venus nearly shattered as the beam continued its near-speed-of-light journey. Mercury just minded its own damn business. The beam reached its destination. As it collided with the sun, the brightness of the star increased a hundred fold. This was not a lasting effect, however, as the beam began to slow the process of fusion in the yellow being. Atoms collided into one another, but instead of going through some sort of chemical process, they merely knocked off one another and were left with bad headaches. The yellow beast quickly dimmed. Minutes later, the effects were visible from Earth. Many were blinded by the initial flash, but this did not matter, as the world soon went black. Seconds later, the fires of horrific car crashes dotted the landscape. Eventually, the human race noted the quickly falling temperature. They died within minutes. With the sun defunct, the planets of the solar system just went off and did their own thing. Over time, Earth became a frozen rock drifting through the cosmos. Billions of years later, some alien culture found the planet. They were amused by the obsession with mammaries and the exchange of pieces of paper. Earth became a tourist trap with go-kart tracks and souvenir stands. A sort of intergalactic Poconos.
The post-history of the world was interrupted by the image of his be-goggled son standing in the view of his gaseous foe. The son he secretly referred to as "retard."

Out of Place Smells I Smelled Today

2005-02-14T21:48:00.000-05:00

1. Pot (in my natural language processing class)
2. Gas station bathroom (in the Infinite Corridor, a long hallway on campus)
3. Beef (in a basement corridor)

Also of note: Out of Place Things I Saw Today
1. A mariachi band (in the student center)

Oh, and by the way, I made up the beef because two out of place smells didn't seem to warrant a list. But the others are true.

I just had to add this:
Dirty Projectors - "Patomac"
I love this guy

Aviator, Unfortunate Father, and Fascist

2005-02-14T02:52:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note about some of my recent thoughts.
I find the concept of Charles Lindbergh to be a wholly bizarre one. The man was the biggest hero America had seen in years. Not a person in America had a negative opinion of him. Then a horrible tragedy struck when his child was kidnapped and tragically murdered. The nation truly and sincerely sympathized with the man. Hell, a law was named after the incident. Then he did the most bizarre thing possible for an American hero. He became a Nazi sympathizer.
The man who all of America admired and wept for thought that Hitler was right. He believed that there were inferior races and that their elimination was an inevitability. He made disturbing statements, even writing in Reader's Digest "That our civilization depends on a Western wall of race and arms which can hold back... the infiltration of inferior blood." Wacko.
The thing even weirder than the ultimate American hero supporting Hitler's fascism was the fact that this is rarely mentioned in the history books. I mean, do you remember any note in your elementary/middle/high school classes about Lindbergh liking the Reich? I don't. It's just odd.
I'm kind of thinking of writing a fictional account of the whole Lindbergh thing, but I haven't really thought of a good angle of going at it yet. I definitely want to start writing some fiction again. Hopefully this attempt will actually get off the ground.

Oh, here's a good article about the whole Lindbergh Nazi thing.

I may talk about Turing tomorrow. Odd stuff going on with that renowned scientist too (though nothing all that deplorable).

I apologize about the lack of music posts. Once I get my computer back there'll be more mp3s and the like.

Look! It's me!

2005-02-11T19:12:00.000-05:00

So, I said that I would post soon, but I lied. I'll post now.

I'm using a friends computer, because sadly mine is in the shop. The cord doesn't want to stay in the back, and it refuses to acknowledge its presence when it is in there, so off it goes to get fixed. Fucking crappy-ass HP computers.

Anyway, so what has occurred to me recently? Mostly nothing. I may soon be back on the air (I'll say something if that happens). I guess I'll talk about that Arcade Fire show last week. The opening acts both were boring. The first was kind of like Sparklehorse, but even more boring. Next was some guy (actually a member of the AF) who was using a sequencer with his violin. It's hard to explain, but I'll simplify and just say that he had something going on that would loop whatever he would play. It was cool for a bit, but kind of got old fast. Anyway, the band came on and was just amazing. On all these songs about death and regret, they had more enthusiasm than the Polyphonic Spree. I don't really feel like going into that much detail (I'm hungry), so I'll let this image from them on Conan summarize for me:

By the way, download the Bloc Party's album Silent Alarm ASAP. It's great stuff. Gang of Four plus Joy Division plus !!! (the band, not the exclamation). I really dig it. More at another time.

New home...

2005-02-09T23:33:00.000-05:00

This may be my new cyberwebnet home. We'll see.