Happy Leap Year Day!

It is the rarest holiday of all, because it is only celebrated quad-annually.

Under8ed

That would be a good name for a Good Charlotte-esque band. Like, I would already hate a band named "Under8ed" purely from their name, so I would hope it would be sucky music to go along with it.

First off, I apologize for saying the Jonas Brothers are better than the Beatles. But I will stick to my guns that Avril Lavigne is the greatest guitar player ever.

Anyway, this post is about the Toadies. Most of you, probably being under the age of 25, will have probably never heard of them. They were a band from the early nineties that toured with the likes of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, White Zombie, Bush, and The Butthole Surfers. Their sound is tough to describe. Grunge with a heavily-Robert Plant influenced voice? I suppose. The "grunge" aspect was probably the cause of their demise. Grunge died with Kurt Cobain (and the help of the gradual mutation of the Foo Fighters from grunge to alternative to a band with ballads and lukewarm "hard rock" songs that are more patterned than Al Boreland's shirt). It also didn't help that it was seven years between the release of the Toadies two albums. By the time the second was out in 2001, Vaden Todd Lewis' voice was pretty much blown out and their music was considered outdated. Years of screaming took their toll, and although he still has some pipes, it was clear that they were not what they used to be.

Rubberneck, released in 1994, should be on every top albums of the 90's list out there in my opinion, unless you're talking in terms of records sold. Perhaps alternative fans will be familiar with the song "Possum Kingdom". I know that once in a blue moon they play it on Rock 102.1 in Milwaukee. It's featured on the Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero 3, a track that I have yet to play because my roommate has it on PS 2. However, the whole album is solid, and features many songs that I think are better that Possum Kingdom. "I Come From the Water" is just a delightfully intense song about evolution. "Tyler" is slightly ripped off from the Pixies' "Where is My Mind?" (which the Toadies cover on their live album), but it's a creepy story about a man breaking into a woman's house. "I stumble in the hallway, outside the bedroom door. / I hear her call out to me, I hear the fear in her voice. / She pulls the covers tighter, I press against the door/ I will be with her tonight." No doubt these lyrics are a bit creepy, but often great music is just a bit creepy or offensive. Nirvana's "Rape Me" anybody? Possum Kingdom itself is about a vampire trying to persuade a girl to let him bite her so they can live (sort of) forever as a couple. It's often misconstrued because Vaden Todd Lewis repeats over and over again "Do you want to die?", which sounds more like a threat than persuasion. This album is the ultimate pump-up cd.

The Toadies disbanded in 2001, shortly after their second album came out because Lisa Umbarger, the bassist, wanted to quit, and the band felt it wouldn't be the same without her. However, since their break-up, they have gotten together for a few reunion tours, mostly in the Texas area (minus Lisa, however). It seems as if they are discussing larger scale ideas lately as Lewis' current band, the Burden Brothers (who I also enjoy very much), are on hiatus. When speaking of their December reunion tour, drummer Mark Reznicek said, “Expect lots of rock. And maybe even new Toadies releases in the future. Whether that involves putting out some unreleased archival stuff, or even recording new material... who knows?”

So check out the complete collection of Toadies videos:
"Possum Kingdom" at YouTube
"Tyler" at YouTube
"Mister Love" at YouTube (Warning: Tripped-out old man licking frogs in this video)

The Jonas Brothers are Better Than the Beatles Ever Were.

And Avril Lavigne is probably the most influencial guitar player of all-time.

Apparently I have mind powers

I have 107 Radiohead songs. I'm not trying to brag, it's just background information.

You see, today I have been in a kind of "woe-is-me" blah mood. Some people would listen to happy music in these circumstances. However, I find that when I'm depressed, depressing music makes me feel better. Don't ask me how it works. So I hit shuffle on my iTunes and type in Radiohead. I was like, I hope one of the most depressing songs of theirs comes in. Enter "Fake Plastic Trees". So I laid down on my bed and was like, you know what, all I'm doing is feeling sorry for myself. All of a sudden "Just" comes on, which features the lyrics "You do it to yourself, you do, and that's why it really hurts".

I know, these aren't that strange, but it seems like there are so many points in your life where music really adds a soundtrack to it. That's cliche, but it's only cliche because it's true.

Sidenote: One time I hit shuffle on some band where I had 50 songs or something, and I promised my iPod a dollar if it played a certain song first. Well, it did, so for the next month I left a dollar where I set my iPod while it recharged.

Holy crap. I just realized that it's my iPod that has the ability to read minds, not my mind that has the ability to send messages.

Anyway, the song of the day today is a no-brainer.

"Just" by Radiohead.

That's enough, Larry the Cable Guy

No, that's it. I'm just getting sick of him.

Almost Famous: Wisconsin

It was nice for our state to actually get a little recognition today. I can't remember the last time our state has been acknowledged on a national level. The last time the Packers were at the Super Bowl? It got me to thinking, when will the next time be? What possible event could take place in which Wisconsin will play an extended role in national news. Every possible scenario had one variable in common: Brett Favre.

The obvious possibility would be Brett Favre's retirement. I have long thought about what will happen on this day. Schools would be shut down. The elderly will die from sadness. Men whose blood was pure alcohol and brat grease would no longer be able to thrive off of their adrenaline, which was the only thing keeping them from dying of heart attacks for the last decade or so. It would rain, not a violent storm, but a slow steady downpour with the clouds blocking out the daylight.

After this day, the next time the proverbial sun would come out for Wisconsin in the media would be when Brett Favre chose to run for governer, President, and Pope all in one shot. He would make Friday required-pick up football day, with cheerleaders and everything. There would be no war, and all conflicts would be resolved in sudden-death overtime (not to be taken in the literal sense). It would be the most glorious era in the history of the Dairy state.

So fear not Wisconsinites, despite the fact that rough waters are ahead, they will ultimately lead to a utopia... a glorious beer-battered utopia.

I want to make the song of the day a totally unrelated song. For the past two weeks, I have been bathing in the sounds of the Dekoder remix of Menomena's "Weird". I decided to make it the song of the day today because I heard it featured in a Mountain Dew commercial (ad can currently be seen on the Mountain Dew link in promo section).

Menomena- "Weird" Dekoder remix

I procrastinate like it's my job. A job that I don't remember I have.

As I don't see me having a lot of time this week, I may not get a post this week. Here's why:
-Finishing R.A. application due Wednesday.
-I have some exam or project due Thursday, I just can't remember what. We'll worry about that Wednesday.
-I have some exam/project due next week, I just can't remember when/what.
-I have to make up for the two days I was absent last week, resulting in me missing my 3 power lectures both times last week. Good times.

You know how it is when you kind of wish one of these times your procrastination will come back to bite you in the butt, but it never has, so you've never learned? No? I do. Is this a valuable life lesson? How to procrastinate effectively? I know not.

Fittingly, I'll make the song of the day "Running out of Time" by Hot Hot Heat, pre-Happiness Ltd. which sucked hardcore. It succeeded in limiting my happiness. I just made the same joke that every single critic from every college newspaper across the country made.

Disclaimer- this is most definitely not the actual music video. There isn't one.

I could do a post about Valentine's Day

Nah.

Sometimes, it's more than just a dime

Today I had Cousin's for dinner because I have run out of food in my apartment. Attempting to be efficient with my money, I got the two 7.5 inch subs for $5.50 deal, rather than the 4.25 for one 7.5 inch sub deal. Anyway, I ordered from one guy, who went to make my sub, and the other guy came over and rang me up for him. I was kind of in a daze (not drug-induced, obviously), so I paid and took my change without paying attention. As I waited for my sub, I looked at my receipt and noticed the guy had only charged me for one sub. Quickly I was reminded of a story the pastor of my church told.

Here's how it goes: A pastor got onto a bus one day and paid his fare to the bus driver. When the driver handed back his change, he sat down at the back of the bus. Counting his change to make sure he had been given back enough change, he soon realized that the driver had given him a dime too much. The pastor thought about it for a sec. It's a dime, it doesn't really matter. But after a while, his conscience got the best of him and he took the dime back. The driver said to him, "I was watching you in my mirror the whole time. If you hadn't given that dime back, I would have written off the whole Christian population as a bunch of hypocrites."

I gave the change back. Now, there's no way the cashier could have known that I was a Christian, but I still think this story is very relevant. Christians are constantly being analyzed for their actions. It is a Christian's duty to live a model life. However, I am not saying that they should attempt to sway other people to switch religions, gain religion, or even live their life like a Christian. I have said and will always say that tolerance is necessary between all religions and those who lack religion. I am instead saying that it is necessary so that people don't lose faith in Christians. There are a lot of bad people out there who call themselves Christian that lead very immoral lives, as well as a lot of good people that don't believe in religion. It is up to Christians to show people that we are a good group of people.

That being said, I will leave you with a song by a band who makes it well known that they are Christians. While their music is in no way Christian rock (though there are mentions of God and Jesus in their music, but they are not the focus of the song), Manchester Orchestra has reiterated that they are Christians through various mediums, including their tour vlog. They toured with a band, Brand New, whose lead singer, Jesse Lacey, is also a devout Christian. Andyway, the Manchester Orchestra is an AMAZING live band. Andy Hull is one of the most passionate singers I've ever seen. I'll leave you with Manchester Orchestra's "Wolves at Night"

Wolves at Night by Manchester Orchestra (live) at YouTube

Music Television as Musical as Taco Bell is Mexican

I am as much a fan of MTV and VH1 as anybody. I am currently fascinated with Celebrity Rehab, and who didn't watch Tila Tequila's Shot of Love. But these shows should not be the death of music television. A more accurate name for MTV and VH1 would be RTV, Reality Television. Let's evaluate the programming schedules of these channels.

Today on VH1, February 12th, 2008 - From 3 am to 11 am was the slot allotted for music videos. Every other time slot (Flavor of Love 3, The Salt 'N Pepa show, My Fair Brady: Maybe Baby?, Free Radio, Scott Baio is 46 and Pregnant, Celebrity Rehab, Rock of Love 2, VH1 presents Britney's secret Childhood (I'm not going to hyperlink all of those because I'm lazy, but they're all on the VH1 website)) is a reality show with the exception of Free Radio (a mockumentary), and the Britney special presentation, which may as well be a reality show. The reality shows aren't even music related! What do a model and Peter Brady have to do with music? (By the way, it's no mistake that VH1 scrapped it's motto, "Music First" in 2003).

But the mother of all "musical networks" is worse. The original. There is less than 5 hours of musical programming on MTV, unless you consider Making the Band and America's Best Dance Crew musical programming. I'm even being generous with that statistic, because I'm considering TRL a music show, even though it shows about a minute of every video they play. Even MTV2, which was originally created for this problem, has shifted to airing the reruns of the shows of MTV as well as original programming.

Although not in my demographic, CMT and BET have also followed suit. However, to be fair, BET doesn't have "Music" in their title.

It's true, I love some of this programming. But shouldn't there have been another channel made for this? Shouldn't music television be left to its own? Aren't the conglomerates that own these channels also the owners of multiple non-music related channels? My love for music outweighs my love for seeing C-list celebs battle their coke addictions. But fear not, there are options music lovers! Unfortunately... most are going to cost you.

There are many music channels on extended digital cable packages. Fuse is very good about playing music in time-slots that normal people are awake. Additionally, they don't limit themselves to mainstream acts. Unfortunately, this often entails a large amount of emo music. Additionally, they have begun to go in the direction of MTV and VH1, with original programming. However, a complete 180 from these channels, they usually air them during weekends and the late night slots. MTV has also thrown us a line with MTV Hits - 24 hours of music videos. This is an attempt to silence the critics, such as myself, but also not readily available. MTVU is also almost solely devoted to music, and this is a personal favorite of mine because it features non-mainstream acts. However, it is mostly limited to college packages and campuses.

Unfortunately for myself, here at my apartment in Madison, we have a digital package that features no musical benefits. The dorms receive MTVU, for which I am extremely jealous. For now, I can only get my music fixes from when I visit home, being awake at unholy hours, and the wonder that is known as the Internet. Oh, well.

To keep with the theme, today's song of the day will be "TV" by Headlights. The line is actually "I cannot stand to watch the TV", so it fits well. For more information on Headlights, see my earlier post on my top five bands with multiple lead singers.

"TV" by Headlights on YouTube.
Headlights on Myspace.

My Everything Hurts

New Year's resolution accomplished. On New Year's Eve, as the ball was dropping, I said to myself "I'm going to exercise this year. I'm going to lift, and I'm going to run." Well, I've achieved those goals. Yes, for the first time this year, I lifted (for the first time in two years, actually) and I ran (I played basketball). Now I'm done.

I'm kidding, of course. But I'm sore as anything right now. I organized a basketball game between my old dorm floor of last year. Now, in nine months of last year's games, we didn't have a single injury. Tonight we had two. They were serious enough to get the entire front desk of the SHELL to come and make sure nobody passed out because of a concussion. More about that in a second. But let's talk about me.

Now, I hadn't played basketball since last year's adventures, and I wasn't even good then. I mean, over the year I progressed, but come on, I'm used to shooting at a four foot by six foot net, not a 3 inch wide circle. So, let's just say the first game was rough. I think I was 1-for-8 from the floor, which is still higher than Armon Gilliam's career average. This was with a 80-pound girl covering me. Hey, she's good. She was really speedy. That combined with my horrendous ball-handling skills was my downfall.

During the second game is where the fatalities occurred. We had one sprained ankle from my friend Aaron, who once when he was drunk poured my chocolate milk down his pants (just for reference). The other was none other than my assignment, little Ellen. She made the mistake of going for a rebound against my beast of a roommate, who never saw her coming. Needless to say, she hit her head so hard on the ground it wasn't funny. Even when I thought she was dead, she never stopped smiling, one of her more favorable traits. They're both fine from what I know, but you never know with concussions.

On a lighter note, I did a little better throughout the night. My assignment for much of the second game and all of the third game was Corey, who is my height, but a rock. He's immovable. Luckily, I had some mobility against him, so I'd say my shooting average was better.

After the games I was about to head home, but then I decided, hey, why not stay and lift with Stapes, my roommate. There weren't too many people around to point and laugh at me, as it was 10 pm, so I was like what the heck. Now, I am a small guy. 5'6". I also haven't lifted since the end of my hockey season senior year of high school. I was never an amazing lifter, but my summer job at the golf course often requires heavy-lifting, so I guess I developed some abilities, because I could bench as much as I could in high school. That's only 95 pounds, which I'm not proud of, but remember, I'm 5'6" and I've been out of it for two years. I also did three sets of 10 reps.

Right now, however, I can barely move my fingers to type this entry. This is the reason for my dramatic first paragraph. I'm sure I'll lift again to try to beat the century mark (that sounds pretty sad).

In the spirit of this post, I will make the song of the day a song called "Macho" by Tin Circus. Tin Circus is the band that Judah Nagler (The Velvet Teen) led and played bass for in high school. It is amazingly talented California Ska music. There is not a weak point in the band, and Judah is probably a better bass player than a guitar player (which makes it unsurprising that when Josh Staples left the band last year to focus the New Trust, Judah took over bass duties and they hired Polar Bears guitarist Matthew Izen to take his spot on guitar). This is probably the high point of the album, which early Incubus / Primus - like slap bass and psychedelic guitar parts with some brass thrown in for good measure. The whole album is available for free download at www.tincircus.com . If you don't want to download the whole thing, head over to myspace and give it a listen.

Tin Circus - "Macho" at Myspace.com

What ever happened to those "Jesus is my homeboy" shirts?

For real? Who would have thought they'd go out of style?

Only in Madison...

I'm starting a segment called "Only in Madison...". It's pretty self-explanatory.

So I'm walking down State Street yesterday. If you don't know about State Street, it's basically the place to go for shopping and food on campus, as well as where the big Halloween festivities take place. Anyway, we come to Park St. and right before the court, we can hear music being played from a boombox. It was Incubus. Can't remember the song. Anyway, we're like, what's going on.

All of a sudden I realize, there is a girl in a bikini holding a sign. Mind you, it is negative 5 degrees outside. I was like, wow, there must be some huge message on the sign for her to be outside in a bikini in negative 5 degree weather with a negative 30 degree wind chill in a bikini. Something she's really passionate about. Something really important that society needs to know...

"Jebus loves sluts".

Yeah. That's what it says. The "b" is not a misspelling either. Now at first I laughed. Really hard. That is the most random thing I've ever seen. Then I stopped and thought about it. Who decides, I'm going to go out today, on the coldest day of the year, one with 40 mph winds, and stand in a bikini with a sign saying "Jebus loves sluts." What exactly was she trying to accomplish? Was it an anti-religion sign? Was it a lost bet? I don't know. I was just confused... but amused. Only in Madison...

Who's the Boss? My top 5 bands with More Than One Lead Singer

Like variety? Here are my 5 favorite bands with more than one lead vocalist. Each group will include a song or songs featuring each lead singer (except Broken Social Scene, because there are so many).

1. Menomena
I know, I know, this blog so far has been Menomena-dominated, but it really deserves to be. They barely edge out Broken Social Scene for this list, but each member of this band contributes to lead vocals on songs. Admittedly, they are mostly Brent Knopf and Justin Harris, but Danny Seim leads on a couple, has a solo project, and contributes back-ups on many tracks. Seim's got a very low voice but he'll bring it up to a falsetto from time to time, Knopf's is more sweet, vibrato-dominated, and higher than the other two's voices, and Harris pushes his to intensity very well, but can also have a beautiful falsetto.Their styles are all unique, but fit the instrumentation amazingly.

"Trigga Hiccups" at Menomena.com (Knopf)
"Weird (Live)" at YouTube (Harris)
"Strongest Man in the World" at YouTube (Seim)

2. Broken Social Scene
Okay, we all know Broken Social Scene is Kevin Drew's band. He dominates the vocals for the most part. But the female leads know how to steal the spotlight as well. You can't help but fall in love with 2006's break-out star, Leslie Feist, when you hear her voice in these songs. I love her in BSS more than in Feist because for the most part her songs in Feist show off her sweet, beautiful side, but songs such as BSS's "Almost Crimes" (my favorite BSS song) allow her to belt it out, which I think is her most impressive aspect. She almost has a Robert Plant aspect when she sings the best part of the song: "Love and hate is the only way". But she's not the only other lead singer. Amy Millan and Emily Haines also contribute on tracks. Even K-Os has contributed. This spring, Brendan Canning will release Broken Social Scene's second "Presents..." album, and from seeing him in concert, it should prove to be an amazing Dinosaur Jr.-esque album.

"Almost Crimes" at YouTube (Drew and Feist)

3. Tegan & Sara
No, I'm not ashamed that I like Tegan & Sara. Every guy is allowed to like a maximum of five girly bands I believe. But I don't even believe they are a girly band. Would the White Stripes have a hit with a cover of a girly band? I don't think so. Tegan's songs are probably the ones people think of when they call them girly. Her voice is much more normal, the instrumentation on her song normally less intense. However, she can speed it up on occasion as evidenced with "Living Room", my favorite song of theirs. Sara's songs are unique, odd, and impossible not to love. Her voice is weird, but not annoying. Her songs are often repetative, but not boring (See "Walking with a Ghost"). Overall, the two girls' songs are totally different characters from one another. They split cd's, which is a must because both of these girls clearly love the spotlight and are jealous of eachother's talents. I love them for it.

"Living Room" at YouTube (Tegan)
"Walking with a Ghost at YouTube" (Sara)


4. Headlights
Headlights is he epitome of the pop-folk male-female bi-vocal happy-go-lucky indie band. Erin Fein's voice is so sweet and innocent, Tristan Wraight's is chill. They have a new album coming out on February 19th.

(Both sing backings on the other's songs)
"TV" at YouTube (Erin)
"Signs Point to Yes (Outlook Not So Good)" at YouTube (Tristan)



5. The Receiving End of Sirens (Between the Heart and the Synapse only)
Why do I say that? Not because the mixed vocals ended after that album. No, because after the debut album they lost Casey Crescenzo, the strongest part of the tri-vocal attack. Their second album, "The Earth Sings Mi Fa Mi", left only Brendan Brown and Alex Bars to contribute weaker, uninspired vocals. Not only that, but it is clear Casey was a large part of the song-writing process, because his solo project "The Dear Hunter" now sounds more like The Receiving End of Sirens than the current Receiving End of Sirens does. Nevertheless, Between the Heart and the Synapse is a fantastic experimental rock record, one of the few albums I still listen to from my high school emo music phase, although I fail to see how this album falls under the emo genre. There's no whining, no talks of cutting oneself, etc. I guess you'll have to listen for yourself.

"Planning a Prison Break" at YouTube (All three)

funny/not funny

big clothes on little people - funny
little clothes on big people - sometimes funny, sometimes disgusting
little clothes on good-looking girls...

My left shoe always comes untied, but not my right one.

What's up with that?

I don't sleep

I don't have any excuses. I really don't. Most of the nights I don't sleep it's just due to my idiocy. Well, I've done self-psychoanalysis and come to the conclusion that I stay up late because I worry that I will miss something. It's definitely subconscious. Now, for the first three semesters of my college career, I would just sleep in and skip classes when it got to be bad. But lately I've been forcing myself to go because I'm trying to get into the School of Education. However, I make up for it on the weekends and suffer for it during the week. The funny thing is that I miss more by sleeping in because it's poor use of daylight. I'm sleeping while people are awake.

Okay, that's not true at all. Everyone's hungover on weekends and sleeps as late as I do. Although, with the way people drink around here, I could see them being passed out really early. I was walking down the street on Friday last week, and a girl hits me and goes "Hey, Sexy" and stumbles all over the place, and I go "Seriously? It's 7 o'clock". But that's Madison for you.

I dunno, I guess I just like being awake at night. I don't know what it is. I guess I just keep telling myself to hold out until something eventful happens and then I can sleep. But I always just end up looking for new bands for hours and stuff, because everyone else is sleeping. And usually the one night I am falling over tired is the night I'm racked with homework.

I might be able to go to sleep now though, because I did something eventful. I just called someone and sang "Hit Me Baby One More Time" in Robert Goulet's voice (for your own amusement, please click on that link). Yeah, this is what I've been reduced to for entertainment at 1:27 AM on a Thursday night / Friday morning.

In other news, I helped push three people's cars out of the snow that I just happened to walk by in the two blocks on the way home from intramural hockey. Also in other news the song "Will You Be There" by Michael Jackson just game on my iTunes. You know, the one from Free Willy. It's the only MJ song i own (a result of a Graduation mix a friend made me), and it came on because I just got to the end of my Menomena collection. There's got to be a Michael Jackson joke where the punch-like is about freeing little boys' willies (no link here, that'd be creepy).

So, in honor of my failure to sleep, the song of the day will be the Strokes' "Fear of Sleep" from the album "First Impressions of Earth". I'm sure many of you are familiar with the Strokes, but in case you didn't know, they're from New York. I don't know what to say about the Strokes. I know a lot about them, but there's no real interesting fact I can give you. They're one of Conan O'Brien's favorite bands? I have a poster of them on my wall? Their guitarist, Albert Hammond, Jr. put out a really good solo album last year? Yeah, I dunno. But their music keeps getting better in my opinion.

The Strokes' "Fear of Sleep"
The Strokes' myspace
The Strokes' official website

No way, a blizzard in Wisconsin?

Believe it, people. We've gotten about 10 inches in the last 24 hours. Good times. Unless you go to UW-Madison.

Yes, virtually every school district in the state got off. My sister got off. My parents got off. Every institution in Madison is shut down. Does that include UW-Madison? No, we were only about 30 inches too short of the requirement for closing at this school (Disclaimer: Not supported by facts). No, our lovable Chancellor Wiley did not believe that the weather was threatening enough to the students safety to cancel classes. Fortunately for him, he does not have to walk anywhere, he has a cozy office in Bascom Hall.

The students, on the other hand, had to encounter menacing ice falling from the sky. No, it wasn't big snow flakes, it was ice. To the school's credit, they did eventually give in and cancel classes... at 3:30 pm... 15 minutes after my last class ended. Although, Wiley didn't do it, a provost did. Where was Wiley? Hmmm.

I'll leave you with some pics for evidence.

Califonia ruins everything

Okay, people, it looks like after Super Tuesday, it will be a close heat between Obama and Clinton for the Democratic Nomination. It looks as if, according to MSNBC, the results at the end of the counting will be Obama will be ahead 838 delagates to Clinton’s 834. The race is mostly close because of Hilary winning the two states with the most delagates: California and New York. New York is Hilary's old stomping grounds for Congress, so it's no surprise she won there. However, California? Seriously? The young, hip candidate didn't win California?

Now, I am an Obama supporter. What it comes down to for me are his green policies. He supports a shift to nuclear energy, which will reduce CO2 emissions, slowing the progression of global warming. However, moreover, this is just another instance in which California is out to get me. Here are a couple of other reasons me and Cali don't get along.

1) The O.C. and young stars of Hollywood.

Let's talk about Laguna Beach and my Super Sweet 16. If these were the representations of America I saw from another country, I would hate it, too. Spoiled litte brats who do nothing but whine about how their Mercedes was the wrong color. Or how about Lindsay, Paris, and Britney? The media does nothing but fascinate themselves with these people's lives, encouraging them to do stupid and more stupid things. It's ridiculous.

2) Happy cheese comes from happy cows in California.

Screw you, it comes from Wisconsin. Are you trying to cripple our economy? Without dairy, all we have is beer, and St. Louis is trying their best to deprive us of thriving off of that. I take that back. We'd still have FIB's that would give us their money at Summerfest and Brewers games. But there's only so much rich suburbanites can do.

3) Sports teams.

Okay, part of this is jealousy, but much of it is hatred. I mean, colleges like UCLA and USC attract all the stars because of their warm weather and beautiful women. And what, they have like 184 MLB, NFL, NHL, and NBA teams. Hey, here's an idea: Give the state that's gettint 10-14 inches of snow as we speak a hockey team rather than giving the one that's 80 degrees year-round three.

4) Coasties.

Stop sending us your rich, your spoiled, your lazy. Please. They influence girls around here to start acting like them. Basically, people wear Uggs, huge sunglasses, North Face jackets, big purses, and leggings to stand out, but after a while they just blend in.

5) I'm jealous of the music scene.

It really isn't fair. No band in their right mind would not tour to California if they had the chance. I mean, there's 3 billion people in one state, massive amounts of media, and musical history. Plus, many of the bands I love come from California, and since many of them are small, they end up playing many of their shows in the same area, namely the Velvet Teen. If i want to see a good concert, many times I have to travel to Chicago, and who wants to go to that dump?

There you go, five reasons California is ruining my life.

Thus, the song of the day today will come from a band from across the seas, The Kooks. They are English. It is obvious that they are heavily influenced by the Police, resulting in reggae-infused rock. Check out their debut LP "Inside In the Inside Out". The song of the day is "Eddie's Gun".

The Kooks' Eddie's Gun on YouTube

Menomena's "Evil Bee"

I decided that my first post was more introductory than a real post, so I justified to myself a second post, which is really what I was thinking today. I have said it over and over again to my friends and pounded this song and video into their heads, but I want to tell you why it's so interesting to me. It's a song called "Evil Bee" by Menomena, and to me it was the song of the year for 2007.

First, I want to address the musicality of this song. The song starts out feeling as if you are a part of some steam engine or industrial assembly line, which fits perfectly with the song. The bass line is dominant in this song, and it will be stuck in your head for days on end, but you will not grow sick of it. The song flies around, throwing jazzy sax, eerie piano, and diverse drum patterns at you. It's so unique, but it comes together with such an air of dominance, like a well-oiled machine ready to run you over and laughing at your feeble attempts to escape. The end is a slow-motion sequence of the music flattening you to the pavement. The music couldn't fit the lyrics any better.

T0 me, the chorus of the song is one of the greatest lines I've ever heard: "Oh, to be a machine, to be wanted, to be useful." At first, Brent Knopf weakly utters the words, as if curled up in a corner and talking to the himself. By the end he is violently wailing them. Now, the comparison of humans to machines is nothing new, whether in music, literature, etcetera, etcetera. But most depict the machines as an negative alternative to humans because they are emotionless and in no way individuals. However, this is exactly what the protagonist in this song wants. Humans can often be unwanted or be viewed as useless. I'm sure there are plenty of people out there you have no desire to have in your lives. But we see many machines as necessary in our lives. Where would we be without cars, computers, or refrigerators?

The video depicts a bee that is on an assembly line converting a substance into honey that powers bird-machines. When its production goes down and it rebells, it is destroyed by the bird- machine. It insinuates that the bird-machines are in fact treating this bee worse than a machine when in fact they do need it for existence. This bee clearly has feelings, and because the bird-machines show no regards for them, the video is saying that they are the feeling-absent machines, showing no sympathy. The bee must long for the bird-machines' abilities to not feel.

I guess it's open to interpretation by anyone who listens to the song. But here's my thoughts. We often treat people worse than machines, betraying the very feelings that separate humans from machines. In that sense, it is possible for them to want to long for these feelings to not exist. They feel their existence to us is unnecessary and not useful. Just something this song makes me think about.

www.myspace.com/menomena
www.menomena.com

Getting started

Hey, guys, it's Teej,

This is going to be looked down upon by some of my friends, which is fine. I know posting notes on facebook is laughed at, let alone blogs. I dunno, I just thought this was a great way to get things off my chest. As many of you know, I like to write. It's part of the reason I'm a history ed. major. This often results in me having very long away messages or facebook posts, consisting of thoughts I've had, descriptions of bands and songs, and fun facts. I figure by starting a blog, I can put all that stuff here, in one place that you don't read rather than a constant stream of things you don't read, haha. Additionally, I am much better at writing my words down than expressing them verbally, as I tend to stutter and lose my train of thought. Thus, you may find out things about me that I have never been able to really say before.


As most of you know I am essentially a straightedge. By that I mean I don't drink or do any form of drugs. I also don't swear. This comes with a large amount of challenges. I don't know how much I will get into this over time, but I might. I'll give you a brief synopsis here. A lot of people ask me why it is that I don't do any of these things, and I have a hard time answering, but I'll try to do my best. Basically, it's a personal decision based on how I was brought up, and at the point where I started thinking about these subjects on my own, as a result of peers participating in these activities, I came to the conclusion that I liked my life the way it was and adding these new aspects to my life was neither beneficial nor safe to myself, as I sometimes have an addictive personality. Over time, my views on these subjects have come looser as I have been exposed to them. As more people begin to paricipate in these activities, sometimes it is difficult to maintain relationships and relate to people without using them, especially at a university like Madison that has been ranked the number one party school in the country various times by various people. However, I have still stuck to it despite these handicaps, and I believe the friends that I am left with accept me the way I am. The irony of the situation is that the people that are involved in these activities are often intolerant of people that aren't involved in them, and as a result don't realize that I myself do not look down upon them because they partake in them. It is simply a personal decision that has nothing to do with a prejudice. Simply put, I would just feel bad if I went back on this commitment. I feel more of a lack of anyone who can relate to what I'm going through than an anger towards anyone who does drink or smoke. Like I said, I may go into this in more depth over time.


Anyway, moving past that, I am hugely into music, and without it I don't know what or where I'd be. I am sure with every post (including this one) I will give you a song I am enamored with, so without further ado, here are two. I will start with songs by my two favorite bands: Radiohead and the Velvet Teen (the picture below is of me and Judah Nagler, the singer). There is a stark contrast between their popularity. Radiohead is one of the most listened-to bands in the world. Their music influences half of the bands that exist today. I could go on for hours about the originality of Radiohead, but I won't. The main reason I love them is because, despite their fame, they continue to make the music they love despite what is being played on the mainstream airwaves, and have no qualms about how their music is rarely played on American radio. The Velvet Teen on the other hand, is a little indie band from Santa Rosa, CA. They are like Radiohead in the sense that they have continued to make whatever music they feel despite it's failure to bring them fame. This has resulted in every album being very different and very unorthodox. Elysium featured no guitars, yet it is some of the most mature music you will ever hear, and one of my two favorite albums with Radiohead's OK Computer. Thus, the two songs that I feature today will be from these two albums, one being Radiohead's Paranoid Android, my favorite song of all-time, and the other being the Velvet Teen's A Captive Audience. Enjoy.

Paranoid Android video
A Captive Audience at Last.fm
www.myspace.com/thevelvetteen