If I had the power...

So it's been a long time (This is becoming the standard start of my blogs). Sorry.

This is also going to be pretty random. Today, despite having an exam, all I could think about on the way to class was tours that I would put together if I had the power. Not only that, but what they would be called. I put these bands together because A) I like them or did at one time, B) Some are influenced by the others, C)I think they have styles that would compliment each other and attract many of the same fans.

Here's a few:

-WHY? / P.O.S. = The Indie R.A.P.? Tour

-The Dismemberment Plan/Local Natives/ The Velvet Teen = The Adjective Noun Tour (Although, is Dismemberment a gerund in this case? I might have to rethink it. Besides, misnomers are hip)

-The Thermals / Matt and Kim / Headlights = The Feel Good Fun Time Tour (Matt and Kim and The Thermals are in fact touring together)

-Broken Social Scene / DFA 1979/ Chad VanGaalen = It's a Tour, Eh?

-Weezer / Smashing Pumpkins = The We Promise to Play the Stuff from Before Our Lead Singer's Went Crazy Tour

-Janelle Monae / Mugison = The Don't Put Me in a Box Tour

-St. Sat B / Nick Miller and the Neighbors / The Static Sea = The Futures Tour

-Grizzly Bear /Local Natives / Bowerbirds / Colour Revolt = The Sweet Harmony Tour (Obviously it'd have to be when LN wasn't on tour withe The Adjective Noun Tour) (Additionally some would add Beirut or Yeasayer, which I would allow, but I have never really listened to their stuff. It's not that I'm against it, it's just I'm poor and have to prioritize purchases sometimes)

-Radiohead / almost any indie band formed after the millennium = The Opening Bands Grew Up Wanting to Be Us (and That's A Good Thing) Tour

-Menomena (original lineup) / Lackthereof / Ramona Falls = The Solo Projects are as Genius as the Band Tour

-DFA1979 / The Black Keys / Local H = The Dinner for Two Tour

-The Strokes / M.I.A. / Liam Finn = The Nepotism Tour (This is in jest, as all the people whose parents were famous in these bands are very talented at would have likely made it on their own)

- Nirvana / Jeff Buckley = The Live from the Next Life Tour (I wish this was possible)

- Mugison /Chad VanGaalen / Liam Finn / tUnE-yArDs = The Kali Tour (A reference to their mult-instrumental, DIY nature. Kali has many arms, and if these artists did, they could do many things. Liam Finn and Mugison especially got their start as multi-tasking solo performers. I'm not sure about CVG's live show, but I know he records all his stuff in a home studio and mostly by himself. tUnE-yArDs, Mugison, and LF all have touring bands now I believe, although again, I'm not sure about CVG)

-Of Montreal / CSS / Bat for Lashes = The Face Paint Tour

-Arctic Monkeys / The Fratellis / The Kooks = The Fight in a Pub Tour

-Phoenix /Department of Eagles /The Dodos / Bowerbirds = The Flock Together Tour

-Modest Mouse / Avi Buffalo / Minus the Bear = The Indigenous Species' of the West Tour

Ok, I think I'm out of them. At the beginning I tried to choose bands that I'd always thought would compliment each others' sounds well, but at the end I think I was just trying to think of plays on names, although I did only put bands that I thought would go well together. There were some that fit the tour name, but I didn't include them.

Some of these bands aren't necessarily the same style, but again, I think the same people would like them. M.I.A. and the Strokes may seem different on paper, but most everyone I know that likes one is a fan of the other. When I saw Dismemberment Plan in Chicago, they played with a 60's-ish soul act complete with horns. People loved it! Sometimes acts you think have nothing in common are perfect compliments.

Most of the tour names should be pretty straight-forward. If you don't get it, it's probably because it's a horrible, tacky joke.

I also acknowledge that some of the opening bands could easily pull off headlining shows. But this is MY fantasy, and if you have a problem with it, imagine them as co-headliners or at a festival or something. Bug off.

Anywho, I know I'm a nerd and I spend a lot of time dreaming about stuff that is probably not productive at all. I acknowledge that. Wow, I feel like I'm getting super-defensive here and justifying myself to a computer screen that seems to be unmoved by my words and just continues staring blankly at me. Good times.

Forget Sarah Palin For a Second, Let's Talk About Me

Alright, so school's back in session meaning that I should get some more posts in, especially since I'm living alone this year. So hopefully I've heard the last complaint about how I don't post enough.

Let me tell you my top 5 complaints about this school-year so far.

5. Now that I'm a junior, I'm starting to feel stupid for being in classes with freshmen. I have two 100-level classes because they were the only two that I could find that fulfilled some requirements. The first day I walked into these classes, it was practically silent because they were full of freshmen that knew nobody and were afraid to talk to their neighbor. I've never had the hatred towards freshmen that others have felt, but my being in the same learning space as them is now starting to make me feel like the creepy old guy. All I need is to have my hair start falling out and to be the guy to stare at a female a little too long after she's finished answering a question in discussion.

4. My TA's are starting to look closer to my age. Maybe I'm having a middle-age crisis of the college variety, but jeez, I feel like these people will be applying for AARP cards at the same time as me.

3. I love Asian people. Please don't get me wrong. But basically my entire floor is made up of people who I can't speak with. I don't know what it is about this building, but it's made up mostly of people that are not from the U.S.

2. The person who lived in my apartment last did not cancel their cable and internet. Now, when I called from my hometown, I was told that I would need to bring a lease in to be able to get service. Well, lucky for me, I had to work in my hometown until Labor Day, meaning that the only time I could get in to Charter would be when school started. So when I got here, I hooked up the internet and cable and it was working. Sweet, free internet and cable. But yesterday the cable went out. Well, today I went to the nearest Charter office... 8 miles away... and set up cable. It's only going to be 6 more days before I have cable. Luckily, I have That 70's Show Seasons 2 and 3 to keep me preoccupied.

1. I miss living with people.

Song of the day: We Looked Like Giants by Death Cab for Cutie. I just really like the line "You'd skip your early classes and we'd learn how our bodies worked". Even though Ben Gibbard seems a bit pretentious, a lot of my bands have ties to Death Cab, especially Chris Walla, and their songs are amazing productions. They are so well arranged, and a lot of that has to do with Chris' production skills and Jason McGerr's knack for picking the perfect drum beat for a given song. I have to give Gibbard credit for writing some amazing lyrics too. Going back to the bands with ties to Death Cab, The Dismemberment Plan were amazing friends with Death Cab, which is interesting considering that their music is quite different. Walla has produced albums for many of my favorite bands, including the Velvet Teen (Out of the Fierce Parade), Tegan & Sara (The Con (which McGerr also played drums on)), and Hot Hot Heat (Make Up the Breakdown and Knock Knock Knock).

We Looked Like Giants by Death Cab for Cutie at Youtube

Every Great Streak Must End.

Even Cal Ripkin missed a game eventually. Brett Favre will eventually miss one too, either through retirement or injury. Well, today, a great streak ended for me. Before you get excited, it's not that I drank or anything.

I've been taunting the ice here ever since October. I do not own boots, so I walk around in my usual nike skater/tennis shoe breeds, constantly slipping, but never falling. My quick hand-eye coordination saved me probably 500 times in the 4-month winter we've had thus far. Every time I cheated wet pants, I laughed at the ice and dared it to try it again. I was a naive young man, nowhere near experienced as I am now.

Today, the ice fought back in full force. It gathered up all the times I taunted it, and thrust them back me in a cluster of karma. It was 47 degrees tonight and rainy. This meant that you had to choose between walking on ice or walking in 6 inches of water in some areas. Naturally, I picked ice. I had some close calls and addressed them with my usual arrogance. But a mere block from my apartment disaster struck and I wound up with a drenched side. Dejected and dethroned as the king of balance, I carefully stepped with a new-found respect for frozen water.

Don't cry for me, I learned a valuable lesson.

I will make the song of the day "The Ice of Boston" by the Dismemberment Plan. They were a very influential band on the indie music scene, buddies with Death Cab for Cutie, and a favorite of Pitchfork Media (not that that means anything to me). Hailing from Washington, D.C., they released four albums before disbanding in 2003. They, like the Toadies, often have reunions in their hometown, usually for benefits. The Dismemberment Plan, at least for their first three albums, were a unique blend of spoken word, screaming, and singing, employing dischords and funky basslines similarly to Primus.

The Ice of Boston by the Dismemberment Plan on YouTube.