King James

I don't like the NBA. Of the four major sports, I think it's the biggest joke. College basketball's great, because everyone's got something to prove, but in the NBA it's all about flash and no defense.

I was watching Sportscenter today and saw Lebron James' tattoo of a crown, and remembered his nickname was "King James". I realized that it's a hilarious nickname, one that isn't exactly flattering. If people took the time to do research on the kings named James, they'd realize that they're not someone you'd want to be associated with.

The Stuarts may have been the worst kings in history, possibly with the exception of Charles II. James I (1603-25) popularized the theory of Divine Right, the thought that kings were chosen by God to rule and should basically have absolute power because of it. Thus, he found ways of taxing without using Parliament, who basically derives all its power through taxation. This led to countless disputes with Parliament, which resulted in James constantly dissolving of them once they tried to assert their rights. He personally racked up a large amount of debt because of his extravagence, attempting to resolve it by selling royal lands. He tried to match his son, Charles I, with a Spanish princess, which greatly steamed the nobles as Spain was one of their two rivals at the time. The failure of the match would lead to disastrous war waged by Charles I upon James' death, and the pompous precedents James passed down to Charles would lead the the English Civil War, where Charles was deposed and beheaded, and the country would be subject to eleven years of military rule by the insolent Oliver Cromwell from 1649 to 1660.

James II (1685-1688) was probably worse than James I, if not the worst king in English history. Charles II had done everything in his power to re-legitimize the throne. However, James II threw it all away, very much his father's son (Charles I). James was a devout Catholic, and tried to push the Anglican Church in a very Catholic direction when Anti-Popery was at its highest. He essentially replaced people in every major position of power with Catholics, suspending laws that limited Catholic rights. The man did not know how to be subtle, ordering Anglican priests to read his pro-Catholic acts in church. After he produced a legitimate male heir, the nobles and priests worried about a pro-Catholic dynasty and requested that William of Orange (who was married to James' daughter, Mary) come to England and overthrow James II. He arrived with 15,000 men, the largest invasion force to ever arrive in England. James did not have the manpower to compete with him, especially when a bunch of nobles and clergy pledged to fight on the side of William. James saw that his number was up, and he fled to France, but not before he made some stupid and cowardly decisions on his way out. He destroyed the writs for calling a new Parliament, ordered his supporting army to be disbanded without pay, and in the biggest act of disrespect towards England by a king ever, threw the seal of England into the ocean. He was captured before he ever made it to France by fishermen. Oh, and he was dressed like a woman. In just three years in office, he had managed to infuriate the country enough to dethrone him in the Glorious Revolution.

So go ahead Lebron, go by King James, but don't be surprised if you lose public support somewhere down the road.

Song of the day: The new song by Manchester Orchestra is genius. They are putting out their new album on April 21 entitled "Mean Everything to Nothing". For more information on M.O., see this post.

Musicians Being Replaced by Computers?

I just got back from coaching a hockey tournament. Hockey tournaments are quite possibly one of the greatest experiences a person can be a part of, so it would be an understatement to say that it was a fun weekend.

When I got back and checked my e-mail, I had gotten one from Scott which contained three links to YouTube videos where people had inserted the vocals from famous songs into Songsmith. Now, if you're not acquainted with Songsmith, it's a computer program where you sing a song or put in a melody and it will come up with instrumentation for it. It's admittedly pretty funny when you put in vocal tracks from famous songs. But it worries me. Will the creative process be eased to the extent that music becomes impersonal and generic?

Microsoft came up with an unintentionally hilarious tutorial/ad. There's a guy in a band who's had some trouble coming up with instrumentation for his songs lately. He uses Songsmith to make music to this melody he's been sitting on. The chord progressions of Songsmith are very simple and take no chances. The ones that don't come out conventional are awkward (which is evident if you watch some of the "remixes") and those that aren't are repetitive. They often bounce back and forth between two chords. I'm cool with people using Songsmith for a "general direction" or inspiration, but chances are you won't find either in the program that would be an improvement from the worst accompaniment that you could come up with in your head. If these "remixes" were the progressions that the bands used in the originals, I doubt any of them would have ever had their popularity. Lyrics and a melody can only take you so far.

For now I think music's safe. I don't think computers will be coming up with the most pleasing noises to our ears.

FM to C Turns 1.

The dangerous first year has ended, 63 posts later. I've enjoyed writing the blog, whether anyone's reading or not. It's a fun way to look back, and it can be therapeutic at times. In case you've missed it, here's what the first 63 posts have covered:

1. Introduction
2. A praise and analysis of (Song of the day) Menomena's "Evil Bee"
3. The ways California has ruined my life. Song of the day: Eddie's Gun by the Kooks.
4. Coverage and complaints from the great blizzard of '08.
5. Thoughts on my insomnia (which I definitely no longer suffer from). Song of the day: Fear of Sleep by the Strokes.
6. Confusion on the behavior of shoes.
7. Thoughts on sizes of clothes and people.
8. My top 5 bands with more than one lead singer (which would be different now I'm sure).
9. Jebus loves sluts girl.
10. What happened to people name-dropping Jesus on their shirts?
11. I'm 5'6". Do you expect me to have basketball skills? Song of the day: "Macho" by Tin Circus.
12. Music television is as musical as Taco Bell is Mexican. Song of the day: "TV" by Headlights.
13. How I lost $1.25, and you can too! Song of the day: "Wolves at Night" by Manchester Orchestra.
14. Valentine's Day rebellion.
15. Honoring my own procrastination skills. Song of the day: "Running out of Time" by Hot Hot Heat.
16. Basking in Wisconsin's recognition for the primaries, and (correctly) predicting that the next time we get that much attention would be when Brett Favre retired. Song of the day: Menomena - Weird (Dekoder Remix)
17. Fat guy in flannel = not funny.
18. My magic musical powers. Song of the day: "Just" by Radiohead
19. The most absurd statement in the world.
20. A post about how much I wished the Toadies would reunite (Little did I know they would months later and I would see them twice in the next year). Song(s) of the day: "Possum Kingdom", "Tyler", and "Mister Love" by the Toadies.
21. A celebration of a holiday that only happens every four years (although looking back, I'm pretty sure "quad-annually beans four times a year... I can't be sure, though.)
22. Swing and a miss, Will Ferrell.
23. A great streak ends. Appropriately, the song of the day is "Ice of Boston" by the Dismemberment Plan.
24. A sad day for Packer fans, which would end up being sadder in the following months. Song of the day: "Last Goodbye" by Jeff Buckley
25. A picture update on post #9.
26. The case against St. Patrick's Day. SotD: "Charmer" by the Kings of Leon
27. The night I discovered Liam Finn, who my ears have had a beautiful relationship with ever since. SotD: "Second Chance" by Liam Finn
28. My attempt at being deep?
29. Warm weather bands (I'm hoping for the chance to listen to them soon...)
30. A post about (surprise) the music I'd been listening to lately. SotD: "Need Your Needs" by (now defunct) Georgie James
31. Tips for being green (More exciting than it sounds!) SotD: "Better to Be" by Liam Finn
32. Gushing about the (playoff-bound) Brewers. Update: Grant and I are 11-0 now when in attendance at a Brewers game. Album of the day: Plunder, Beg, and Curse by Colour Revolt.
33. I decide not to identify myself as "straightedge" anymore, and the blog becomes "Feeding Milk to Chickens" from "The Only Straightedge in Madison".
34. Bjork has balls.
35. Dilemma for Christian pot-smokers?
36. Review of the Minus the Bear concert. SotD: "Knights" by Minus the Bear.
37. A rant about how basically anyone can make a crappy college newspaper comic strip. SotD: "Paranoid Android" by Radiohead.
38. Commercial directors need love, too.
39. What college examinations really mean to college students. S(s)otD: "Juneau", "Streetcar", "Great Wide Open" by Funeral for a Friend.
40. Are the Foo Fighters to blame for the death of grunge?
41. What you probably don't know about World War II.
42. Chris Osgood gets shafted (after a performance he hasn't even come close to matching this year). SotD: "Hospital Beds" by Cold War Kids.
43. Why did I bother writing a post about Hillary Duff's sister? Who knows? But there was an awesome song of the day. "Fools" by the Dodos.
44. A story that probably deserves a movie.
45. Live from Hawaii. I'm thinking about going out there and living on the beach with no money, living off of humuhumunukunukuapua'a. SotD: "Sitting, Waiting, Wishing" by Jack Johnson.
46. A justification of how I can just forget about Brett Favre like we didn't have a lifelong relationship. SotD: "Backslider" by the Toadies.
47. 5 complaints. SotD: "We Looked Like Giants" by Death Cab for Cutie.
48. Most unintentionally funny commercial ever. SotD: "List of Demands" by Saul Williams
49. What you're missing. SotD: "Hey Hey Hockeytown"
50. Introduction to my new blog about dreams, which has since received 70 dreams. SotD: "Future Foe Scenarios" by Silversun Pickups.
51. How your actions in an elevator tell people who you are. SotD: "Pull Out" by Death from Above 1979.
52. Don't vote... unless. SotD: Murr Murr by Mugison.
53. The checklist for the Brewers that they clearly didn't consult... S(s)otD: "The Great Unrest" "I Want You" "To the Bone" by Mugison.
54. LHC is to nukes as alien doctrine is to Bush Doctrine? SotD: "Subterranean Homesick Alien" by Radiohead.
55. Nostalgia.
56. The musical stylings of Mark Ronson. SotD: "Stop Me" by Mark Ronson ft. Daniel Merriweather.
57. Will Obama taking over lead to higher gas prices? (Signs point to yes, but it's not his fault.) S(s)otD: "Sore", "Carry Around", "Confessor" by Annuals.
58. Why TA's and the IRS are ruining my life. SotD: "Cooking by the Book" by Lazytown ft. Lil Jon.
59. Songs you should listen to to make her think you're sensitive.
60. Just remember, when Demetri Martin gets big, I knew of him before you.
61. Probably the greatest piece of architecture ever.
62. Thoughts I have while I do my wash. SotD: Song of the "Sad Assassin" by Why?
63. Happy anniversary! Song of the day: "Let's Make Love and Listen to Death from Above" by CSS.

Guess what today's song of the day is! How'd you know? CSS is the Brazilian group, who's (gorgeous) lead is Lovefoxxx. I don't normally like dance music, but it's so care-free that I can't hate it. I've known of them for years but never really got around to getting their albums. Now, it's what I listen to when I go to bed every night. Behold the greatness that is Lovefoxxx.



P.S. I've enabled the "followers" tool. I'd love to see who reads this blog, so be a champ and become a follower.

Thoughts I Have While I Do My Wash

1) You know you go to Madison when you have two loads of just red clothing.
2) It's a good day when a pen goes through the wash and doesn't destroy any clothes.
3) Did I remember to switch the dryer to "Normal" from "Perm Press"?
4) Oh, crap, the washer's been running for 10 minutes and I forgot to put detergent in.
5) My socks don't look like evidence in a CSI mystery anymore (Blisters from hockey skates = bloody socks).
6) Crap, there's a dryer sheet unaccounted for. I bet it will come out in the middle of that discussion section with that cute girl.
7) I wonder how the people that live next to the laundry room feel about me doing my wash at 2 am on a Thursday night.
8) Why do I smell someone's chicken at 2 am on a Thursday? Probably someone drunk.


Song of the day: The Song of the Sad Assassin - Why?
Why?'s Alopecia is on the best albums of 2008 list for many blogs and indie bands. It's weird because some of their songs are straight-up Decembrists-esque indie. Others are Jewish rap. All are 100% beautifully done. Another highlight is "These Few Presidents", which Colour Revolt did an amazing cover of on Daytrotter (leading me to research Why?).

Anyone Want to Go to Sweden with me in 2010?

Some people dream of playing Shea Stadium when they make it big. Some people want to play Carnegie Hall or Madison Square Garden. In England, people dream of playing Glastonbury or the giant Wembley Stadium. Me? I want to play a concert in this:



It opens in 2010. I expect to be there for the ribbon-cutting.

Demetri Martin: Making Smart Cool

I just want it to be known that I have been a Demetri Martin fan for years. Why do I feel the need to let this be known? Because he's getting his own TV show on Comedy Central in February (Important Things) and he's going to be huge. Many of you may not know the name. But he is reinventing comedy. He has made intellegence hilarious. This is quite an achievement in a world of Dane Cooks and Carlos Mencias. He doesn't talk about the differences between men and women, or how certain races are scary, or how blow jobs are fun, or any of the other countless cliches that are common to stand-up comedy. No, here are a few Demetri Martin quotes. After reading them, you will see that he is different from those poop-pee-sex comedians out there.

1. "I've heard of many chocoholics, but I ain't never seen no 'chocohol'. We got an epidemic, people: people who like chocolate but don't understand word endings. They're probably 'over-workaholled'."

2. “I went into a clothes store and a lady came up to me and said “if you need anything, I’m Jill”. I’ve never met anyone with a conditional identity before.”

3.“I like fruit baskets because it gives you the ability to mail someone a piece of fruit without appearing insane. Like, if someone just mailed you an apple you’d be like ‘Huh? What the h**l is this?’, but if it’s in a fruit basket you’re like ‘This is nice!.’”

4.“I like sports; I like professional football. I like to get to the stadium and see the games live, you know. And I paint my chest before I leave the house. But I don’t have many friends, you know, so I usually just do punctuation and tack on a group already in progress. But sometimes it works out kind of weird because we ended up on TV one time and it said ‘JETS?’”

5. " I was in the park and I met this girl, she was cute and she had a dog. And I went up to her, we started talking. She told me her dog’s name. Then Í said, 'Does he bite?'. She said 'No.' And I said, 'Oh yeah? Then how does he eat? … Liar.'"

These are all excerpts from his genius program Person. But I think his most impressive work is the one that pretty much no one in America knows about. It's If I, a program he did for BBC Four after winning an Edinburgh comedy festival. Now, some of the jokes in this program are re-used in Person. However, there, they are basically short jokes, a step away from one-liners, very Steven Wright-esque (who he cites as his main influence). But in If I, which has never been released in DVD form, they are all a part of a story: Demetri's life story.

Demetri was and is basically a genius. He went to law school on a full scholarship and was a year away from graduating. But suddenly, against his family's wishes, he quit and pursued comedy. Thank God he did. In If I, he tells the story of the process of analyzing his life that led him to go from sneaking Mensa puzzles into class to using his intellegence to create the program that we have the pleasure of viewing. It makes you truly appreciate how much of a genius he really is, and how much of a leap of faith he actually had to make.

Click on this to see If I in its entirety, split up between six videos on YouTube. Since music is encorporated into the act, I'll also make it the song of the day.

Songs that Will Make You Need to Call a Waaambulance

Grant and I roadtripped it the other to the Texas vs. UW basketball game from Milwaukee. It was during a pretty sweet snow storm, so it took us about two hours, which gave us plenty of time to listen to music. I couldn't find my iPod hookup, so I had to rely on old cd's. I was running out the door when we left because we wanted to beat the worst of the storm, so I just grabbed my old cd case from high school. Admittedly, in high school I mostly liked emo music until my senior year or so, so there wasn't a great selection, but I at least had a few decent albums in there. After maxing out Brand New, we listened to the Format, which was the first time for me in about a year or so. The song "On Your Porch" came on, and I remembered that I once dubbed it the "Most Beautiful song of all-time". Grant, an avid reader of this blog, said that I should make a post of the most beautiful songs known to myself, and I agreed. As I'm in Michigan right now visiting family and have nothing else to do as they're all early sleepers, that time is now. I won't rank them, I'll just throw them out there and give you videos/streams.



On Your Porch - The Format

Basically the lines that get me are "My dad was sick/ my mom she cared for him/ her love it nursed him back to life. / But me I ran / I couldn't even look at him / for fear I'd have to say goodbye / And as I start to leave / he grabs me and he tells me / What's left to lose? / You've done enough / and if you fail well then you fail but you gave it a shot / Cuz these last three years / I know they've been hard / but now it's time to get out of the desert and into the sun / even if it's alone.











The Great Unrest - Mugison

This song is a repeat offender on the blog. It gets intense at the end, but the orchestration and buildup throughout the song is the beautiful part. And Mugison just has a raw, emotional voice that represents a broken, weathered man, and it's just beautiful in itself.







Poor Celine - The Velvet Teen

Pretty much any song off of Elysium could be on this list. Judah's voice is at its best in this album, as there's no distortion on it and he's not straining it. Don't mistake that for a lack of emotion, because you will feel a range of them within this album, but the absense of a not-even-a-single guitar on this album makes Judah's voice more prominent, and the orchestration adds a new dimension as well.


Poor Celine at last.fm

It's Okay - Land of Talk

Who here's down with Fleetwood Mac? This song could so be sung by Stevie Nicks, but it's way better because while Liz Powell might have some vocal similarities, her voice is in no way obnoxious like Stevie's can sometimes be. The song is so raw, and the lyric "Maybe when I die / I'll get to be a car / Driving in the night / lighting up the dark" just puts you in the body of someone that is giving up on this life and looking towards the next. I think there's a sort of beauty in that kind of honesty, and even though it's a kind of dark hope, it's still undeniably hope.

It's Okay at imeem.com

Annuals - Sore

Another repeat offender. The video itself is beautiful, but the song just to me seems to be about a need to express love daily. Whether with a significant other or offspring (in the video it seems to be about both), its a beautiful sentiment. The highlight lyrically: If I ever let out of bed / Without a kiss to the center of your head / Then I never deserved you from the start /And you can let loose the wall around my heart.

All Flowers in Time Bend Towards the Sun - Jeff Buckley

There are quite a few Buckley tracks that could make it on this list. The obvious choice would be Hallelujah. The song is not originally Jeff's (it's Leonard Cohen's), but his version is the version that has been played by numerous other artists (Before you ask, the version on Shrek is Rufus Wainwright, who had a huge crush on Jeff Buckley) and trillions of YouTubers. However, being an owner of quite a few Jeff bootlegs and B-sides, the most beautiful JB song is All Flowers in Time Bend Towards the Sun. I have two versions of the song, never released or recorded, one very fuzzy, distantly recorded live solo version, and one where he duets with Elizabeth Fraser of the Cocteau Twins. Both are amazing. The duet gives the song a whole new dynamic and meaning. Here's both versions:

(With Elizabeth)

(Without Elizabeth)


All Flowers in Time at imeem.com

All I Need - Radiohead

This song is hauntingly beautiful. It's obsessive. The song is basically saying that the protagonist's only reason for living is the existence another person. It's beautifully desperate. He sounds desperate to try to put into words just how much this person means to him, but like he can never accomplish that task to the extent he wants to. He feels he can't get through to him/her the way he wants. The lyrics are so simple, but they say more than a whole novel could.

That's all I've got for right now. I'd be interested to know what songs you all think are the most beautiful songs you listen to, but I've never been one to ask for comments. If you feel like it though, go for it. I'm going to make a non-related song of the day just because I've been so obsessed with Land of Talk Lately. Elizabeth Powell is the newest member of Broken Social Scene, and I saw LoT open for them and her sing with BSS, and her cuteness is undeniable, but her voice is what gets me. I like it way better than Amy Millan, and she gives Feist a run for her money in my humble opinion.

Land of Talk - Speak to Me Bones

Epic rant!

Okay, that title hypes this post up to be really good, but it probably won't be because I don't swear and I don't think rants can truly be epic unless they have swearing. But it's a stressful time of year, and I think complaining to my computer will be therapeutic. So here it goes.

1. HISTORY TA's - This is not directed at one TA in particular, but more so the natural tendencies of history TA's that grade papers and exams. Someone that is a history TA is mostly a graduate student studying the area that the class falls under. So a History 115 TA, a broad Medieval Europe class, is probably studying something like the relationship between serf (although they wouldn't call it a serf for reasons I am to annoyed to explain) and landlord in Medieval England. Anyway, the point is, they are extremely knowledgable in their field. Thus, some TA's uphold an unfair standard when grading papers that anything they can think of that we have left out should have been included in the paper.

More than that, what bothers me is when a TA writes "Good" at the end of an essay, doesn't write that you've forgotten anything, that you've gotten a date wrong, that you've spelled something wrong, that you've used passive voice... hasn't made a single mark on the essay... and then somehow you get an 80%. To me, this is like a cashier handing you a cheeseburger that costs $3, you taking a bite, saying "This is good", then slapping down $2.40 and walking away.

I guess this is the burden of choosing such a subjective major. If I were in math, there one be one correct solution. I also have had some great TA's as well, so I can't complain too much. But this is an epic rant, so I'm ranting.

2. THE IRS - The IRS has added an unneeded stress to this holiday/exam season. So I send in my taxes by mail. Everything's been checked. Everything's right. Records are kept. One of my jobs is tax free (Fun fact, if you work a campus job and are a full-time student, you are exempt from taxes on that job). My summer job is not. I work full-time over the summer, so this actually adds up to quite a bit of money. Well, I end up getting a far larger refund than I should have. I look at my taxes, very confused, and it says I have made a mistake, my summer job IS exempt from taxes. I know this is wrong, but I think What am I supposed to do about this? They made the mistake. They can't fault me for this. So I let it go.

Well, last month, I get a statement saying that I claimed myself as exempt. No... no I didn't. You guys changed this. I call the IRS very fed up. I get connected to a lady that says she can change this without a problem... I'll have to pay the money back, but she can fix the fact that they entered the information wrong into the system. Fine, I can deal with this. I get put on hold. All of a sudden, the phone hangs up. I have to call back, sit through 30 minutes of Tchaikovsky, and get connected to another, much less helpful lady. She says that I have to refile my taxes. No! No I don't! I was just connected with a lady that said she'd fix it for me! She puts me on hold again. She says she'll send my case to Fresno, CA for review. Today, I got in the mail that I owe $250 with $6 interest, because they assume the money's been sitting in my savings account for six months. I'm glad this is over, but screw you for costing me money for your mistakes, IRS. I hope you don't come after me for writing about my discontent.


Anyway, I'd write a couple more, but I have to get back to writing a 9-page paper that will undoubtedly be thuroughly analyzed for things I missed. Guess I'll just have to take pleasure in people slipping and falling on the crazy ice rink known as "the streets and sidewalks of Wisconsin". Even funnier is the human response to the slip. I've narrowed it down to two circumstancial reactions. 1) If you save yourself, you do six or seven running steps like it was part of the plan, and 2) If you fall, you get up, and you just smile as if to say "If I act like I have a sense of humor about it, you'll all think that I'm not really embarrassed at all".


Song of the day, the hottest indie band out there: Lazytown featuring Lil Jon. Warning: Vulgar language.

See more of the internets best videos at CollegeHumors Web Celeb Hall of Fame.

Low Gas Prices: Enjoy Them While They Last

Gas prices are the lowest they've been in years. While this is fantastic, you must take this with a grain of salt because it's not a coincidence that it's happening in the months before Barack takes office. It's no secret that a lot of powerful Republicans have links to oil (to use a drastic understatement). My theory is that they are lowering prices before Obama takes office so that when they raise them to record highs during his term he will be blamed and they will regain power in the next. I am by no way extremely left, but it has become evident to me that this is a definate possibility. It's scary to think that about the possibility that the Republicans may cripple the U.S. economy even worse to take power back, and I hope I'm wrong. It would go to show that democracy definitely still has its flaws and power is not necessarily very well checked in America.

Now that I've depressed us all, I'll give you some amazing music to cheer up with. Annuals has toured with a lot of the bands I love, such as Manchester Orchestra and Minus the Bear. Yet I held off on getting their stuff for a while for some reason. But in three days I bought much of their library because every one of their songs enthralled me. They're so unique and have such a big sound when they want to, and no phrase of their music is the same. But they can also turn around and write some amazing slower music, that plays like an epic. I'll give you two examples.

Sore is a slower one that builds beautifully:

Carry Around is a more fun, bizarre song:

Confessor is their newest one. It displays their big sound:

Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before

No, that's not my emo title so I can write some rant. Although, I am going to fail a test tomorrow. But I just wanted to stop by and throw you a video, because I can't get this song out of my head. I don't like hip-hop. Well, I don't like hip-hop with rapping. For the most part. But Mark Ronson's blending of multiple genres including jazz brass and hip-hop beats makes for some seriously sweet music. It's like, blending a '30's big band with ODB. I have his album Version, which he is clearly seriously protective over because they take down mp3's on blogs in seconds flat (not that I put any up on my blog) and won't even let me emb a video. Anyway, Version is a bunch of his arrangements of other peoples' songs sung by guest vocalists. It's majorly awesome. It's got Lily Allen, Kasabian, Amy Whinehouse (unfortunately) and even ODB (which is weird because I forgot that when I made the previous reference) performing songs by some seriously awesome artists including the Smiths, Radiohead, and... Kasabian. Anyway, the song I can't get out of my head is Stop Me, the song originally by the Smiths, who have influenced some amazing bands like Radiohead and Brand New. It's performed by Daniel Merriweather, who I had never heard of before this song, but has a seriously awesome voice. Seriously. Awesome. I guess those are my words of the day.

Mark Ronson featuring Daniel Merriweather - Stop Me at YouTube

P.S. I'm going to start embing the vids that I use for the song of the day. This one I couldn't but you already know that because you've read this post. Also, sorry for the run-on paragraph, but I didn't plan on writing that much.

Nostalgia

That was your song of the day.

Crazy thought

I'm sure many of you are aware of the LHC (Large Hadron Collider), otherwise known as that thing that is colliding particles together at just a smidgen below the speed of light (it's currently broken down and will not be restarted until Spring, 2009). The reason you are all probably aware of this contraption is because of the thought that it could possibly create a black hole. Now, this possibility has been disregarded by many of the smartest minds in the world, but I had a thought today, or maybe more of a crazy daydream.

What if a bunch of George W. Bush-like aliens looked down on Earth and head about this LHC and saw it as a threat to their well-being as it could create a black hole that would annhialate their existance? Would they invade and destroy this thing, as Bush invaded Iraq to prevent their nuclear capabilities? What if there are aliens watching intently from billions of miles away watching closely to see what our next moves are? What if Earthlings are having an impact on beings that are not even in our solar system?

Would I put my money on it? No. First off, if aliens do exist, I doubt they have the power to watch a planet light years away in real time. I know people try to imagine aliens as having crazy powers, but I imagine them being not unlike us. To support life, planets would have to have makeups much like ours, and would thus create beings probably similar to us. But, if they were watching us, they'd probably be intellegent, so they wouldn't follow the Bush Doctrine. Furthermore, I don't think the LHC is really anything to worry about.

Anyway, I thought I'd throw an alien-themed song in here, so here's Subterranean Homesick Alien (live) by Radiohead

Brewers checklist for the offseason

I have to say, I am really happy with the Brewers season, despite their 3-1 exit in the first round of the playoffs. "Playoffs" is a word that didn't get thrown around a lot when talking about the Brewers in my lifetime. I've been waiting for this since I was three years old, and the fact that we can finally say that we lasted longer than the Cubs is priceless.

Here's what I think the Brewers need to do in the offseason. I'll probably make a post at the beginning of the season to grade their performance.

1. Re-sign CC. His agent says he loves Milwaukee. We'll soon see how much he loves it, whether he's willing to give up $20+ million in New York, Boston, or L.A. for $12-15 million in Milwaukee. But if the Brewers complete step 2 of my plan, we might be able to hike that up a bit.

2. Get rid of Gagne, Suppan, Riske, Weeks, and Hall for a bag of balls. This would free up $25 million dollars (and a bag of balls) for us to go shopping. Obviously, it's going to be tough with Suppan due $27 million over the next two years, a deal no team would be willing to pick up, and Riske making around $3 million a year for the next two years, but getting rid of any of these players, with the exception of Weeks, would at least free up some salary.

3. Let Sheets go. $12 million dollars. Listen, the guy has averaged 23.5 starts in the last four years. While he usually put forward a great start, the reality is that when we really needed him, he has not had a great track record. Besides, even if we wanted Sheets back, I don't think it's going to happen.

4. Shop for a third baseman, starting pitching. Our fielding at third base was beyond horrendous this year, probably costing us a substantial amount of games. I'd even be willing to give up some a hitting spot for a good defensive third baseman, because Lord knows that we had neither a good hitting or fielding third baseman this year.

5. Start calling up a first baseman and third baseman. If the Brewers don't make Fielder happy with a new contract, he's going to be ready to leave at the first chance. He'll probably take us to arbitration court this year anyway, which could put a strain on our budget and may lead to a trade. Brad Nelson looks like he has some power potential, but he needs experience. Mike Lamb has had some decent fielding stats in his career, so who knows.

6. Make Ray Durham a full-time starter. The bottom line is that the man is consistent in everything he does, something that no one in their right mind would say about Rickie Weeks. It's hard to give up on a young player, but Weeks has shown absolutely no maturing whatsoever. I don't even know who would be interested in taking him.

7. Re-sign Kendall. There are some Kendall haters out there, but you can't argue with his defensive stats. He had the best throwout percentage in the majors, and his pitch-calling was exceptional. I feel like the Brewers will have even more success with him with a new manager because you can be darn sure that the next manager will know to take a pitcher out before he's given up seven runs in an inning (see July 7, 2007 , fifth inning, and Yost even had Suppan pitch in the sixth!), so pitchers will still be hitting the spots that Kendall sets up for them. Yes, he's old, but he's cheap and he gets the job done. For a defensive catcher he comes up big offensively when we need him most.

That's all for now. I may add later. Here's the two subjects I'm undecided on: Should the Crew spend a lot of dime on Fielder and make him happy? I don't know. When the man slumps, he slumps. We already have a power-hitter in Braun and we could use more contact hitters. At the same time, he carried us through September. It's tough to say. I think it could be disasterous if we hold on to him for a long extended period but he could also do a ton of damage somewhere else. The second is that I could not tell you who we should sign as manager. Sveum showed that he knows when to take a pitcher out. But his lineups are sometimes cooky, and his demeanor reminds me a lot of Yost. My initial guess, before he was even bench coach, was that the Brewers are planning on making Yount the manager. The thing is, players don't always make the best managers, and Yount has no experience. You could get an Ozzie Guillen, or you could get a Alan Trammell.

I'm not going to throw up too many hyperlinks because you can find these players' stats and stuff pretty much anywhere.

Song of the day will be another Mugison song because I didn't really explain much about him with the first post, and I've been listening to him a lot lately. Mugison is an Icelandic indie artist, who is actually very popular on the island. However, that's not saying much, as you only have to sell 5,000 albums to go gold in Iceland. People compare him to Beck, as his music is very experimental and sometimes trippy. His portfolio is extremely diverse, from highly electronic stuff, to good ole blues, to amazing acoustic songs, to songs with orchestras. I'll give you three songs to display his range.

The Great Unrest (official video) - Mugison - Youtube (Slower orchestral, acousticy song that builds beautifully)

I Want You (semi-official video. Mugi made this for his grandparents' 50th Anniversary) - YouTube. *This isn't the greatest example of his trippy stuff, but it suffices. For better examples, see "Sad Like a Truck", and "The Chicken Song". There just are no videos on YouTube for these. The Chicken Song features an amazing line. "The chicken is one of few birds that never can fly / but even with his head chopped of he'll still give it a h--- of a try / How beautiful is that?"

To the Bone (Track only) - Mugison - Youtube

Don't vote... unless.

Song of the day: Murr Murr (acoustic) - Mugison at YouTube

Re: Elevator Ediquette

I've decided you can tell a lot about a person just how by they act on an elevator. The gems are the people who see you walking down the hallway and know you're going to use the elevator, and even though you may not be looking at them, they hold it for you anyway. I've also witnessed the people that press the "door close" button as many times as they can in the same instance. Also, whenever somebody has also pressed "6", and I'm going to floor five, I will take the stairs down to five because I don't want to stop the elevator a floor before a person's destination. This does not take any effort at all because I'm going downstairs, and if I'm going to seven, I will press it because the person has already gotten off the elevator so it's not an issue. Finally, if there are stairs (and there should be, otherwise it's pretty much a fire hazard) and you live in a 12-floor dorm or apartment, if you're going to two or three, take te stairs for God's sake. You're young, you have two legs, unless you have something that weighs more than 30 pounds in your hands you should be able to walk up 15 stairs. Most peoples' houses have two stories, so you should be used to it.

Today's song of the day is Death From Above 1979's "Pull Out". The band was a duo with just a bass and drummer, the drummer also serving as a singer. Every song on the album "You're a Woman, I'm a Machine" is intense (and creepy), great for pre-game music. Unfortunately, they broke up after one album and pretty much hate eachother's guts. This is a classic video, though.

Death From Above 1979 "Pull Out" at YouTube

Nice Dream

Hey, if you haven't already, check out my new blog called "Dreams of People You Will Never Meet". It's my new experiment of gathering dreams that people send me by e-mail for others to read. They're put up anonymously, and my friend Scott is going to draw illustrations for some of them. It's turned out and should continue to turn out pretty cool. To find out more, click on this link to go to the site, and join this Facebook group while you're at it.

Despite the Radiohead-themed title of this post, I'm going to make the song of the day "Future Foe Scenerios" by Silversun Pickups. Some people think of Silversun Pickups as just a Smashing Pumpkins rip-off, but Brian Aubert isn't as overdramatic as Billy Corgan is (not that I don't enjoy some Pumpkins stuff, but he is over the top sometimes).

"Future Foe Scenarios" at YouTube

Why Watch Hockey?

In a couple weeks now, the NHL will be back. Now, most of you are probably saying "Why should I care?" Even though the NHL has spiked a few more people's interests with the likes of Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin, I still often get asked why I love the game of hockey. I thought I'd supply you with a few links that will illustrate why, and I promise you, you will not get bored.

1. Scott Stevens was probably the greatest hitter to ever play the game. When he retired in 2004, Sportscenter put together this compilation as an ode to his knack for causing destruction.
Scott Stevens' Top 10 Hits

2. Pavel Datsyuk can puck-handle in a phone booth. Watch as he dekes the crap out of a goalie in a shootout against Nashville.
Pavel Datsyuk's Sick Deke in a Shootout against Nashville

3. The rivalries in hockey are like no other sport because fighting is allowed. In my case, the Detroit Red Wings and Colorado Avalanche rivalry is the most exciting rivalry. In 1997, 1998, and 2002 the Red Wings won Stanley Cups. It just so happened that in those three years, the Red Wings' starting goalies (Mike Vernon, Chris Osgood, and Dominik Hasek respectively), fought Patrick Roy during the regular season.
Patrick Roy vs. Mike Vernon
In that same fight, Darren McCarty annihilated Claude Lemieux, a fight where Lemeiux was labeled "The Turtle" because of his fetal position.
"The Turtle Fight"
When the teams met the following year, off the opening faceoff the two squared off again. It is a classic moment, as you watch them calmly planning the fight before the faceoff is dropped.
Lemieux and McCarty fight off the faceoff

4. Obligatory "Best Fights" compilation

5. Along with Bobby Orr's famous photograph (above), one of the images in NHL hockey that will probable stick forever is the goal Alexander Ovechkin, who is thought by many as the greatest combination of speed, puckhandling skills, and shooting ability ever to play the game (he's not a bad hitter either, scored against the Phoenix Coyotes in a regular season game in 2006. While Orr's meant a lot more (it was an overtime goal that won the 1970 Stanley Cup, while Ovechkin's scored was to put the Capitals up 6-1 in a regular season game), Ovechkin's goal captures all of his insane skills in one play. I don't want to give anything away for people that have never seen it (or at least known what they were seeing), so just watch it.
Alexander Ovechkin's epic goal

6. There are few things as beautiful as an amazing save... unless you've just been the one stoned. Here are a couple of the greatest saves ever.
"Not Today" (See Crosby's reaction at 0:44)
Martin Brodeur is a legend
The Dominator Tribute Video

7. Sometimes people embarrassed themselves:
There's a reason Gretzky only dropped the gloves once in his career...
Goal from the other red line on Toskala
In the 1998 Stanley Cup, the Red Wings were up on the Washington Capitals one game to none. Esa Tikkanen would have iced game 2 for the Capitals if he had made the following shot. Just know that the Red Wings swept the Capitals, 4 games to none.
Esa Tikkanen misses open net
Patrick Stefan channels Esa Tikkanen
When the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup last year, Marc-Andre Fleury was pretty much the highlight for the Pittsburgh Penguins, partly because of the amazing saves he made, but largely in part because of what happened to him before game 2
Fleury's Bad Omen

Please watch all of those. They are amazing, emotional, and hilarious.

I'll make the song of the day "Hey Hey Hockeytown". I have no idea who wrote or performs it, but it's the Red Wings' theme song.
"Hey Hey Hockeytown" at YouTube

Watch now, die laughing.

This is the funniest unintentionally funny commercial I have ever seen in my life. I saw it on t.v. today and I immediately ran over here to post a link so you could laugh along with me.

Barilla pasta commercial

Song of the day: If this song does not get you pumped up, I don't know what will.
List of Demands - Saul Williams at Youtube

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

Wanna See Me Do a One-Eighty in Five Months?

Brett Favre is a douchebag.

Yeah, five months ago I wrote about how the game would never be the same for me without Favre. But at that point I had accepted that this was how it needed to end. Brett could not turn back and decide he wanted to return because his retirement marked a point of no return for the Packers organization. The Packers outright warned him that if he came back, they could not guarantee a spot as the starting quarterback. He retired knowing this full well.

So screw him for expecting the Packers to embrace him with open arms when it turned out he had only cried "Wolf!" like everyone thought he was going to. Rodgers was our starting quarterback from the moment he cried his little eyes out and said it was over. Playbooks were changed, chemistries were explored, plans were made. You don't just turn around and say "Oh, you want back in, poof, it's back to how it was". The Packers drafted two of the top quarterbacks in the draft in Matt Flynn and Bryan Brohm. If Favre were to come back, one of those guys would have been a wasted pick. Anyone who blames Ted Thompson for the fiasco can jump off a cliff.

Brett showed no regard for the Packers organization throughout this whole catastrophe. He represented a distraction as a 5-year old who didn't get his way. He threw a hissy fit because we wouldn't trade him to our competition and he entertained the notion of throwing away 16 years of the Packers catering to his every need in the blink of an eye. His character that was nearly spotless for the entirety of his career is now in shambles. Worse than that, Brett became bigger than the organization itself. Brett's stupid ESPN Bottom Line category to himself just irked the crap out of me. It made it seem as if Brett made the organization. This is why the coverage of our fans annoyed the heck out of me, too. Did anyone notice that they only seemed to pick the mindless, one track-minded people who thought Favre was a god, who seemed to be more interested in Brett's well-being than the club's? I never once saw people with my opinion represented, and I'm sure there are many. They chose the fanatics, the hicks with four teeth in their head and beer bellies painted with "We Want Brett!".

No, maybe Aaron Rodgers won't turn out great. Maybe there will be some years of struggle ahead. But sooner or later, the process has to begin, and the earlier it does, the earlier we get closer to glory. For these reasons, I say "Good Riddance, Brett Farve" as he moves on to the New York Jets and the Green Bay Packers move on without him.

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In happier news, the Toadies are putting out a new album at the end of the month. You may have read my earlier post about how I wish they'd get back together. Well, good news, they did, and I saw them last week. The concert was amazing, and Vaden Todd Lewis' voice (at 42) sounds as good as ever. The dude has a glint in his eye when he sings that makes it clear that he still loves what he does. Thus, I am making the song of the day "Backslider" by the Toadies.

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"Backslider" by the Toadies at YouTube