Why don't I like spaghetti?

It's bland.

College Sure Has a Lot of Stupid People

Make sure, make sure, make sure...

...that if you respond to an e-mail that a Professor sends out to a whole class...

...you don't hit the "reply all" button...

...and e-mail the entire list-serve the most stupid e-mail ever.




Hello Professor L_____,


I am emailing in regards to the final exam. I have a bit of a conflict with the exam time and am wondering if it is possible to take the exam at a different time.


I am the pitcher on a slow pitch softball team, and our first game of the summer is the night of the exam at 6:00. I realize that this reason is not as justified as perhaps a job or an appointment but I felt I needed to ask. I am the only guy on our team that knows how to pitch and if I can't make it, it will really be detrimental for my team. However, regardless of the position I play, I know this still isn't something that you may see worthy of an alternate exam time, and I respect that. I just thought it couldn't hurt to ask.


Thank you very much Professor. Hope you enjoyed the great weather today!


B_____ D______





UPDATE 4/28/09 The professor has informed me that the request has been denied. My request to move mine, however, as I have three exams in 24 hours (which by school policy allows me to move one of them) was granted. Sucker.

I Don't Swear, to Tell You the Truth.

Anybody that knows me even remotely well knows that I have never sworn or cursed or said certain words. Well, some people claim to have, but that's mostly because for some reason people have a hard time believing I haven't. But I haven't.

But people do have a case in pointing out that there are some contradictions in my method. I have a shirt that says "F*** 'Em Bucky". I say some words that people find offensive like "douche bag". Sometimes I do type "WTF". Some of my favorite music and movies have a filthy word every two or three seconds.

So maybe I should explain myself. I have to a lot, but when put on the spot I tend to not explain it the way I'd like. My reasons for not swearing have changed over the years. As a kid growing up, I was taught that swearing was wrong. When I started playing hockey, I was somewhat uncomfortable because I played with 8-year olds that had the mouths of sailors. I gradually became immune to it but knew it wouldn't be allowed in my house, so I worried about getting to much into the habit if i partook at practice, opening myself up to a slip at home. So I restrained myself.

It almost became a game over the years. It went hand in hand with drinking with me. While I wasn't morally-opposed to swearing, nor people swearing around me, it became something that I wanted to prove to myself that I could go through life without doing. I had come all this way without it, to give up now would be a sign of weakness.

When I hit 21 I drank for the first time. But I haven't sworn. You might ask, well why not? You are exercising a right by drinking at 21, why don't you exercise a Constitutional right in freedom of speech? Good question, hypothetical person. The truth is that in the home I was raised, the only time I heard swearing was in anger. I in no way grew up in a bad home, and I'm sure this is an experience many people have. My parents didn't swear in their jokes. They swore when they were really mad. That's when you knew a situation had escalated to serious proportions.

So part of the reason I've never sworn is because I don't want to say things I won't regret. Swearing is all fun and games when it's part of a joke or for shock value or whatever. But using them as names can serve as daggers in an argument. Some of the most hurtful things you can say are eliminated by not swearing.

Part of what spurred my analysis is the fact that I've been enamored with a certain song this week, and the chorus is so infectious that I want to sing the very harmless, not-even-curse-usage of a word. That song is "Oscar Wilde" by Company of Thieves. Company of Thieves is an up-and-coming band, although I'm going to find it very interesting to see where they go in the coming months. Their style is perplexing to me. I have no idea how to characterize them, except for as good. I mean, I could pick apart their influences, but I don't know who they fit with. Pitchfork probably won't be doing a review on them anytime soon (I'll let you know if I'm wrong) because it's not weird enough to be "indie" (which believe me, isn't an insult to indie, as most of my music falls under the category). However, I also don't see their music receiving much airplay. It's not "alternative" in the punk/emo sense, and it's definitely not poppy. Genevieve has a ridiculously beautiful voice, with shades of Bjork when Bjork's not screeching, Feist, Regina Spektor, and more. Basically, the "problem" (if it is one) lies in the fact that their music is not the same throughout the album. "Oscar Wilde" would give you the impression that the music's going to be very solemn, analytical throughout. But then you hear "In Passing", which is jazzy and soulful. It's all very confusing, but also very easy to enjoy.

While I was researching the band, I found out they had been on Live From Daryl's House. Any Hall and Oates fans? Daryl Hall and his band play songs with a guest artist each show. The dynamic between Gen and Daryl's voice is beautiful. She really displays her pipes in these songs. So, I'm going to post both "Oscar Wilde" and the "Past the Sleep" vid (one of CoT's songs) from Live From Daryl's House that I've been watching over and over for the last week.

Notes to Myself

These are notes I have written / kept mentally logged in my head today.


1. Visit the Palace of Versailles when I take my dream trip to Europe.

...which will probably never happen. Also, count how many references to the sun I can find in the palace. For any of you that don't know, the Palace of Versailles was built by Louis XIV. He had an ego that makes Lindsay Lohan look like Mother Teresa. He called himself the Sun King (the link is a glorious painting of him as the sun in a ballet as a teenager), a reference to the idea that France should revolve around him. You know Divine Right? God chooses the king, king's the closest thing to God on earth, yadda yadda yadda? Yeah, that's your guy. You can imagine then, that a palace that guy built would be extravagant. You can also believe that the guy basically bankrupted the nation and taxed the peasants to an extreme.


2. Read a book on Peter the Great this summer.

The guy knew how to party. He basically trashed the houses of people he stayed with during his "Grand Embassy" tour, in which he went to Europe to observe the practices of Western culture. He was supposedly incognito, but he was 6'8" and had 250 servants and aides with him, which tends to be a little inconspicuous. He also had this thing called the "All-joking, all-drunken assembly", which was literally where he and a bunch of nobles got together and pretended to be Eastern Orthodox clergy, basically worshipping alcohol instead of God. However, Peter was also insanely cruel. He suspected his son of trying to overthrow him, an accusation that likely lacked legitimacy, having him tortured in prison until he died. Also, during the Grand Embassy, when he wanted to see how the English did executions, he encouraged them to use his own servants when they didn't have anyone on the chopping block that day.

Doesn't dude sound interesting?


3. Get Nutter Butters for the weekend.

I haven't had them in about 5 years. Plus, I gave up chocolate for Lent, so I haven't really had a cookie in about a month.


4. Never sit next to the fat kid again.

I don't mean to be mean. But first off, the guy didn't even give me a chance to get up before he climbed over me to get to his seat. Then, he totally took up about half of my space. Finally, he wheezed and made weird groans all period.


5. Twilight is the female's Star Wars.

By this I mean a couple things. First off, I have a feeling that 20 years from now women are going to remember where they were when they saw Twilight for the first time, and they're going to remember the exact number of times they saw it in theaters. Secondly, it's pretty dorky. Third, there's a ridiculous amount of Twilight memorabilia out there. I'm sure Twilight conventions are right around the corner. No surprise here either: There's a sequel in the works. So now we have the spots filled up for most demographics. Star Wars for men, Twilight for women, and Harry Potter for kids. We're just waiting on the senior citizen cult classic...


I can't believe I haven't made a song by these guys song of the day yet in the past, but yesterday a guitar solo by the Whigs turned my day around, so I kind of owe it to them. Here's the Whigs with "Like a Vibration"

People Like This Make it Hard to Write Off Humanity

Basically, I often get to points where I'm convinced that there's no one in the world that wants to make it better for everyone before they make it better for themselves. Until I come across someone like this . Her name is Katie Sokoler and she's an amazing photographer. Her work is everything that's cute and innocent in the world. Here are some of the highlights.

She took a picture of 100 (101?) strangers. In three hours no less. Genius! How awesome would that be? How much would it brighten your day to have someone come up to you and ask if they could take a picture of you smiling in front of a colorful backdrop. Some people would find it creepy or a waste of time, but those aren't the people you'd want to meet. Thus, it would seem you would find 100 genial people. This picture is one of the most beautiful I've ever seen just because of what it represents.

She put pushpin ladybugs outdoors purely because she believes that seeing a ladybug brightens people's day. Along the same line, she wrote messages like "You are loved" and spread them around an airport so people who were stressed would have their day brightened. And this was after she missed her own flight! Most people would sulk. I would sulk.

She spent an entire summer recording street performers because they represented something beautiful and familiar. Watch this video and try not to feel warm and fuzzy inside.

I was talking with my friend Katie about how beautiful the world would be if it were made up of people like this woman. Everyone would hug every stranger they passed, dance parties would break out spontaneously, teddy bears would be free. How awesome would that be?

Here's Lisa Hannigan with "I Don't Know" as the song of the day to give a warm and fuzzy soundtrack to this warm and fuzzy site.

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