Blast From The Past

Let's take a spin in the time machine- say, January '05. Good time to be alive. It was the last time I mentioned this song.... it's by Self, another band that I know nothing about. Their style is all over the place, from pseudo-R&B back to singer/songwriter "poems" and all-good Indie Rock goodness all over the place. True to the new wave of rockers out there, all of Self's B-Side albums are available for download at their site. There is a ton of music there. Anyway, the song is Self- Let's Pretend We're Married and it's one of those songs where you're not sure if you like it...and then you get to the monologue...and you realize you'll be listening to it again. And again. Repeat becomes your friend.


Edit- OK, I realize that's a ton of Self songs to wade through. May I also recommend the pseudo-pop song, Self- Anything Is Impossible. And now I remember the circumstances in which I found Self- one day, an exceptionally bored me went online and began searching for music. I was making a list at the time of CD's that I wanted. I stumbled across several "Best of 2004" lists from bloggers; Self was mentioned in one of them. That led to me finding their site, downloading all the free stuff to my iPod, and spending a completely random day in the city listening to their songs. If you listen to more than a couple of songs from Feels Like Breakin' Shit, you'll know exactly how weird that day was.

Things Were Different Back In The Day....

1920's Dog Repellent
Originally uploaded by TheIndieKid.

Kids were beaten by the good nuns. Boys got cars. Girls got dolls. Men were men. And dogs were.....running wild, destroying gardens and terrorizing humanity? In a classic "wtf" moment, I uncovered this bottle of dog repellent in the basement of the old house while clearing it out today. The caption reads: "New Liquid Chaperone Spray Dog Repellent" and then "STOP Dogs Ruining Your Garden." Finally, the green words at the bottom read "America's Finest Dog Repellent." Alrighty then. Of course, that last line implies that there were other dog repellents out on the market. This is about the time that I start viewing my grandparents with suspicion.

Work was great today. There's nothing like tooling around in the truck with Keith and Dan collecting trash, only to realize that it's raining, and it's raining hard! At the time, we had all the trash bagged and in the back of the truck. We drive up to the dumpster, count down, dash out of the car, and in less than fifteen seconds flat empty around twenty bags of trash into the dumpster. All while screaming our heads off as the skies pound us mercilessly, thunder thickens the air, and lightning flashes.

I'm not going to say I've been listening to this a lot. But Richard Cheese, a kind of psuedo jazz comedian, has a new album out. Listen to his montage.....the cover of "American Idiot" is particularly hilarious, and worth the entire CD, Apertif For Destruction. Yeah, Richard Cheese and Dog Repellent. Run 'a while you can, monkey-boy!

The Chin-Up Bar

The Chin-Up Bar
Originally uploaded by TheIndieKid.

I'm the kind of guy who does 75 crunches a set.....and does that set, along with varying amounts of push-ups and chin-ups and anything else I can think of, many times a day. Sometimes I do more....for kicks. I thoroughly deny this activity in public, but it's true. I also drink Gatorade before I go to bed. Just in case I lost electrolytes.

I'm the kind of guy, who, when presented with water in a restuarant, must gulp down that water. Must finish that water, must make sure no trace of it ever existed, before the waiter comes back. (Matt Hietrich, or however you spell your name: I will beat you one day at this)

I'm the kind of guy who means what he says, but doesn't always say what he means. I blame The Hardy Boys.

I'm the kind of guy who only lies when saying that I'm a compulsive liar.

I'm the kind of guy who reverse-engineers what everybody says. If I'm told it can't be done- I'll do it. If I'm encouraged to do something, my inspiration wanes and I dread the task at hand.

I'm the kind of guy who thinks fast, hears slow. Speak clearly on the phone, I'm still learning.

A Manifesto on Advice

Don't come to me for it. That's the gist of what I want to say here. Why do people continually return to me for advice? Sample tokens of wisdom from me include "Hold your ground, soldier" and "I don't know." I have absolutely no idea what's "going on." "Real life," per se, is a mystery that constantly eludes me. Now, don't get me wrong: I enjoy giving advice, and helping my friends. And I like pretending I know what I'm talking about. But I don't know what I'm talking about. So I give out these....euphimisms....because I don't know what else to say. And besides that notorious one time only "Strap on your snowshoes and take a victory lap around the Parthenon," (A piece of advice that I did actually receive; I still don't know what it means) I often times find the advice given by others, even those in parallel situations to my own, (cough, cough) better than anything I can come up with. So yeah....I would love to help everybody with their problems. But I can't even figure out my own.

On to music. Now, this song is not a "present time and mood" song. It's not meant to reflect anything about my own life...it's just a song I like. That's the only disclaimer. I first heard it, if you must know, the day of my sister's senior prom, and my AP US History exam. My first impression was "wtf, country music?" because I didn't remember ever saving a song of that genre when I was listening to the South by Southwest 2005 mp3's. But, apperantly, when I first heard this song, I was so taken in by the energy, the harmonies, and the sweet little violin section, that I decided to keep the song. I don't know much about Doyle Lawson, but apperantly he's an expert mandolin player (which shows) and he's also really old (which doesn't show....he sounds like he could be 26.) So give a listen to Doyle Lawson's Heartbreak Number Nine

Halo iPod

Halo iPod
Originally uploaded by TheIndieKid.

If there's one thing that's nearly impossible to do, I would choose the ability to apply music to a video game, or any other visual demonstration. When a game like Halo (the first one, not the second) comes along, and gets it all right, it deserves some praise. And praise it got. But this picture, I think, is a hilarious tribute to the musical prowess of Halo. Too bad Microsoft produces Halo.....Apple could have publicly endorsed this pic otherwise.

In other news (well look to the last post for random news) two new albums down the drain. Thankfully, my sister came back from a college initiation with two cds for me. <3 for people who know what I'm looking for; here's top hoping THOSE two live up.

I'm Not Scott

Some girl has called me nearly every day for the past two weeks. She started calling me around Christmas. I do remember Christmas Day, I got three phone calls from her within five minutes. I remember I was shocked- I was in South Carolina, and some random person was calling me with an 845 area code...maybe they knew me! But no- every time she calls, she asks for Scott. Every time but one, I have politely responded that I am not Scott. But not today. The second time she called me today (and the fifth in two days) I was in the middle of carrying a very heavy 1950's esque washer out of the old house and into a dumpster. I was hoping it was somebody else. But when it turned out to be "Random Girl," asking for Scott, I just said: "You know, this is getting a little ridiculous. I am not, have not been, and will never be Scott! Stop calling me!"

I'm not Scott. Please stop calling me. If it happens one more time, I'm going to add you to my cell phone as "RandomGirl." And then six months of payback harassment will begin. I think I'll change the names up on you, so that you won't get as depressed as I get everytime I see your number. But don't be surprised if every day, somebody's calling you to ask if Stephanie, Julie, or Andrea is home.

Work

Weee! Had to re-post that last one, due to a stupid mistake of my own.

Work was....long.....and quite boring. I hear we're actually going to do stuff tomorrow, but I'll tell you, making the painting of a curb last for two hours is not my favorite thing to do. I swear that several times when sitting down on the concrete slathering the curb with white paint, parts of my skin would fuse with the pavement. Not fun. But hey, I'm getting paid. Who am I to whine, right? But wait a second...didn't we paint everything last year? I'm more than a little sick of getting paint on me.

Sadly, some of my new music fell through. I'll keep only two of the five albums I listened to, and one of them will probably get deleted at a later date as it's not all that great. One of my older co-workers had an incredibly funny (and more than a little sick, I guess you could say) make-out song by a band called Pepper. Not sure if it's a college band or if it's out there. But hey, without the ipod my brains might have boiled away in the heat, so hey, that's something, right?

And congrats to DAN HAYDEN for calling me. Not that he reads this. But most of the people who actually know me do know him. It came out of nowhere to get a call from him (somebody who doesn't even go to my school anymore! Common, sweet irony!), and it was at the end of the day, but it was nice to actually talk to somebody. Oh, and Dan, if you do see this, how's the ska band going?

Still Waiting...

And while I do that, I listen to Goh Nakamura. I can't remember for the life of me where or when I first heard about him, and I know it was at a time when he had songs available for download from his site. Alas, that time is no more! But you can listen to his album here so you might want to head over there right now. Take special care to listen to "Alphabet Song" and "Natalie Portman." The former is a....love song....using all the letters of the alphabet to start each verse. The latter is (you guessed it!) a funny little song about said actress from Star Wars fame. Pay close attention to the words.

First of all, I love the "the recording studio is my room in New York City" sound that he has, and the fact that he has all these cool overlays that come in at different parts of the song. That's what really hooked me. I hear that he has thousands of effects pedals that he uses, so that when he performs live he's just a stomp away from sounding just as good as his recordings. Sweet.

Edit- Klaus mentioned the hilarious antics of Jon Stewart. Watch this clip (In Internet Explorer; my version of Firefox, at least, gags on it.) Stewart is consistently the funniest commentator on TV. Check out this link for an even funnier commentary on Michael Jackson's acquital. I love it.

Edit Edit- I forgot. I start work tomorrow. I hear that the work lineup is, shall we say, very sparse, and I plan on capitalizing on my free time. So, even if it's for no good reason at all, call me. I'll be up at seven, done by five.....8-4 are now my official visiting hours!

In other news, a fond farewell to Timmy Walsh as he sets out on a trip that I took two years ago, a freshman myself. He'll be biking 200 miles through New Hampshire; good luck Timmy! Also, today I was able to see what the barber was doing to my hair for the first time in nine years. Random, I know, but then I never thought it'd happen, so it's a milestone to me.

Good Morning Sun

A lot of people will read that title and think I am transgressing. Falling back into a hole. But I'm not. Not at all. For the first time in (*counts on fingers*) 8 weeks, I woke up and was glad to be alive. Something so simple as making a decision that, in hindsight, wasn't really even mine to make, makes me happy.

On my sidebar, I now have Liv's Livejournal linked. Naturally, she uses this oppurtunity to link to a pic of mine that, were I the same kid I was this winter, I would have called "faggy." But now I just know that I look stupid, nearly always looked stupid with glasses on. Thank god there are some people in this world who were able to look beyond those frames. In any case, I guess that picture shows how much fun I have.

Umm, Dream Theatre's new album, Octavarium rocks. The title song "Octavarium" is a tribute to the excellent band, Muse ...and that's a good thing. I would normally never recommend a band that was described as "metal" but this is too good to be true. Every song is genius. And they're not all "uber-metal electric guitar" songs. They're all different, and they're all good.

Oh yeah, so today is going to be good. I mean, any day in which I wake up and have the insane desire to listen to Ted Leo & The Pharmacists' "Me and Mia," is a great day right off the bat. Add in a little Bright Eyes, a pinch of Ben Folds, and I'm already set. I could go to sleep now and be content.

There comes a time in every man's life....

Nearly beaten
Originally uploaded by TheIndieKid.

...when he must face challenges set forth to him by God. Or something like that. A lot of people have been asking recently how I got so jacked. I think this picture accurately describes the bulking up process.

-Three years ago now, my family had several trees cut down in the woods behind our house. Instead of paying for somebody to take the remains away, my dad made them leave the cut sections of the trees in a huge pile behind our shed. And we left them there.....until two months ago, when I finally got around to making use of the logs. Using a sledgehammer and a wedge, I've been splitting these logs into smaller logs that will fit into our fireplace come winter.

But today something different happened. I inserted my favored wedge into the biggest log I could find.....when it was nearly all the way in and the log hadn't split, I began to worry. No matter how hard I hit the damn thing with the sledgehammer, I could not split the log. So I took out my other wedge. You can see how well that went for me; it's peeking out of the bottom of the log there. Of course, the happy ending is that I was eventually able to split the log into several manageable pieces. (Flickr for final result) This stuff is hard work...hence the muscular build-up.

It would be pretty boring, I imagine, and much more lumberjack-esque, if I didn't have my iPod with me when I do this stuff. Heck, even when I'm mowing the lawn, I listen to my music. This was my first chance to listen to the Canada-import of The Planet Smashers- Unstoppable, and I'm sad to say that I am very disappointed. They were billed as the next big thing in ska....and I should have heard that and ran. Every song is standard ska affair- trumpets, beer lyrics, rebellion....I don't know if it's because I already have Goldfinger and Reel Big Fish, but this stuff is boring. Ironically, the only non-ska song on the album, "Looking For a Cure," is by far the best song on it. If this was the corner-song of a niche Indie Rock band, I'd say they would go far. But, instead, it's the oddball piece on an altogether forgettable album. When this gets released Stateside on July 2nd....don't buy it.

EDIT- So I go into Cosco to check out some aviators for my glasses-less eyes, and as I try them on, my mom remarks to me "But James, they're so big." Cue cameo entrance of never-before-seen girl. Cue completely random comment: "Yeah, but they're so hot." Cue exit of now-seen-and-never-forgotten girl. If you're out there- sweet timing. You completely freaked my mom out.

Vinnie's

Allie Andressini
Originally uploaded by TheIndieKid.

A post about my life? Sure. Just got back from Vinnie's party (pictures are up on the Flickr already; oddly enough, some of them already have views. Photoblog stalkers!) and I'm happy to say, I had a blast! The only thing I wish I had done more of was take pictures- me being the first one in the pool, me being pushed in later with my clothes on, the crazy good dancing that occurred when Billy Joel came on, and other moments all went uncaptured. Ah well. Oh, and an update on the silliness of my first post: I just don't care anymore. It'd be really cool, but it's not happening, and I've got too much else on my hands trying any more. Besides, what's fun about a relationship when it's all one person? And as far as too much else on my hands....I'm confused. I learned something several weeks ago that hit me like a ton of bricks. When I know what's happening for certain, I might be even more cryptic. Keep in mind that the better I am, the more cryptic I am. For the few people who think they know what I'm talking about: call me. We'll talk. (And Doug laughs.)

For your musical pleasure, try this. I have no idea who Popular Genius is. Or if they've covered anything else besides Guster. But, besides from the random "Barrel of a Gun" screamo thing they throw in, this is a great little medley of some of Guster's best, performed by an extremely talented bunch. Hell, I like the super-hick version of "Jesus" to Guster's "I'm kind of a hick," way.

Lack of Music

I apologize for the lack of updates here- I am currently without my ipod and without tunes on the go I have very little time to listen to new music or evaluate current, un-listened-to material. I am still very excited about the Better Than Ezra cd, as well as the new Foo Fighters album due out soon. As soon as I am re-united with my ipod I'll be having more regular updates.

In other news, I've been invited to go to a party, dressed in "Summer Semi-Formal" attire. What the heck is that? I've heard everything from, "you should go in a tux" to "flip-flops are fine." Hmmmmm.......

Blogs!

A good friend of mine has set up her own blog here: check out Petite Fille Française's
ramblings on the French Revolution; I'll also add it to my links.

Currently already in residence on my sidebar is the great BlastRadius blog, and Fluxblog, where a lot of great discussions go on, both about music and life; Klaus' blog is run by a good friend of mine, and also contains some great observations.

I'm currently listening to: Better Than Ezra- "One More Murder," and I like it. I hear they have a new ablum out. If I can scrounge up some cash, I'll get that and blog about it.

Summer Music

Summer's coming, and with it a new style of music to listen to. I associate listening to indie rock bands like Interpol and Wilco with cold weather; my warm weather alternatives come from a band and an artist- Hot Hot Heat and Jack Johnson.

Watch the videos on Hot Hot Heat's site. Especially "Goodnight, Goodnight." Disregard the trippiness of the video- just listen to the music. It's easy to imagine being down at the shore.....a volleyball net is set up on the beach, people are doing cannonballs into the waves, and HHH is playing. Yeah, they're from Canada. Yes, the lead singer's voice is either love it or hate it material. But if you do love it, the catchy beats and lyrics from HHH will quickly become your friends. I too was skeptical at first listen, but quickly found myself playing nothing else. Oh, the beach awaits.

And then we have Jack Johson. One minute, a professional surfer....the next, some guy jamming out to a song about banana pancakes. Using only his guitar and excellent voice, he quickly rocketed into the forefront of musical attention; for once, a good thing, as not only is he not bad, but he has three albums under his belt now- with the latest, On and On, he has proven himself to be consistent. And the songs, from "Banana Pancakes" to "Sitting, Waiting, Wishing" all evoke images of an island, hammocks, and fun time on the beach. School will be out soon- and with these trusty picks in hand, I'll always be ready for summer.