Music You Should Be Listening To:

Just a couple quick hits first, not anything incredibly brilliant, but a couple things I thought were interesting and worth a quick listen:
Gramophonedzie – “Why Don’t You”
It’s a house remix of Peggy Lee’s Why Don’t You Right (Get Me Some Money Too) a very recognizable blues/jazz standard.
Ellie Goulding – “Starry Eyed”
Not sure why I like this, it’s a bit too “pop”-ish for me, but it’s an interesting track. Kinda catchy and fun to listen to. I think it’s pretty well produced as well.

Really what you need to be listening to right now is Weezer’s latest album Raditude because I’ve realized this is what I want all music to sound like. Filled with brilliant melodies and song structure, it’s an album that I’ve had on repeat the past couple days. I spend a decent amount of time, but not that much, scouring the web for music that I might like. I listen to a lot of pop-punk/indie rock type stuff for the most part, but what I really want is happy music. After going through band after band, I come back to a Weezer album or song and realize that was what I was looking for all along. Then the album fades into the background as other music comes to the forefront, but I can never get tired of Weezer. Weezer could sing about pancreatic cancer and make it danceable.

I’ve actually only seen Weezer live once, at this past years Virgin Mobile FreeFest, and I can honestly say it was an awesome experience, but my favorite Weezer memory was not at one of their concerts. At a Relient K concert a few years back they had a sing-a-long portion in the middle of their set and they played Faking My Own Suicide and one cover. They said they had been looking for a song to cover that was the right type of feel and that everyone would know and be able to sing along to and finally picked a song. Then they went on tour and realized their audience was too young to remember the song they chose. Anyways, they asked if people knew Weezer and everyone cheered, but I was relatively sure half the audience was in diapers when the Blue Album came out. So they start the intro for Surf Wax America and I get excited thinking, “There’s no way people don’t know at least the chorus of this song.” I was mistaken. It was me and a handful of others, they could even have been parents of the kids in the audience, I don’t know, singing along. Either way, it was a song that I love and it made my night that Relient K would pick that song.

Anyways getting back to the album, their single (If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To is a great driving song and the perfect opening to this album. I actually haven’t read any other reviews about this album which is rare, but I’ve decided to kind of ignore critics when it comes to Weezer b/c they all have one album that they want the band to sound like and they never seem satisfied with their musical direction. So I came into this album blind for the most part, which was cool and led to several moments where I had to go back and relisten to a track because I had one of those moments where my mind was rocked, but I wasn’t even sure what just happened. The album continues on track after track pretty much as one non-stop party with just enough lower energy songs to let you catch your breath.

I wanted to pick a couple tracks to highlight, but as I kept going back track by track, I realized I basically liked them all so I’ll let you listen for yourself and pick what your own favorites. My brother did yell at me yesterday for singing “I can’t stop partying, partying” all day yesterday… The more you know about Weezer the more you can appreciate Rivers’ lyrics as he speaks pretty personally through his music. Also, fyi for those who didn’t know, Rivers’ is a vegetarian, he doesn’t swear in his music and he doesn’t drink or do drugs. Then the lines “Your mom cooked meatloaf even though I don’t eat meat/I dug you so much I took some for the team” makes even more sense and many of the other tracks even more ironic, such as Can’t Stop Partying, which features Lil Wayne.

All in all, it’s a great album throughout and the extra tracks on the deluxe edition contain relevant work worth listening to as well.

iPad?

I love that this device has become so controversial. People seem to love to hate it, but a lot of people seem interested by it. What I’ve seen for the most part though is that the people who hate on it either point out the technological flaws in it or just hate on the fact that it’s a giant iPhone/iTouch. I’m gonna make a couple points, just a few quick thoughts that I had about the device.

First, it’s not intended to be an all-purpose computer replacement device. I’m not sure what you plan to do with it where you would need to multi-task, but if you can show me, I’d be much appreciated. I’ll admit, it is annoying at times when I’m playing a game and I need to quit to send a text message on my iPhone, but seriously it’s not that much of an annoyance. Additionally, I can listen to music and do basically all of the other functions anyways.

The second major complaint is that it doesn’t play flash. Well, that makes total sense because who’s gonna buy Apple’s tv shows and what not when you can access stuff like Hulu for free? Second, Apple doesn’t like flash, so why did people think that this device would suddenly incorporate that technology. Is it limiting? Yes, and you can’t view websites that utilize flash so you are limited in your web browsing, but to me it doesn’t seem like that big of a deal. For the most part, flash games would require a mouse anyways.

The lack of a camera. This is the most idiotic argument for me because why the heck would you want to take crappy pictures from a giant board anyways? If I want crappy pictures, I have an iPhone and I’m sure everyone reading this has some sort of camera embedded into their cell phone. As a webcam it would be useless because how do you hold the board to make grab your face? You can say it would work with the dock, but that seems lame to me.

My opinion of the device is this: it’s for people who already have laptop or a netbook, and probably an iPhone or at least a blackberry already who want a device with a larger screen for the purposes of listening to music, reading books/newspapers/magazines and the occasional tv show or movie, especially while travelling. If you want it to replace your existing laptop, you’re fooling yourself. Mid to High end laptops today cost well above what the iPad is gonna sell for and though they have more storage, they generally have traditional 2.5″ SATA HDD, not SSDD’s. Netbooks with SSDD’s have similar storage capacities and cost a little less, but they don’t have a touchscreen or very good video support (mine sucks at playing videos and lags even with Youtube). A tablet PC will end up costing you several times what an iPad costs, though with significantly better features. I have a desktop, a netbook and an iPhone, and each has their place for me. I like devices that do what they’re designed to do and don’t worry about not being able to do things that I don’t really need them to. I don’t want a camera on an iPad because I will never use it, that’s why I own a “real” camera. I don’t need it to multi-task b/c that’s what my netbook and desktop are for. If I need more storage capacity, I have 1.5TB on my desktop with space for 2 more drives and external HD’s and I don’t really see the need to carry that much around with me. My netbook has decent battery life and I can do basic computing tasks on it and surf the web, but it’s not great with processor heavy tasks. My iPhone is great to have with me, but I can’t really read longer articles or watch video because the screen is too small for me. If I ever get an iPad, it’s to fill that small hole in my computing world that isn’t filled by any of my aforementioned devices. Maybe it won’t be an iPad, but unless someone comes out with a cooler looking, easier to use, more powerful device with a similar form factor at significant price discount, I’ll probably get an iPad eventually…and I don’t even like Apple.

Here’s my suggestion: If you have $500 to spend on a computer, just get a cheap laptop. If you have $1000, get a netbook and a desktop. If you have $1500 get a netbook, and either a desktop or a laptop with significant computing power. If you have $2000 to spend, get a netbook, a desktop and an iPad. Where computing power is these days, if you really have a need for lots of HD space and computing power, you need to get a desktop. It’s just silly to carry around a laptop with all of your pictures, music, data, etc that can get easily damaged or stolen. It also just ends up being heavier than you need. I have encountered times where my netbook was insufficient, but then I usually just realized that the task wasn’t extremely urgent and I could wait to get to my desktop to complete it. Once again, multiple dedicated devices trumps one all-in-one device and you also get better value for your money.

Also, I hate the name for the iPad. It reminds me of the MadTV skit. Actually, the most brilliant thing about the iPad is the pricing. I don’t know how much they’ll be making per unit, but that is a very tempting pricepoint…

Music You Should Be Listening To:

I’m gonna make this a recurring theme. Today’s vote goes to Sherwood- QU. Brilliant album, love the lyrics and the musicality is excellent. I saw them open for Relient K a few years ago and they weren’t that good, but they’ve gotten a lot better over the past few years. Even better, the lead singer plays the bass, which as everyone knows is the most important instrument in a band.

Digging through the old music bin

So I’ve been on an enormous Beatles kick the past week or so and I can’t seem to shake it. Their songwriting was just so brilliant and I can’t believe I didn’t listen to them more before. I could listen to just the Beatles for the rest of my life and feel satisfied. Anyways, if you haven’t really listened to the Beatles, do so. Now. I liked them and respected their music conceptually, but I realized I hadn’t listened nearly enough to them in the past so I got the new stereo remastered set from my friend and my world was rocked. I wish people could still write music like them, they were way ahead of their time. The more you listen to them, the more you can hear the influence they had on later artists and how even today, people try to replicate their style. And I can’t say enough about Paul McCartney’s bass lines.

Also, I recently acquired the hardware necessary to access some old hard drives so I started looking at what I hadn’t listened to in a while and two bands jumped out at me: Superdrag and the Juliana Theory. Superdrag was a band popular in the mid to late 90’s and they have a sort of punkish 60’s feel to their music. You can definitely hear the Beatles and Beach Boys influences, but then the next song really lets you know it was written in the 90’s. Either way a very cool band that had a come back tour last year and I think they’re back together again. The lead singer, John Davis has a very cool testimony and his solo album was excellent too.

The Juliana Theory was a band that never really got too famous outside of their fan base, but nevertheless put out a few excellent albums before breaking up and moving on. If you’re into the pop punk sound, they’re worth checking out. They are having a reunion tour, but unfortunately, the closest location is in Philly…maybe I’ll have to take a little road trip…

Music I’ve just been listening to:

Jonathan Coulton- Code Monkey
I love this song because I think it’s hilarious and a bit sad. Coulton’s a very fascinating songwriter who takes rather urbane subject matter and everyday events and compiles them into a quaint ballads/commentaries on modern society. Maybe that’s elevating what he does a bit too much, I mean it doesn’t really carry much weight in terms of historical musical value, but it is entertaining. He’s also very ridiculous.

Muse-United States of Eurasia (+Collateral Damage)
When I heard this song, halfway through I thought it changed tracks. At times a bit of a post-apocalyptic Queen feel, very Bohemian Rhapsody-esque and finishes beautifully with an instrumental based on Nocturne In E-Flat Major, Op.9 No.2 by Frédéric Chopin. I don’t really listen to the words or pay attention to what they mean with Muse because I really don’t care, but their music is excellent. Kinda like the Kings of Leon, I have no idea what anything means in their first two albums.

Now that my computer is back up, hopefully I’ll be able to add stuff to this as well.

My wonderful computer is now working again; actually it’s been working for a few weeks. The motherboard stopped working so I sent it in to ASUS for repair…they sent it back to me and I don’t think they did anything, although it was in “repair” for a couple weeks. I had basically decided by then to chuck it and buy a new one, but I thought I might try one quick thing: I reset the clock on the motherboard using jumpers and that fixed it. I can’t believe they didn’t even try that before sending it back. Anyways, now that it works, I can actually upload pictures and what not, which means I should probably take more pictures, which inevitably means the hunt for new gear. Next on the list for me is probably one of the old Canon 28-70mm f/2.8L’s or something in that vein. I’m tempted to get some strange prime lens also, but I think at some point I’m going to have to get a lens that covers at least part of the normal zoom range…but those lenses are boring. I also need to get a new flash because mine is no longer working…the list never ends. I really should stop buying things too.

In other notes, since my last post, the Dallas Cowboys have gone on quite a run and hope to knock out Minnesota this Sunday. I love it when people talk about players having “breakout” seasons or “coming out of nowhere” especially on the Cowboys because a bunch of them I’ve been eyeing for a while. For instance, all Cowboys insiders knew Miles Austin was the heir apparent to TO’s vacated #1 WR slot this past offseason. Jerry Jones even stated explicitly that he wasn’t worried about the loss of production because of his faith in Austin. Also, I’ve been watching Doug Free carefully since he was drafted, strongly believing he would one day start on our O-line. Now all we have to hope is we don’t lose him before Flozell retires. Also, anyone who criticizes Jerry Jones as a “meddling owner” doesn’t know jack about Cowboys history. First, the Cowboys dynasty of the early 90’s would not have been possible without him. The difference between him and some of the other owners is that he actually knows what he’s doing. Not only the owner, but also the general manager, he was the one who picked Aikman and Emmitt Smith to complete the trio known as the “Triplets.” Jones was the one who had the balls to fire Tom Landry. His decisions and choices haven’t always worked, but he transformed the Dallas Cowboys from a mediocre franchise with poor fan attendance and support into “America’s Team” with one of the largest fan bases in the US. I’m willing to admit that the dynasty he created was probably cut short by his own actions and inability to compromise, but without him there would have been no dynasty to speak of. Continuing as the Dallas Cowboys GM to this day, people often criticize him for being on the sidelines at important moments in the game and being too visible, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I don’t know how much farther the Cowboys will go in the playoffs, but I can say that position for position they are one of the strongest teams in the league. I’ve been burned too many times in recent history to have much faith, but I like the way our defense is playing, especially our front seven. Now that Anthony Spencer is coming along, I have to say we probably have the best outside linebacking corps in the league right now. With Mike Jenkins playing well and most importantly, tackling well, we don’t have to double up all the time on receivers. Sensabaugh also seems involved in every play in the secondary; I don’t know where he comes from but he seems to be constantly flying across the field. I would say the key right now to the Cowboys winning on Sunday and later in the playoffs is the consistency of Felix Jones. When he is healthy and running comfortably, he has insane potential. Unfortunately, every time he steps onto the field I’m afraid he’s gonna break in half. If he can stay in the game and continue to run like he has been the past few games, he has the potential to break free for a long run every time. He has had way to many long runs called back for penalties, and I think part of the reason may be he’s running too fast for his blockers (just my theory, I don’t think anyone else has said that yet). They’re not getting their bodies turned quickly enough to keep up. He seems to be using his blockers way more effectively now as well, which can only make him more dangerous. Minnesota’s D is not what it was last year, but it’s still strong. What has improved the most for them is their passing game, which is huge since AP has not had a great year, relatively speaking. The Cowboys D has not allowed a 100-yd rusher all season, so it’ll probably come down to Favre’s arm and ability to stay upright with the Dallas pass rush coming at him. We’ll find out on Sunday who wins that battle.

Check this out

http://thechive.com/2009/10/only-the-best-pumpkins-ever-17-photos/

Announcement

This is post is merely announcing that a post will be coming in the future. Blogs are hard to keep up…

Virgin Mobile FreeFest

Went by myself last night because the person I was going to go with wasn’t feeling well, but I had a lot of fun anyways. I didn’t get there until after church, but it didn’t really matter because all of the bands I really wanted to see weren’t coming on until the evening. I got there during Jet’s set, they were good, definitely a lot of fun, but I was more excited about the bands to follow. The Bravery came on next and they were very good. I’m a big fan of their music and it’s always more fun when you know the songs they’re playing. Their set had all of the songs I wanted to hear and they played a couple from their upcoming album. It was great to finally see them live.

The next band that I saw was Weezer. They were really the main reason for me going to this event because I’ve liked their music for years, but never got to see them live. There was no way I was gonna pass up an opportunity to see them for free. I don’t know what it is about Weezer’s music that I like so much, but I really like all of their albums. The lead singer, Rivers Cuomo, is just crazy enough…actually he’s quite loony, but in any case he’s hilarious because he doesn’t curse, so he uses phrases that make him look like he fell out of the 1950’s. I know a lot of people who like Weezer, but only like their Blue Album or Island in the Sun, etc, but I think there are great songs on each of their albums and the more I learned about the band and the conception of each album the more I grew to like them. A great concert for singing along and so many songs from over the years and so many memories tied to those songs. It was one of those concerts where each song transported me back to a time and a place and individual people, and it was rather nostalgic. They covered the whole span of their discography from Buddy Holly to Pork and Beans. I would have paid a lot of money to see them and probably will next time they come to town.

GirlTalk was next and he is insane. Basically one giant dance party. If you know who he is or have seen him in concert, you know what I mean. Definitely a lot of fun, but not for the faint of heart. There is no way to really describe what he does, his large screens stated, “I’m not a DJ” and it’s very true, he’s basically a musician with his computer and samples of other songs as his instruments. He creates new music with other people’s. Some describe him as a mashup artist, but what they do is not generally done live, whereas his is. If you like high-energy fast paced shows, this is for you.

Franz Ferdinand was last. I wanted to see them ever since I saw them open up some awards show a couple years ago. Another band for which I know most of the words to their songs. I listened to them a lot circa 2006, but haven’t as much as of late. Very fun show, excellent musicianship, solid set, a ton of fun. It was very smoky, on stage due to the fog machines and in the crowd…due to, well you get the idea, rather, uh, aromatic? All in all it was a great show and a wonderful end to a jam packed evening.

The lineup for this year’s Virgin Music Festival was rather fortuitous as all of the bands I just reviewed I had never seen live until last night but had wanted to for quite some time. I would have gone for any one of these bands, but having all of them in one place in one evening was well worth the cost of admission, that was free but i would have paid, and it was an epic concert experience. I’ve got a few more shows I’m planning on going to later this year so hopefully they are as much fun. I’m gonna hunt down a couple bands too to see if there are any shows within driving distance…if anyone is interested in going or needs someone to go to a show with, I’m always up for an adventure.

Fantasy Football

Well, it’s that time of year again.  I’ve found that I like watching sports less and less in general, but like watching football more and more.  Sure I’ll watch a playoff game in any sport here and there, but pro football I feel like I could watch every game, especially Cowboys games.  I love MD basketball, I’m getting more into pro soccer and Nascar, but by and large, those just tide me over until football season starts.  Baseball is not interesting to me, probably because I hate the Red Sox and the Yankees and all of their bandwagon fans, and the two local teams the Nationals and the Orioles suck.  I’m a Knicks fan but we’ve been bad for so long, it’s almost painful to watch now.  So football it is, America’s New National Pastime, and as far as I can tell, definitely the most popular sport to watch on TV.

Normally, I’d care about Dallas Cowboys games, and maybe a few other good matchups, but with fantasy football everything changes.  Draft a few Houston Texans or Kansas City Chiefs and now you’re watching games you normally would have never watched.  You start praying that your starters won’t get injured and your competitions does.  You don’t know how to cheer when your head to head against a guy who’s starting your star WR’s QB…do you want him to score or not?  You start dreaming up complex and idiotic plays in which your QB throws passes to the RB so that he gets a passing TD at least everytime the RB scores.  You obsess over 3rd RB’s on the roster and scour the waiver wire for that “sleeper” pick.  Your mood is severely affected by the success/failure of your fantasy roster.  If you’ve played fantasy football seriously, you know what I mean.

I have a love-hate relationship with fantasy football.  I love playing it, but it takes up too much time in my life and generally pisses me off with underperforming players and opponents who get “lucky.” This year I’ve decided to play and to win.  So with that said, here are my rosters for anyone who cares to follow along and see how I do.

The first draft was a unique league with the starters being 2QB, 2RB, 2WR, 1WR/RB, 1TE, 1K, 1DST, 12 teams, 16 round draft.  I ended up with:

Maurice Jones Drew
Chris Johnson
Tony Romo
Wes Welker
Matt Schaub
Greg Olsen
Lance Moore
Beanie Wells
Minnesota DST
Lee Evans
Owen Daniels
Felix Jones
Shaun Hill
Chester Taylor
Muhsin Muhammed

This has the potential to be a wire-to-wire champ, but also the potential for a major flame-out.  My starting RB’s are incredible, my QB’s good with potential for greatness if they can stay healthy, one WR is great and I’ve got some guys with huge scoring potential in Lance Moore and Felix Jones.  Since this league gives .5 points per reception, my RB’s are projected to be the top 2 according to my math (other than AP) and with 1 pt per 50 return yards, I’ve got a couple guys who could do some damage and score me points consistently.

My second draft is straight traditional default CBS settings with 1QB, 2RB, 3WR, 1TE, 1K, 1DST.

Matt Forte
Marion Barber
Roddy White
Matt Ryan
Eddie Royal
Felix Jones
Donald Driver
Eli Manning
John Carlson
Steve Smith (the Giants one)
Fred Jackson
Cowboys DST
Sam Hurd
Nick Folk

Ok, so I had some problems with this draft, so I wasn’t always sure who was on the board.  I would try to draft someone and it wouldn’t let me because they would already have been drafted, unbeknownst to me, so I would have to take someone who I was at least interested, which let to a few reaches.  I’m not dissatisfied with any of my pics, per se, but I feel like I left a lot of value on the table by not waiting on some of my pics and other times, I got sniped out by waiting too long.  In any case, I know I have a preponderance of Dallas Cowboys on my team.  I like the Cowboys and I want them to win, so if they do, my team will do well.  However, I know for fantasy purposes, it’s not good to have too many players from one team, so I will probably end up checking the waiver wire to swap out a few players if I can or hold them for a couple weeks and see if I can trade them.

Hope this year is a successful year of fantasy football.