D.C. day three.

So day three on my own in DC.
I woke up to Heather knocking on the door and cursing her stupid hotel key for not working again, stupid hotel keys. We went to breakfast/lunch at a little place called Cosi. It was very very good. I had a flat-bread sandwich with some chicken, some sliced tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and fresh basil, mmmmm. Heather went back to work and I did a quick google search to find the exact intersection to tell the taxi driver to take me to.
I hopped in the cab, "Could you take me to the National Art Museum on the corner of G street and 9th?" he responded with something that sounded affirmative. He drove for a lot longer than it looked like it should have taken on google earth and I was just about to say something to him when I saw G street and relaxed a little.
The National Art Museum was huge and it took me all day to go through it. I really liked the old Abraham Lincoln artifacts, they had a huge assortment of Civil War era paintings including a really old painting of Joseph Smith with an interesting blurb about the Mormons rapidly growing and evicting residents from their homes. Weird. Other items I really liked was the photography and portraiture exhibits and the marble sculptures. There was one such sculpture whose robe was sculpted so well I literally had to touch it to see if it was cloth or marble.
There was also a very weird exhibit. I'll try to explain in words as best I can. Imagine a room the size of a 2 car garage tall enough for a camping trailer. On one wall of this room were 16" TV's floor to ceiling; maybe about 10 TV's tall and 40 TV's wide. 2/3rds of these TV's were playing nonsense, no discernible reason to what it was showing, just video clips of very random things. Like men skiing, dancing people, cows, fences, roller skate wheels, bugs. then the other third of the TV's were all playing the same thing, which was also a bunch of randomness, save for the center TV which was playing........well porn. Well I guess it wasn't full on porn, but it was just a bunch of different clips of naked women laying on a couch doing weird things. One would kiss a woden totem-pole statue; Then one would hug a clear glass sculpture. One would try to make a cat lay next to her on the psychiatrist style leather couch, then another would push her boobs together and make a pouty face. Oh but it's okay it's art right? It was supposed to represent our plugged in world that's out of touch with reality. It was just nonsense and weirdness if you ask me. The little TV in the middle on the right up in that picture was the naughty one.

I took the Metro back to the hotel and waited for Heather to come back so we could go to her work dinner with her co-workers.
Bad idea. The dinner was at a Moroccan restaurant whose name I don't recall and it was gross. Heather wanted me to try some new foods, but this was so disgusting. Oh it can't be that bad, you might be thinking to yourself right now, but it was. To start with there was bread that was the consistency of cornbread mixed with a glue stick and the flavor of some carpet-based bread concoction. Next up, soup. The soup wasn't that bad, some tomato basil snap pea soup, which to me tasted exactly like a can of Campbell's vegetable soup, except instead the the familiar shapes and colors of vegetables, this new soup had strange shapes and most things I saw in the soup when I dared to look were white, and last time I checked, neither basil, tomatoes or peas are white right? Then after that they started serving this turnover looking thing which smell absolutely delicious and I was getting hungry after picking at my other food. The little turnover thing looked very good indeed, and then I cut it open. Apples? Honey? Pie Filling in the Center? Nope, chicken. Yep meat was wadded inside of this little turnover that was covered in cinnamon and powdered sugar, I tasted it and I had to swallow my gag.
At this time the belly dancer came out to dance which had a little too much belly and was little too old to still be a dancing, I tried not to make eye contact and told everyone at the table to avert their eyes so as not to lure her over. The main course then came consisting of "free-range" chicken and lamb Currie. I scraped all the weird looking stuff off of my chicken and ate just the meat part, tasted and very much disliked the lamb, it kind of tasted like fridge burned deer meat. I didn't get my hopes up for dessert which was a good thing because it was just honeydew and cantaloupe squares that were too soft and a very hot minty tea. I agree it's good to try new things to get yourself cultured, but I am not going to eat Moroccan again. Oh and also this all took place over a 3 hour time period, very slow service, and everyone else who works with Heather was getting drunk and trying to belly dance and/or arm wrestle anyone who was up for it. It was a fun weird night and dinner.
Long post I know.
-Reluctantly Cultured

D.C. day two.

Today while Heather was in meetings I went to walk the streets in search of some shops to take her to later. After forgetting to grab my umbrella and running back up to the room to get it and tuck it into my backpack side pocket, I started my long walk south toward the Georgetown shops. I was actually walking up to check out Urban outfitters of D.C hoping it had some cooler big city clothes than the clothes at the U.O in S.L.C. Too many acronyms?
There are a ton of people who walk the streets of this city, and surprisingly most were my age. Normally you see a lot of families or old people out, but this neighborhood is strangely young. With the neighborhood so young you'd think that most people would be here for the same reasons as myself, just wandering looking for shops. Of the conversations I heard they were all business conversations, people talking about meetings they had been, what the company needs to be doing, costs, projections, travels and company idiots. It makes me feel like there is hope for young people, such as myself, in the business world. Where I live the business class is so much older and it's very disconcerting to someone who wants to start there business career.After stopping buy some shops and making note of a few I know Heather would like to visit, I walked back towards and past my hotel to grab some lunch at a sandwich shop I noticed the day before. In a crowded intersection there's a small patch of grass and some park benches, in between the benches, on a grassy little knoll stood a women dressed in a tattered overcoat and a winter Russian style hat was screaming at the top of her lungs.
"You're stealing my life! This is my life and your taking it from me!" It was weird and kind of frightening actually. I wonder what this crazy lady would do if I yelled back at her. Do you think you're the only one who has a hard life? Everyone walking on this street is struggling with there own problems, why do you think we owe you anything!? I half considered walking up to her and slapping sense into her and screaming right back in her face.
I made it to my sandwich shop and sat at a table right by the window to watch people scurry by. After I ate and stood up to clear my table I noticed a small sign above. Handicap accessible only. Whoops. I made my way back to my hotel and up to my room, sat down and turned on the TV to the one movie channel we have, Blair Witch project was on. I was just starting to get into it when a tap tap tap came on the door, room cleaners at 3 o clock?! I was just leaving, I lied and went back down to the lobby to start my book. The Road by Cormac Mcarthy. The first twenty pages are great.
That was my second day on my own in D.C.
-Unexpectedly Grateful

D.C. day one.

I'm in Washington DC, waiting for Heather to get back from a business dinner with a few of her co-workers.
DC is great, flying in I sat on the left rear side of the plane giving me an awesome look at the Washington monument. Stupid ridiculous comments about it being a giant penis statue. The huge obelisk was fashioned after the Egyptian obelisks, which now are crumbled and ruined. The monument was originally going to be a pantheon containing statues of many great presidents to come, I think they chose the correct building plan.
The memorial side of DC seems like a different country almost, with such old buildings that look so oddly Un-American, while ironically they are supposed to stand for everything America is.
Sometimes I wish I lived in a very large, multiculturaly diverse city. I find it very refreshing to be around different sorts of people, breathing different air, thinking different thoughts, with there own worries and problems that are so very different from what I'm used to seeing.
As odd as it sounds I took my first taxi ride today, silently noticing the expansive trunk, nice leather seats, cigarette smell and an unusually friendly taxi driver, unusual only because TV tells me they are not.
We have a very nice hotel room that Heather's work is paying for, well all but one night. This nice hotel makes me want a different job more than I have in along time. My wife has an adult realistic job, she goes on business trips and works with real people. This is what I need, this is what I am going to school for. Do you ever feel like you are not where you need to be. You are not using your potential? I wish I could know what job I would be the very best at and I could feel good about working there.
I start school January 5th or 6th I beleive, I am only taking 9 credits until I can get back into the swing of all things school. I'm a little nervous for math, I have a hard time remembering what the instructor has taught me in math when I get home to do my homework. Maybe in highschool my mind was elsewhere, lets hope that's all it is. I 'm excited for my other two classes. Writing is something I usually like doing, and am excited to hone in on some of my writing skills Also I have recently become interested in philosophy. I hope this class is more of a discussion of philosophies rather than a study of philosophers.
I have all of my Christmas presents already purchased and ready to be wrapped and gifted. If you were lucky enough to be one of the few people I am giving presents to you will not be disappointed.
I bought the newest Killer's CD and so far I'm am not the biggest fan, feels like a record executive told The Killers that people were really into the eighties feeling of some of there songs off of Hot Fuss, so they tried to make an entire eighties album. Also I think Brandon Flowers wants to be Chris Martin of Coldplay so he's trying to mimmick him, which is so stupid because Hot Fuss is so much better than anything Coldplay could even try to think about writing. Coldplay sucks.
I'll try to post more frequently.
-Vocationally Dissatisfied

20-11 of 30

Okay part two, here goes:

20. Meteora - Linkin Park

After I had bought and listened to Hybrid Theory a million times, I was so excited for LP's new album to come out, and Meteora didn't disappoint, I think because of that and the earliness of my CD buying obsession I got my hopes up for other bands to always make consistently good albums, I learned quickly not to hope for much, but Meteora was exactly what I wanted, awesome hip hop beats, cool and catchy songs. True Linkin Park is directed at teenage angst, but I was a teenager and you better believe I had angst. Key tracks? Somewhere I Belong, Easier to Run, Faint, Breaking The Habit and Session, check it out!

19. She Wants Revenge (Self Titled)

She Wants Revenge? Sounds stupid. That's exactly what I said when I first heard their name, but this is a really cool album, true it's mostly synthesized sound and monotone melodies, but it's a dancey sex charged album, they're all awesome songs which would be perfect to listen to at work, but with their racy lyrics I unfortunately can't listen to them, such as the song Sister, which is about feeling guilty about taking advantage of a nun who would want nothing more than for you to do just that. This is the only album that has ever made me, yes me Craig, want to dance. Their lyrics paint a picture in your head of exactly what they're talking about. Key tracks: Out Of Control, Monologue, Sister, Tear You Apart and the Bonus Track. Such an good CD, and check out that album art!

18. Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace - Foo Fighters

You've heard about my disappoint already with the Foo Fighters and their stupid, unintelligible CD In Your Honor, this CD came out after In Your Honor and I had already given up all hope for the Foo Fighters so I wasn't expecting anything from this CD, it took me about 3 months before I even started listening to some tracks on, let me just say, they more than made up for In Your Honor, gone is the annoyingly loud songs and the boring slow songs on IYH, and here to stay are the classic Foo that made me fall in love with them in the first place, best songs are The Pretender, Let It Die, Long Road to Ruin, Stranger Things Have Happened and Summer's End, a really good album, Foo Fighters resurrected!

17.Transatlanticism - Death Cab for Cutie

This album, and I think many of you will agree, is what made Death Cab a good band, this CD is why I liked Death Cab in the first place. If you haven't noticed in my countdown already, I only like bands that have their own style, bands that sound like no one else but themselves, no one proves this more that Death Cab, they really are a style unto themselves, there have been copy cats, but none even half as good. The best songs on this CD are as follows, The New Year, Title and Registration, The Sound of Settling, Transatlanticism and We Looked Like Giants.

16. Narrow Stairs - Death Cab for Cutie

Wow! 2 albums by the same artist in a row! Death Cab's bran new album, you may have read my review of the CD a while back, probably not though, but for some reason before this CD came out I got really excited for it, I didn't even like DCFC that much, but when I heard the first single, I Will Possess Your Heart, I was hooked. I have been waiting for a really long epic song since Only In Dreams by Weezer and Come Back by the Foo Fighters, Death Cab didn't disappoint, they also didn't fall into the trap that happens to most indie bands who sign on a label, they make one good CD then wither and die. I skip only 2 songs on this CD when listening to it, every other track on this CD is awesome! Especially Bixby Canyon Bridge, I Will Possess Your Heart, Cath, Grapevine Fires, Long Division and Pity and Fear. Wow that's almost the whole CD right there!

15. Demon Days - Gorillaz

What's not to love about this album, I wish more rap/hip hop/ whatever genre you'd put this in, was like this album. I really like hip hop beats and well put together rhymes, but most hip hop is so f-ing stupid, really just so idiotic and lame. Demon Days though, well Gorillaz are in their own section of hip hop. Feel Good Inc. was such a monster hit, everyone loved that song when it came out and the CD is just as good as that song! Unfortunately Gorillaz are on hiatus indefinitely, which makes me sad, right at their peak they get out of the game. With songs like O Green World, Dirty Harry, Feel Good Inc. El Manana, All Alone, White Light and Dare it really doesn't make sense for them to quit, but I guess they left on a high note. Buy this CD.

14. Hot Fuss - The Killers

If you've never heard of The Killers, well where have you been the last five years, but seriously don't judge them by their name, they sound like they'd be a band like, Taking Back Sunday, or 30 Seconds to Mars, or Panic at the Disco, but they are not anything like them thank goodness. Man those bands suck. Anyways Hot Fuss was the Killers freshmen album and man! This album is so great! The Killers is also an album that's good for the girls and the boys, my wife absolutely loves this album and can't help but sing and snap and dance when it's on. I bought this CD when Somebody Told Me just hit it big as their single, I was taken by another song though, I couldn't get enough of Mr. Brightside, I told everyone to check out Mr. Brightside, but nobody could see past Somebody Told Me, but boy that sure changed in the coming months, the radio and MTV got a hold of Mr. Brightside and that song brought more success for that band than any other track on the CD or any other they have written to date! Best songs on the CD are, Jenny Was A Friend of Mine, Somebody Told Me, Mr. Brightside, Andy You're a Star and Everything Will Be Alright. I love this CD.

13. Icky Thump - The White Stripes

Oh what to say about the White Stripes? Now here really is style unlike anybody in the world. Sure they borrow from blues, they borrow for folk, but they are White Stripes and they know what they are doing, usually. With this album though they got it all right, every song, except that one weird one called St. Andrew, is perfect, they've tried and tried to get a perfect album for many years and this is it, or as close to it as they are going to get, mark my words, this is the album to be remembered. Long list of awesome here, Icky Thump, You Don't Know What Love Is, 300 MPH Torrential Outpoor Blues, Conquest, Bone Broke, Little Cream Soda, Rag and Bone, I'm Slowly Turning Into You, A Martyr for My Love for You, Catch Hell Blues, Effect and Cause and Baby Brother, whew, that's about every single track on the CD, I told you it was good.

12. Songs About Jane - Maroon 5

I bought this CD way back when me and my friends were first starting our band, this band is a band that made feel like I could be successful as a musician, they're really really good, but play simple things that I could make up, but then at the same time I really don't think I could ever make a whole CD as good as this. This CD reminds me of my younger years and all the girls I would play with :) more specifically when I first started hanging out with my current wife. But back to the CD, just awesome, Harder to Breathe when I first heard was a song I so wished I would have written, awesome instrumentation and lyrics, fun and awesome at the same time! These are the best songs, Harder to Breathe, This Love, Shiver, Tangled, The Sun, Must Get Out, Sunday Morning and Not Coming Home. This CD also is fun for a girl and a boy, like a Slinky!

11. American Idiot - Green Day

Topping out the middle ten of the countdown is American Idiot. Now this CD more than any other takes me back to a certain time in my life, what time? The Party Years. Everyone has them, the year or so in their life where they just party and do everything bad you could ever think of. This is the album I was listening to at this time. This CD came out back when I had long dyed black hair and liked to paint my fingernails black. This CD reminds me of partying with my then girlfriend/now wife when we very first started getting serious. The concert to promote this album was the first "date" we went on. But the CD itself. This CD is more to perfect than any other thus far on my countdown, a few songs I skip over sometimes, but mostly I just listen all the way through, well I always skip the first song and title track American Idiot, which is just so off the style of the CD it should not have even been put on it. Jesus of Suburbia is a sprawling epic songs with such awesome lyrics and music it really is a perfect song. Green Day started the whole Bush bashing epidemic that has plagued music ever since this CD came, and I am so sick of it now I refuse to buy any "political" CD AKA (make a CD that complains about the president and country because people will buy those the most) thanks record label exec's who've ruined a lot of bands for me. Green Day started and Green Day was sincere. This really is such a well written CD. This is the only Green Day CD that has even mattered to mention when talking about music, sorry Neal. Green Day didn't really matter until this CD came out, and man they really proved that they do deserve to be mentioned. These are the best tracks: Jesus of Suburbia, Holiday, Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Are We The Waiting, Give Me Novocaine, Extraordinary Girl, Letterbomb, Wake Me Up When September Ends, Homecoming and Whatsername. Seriously if you haven't heard this album or if you don't like Green Day give this CD a chance. I really don't like punk, but as you'll see in my top ten coming up it'll be littered with amazing punk albums, and this is one of the best.

Thanks for reading! Sorry it's so long, I could write forever about these things I'm so passionate about. Later!

30 - 21 of 30

So I originally wanted make of post of the top 20 albums for me, of all time, but that quickly turned into top 25, then just as fast to top 30, so here is the the last ten on the list, we'll break it down into 10 albums at a time so I don't have one mega post that's thirty feet long. Please read and comment, this took forever to figure out and to write and even longer to post these pictures. Thanks Ya'll!

30: MEMORY ALMOST FULL - PAUL McCARTNEY

Starting with the single Dance Tonight this album starts strong, and doesn't disappoint. I was nervous to buy my first Paul McCartney CD, I mean The Beatles are great, but I've been more of a written by Jon Lennon Beatles song fan than a written by Paul fan, but I saw the music video while me and my brand new wife were unpacking in our brand new apartment in a brand new town, it was a catchy song and Natalie Portman was in the video, always a plus. I needed a new CD and there was a Gray Whale just down the street, I ran down there and bought it and have loved it ever since, maybe it just reminds of the beginning of my marriage, but I always feel like listening to it. Key tracks include: Dance Tonight, You Tell Me, Mr. Bellamy, Vintage Clothes and Nod Your Head.

29: UNPLUGGED IN NEW YORK - NIRVANA

I think if you could somehow add up all times you've listened to any one album this one would be at the very top, well about 3 years ago I know it would. I put this album in the CD player at the restaurant I worked at back then and listened to it about 4 times a night! It's such an intimate album, it's as if Nirvana were in the same room as you, just playing for you personally. Key tracks: The Man Who Sold The World, Plataea, Oh Me and Where Did You Sleep Last Night.

28: SONGS FOR THE DEAF - QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE

When I first heard this CD it was in my first apartment with a stupid roommate of mine and has a man crush on Dave Grohl, he bought this CD only because Dave Grohl drums for them on this disc. I instantly hated this CD, for starters I did not approve of my roommates taste in uh anything really, and I was not going to condone his crush on Dave Grohl and listen to this album. I then saw the music video for No One Knows and that build up ending in a bass solo just grabbed me, I purchased the album and almost every song on it is great, and it is great because of Dave Grohl's drumming, every other QOTSA album is lame and I think it's in a large part to the drumming, don't tell my old roommate that Dave made the CD what it is, he'll have a man-gasm, but this CD is very very good. Key tracks: No One Knows, Song for the Dead, The Sky is Fallin' and Another Love song.

27: HYBRID THEORY - LINKIN PARK

This is actually the very first CD I ever bought, I loved how they mixed hip-hop beats and rock vocals and they didn't rap about loser gangster topics, a lot of these CDs on this last part of the top 30 are the CDs that helped form my opinions about music today, they kind of showed the way to what I'd eventually start liking, this album is an excellent example of that. Key Tracks: Crawling, In The End, A Place For My Head, Forgotten and Cure for the Itch.

26:NEON BIBLE - ARCADE FIRE

When I would tell people the kind of music I like, Arcade Fire was never mentioned by me, but the person I would be telling would ask if I've heard them and they thought I would like them. I checked out their EP and Funeral, they both had a couple okay songs, but nothing that made me love them, then I heard they were releasing a new CD, I wasn't too stoked about it. I heard some tracks, bought a couple on iTunes, but still nothing. I put some on my work playlist and every time on came on I would be turning it up and soon I would just be listening to Arcade Fire, Neon Bible is a very solid CD. Key tracks include: Keep the Car Running, Intervention, Black Wave / Bad Vibrations and No Cars Go.

25:SHOW YOUR BONES - YEAH YEAH YEAHS

This is the only, yep the only band I can stand that the lead singer happens to be a girl. I don't do that intentionally, girl singers in rock/alternative bands just suck! Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs is different though, it really seems like this is who she is, while other female singers seem to be trying to hard or pretending to be something else. I really really like this CD, well most tracks, but the tracks that are good are really really good, and these are those tracks, Gold Lion, Way Out, Phenomenon and, my personal favorite, Honeybear.

24: FASHION NUGGET - CAKE

Cake rules, if you don't know about Cake buy this CD. He is the best lyricist and the instrumentation is great! This is another CD that shaped how I look and listen to music now, almost every track on this CD is perfect. Key tracks are: Frank Sinatra, The Distance, Friend Is a Four Letter Word, Open Book, Daria, Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps, It's Coming Down and Italian Leather Sofa, yeah a lot of awesome songs!

23: OK COMPUTER - RADIOHEAD

Radiohead is one of the best bands in the world, and this CD is where they first proved it, with tracks like Airbag, Paranoid Android, Karma Police, Electroneering and No Surprises, there really is no need to say more, listen to these songs and try to tell me Radiohead isn't great.

22: STADIUM ARCADIUM

A year or so before Stadium Arcadium hit the shelves, the Foo Fighters released a double disc album that sucked, In Your Honor probably was THE worst upset for me in music ever. I was so excited for In Your Honor and it just sucked so hard. It taught me not to get too excited for any CD, so when I heard Stadium Arcadium was going to be a double disc I was, needless to say, scared. The first single wasn't that great and I was setting up this disc for failure before I even heard it. I bought it because, well they're the Chili Peppers, and after the first of 2 discs I was hooked. Dani California did no do this CD justice, nor did any of the other single they choose, but all the songs they didn't choose for singles are so well written and just overall great that this double disc album did not disappoint. Best songs are: Desecration Smile, Hard to Concentrate, 21st Century, Hump de Bump, Torture Me, Strip My Mind, Especially In Michigan, We Believe, Wet Sand and Hey. It really is that good.

21: GUERO - BECK

Beck's "come back" album if you ask me. This is such a fun album, that's what I love about the new Beck, the CDs are just so much fun. I love the urban beats and the dance grooves, the lyrics, synthesized sounds and instrumentation's are almost perfect. This is an album you could listen to all day everyday for a week and not get sick of it. Best tracks are: Que' Onda Guero, E-Pro, Girl, Earthquake Weather, Hell Yes, Go It Alone, Farewell Ride, Rental Car, and Emergency Exit. Man this is a great album

Well that's the first ten, it turned out to be a pretty long post after all, but it's still only a quarter of what I could have wrote about these albums, they are all just so amazing! Thanks for reading!

tour!

Hey!

Great news! Weezer's coming to Salt Lake City, I wasn't expecting that, that's for sure, especially after being passed by all my other favorite bands this year, ie. Foo Fighters, Radiohead and Beck. I am super excited, let's hope my ticketmaster pre-sale from my Red Album pre-order was worth it! Has anybody heard the new Faint CD? I am scared to buy it, for fear of suckage.

Also eighties sunglasses are in, I have a pair of shiny red ones that I don't stop wearing and I convinced my lovely wife to get some black ones, which I steal from time to time.

I purposefully chose a picture of the dumbest plaid shorts I could find for my picture, just so you could see the full lameness that is plaid shorts, I guess some plaid shorts would be okay, if they were black, with black plaid....:)

I have come to the conclusion that everyone should drive a scooter everywhere, if that was the case, carbon emissions would go down at least 1.2 million%, and if everyone were driving scooters, maybe they'd make a train that you could drive your scooter onto and the train would take you downtown and you could just scoot wherever you need to be. I am starting the revolution, I recently bought an Argo150-18 black and white scooter which kicks some serious behind, right in the face!

I am looking to watch some rad movies in the coming months, what are all your favorite movies? Classic Star Wars, Fight Club and Snatch are my favorites.

That's it for me today, thanks readers.

pants

Hello everyone,

I don't like plaid shorts, sorry.

I know a lot of people love them, but no thanks.

Modern Guilt and The Joker

Alright so, yeah I know it's been a while, but with no comments what's the point? I'm going to keep at it for a while thought, we'll see where it goes.

First up a short and sweet review of Modern Guilt by Beck:

Good not Great,

Modern Guilt is a pretty good album, so with the fourth and twenty-fourth of July fireworks still in my head I thought of this analogy. Modern Guilt is a dud, it's the firework that shoots some little sparks and afterwards everyone says, "That was it?" Now don't get me wrong, it's good music, but with the CD coming after Beck's last album it was sub par, and after all the other fireworks I've seen (aka In Rainbows, Weezer (Red Album), Echoes Silence Patience and Grace, and Narrow Stairs) it really is like a dud. Like in fireworks though I just might have got the dud firework, meaning a lot of other people's CD was probably amazing for them, but for me it just fell short

There are a few sparks shooting out of this dud, a couple bright ones too, album starter Orphans is a sweet track, Modern Guilt's not bad either, Walls and Soul of a Man are the best tracks on the CD, but Gamma Ray is just annoying if you ask me and Chemtrails was the absolute worst track to choose for a single. DANGER MOUSE IS OVERRATED! Beck needs to stick with Nigel Godrich and keep making fun albums, this album is taking itself too seriously, Beck's a lot more enjoyable when he's having fun, just listen to Dance Alone, Ghettochip Malfunction and Timebomb from previous albums. I hope after I've lit some more fireworks and I go check to see if this dud really is a dud it blows up in my face, but we'll see. Official Score: 71%

Second up let's discuss the Dark Knight shall we?

I've seen it twice and let me just say, it awesome the first time, and even better the second time, Jack Nicholson doesn't even compare to Heath Ledgers Joker. Joker's mannerisms are brilliant, he's crazy and creepy and at the same time funnier than hell. It might have just been because Heath Ledger recently passed away, (which is really sad because he was just reaching his apex of acting) but every time Joker talked the audience held it's breath, no sound could be heard except the craziness in the Joker's voice, this movie is 95% rad,The only parts I didn't like is when Batman talks in that weird rough voice, somebody get him a lozenge! Batman's motorcycle was cool except when it does that weird turn around flip thing on the wall after he flips jokers semi, also after the semi flips and the Joker comes out and is yelling "HIT ME!", why does Batman crash and get knocked out so easily, it's just weird looking. But if that's the only thing wrong with your movie you've obviously made a sweet, sweet movie. Well I'll check you all later.....probably.

Uh, Oh

Okay I just need to say this, I think Beck's album is going to suck, well not suck, but I have a really bad feeling about this album, I just needed to say this before it came out tomorrow and I can tell everyone I told you so. Old Beck just doesn't have all his ducks in a row with this one, the single is not phenomenal, the album art and promo photo's of him is just off, the style and feel of the album is just wrong. I'm nervous and I want it to do really really well, but I'm setting my standards really really low. I really want to love it. There's a couple tracks in my playlist at the bottom if you want to give them a listen before you buy. This will be the last of my favorite bands new releases for quite some time, all my fav's have released albums within the past year or so and now it'll be at least 2 years till any of them release anything, probably longer.
The funniest TV show ever poll is over and The Office ruled the school of course, with Arrested Developement and Seinfield coming in a close second. Family guy and Chappelles show only got one vote a piece, youch! I agree though, Office, Arrested Developement are Seinfield you could watch a million times and not get bored and it'll still be funny everytime!
There will be a full review up later, I'm probably not going to be posting after the review, I'm not getting very much traffic, please comment if you want me continue, or not, whatever. Check you all later!

The Polls Are In!

After a week or two the "who'd you rather do" polls are closed, Results? Jessica Biel, lost, big time with only one vote, she's dumb anyways, Keira Knightly not to0 far ahead of her, she being even stupider than Biel if you ask me. Scarlett Johansen and Jessica Alba tied for second, and coming first in the poll and my personal vote Natalie Portman! New poll up soon!

Beck's new album official comes out the 8th of July, preorders are available now on iTunes with an advanced ticket sale option, the new single Chemtrails is also starting to grow on me, go check it out!

That's it for me! Thanks for Commenting!

Coldplay and Such

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted anything, I had an awesome Lake Powell trip and had plenty of time to listen to Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends, by Coldplay.

Colplay as a band started pretty strong with there debut album Parachutes and hit single Yellow, I personally wasn't a Coldplay fan till their next album A Rush of Blood to the Head, I really like the piano in it, I'm a piano junkie, and with songs like Polotik, In My Place, The Scientist and Clocks, Rush of Blood was a must have album back in 2002. I was really excited to hear what else Coldplay could do, then X&Y came out.

Lame, I think that's the best word to sum up that album, Chris Martin seemed to be using the same old tricks to write "hits". The result, a mediocore and non-inventive album.

Fast forward to 2008 Viva La Vida is about to come out, there are 2 singles available, the title track Viva La Vida and Violet Hill, I was so dissapointed in Coldplay's last album I didn't even listen to either of them. I heard snippets of Viva on an iTunes commercial which was also a step down in my book, iTunes commercials are so stupid! I began to see album art for the new disc and promo photo's of the band for their disc which shot them wearing what looks like a highschool marching band clothes that they have been wearing for like 2 weeks, it's a wonder I even got this album at all. Then I heard Chris Martin's comment claiming that, according to him, Coldplay is the best band in the world. Wow............wow. Saying anything like that about your own band is such a stupid thing to say, he could say he thinks he works harder, he likes his music a lot, but the best band in the world? Far from it. Well let me get to the album itself.

Upon my first listen I felt like Coldplay was trying to use gimmicks to get more people to like, but after some more intense listening I could tell they were trying new writing methods and putting in some new instruments, it's more prog rock rather than verse chorus verse chorus of the usual softrock of Coldplay. I really started to like it.

It's a pretty solid album, with only 2 or 3 skippable tracks, namely Lovers in Japan, and Death and All His Friends, but there are really some good records on this album, Cemeteries of London, Lost!, Strawberry Swing and Violet Hill are my key tracks, Viva La Vida(the song) would be good if they put some heavier drums into the chorus, Yes, would be good if they didn't put that stupid Indian sounding strings solo into, but there's no hope for Death and All His Friends, it's just a dumb song.

Overall I think this will be their best selling album to date, the greatest band in the world? They are not. The best album ever made? Far from it. Solid, better than the average Coldplay album? You Betcha. Offical Score? 67%

High Ate Us

I will be leaving on Wednesday afternoon right after guitar lessons on a little hiatus, to go to Lake Powell in southern Utah till Sunday, it should be a pretty awesome trip. This blog is going to be postless for a bit. Sorry y'all, yeah I say ya'll sometime big deal.

Coldplay's new album came out today, first impressions after I listened to it at work it seemed like they were using a lot of gimmicks to hype up the album, strings and dancy muted sounding drums, but on the way home from work where I can really turn it up and listen I started to like it more. There will be a full review when I get back, I'll have plenty of time on sitting on a house boat for four days. You can listen some tracks down in my playlist.
Talk to you all in a few days! Please comment, and vote in the pole. Natalie Portman is killing! Yay!


Craig, out!

More of the Same

Well I bought My Morning Jacket's Newest Album Evil Urges, and the results are in...... more of the same. MMJ is the kind of band that you can't love till you see them live, and since I haven't i don't. MMJ music is the kind of music that you can put in a big playlist like the Firehouse playlist and even though it's playing nobody will ever hear it or ask about them.

There are some tracks on the album a little better than others, but nothing big enough to even mention, it might of been a better album had Weezer not come out a week before and I'm still blasting that every chance I get. Compared to the Red Album, Evil Urges fails in everyway. Needless to say I was dissapointed.

Official Score 58%

The polls are now closed and I agree with the majority, You Don't Mess With The Zohan looks so stupid that I would rather get teeth pulled than to have to watch it, I think Adam Sandler and Mike Meyers were hanging out one day and said to each other, "Hey let's see which one of us can make the stupidest movie in the whole world!" It's going to be a close call.

New poll up soon, thanks for reading!

Not Much...

Hey faithful website viewers,
Not much going on in way of cool things. After Weezer's release there's not much going on in the way of music, well till Tuesday anyways. On the 10th, My Morning Jacket's newest CD "Evil Urges" comes out and according to preliminary reviews it is going to be a milestone for MMJ and it will be very very good. So fingers crossed that the previewers know what they are talking about, I excited and I'll let you know how it is. The week after, the 17th Coldplay's new album will hit the airwaves, prepare for the worst and hope for the best, it helps with the disappointment of a crappy CD.
Check out the newest Coen Brother's movie trailer, BURN AFTER READING it looks funny/cool.

Below is a movie I made while writing some songs with my friend Nate, I knew no one would believe me when I told them what happened and they'd have to see if for themselves, so here it is...

If you can't hear it well this is what happened. A while ago, shortly after the formation of Sonance, we were just practicing some songs and messing around and we unplugged our guitar cable from our guitars and placed them on our tongue, the result was just a really loud annoying noise and you could move it around you tongue and the pitch and loudness would change, it was weird, but not as weird as what happened to me when I decided to place my cable on my tongue this day. I brought the chord up to my mouth and no noise came out, I cranked my amp up and what did I hear? An fuzzy old sounding Mexican radio station, it was creepy. I moved it around my tongue and the signal would get better or worse. Man it was weird, watch it again and see that I'm not just making it up, Neal if you're reading I'm talking to you.

Well that's it for me, I'll keep you posted! Thanks for reading.

-Craig

Weezer (Red Album)

The day is June 4th, only 24 hours have passed since I first heard all new songs off Weezer's sixth studio album.
There are few things in my life that I truly love in my life, BESIDES my lovely wife Heather of course.
These things, in no particular order are: that clop clop sound my long board makes when riding on sidewalks, the metallic sliding sound an acousitc guitar makes when switching chords, playing a brand new song you've writtten, all the way through with a full band for the first time and getting those chills when it sounds like a real song, and then times that feeling and chills by 10, when you play that song in front of hundreds of people and they love it as much as you do. At the very top of that list is the feeling I get when putting a new CD into my CD player and just listening.
The surprise, unexpectedness and unforseen... uh ness of a good bands newest work, and Weezer being one of my favorite bands of all time, you can just imagine what it's like.
I've already told why I love Weezer in my post "IT, is what they are" So I'm going to review this disc, one song at a time.

Troublemaker: The first track on CD's kind of CD set the tone for the rest of disc, this track leaked a couple weeks before CD so I got an early look at this song. Kind of a faster paced song, could easily be a radio sinlge, awesome and funny lyrics, 6.5 out of 10

The Greatest Man That Ever Lived: This song blew me away when I first heard it, this track also leaked a week or two before the CD. This song has like ten different parts all thrown together in one song, it's got rap, rock, falsetto (my favorite), and classic Weezer--esque parts. All in all just an awesome inventive song. 7.5 out of 10

Pork and Beans: This is their first single of the CD. The first single is always weird to me, it always seems like the first single is a song that sounds similar to their old stuff to kind of get the fans of the old CD's to buy the new one, it never really feels like it belongs when you buy the album later. Pork and Beans has similar sounds to some really old Weezer songs. This song was written after a meeting Weezer had with some record execs where he was told to be more commercially acceptable. Weezer's lyrics are so specific to Rivers you know exactly what he's going through, we haven't heard this personal of lyrics from Weezer since Pinkerton and I love it! 6.5 out of 10.

Heart Songs: This is Rivers/Weezers tribute to his influences of the past. It's his ode to his heroes. The whole CD is a little slower than the previously leaked tracks would suggest, but I'm all about ballads though. This song isn't too slow, just a good overall Weezer song, one of my favorite from the CD. Little does Weezer know that out of my like 50 or so personally "heart songs" they claim like 30 of them. 7 out of 10

Everybody Get Dangerous: This is the fastest song on the album, think Hashpipe, or We Are All On Drugs, just minus the drug references. This songs about Rivers and his friends being hellians in the past. It's a fun song, fast guitars, awesome drums and lyrics that remind me when I was a youngster. 6 out of 10

Dreamin': I freaking love this song, got a sublte blue album feel to it, musically and lyrics wise. This is the first song we get to hear some other band memebers sing a pretty main part of the song, in the bridge of the song Bryan Bell the guitarist takes over singing for a bit. He's not a bad singer. The song kind of has a symphonic feel to it. I love the lyrics to this song, some more personal lyrics thrown into the mix. 8 out of 10

Thought I Knew: Worst song on the CD, Bryan Bell takes over as lead singer and writer on this song, orginally written for his band The Rentels. He's got an okay voice and put together an average song, it's nothing compared Rivers though. This song has a 1990's feel to it. Give me RIVERS! 4 out of 10

Cold Dark World: One of my favorite tracks on the CD. Non-unsual lyrical melodies as far as Weezer goes. Written by Scott Shriner (Weezer's bassist) and Rivers, Scott also sings lead on this song, he keeps his vocals low on this song and grungy, but still epic. 7.5 out of 10

Automatic: This song was actually written and sung by drummer Pat Wilson, it's got some synthesizers and piano in it. A really good song, not one the best but still very good, but like I said before. Give me RIVERS. He knows how to write songs and can give me what I want.
5.5 out of 10

The Angel and the One: I really love this song, it's a slower track, reminds of Only in Dreams, a little. Awesome lyrics and instrumentation. Classic Weezer feel to it and a simple but amazing outtro. I really want to see this track live. 8 out of 10

Miss Sweeney (Bonus Track): This is definatly one of my favorites on the whole CD, it's worth buying the Deluxe Version of the CD just for this song. This feels the most like a classic Weezer song. A beatiful love song with a clever story in it. It's the story of Pam and Jim from The Office, with names changed to protect the innocent :) Just change Sweeney to Beasley and you've got their story. 8.5 out 10

Pig (Bonus Track): This song has been circulating the internet for months now and Weezer obliging to thousands of fan requests added it to this CD. I am really glad they did, fun lyrics over simple yet awesome instrument use. Story of being a pig, from baby piglet to slaughter house. 7.5 out of 10

The Spider (Bonus Track): This songs about, you guessed it a spider. A Spider stuck in a drain scared to die, kind of a weak song compared to rest, but listen to it by itself it can hold is own. 6 out of 10

King (Bonus Track): This song, written by Cuomo and sung by bassist Scott Shriner again is a really well put together song, I really like Scott Shriners voice in the songs he sings with Rivers doing some back up vocals. 7 out of 10

That's it, sorry it's so long, overall though Weezer's Red Album gets an 90% I doubt you'll see an album review that good again, unless I start reviewing old CDs.

Please support the awesomeness that is Weezer and BUY THIS ALBUM, don't ask me to burn you a copy, for some bands I refuse to be a part of ripping them off. :) Well let me know what you think of the album if you've got it.

Happy =w= Weezer Day!

Weezer album six is out! Self-titled, code named, Red Album. If you have yet to pick it up, run directly to your car, go to your local CD store and check it. Or buy WEEZER (RED ALBUM) at itunes.

I work at a resteraunt called FIREHOUSE in Centerville if you don't know, and in honor of the new album we had a Weezer tribute day. We listened to the entire discology that is Weezer, it was a good day.

Thanks everyone for voting in the poll, the results are as follows, The Last Crusade smashed all competion in the which Indiana Jones movie is the best, followed by Raiders of the Lost Ark in second, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in third, while The Temple of Doom got zero votes, youch! Be sure to vote in the next poll, it'll be up shortly.Hey if anyone wants a CD reviewed I'm am always up for listening to some new tunes and I'll let you know what I think.

I have to listen Red Album ten more times and I'll update with review. Until then stay sexy!

Craig "Eats all the cookies" Gramse!

PS: You can now search for my postings on Google, just type in: craigsep. SWEET!

News:

BECK has a song from his new album circling the Internet lately, I gave it a listen and added it to my playlist, give it a listen and let me know what you think. A little slow for a single if you ask me, still a good song but it doesn't make me too pumped for the album. Don't get me wrong I am super excited to hear what Beck's been a brewing with his fancy producer "Danger Mouse" but I'm also scared. Danger Mouse is one half of Gnarls Barkley and I just don't like Gnarls Barkley. Danger Mouse has produced several other albums that do not sound anything like Gnarls, The Black Keys for example, but I'm scared that with Beck's genre being kind of similar to Gnarls, Danger is going to push it in that direction. Let's keep our fingers crossed though. The Information is going to be pretty hard to top.
MUSE is in the studio again, thank you DEREK for the heads up on that one, after some research it seems the new album is going to be an experimental one. More electronic and dance than rock, while some tracks will have more of a symphonic feel. It's even rumored they'll hire an orchestra for a track or too. That'll be interesting. I seem to remember Metallica doing that a while back with mixed views on whether it was cool or not. I thought No Leaf Clover was a lot better with the backing of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. Only time will tell us if this approach will work for Muse, and when I say time I mean me. I'll let you know. As long as they keep the piano coming I'll be psyched.
I just bought my first My Morning Jacket CD and I am very impressed. They kind of remind of the Flaming Lips only not so crazy. I'm excited for their new album coming out June 10th! So.........,Um..........,SEX AND THE CITY, the movie, is coming out this weekend, and if you know HEATHER at all you know that that is what we will be doing at our earliest opportunity. I actually don't mind the T.V. series too much. Hopefully, like the series, the movie will have enough T&A to keep me interested:) The Strangers also comes out, but not only do I dislike scary movies, but the trailer for The Strangers was on a movie that me and Heather went to not to long ago and just the trailer itself almost made me wet myself, it looks like it'll be a good scary movie, but like I said they're not for me. That's it as far as movies this weekend. I am looking forward to STEP BROTHERS a lot. I'm a sucker for Will Ferrel movies, if you haven't seen the trailer yet check it out! Also THE DARK KNIGHT is going to be awesome I hope. There's also a STAR WARS 3D CLONE WARS animated movie coming out to kick off a T.V. Series directly following, I'm super excited, but I won't geek out about it here. Thanks for reading everyone!
PS:In answer to some questions I had in comments, Jared I checked out MGMT and I like Time to Pretend, but every other song on that album sounds too similar to it, only not as good. I have only given it a couple spins, but they're not for me. Mindy, I'm not too sure I will buy Coldplays new album soley for the fact that Chris Martin thinks Coldplay is the best band in the world, if one of my good friends were to give me the album I would have no objection listening to it and telling everyone why they are not ;) Amy, I have checked out Arcade Fire and love the death out of them, I have a couple tracks down in my playlist if you scroll through a bit, Intervention is a rad song, as is Black Wave/Bad Vibrations. I haven't given Rogue Wave or Wolf Parade a listen yet but from the iTunes snippets I've heard they are alright by me! Talk to you all later!

IT; is what they are.

One Day, my unborn child said, "Yo Craig, what are the greatest bands alive?" I was not only excited to talk to my unborn child, but also to impress upon him the importance of that question, I said, "Dearest Baby, I will tell you...."

1. Radiohead-
Radiohead is a band I've grown to like in my later years of life. Junior High I said, "Radiohead, Shmadiohead." But to hear that said to me makes me sad for the ignorance of such a person. Radiohead is the band I want to be. Radiohead is amazing instrumention orchestrated together in such a way you have to listen to it five times to understand it's awesomeness. Their lyrics are out of this world, words, rhymes, stories and thoughts I could never even dream about. Thom Yorke's melodies he writes and the depth of his voice is second only to the amazing talents of Johnny Greenwood annihilating the standards for lead guitarist, his brother Colin Greenwood, thumping out the most somber, catchy, rythmatic and "make you want to dance" bass lines someone could dream to invent, Ed O'Brien, singing back up for Yorke and strumming alongside Johnny, and Phil Selway an amazement of a drummer, he makes sure everyone listening to Radiohead is tapping their feet or nodding their head. If any member went missing, Radiohead would cease to exist. I could go on and on. If you are unfamiliar with Radiohead check out, Karma Police, Paranoid Android, I Might Be Wrong, Knives Out, Where I End and You Begin, There There, 15 Step, Bodysnatchers, Nude and Jigsaw Falling Into Place. If you don't like any of those I'll give you five bucks! And I'll slap you.

2. Weezer
Weezer, oh where to begin. Weezer is a moving band, they can make you happy and sad with the same song, nay, the same sentence. Weezer can write the catchiest melodies known to man. Everyone can sing along to Weezer. Weezer invented music as it is today. Weezer is the grandfather of punk, emo, rock and indie. Weezer is amazing melodies, indetifying lyrics, over simple yet epic use of instruments. Amazing solo's by lead guitarist Bryan Bell, Pat Wilson know's when to use and not to use his awesome talents on the drums, their ever changing bassist added their own contributions to their greatness, and last and most certainly not least Rivers Cuomo. Rivers is Weezer. He writes and sings all Weezer songs, his dorky/mysterious demeanor make fans go crazy for him. Live Weezer is dead on, and like Craig always says, if you can't do it live you can't do it at all. Key tracks, Say it Ain't So, Only in Dreams, Island in The Sun, Hashpipe, Slob, Death and Destruction, Burndt Jam, Haunt You Everyday and soon to be classics, The Greatest Man That Ever Lived and Pork and Beans.

That's all I have time to tell you today, those are the two best bands still making music. Let me know your favorites! More of mine to come in the following weeks.
-CRaig

Narrow Stairs

Narrow Stairs is Death Cab for Cutie's newest album. It came a week or so ago, May 9th. In the weeks leading up to the release of this album I replayed all my old Death Cab Cd's. I love rediscovering all my old favorites preceding the release of any follow-up. I watched all the Indiana Jones before we went to see the new one, I played Rainbow Six Vegas 1 for about two weeks non-stop before number 2 came out. I feel it's the only real way to see how the band/movie series/video game or whatever has improved/declined. So in the weeks preceding the release I really got psyched and excited to see what they were going to bring to the new album.

Death Cab is their own style, choir boy vocals, cleverly put together lyrics over subtly layered instrumentation, they are one of the few bands that have not really changed their style throughout the years.

People get mad at bands if they reinvent themselves album to album and complain they're not like they used to be and people also dislike bands for sounding the same album to album. Narrow Stairs has stayed true to DCFC style with enough subtle changes to keep it fresh.

This is Death Cab's second album released with a major label. Fans, including me was scared about their switch from their independent label to Atlantic. Most Indie bands that make that switch make an album and then fade away and are never heard from again. DCFC's first album with their new label, Plans sold 90,000 units the first week while Narrow Stairs sold 144,00. It would seem the switch has paid off.

While Plans was mostly recorded in parts and mixed in the studio, Narrow Stairs was mostly recorded live. Apparently the band wanted to get back into the natural feel of making and playing music. I personally think it paid off. Plans was more Poppy than the usual Death Cab album, while Narrow Stairs has gotten back to the dark, almost creepy lyrics of their past. With tracks like I Will Possess Your Heart, Grapevine Fires, Cath, Pity and Fear, You Can Do Better Than Me and Bixby Canyon Bridge, I highly recommend purchasing a copy for yourself, if your not too sure I have a couple tracks on my playlist so give them a listen. It's hard to find an album now days with more than two or three great records on it. The only song I skip when listening is Talking Bird. Pop it in, crank it up and just chill out with the cold and smart lyrics of Death Cab for Cutie.

Craig's Score: 81%

PS: They are playing in Utah at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, I unfortunately have a wedding to go to that night, so if anyone goes please let me know how the show was! Later!

What It Is.

I'm making a seperate blog from the one me and Heather "co" write, I usually just take up space on our married blog about stuff I'm just doing. So I'm writing my own blog about all things that rule to me. My playlist at the bottom is the songs I'm listening to and love. Let me know what you think!

For my first post these are the things I'm into right now.

Weezer has a new self-titled album coming out the 3rd of June, pushed UP from the 24th of June, anybody who has waited for their favorite artist to put out a new CD knows how rare it is for a band to push the release date anything but back so I'm super excited. There are three released singles from their upcoming album on my playlist. The Greatest Man That Ever Lived, Troublemaker, and Pork and Beans, all of them are super cool, especially The Greatest Man That Ever Lived, it's like twenty different parts all thrown into one song, and the other two are just classic solid Weezer songs, check them out!


Also, if you've never heard of ChaCha, you should check it out, basically it's a huge group of people that will answer any and all questions you can think of. Really any questions, I asked it what ship does Dash Rendar pilot, and I'm sure 99.9% of anyone in the world doesn't know the answer to that, and it texted me back the answer in like 2 minutes. It can give you traffic conditions, band information, weather, movie showtimes, movie reviews, seriously anything. Just text your questions to 242242, that spells ChaCha on most phones I believe but give it a try, try to stump it. It doesn't cost anymore than your regular text messages cost, so if you have unlimited texts it's absolutely free!

Too, Whiskey Militia is a website that sells semi cool stuff for dirt cheap prices, I was first turned onto it by my friend Neal, the owner of the resteraunt I work at, him as well as many other managers and co-workers are now addicted to this website. You can get really nice 200 dollar watches for like twenty bucks, board shorts for the same, cheap shirts, belts, wallets, pants, you name it. www.whiskeymilitia.com is the address it's also linked under my sites over on the right.

That's it for this post, let me know what you think! More to come soon!
Craig OUT!