Thoughts Regarding Lent

Sorry in advance about the sacrilege. 

Thought #1

Today was Ash Wednesday, as those of you who ventured outside may have figured out.  I kept reminding myself of this over the weekend because last year, I was freaked out when I was walking around one morning downtown and everyone had this black shit on their forehead.  I was worried that there was a huge fire somewhere that I missed out on taking time to gawk at.  Anyways, to avoid my confusion again this year, I was thinking all weekend, "Cooly, dude, Ash Wednesday is on Wednesday.  Be prepared.  Plus, Mardi Gras is on Tuesday.  Baller.  But you won't get to celebrate because you have to wake up for a job in the morning.  Shitty."

Anyways, I fucking forgot about Ash Wednesday today.  However, since I now take the less-crowded and (apparently) less-religious Brown Line to work, I didn't see anyone with ashes on their forehead until I was walking to lunch.  By this time in the day, I was awake enough that I was able to make a reaction when I saw someone with black shit on their forehead.  I'm guessing that the reaction on my face was not unlike the usual face of Sloth from Goonies.  Needless to say, the other person thought I was a Wiccan or something.  Shit.  Next year, I need to definitely remember Ash Wednesday.

Thought #2

Do you know what the most annoying part of Lent every year is?  No, it's not my mother constantly asking me if I am attending church services.  It is in fact the massive amount of commercials for fried fish sandwiches that are currently running on television. 

I know that I don't like fish sandwiches from fast food joints because they make me feel queasy.  But the problem with these commercials is that they make them look so delicious.  I have never seen such a tempting Filet-o-Fish as the one pictured on my HD television during the Bulls timeout.  The cheese is perfectly melting, the fish fillet itself is perfectly golden and crisp.  Mmm, delicious.  However, they always come out like and taste like absolute shit.  These commercials are really getting on my nerves.  And I have like six more weeks of putting up with them (six weeks is correct, right? I haven't been in Catechism class in a while).  Fucking advertising.

What Can I Say...

... much to the annoyance of my roommate and mostly everyone I have ever encountered in my life, I have a strange love for R. Kelly.  In looking through this blog, you can see that typically I listen to indie rock/pop or experimental folk, so it is kind of odd to have an appetite for R. Kelly, too.

I like him partly as a joke and partly for legitimate reasons.  I think his over the top songs like "Trapped in the Closet" are impossible to not laugh at.  But as a often discuss with Dave, his beats and vocal talents are actually impressive from time to time.  And you can't but be impressed by the fact that he wrote all twenty-two parts of "Trapped" even though he can't read or write.

Last week, his new album Untitled was released. 

And I haven't stopped listening to it since then. 

It's okay.  Some of the songs are typical Kelly R&B joints that swoon with sensual lyrics and music.  For the other half of the album Kells does his best to sound like T-Pain with hip hop beats and auto-tune.  In the end, half from each of the two groups is crap while the other half is good, leading to one mediocre album.

But at least it's better than his last album, Double Up, which was a pile of hot crap.


Anyways, below are my two favorite songs from Untitled.  The second one is probably the most perfect R. Kelly song since "Trapped."

Passion Pit

Really into these guys right now, even though some random drunk dude at PassTimes said they sucked. 

And the middle of this video totally reminds me of Starfox 64.

Back to Life

Just to let you all know that I have not abandoned things here.  Life kind of interceded and blogging fell by the way side while I was up to more important things.  (Did you ever think I would declare that blogging is really not that important?)

Anyways, thanks to everyone that has helped me through everything.  It means a lot, and there is nothing I can do to repay you.  Thank you.

I will get back to 300 Level Banter and Start Wedman when I get caught up on school work.  Those blogs actually require research and time, although you wouldn't really be able to tell at first read.  Look for those to hit full force again within the next week though.

Until then, enjoy this little diddy I found.  I really like Bon Iver and Kina Grannis, so I guess a merging of the two was only inevitable.



Also, watching this video is like my Rob Gordon-meets-Marie De Salle-while-she's-doing-a-cover moment.  I think.

Dead Man's Bones, Again

I know I have already posted about Dead Man's Bones before, but I can simply not get enough of this video.  Beautiful.

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros

I literally stumbled into this band last week.  Ever since that point in time, I have not stopped listening to their first album, From Below.  It has a very creepy feel to it much like Dead Man's Bones.  In this case however, creepy is good.

Internet Favorites

Below are two of my current favorite internet sites. Both are highly recommended.

1. Steve Roommate. Okay, yes, this is a twitter account, but it may be the funniest one available. Genius use of the twitter platform.

2. Skinny Girls Big Sandwiches. The best combination on earth. Dagwood would agree wholeheartedly.

Enjoy los dos.

Too Catchy

I have been listening to this song a lot recently. Heard them first on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Thanks, Jimmy.

Missing Thao

If anyone in the Chicagoland area needs something to do on Friday, please go to this show for me. I want to go but am busy all weekend.

I will even lend you my sweet video camera to record the action for me. Just don't get it stolen by the bouncer.

Another Addition To The Wardrobe

Last week, I ordered the shirt pictured above from Homage Clothing.

Yesterday, it arrived in the mail. I love this shirt. It is just as comfortable as my previously mentioned Hanshin Tigers shirt. Plus, it is screen-printed, which simply makes any shirt ten times cooler. Later tonight, I think that I will have a rock-paper-scissors contest between the two shirts in order to see which one is my favorite.

Of course, since I got the shirt in the mail yesterday, I wore it to class today. There happened to be a class discussion regarding the recent cap-and-trade legislation making its way through the Senate (although the recent health care debates have pushed it to the back burner).

There also happened to be a right-leaning Big Three executive's son in my class. He gave my shirt dirty looks the entire time.

But that was alright, I schooled him in the discussion after he said that global warming is simply a myth.

So maybe my Obama shirt is now my new favorite in commemoration of my victory today.

Oh No...

... a song for the new Twilight movie?!?! What happened to We Have The Facts And We're Voting Yes? Damn it.

All Torn Up Inside

I love horchata. The mexican mix of leftover rice water with cinnamon, milk, and sugar is absolutely delectable. The drink's milky sweetness makes it a great post-burrito treat.

At Pat's Ice Cream in downtown Valparaiso, they have captured all of the creaminess and flavor of the horchata drink in one of their ice creams. If you eat that and then their "Snap-O-Lantern" ice cream, you will probably never want any other ice cream ever.

Now, Vampire Weekend has taken horchata to another level with this song:



I can't decide which of the three horchatas I like the best now.

Where The Wild Things Are

Every time I see the TV spots for Where The Wild Things Are, I'm disappointed that it is not the trailer with The Arcade Fire. It is so far superior.



I can't wait to see this movie next weekend. Golly, I'm so white.

Goodbye Life

Later this afternoon, I will be purchasing an iPhone.

My RAZR pooped out yesterday as the display screen no longer works. It has treated me well over the years, so I will miss it. Plus, I now have to get a new shaving mechanism.

But my life will be over as I have known it now. I love the internet. A lot. So having a phone with the internet will be bad news bears most likely.

So, life, I wanted to take this opportunity to kiss you goodbye since I will spending most of my waking (and some sleeping) moments with my nose buried in Steve Job's mobile device wonder. I will miss you, life.

Drunk History

This is simply genius. Video cameras were invented for things like this.

Dinner Anyone?

Because I'm making me some of this.

Volcano Choir Is Too Good For Words

Justin Vernon... you have done it again, you sly dog. There must be some magical spring in those Northwoods that makes writing incredible music too easy. I think The Beatles even visited there.



Whenever I hear this, I get this feeling in my gut. Not sure what it is. There is a possibility it could be the Taco Bell, too, I guess.

Who Would You Pick?

Yesterday, my buddy Kurt asked me if I could have a child with one living female musical artist, who would it be?

I really wanted to pick Chan Marshall because I have always wondered what a love fling with her would be like. But the question is who I would want to have a kid with... and Chan is fucking crazy. So she is ruled out. The crazy problem also eliminated Natasha Khan.

From there, naturally it came down to Leslie Feist and Zooey Danschel. So, I picked Zooey based on how awesome Almost Famous is. I do love that movie. Plus, with that cotton song, you can totally see her being a good mom.

Kurt also picked Zooey. I think Zooey is most people's first pick. That means there are a lot of people fighting over her. Which makes me doubt my chances of procreating with her. Not to mention, how am I going to compete with Ben Gibbard?


Then, later last night, I changed my mind. I completely forgot about Annie Clark. I felt like an ass. And then immediately informed Kurt of my change of heart. He can have Zooey. I call Annie. I think we will make some good families together.

I think the bridge of this song can make any situation seem epic.

Another Phase

I have really been getting back into music lately. When I was a senior in high school/freshman in college I was all about the indie scene and knowing all of the "hot" bands.

Then the rest of college sort of happened, and I lost touch with things a little bit.

But thanks to the numerous music blogs I follow, The Hype Machine, and StumbleUpon, I have been sampling lots of new stuff all across all genres. All I know is that I think I'm tiring Bruce out with my selections of experimental folk and shoegaze pop. Sorry, Bruce.

My favorite discovery has so far, hands down, has been Dead Man's Bones. They are a band out of LA headed by Ryan Gosling.

Yes, that Ryan Gosling.

And the music is incredible. They combine a mix of southern blues and folk with tribal beat and chant elements that comes together and creates hauntingly beautiful music.

They are coming to Chicago 10/21. To Schubas. The one right across from my future apartment. Unfortunately, it is sold out. And I can't really go anyways. I wish I could.

Until they finally release their CD, I'm left to listen to their single "My Body's A Zombie For You" on youtube. Enjoy.