Daily Outfit Photo: 2.2.2010
Helloooo! I am obviously made of flail.
I am wearing!
+Green World Wildlife Fund t-shirt with “Start a Resolution” slogan (~10$ at JC Penney)
+Many-layered black skirt from Paris! (Gift)
+Studded belt that’s falling apart (~10$, maybe from Kohl’s)
+Black + grey BCBG heels (~10$ at Burlington Coat Factory)
+Dangly black + silver earrings with stars + hearts (~3$? JC Penney’s?)
+Wallet chain as bracelet (I asked my brother if he had a spare chain I could use for a necklace. He gave me that.)
Tuesday Playlist: What More Do You Expect? What More Do You Believe?
So the preview for Breathe Carolina’s upcoming music video for “Hello Fascination” came out last Wednesday, + the real thing debuts tomorrow. And, I have to say, I really have no idea what’s going on in the first half of this. It’s just spastic hopping and flailing; I don’t even know. The second half looks marginally better? There’s a dubious-looking neon flash at the beginning (think bad Myspace-style color editing), but it’s better. And, as my desire to be nice + positive wars with my desire to discuss music honestly, I have to say that it’s totally possible this is going to be an awesome vid. Unfortunately, I am still just as dubious upon a rewatch of the preview, but there’s a good chance it’ll work. I hope it turns out really great. (A third watch gives me slightly more hope?)
My last playlist promised a mix would be in the next playlist, but I forgot about exams the following week and how I would pretty much hate everything the whole week. And then I fell deathly ill (okay, not really. But my life hasn’t been funsies. If you follow my Twitter, you’ve gotten some TMIs this week. My apologies, haha.), knocking out last week. I’m still sick at the time of writing (1:36 on Friday the 29th), so I’m trying to take advantage of some of this time to write some more for Tuesday Kisses.
Another thing that happened during exam week was that my favorite band, Cinema Bizarre, broke up. I’ve seen it referred to both as a break and a break up, but I’m pretty sure it’s actually a break up. Two of the members, Strify (the vocalist + frontman) and Shin (the percussionist), already have new music projects on Myspace. Strify’s is here, as Jack Strify, and Shin’s is here, as Mr. Hangover. And Romeo performed with Eyes Like Diamonds last week, and he’s been mentioning an anonymous new band of his on Twitter. I’m still sad (and totally listening to Cinema Bizarre right now), but I’m excited to see what they do. I have so, so much love for them + they’ve inspired me so much.
Also, I do not watch the Grammys or any other similar award show + therefore will probably never chat about them. (I say probably. Maybe someday I’ll be a rad journalist! …Or my college roommates will drag me into watching, hahah, and we’ll have a grand time.) Wheeeee disclaimers! Oh, and, um. Apparently this did turn into a mix. Wheeeee mixes! The theme is songs that are just a little bit desperate, questioning or wanting or warning. The title is from A Love Like Pi’s “The Oyster”, + it’s not a cynical “What More Do You Expect?” — it’s an honest one. Really, what more do you expect? What more do you believe?
What More Do You Expect?
What More Do You Believe?
1. “The Oyster” — A Love Like Pi
2. “The Past Should Stay Dead” — Emarosa
3. “How Does It Feel” — Cinema Bizarre
4. “End Transmission” — AFI
5. “Dream On” — Depeche Mode
6. “Sleepwalker” — Adam Lambert
7. “With Eyes Wide Shut” — BlessTheFall
8. “Car Underwater” — Armor for Sleep
Tuesday Playlist!
So last week I got a really amazing belated Christmas present: a two CD mix collaboration from two of my best friends/favorite people ever. 30 Seconds to Mars, Silverstein, the GazettE, Super Junior, Nightmare From You, the Dresden Dolls, Hawthorne Heights, Super Mash Bros, etc. Amazing.
I’ve also been listening to a lot of musicals this week: RENT, Avenue Q, Wicked, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog, Spring Awakening, bare: A Pop Opera, Sweeney Todd, The Boy from Oz. The only issue with this is that it makes it really hard to work on homework if I’m listening to a musical, haha.
Plus, I got Ke$ha’s album this week. It was a good first attempt, and it’s a really fun album, which I applaud. There are some lyric + auto-tune fails, a lot of which I think are meant to be humorous but fall flat. Plus, the auto-tune is used to make her voice deeper and it’s horribly unnatural.
But I’m a fan of “TiK ToK”, “Back$tabber” (I can’t tell if it’s meant to be stylized like that or not), “Blah Blah Blah (feat. 3OH!3)”, “Hungover”, and some others. “Blah Blah Blah” is made fun, and her voice is great on “Hungover” and it’s just a really fun track. And there are a lot of songs that I really liked some, but not all, of. My least favorite is probably “Party at a Rich Dude’s House”, which is badly produced, boring, and a terrible song.
But, criticisms aside, it’s a good first attempt, and I think the most important, best part of the album is its sheer frivolity and hedonism. So it could be – and has been – critiqued based on exactly that. But I’m stressed about school; I’m freaked about college; and I’m struggling with confidence (a lot) this week. And albums like Ke$ha’s are the perfect antidote to shit like that. So I think an equal case could be made that albums like this, that celebrate life (and ridiculousness), are worth something and serve a purpose.
So! Anyway! My playlist. This is just what I’ve been loving this week, but next week will be one of my recent mixes. Maybe the one I made last week (“If you get bored listening to the grey kid, then get blown away by a gay kid”; the title is from Sam Sparro’s “S.A.M.S.P.A.R.R.O.”), maybe a different one.
- “Muzik” — 4 MINUTE*
- “Why Am I Always Right?” — Nightmare of You*
- “Night of the Hunter” — 30 Seconds to Mars*
- “Carry Out (feat. Justin Timberlake)” — Timbaland
- “10,000 Nights of Thunder” — Alphabeat**
- “Black & Gold (Sam Sparro cover)” — Ellie Goulding
- “Hollywood’s Not America” — Ferras
- “No One Mourns the Wicked” — Wicked OST
What have you been listening to this week, kitten?
♥ Tuesday Kisses
*These are all from the mix. <3 The 4 Minute video has incredible choreography, too; go look at it! (The links are all to YouTube, for the songs.)
**I’ve been listening to Alphabeat’s This is Alphabeat at least once a day for about a week now. So rad.
Quotes to Live by in 2010!
“Dismay’d not this our captains, Macbeth and Banquo?”
“Yes; as sparrows eagles, or the hare the lion.”
–Macbeth, Act I, Scene II, Shakespeare
It’s difficult for me to pinpoint a date and time, but my primary motivator is certainly not the desire to be remembered. I recall the impact that certain music had on me–something utterly indescribable but almost tangible. It was present in all the music with which I had fallen in love, and I needed more of it. At a loss to find anything of equal value to me, I decided to make my own and fill the void. It wasn’t until later that I decided to share it with others in the hopes that something I’ve created will impact them similarly. If I can make somebody feel the way I did when I heard these select pieces of music, then I will be happy about my lot in life.
Don’t panic.
–The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
Hello, college, work, failures, successes, new music. I’m not at a great point right now, but let’s see what we can do about that. We’ll throw a dance party and get all most of our homework done on time and be less irresponsible more responsible and somehow, somehow, we’ll make it through all right and okay and better than ever.
♥ Tuesday Kisses
Tuesday Playlist!
One of my favorite things about the internet is the constant influx of new music – lately, Vespertine, Stay, and Party Like Summer. Vespertine may not be the most talented of singers, but he does all the instrumentation himself, creating music with a sort of symphonic alternative feel. His MySpace also displays amusing wittiness. Stay put up their new EP, Games With Girls, up for download on Purevolume last week, along with their music video for “Maddie kthx”. It starts out mediocre, but improves vastly. And I think I found Party Like Summer through Breathe Electric, who tweeted about Party Like Summer’s new song, “Hold You”. It’s the beat of Party Like Summer’s songs that I can really get behind – rad. Breathe Electric also put a new song (“Electric Lover”; I was hooked within the first five seconds) up on MySpace today.
1. “Resonance (Acoustic)”* — Vespertine
2. “Electric Lover” — Breathe Electric
3. “Hold You” — Party Like Summer
4. “Hells Bells”** — AC/DC
5. “Decode (Live from MTV Unplugged)” — Paramore
6. “Patron Tequila” — Paradiso Girls
7. “Raindrops” — Basement Jaxx
*This is where we run into my warning that he’s not the greatest singer in the world. I don’t mind it, but I showed it to somebody earlier this week who couldn’t abide it. But it’s this version that I connected to the most, that had my stomach all twisted up and sharp.
**And this is where we see my love of Supernatural impacting my music taste. Don’t judge, haha.
Tuesday Playlist: Der Krieg Ist Aus!
So this morning I had to get to school early to finish some schisse up (…it didn’t happen. SHHH.) and I made a mix before I left the house! I had been listening to the first track, “If I Had You” by Adam Lambert, while I got ready. My favorite lines of the song are “girls in stripper heels, boys rollin’ in Maseratis/all they need in this world is some love”… because I wear really high heels (five inches!) a lot, haha. And I was all happy and running around grooving + getting ready + it was just really ace, and I wanted to keep that going. So I made a mix themed around songs about partying/dancing + a couple that are just funsies + one that I’m leaving off because it’s embarrassing, hahaha.
The title comes from John Lennon + Yoko Ono’s War Is Over! campaign. The campaign used billboards + posters that said “War Is Over! If You Want It. Happy Christmas from John and Yoko.” in a variety of languages, + they went up in cities all over the world (information courtesy of Yoko Ono’s flickr). The German version, “Der Krieg Ist Aus! Wenn Du Es Willst!”, is currently my desktop courtesy of Gala Darling’s John Lennon tribute article.
Der Krieg Ist Aus (Wenn Du Es Willst…)
1. “If I Had You” — Adam Lambert
2. “Starstruck (feat. Space Cowboy & Flo Rida)” — Lady Gaga
3. “Scandalous” — Mis-Teeq
4. [really embarrassing track]
5. “Piece of Me (Mysto & Pizzi Dance Remix)” — Britney Spears
6. “Falling Down (feat. Chelsea from the Paradiso Girls)” — Space Cowboy
7. “SOS (Let the Music Play) (Jason Nevins Radio Edit)” — Jordin Sparks
8. “Pose” — Daddy Yankee
9. “Whatcha Think About That (feat. Missy Elliot)” — Pussycat Dolls
10. “Body Control” — Leighton Meester
11. “Tik Tok” — Ke$ha
12. “Pretty Rave Girl” — I Am X-Ray
13. “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) (Dead or Alive cover)” — Dope
14. “I Came 2 Party (feat. Space Cowboy) (Michael Mind Remix)” — Cinema Bizarre
15. “Rock That Body” — Black Eyed Peas
16. “Tapp” — 3OH!3
More information about the guys who remixed track five, Mysto & Pizzi, here.
Best Christmas Present Ever!
So! My family used to have this absolutely HUGE Christmas tree. Our house isn’t that big, so it DOMINATED the living room. You could fit, like, THREE of me inside this Christmas tree very easily. Maybe four or five. (Edit: I went to look at the new Christmas tree, and I think you could fit two of me in there if we hugged. And the old tree was, like, three times as wide. Soooo…!)
But, last week, we gave it away to one of my mom’s friends. And I asked my mom if we could get a silver one to replace it, because I think it would be rad + also because it would look really great with our decor (pale green + white with occasional silver accents). So my mom looked all over at K-Mart + the big Wal-Mart, but couldn’t find one. So she bought a narrow green one with attached lights, and it still looks really fab.
I also asked my mom if she would mind finding me a mini-tree, either silver or some bright color like pink or purple. I said that green would even be okay, as long as it was neon or something. And I guess she didn’t find any Saturday. But she went out to Target Sunday while I was sleeping (since I slept ’til two PM…). And she got home, and she called me out to the kitchen because she had a present for me.
And there, in the Target bag, was this shiny, bristly blue cylinder. And I got closer, and it was a miniature blue Christmas tree! With matching blue lights! And little silver bits in the foliage! And I am so excited about this tree. Plus, she got me MINIATURE SILVER BULBS to decorate it with. There are four different types: silver glitter, deep gray glitter, white glitter, and plain silver!
Best Christmas present ever, seriously. I am totes taking this to college with me. \o/
♥ Tuesday Kisses
Tuesday Playlist!
1. “Xoxo” — BrightLights!
2. “Monster” — Skillet
3. “Pitiful” — Sick Puppies
4. “Hungry Like the Wolf” — Duran Duran
5. “Alejandro” — Lady Gaga
6. “Cold Case Love” — Rihanna
7. “Innocent Man” — A Love Like Pi
So BrightLights! redid his MySpace last week around Thanksgiving, and it’s seriously all amazing. All three of the new songs he posted have really sweet lyrics + great beats. “Xoxo” is definitely my favorite of them; they just seemed to get better as I went along, haha, even though I love them all.
I actually heard a demo version of the Lady Gaga song a couple weeks ago & I thought it was pretty rad. And then I heard the album version and I was seriously blown away. Other rad things include Sarah Starshine introducing me to the Sick Puppies song this weekend; A Love Like Pi (Atlas and the Oyster is just an all-around ace album. I’m in love.); Skillet’s newish album, Awake; and “Hungry Like the Wolf”. I’ve been obsessed with every version of that song I can find since last spring, so rad. Including David Cook’s cover.
♥ Tuesday Kisses.
Dear Universe,
Eeeeeeep! Recommendation letters are the single most wonderful, embarrassing thing ever. I got my first one today & seriously kind of blushed.
Other things I love! Conversation about creepsters, naps in the sun, pseudo-eighties slang (stone-cold fox!), Criminal Minds, Spencer Reid, Derek Morgan, Penelope Garcia, Dave Rossi, pink hair, gorilla-chimpanzee art similes, writing, brushing off problems like a superheroine brushes off invisible monsters, brushing off problems like Jay-Z, Rob Brezsny’s weekly horoscope email…
I lurve Sarah Starshine, ridiculous comments, sarcastic boys with lovely artistic visions, being really really determined not to be attracted to sarcastic boys, “yes well he’s a douchebag” conversations, being told to apply yesterday because I have ace admissions chances, Karree & music conversations, brain-whirring conversations, reaching out & expanding my social group & being reached out to in return, feeling like I fit in.
I lurve that I looked in the mirror this morning & thought, ‘Oh, my god, when did this outfit get so unflattering!?’ & then got to school this morning & looked at myself & was like, ‘What was I on? (…Music!) This is an ace outfit!’
I love that my brother is coming home next week & that we’re going to see a movie… he just doesn’t know it yet. (I need someone to see Pirate Radio with me, okay? I am not only underage but I also don’t want to see a movie by myself.)
I lurve being brain twins with Kyo & flailing with Sarah & flailing at Joan; it’s all great funsies. I want plans this weekend.
♥ Tuesday Kisses.
Tuesday Playlist!
1. “Champion” — Flipsyde
2. “Freeze” — Jordin Sparks
3. “Weck mich auf” — Samy Deluxe
4. “Human Connect to Human” — Tokio Hotel
5. “Faint Crush” — Linkin Park vs. Paramore
6. “Still Falling” — Away to Beautiful
7. “Tiffany Blews (feat. Lil Wayne)” — Fall Out Boy
8. “Follow and Feel” — Saosin
Someone posted the Linkin Park/Paramore mash-up on Tumblr a few days ago, and I was pretty much. Also, a couple weeks ago, @Grantelectric (from Breathe Electric) tweeted about Away to Beautiful posting new songs on MySpace. I went and had a listened, and I was so hooked. The songs are incredible and sweet, and his entire philosophy is so amazing and rad. It just really appeals to my sense of in-love-with-the-Universe positivity. So much love!
And this is totally unsurprising, but I am a complete dork and was dancing to the Fall Out Boy song in bio on Friday after everybody & the teacher had gone to lunch. I’ve been working my ass off for a string of straight 100s on tests, & I am so so so proud of myself!
What has you turning the volume all the way up, bunny?
