how strange it is to be anything at all

Sun, 03 Feb 2008 19:41:41 GMT

I remember I had this big plan that this journal would chronicle all of high school. Then one day I could read back on it and remember the good old days back in high school. It would be awesome. But I've basically neglected to update this all of senior year. But it's a Sunday afternoon, I'm bored, and I decided it was worth updating this. Everything's been going well. December 27th-January 4th I was in Iowa campaigning for Ron Paul, and it was the greatest time of my life. The experience and all the people were really awesome. I feel like I should have graduated by now, but there's still a few more months. I'm seeing Wilco on February 23rd and I've wanted to see them for like four years. Now that's finally happening. When I live in Chicago next year I'll probably see them every month. But, yeah, not really much is going on that I have to update about. I just thought I would.

Fri, 12 Oct 2007 01:16:41 GMT

- The new Radiohead is pretty darn good.
- There's going to be a new Captain America starting in January. A lot of people don't like the new costume. I think it's awesome. I'm just curious who it's going to be.
- College stuff is getting annoying. If I don't get accepted somewhere early I'm going to be pissed.
- This season of Dexter is brilliant.
- The Dark Tower series by Stephen King is really good. I just started book four.
- I need to get going on some Rocknomics this weekend.

School has been school. Classes themselves are okay but I'm getting tired of homework. I'm psyched that tomorrow is Friday.

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 01:39:48 GMT

I never update. School is pretty good I guess. I'm consumed with stuff to do, and college stuff. You know. My 18th birthday is soon, which is completely awesome. I don't have like an extreme amount of homework yet so far this year. That's always a good thing. I saw the Apples in Stereo on Friday, and I met them. It was pretty awesome, seeing as I did a project on the whole Elephant 6 thing. I wore my Elephant 6 shirt and everybody complimented me on it, and that was awesome as well. I saw Elvis Costello, but it sucked. Hopefully next time he'll play a rock show and it won't suck. Stephen King's Dark Tower series is pretty awesome, I'm on book three. Curb Your Enthusiasm this season is excellent. Spider-Man better not be fucked up like it seems they're going to with the One More Day story. They might potentially retcon a bunch of stuff. That's not cool. My essay for Chicago is pretty nice so far. It's a murder mystery. I need to record a few more Rockonomics songs to send to college. I need to ask teachers about recommendations. So much to do within the next month. Hopefully it'll all pay off. I'll try to update more than every two months.

Fri, 24 Aug 2007 17:49:39 GMT

So once again, I haven't really been using this. I've got some time to spare right now though so I thought I'd write some stuff. Summer is almost over and I still have a lot of books to read and stuff to do. I did manage to read half of Native Song yesterday, though, so if I do everything else that fast then I'm in good shape. I'm pretty psyched for the school year to start so that it can be over sooner. It's going to be a tough year, maybe my hardest high school year. Unless I get accepted somewhere early, then I'll sort of slack off. And I have gold pass every other day fourth block all year, which is very nice. I went on vacation the other week to North Carolina, Virginia, and DC. I checked out Wake Forest University and University of Virginia. Both were ok, but Wake Forest was definitely the better of the two. College visits are funny. The tour guide is always the perkiest girl in the school they can find. And they all say the same things. In DC, I went to a nice restraunt and I ate calf's brain. It was surprisingly good. Next week I have more colleges to visit, Bard College and Wesleyan University, which are both more along the liberal arts line. But they should be pretty cool I guess. Mostly, though, my next few weeks are going to be consumed by reading and writing. I may try to get a job in the school year, depending on how much homework I have a night. Because it might be a lot. Or maybe not. But I am sort of looking forward to being back in school. I have a love-hate relationship with school. Right now I'm happy to go back. By January I'll want to be out of there.

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 18:42:04 GMT

My childhood officially ends tomorrow when the final Harry Potter book comes out. I've been reading these things since fourth grade. Some of my favorite days ever have been when Harry Potter books came out, even though that's really nerdy. I'm not going to lie, I'll probably read the whole book tomorrow. I've been avoiding message boards and everything to make sure I don't get spoiled. Needless to say, I'm completely psyched. As far as this summer goes, it's been awesome. I've finally started watching Undeclared, which is basically like Freaks and Geeks in college and it's awesome. Not nearly as good as Freaks and Geeks but still great. I've also finally gotten started on summer reading and all that but I still have a lot to do. Plus, I'm still not exactly sure what classes I'm going to have and I don't want to have to do any needless work. I'm also in the process of picking out colleges to go to next month. It's really kind of annoying. I know what kind of school I want and I've got a few choices, though. So we'll see how that all goes. I've also been studying Russian a lot this summer. That keeps me occupied and it's also just a fun thing to do. I've also been spending entirely too much money on comic books. I have so much spare money that I basically read anything that's worth a damn. I'm listening to Girl Talk's album "Night Ripper" which is probably my most played album of the summer. It's sort of a mash-up album but it's completely non-stop and just done so well. I have no clue how it was put together so well. Check it out.

Tue, 03 Jul 2007 04:33:01 GMT

The summer has been awesome, as usual. I have to get started on stuff for school next year soon, though. I've been making some good work money. Really, it's been the usual good summmer. Nothing that exciting to write about though. I saw The Transformers at 8 tonight, even though it comes out tomorrow, because it was playing everywhere tonight. It was plain awesome. Go see it now. Michael Bay is probably really low on list of directors I like, but he's slightly redeemed himself with this one. And there was a preview for a new JJ Abrmas produced movie that's very intriguing. It didn't even give the title, and the internet is buzzing about it. It doesn't come out till January, though. Not much else to say.

Sat, 09 Jun 2007 04:29:57 GMT

We're now officially seniors, which is awesome. It seems like only yesterday I was writing on this very journal how excited I was to go into highschool. Looking back on those old entries is pretty funny, but definitely interesting. And now here I am posting about being a senior. Damn, I'm cheesey. Tonight, some others and I helped film graduation. It was fun, and talking on the headsets was just the coolest thing. Earlier in the day, was weird... a lot of driving. And summer is coming. Good times are coming.

Tue, 05 Jun 2007 01:43:57 GMT

I really let this thing go. School is almost over. Awesome. As I always say, this should be a good summer. And then one more year of high school. Also awesome. Knocked Up was excellent. Go see it! My day was made today when on the way to school I heard Wilco and then Can't Hardly Wait by The Replacments. Hearing that song on the radio to kick off the day was great. I guess my life is going pretty awesome right now. Working and making some cash. I registered to vote today. I feel bad about not registering Libertarian, but I had to register Republican, because this is Springfield. Plus I want to vote in the GOP primary, if not to vote for Ron Paul, then to vote for Fred Thompson. I've been writing a lot about politics on my real blog: elisentman.blogspot.com. Ron Paul is on the Daily Show tonight. It's fun to get behind a candidate that has no chance of winning. The last few days I've been studying Russian for some reason, but it's fun. I have nothing else to write. Enjoy the rest of school.

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 00:27:07 GMT

So I just finished watching the entire series of Six Feet Under last night. The last five minutes lived up to the hype. I've watched the final scenes several times and even just thinking about it really affects me. I wasn't sure if it would end as powerfully as I've heard but it's all true. I'd go so far to call it more powerful than any movie or TV show I've ever seen. It's that good. The series gets my highest possible recommendation. Everything about it is basically perfect. And every episode starts with some sort of crazy death. You can't ask for more. It also justifies why I think television, in some cases, can be even better than film. After spending 60 or so hours with certain characters, you really get to know them. I don't have anything else to write about it but it was so good that I couldn't help writing about it.

Mon, 09 Apr 2007 06:52:47 GMT

I can't get enough of these pictures and I don't know why. But they're making me actually laugh out loud in front of my computer.

Sat, 07 Apr 2007 06:13:33 GMT

I'm listening to Teenage Fanclub for the first time in a while. They're still great. But the most important matter that I'm going to write about right now is the fact that the school website has put up the approved 2007-2008 school calendar. I finally know when I'm going to graduate, and most people reading this I guess will be graduating then as well. June 13th, 2008. 433 days away. Or if you prefer 61 weeks and 6 days away. Now the coundtdown which I've more or less had since the beginning of high school will be accurate. My obsession with counting down days has continued on, and now I know the true countdown. This also gives a count of somewhere around 231 more school days in all for us, giver or take three days, because I'm not really sure how many days before graduation it is before we're done. So let's just say 231. Now when I go back to school from spring break I can tell people everyday how many days we have left, and this time I'll be extremely accurate. I hate to be cliche and says that 433 days sounds really short, but 433 days seems like a really short time. It's weird to actually put a date on it now, since I've been looking forward to graduating since elementary school. So, yeah, that's cool. As I posted earlier, Grindhouse was awesome. And Spring Break has been awesome. Very relaxing. It's sort of almost over, but that doesn't matter much. Lately I've been thinking of something that colleges are probably going to sort of like as a supplemental thing. I'm going to start a band (just me) called Rockonomics. Every song is going to be about economics. I already have some ideas. The songs will be simple but fun. My classic Great Depression song will definitely be going on it. I won't make two albums, but if I made a second album it would definitely have this awesome title: Back by Popular Supply & Demand. I might even just call the first album that. One song is going to be called "Keep on Rockin' in the Free Market". I'll send the CD to colleges and tell them that I look forward to going to their college so that I and fellow econ majors can put a band together and play Rockonomics songs around campus. I could see it being a cool thing, at least among the crowd that would think songs about economics are cool. Last week I finally started to watch Six Feet Under, one of the only HBO shows that I haven't watched. I just finisehd the 25th episode and I'm completely hooked. Just like The Sopranos and The Wire, it's awesome. And The Sopranos starts again on Sunday, which I'm extremely excited about. It's kind of weird that they're premiering it on Easter but I don't care. I do plan to watch The Last Temptation of Christ on Easter, because I'm getting it through Netflix. And I guess that's sort of a weird thing for an atheist like me to decide to do. But, really, it's mainly just because it's a Scorsese movie I haven't seen, and it's more of a coincidence that I'll be getting it around Easter, because it's been on my Netflix queue for a while now. That's all for now.

Fri, 06 Apr 2007 07:13:59 GMT

I saw the special showing of Grindhouse at 10 last night/sorta tonight. It was completely, completely awesome. It wasn't even sold out because the showing was being advertised so shadily so the place wasn't even close to being sold out. Go see it. Spring break has been good. That's all I have to say.

Sun, 18 Mar 2007 22:11:02 GMT

I haven't posted in so long so there's basically a lot that I could write about. But I'm sure all forget everything through the course of writing this. I saw Of Montreal on the 8th, which was awesome. And March 27th is The Decemberists at the Tower, which I'm sure will be great. Over the last month I've watched the whole series of Freaks and Geeks and it's one of the greatest shows I've ever seen. It's brilliant. It works completely as a high school centered comedy without being corny or lame, and even the more serious stuff in it is compelling. I'm just pissed there's only 18 episodes, and that it didn't get good enough ratings. The main guy behind the show is the director/writer of The 40 Year Old Virgin and he also wrote everybody's favorite, Heavy Weights. But yeah, it's really good, and I'm sure I'll be rewatching the DVDs a lot. It has to have good replay value. Yesterday I watched Happiness, which I got from Netflix. It was weird, and overall pretty good. And funny in a bizarre, sad way. And today was 300 on the IMAX. An awesome movie made even more so by the giant screen. The last few weeks have been going by extremely fast. And I hate to sound like a parody of myself, but summer isn't really that far away. But when the weather is really nice, that sort of tricks my mind into thinking that more. But at least spring break is coming up. And so is baseball season. We're planning on taking some baseball trips this summer. Day trips to Washington, New York, and Baltimore, which would be really fun. And The Sopranos starts April 8th, which just led me to remember that we got a new car. An escalade. It's completely gangster. But The Sopranos led me to that because we got the car in the area that The Sopranos is filmed. I got my picture taken in front of Pizzaland, which is always shown in the opening sequence. So that was pretty cool, seeing some Sopranos landmarks, which I still think is probably the best show ever. But The Wire gives it a run for its money. I downloaded the first season of The West Wing and I'm sort of trying that out now, cause I figured I'd like it. It's pretty good except for some corny/lame moments every once in a while. And the show is overwhelmingly liberal. But I like it, and I think I might watch one in a few minutes. I forgot, I'm also seeing Arcade Fire on May 5th. They sold the Tower out in 10 minutes, which is crazy. They also debuted at number two on the Billboard charts. I guess the word of mouth is just so positive. Even though their last album seemed to have a lot more buzz. Ok and my final though is that it's so awesome that Sonic Youth is playing the entirety of Daydream Nation at two different festivals. This better be a sign that they tour and play the entire album. That would probably be one of the best shows I've ever seen. But it's time for me to eat. Have a good one.

Sun, 25 Feb 2007 21:01:53 GMT

Let's get this out of the way, Lost sucked this week. I gues though that it was due in part to the misleading advertising. But I'm sure it'll kick back in. I really couldn't ever give up on Lost at this point. And The Office was hilarious but weird. The end was so serious in a way that The Office never has been. Maybe that was influenced a bit by director JJ Abrams? But all in all, it's been an interesting past couple of weeks. Saw the Astronaut Farmer on Friday, and it was pretty good. Arcade Fire was on SNL last night and they were really good. Half of my hopes were fulfilled when they played Intevention but they didn't play Wake Up. I thought they sounded really good, and Win even smashed his guitar. Some people thought that it was corny and uncalled for, but I say it was awesome. And I also must confess that I'm going to watch the Academy Awards tonight, although I vowed not to. I don't know what it is about movie awards shows, but I can't ever stay away from them. I do think, though, that this is going to be one of the better shows in the last few years, because the winners overall are a lot less predictable. Below are my predictions and a few commentaries.

Actor-Leading: Forest Whitaker
This one's a lock, unless somehow Peter O'Toole makes it an upset. This is the kind of performance that the academy loves. An intense performance of an actual guy. And we all know how much the academy loves biographical performances. The other nominees are all good but I think Forest has this one completely locked up.

Actor-Supporting: Eddie Murphy
I don't want Murphy to win, just as a punisment for the last few years of acting he's done, but it looks like he has this one. Fresh off a Golden Globes win, and Dreamgirls is still hot on everyone's minds. I haven't seen this one and I don't enjoy musicals much, so I don't know how much I'd really enjoy it. Murphy seems to be the consensus, but Alan Arkin was great in Little Miss Sunshine and could pull through.

Acress-Leading: Helen Mirren
The biggest lock this year, even more so than Whitaker. Biographical performance that's widely respected by basically every critic. The Queen got a resounding 98% on the rottentomatoes tomatometer, largely due to this performance. In fact, every major film critic in the country is predicting Mirren is going to win. Lock.

Actress-Supporting: Jennifer Hudson
There's been so much hype over an American Idol reject winning an award and I'd be shocked if it didn't happen here. People seem to love Hudson in this one, as well as the critics. Very close to being a lock.

Animated Feature: Cars
Although Happy Feet has a small chance, Cars is a Pixar movie. Pixar consistently puts out the best animated movies every year. And while this wasn't the best Pixar, it's still great. I've enjoyed every Pixar movie a lot, just like everybody else. Happy Feet was pretty well loved though. I'd be surprised if it beat out Cars, but not too surprised.

Art Direction: Pan's Labyrinth
This was a really hard decision. I'm split between Pan's and Dreamgirls on this one. In the end, though, I see Pan's as being more the type of movie that would get this. Plus, I have a lot of personal love for Pan's Labyrinth, and I want to see it win all it can. If we lived in a perfect world, this would be nominated for best picture and win.

Cinematography: Children of Men
It'll win, and it really deserves to win. The other nominees were all shot well, but Children of Men will be remembered in years to come specifically for it's cinematography. And who didn't love the tracking shot? None of these movies are badly shot by any means, but CoM is just exceptional.

Costume Design: Dreamgirls
Another tough category, but Dreamgirls is just so universally loved, and this is the type of category it should do well in. But I could easily see an upset from Marie Antoinette. But as Dreamgirls was liked much more than MA, I've got to go with Dreamgirls.

Directing: Martin Scorsese for The Departed
This really should be his year. But people have been saying that every year he's been nominated. Somehow the best living director has yet to win. And the academy just knows he's going to win. Presenting the award are Steven Speilberg, George Lucas, and Francis Ford Coppola. To me that seems like an obvious hint that Scorsese is going to win, since they were all part of the 70s brat pack of directors and are all widely considered some of the very best. The Departed might not be his best movie but I don't even care at this point. I think Eastwood has a chance for this one too, but he won two years ago and doesn't need another one just yet.

Documentary Feature: An Inconvenient Truth
This is basically a lock. The liberal academy is going to award this one. It's the politically correct thing to do, and the academy doesn't often turn away from the politically correct choice. It would be cool to see Jesus Camp win though, because I wasn't a big fan of Inconvenient Truth.

Documentary Short: The Blood of Yingzhou District
I'll admit that I only chose this one based on the fact that it's the consensus pick among critics. I feel bad about that because it's sort of like cheating, but you have to do what you have to do. But still, the consensus isn't overwhelming, so this isn't close to a lock whatsoever.

Film Editing: Babel
Tough choice, but I'm going with Babel, even though I didn't like it at all. The Departed and CoM were better in terms of film editing, but my gut is telling me Babel.

Foreign Language Film: Pan's Labyrinth
There's a good chance that this is going to win, and I really hope so. Everybody loved this and it could've even been a best picture contender. But I've heard a lot of great buzz about The Lives of Others, so an upset could be in order.

Makeup: Pan's Labyrinth
Right after I saw Pan's I knew that if it didn't win anything else, it'd have to get makeup. Really, I don't know how you couldn't choose Pan's in this category. Whether it be people's bruised and battered faces, or the awesome looking creatures, the makeup in this was simply awesome. This just has to win. I especially don't see Click pulling an upset.

Original Score: Pan's Labyrinth
The consensus here is for The Queen. But I've got to go with my gut. The main theme of the film is great and works perfectly. The Queen has a really good chance, as well as Babel. But I'm pulling for Pan, as well as predicting it.

Original Song: "Listen" Dreamgirls
This seems to be the consensus so I'm just going to go with it. But I'm worried about the fact that Dreamgirls is nominated for three songs. There's a good chance that the ballot will be split because of that, and the song from Inconvenient Turth will win. But Listen seems to be the consensus for best Dreamgirls song, and I just thing it would be too weird for a documentary like IC to win for best song over a much loved musical.

Best Picture: Little Miss Sunshine
I know, it seems impossible. This is probably the most unpredicatable best picture year in recent memory. The Departed, Babel, and Sunshine all seem to have a shot. Babel is a lot like Crash so that gives it a good shot. Almost everybody loved The Departed. But Sunshine is the underdog and dark horse, and really the surprise hit of the year. It's not typical best picture fare, but it's got a great ensemble cast, and the academy does like underdogs. I sort of feel like Babel and Departed will split each other's votes, and Sunshine will break out because of that. Babel wasn't as loved as either film in terms of critics but it could still win. Believe me, I'd be pissed if Babel won, because I'm tired of the large cast connected in some way while trying to make a statement about the current world. I didn't even think Babel conveyed it's supposed message about the language barrier well. But at least it's techincally sound. But I'm going out on a limb with Sunshine. I liked The Departed more, but for some reason I'm pulling for Sunshine.

Short Film-Animated: The Little Matchgirl
I went with Match on this one just because it's got the consensus.

Short Film-Live Action: West Bank Story
Once again I went with the general consensus. I just don't know much about the short films. I'll make an effort to track down the nominees in these types of categories next year.

Sound Editing: Letters from Iwo Jima
At first I thought Flags and this would cancel each other out, but just doing some quick research, it looks like nobody is calling for a Flags win for this one. I do think, though, that Pirates has a good chance as well.

Sound Mixing: Dreamgirls
If a much loved musical didn't win sound mixing I'd be shocked. It wouldn't make any sort of sense. So yeah, Dreamgirls.

Visual Effects: Pirates of the Caribbean
Pirates has to walk away with something with all the money it made, and this is the perfect category for it to take. I sure don't see Poseidon Adventure winning, and people didn't seem to like Superman enough. But this one was a gigantic hit, and the visual effects are very solid.

Screenplay-Adapted: The Departed
The Departed should win this pretty easily. I still don't see how Borat was nominated, since the screenplay could've been written on a napkin. I guess CoM and Little Children have a chance (Little Children is one of my favorite books ever, so the screenplay was working with great source material), but The Departed should take this just because it's well loved. Easy as that.

Screenplay-Original: Little Miss Sunshine
My prediction, and also what probably deserves it. As much as I loved movies like Pan's, LMS is a much more screenplay centered film. I'd be really mad again if Babel won, just because most of the screenplay was people yelling. But if you've seen Sunshine, you know that it's the type of movie that wins screenplay awards. The dialogue was fantastic.

So those are my picks. A lot of them were pretty predictable and based on the general consensus, but I had to go with upsets on a few of them. Surprisingly, best picture might be the least predictable this year, which will make for a great show.

Sat, 03 Feb 2007 22:50:40 GMT

The new Arcade Fire is thumbs up so far. And yet again, I haven't updated in a while. Not much going on. I've been getting a lot of good movies off of Netflix. Today I just got 21 Up and Open Season in the mail. 21 Up is the third entry in this awesome documentary series called the UP series. It started in 1964 and it follows these British kids from when they're seven, and there's a new entry every seven years. It's up to 48 now. So I've made it to 21. And Open Season I got solely due to the soundtrack. I don't think the movie itself is going to be anything special, but there's a good chance it'll at least be enjoyable. I watched Touch of Evil recently, which was pretty cool, and so was a movie called The Station Agent. Last night I finally watched Oldboy after impulse buying the three disk version a few weeks ago for pretty cheap. It was awesome. So I've been spending a lot of time watching movies and TV shows when I haven't been doing homework or something else. I bought the new Of Montreal and Shins albums last week. The Of Montreal was nothing new since I've been listening to it since last fall but it's definitely up for album of 2007. The Shins new album is boring with a few good tracks scattered. As far as books go, I've been reading an awesome one called The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. If you like comic books, Harry Houdini, World War II, or just 1940s stuff in general, you'd probably like it. I'm 300 pages in and it's great.

Not much else to say. Have a good one.

Thu, 18 Jan 2007 23:23:32 GMT

Just a few random things. I saw Children of Men and Pan's Labyrinth recently. They were both extremely good, but I have to say, Pan's Labyrinth was better. Everything about it was great and I already want to see it again. I'm trying to get back into watching a ton of movies like I did around this time last year. I never did get to finish watching all of the American Film Institute's Top 100 but I did see a lot of new movies. I signed up for Netflix and have been getting some cool stuff from that. But now I'm sort of glad I didn't spend all the time watching the top 100. Because the AFI announced that in June they're making a new list, citing that the world we now live in is "different" since 9/11. Revamping the list may seem like something I'd take issue with, but I like the fact that they're doing it. I just hope they remember to honor the classics and not shove in too many new movies. There's a list of 47 new movies that are eligible to appear... some have no chance, some will definitely make it. I expect the Lord of the Rings to be honored as a whole, and it might make the top thirty, maybe even top twenty. If the list were to be redone in say ten or fifteen years from now, I'd expect LoTR to crack the top ten. Titanic will make the list, but the question is where. And for some reason I'm expecting a switcheroo with Citizen Kane and Casablanca. But in regards to everthing else, not much is going on. Just the usual stuff. First semester is drawing to a close, and the longest part of the school year is over.

Top 15 of 2006

Wed, 03 Jan 2007 23:22:14 GMT

Finally, here is my top fifteen albums of 2006. First, honorable mentions.

Roots and Crowns by Califone- The albums flows fantastically and there are some great moments. Their cover of "The Orchids" is one of this year's better tracks. Unfortunatley, the album had the tendency to get a bit boring.

Freckle Wars by Ecstatic Sunshine- A nice surprise from a band I'd never heard of. This guitar duo puts togther some very cool arrangements. Some tracks are much better than others and the music may seem a little gimmicky, but overall it's an enjoyable listen.

The Greatest by Cat Power- Another good one, but just like the other two honorable mentions, it can get boring. "Lived in Bars" is one of the best songs of the year, and I could actually see the album as a whole growing more on me with time.

And now to the best stuff...

15. Let Me Introduce My Friends by I'm From Barcelona

This album from I'm From Barcelona is the musical equivalent of candy. There's no depth at all but these songs have an undeniable sweetness that's hard to resist. But also like candy, too much at once can make you sick. From the start of the album with "Oversleeping", you know what you're in for: Cutesy pop music in the same category as bands like Architecture in Helsinki. Although I'm From Barcelona never reach the heights AiH did with last year's In Case We Die, they have put together an album that could only be describe with words such as happy, fun, and sweet. Sure, it may be hard to get through this whole album in one sitting due to a lack of variety, but that doesn't render it worthless. This is a great thing to put on when you're just looking for something fun to listen to that doesn't quite require a lot of concentration to appreciate. The candy comparison is really the best thing I can use to describe this, and if you took a listen, I'm sure you'd understand.

14. Rubies by Destroyer

Dan Bejar, the leader of Destroyer, will be the first of two members of The New Pornographers to appear on my list. Rubies is a very solid album. Kicking off with the epic title track, the record gets going to a great start. The lyrics and the guitar work here are highlights. Bejar's words might not always make much literal sense, but they have a this great poetic flow. Rubies is sometimes repetitive, though. After a few songs full of Bejar's "la las" it's easy to get bored. The vocals may be grating to some, but for the most part they compliment the music well. Nothing here is amazing, but everything is at least fairly good.

13. Neko Case- Fox Confessor Brings the Flood

And here's the second member of The New Pornographers to appear on the list, and one of the best vocalists around today. You could call Neko Case a country singer, but it wouldn't be fair to peg her down to just one category. The highlight here comes early with the second track, "Star Witness." Hands down, this is one of the best songs of the year, easily somewhere in the top five. It not only shows off Neko's vocal prowess, but is simply just well arranged. Everything from the melody to the lyrics is spot on. Another excellent track is "That Teenage Feeling", which recalls girl group songs on yesteryear, but with Neko's own unique style. If the whole album was filled with tracks like these two, it would easily be close to the top of my list. Unfortunately, there are a few clunkers on here. But the highs on here are extremely high, and it gives me hope that one day Neko is going to make something amazing.

12. Living With War by Neil Young

Neil Young may be old, but he still has passion. 2005's Prairie Wind reflected Neil's softer side, but Living With War is a rocker through and through. The album was recorded quickly and released only a month after it was announced. Fed up with President Bush and the war in Iraq, Neil decided to vent; recording Living With War was his way of doing that. Young's anger and passion towards these subjects is apparent, and this helps make LWW the best protest album in years. All too often an album like this can get overly whiney, but Neil never reaches that low. Especially great is the use of a choir on several of the songs, most notably on the excellent title track. Sure, both the lyrics and the music itself can get repetitive but that's a small problem to cite. Living With War makes for a great listen that can be added rightfully into Young's legendary discography.

11. The Life Pursuit by Belle and Sebastian

I have to admit, I don't love old Belle and Sebastian albums as much as most do. If You're Feeling Sinister, while not a bad album by any means, always just seemed boring to me. To me, The Life Pursuit sounds like it was made by a completely different band and I'm just fine with that. The songs on here sound much more full than their more acoustic based older material, but they still have retained their sense of melody. Belle and Sebastian have always known how to craft a catchy song, it's just that the songs' hooks were weighed down due to sparse, boring arrangments. But no longer. The Life Pursuit is brimming with life and energy. It's hard to describe exactly what the album sounds like because the variety here is outstanding. Really though, it's just damn good pop music. I know this will upset hardcorde B&S fans, but this is the best thing the band has ever done.

10. The Crane Wife by The Decemberists

This is my least favorite release by The Decemberists so far but it's still good enough to crack my top ten. Some stuff on here has the usual Decemberists sound, while other songs move on to more "prog rock" territory. While I'd hesitate to compare The Decemberists to Genesis, there's defnitely traces of that "proggy" sound on here, must notably on "The Island". I'm not going to lie, about halfway in to that track The Decemberists start to sound a little like Yes. But there's enough on here to keep fans of the old sound happy, like "The Crane Wife 3" and "Shankill Butchers". Colin Meloy still writes highly entertaining and literate story songs that compliment the music well. The only complete misfire here is "When the War Came", in which I just can't seem to find any redeeming qualities. And despite some changes in sound, there isn't any doubting that this is a Decemberists record. And to sidetrack for a moment, the Decemberists/Stephen Colbert guitar duel was one of the greatest things to grace the television this year, and will undoubtedly bring The Decemberists to a large audience. But while some of these songs are acessible enough for the common crowd, I still can't help but feeling that The Decemberists are at least weird enough to always be the kind of band that has more of a cult following. For a major label debut, The Decemberists have shown that they're still in complete creative control.

9. Putting the Days to Bed by The Long Winters

John Roderick knows how to write a great song. The kind of song that gives you that warm feeling inside. And this year he and his band returned to follow up the fantastic When I Pretened to Fall. Although PTDTB isn't quite as consisten as it's predecessor it's still a great album with a handful of truly inspiring songs. Roderick write songs with an honesty not often seen in music today, and it helps that he's a talented vocalist. The Long Winters cover a lot of territory here, from straight up rock and roll to more country tinged numbers. As usual with Long Winters albums, the highlights here are the ballads. Case in point: "Hindsight". Here's a song that I couldn't get enough of when I first heard this album. From the lyrics, to the melody, to the vocals; everything in this song adds up to something special. The acoustic "Clouds" and the opening track "Pushover" are two other songs on here that I'd put into the "very good" category. I've always felt like The Long Winters biggest problem has been consistency. For ever few great songs, there's at least one which is completely cheesey. "The Sky is Open" has no reason to be on here, and "Honest" is lame as well. But it speaks volumes that a few clunkers still can't sink Putting the Days to Bed. For how much I've liked The Long Winters work up to this point, I have a feeling the best from them is yet to come.

8. The Tragic Treasury: Songs from a Series of Unfortunate Events by The Gothic Archies

I've never read the popular Series of Unfortunate Events children's books but this album stand on it's own. The Gothic Archies is the side band of Stephin Merritt, the leader of one of my all time favorite bands, The Magnetic Fields. This album sees Stephin composing songs for each book in the series, but they work very well having no knowledge about the books. I wasn't expecting a lot from The Tragic Treasury, but hands down, this is the best thing Merritt has done since 2000's fantastic 69 Love Songs. This is one weird album but it's still very accesible and easy to listen to. Some songs are based around accordion parts while others are played mostly with synthesizers. There's a lot of weird sounds here that sucessfully convey that weird and scary, yet still playful, sound that they're trying to achieve. Songs like "Crows" could fit in easily on older Magnetic Fields releases like Get Lost and "In the Reptile Room" would've sounded great on Holiday. It seems odd that the depressing music of Stephin Merritt is the best that it's been in years on an album specifically made for a children's series of books. Magnetic Fields fans are the ones who are really going to love this as I'm sure the kids who read th books probably wouldn't like this too much. But on the other hand, this seems like just the release for Merritt to make a comeback with. His songs, for however dark and depressing they might've been, have always had a playful quality to them, and the Unfortunate Events books, while also dark and miserable, must have some sort of quality that makes them appeal to kids. Maybe the sense of humor of the books and Merritt go hand in hand. Either way, based on children's books or not, this is a great return to form for Stephin Merritt.

7. The Body, The Blood, The Machine by The Thermals

The Thermals took me by surprise this year and their new album sounded great right on first listen. They're considered a punk band, but really this isn't anything too raw or unproduced. The Thermals also have much better pop sensibilities than your average punk band, but by no means take this to mean that they're a pop-punk band in the style of a group like Green Day. I wasn't the first to notice that The Body, The Blood, The Machine sounds like The Mountain Goats turned up to 11, but that's a fantastic comparison to draw. Several factors had me loving this album right away. One thing was the simplicity of it. In a world where every band is trying to release something complex and groundbreaking, and often times failing, it's refreshing to hear something simple. Sure, The Thermals use power chords, but so did the fucking Who. It wouldn't be hard for any casual guitarist to learn the stuff on here, and while some may find fault with that, I don't. Second, these are infectious songs that make for great sing-a-longs. Third, the lyrics here are fantastic. Pretty much all of the material here is attacking organized religion (mainly the conservative right wing Catholicism of today), but luckily, The Thermals never come across sounding like whiney teenagers. The energy level is high throughout, and even when things are toned down a bit during "Test Pattern" (a great song in its own right), no momentum is lost.

6. Rather Ripped by Sonic Youth

Sonic Youth's best album, Daydream Nation, was released in 1988, but they haven't lost one bit of their originality since. In fact, I'd put Rather Ripped and their last two albums on a list of the Youth's best records, even better than '90s releases such as Dirty and Goo. Let's face it, SY can never equal Daydream Nation but that's only because at that time, it was something completely new and inventive. But with their most recent outings, Sonic Youth have proved that they're still better than most of the bands that they've influenced. In terms of Sonic Youth albums, this one is less noisy and a little more upbeat. Some have even ventured to call this their pop album. While I'd hesitate to call this pop music, I have to admit that it's definitely more accessible than the usual Sonic Youth fare. As usual, some songs are sung by Thurston, and some by Kim, and only one on here, "Rats", is sung by Lee. Although I've loved the past few Sonic Youth albums, this is the first time in a while I can say that I've liked all of Kim Gordon's tracks. I hate to say it, but some of here songs have the tendency to get annoying. But two of the best tracks here, the leadoff "Reena" and "What a Waste" are sung by Gordon. The best song, by far, is the Thurston Moore penned "Incinerate", which combines the best of both Sonic Youth worlds. Moore is still the epitome of "cool" and he proves it on "Incinerate" and all of his other tracks. One of the best concerts I attended all year was Sonic Youth at the Starlight Ballroom here in Philadelphia. Besides for a few exceptions, they played nothing but material off of Rather Ripped, and this was only one day after the release. Usually I'll complain when a band focuses heavily on newer material. Not with The Yoot. The high quality of that concert is a testament to the greatness of both the band and their newest album. Twenty three years in, these guys still make some of the best music around, and luckily, they show no signs of slowing down.

5. Open Season Soundtrack by Paul Westerberg

This marks the second appearance of a kiddie album on my list. And while I insist that I'm no children's music expert, I have to admit that I absolutely love this album. But I didn't expect anything less from Paul Westerberg, my favorite songwriter of all time, mainly for his work in The Replacements. But his solo stuff isn't too shabby either. I didn't get the chance to see the film Open Season, though I'd love to see how the songs work in the context of the movie itself. My main concern for the soundtrack was that it might not work as a Westerberg album, and really would just be nothing more than the soundtrack to an animated movie. But these songs all work well as Westerberg solo songs, and I definitely consider this to be a real Paul Westerberg album. There are a few songs by other artists on here, but obviously, everything centers around Paul. Better yet, we get all the variety that we'd expect from PW. From the opening rockers of "Meet Me in the Meadown" and "Love You in the Fall", to the ballad "I Belong", and to the pop of "Any Better Than This", Paul is in top form. The only song here that feels especially made for the movie is "Right to Arm Bears" but even that songs has its merits. There's even oscar talk for the piano ballad "I Belong". It would be weird to see Paul on the stage of the Academy Awards, but stranger things have happened. But "I Belong" isn't even as good as the acoustic based "Whisper Me Luck", which I wouldn't hesitate to include in my favorite Westerberg penned songs. One of Paul's best abilities, at least in this reviewer's mind, is the way that his songs convey a sense of longing, regreat, and even nostalgia. "Whisper Me Luck" does this, and also features some classic PW lines. My favorite moment comes when he sings, "I'm wild at heart on or now or never night/we made it through another day/we got away/I only wish forever". The words aren't amazing on paper but the way Paul sings them really connects with me, and helps me to remember why this guy is my favorite songwriter ever.

4. You in Reverse by Built to Spill

After a long wait, the best guitarists in indie rock are back. You in Reverse is Built to Spill's jammiest album yet. Most songs go on pretty long, though not quite as long as the songs off of Perfect From Now On; but these songs are a completely different breed. Although the guitar work on Perfect From Now On is amazing (and it still may be BTS's best album), there weren't really solos or licks and leads. Here, everything is dependent on the guitar work. I called this their "jammiest" album yet and that's the best way I can describe the feel of You in Reverse. All the songs have a very live, very organic quality to them and there isn't a whole lot of production. Some of this comes off like a few guys playing in a garage, making up some stuff as they go along. But admittedly, the folks in Built to Spill aren't your average garage players. Built to Spill seem to change up their style at least a little bit on each album and this continues the trend. After their last album, Ancient Melodies of the Future, it's apparent that Doug Martsch has rediscovered his love for the guitar. The album opens up with the epic "Goin' Against Your Mind" which itself changes gears several times. "Liar" is one of my favorite songs of the year. It may not seem heavy on the guitar acrobatics but everything is layered on so smoothly that it's hard to tell that there's much more going on just beneath the surface. And of course, the lyrics are fantastic. The way the words of Built to Spill compliment the music has always been one of my favorite aspects of the band; You in Reverse is no different. Full throughout the album are Doug's musings on subjects such as religion and the state of the world. But what really makes the newest from Built to Spill stand out are all the great guitar parts, as I've already alluded to. It's hard to beat the recurring lead in "Conventional Wisdom", the riffs of "Wherever You Go", or the all around freneticness of the guitar on "Goin' Against Your Mind". Despite the impressive instrumentation this is hardly BTS's best album. Perfect From Now On, There's Nothing Wrong With Love, and Keept it Like a Secret are all markedly better albums. But even minor BTS is excellent. And a final note to the band: please don't wait five years to release an album again.

3. Boys and Girls in America by The Hold Steady

The Hold Steady are hot right now. Everybody loves The Hold Steady. I guess you could definitely consider them as one of the break out artists of the year. Boys and Girls isn't their best album but it sure is a damn fine one. I have to admit, I've been on a huge Hold Steady kick lately. Last year's Separation Sunday is their best album but and I'm kicking myself for not checking it out until just now. Had I heard it back in 2005 it would've undoubtedly occupied a high position on my list. This Minnesota band has an awful lot in common with my favorite band of all time, The Replacements. They come from the same state. Singer Craig Finn's favorite band is The Replacements. And most importantly, both The Hold Steady and The Replacements have a knack of romanticizing different aspects of life. The two bands really don't sound that much alike, but they share the same heart. Since The Replacements are my favorite band of all time I've got no problem with this. Returning are some of the characters from The Hold Steady's last two albums but this is no concept album. Most of the songs here could really just serve as a soundtrack to life. As the title implies, lyricist Finn's unifying theme here seems to be interactions between the sexes. Finn is known for his use of literary allusion and the title is pulled directly from a line of Jack Kerouac's classic On the Road: "Boys and girls in America have such a sad time together." In fact, the excellent first track "Stuck Between Stations" (a contender for best song of the year), opens up to Fin referring to how he believe that on some night's he believes that On the Road narrator Sal Paradise was right, and proceeds to recite the line which inspired the title. Finn doesn't get as word heavy on these songs as he does on past albums, which is hardly an insult. I love the way he tells stories in many of he's songs, but the simplicity of these lyrics helps give them their appeal. Another thing I love about The Hold Steady is that they're a rock band through and through, and that really shows here. They're not out to change the way you think of music, but somehow they still amaze you. It's the kind of music that makes you happy to be alive, and that's really the best compliment that I can pay to these guys. Along with a great live show, and the steady (no pun intended) release of an album a year, this is a band to really be excited about. I can't wait to see what they try next.

2. Bitter Tea by The Fiery Furnaces

I have trouble hiding my love for this band. Call them pretentious, boring, unoriginal, dumb, anything. But I don't believe you. A lot of people were scared away by last year's Rehearsing My Choir which featured vocals by the duo's grandmother. I thought it was a masterpiece (my number one of 2005 by far), and couldn't understand all the hate that it got. Just to catch you up with my history of The Fiery Furnaces I'd like to add that for the past three years, they've released my favorite albums of those years. Hell, last year their collection of b-sides, EP (which was well over EP length), made my list at number four. So sadly, this year the Furnaces no longer have my top spot. But three years at number one, and then a spot at number two can hardly be called inconsistent. The Fiery Furnaces are weird as ever. I still can honestly say that no bands making today sound quite like them. On first listen, Bitter Tea was actually a bit of a dissapointment. But that couldn't be possible. After repeated listens everything here really grew on me. From the sounds of the old piano on "I'm In No Mood", to the "Beat It" homage on "Oh, Sweet Woods", I have to admit I fell in love with all the little intricacies that the album had to offer. "Waiting to Know You" sounds like a warped version of a slow song played at a high school prom. The synths of "Borneo" are completely infections. And well, "Police Sweater Blood Vow" just might be my favorite song of the year, for reasons even I can't seem to explain. Eleanor Friedberger has a completely unique voice that can go from being cute and playful, to really sort of beautiful. Her vocals here fall more into the "cute and playful" category. This album is just full of so much good stuff. As usual when talking about The Fiery Furnaces, I'm mostly just gushing. I love The Fiery Furnaces but it's always been hard to explain exactly what appealed most to me about them. So I'll leave my summary off with this quick note: Bitter Tea was originally supposed to be number four on my list. This was up until only a few minutes ago. Then as I wrote my summary I realized that this album actually has provided me with a lot more enjoyment than You In Reverse. So I put it at number three and continued to write. Then I realized that I liked this album even more than Boys and Girls in America. So here it is, Bitter Tea, just missing this year's number one spot. This is a great album, backwards vocals and all. It may be pretentious, but it's right up my alley.

1. Scale by Herbert

I'd never heard of Matthew Herbert before this year. Before 2006 even began I was pretty sure whoever topped my list would at least be somebody I was already a fan of. And you know, I'm not really a fan of stuff that's typically categorized as dance music or electronica. But that's the style of music that Matthew Herbert makes, along with talented vocalist Dani Siciliano. However, to simply call Scale dance music is to vastly discredit the talent of Herbert. For one, Matthew is an innovator. The music of Scale is filled with samples of 723 different objects: from the sound of gas pumps, to the noise of a closing coffin, to somebody vomitting. On one level, this helps Scale to work as an experimental album. It's hard to distinguish between which sound is which, but that's barely important. What's important is that Herbert goes to great lengths to get the sounds he wants, even if it does depend on recording drum tracks while on a hot air balloon to get the best possible sound. Clearly, as a producer Matthew Herbert is as inventive as they come. But just because an album has unique production and sampling doesn't make it good. Luckily, Scale would be great even without all of the experimentation. Besides for samples, there's a lot of orchestration on here, all of which is done beautifully. Matthew is incorporating stuff that sounds like it could be pulled straight off the soundtrack of Casablanca, into dance music nonetheless. And crazily enough, it works perfectly. Take for example the lead off track, "Something Isn't Right". Heard all throughout are horns and strings that you wouldn't typically associate with electronica, but the fact is that they enhance the song to levels it never could've reached on its own. Music critics and fans alike have been so impressed by the sampling of 723 different objects that they usually fail to point out this excellent orchestration and how well it meshes with the music itself. "The Movers and the Shakers" is another example of utilizing horns to their best extent. Some of it sounds like it could be ripped straight from a James Bond film, and I mean that in the most positive way imaginable. Bonus points always go to albums that I have trouble comparing to any music that I've ever heard, and truly, I've never heard dance music that incorporates orchestration so brilliantly as Scale. And it's not just the originality that makes Scale a masterpiece. These are all just genuinely great songs, and for all their experimentation and uniqueness, I could see a mainstream crowd appreciating the music in its own right. Scale even works as a meditation on the current world. How often does music like this examine current world issues? Really, Scale works on about a hundred different levels and the only way to fully understand that is to listen. Even on first listen, I knew Scale was something special. It's the only masterpiece of the year, and by far, the most creative album of the year. Contemporary music doesn't get much better than this.

Thu, 14 Dec 2006 22:58:14 GMT

Hot damn, I haven't updated in a long time. I don't really know what to write about, but I figured that I had to. I used to be able to write all sorts of stuff in here, but not any more. It's Thursday and I didn't go to school today or yesterday cause I've been sort of sick. But Tuesday was pretty awesome. Pete and I went to Borders to go to a book signing/QandA type thing with Harry Shearer. He was the bassist in Spinal Tap and he does the voice of a bunch of the main characters on the Simpsons. So that was really awesome. I bought his book and we also got a picture with him. Afterwards I got a great idea. I should've brought a cucumber wrapped in tin foil for him to sign, but I didn't thikn of it until too late. That would've been awesome though. I've also been doing a lot of homework lately, so maybe that's one of the reasons I don't get to update this too often. Last week was one of the busiest weeks for homework of the school year. Luckily though, Christmas Break is coming up. And I always devote a lot of writing on this thing for how great Christmas is going to be. Yesterday, I finally got done ordering all of my stuff. This year, I made sure to find the best possible deals so that I could maximize how much stuff I'll get. I'm not getting as many CDs as I usually do, this is more of a DVD year. I still have homework to do tonight for tomorrow so that sort of sucks. But hopefully the next week won't be too bad and I'll be able to relax for a little while during break. Since I last updated I saw both The Hold Steady and The Who. Both concerts were awesome. The Hold Steady has definitely become one of my favorite currents bands these days; they're almost all that I listen to. And I also have to start working on my annual top ten albums of the year. The only thing I'm really sure about is the top few albums. All the other stops are up for grabs, so I have to work on figuring out where all those albums will land. I actually might do that tonight. It'll be interesting to see how it all pans out. But yeah. I just thought it'd be a good time to update this. Everything is going pretty good. Have a good one.

Sun, 19 Nov 2006 19:37:34 GMT

The glorious Wii is now finally mine. I went to Target at 1 in the morning, got my ticket at 6:30 this morning, then went back at 8 to get the Wii and Zelda. I haven't slept in over 24 hours. Bob Dylan last night was awesome. I was planning on sleeping a little when I got home with the Wii, but I really wanted to play it. It's awesome. I've barely even played Zelda, Wii Sport is enough fun in itself. But now I'm really tired.

Sat, 18 Nov 2006 05:48:03 GMT

I thought I'd update. We saw Babel tonight. I heard a lot of mixed things about it, from crappy to masterpiece. None of us liked it all that much. It made sense and all, but I just didn't see the point or the message that some people saw in it. But more importantly, Milton Friedman, arguably the most important economist of the second half of the twentieth century died on Thursday. This guy was awesome, and his influence was extreme. Definitely one of my favorites. On Thursday I read a lot of obits on him on various sites. Some were standard some were pretty good. The only thing written that I really have some sort of objection to it something Rolling Stone posted on their webiste... a Milton Friedman playlist with songs about money which characterize him as some sort of money hungry, greedy snob. It really shows the liberal bias of RS, and was really kind of rude. But whatever. I just downloaded the second season of The Wire and I think I might watch some of that tonight. Tomorrow is Bob Dylan. And at some point on early Sunday, I have to go to Target to wait for the Wii. Hopefully the line isn't too crazy.

Sat, 11 Nov 2006 05:40:33 GMT

Man, this is the most I've ever slacked off on updating this I think. But really, there isn't too much to write about. Everything is going good, and all that stuff. I did see Borat tonight though. Hillarious. And The Hold Steady are on Jimmy Kimmel in a few minutes so I'm eagerly awaiting watching that. I'm also eagerly awaiting seeing them for free on the 21st. Being a member of the press has awesome benefits. This should be an awesome month though. Dylan, The Hold Steady, and The Who. And the Wii comes out on November 19th. I've been thinking that instead of waiting outside for a store to open I could possibly order off the Circuit City site right at midnight and pick it up the next day. Target and Best Buy are supposedly getting a ton of them though, so I should be safe, and if not on the first day, then a week later or so. It's also about time I make my annual "Christmas is coming soon" post. Well, Christmas is coming soon. I haven't really decided what I want yet, but I'll be doing that really soon. Lost ended this week, and the only thing I have to complain about is that I have to wait until February to find out what happends. At least there are a few more BGs until the break, which has also been awesome this season. But really, not much is going on. At least not anything cool enough for me to take the time to update about. I do like to do a little update on this every one in a while. I have a review of the new album from The Who on my Left of the Dial blog at elisentman.blogspot.com which I also fail to update more than I'd like to. Have a good one.

Tue, 24 Oct 2006 20:37:15 GMT

I admit, I've been slacking off updating this for the first time in a while. But really, not much interesting is really happening. I figured it was time to do a little update though. School continues on. Although we did get a "threat". Going to school on Friday should be crazy. I'm sure a lot of time is going to be knocked out of first block to search bags and such. I've been doing normal things though. Homework or just relaxing on school days, and doing the usual weekend things on the weekend. We saw The Prestige this weekend. It was my first time at the movies in a while and it was pretty good. I might see The Departed on Thursday. But anyway, it's almost November 1st, which in my mind, marks the beginning of the holiday season. Awesome. I'm seeing Paul Simon tonight. Have a good one.

Sun, 08 Oct 2006 19:29:46 GMT

Not really anything to write. Everything is good and all that. Just figured it was a good time to update but I'm just going to keep this short. I'm seeing Built to Spill tonight, and I'm sure that it'll be great. Also, if you haven't yet, visit my blog at elisentman.blogspot.com. It would be appreciated. I'm trying to update it a lot more frequently and get some readers over there. It has music reviews and all that kind of stuff. I have to get to homework though. Thanks for reading.

Thu, 28 Sep 2006 00:53:36 GMT

Know what's awesome? Getting an email telling you there are two tickets waiting for you at the Tower Theater for a sold out Sufjan Stevens concert the next day. The perks of being a member of the press are amazing.

Mon, 25 Sep 2006 19:41:39 GMT

I haven't updated this thing in far too long. First off, is school. The school year continues to go pretty good. We still barely have any grades or anything yet though. None of the classes are too bad, but a few are definitely better than others. Broadcast Journalism, AP Euro, and Contemporary Issues stand out the most. This weekend was pretty good. On Saturday we went to the Phillies game. We could've went again on Sunday but we had to play a show. It basically ended up being a complete joke though, so I'm not going to get into that. The Paul Westerberg album was sent to me a few days ago. It's the Open Season soundtrack. It's weird how his new album is a soundtrack for a children's album. But it's still awesome. Two of the songs are basically Replacements songs since Tommy Stinson plays bass on them. And tonight, at the premier of the movie, Paul and Tommy will play two songs together, live. That's basically a live reunion of The Replacements. If they did a tour, the night I saw them would go down as one of the best days of my life. Lately, I've been watching the show The Wire because I heard it was awesome. I'm not caught up at all though, the fourth season started like two weeks ago and I'm still going through the first season. But it's honestly the most badass show I've ever seen. Next week should be awesome. My birthday is Tuesday, Lost premiers on Wednesday night, and Battlestar Galactica premiers on Friday night. I also just rememembered that I need to buy my Built to Spill ticket for October 7th. I don't know why it's taken me this long, because I really need to go to that. This Saturday coming up is Farm Aid which should be awesome. Besides all the good performers, I'm psyched to see John Mellencamp because I'm pretty sure that I'm going to be laughing throughout the entire duration of his set. On October 24th, I'm seeing Paul Simon at the Tower. And then on November 25th, it's The Who. Awesome. I've got nothing else. Have a good week.