MCR Blog

The world is officially okay, even though the Beatles broke up and Joe Strummer and Sid Vicious died. Why, you may ask, am I so optimistic, for once? My Chemical Romance has a blog! I kid you not. Here is the link: http://www.mychemicalromance.com/ I hope it actually works as a link, since stuff tends to not like working for me, tech wise. Anyway, this has got to be the most enlightening blog of my life, aside from GFY. Here's the link for that one as well, for your own enjoyment: http://gofugyourself.celebuzz.com/
It's about fashion, but is unimportant compared to this MCR blog. The mysteries of the universe are explained in this blog, such as Bob's obsession with Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, which is amazing, and what ray likes to do on the weekend (sleep, play video games, not leaving the house, shower/ shave). Anyway, check it out. Everyone, even Mikey the loser, posts on in regularly. Of course, Gerard and Frank have the best comments, since they are coolest, but Ray is just behind them. So read the blog. It is awesome and will be life-changing. I promise you that much.

Rise Against

With the iTunes money kindly bestowed to me, I went out and bought Rise Against. Who is Rise Against? Only the most hardcore punk band ever. Like, they are apparently banned in some southern and midwest states. How much more cool can you get? I'm sort of sad I didn't discover them earlier/ go to their concert. I heard it rocked. Anyway, Collapse is a great song, as is Roadside. if you like fast, angry music, listen to them. If not, don't. They sort of remind me of DKm and Flogging Molly, with the heavy guitar and fast music. I really like them. In all their albums, they include books to be read and movies to see in order to understand them. The phrase "when injustice becomes law, rebellion becomes duty" really fits them. There's nothing much more to use to describe them, except they are totally boss and I could sort of see their stuff in a movie about an underground group in, like, communist Russia, with Viggo Mortensen as the leader and maybe Adrian Brody or Daniel craig as second in command and Marc Warren just randomly thrown in for good measure. That would be a great movie that I would totally see... Just a hint, Peter Jackson/ Martin Scorsese/other cool, award winning director. Just a thought.

U2's New Album

U2 is coming out with a new album, the first one in five years. According to Wikipedia, that's the longest wait between albums for them. Anyway, I'm psyched. It's called No Line on the Horizon and they claim it to be different from everything else they've done, which they say each time. Still, U2 is always excellent, like the Beatles or Stones. Seriously, can you ever go wrong with U2? I challenge somebody to name one bad song by them. Well, they have, like, 50-60 songs, but the album is going to only have 15 or so. Perhaps more albums in the future? Anyway, the thing is due out on March 3rd in the US, but February 27 in Ireland. That is a pity, but my parents won't let me go to Ireland for the release. We shall just stay here and wait. Also, they will be going on world tour, with a stop in the Bay Area. I've got to start saving up, since the cheap seats will probably be way more than I have. I still can't wait.

iPod

As many of you probably know, my iPod broke in November, much to my despair. However, for Hannakah (I'm half reform Jew, half liberal Protestant, which I guess makes me atheist) my parents got my one of those new nanos, in silver. Never before have I been so overjoyed at an 8 gig piece of metal. Thing was, with my old iPod, there was only two gig, so I couldn't even fit ten or so albums. Now, all the bands I like can go on my iPod, plus some artists I'm not so huge on, like Lily Allen. Sorry, Amy. I just don't get her, but would love to go to her concert with you, just because it's a concert and I love concerts. Speaking of which, I'm in Italy when DKM is playing San Francisco, which sort of sucks, because I've wanted to see them live. Oh well. I'll just get Tuna or Noelle to go for me. Or watch clips on Youtube. Or their music video, which includes a clip of them preforming at a steelworker strike in Dublin, which is on my brand new iPod!

Christian Rock

Remember how I said I like all types of rock, except for pop? Well, I've changed my mind. Christian rock is a horrible, vile thing. A few weeks ago, since it was free, I downloaded this 33 Miles song. I didn't really listen to it, until yesterday and oh my God, it is horrible. It's got all these really un-obscure references to Jesus and how gay marraige is sinful and all that. But that's not even the best part. The cover is of the three of them and they are all so wholesome looking. Like, I hate wholesome guys. I don't get why people like wholesome guys. Give me Steve reynolds, in all his hungry, slightly drugged-looking glory over this band. The only cool one is the one on the far right, with the dark hair and brown pants. he looks nice. but the other two are creepy. And I think their anti-gay messages are really saying something about what they like, if you get my meaning. But listen to 33 Miles, just to mock them with me.

Fencing Playlist Explained

The infamous fencing playlist may seem, to an outsider, odd, but there is reason for all the choices, from Flobots to Flogging Molly, and everything in between. The first couple tracks, Vertigo, the Clash, they are for that raw excitement before the competition or practice or whatever, all that nervous energy, working itself into mass for power the mind, body, and soul. Next are the songs for the actual fencing, strong beats, mimicking the beat in your head as you attack and retreat, and racing lyrics, for racing thoughts. Flogging Molly to My Chem is devoted for the after-bout or practice feeling, that sense of euphoria, but sadness, because you never do as well as you would like. And finally, the last two tracks. These tracks are for after, when you go home and think about the day, and if you did well or horribly, but either way, you don't ever want to stop, because it will last forever and is the best.

Fencing Playlist

Yep. For Amy, I'm making a playlist of songs devoted to fencing. Here it goes:
1. Vertigo-U2
2. Should I Stay or Should I Go?-Clash
3. Great DJ- Ting Tings
4. Handlebars-Flobots
5. We Will Rock You-Queen
6. Drunken Lullabies-Flogging Molly
7. Misery-Green Day
8. I'm Not Okay-My Chemical Romance
9. Forever-Dropkick Murphys
10. Save Your Best-Steve Reynolds
Next will be an explanation!

Names

I have officially named both my Walden and my Strat. For all you non-musicl people, a Strat is an electirc guitar. George Harrison had one. My Strat is named Mikhail, my Walden, the acoustic one, Dimitri. It's perfectly normal for a musician to name their guitar. Girls name theirs after dudes, dudes girls. Works out perfectly. Billie Joe named his Gibson Blue, which I think is really cool and kinda cute, in a weird way. George Harrison, the cutest beatle, named his Rocky, like the boxer. So I was wrong about dudes naming their guitars after girls. But girls do name their guitars after boys. In Juno, one of the few films with an accurate potrayal of music, her guitar is named after FDR. Girls are, as shown above, more regular than guys. My dream guy, Oleg, the Russian spy who fences, plays chess, and is a musician, will name is guitar Katya, after me. Hey, I can dream, right?

Workout Music

I don't get workout music. First off, why random, bouncy bubblegum music or rap? Maybe some people find it nice to be jolted off of their stationary bike, but I like something nice and smooth to run or row or Stairmaster to, not that I don't normally fall off of the machine. More on that later. So I listen to my favorite type of music, rock. Dropkick Murphys, Sex Pistols, The Who, Green Day, etc. Except now my iPod broke, which totally sucks, and I can no longer listen to my beloved workout music. So I just steal Amy's iPod. While her stuff isn't great, it's better than nothing. At least she has the Sex pistols, or else I would be miserable.

Movies Involving Music

I'm sure you've all seen that movie with some musician and the girl he falls in love with. Yes, it always is a male musician, which is just a bit sexist, because girls can play guitar and sing too. Also, there are never same-sex couples in those romantic chick-flicks, but my rant about sexual orientation and the music industry will come later. Anyway, back to the point. I love Music and Lyrics just as much as any other 12-35 year-old female, but it just bugs me how the 80's pop band member suddenly became an amazing song writer and the girl about ten years younger falls in love with him, like that would ever happen. I haven't seen Once, but I think it is a little more realistic, since it was pretty much homemade and is about a busker. Buskers are amazing and are not beggars, so you should actually pay them. And then there is Cadillac Records, the story of Leonard Chess and Chuck Berry and everyone else. I saw an ad for it in the Times today and all I can say is Adrian Brody always looks really hungry and pale and skinny and sad and I'd really like to take him home and feed him. So that's it. Sorry I didn't actually talk about anything.