Thought[s] of the day

1.  Ripping something slowly rather than fast doesn't make it less noticeable.  In fact, it draws attention and lasts even longer.  Just rip it fast.  No one will care.

2.  Being smart doesn't do you any good if all you do is keep it to yourself.

3.  The word "epic" is terribly misused.  No, throwing that football in an almost perfect spiral wasn't "epic".  Flying to a distant planet to fight aliens and ending up working together and solving our global warming crisis is truly "epic".  You can use the word, just be aware.

4.  Wolfgang is an awesome name.  First of all, it has the word "wolf" in it.  You can't beat that.  Also, it's not common.  I don't know anyone named Wolfgang.  I wish I did.  It's a magnificent name, no doubt.

5.  I drew a picture.

Yes, I know that it is backwards.  I am too lazy to fix it.

Artist of the Week: Ben Folds

   Ben Folds.  What can I say?  He's a living legend.  I've grown up listening to Ben Folds (and thank goodness for that).  He was the first good artist I listened to, and I'm sure he'll maintain his place in my top five for most--if not all--of my life.
   It's hard to put Ben Folds' music into words.  Besides being ((great)(magnificent))(), Ben Folds brings something to the table that no one else even thought to bring.  His style is unique and concise.  The main instrument in most of his songs is piano, which he can play better than Jesus--I mean that in the most respectful way (we're talking beyond perfection here).  Before he went solo, he gained popularity with his band "Ben Folds Five" (who would have guessed there are only three of them?), which is almost a mix of Earth, Wind & Fire (with the back-up singing) and Elton John, but has that great Ben Folds twist on it.
   One of my favorite things about Ben Fold's music is his bitterness and wit.  He's not afraid to offend anyone: he's going to say what he wants to say whether you like it or not.  Oh, and he's gonna make it sound beautiful too.  His voice is clear and always on pitch.  He doesn't use vibrato, but he pulls it off well and it sounds amazing and clear.
  I haven't talked to one person that doesn't like Ben Folds.  His talent is astounding, and if you can't recognize that, go see a doctor.  A very good doctor.  
  I admit it, I'm in love with Ben Folds.  But I bet you will be too once you give him a listen.


Check out some of my favorites, they're great.

Band of the Week: Neutral Milk Hotel

   Neutral Milk Hotel, in my opinion, is a fantastic band.  If you haven't heard of them before, I highly suggest you download some songs before your mind blows from lack of magnificent music.
   I've never heard a band sound even close to what Neutral Milk Hotel sounds like.  They're unique in their music and Jeff Mangum is an excellent singer who isn't afraid to experiment with his voice.  They even have bagpipes sometimes.  One of the things I absolutely love is that the whole album "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" is based on the story of Anne Frank.  He's not afraid to be spiritual and blunt.  I never get bored listening to them.
   Neutral Milk Hotel dominates about every 90's band out there.  It's just a shame it was in the 90's, not now.  I'd pay good money to see them.  They're that great.


And now, I give you Neutral Milk Hotel!






   

Poems and Peers

   I discovered something I hate this week.  In my creative writing class, we were put into groups of four to critique one another's poems.  I was put with one of my friends--that was perfectly fine--and two girls.  Now, I have nothing against peer evaluation, except that... Okay I do.  Don't get me wrong, I love when people help me with organization, grammar, punctuation, word order and things like that on the essays I've written, but when it comes to poems, it's a little different.
   See, I happened to have a completely different writing style than the people in my group (one girl in particular).  If we were spices, I'd be something like chili powder and she'd be something like.... well, some bland spice (I do know that is an oxymoron, yes).  As a person, she's completely fine.  But as a critic, I dislike her minor close mindedness problem.  And she says age-ed instead of aged.  Who does that?
   What I'm basically trying to say is I didn't like when she tried to change my poem to make it her style.  That's all.
   I wrote this poem during the summer of '09 and I've been tweaking it ever since.  I'm very pleased with it.  It was inspired by Anis Mojgani, as usual.

Lost

Listening to my ears hear the crackling barely noise of this old radio,

it talks about neighbors and Jesus and lightbulbs.

It shows my ears the landscape of the noise light.

We talk together, my radio and I, about buildings and growing and batteries.

It takes my feelings and spits them back out into my dry, frozen hands,

changing them into un-butterflies and crushed sugar cubes.

The girl across the street has grown up so fast,

but maybe it’s just us.

Everything in the world is changing,

the wheat heads are severed, we eat it through our animals.

The shudders of the world are ridden by man like a carnival-

they cause this.

And my radio and I,

we sit, we listen to our ears hear the crackling barely noise of death.

We listen to our ears hear the wet of their eyes after,

we listen to our ears hear the cheerless song of the lost.