the uncluded

It has been awhile since I felt like posting anything on my blog.  Things have been going on and life is moving forward, but nothing has really inspired me to write for a long time.  I think drawing my comic over at mini dove comics has been consuming my life for the past few years.  I guess that's just life.  Luckily that doesn't stay that way forever.  Sometimes you find something that is so awesome you have to talk about it.  That something is a new CD I got from the library this week.  I was looking at all the different CDs and trying to find something cool to listen too.  This can be tough for me I listen to a ton of different music right now.  Although nothing has been inspiring.  Lately new music has been sounding the same as my old music.  I've been trying out old bands I never really got around to listening too.

You could call me a bad person, I judge a CD by it's cover (that goes for books too).  I was looking at the "Urban" section at my library when I saw a weird little cover.  It looked like to gnomes hanging out trying to catch things.  I was like this really looks interesting.  It was by a band I'd never heard of, The Uncluded. I figured no harm checking it out from the library, I was so wrong.

After I got home I decide to look the band up on youtube and I found this little song by them called The Aquarium.  In comes the rappers, "Please don't tap on the glass. Please don't tap on the glass."  This started with a beat that sound good, better than any other rap song I'd heard in awhile.  It wasn't forced and over powering.  It had a good beat that I made me want to get up and dance.  I was in love with this song.  Plus it was about fish and aquariums.  I love aquariums and looking at fish, as long as I don't have to get into the water with them.  The song was amazing.

Well after watching the video I had to know more about this band and listen to more of the songs.  Good thing youtube had more songs as I started to rip the CD.  Then the most amazing thing happened.  I actually know both people in The Uncluded.  It was Kimya Dawson and Aesop Rock!  If you don't know who either of these people are, I'm really sorry for you.  I like both of these artist I already own some of their stuff on vinyl, yes LP's.  If you like hip-hop or folk music this might be the album for you.  I love it already.  I've had it for two days and listened to it ten times all the way through.  I played it a couple of times at work this morning instead of listening to my audio books.

I know this kind of music isn't for everyone, but I'm not sure if that matters.  I have declared the song of summer, The Aquarium.  That's how much I like the song.  This album may be the best thing I've heard in a long time, maybe a year, since I heard JEFF the Brotherhood.  They had the song of the summer last year with Sixpack.  I hope you all check out the great music that is The Uncluded.  I know I'll be enjoying them.  In fact I love this album so much I'm going to buy it to support them.

i might be a nerd, but i don't think so

I know I've called myself a nerd before, but at the same time I'm not really sure if I am really am a nerd.  For one thing my wife is was to hot.  Which might not be a true test to see if you're a nerd or not, but I believe it is one thing that might make me less nerdy than other people.  I've never really had any nerd friends either, all my friends have been normal with a punk here and there.  Plus I try not to fly my nerd flag in "real life."  That means I don't go around telling people I read comics and make comics.  I don't jump into conversations about Star Wars and Star Trek with people, even people I know.  It's been this way for a long time.  Since high school really.  I got rid of my Magic the Gathering Cards in Jr. High.  Then my junior year I transformed my look to a 90's punk rocker.  I shed as much nerdiness as I could.  Sure I read comics here and there, but  I didn't associate with people that did that kind of thing.

Fast-forward to 2013, everywhere on the internet people are claiming to be nerds.  They're throwing on glasses and seeing superhero movies.  They scream that they are nerds because they've seen all the "comic" movies, which I doubt, because that means seeing all these little film too.  Yet, I still feel like being a nerd is a bad thing.  Sure I can tell you almost complete history of most of Marvel Comics characters.  I watch reruns of Babylon 5, Star Trekn (all series), Firefly, and Battlestar Galactica.  I play with Lego bricks.  I even draw my own webcomics, but don't call me a nerd.  Most people I met don't know about any of those things.  I try to tell people about them, but no one has ever been interested in my hobbies.  I always keep them quite and try to blend in with other people at work.  My shyness makes that hard too.  Still even though I feel like maybe nerd culture is accepted on the internet, no one in the real world has heard.

So what do you guys think?  Am I nerd?  Should I be proud and fly the nerd flag even if it makes me an outcast?  Plus what should my nerd flag look like?  And what do you think a nerd is?  Allison and I don't totally agree on what a nerd is.  Allison thinks she's a nerd and I don't think she is.  Once again, she's just to hot to be a nerd in my mind.

Now here's the song from Adam Warrock that made me think about all these deep nerdy thoughts.

 

Mormon Culture: Music Festivals

When I was a junior in High School I had a friend that dad was a Baptist Preacher. Luckily the kid wasn’t all about making a Baptist or even hating on my Mormon beliefs. He kind of got me confused with Amish people and was always asking me if I had electricity in my house. One thing he convinced me to do one Saturday was go to a music festival. This music festival wasn’t a normal one though, it was Christian music festival. I wasn’t really sure what I was going to be hearing when I agreed to go. If it was anything like the religious music I had been hearing in my youth, it was going to suck. To my surprise it was nothing like bad contemporary Mormon music. They had rock bands, rap groups, singer song writers. It was really amazing. Since then I’ve always wondered why Mormons can’t make good music. Sure there are some famous rock stars that are Mormon, but are they really?

Music has always been an important part in Mormon culture. During the pioneer treks Brigham Young would have people break out their fiddles and play upbeat music to dance too. At the time this would be considered the latest music styles. Young was all about the pop music of his time. Lately it seems that the church is against rock music or just popular music, which is fine. I don’t think I would want Weezer approved by my church leaders. The thing is why aren’t Mormons making their own rock music? Why are there not Mormon music festivals? When I hear about, Mormon music it takes place in the church chapel. Why can’t there be some good punk bands that are Mormon. There are a few good Christian punk bands, MxPx, Owl City, and Reliant K. They don’t sing about Christ and how they saved them. They just sing music and are very open about their religious views. How awesome would it be if we had some Mormon bands like that? I know Aquabats might be considered our Mormon band, but the lineup has changed and I don’t know if they are Mormon anymore. I’m not saying I need big bands, but some rock bands. I remember listening to Sweet Haven, whatever happened to them. They would be the perfect band to get behind and build an awesome rock community behind.

Here’s what I want to see:
1. More Mormon rock bands
2. A Mormon Rock band festival that happens once a year
3. No more crap music by the other Michael McLean

I don’t think that is asking for too much. Okay maybe it is. I mean, Mormons hate rock music. That’s what I learned from my church leaders. Of course they’re the same people that say listening to anything other than Mormon Tabernacle Choir will send me to hell. So I never really listen to them. Yeah, I might be a little bad, or more.

songs you can listen too

Finding good music can be a hard task. I know some people don’t even try to find new music anymore. They’ll listen to the radio and that’s it. That’s not bad, but I’ve always been one to seek new music. I’ve been this way since I discovered music. I was a little older when I did. I was fifteen when I bought my first cd, Sugar Ray’s Floored. I have to say I’ve come a long way since then. One problem I know a lot of Mormons have is finding good music without curse words. I for one don’t care very much about this. I like a good curse word here and there. Okay if you ask my wife she’d say I curse worse than a sailor at times. It’s true. I’ve tried to cut it out. I did okay on my mission. I was able to cut it out in front of people.

I degrees, I do that a lot in my blogs. I was talking about music. I have many different ideas for music, but I want to talk about one person right now, Vanessa Carlton. I’m not sure if people know her. I know she has been on the radio and on MTV when they use to play music videos. I just picked up her new album from my local library and it is beautiful. Rabbits on the Run is just a wonderful album. Vanessa plays the piano and sings. She has a gift that is amazing. If you are looking for a pop star with a beautiful voice and great skills Vanessa Carlton has it all. She is an artist that I would say any Mormon could listen too. I wouldn’t even turn her music off if my parents came into my house. Trust me I have a lot of music I wouldn’t listen to with my parents, but isn’t that true about each generation? You listen to music your parents wouldn’t listen too.

Here are some of my favorite songs by Vanessa, White Houses. If you listen to the lyrics it’s not very innocent, but the piano piece is amazing. She talks about some very mature subjects in a very upbeat way.

A Thousand Miles was Vanessa first I knew by her. It’s a sweet little song. If you were listening to music in 2000 you should know this song. It was everywhere. It reminded me a lot of the Proclaimers 500 Miles. The music video on this song is very cool too. I like the idea of traveling the world on a piano keyboard. Plus she’s wearing armbands.

Vanessa’s new song Carousel is also good. It has that upbeat feeling. I hope to get to listen to this song for years to come.

who i am - blink 182

Blink 182's new album Neighborhoods came out today. As many people know I'm a huge Blink 182 fan. A little over a year ago I wrote an essay about how they affect my life. This essay is very much about me and what I think of Blink 182. I hope you enjoy.

It’s a balmy eighty degrees on a late Sunday night in September. The air is stale with a hint of body odor whiffing through the room. The television is blaring as four newly married couples start to play Guitar Hero. I hold the mic close to my dry pinkish slightly chapped lips. The sweat is starting to bead up on my forehead as I wait for the song start to play. Allison’s guitar riff starts firsts on the television. Red, green, green red, yellow. I jump up a foot in the air my legs bending a little in true punk rock fashion as I yell in to the mic, “Take your pants off!” a classic rebel cry for Mark Hoppis and Tom Delong. These are not the words to the song that just started on the television. I don’t care the lyrics haven’t started yet I’m primed to rock out as if this was my last night on earth. I’m just buzzing hearing that opening riff on the guitar played on my television. I’m no longer a twenty-eight year-old unemployed loser playing Guitar Hero in his living room to escape reality, but a dorky fifteen year-old.

There are very few things and moments in a person’s life that they can point to and say this has changed my life forever. I no longer want to be my old self, but a new person. This one song, this one band helped form my personality, the essence of who I have become over the last fourteen years. I can name a few different things that have done this in my life, but there is one thing that is so defining that it changed the course of my life: Blink 182. No other band had more influence on me as a teen. One song changed my life from dork to punk. Not the 70’s Clash punk or the 2000’s emo, but a true 90’s short-haired pop punk band. The only kind of punk I have ever wanted to be. To this day I would say I’m still a 90’s pop punker just waiting for the next Blink 182 album, which is coming.

When I was fifteen I wasn’t actively searching for anything to change me. I was happy listening to Sugar Ray’s album Floored. I was happy with my crappy hair cut with the part on the side when I put a pound of gel in it. I was happy sitting in my house being just what my parents wanted me to be. But I wasn’t happy; I just didn’t know it yet. How can you know you’re not happy when you’ve never experienced anything? How can you know you’re happy when you’ve never really had great joy? My home just got cable television a few months earlier. Before that we only had PBS in the house. I was experiencing MTV for the first time; it still played a couple music videos at this time. Not all the time, but at least enough to find new music. Music I would have never been exposed to without it. I remember hearing “Dammit” for the first time on MTV.

It’s alright to tell me what you think about me, I won’t try to argue or hold it against you. I know that you’re leaving you must have your reasons. The season is calling, your pictures are falling down.

Those first words sung by Mark Hoppis with three cords played by Tom Delong was a spiritual awaking for me. No longer did I have to listen to Top 40 crap on the radio. No longer did I have to be nice and pretend I liked everyone. No longer did I have to have a lame 50’s-style haircut that never worked with my hair. No longer did I have to try and discover who I was. No longer did I have to wonder if the Spice Girls were the best girl group on the earth, a debate that never mattered in the first place. I was a punk. This song was about girls and how they screw up your life, which I knew nothing about, but Mark and Tom were going to be my teachers for the rest of my life. I need some teachers, because the rest of pop music told me to find a girl that likes Breakfast at Tiffany’s and that was enough. I had no clue what that meant, but why would pop music lie? I just needed to find this amazing restaurant and I would have women. Oh Top 40, how you lie to me. There is no restaurant at Tiffany’s; it’s just an overhyped movie from the 60’s that girls love.

The transformation wasn’t overnight, no transformation can be that fast. I had to go down to the record store and find this new band, Blink 182. I only saw this music video once before I searched it out. This was before youtube, before bands were on the world wide web. Searching took time and effort; it was like you were Indiana Jones looking for the Holy Grail. You could ask the guy at the record store, but there was never a guarantee that he knew the band you wanted. They usually only cared about the obscure Indie Rock that was coming out. I had to go old school and search Karma for the CD. I found it. I was able to remember enough to actually find it in a large CD store. This new discovery was amazing, not just for me but anyone who would know me post-“Dammit.” Over time I grew out my sideburns, the classic 90’s sideburns that everyone was sporting. You can tell which guys lived through the 90’s as a teen because most of them still sport the sideburns. I decided to cut my hair short on the sides and a little longer on top. Then my hair went straight up a year later. I’m no early adopter, but I was one of the very first kids in my school to sport that look. All of a sudden people started to notice me in the halls. I wasn’t a nobody anymore, I was a cool kid. Okay I wasn’t a cool kid, but people stopped making fun of me. My pants got huge, and I learned the white guy dance from The Offspring’s Pretty “Fly for a White Guy” music video.

Discovering yourself shouldn’t be as easy as finding a silly Blink 182 song on MTV. Everyone knows who Blink 182 is now. They sing that song “All the Small Things.” When I discovered “Dammit,” I was alone in a crazy world. It would be about a year before any of my friends were listening to “All the Small Things.” Bands have weaved in and out of my life. Blink 182 has not left me. The only time I stopped buying Blink 182’s CDs was when they decided to stop making new music.

At one point in my fourteen year love of Blink 182 people started to think they were lame, in fact at many times of my life I run across this. For some reason people think Indie Rock is where is should be. They don’t care about pop punk. They don’t want to listen to happy upbeat tunes about boys losing girls and trying to figure out how to get them. Yet that is what life is all about. You are either trying to get a girl or trying to figure out how to get over them. My teachers Mark and Tom taught me this. It doesn’t matter if you’re married either. You are still just trying to win your wife over every night, at least I am. Why do you think so many marriages go south? It’s because they don’t listen to Mark and Tom about love. If you take it for granted you lose it. Now that’s a true punk belief.

To this day if I hear “Dammit” or any Blink 182 song I have to stop for a second and punk out. If it’s the car I just nod my head. If I’m walking when it come on my ipod, then maybe a little dance move right there on the street. The best is when I can rock out to the entire song. I can scream at the top of my lungs for the entire song. I can jump up and down and be a maniac, because I know I’m a punk. I’m no longer that dork with lame tight jeans and a bad haircut.

It’s happened once again, I’ll turn to a friend someone that understands, she screwed the master plan. But everybody is gone and I’ve been here for too long to face this on my own. Well I guess this is growing up.

Well I guess this is growing up.

For two minutes and forty-five seconds I was a legend of punk rock. I let the eighty degree weather shove it. I didn’t care if I was dehydrated. I belted out “Dammit” for the whole world to hear. I turned away from the television, not needing to see the lyrics, and serenaded my wife as she played the fake guitar. I jumped up and down. If this is growing up, I don’t want to stop. I want to keep going. I want to listen to “Dammit” a hundred thousand more times and remember I can change and be something amazing if I need to. We all can.

my type of classical music

From some odd reason I've really been into The Postal Service lately. It might not be odd, but it is to me. For someone who loves to listen to punk and hip-hop it's a strange departure. Sure the Postal Service has nice beats and smooths vocals, but that's not what I always go for. I like raspy male voice. Someone who has drunk their life away. That's why I like bands like Rancid, Bad Religion, and Say Hi so much. They aren't smooth, they feel like they have some life to tell. I know, Say Hi, isn't punk or Hip-Hop, but his voice is so amazing. I've been turning to The Postal Service more and more when I want something light to listen too. It's almost like I consider them my classical music. I don't know why, but I do. I just feel like who they arrange their synthesizer is how Mozart would do it if he was alive today. I personally don't think Mozart would be make classical music if he was alive today. Mozart would be more like a Hipster and be make grand rock and hip-hop operas. It would be smooth and amazing. I could see him teaming up with Trent Reznor and making sweet noise.

So what I'm saying is I've been listening to an album made in 2003 a lot lately. I've even though about buying on vinyl cause I like it so much. I use it to lift my mode out of the blues. I hope you can like it too. Maybe if you haven't heard of this little project by Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie and Jimmy Tamborello you can check it out. I like it a hundred percent more than Death Cab, but who doesn't? Probably Death Cab fans. Also I decide to give you a peak at Say Hi. I love this band. Saw them live and they do not disappoint.

how i make through the work day

I’ve noticed lately that I have had some pretty boring jobs. Sure they sound pretty cool until you’re doing them. They are mostly just repetitive actions over and over again. There’s not much variety in them, which is fine for me. I’m really good at just doing one thing over and over again, but I have the mind of three year-old must of the time. I need to keep it entertained or else my mind will race around. The first week at my new job I wasn’t allowed to use my iPod and it was killing me. I really need something to listen to keep my mind from going crazy. In a nut shell what I do is listen to music and podcasts to make it through the day.

The podcast I listen to are mostly from HowStuffWorks.com. I down load Stuff You Missed in History Class, Stuff You Should Know, and Stuff from the Science Lab. They are all funny informative podcasts. Without them I’d probably go crazy. They are packed full of good knowledge that I use to keep my small talk going with people. I also like a little NPR, but just Wait, Wait don’t tell me and Car Talk. Probably the two best radio shows on NPR. They are a nice little two hours I look forwards to every week during the week. The best blog is Current Geek. It’s a podcast about the current geeky stories out there in the news. I’m a geek so this right up my alleyway. I love listening to these short stories to find out that people are making jetpack and weather channel that compare the weather to star wars planets. Blogs, can’t live without them.

Lately for music I’ve been really into what I call pop electro. It’s pretty fun music to listen too. The main CD I’m listening to right now is Plastic Beach by Gorillaz. They have a nice electric jazz feel on this album. It’s made me go back and listen to some of their older music again and realize I really like their sound. Listening to them has also made me listen to other electro music. Hellogoodbye is always an awesome band. Then a new band I found was the Electric Valentine. They have a very pop feel to them. More pop than Gorillaz ever has been. Music, so much fun.

So pretty much I run on autopilot while I’m at work. My mind is focused on podcast and music so much more than what I’m actually doing. I just use muscle memory to do my job, which is kind of scary that I can do that. Plus I’ve been doing that for multiple jobs over the years. I think it’s almost time to try and find a challenging job again.

a pop culture mass murder

In this world there are few things I know. There are many things I wish I knew, but I’m too lazy to search them out. I would like to know about physics and how the sun works, but that would take too much effort. What doesn’t take much effort on my part is pop culture. I’m driven to it. Television, Movies, Music, Comics. I love that stuff. I’m not the most knowledgeable about anyone of those subjects, but I like to think that I know more than a couple people. Although at the same time I probably don’t. One example would be my old roommate. He knew everything about sports and sitcoms. It was crazy how much he knew. He could school anyone on sitcoms knowledge. It made my little knowledge feel small. Yet here I am still alive and married. Today I wanted to look at music and give a list of some bands I listen to and maybe why. In no correct order here are the bands I like.

1. New Found Glory – If you need a good helping of pop punk music these are the guys. They don’t disappoint. Sure they had one album that was a little emo, but they came back to their pop punk roots for their newest album. Best album by them would be their EP Tip of the Iceberg. It has three original amazing songs and three cover songs.

2. Matt and Kim – This is a new favorite of mine. They’re a nice two person band with synthesizers and drum kit. They have two albums out right now, The Grand is the better of the two CDs. I’m not sure how to categorize them other then cool.

3. Vampire Weekend – I think New England prep school every time I hear their music. I have no clue how else to describe them. Two summers ago I had to have at least one of their tracks on all my mix CDs, I’m not into them that much anymore, but their new album is good.

4. Weezer – They have to be in the list. Since the Blue Album I’ve been in love with these guys. There is just something about them that make me want to scream for joy; although I did lose faith in them after Maladroit. That album was just okay. Then Make Believe came out and I couldn’t care about it. Then the Red Album came out. The only album I never bought. It felt like a downhill fall for so long that I had little hope for Weezer. Then Raditude came out and all was forgiven. I was so good I even started liking the Red Album.

5. Rancid – This spot was the hardest spot to choose. I want to end the list at five but know I can’t. A band that continues to amaze me is Rancid. My favorite album by them is Indestructible. I hated their new album when it came out last year, but after listening to it over and over again, it might be my new favorite album. It’s more of a surf punk feel to it, but it’s amazing.

6. Cake – I don’t care what album as long as it on. They have a sound that is perfect. Okay maybe not perfect, but damn close.

7. The Raveonettes – Lust Lust Lust is an amazing album.

8. NoFX – They’re a beautiful punk sound. Plus they sing about drinking what else could you ask for.

9. Bouncing Souls – Old hard punk or new soft punk doesn’t matter they are amazing.

10. Reel Big Fish – One band that will never die. One band that made me fall in love with ska music. Sure no other ska band is on the list, but that because it’s hard to put a band for one album or one song.

Honorable Mentions:
Jack’s Mannequin, Michael Jackson, Moby, MxPx, Tom Morello, Billy Corgan, Blink 182, Jay-Z, Fort Minor, The Specials, Jimmy Eat World, Kayne West, Kimya Dawson, The Lonely Island, Flight of the Conchords, Lucky Boy Confusion, Billy Joel, The Offspring, and so many more. So many more. There you go Ben, the music i listen to.