I know it's annoying to just keep posting videos, but I have a lot of tests going on right now, which is pretty much why there haven't been new posts lately. After next week, I should be back in full swing. In the meantime, here's a funny video.



I like the thing with Condoleeza Rice at the end. Scary.

Listening To: Better Than Ezra - Daylight
And you're wearing thin.
Feel you're giving in.
In the darkest hour of the night,
You will find daylight.

This is Annie's American Eagle advertisement.

On Annie's first snow adventure ever.Cool marsh scene.

Hi!

So last night Annie and I watched this movie "Wicker Park". Annie came to Chicago this weekend because my school has an event every year called Dance for Diabetes, which is a diabetes research fundraiser that is held in a hotel in downtown. This year they raised almost $20,000 which is pretty amazing. Anyway, the dance is tonight and everyone's supposed to get all gussied up and wear red, white or black.

The movie was pretty cool though. It's a remake of a French movie called "L'Appartement". Takes place in Chicago, which made it even cooler. Basically it's about this guy who leaves Chicago and comes back two years ago and sees this girl that he asked to move in with him who mysteriously disappeared immediately after he asked. Lots of plot twists and lying and clues. The movie is chronologically out of order, so it takes a long time to get all of the clues and figure out what's going on. Pretty cool, though. We definitely enjoyed it. Oh yeah, Josh Hartnett stars in it, but that's OK.

I give the movie 4 out of 5 stars.

Listening To: Social Distortion - Dear Lover
Dear Lover
I can't believe it's come to this.
Dear Lover
Give me one last painful kiss.

Sam's Top 25 Songs of 2006!!!

You will notice that the list does not go up to #25. This is because there were many ties of positions. There are, however, 25 songs on here. You can count to be sure, if you want, but I have counted many times myself already. These aren't necessarily my favorite songs from 2006, but they should reflect it pretty well seeing as I probably wouldn't listen to a song so much if I didn't like it. Also, not many, in fact only 4 of these songs actually came out in 2006. The amount of plays are numbers compiled from my iTunes on my desktop, my iTunes on my laptop and from my iPod. None of these are exact numbers, but I'd say they give the best estimate, since I probably also heard a number of them on the radio or some other time it wasn't documented on my computers or iPod.

Annie will be very happy to see that nothing on here is from the Punk Goes 80's compilation CD.

#19 Various Artists - I Fought The Law (20 Plays)

I have heard a few variations of this song enough times that I think it belongs on this list. Buddy Holly, Johnny Cash, Green Day and Mike Ness all play awesome renditions of it and it's a great song to do mischeivous things along to. I think this applies to my life this year since the Campus Housing at my school has decided to block all bit torrenting ports in the school network, so my piracy activity has dropped to zero, except for what my friends give me if I beg and beg enough (jerks).

"Robbing people with a six-gun/I fought the law and the law won."

#19 Bright Eyes - Method Acting (20 Plays)

I think this song is about recording an album or something. And not caring about the critics. TOTALLY STICKING IT TO THE MAN. Or whatever. It's just a good song.

"So I've made peace with the falling leaves/I see their same fate in my own body/But I won't be frightened when I'm awoken from this dream/And return to that which gave birth to me."

#19 Blur - Girls & Boys (20 Plays)

An old Blur song, but always a favorite. This song reminds me of 80s dance music, which is probably why it's so cool. Also, I just read that Blur is back together to create one last album, hopefully for 2007! Damon Alburn is my current favorite British rock singer with Pete Doherty in a close second.

"Girls who are boys/Who like boys to be girls/Who do boys like they're girls/Who do girls like they're boys/Always should be someone you really love."

#19 The Ataris - Beautiful Mistake (20 Plays)

Honestly, I don't really know how this one made it on this list. I don't actually remember listening to it that much, but I'm going to have to trust my resources. This song reminds me a lot of the summer of 2003, when I saw the Ataris at the Vans Warped Tour. At that same Warped Tour, Ice-T was playing with his hardcore punk band, which included a 6'5" black bassist wearing a Jason Vorhees mask.

"I don't want to fall asleep alone/But do I want to wake up with you?/I hope you're happy/And completely lonely."

#19 The Killers - Read My Mind (20 Plays)

Arguably the best song on Sam's Town. I don't really know much to say about this one, but I think it's a great song. It's incredibly catchy. I'm pretty sure it has something to do with his significant other trying to break up or something and he's trying to fix things. Even though this isn't anywhere near the #1 song on the list, I'd say it's my favorite Killers song of all time.

"Slippin' in my faith/Until I fall/You never returned that call/Woman, open the door/Don't let it sting/I wanna breathe that fire again."

#19 The Killers - Sam's Town (20 Plays)

This is a great start to the new album. And a great title. Apparently Sam's Town is actually a real casino in Las Vegas. I'm a little pissed that I didn't know about that when Annie and I went last spring. Try NOT to sing along to this song.

"I've got this energy beneath my feet/Like something underground's gonna come up and carry me."

#15 Franz Ferdinand - The Fallen (21 Plays)

The video to this song is cool. So is the song to this song.

"In my blood, I felt bubbles burst/There was a flash of fist, an eyebrow burst/You have a lazy laugh and a red-white shirt/I fall to the floor, fainting at the sight of blood."

#15 Bright Eyes - Make War (21 Plays)

I didn't break up this year, but I think this would be a pretty bitter break up song. I think. Maybe I'm just reading the song wrong.

"So hurry up and run to the one that you love/And blind him with your kindness/And he'll make war, oh war/On who you were before/And claim all that has spoiled in your heart."

#15 Bright Eyes - A Scale, A Mirror, and These Indifferent Clocks (21 Plays)

This is a cool Bright Eyes song, too. Gee, I sure like Bright Eyes.

"They are smeared and these blurs come in random order/To color the eyes of your former lovers/Hers were green like July/Except when she cried,/They were red."

#15 Dean Gray - American Jesus (21 Plays)

2006 seemed like the year of mashups, and no one can be happier that that's over. Anyway, there was this mashup album out on the Internet called American Edit that was a mashup of Green Day's American Idiot album. Overall I thought it was pretty good. This was the first track on it and it was easily my favorite, though a little long, which is probably because the original song, "Jesus of Suburbia", is over 9 minutes itself.

"Dearly beloved, are you listening?/I can't remember a word that you were saying/Are we demented or am I disturbed?/The space that's in between insane and insecure."

#12 The Ataris - Summer 79 (22 Plays)

This song is fun to sing along to. He mentions "We are the Champions" in the chorus, which really appealed to the Queen phase I was going through in 2006.

"Climb out on the rooftop/Stare at the city lights below us/The world belongs to us tonight/The kids will keep raging on/And they ain't never gonna stop."

#12 My Chemical Romance - Helena (22 Plays)

Stupid guilty pleasures. About a girl who died? I dunno. I heard the whole album was a concept album where he's supposed to be some guy whose girlfriend dies and he's trying to bring her back to life or something. Dunno.

"Do we deserve to leave this earth/We'll meet again, when both our cars collide."

#12 Bright Eyes - At The Bottom Of Everything (22 Plays)

"And in the ear of every anarchist that sleeps but doesn't dream,/We must sing, we must sing, we must sing."

#10 AFI - This Celluloid Dream (23 Plays)

I like singing along with this song.

"Just like romantic verses/Just like a joyous end/Just like a memory: it twists me/Just like romantic verses/Just like a joyous end/Twisted me."

#10 Depeche Mode - Enjoy the Silence (23 Plays)

Sure, this song is old but that doesn't mean it doesn't still rock. I had a new found love for Depeche Mode this year.

"Pleasures remain/So does their pain/Words are meaningless/And forgettable."

#7 Death Cab For Cutie - Crooked Teeth (25 Plays)

I really like the bass in this song for some reason. I think. I'm not actually listening to it right now but as I can recall it has a pretty cool bass line.

"I braved treacherous streets/And kids strung out on homemade speed."

#7 Saves the Day - Sonic Reducer (25 Plays)

This song is actually a cover. I'm not even sure how I came into contact with it, but I know that I like it a lot. I think it's on one of the newer Tony Hawk games. I haven't played one of those in a long time. I do remember having a particular obsession for the first two games when I had them on Sega Dreamcast.

"I'll be a Pharaoh soon/rule from some golden tomb./Things will be different then./The sun will rise from here./Then I'll be ten feet tall,/And you'll be nothing at all."

#7 No Use For A Name - For Fiona (25 Plays)

I believe this song is for the singer's daughter. It's not terribly meaningful, but it's just a good song.

"Unfortunately, truth is cold/So you stay young while I get old/But always know/I'm your best friend."

#6 NOFX - Leaving Jesusland (26 Plays)

I listen to this song every time I'm coming home from Chicago. Not that Chicago itself is particularly conservative or Bible thumping or anything, but it's still the Midwest and there's no excuse for that. The song is basically directed at the religious right wing rednecks of the country. Whether you agree with the song or not, the lyrics are still pretty funny.

"The fear-stricken, Born Again Christian/They've got a vision, a homogenized state/Textbook decline, intelligent design/They've got Bill Nye on the list to execrate."

#5 AFI - Miss Murder (27 Plays)

Don't ever tell anyone that they look like Davey Havok from AFI. Doesn't get a very good response.

"Reaching for that golden ring we'd never let go/but who would ever let us put our filthy hands upon it?"

#4 Bright Eyes - Old Soul Song (For the New World Order) (29 Plays)

This song is from I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning. I'm not sure what it's about, probably some kind of protest song.

"And there were barricades to keep us off the street/But the crowd kept pushing forward/Till they swallowed the police/Yeah, they went wild."

#3 Bright Eyes - Trees Get Wheeled Away (30 Plays)

This song wasn't on any of his full length albums, but on a compilation CD called Lost Highway (not associated with the creepy as fuck movie) and recently released on his B-sides album Noise Floor. Definitely one of the best Bright Eyes song out there. There's a video on YouTube of this song's performance on David Letterman's show back in 2002 when Bright Eyes was touring for Lifted. It's a political song about the hype and dramatization of wars.

"Anchormen spike their blood/Wear masks of mud/Cucumbers cut to fit their eyes/So no one would know how tired they've grown/Of talking and telling their lies."

#2 My Chemical Romance - You Know What They Do To Guys Like Us in Prison (31 Plays)

It boggles my mind how not only one, but two songs by My Chemical Romance appeared on my Top 25 this year. I don't even really like them, and I find the lead singer kind of annoying, yet I still listen to these songs. Pretty strange. This song is about going to jail, I guess. Pertaining to the quote, I'm curious to find out where his cellmate found drag clothes for him to do push ups in?

"They all cheat at cards/and the checkers are lost/my cellmate's a killer/he makes me do push-ups in drag."

#1 The Killers - When You Were Young (34 Plays)

And of course, another of my many guilty pleasures. Sure, it's not the best song they've ever written and the album might not be as great as their first (though the title Sam's Town knocks Hot Fuss on its knees), but the song is undeniably catchy. A Killers song wouldn't be complete if the lyrics didn't make sense all around ("Somebody Told Me") and this one doesn't stray far from the pack. The song is about a girl who has a perfect guy in mind all her life and finally meets him and he doesn't look amazing but is still who she wants anyway. So clearly this doesn't really have anything to do with me, it's just a fun song to sing along to. Also, the line I like the most in this song doesn't really have anything to do with the story of the song, it's more of just a reminder to me how far from home I moved this year.

"And sometimes you close your eyes/and see the place where you used to live/when you were young."

That's it! Thanks.

Listening To: Green Day - St. Jimmy
Welcome to the club and give me some blood,
I'm the resident leader of the lost and found.
It's comedy and tragedy...
It's St. Jimmy,
And that's my name.....and don't wear it out.

1. A blatantly racist joke:

When April is jumped by the Foot soldiers in the subway scene, the soldiers, dressed in ninja-like garb, tell her they have a message for her. She replies with "What, are my Sony payments late?"

2. Confusing accents?

Raphael sounds like a Italian Mafioso, Michaelangelo sounds like a Californian, Leonardo sounds (and acts) incredibly feminine and Donatello just sounds like a douche (not surprisingly, he was voiced by COREY FELDMAN). Leonardo and Donatello might be related but how are they all related?!?! Also, if they've been living in New York all their life, they should have New York accents.

3. Podiatry Joke

In April's news report on the Foot Clan, she mentions how the name sounds like a "funky club for podiatrists". How appropriate.

4. The Foot Clan Hideout

Why wouldn't you want to be in the Foot Clan? They have MC Hammer playing constantly on the stereo system, they have unlimited arcade machines, pool tables, CIGARETTES!, skateboarding, kick boxing, and the best of all? No parents!! Wooooo hoooooo!! But seriously. If the Turtles weren't around to take down the Foot Clan, there really is no reason why you wouldn't want to be a part of it. It's made pretty clear in the beginning of the movie that the police have no idea what to do about it.

5. Turtle Power by Partnerz in Kryme

This is the rap song played during the credits at the end. Well, whoever wrote the song has their facts way wrong. They say "Splinter's the teacher, so they are the students/Leonardo, Michaelangelo and Donatello/Make up this group with one other fellow/Raphael, he's the leader of the group/Transformed from the norm by the nuclear goop." Sorry, but I'm sure even my mom knows that Leonardo was the leader. They even mention it a few times in the movie! Blasphemy!

Those were all from the 1st movie. There were more things from the 2nd, but now I'm too tired to talk about them. An overarching thing is why is it that the only time anyone in the movie is ever surprised by 6' talking/fighting turtles is April O'Neil in the beginning of the first movie? No one else seems that impressed. Kinda weird.

Listening To: The White Stripes - The Denial Twist
So to you, the truth is still hidden
And the soul plays the role of a lost little kitten but
You should know that the doctors weren't kidding
She's been singing it all along

Over the break, I started reading this book called Good Omens by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett, which I'm almost done with, and wanted to share something from it that I thought was kind of funny. The book is about Armageddon and an angel and a demon who don't really want it to happen. There's a lot more to the book than just that, but that's pretty much it in short. The demon, Crowley, doesn't do his part in raising the Antichrist that Hell expects him to do and towards the end, Hell finds out about this and sends a couple demons after him to bring him back down for punishment. He is able to kill one of them with holy water and traps the other one in his phone, releasable only if someone calls, which isn't too much of a problem since he's a demon and doesn't really know any humans.

"Right now, across the country, people who would otherwise have been made just that little bit more tense and angry by being summoned from a nice bath, or having their names mispronounced at them, were instead feeling quite untroubled and at peace with the world. As a result of Hastur's action a wave of low-grade goodness started to spread exponentially through the population, and millions of people who ultimately would have suffered minor bruises of the soul did not in fact do so. So that was all right."

Listening To: Blur - Caravan
And when it comes you'll feel the weight of it,
The weight of it
And the day will come when you'll get away from it
Away from it