Fall Out Boy

Hey,
This is just too ridiculously funny...you'll never be able to listen to Fall Out Boy's "Sugar We're Going Down" without thinking of this once you've seen it. Go here, it's funny, I promise.

I'll do a proper post soon, things have been busy but boring, so there isn't much to tell. Christmas was good, got a lot of nerdy stuff-computer & music related-but I wanted it all so it's all good:) I'm starting work on my podcast, more info to come.
Ciao,
Sasha

Music Recommendations

Well, I haven't posted recommendations in a while, things have been fairly busy getting ready for the holidays and such. So, here are a few suggestions and musings...

First of all, for you Green Day fans, you MUST download "Shoplifter," the B-side off the "American Idiot" EP. It's hilarous, sounds kind of Beatles'-esque (in a very cheeky way) and is just a fun song.

For lighter rock fans, try "Take Me Away" by the Plain White T's, and "No Goodbyes" by the Subways. The iTunes music store doesn't have it yet (just their song "Rock and Roll Queen" from The OC, which makes me cringe a little, but the song is really good), but you can download it for free on Pure Volume.

The whole album is good, but if you only want to try one song, you must try "An Honest Mistake" by The Bravery.

I've dug a little into Atreyu and though there are parts of songs I like, I don't really like the straight out screaming/rooooaaar approach bands like this one take. I'm not sure what they're trying to do exactly, but it just isn't my thing.

With all the hype around Fall Out Boy, I've been listening to them a bit, and they're ok. Not bad, but I've yet to figure out why there's such mania surrounding them. (I will confess that I like "Dance Dance" by FOB though...am I on the slippery slope??) Same with Hawthorne Heights. I've yet to figure out why people are so nuts about them. I got my hands on a few tracks by them and need to listen to them a few more times before I make any kind of a statement on them. I'm not quite sure how I feel about this, but I'm definitely getting into Good Charlotte...also listening to a bit of Taking Back Sunday which is rather good and not so screamy.

Anyways, definitely looking forward to Christmas and an extra day off from work:) I found a freelancing music job that I'm going to apply for, no pay but free cd's and tickets which isn't at all bad. Now I just need to sit my butt down and write a sample review for them...

Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, happy whatever-wintery-holiday-you-celebrate!
Ciao,
Sasha

Kinda funny

So, I have difficulty with all those celebrities hauling around their miniature dogs like the latest fashion accessory, but what cracks me up is that some celebs are trying to do the same thing with cats. I think Trent from Pink is the New Blog put it best:

"Hmm ... it looks like the latest celebrity trend is to pitch the pooch and pick up a kitty cat to cart around ... Nicole Richie recently acquired a cat and so has Mischa Barton. I really don't think that it is a good idea to shove a cat into a purse and expect it to play along nicely. This sounds like a really bad idea. "

Yes, an exceedingly bad idea. Can you even imagine?? See, this is why I think cats are superior to dogs, they won't put up with that crap! I'm just waiting for Mischa Barton or Nicole Richie to get their eyes scratched out as they try to put a terrified cat in their purse. That will be hilarious!
Ciao,
Sasha

Michigan, the winter wonderland

Well, for those of you not in Michigan, we were "blessed" with a ton of snow on Thursday. It began snowing around 9am and didn't let up for about 8 hours. Needless to say, the roads were a bit of a mess that day, but it is so amazingly beautiful (too bad it has to be cold to snow...). Anyways, I thought I'd share a few pictures of it all. Unfortunatley the pictures seem to lose something, maybe it just wasn't sunny enough when I took them, but you still get the idea. Doesn't it make you just want to curl up inside with a cup of hot chocolate and a good book?

It definitely has gotten me really in the mood for the holidays (and I'm almost done with my Christmas shopping--yay!) Got the Christmas cards done and mailed which is way better than I can say for myself last year...they just never got done at all, so they may be a little late this year, but at least I did them!

Other than that things have been busy but not terribly interesting. In my next post I'll have some current music commentary, but I need to finish wading through this weeks downloads, purchases and such before getting into that. One quick thing on that note though, I'd really recommend checking out Men, Women & Children and Action Action (though, unless you were at their show at the Blind Pig a week and a half ago, you'll have to settle for checking out their cd's). Men, Women and Children even got a write-up in the January 2006 issue of Alternative Press as one of the most anticipated albums of 2006. I'd almost put money down that these two bands are going to be getting airplay by this time next year. Let's see what happens....
Ciao,
Sasha

Weekend in DC

Well, it may be back to the grind, I may be tired, but I had a fantastic weekend in DC. Getting there wasn't so easy though... I left bright and early Friday morning and was a little worried since we'd gotten somewhere between 4 and 6 inches of snow overnight. Things are ok at first but they have to de-ice the plane which took about half an hour. So we're sitting there on the runway, they've finished de-icing and then the captain comes on and says that there's a problem with the engine and we have to go back to the gate. More time passes and then they make the announcement that we're going to have to change planes and that there's room for everyone on the next flight. Wrong, there isn't room for everyone so I end up on the 10:25am flight despite the fact that I should have been on the 6:40am flight. Ok, not that big a deal, I'd rather they find an engine problem on the ground than in the air. Some people get all hyper about the situation and, sure, I'd have liked not to have been delayed, but what can you do? No point in getting all excited. Finally got to Reagan though it took another hour to get my bag, which did make me a little worried...

Headed over to CUA and met Cara for lunch, caught up on tons of stuff and had a great time. She had to go to work so Shannon came and picked me up and we went to her place and just chilled for a while. Then it was down to the Front Page in DuPont for happy hour. Shannon and I met up with Cara and Lindsey there, drank quite a lot and just generally had a lot of fun. From there Cara, Shannon and I went to the Big Hunt, drank more, decided it would be a good idea to actually eat something instead of just drinking all night. Sadly we were home by 11pm, though I suppose that isn't too bad since we started drinking at 6pm. Here are a few pics of the fun:




Yeah, it was definitely a lot of fun:) Saturday Shannon and I headed over to Pentagon City to do some shopping. We were actually both really good and didn't get anything for ourselves, just did some Christmas shopping for other people. Honestly, it's extremely unusual that the two of us made it out of there without having spent money on ourselves. Go us. Later on we went over to her yoga studio for a holiday party. Nothing too exciting there, then we went to Cleveland Park for dinner, had drinks at Aroma, a very cute but very expensive martini bar. We then headed over to the Reef in Adams Morgan. The place was packed, way more crowded than I've ever seen it, but it was so fun. I got asked out, Shannon got a call from a guy who asked for her number on Friday, we almost witnessed a fight, and had drinks bought for us--definitely a good night:) Sunday was pretty low-key, had brunch on U Street and basically just hung out till it was time for me to go back to Reagan. Luckily my flight back was not nearly as eventful as my flight to DC. It was sad to leave after having such a fun weekend, but also kinda good to get home.

So, now it's back to the usual stuff, work is work, I've got to finish my Christmas shopping and all that good stuff. I can't believe Christmas is so soon! Anyways, it was a great weekend overall, I definitely miss Shannon, Cara and Lindsey and I'll have to go back and visit again before too long:)
Ciao,
Sasha

Action Action

So, despite my cold and the cold, I decided to go see Action Action at the Blind Pig last night. I got there while Men, Women & Children were still playing which was kind of cool. I can't say I knew much of their stuff other than the song "Lightning Strikes Twice in New York" but they were entertaining and put on a good show. I knew a tiny bit more about Action Action and I'm really glad I went to see them, because I definitely like their stuff. It was fun being at such an intimate show too. I feel bad for the bands because there really weren't too many people there (maybe the cold? maybe the fact that it was a tuesday night and all the students are getting ready for finals??) but it also made it sort of feel like the show was just for you. Anyways, Action Action played "Drug Like" and "Let's Never Go to Sleep" off their last album as well as a bunch of songs that will be on their new cd out in about a month. Yeah, so, really glad I saw them. I think I'd be kicking myself if I had chickened out.

I forgot to mention that I saw "Rent" over the weekend. It was really good--definitely different from the stage version which I've seen twice, but I still enjoyed it (and cried, of course). I'd recommend it even if there are some things I think miss as a result of being put on celluloid, but I guess that's the way it goes.

Heading off to DC bright and early Friday morning, zillions of things to do before then and not much time to do it, but I'm psyched about being down there and seeing people (and it can't possibly be colder there than it is here, so, bonus).
Ok, I think it should be bedtime,
Ciao (and check out Action Action),
Sasha

Musings

First off, curse whomever gave me this stupid cold. I can't breathe, can't sleep and feel generally rotten. I'm whiny and I know I'm whiny which just makes me irritated with myself but I can't help it. I feel lousy but not really lousy enough to call into work, so yeah...fun Monday. I know part of it is totally my fault, I should have just stayed in bed all weekend instead of going out Saturday and Sunday night but oh well. Right, so, enough complaining.

I went and saw The Nutcracker performed by the Joffrey Ballet at the Detroit Opera House last night and it was so beautiful. I haven't been to the ballet in a million years and can't remember the last time I actually saw The Nutcracker live. It made me all ready for Christmas and really brought back the days when I wanted desperately to grow up and be a ballerina. I have such admiration for the dancers, it was incredible and I just can't fathom how they can make it through an entire ballet on pointe and not just be crippled with pain. I mean, I got far enough in ballet that I got my pointe shoes, but good god, the pain was excruciating. As a skater I skated through pain plenty of times, but I don't think it really ever compared to the pain of pointe shoes.

There were so many kids at the performance too which I thought was really great. Sometimes you wonder if parents take kids to stuff like that anymore or if they just plop them in front of the tv or computer instead of doing "cultural" stuff, but there were tons of them there last night. It was so cute too because some of them just seemed blown away by it all and really, who wouldn't be even as an adult? It got me thinking about something. I mean, the 2 year old little girl sitting behind me loved the "princess" (Sugar Plum Fairy) but so did I and I'm 27. So, do you ever outgrow that little, tiny bit of you that wants to be a princess? I mean, sure, I know I'll never be a ballerina, but hey, there's still a part of me that loves the whole sequins, glitter, and tutu type stuff. Is it just me? Is it all women to some extent or do some people lose that sort of awe and love and little-girlishness inside? Maybe I'm nuts but I just sort of couldn't help but wonder. I guess even if I am nuts it would be kind of sad to totally lose that awe and wonder.

Oh well, never mind me. Maybe it's the lack of sleep talking...
Ciao,
Sasha

This Week's Musical Recommendations

Ok, here are a few music recommendations for this week.

The lesser-known stuff (aka you'll be ahead of everybody else when these bands hit it big):
"Let's Never Go to Sleep" and "Drug Like" by Action Action. You can download it free here. Really like the song and they'll be playing at the Blind Pig this Tuesday. Doors at 7pm, $8 cover, and Otto Vector and Men, Women and Children open.

"The Third Grasp's the Charm," "Smoke Em if You Got Em" and "Box Lunch at the Y" by Forever In Effigy. You can download the tracks at Pure Volume for free.

"The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide is Press Coverage" and "Dance Dance" by Panic! At the Disco. (Yes, they get the award for longest song title of the day, no they're not disco). You can download both tracks here for free.

The better-known stuff (aka songs in the mix on Virgin Extreme and Kerrang! 102.5 right now):
"Juicebox" The Strokes
"Munich" The Editors
"Hysteria" Muse
"Walk Away" and "Do You Want To" Franz Ferdinand

And yes, Pure Volume is one of my new favorite sites. It's a great place to go to find out about the lesser-known bands out there, but also a good place to check out musicians that are getting more radio-play. Also a good place to get info on the Warped Tour.

More recommendations next week~
Ciao,
Sasha