All in the Family

How nuts would it be to have Billie Joe Armstrong as your dad? I came across this pic of him & his family at the Kids Choice Awards and, seriously, how fucking cute is this family??? (Not the best pic of Billie Joe, but still...I wonder what he's looking at?) I just want to pinch all of their cheeks:)


In music news, I've heard the new album, Broken Boy Soldiers, by The Raconteurs (Jack White of The White Stripes fame) which comes out on May 16 and IT IS GOOD. I highly recommend "Steady As She Goes."

Also, if you feel like going back to those days of 80s era dance-y music, check out the album by The Sounds from Sweden. They're definitely one of those groups you'll either really like or really hate, not much middle ground. I'm happy they'll be at Warped this summer though. I think they'd be a good band to see live.

The phones are sucking my will to live this morning and I may be dragged to a staff meeting this afternoon. I'm not sure what would be worse-being alone on the phones for a few hours or being stuck in a pointless and boring meeting. I would like nothing more than to just grab my bag and walk out the door right now. Of course then the progression is: walk out--> get fired-->no money-->cardboard box-->die a horrible miserable death. Hmm, guess I'll stay on the phones.
So glad it's Friday.

Where do these people come from??

I really wonder. I had to post this. So, a guy calls the clinic yesterday wanting to know if we do penis enlargement.

What?! How the hell do I answer that without laughing? Give the call to the clinic manager, that's what you do:) (I wonder what she said to him...)

On a different note, the Oohlas have posted a NEW SONG on the Stolen Transmission website. It rocks. I am so fucking stoked for the new album to come out I can hardly stand it. Go listen to the new song!

Also, Husband and I are considering marketing these shirts. You know you want one...



Ugh, tomorrow really should be Friday.
I'm out,
S

PS-I'm working on the next installment of my story-thing about the plastic surgery clinic. Stay tuned for The Mumbler... (dun, dun, duuun...)

Time to Waste

Yeah, I really should be doing work for one of my classes instead of posting, but I have the attention span of a flea right now, so the work isn't too productive at the moment. Anyways, I wanted to write about the concert last night...

Alkaline Trio was AWESOME. Oh. My. God. They rocked. They played at the Royal Oak Music Theater which is this very cool old movie theater that was renovated at some point. It's fairly small and either there are no seats or they took them out for the concert. It was cool though because you could get right up to the stage if you wanted and since the floor was stepped (um, not sure how else to describe it) if you stood at the edge of one of the slightly higher platforms, you could easily see over the heads of everyone on the level below you. So, we staked out a good spot at the front of the first level and got an awesome view of the stage.

Against Me! opened and I liked them a lot-very punk and energetic. Unfortch, I hadn't heard them before, so I didn't really know their stuff, but I like what I heard.

Alkaline Trio just ripped it up. They played all the songs off Goddamnit and a few songs like "This Could be Love", "Emma" and "Blue in the Face" off Good Mourning. I was really psyhed when they played "Settle for Satin" from Crimson though:) Matt Skiba and Daniel Andriano did a bunch of acoustic stuff too which was amazing.

I don't think I've ever been in one room that had so many tattoos, piercings, mohawks and black t-shirts...it was kinda nuts:) Anyways, it was a fantastic show and I'd definitely see them again in a second.
And, as always, a few pics:

Fall Out Boy

Aargh, so tired, but it was so worth it! Great concert even if my brother and I were some of the oldest fans there (I'm not counting all the parents that were there with their teenage and pre-teen kids). I've decided that going to concerts, especially for bands like Fall Out Boy or Green Day, really make for interesting observations of social behavior. It might be a social scientists dream population or something.

Anyways, the bands got increasingly "pop-y" as the night went on and it was a good five hours of music or so. I definitely liked From First to Last and Hawthorne Heights. All American Rejects were good and I like some of their songs, but I'm not totally obsessed with them. Speaking of people watching, there was this group kids in front of me & my brother, totally decked out in Hawthorne Heights gear from head to toe (well, not quite, but they were def. HUGE fans). My brother and I were mocking them just a little, but they amused me in a sort of cute, aw, aren't they excited way. One of the girl's screaming when HH came out was a bit annoying, but, you know, overall, I got a kick out of them. Unlike the idiot woman that was sitting next to my brother...

We'd scooched down in our row since no one was sitting there for the first three bands and then this woman with two pre-teens comes along, looks at us and just goes "MOVE." Uh, yeah...we know we're in the wrong seats, we're happy to move, you don't need to treat us like idiots! Grr. In fact, we're probably older than you think. It got worse too. She was that parent, you know, the one that acts like a teenager and is probably embarassing her kids beyond belief. She was dancing and screaming and was even clapping along when they were doing the sound check. Some people are so weird.

Anyways, Fall Out Boy rocked. They played a really long set and all of the songs I really wanted to hear. Of course people went nuts when they played "Dance, Dance" and "Sugar, We're Going Down." I love those songs but I really think my favorite is "XO" so, I'm glad they played that too. They're hilarious to watch, I do NOT understand how you can jump around and do those little spinny flip things that Pete Wentz and Joe Trohman do and still play the bass/guitar. Amazing. Definitely a fun time and way worth the money. I somehow think the crowd at Alkaline Trio will be slightly different:) I am, however, still psyched to go to that too.

I took some pics from our nosebleed seats. They're not too bad all things considered...I guess if you squint you can imagine that they're Fall Out Boy.

Hawthorne Heights

From First to Last


All-American Rejects



Fall Out Boy

Excited...

Ridiculously psyched for the Fall Out Boy concert tonight:) The tickets I got sorta suck, nosebleed section and all, but I'm still excited to be going! Then I've got tickets to see Alkaline Trio on Sunday--I've seen them before so I know they'll be great.
Frankly, I'm amazed I survived the week. I had an insane amount of work but, no homework tonight!

Pics to follow.

Ahead of the curve again!

AAAHH! I love being right:) Go to the iTunes music store. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. The FREE single of the week is Damone's "Out Here All Night!!!" Did I not say a few weeks ago that Damone rocks?

GO DOWNLOAD IT NOW!

Again, my tastes have been validated. Yay me:)

Peeps!

This question came up at Easter dinner last night...are Peeps suceptible to Avian Flu?? Do you think a research quesiton on the effects of Peeps and alcohol might be funded by a government grant?? I think Peep research is the next big thing. I may need to get some "test subjects" since they'll be on sale today. Not to eat of course, just for the comic relief and to do experiements on:)

Ugh, it's gonna be a loooong week.

In my boredom at work I decided to start writing a story of sorts...since truth is usually stranger than fiction (especially if you work at a plastic surgery office) here's the truth about my office and the people I deal with. Honest to god, I couldn't make this stuff up...Let me know what you think.

_____________________________________________________________

“So, can she go to work the day after her surgery?”
I nearly sprayed coffee all over my computer screen when the caller asked that.
“Actually sir, if she has a chin tuck, rhinoplasty, abdominoplasty and liposuction, I don’t think she’ll want to go anywhere right away. Certainly not to work,” I replied with as much control as I could muster.

What I really wanted to say was,
“Are you completely nuts? If she has the fat sucked out of her hips, her nose surgically broken and fixed, the slack in her chin lopped off and a patch of tissue the size of a dinner plate taken off her stomach she will not be going anywhere. In fact, she’ll look like a train-wreck and it’s unlikely she’ll leave the house for a few weeks much less go back to work the next day.”
I finished up the call after answering about five hundred more ridiculous questions (which included whether this guy’s girlfriend would have to “disrobe” for surgery and if she could keep her shoes on) without either laughing or calling the guy a complete moron. Those stupid plastic surgery reality shows have made my job hell. Now everyone thinks they’ll be instantly beautiful after plastic surgery. They don’t see the bruising, infections or dried blood, but I’m getting ahead of myself.
Yes, I work in a plastic surgery office. No, it is not what I dreamed of doing “when I grew up” when I was a little girl. It helps pay the bills but it can be a spirit-crushing, soul-sucking job. And those are just the good days. Don’t get me started on the bad ones. I spend the day answering the phone which may seem like a cushy job but it’s really boring as hell. I get to deal with the patients who realize at 4:00 p.m. on a Friday that they’ll run out of narcotics over the weekend. Or the people that want to know why the nurse hasn’t returned their call even though they only left their message twenty minutes earlier. Or the people that need to see a surgeon because they punched a wall (we get more of those calls than you’d think). Or the people that ask idiotic questions like Return-to-Work guy who I just got off the phone with.
Basically, I have a hard time controlling myself from spewing out what I really think when I get calls like that. There are only two things that stop me from telling the Botox Babes, Cry-Babies and Wall-Punchers how stupid they are: 1) I need this job no matter how much it sucks because I need the money and 2) As bad as it can be, I know other jobs like this could be a lot worse.

New Cartoon

Ok, it isn't quite as funny as the one to "Sugar We're Going Down" but the same guy that did the little stick figure movie to that song, did a new one to AFI's "Girl's Not Grey." It' s funny, maybe not entirely safe for work though... watch it.

So tiiiirrrreeeed...

Um, yeah. Now I remember why I don't like school. All that end of the semester shite that piles up and keeps you from doing normal things like sleeping and eating properly. Ugh. I'm so tired I feel like I'm gonna die and the worst part is knowing that I've got at least two more weeks to get through before it's all over. Man, this isn't a sprint, it's a fucking marathon.

Despite getting back from MSU at 10 last night and I still having homework to do, I did check out iTunes' free download for the week. It's GOOD. Go get Rock Kills Kid's "Hide Away" for FREE. Free is good...

I'd also recommend Hawthorne Heights. Particualrly "This is Who We Are" and "Saying Sorry." Yeah, they're like the MySpace fairy tale and all, but, hell, I like 'em.

Check out Pretty Girls Make Graves new album, Elan Vital. "Pyrite Pedestal," "Domino" and "The Magic Hour" are my favorites at the moment. Very cool stuff, the only way I can describe it is being sort of a mix betwen punk, a dash of disco, a little grainy 70s rock, and some accordians. Weird, I know, but it works.

Enough for now, I'm going to bed.
Ciao,
S

If you can be disgruntled, can you be gruntled??
I actually saw this word used in print. In a scholarly book on the New York Times, no less. I may make up words myself, but I dunno about this one.

Back to work.

God, I'm so stupid

You know, you'd think that after the zillions of years I've been in school, I'd be better at pacing myself and not end up like a lunatic frantically trying to finish everything by the end of the semester.

Apparently, I'm an idiot.

Here I am, a few measly weeks until it's over and I've got TEN MILLION things to do. Not only do I have two more stories to do for my JRN 200 class (to be fair, we only got the assignment for one on Wednesday and the other we technically still haven't gotten the assignment but we got the due date which isn't too fair), I've got three papers for my JRN 825 class (um, yeah, this IS my fault that I'm not more on top of them) and two stories due for The Crutch all in the next three weeks. Goodbye sleep, hello massive amounts of caffeine.

Oh wait, I've also got two concerts coming up in the next three weeks, both the week before the end of the semester. Yeah, phenomanally stupid planning on my part but I'd be kicking myself if I'd passed up the chance to see Alkaline Trio and Fall Out Boy. Well, such is life. It always gets done but the process sucks.

Well, let's get on to the fun stuff. Recommendations:

• I just found the concert photo site Shatter The Lens. Cool photos and while it still doesn't beat out Christopher Chouinard's pics, it's still got some neat stuff.
• I really like Flashlight Brown's song "Sicker." Pretty damn catchy, download it here.
• Eight Finger's Down's song "A Feeling, A Word, A Curse." Courtesy of their MySpace page (of course).
• I think I've mentioned The Hush Sound before...if you didn't listen then, try downloading "Crawling Towards the Sun."
  
• "The Levy" by From First to Last. Get it at their Pure Volume site.

Ok, that's it for now. Back to the books.
Ciao,
~S

Top 10 Songs

I'm not usually too keen on those 700 question-type surveys that are all over MySpace, but this one amused me. Give it a try and let me know what you come up with:)

Put your mp3 player on shuffle, and list the first ten songs.

First Song: It’s My Life (No Doubt)
Second Song: New Orleans Instrumental No. 1 (REM)
Third Song: Pale September (Fiona Apple)
Fourth Song: Mandinka (Sinead O’Connor)
Fifth Song: Meaning in Tragedy (As I Lay Dying)
Sixth Song: Stellar (Incubus)
Seventh Song: Pumpkin (Tricky)
Eighth Song: Once (Pearl Jam)
Ninth Song: Drown (Smashing Pumpkins)
Tenth Song: Smashed into Pieces (Silverstein)

Time to see what they mean to you!

Who does song 1 remind you of? For some reason it reminds me of PICS, I don’t think we ever practiced to it, so I’m not sure why…

What part of your life does song 2 describe the best? Um, the chill moments?

If you could dedicate song 3 to someone, who would it be? Ryan

Does Song 4's lyrics mean anything to you personally? No

Why do you like song 5? I think it kind of represents my musical growth lately (or something like that). Plus, I like the name of the band.

When did you first start listening to the artist of song 6? When my ex sent me the lyrics to this song back when we were dating.

How many albums do you have from the artist of song 7? One (Maxinquaye)

How are number 8 and 9 similar? They both start out pretty mellow & slow but get a lot harder as the songs progress. Both came out around the same time too-1991 and 1992.

What is number 10's meaning? Basically, about wanting to rip your heart out to stop the pain after someone has broken it (happy stuff)

What song out of the 10 is your favorite? Right now, Silverstein

What song out of the 10 is your least favorite? New Orleans Instrumental

Which song means the most to you and why? Probably “Stellar.” I guess it just reminds me of how my ex had good taste in music, and that’s pretty hard to find.

Would you dedicate any of these to your love/crush? I’m not sure if any of them are really appropriate (Stellar would be, but I wouldn’t re-use it!)

Would you dedicate any of these to your enemy? Pearl Jam

Do these top ten songs fairly reflect your music collection? Pretty much, I’m kinda all over the place and my collection shows that.

(Insert girlish squeal here)

So, this is very exciting! I got my very first promo copy of a cd before the album has been released! Can't tell you who the album's by, but it's pretty fun to get cd's that aren't on sale to the public till next week! (*mild gloating*)

I did my video for the MTV/Rolling Stone thing today with tons of help from Ben (who is a mastermind and genius and I owe him many, many drinks). I felt like a total tool just talking about myself on camera, but it's done and looks way better than if I'd borrowed a camcorder from someone and filmed in my living room or something. I'm still pretty sure I haven't even got a shot, but I definitely wouldn't have a chance if I didn't at least try, right?

I still can't believe I'm doing this, how crazy!

Despite all of this fun stuff, it dawned on me over the weekend how little time is left in the semester and how much crap I still have to do for my classes. I know it'll all get done (it always gets done) but I will probably be a nutcase for the next four weeks. Heh, at least I've got the Fall Out Boy concert and Alkaline Trio concert coming up as some study breaks (and I'm sure at that point, I'll really need them!) Right now I'm trying to justify reading old issues of Rolling Stone (I'm talking old, like 1967 when the mag first came out) as "homework" since I'm trying to work it into a final project for one of my classes. Only bummer is it's all on microfilm :( Ugh, takes me back to the days of spending hour after hour in the Library of Congress reading microfilm. I'll probably go blind. Oh well.
Ciao!
~S