Oh bloody hell...

What a weird, weird 24 hours it has been. So, we didn't have school today and yesterday, as I was leaving the school's Halloween assembly, I made plans with two other teachers to go hoist a few later in the evening. We meet up, drink a great deal, rant about students, religion etc. and generally have a good time. After we get kicked out of the restaurant we decide it is an excellent idea to go buy more alcohol. One of the guys and I take a run to Meijers. Mind you, it is well after midnight but it still seems like a good idea. We get to Meijers and run into a group of not one, not two, but four students. Now, I don't know any of them and probably couldn't pick them out of a crowd but the other teacher actually has at least some of these guys, if not all of them. The other piece of this is, there will naturally be the assumption that something is going on between the other teacher and myself since, we all know, two people of the opposite can't possibly be friends. We, of course, must be dating.

I wonder how fast this is going to get around school. I know for a fact that at least one cell phone was pulled out to share the news that teachers were run into at Meijers after midnight while we were actually still in the store. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I suppose the only consolation was that we didn't have the beer in our hands yet.

To top off that bizarre experience was the fact that on the way back to the other teacher's place my dad calls. He is not happy. He wants to know where I am, when I'm coming home, "we need to have a talk about this" sort of stuff. So now I'm weirded out by the students, have been drinking and I'm upset by this phone call. What a buzzkill. I dropped the other teacher off, went home to a "discussion" that made me feel like I was 16 all over again and then became even more upset (not a good combo with alcohol) and proceeded to drunken text Shannon who emailed me today TOTALLY confused over what the hell was going on. Her answer to the problem? Move out. Yes, I know. It WILL happen. However, when one hasn't had a *real* job for a year and a half, it takes a bit of time to get back on your feet once you actually have a salary again. But yes, she's right. I have GOT to move out. I can't take this.

Man, tomorrow is gonna suck. Potential weirdness with students, rumors and then hours of parent-teacher conferences. Gaaa. Can I call in sick??

Listening to: Thursday, A City by the Light Divided

30 Seconds to Mars

I actually started this post about a week ago but life has been nuts and I only just had time to finish it. So, some old news, some new news and some photos.

Buncha reviews up on Revolt. Read my review & see photos of 30STM here. Read my feature on The Plain White T's here.

I went to see 30 Seconds to Mars last Sunday and prior to the concert got an email from one of the photographers I met at the Hawthorne Heights show a few weeks ago. First of all, he gave me props for the photos I took at the HH concert that Revolt ran and said he liked my review of the show as well. To make a long story short, he was going to be at the 30STM show as well and got me into the photo pit again which was BEYOND awesome of him. Seriously, I don't know why he's being so nice to me I mean, he's a good photographer and a "real" photographer and I'm just there with my little point-and-shoot digi-cam but he's been a huge help, so I really appreciate it. Anywho, I got some pretty good shots of Head Automatica and 30 Seconds to Mars (and yes, Jared Leto is just as dreamy in person as in the magazines in that lotsa-black-eyeliner/emo guy way). I've included a few of my shots for your perusal:)

I'm seeing Lady Sovereign tonight at St. Andrews which should be sweet. My photographer friend has already contacted Sov's publicist and is trying to get me a photo pass for that show as well. I think I just found a guardian angel:)

One other thing that's been kicking around is this idea of a sort of "rock photography boot camp" for my journalism students. Harry (the uber-nice photographer) has already contacted a bunch of labels to see if they'd be down with letting a bunch of kids in for a journalism field trip of sorts. Apparently, the people at Victory Records have expressed a considerable amount of interest at the idea...now just how to pull it off and not get sued by some parent...how SWEET would that be though? Man, there just might be a run on my journalism class if we can figure out how to pull this off...

Looks like I survived comps. I haven't a clue if I passed and honestly, I don't fucking care at this point. I went, I tried, I wrote for 8 hours, and whatever ends up happening, so be it. It's over and that's all I care about!

Later,
S
Listening to (still): My Chemical Romance, The Black Parade.

The Black Parade!!

Oh. My. God. GREAT fucking day! So, MCR's third album dropped today and it is utterly amazing. So different from their first three but, my god, there is some fantastic stuff on there. Instant classic, I'm telling you. If you don't have it yet, for the love of god, go to iTunes and download it RIGHT NOW. You won't regret it.

Even better than a fabulous new MCR album coming out today was that my brother called me to tell me that MCR is playing the Night 89X Stole Christmas show in December! Needless to say, I immediately got online and bought tix. Main floor baby! Now I just need to see if I can talk my way into a press pass for the show...man, that would be un-fucking-believable!

So, so, so happy:)

Right, now I need to try and calm down and concentrate on the big, freaking, scary exam I have to take on Thursday and Friday. I leave for DC tomorrow right after school and I realllly don't want to go...ugh, ugh, ugh. I just want it over with!

I saw 30 Seconds to Mars on Sunday night-great show! Even better was that the photographer I met up with at the Hawthorne Heights show got me into the photo pit again. My damn camera's battery is all wonky so I didn't get as many pics as I'd have liked, but it was still pretty damn sweet. Hmm, maybe he'll have some suggestions on how to get a photo pass for the MCR show...

Lots more to tell music-wise but I need to pack and study. Go buy The Black Parade!!
Listening to: My Chemical Romance, The Black Parade (duh, what did you think I'd be listening to??)

Good Charlotte

Hey,
My review of the GC show is up at Revolt along with a few of the photos I took (yay for another photo credit!) My feature on the Plain White T's should be up by the end of the week, I'll let you know when it's up.

I'm utterly exhausted, I don't know how I'm going to make it through the next week and a half. It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have to go to DC for my comps. They are going to kick my ass...I will probably be the first person to fail them. Seriously. God, I just want it over with.

Unfortunately, I also have to go to Grand Rapids for a conference tomorrow and Friday. Ugh. It wouldn't be so bad if it was just a one day thing and it wasn't all the way out in GR. Blech. I know I should be more positive, but I can think of lots of things I could be doing instead of hiking out to GR.

I'm also a bit depressed b/c, once again, I feel like I've been duped by a guy. Long story short, thought someone might have been interested in me, turns out he's not. Had been quite flirty, now, just sort of weird and stiff and awkward. Story of my life. What the hell is WRONG with me??? Seriously? Honest to god, if there is something seriously wrong with me and my friends/family aren't telling me and I find out, I'm going to go postal. I am so sick of fucking late-20s guys who don't know what the hell they want and string people along and then "vanish" without a word of explaination.

Sorry for the rant. It just gets to me (and you better tell me if there's something seriously wrong with me...)
Stressssssssssssssssssssss :(

Listening to: Hawthorne Heights, If Only You Were Lonely

Aargh

Ok, I think I have finally overscheduled myself. I make stupid choices too. I have a phemonemal amount of work to do-reviews to write, features to write, a stack of 100 All Quiet on the Western Front papers to grade, a school newspaper to get out...so a)I should not be blogging right now, b)I should not have gone and gotten phenomenally trashed on Friday night, c) I should not have been astoundingly hungover yesterday. Nonetheless, I did all those things and, consequently it is Sunday night and I'd love to either run away or call in sick tomorrow. Of course I'll do neither, but it is a temping thought...

It's all my own damn fault of course, I hardly blame anyone else. Well, maybe the beer fairies...damn them. I had a lot of fun on Friday, so I don't regret. At least too much, though yesterday morning I was making those "I promise I'll never drink again if I live through the next five minutes..." claims. It is nice however having some cool people from work to hang out with...what a change from some other jobs I've had. They even have good taste in music, so I guess I'll keep em around :)

Anyways, a few new reviews up for your perusal. I think I'll also have about 16 more cd's coming my way though I hope my editors hold off till the end of the month. The next few weeks are going to be god awful. To the point I'm thinking of running away or calling in dead. Aargh.

Read my review of A Heartwell Ending's album at Revolt.
Read my review of Near Miss' album at Static.

Shannon is coming to visit in a few weeks! Woo hoo! I'm so psyched. I haven't seen her since last December, so it'll be great.

My Chem's new album comes out in 9 days! Can't wait!!!
Back to work...
Ciao.

Listening to: KT Tunstall, Eye to the Telescope

Jilary in the house...

Ok, this post has to be fast, I should be in bed:)
Went to see Good Charlotte last night at Clutch Cargo's. The show rocked, very high energy and they played a lot of good songs. It was kinda fun to see Benji and Joel live in all their tattooed glory:) Weird crowd, older people, maybe in their twenties along with a lot of really LITTLE kids (like around 10 or so). The place was pretty packed but I, as usual, wormed my way to the front. I was going to try and talk my way into the photo area but they weren't even letting the legit photographers in at first. They claimed the road manager wasn't allowing anyone up there, yada yada yada. I thought that was pretty weird (I was right next to this photographer when he was having this conversation with the security guard which is how I know all this). Then, as soon as GC came on stage, I realized the reason why they weren't letting anyone up there. It wasn't so much because of Benji, Joel etc. It was because Miss Hilary Duff, teen queen, was there as well. She sat at the side of the stage for the whole show and was actually kinda cute to watch. She sang along with all the songs, clapped and smiled a lot...rarely took her eyes off of Joel which, honestly, was sweet. I dunno who the teen-y girls were more psyched to see, the Madden bros or Hilary Duff.

Anyways, I got a few photos, these are probably the best of the lot. Neither are as good as that one I got at the HH concert, but I'm pretty happy with them. Still not too bad for a digi-cam! I'm seeing We Are Scientists on Friday at the Magic Stick, Art Brut is opening. Should be a pretty fucking sweet show.

Trying to kick this stupid cold...
Off to beddy-bies. I'll tell you my car story later:)
Peace out, starving nachos,
~S

Hawthorne Heights

Read my review of the Nintendo Fusion Tour here. Yeah, it's a bit long, stick with me though:) The two photos on the review are all mine too! Here are those two and a few more for your viewing pleasure.
I've gotta figure out a way to get into the photo pit on other shows too...if anyone has any good ideas, lemme know!
~S
Listening to: The Silence in Black and White, Hawthorne Heights

Every now and then my life amazes me

Sometimes I can't believe how cool my life can be. I guess I need to remember these things when it seems like things are overwhelming and sucky. So, it began as a good, ego-boosting week with the whole Oohlas review, Ultragrrrl liking my review, getting quoted on the Oohlas website etc.

Hard to believe, but it actually got even better.

I went to Detroit last night to cover the Nintendo Fusion tour with Hawthorne Heights, Relient K, Emery, and the Plain White T's. In addition to writing a review on the show, I'm going to be interviewing the Plain White T's in a week or so for a feature for Revolt, so I definitely wanted to see what their live show was like.

The State Theater was crazy-packed, and of course there were zillions of teenagers, for all I know, some of my students were there (though I didn't actually see any of them). I got there just as the Plain White T's were getting on stage, so I didn't fight my way to the front of the crowd (which was considerable) for any photos. While they were breaking down their gear, I tried to get up close to the stage for Emery's set. I got all the way up front, but I was so far over on the side, I couldn't really see a whole lot and my photos were crap. So, about three songs into their set, this photographer leaving the photo pit pushes his way through the crowd, sees me crammed in my corner with my notepad and asks me who I'm writing for. I tell him, he gives me his card, asks for mine (don't have any! Eek! Must do something about this!) and then continues on his way off the main floor.

After Emery's set is over, I get out of the crowd for a few minutes too and run into this photographer again. We start chatting, he introduces me to another photographer (who is actually a student at U of M) and we talk "shop talk" for a while. Then they say that thay need to get back inside and ready for Relient K and tell me to come along with them, saying, "you're with us now!" So, we make our way through the huge crowd to the stage and the security guys don't even bat an eye at me going into the photo pit with them. One of the photographers (Harry) told security that I was on his photo pass. We got to watch the techies checking all the instruments, see the set list before the show began, and all that kind of stuff which was very cool. And then the show started. Let me tell you, it is AMAZING to be that close at a show of that size. To have space around you to actually write, to take photos without some guy's armpit in the picture, to be close enough to actually get some good photos on a little digi cam! We could only stay up there for three songs, but still, three songs at the front of the stage with the photographers... SO cool, and they were just one of the opening bands!

Harry and Mike (the other photographer) got me into the pit again for Hawthorne Heights (the headliners) and that was just off the map...JT Woodruff (lead singer) was literally two feet away from me, maybe less. I actually almost got hit by one of the guitarists as he was running up to the front of the stage, six inches (at most) away from me. The hardest part about HH's set was the fact that there was a lot of crowd surfing and you had to watch so you didn't get hit by one of those kids as the security guards caught them at the barriers. Holy. Shit. I was in the photo pit for Hawthorne Heights! Last time I saw them I was in the nosebleed section at the Palace, and this time, I'm up with the photographers. How crazy!

I think I got some really good pictures. Sure, they won't be anywhere as good as Harry and Mike's, it would be a lot easier to shoot something like that with a SLR instead of a point and shoot, but I'm not gonna complain:) A little photoshop and I think I should have some decent photos. My editor will flip out when I tell her about this:)

Sorry to gush, but the whole thing was just so freaking cool and unreal at the same time. I mean, yesterday morning I was running writing workshops on All Quiet on the Western Front and then last night I'm up at the front of the stage with a bunch of photographers covering Hawthorne Heights. Sometimes the dichotomy is almost too much to comprehend:) I love it. It would be hilarious if some of my students were there and saw me up front...guess we'll find out on Monday.

Also, I think some students might feel I'm either ever-so-slightly cool or a total pushover. I had two students, neither of which I have in any of my classes, come up to me after school to ask me if I'd be moderator of the snowboarding club. Apparently, word had gotten round that I would be a good person to ask because I might be "into that kind of thing" (snowboarding, that is). The two students definitely had their plans all laid out and things organized, so I said sure, I'd do it. It should be fun:)

What a weird, weird day. I wouldn't have it ANY different for a million dollars!!
Photos will be posted as soon as I've done a little photoshop work.
Woot!

It keeps getting better:)

Well, as if the news last night about Sarah Lewitinn liking my review wasn't fun enough, I got another email from my editor today telling me that I've been quoted on The Oohlas webpage (along with other reviewers, I'm not the only one) which is kinda sweet. They've put my writing up along with the likes of reviews from Nylon Magazine and Alternative Press:) Yay!
Ben asked for clarification on who Ultragrrrl is...well, in a nutshell, she's this very cool DJ in New York City who wrote for Spin Magazine for a few years, has started her own record label, gets to meet all sorts of cool bands, gets interviewed as someone ahead of the scene and used to be Mikey Way's girlfriend. Basically, I want her life;) I'm a big nerd. I'm ok with it.

So, MCR's new album comes out October 24! I'm very excited about it (to say the least). When I saw them play "Welcome to the Black Parade" on the VMA's, I wasn't entirely sure about it since it sounded quite different from their other stuff. But, like both of their other albums, the song has grown on me immensely and just one listen doesn't do it justice. Anyways, they just released their first video for the new album yesterday and it's pretty damn sweet. It isn't anything like the videos for "Ghost of You" or "Helena," but I like it what they did and how they did it. I particularly like how the whole thing is black and white except for the occasional dash of red. If the link will work, I bring you (courtesy of MCR), The Black Parade.

I love this job

(Hah, you thought I was talking about teaching:)
No, the coolest thing that happened today was getting an email from my editor at Revolt telling me that none other than Sarah Lewitinn (aka Ultragrrrl) emailed her and said that my review of The Oohlas' album was her favorite review so far.
As if the pure awesomeness of Best Stop Pop wasn't enough, I got kudos from Ultragrrrl.
Woot!

Ooh la la!

Well, let's think all the way back to the beginning of the year when I told you to check out the Oohlas. If you listened to me then, you're probably smug because you knew how awesome Best Stop Pop would be even before it came out. If you didn't listen to me then, for the love of God, listen now. The Oohlas album came out today and it is SO worth getting.

Read my review of The Oohlas' album on Revolt.

And can I just take this moment to revel in my smugness that I was onto the Oohlas back in early March and it took until about now (September, mind you, almost 6 months later) for the folks over at Nylon, Penthouse, Rolling Stone etc. to figure out the pure loveliness of this band.
Nyeah, nyeah, nyeah:) Ok, all better now.

What are you waiting for? Stop reading my dumb blog and go buy the album!

Listening to: The Oohlas, Best Stop Pop (of course!!!)

Aaaaah, I totally forgot...

The Oohlas' album comes out on Tuesday! Go to iTunes and get it, it's gonna be amazing. Dude, I have been waiting since March to hear the whole thing and I can not WAIT for Tuesday. It'll be on iTunes, so you have no excuse.
The Oohlas rock. End of story. You can thank me later for turning you onto their awesomeness.

More Reviews

Word,
I totally forgot to post links to the lastest reviews.
Read about the Bank Robbers and Revolution Mother at Revolt.
Read about Bullets and Octane at Static.

It's weird, I was thinking about it and it has now been a year since what I'm calling "my epiphany" happened. I blame the Green Day and My Chem shows back in September of last year for getting this whole music mania of mine back in action. I think it was a very good thing though. I hadn't realized how stagnant my interests had become while I was in DC. Maybe it was the change in season, maybe it was realizing I wasn't going to have a teaching job, who knows, but looking back, I think I grew a lot in the last year. I also realized it's been almost a year since I started playing the guitar. I still love it, I'm still SO glad I did it. I'm not great by any means, but I enjoy it and it's a stress reliever, so I guess that's all that really matters.

Ended up not going out last night, but that was probably not a bad thing. It was defintiely one of those nights where it was nice to be all snuggly in bed with the window open listening to the rain.

Man, I hate Sunday nights. I wish the weekend wasn't over :( Back to the grind tomorrow. Ugh.
~S

Listening to: Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, My Chemical Romance

Concert MADNESS!!!

I'm ridculously psyched about this Ok Go show:) There have been some inquiries about it. Here's what I know:

When: 10/7/06 at 2:45 p.m.
Where: The Pioneer High School parking lot (deemed the "Pontiac Garage" stage on Ok Go's webpage).
Cost: FREE!
I know it's a bit weird to have the show at Pi High's parking lot, but I don't freaking care! It's Ok Go, I missed seeing them last time they were in A2 and I refuse to miss them this time.

In related news, this is gonna be a busy, busy few months for concerts. Here's my sched:

Sept 29: Hawthorne Heights @ The State Theater
Oct 7: Ok Go @ Pi High
Oct 10: Good Charlotte @ Clutch Cargo's
Oct 13: We Are Scientists @ The Magic Stick
Oct 21: Trey Anastasio @ The Michigan Theater
Oct 22: 30 Seconds to Mars @ The State Theater
Nov 3: Lady Sovereign @ St. Andrew's
Nov 16: Heavens @ The Shelter

And of course reviews will need to be written for all of them for Revolt...aargh. I love it:)

Not too much else of interest going on really. Had a lot of fun at happy hour with Elana, Jim etc. last night. Generally, TGI Friday's is not the first place I'd pick to go for a drink, but we had fun so I guess that's all that matters. I definitely drank a bit more than was necessary (or, to use our new favorite euphamism, I was overserved, as if it was my waitress' fault I drank too much:) There was some discussion of heading out tonight, but I haven't heard from anyone if that's actually going to happen. Part of me wants to go out and part of me doesn't mind the idea of just staying home. It's clammy and rainy and there's something appealing about getting into bed early and reading...God I'm lame! Er, no, just storing up energy for the barrage of concerts a-comin' at me.

A few quick music recs:

• "Candyman" by Christina Aguilera: I never, never in my wildest dreams thought I'd recommend an Xtina song, but this is essentially really smutty Andrews' Sisters type stuff. I can't help but like it, and let's face it, Christina is pretty damn hot right now.
• "Dead End Girl" by Heavens. I know I've raved about Matt Skiba's latest project, but the album as a whole rocks and this song is particularly very good. Calmer than most Alkaline Trio but still kinda dark and twisty at the same time. Good stuff.
• Oh No by Ok Go. Of course I love them. If you like "A Million Ways" or "Here it Goes Again" do yourself a favor and instead of buying just those two songs on iTunes, splurge and get the whole album. You won't regret it.
• "A Beautiful Lie" by 30 Seconds to Mars. Ok, so I feel a bit guilty pleasure-ish admitting I rather like Jared Leto's band. But, Jordan Catalano aside (how many of my students would even know who Jordan Catalano was??), its really a pretty decent album. Maybe not the sort of thing we'll still listen to in 10 years, but I like it and I'm stupidly psyched to see them live at the State.
  

Right. That's it for now. Peace out, Starving Nachos:)
(Yes, Husband, that one was just for you)

Listening to: A Beautiful Lie, 30 Seconds to Mars

Ok Go!!!

Woot! I just saw that Ok Go is finally coming back to Ann Arbor! They're playing a free show in by Pioneer High School on October 7. I am SO there. Anyone else wanna go?? Did I mention it's FREE and Ok Go totally rocks??
Check out their website & let me know if you want to come too!

Slim pickins

So, is it just me or is it bizarrely wrong for a 10th grade boy to still be a nose-picker? I have one student who spends a rather high percentage of our 50 minute class with his finger up his nose. At first I thought I imagined it, I mean, wouldn't you think that by the time you're in high school you've eliminated some of those social faux pas? Apparently not. It's horribly distracting because he sits in the center of the classroom and I keep finding myself alternately staring at him in horrified fascination and trying to avoid looking at him out of total disgust as he mines for gold.

I'm sorry, but it is SO gross. Here's the question though, should I say something to him? Do you think he does it unconsciously? Why haven't any of his friends said something to him? I've never run into this sort of problem before and I'm pretty stumped on how to deal with it.

Weirdness, eh?

Reviews, reviews, reviews...

Ok, so the latest reviews and such are up:
Read my feature on Gatsby's American Dream at Revolt.
Read reviews for Death Before Dancing and Fernando at Static Multimedia.

I can't believe it's only Monday. I'm already exhausted. Ugh, ugh, ugh. However, I did go see The Last Kiss yesterday and it was quite good. Not as funny/weird as Garden State and it's a little disturbing to watch so many almost-30 year old guys go through various crises, but it was still a good movie. In some ways I can sympethize with Zach Braff's character and his feeling of "everything is planned out/no more surprises." Good flick though, I recommend it. It isn't terribly happy though, so if you're looking for typical romantic comedy, this won't be the movie for you.

I also went to Godiko for the first time yesterday. It was so, so good! Man, I think I could really develop a taste for sushi...It's all about the new things (the best freaking New Year's resolution I've ever made!)
Right, time for bed. I'm so lame!
Ciao,
S
Listening to: Hawthorne Heights, If Only You Were Lonely

I am the queen of playlists! Woot!

So, if you recall, absolute yonks ago (back in November, actually) I mentioned the Pocket DJ contest that was being hosted by Spin Magazine. Well, it turns out I actually won the contest. I never win anything so the fact that I won the Pocket DJ contest was pretty insane. To make an extremely long story short, it took ages for Spin to actually send my prize. I was notified back in January that I won and only got my prize yesterday which was a little annoying...

However,

I was willing to wait nine months for my brand new, shiny, beautiful, black 30 gig video iPod! It's gooooorrrrgeous and that extra 10 gigs makes me extremely happy in a very nerdy way:) They also sent me another copy of Ultragrrrl's book The Pocket DJ which is just a generally fun book to browse through as well as the October issue of the magazine which I don't think is quite out yet. Needless to say, I've already put all my music on the new iPod (which took forever since it isn't firewire compatable, boo hiss) and got a new FM transmitter for the car since the first one I got was crap and never worked (the new one does, so I'm PSYCHED to be able to use my iPod in my car! Woo hoo!) Isn't my new toy purdy?? I lurrrvvvve it....
So, winning meant that Ultragrrrl felt the playlist I'd created was the best of all those submitted, so that's kinda sweet. Here's the award-winning list for your perusal:

Music to Magnify Your Criminal Impulses
1. "You Know What They Do to Guys Like Us in Prison" My Chemical Romance
2. "Back to Hell" Alkaline Trio
3. "I Predict a Riot" Kaiser Chiefs
4. "I Fought the Law" The Clash
5. "Are You With Me" Vaux
6. "Thank You For the Venom" My Chemical Romance
7. "I Want a Warning" Idlewild
8. "Club Foot" Kasabian
9. "Lyla" Oasis
10. "This Could Be Love" Alkaline Trio
11. "A Decade Under the Influence" Taking Back Sunday
12. "Oh My God" Kaiser Chiefs
13. "Expiry Dates" Joydrop
14. "Bloody Romance" Senses Fail
15. "Dethbed" Alkaline Trio
16. "Our Lady of Sorrows" My Chemical Romance
17. "C'mon C'mon" The Von Bondies

Um, let's see, what else has been going on...We had Meet the Teachers night last night and it went really well. I actually had a number of parents come up to me and tell me their child loves my class, which is really nice to hear. I'm also kicking around the idea of starting a guitar club with one of the other teachers. He's been playing for 10 years, so he's a lot better than I am, but it could be a lot of fun and there are some really good musicians at school. I hope we can get it off the ground (of course I'd need to get over my crippling self-consciousness about playing in front of anyone but my guitar teacher...)

Righty-o, peace out, Starving Nachos:)
~Sasha
Listening To: A Beautiful Lie, 30 Seconds to Mars

Welcome to the Black Parade

Oh. My. God. I am so freaking exhausted from the whirlwind that my life has become, I don't even know how I'll make it through two more days this week. Here's the rundown on things since I have become CRAP at posting now that I actually have a job that requires a brain.

My students are still amusing me though there are a few that are so squirrley (sp?) they make me a bit nuts. One student asked me to homecoming (cute, flattering, but of course I said no); I caught four cheating on homework, I already had a meeting with a parent and tomorrow is back to school night. The grading is piling up and I remembered that is the bit I hate about teaching. Ugh. I can't say I like this whole, getting up at 5:30 am thing either, but I'm nuts and like to get to school an hour early. Guess that bit is my own damn fault:)

As for the social side of things...last Friday I met up with Jim, Elana and a few other folks at Conor's for happy hour. Seeing as all I ate that day was a muffin, it didn't take long for the buzz to get going... Anywho, Jim and I then headed over to The Brown Jug for Shosh's b-day gathering. The Brown Jug on a Friday night during the first weeks of school (for U of M) was completely insane. I don't remember the last time I actually saw a line outside that place and, in a weird way, it made me feel old. Maybe I should just hang at places on the other side of State Street. It ended up being a Fleetwood kinda night and I got home around 2am which was a lot later than I'd planned on...

The next morning I had to be up at 6:30am so I could get ready and hit the road for my jaunt out to London, ON for Lodina's wedding. I made it there without any problems other than a blinding headache which, unfortunately, I had for about six hours since I was retarded and didn't throw any Tylenol in my overnight bag and it took that long before I could get to a pharmacy. The wedding was very nice, Lo looked gorgeous and it was so fun to finally meet her family and Gene's family. I nipped over to the drug store between the wedding and the reception and found the best medicine ever. I've never seen it here, but it's Tylenol with caffiene in it just for headaches. I've never had a headache disappear so fast! Wonder drug indeed!

So, the reception was at the Inn I was staying at (an adorable Victorian mansion that was converted into a B & B) and it was a hoot. Lo had asked me to say a prayer at the beginning of dinner and though I was a little nervous, I was really honored that she asked me. The reception was on this patio outside the inn and the decorations were simple but beautiful. It was a small reception but, honestly, I thought it was a perfect size. I was actually able to hang with Lo quite a bit and we caught up on a lot, got pretty drunk, danced and generally had a really good time. I love her family, Gene is awesome and I can't wait to see them again:) It was such a fun party! I did come to the conclusion that if I ever get married, I'd want my reception to be like hers. It was awesome, fun, beautiful and simple. Perfect. Oh yeah, I was totally in love with the dress I got for the wedding too:) It was just one of those dresses that makes you feel good. I need more opportunities to wear it...

Needless to say, my weekend was shot, I got nothing done Sunday night by the time I got back from London and was exhausted and crabby on Monday, especially since I had to drive out to MSU for class that night. I'm feeling a bit better now, but still pretty damn tired. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the papers to grade, lessons to write, homework to do and reviews to write, but I think things will be ok. (My feature on Gatsby's American Dream should be up on Revolt sometime this week-I'll keep you posted. I got really great feedback from my editor on it, so I'm quite proud). Even though I should stay home this weekend, I'm hoping Jim and will be able to hang out, we've got lots of musical adventures coming up too (Heavens, Hawthorne Heights, Trey Anastasio, maybe Lady Sovereign...) which I'm very pscyhed about. I love having someone to go see music with!

Really quickly, in music news:

• MCR's first single for their new album is up on iTunes. Go get "Welcome to the Black Parade" and be happy:)
• Heaven's debut album came out yesterday (Heavens is Matt Skiba from Alkaline Trio's latest side project). It rocks. Go buy it.
• The Oohlas album is coming out soon...keep your eyes and ears peeled. There's some good buzz going on about that one.

Right, I'm going to bed. Peace out, starving nachos!
Sasha
Listening to: Heavens, Patent Pending

A few loose ends...

Wife posted a fabulous pic of the TNTinis along with a video of Husband drinking said concoction. Here is my contribution to the fun. I adore the shot glasses, they rock beyond all sense:)

Also, a few quotes from our night o' TNTinis and VMAs...

• I wonder how much black eyeliner was killed in the making of the VMAs...(in reference to multiple shots of Pete Wentz, 30 Seconds to Mars, My Chem and The Killers)-Me
• I wish I could get paid to dress that dumb.-Husband
• What the hell is this garbage?-Husband sounding very much like a grumpy old man;)
• "Why do people think she's hot?" "Because she's wearing hot pants and a bra." "A bra with sleeves" (Husband, Me, Wife in reference to Fergie)

As always, they were probably funnier to us, but oh well. It's my blog, I'll post what I want:)
One more thing about the VMA's. My Chem performed "Welcome to the Black Parade" for the first time. I wasn't entirely sure about the song the first time I heard it, but I've since heard it a bunch of times and come to this conclusion. Yes, it's totally different from their stuff on Three Cheers and I Brought You My Bullets, but I still like it a lot. Definitely a bit more glam-rock, I can feel the whole Queen/David Bowie thing going on, but I like it. And I still, of course, adore them all beyond sense. However, the VMA's also got me a bit curious about 30 Seconds to Mars (I really like the song "The Kill") and, I never thought I'd say this, but I give Christina Aguilera a hell of a lot of credit. That girl has an amazing voice, she looks totally hot and even though she's married, she hasn't exactly gone the Britney and K-Fed route. The whole blonde bombshell thing is really working for her.


One other quick photo, here's my old tattoo and my new one. This one definitely feels like it's healed faster than the first one, which is a good thing:) I'm extremely happy with how it came out! Heh, we're coming up on it being 10 years since I graduated from high school...I bet some people I went to school with would be rather shocked since, if there was such a category, I'd probably have been voted least likely to ever get a tattoo. Just kinda amusing.

Well, guess the long weekend is over:( Back to school tomorrow, but that's ok. It should be a busy week or two...a few reviews coming up for Revolt and Static, teaching, driving to MSU for class, a b-day party at the Jug on Friday, Canada over the weekend for Lodina and Gene's wedding...Looks like I'll be pretty busy. 'Tis ok, I don't mind being busy:)
Ciao,
S
Listening to: "The Kill" 30 Seconds to Mars

We are headed for strangeness...

Well, it's been a whirlwind of a week. School is going really well and my students are great for the msot part. I did have to lay down the law with a few of my 10th grade boys on Thursday and I'm sure they thought I was being a bitch, but too bad. My other three 10th grade classes are awesome and the kids are great, so that's good. It's been totally exhausting though, especially with driving out to MSU for class on Monday and Wednesday nights, but I'll manage, I always do.

However, it was fabulous to have yesterday off but it was a totally weird day. I got up, went to ERC to grade some papers and then met Wife to get my second tattoo:) It wasn't nearly as scary as the first time around and I think Mike Emmett did every bit as awesome a job this time as he did the first time. I think Wife was pretty intrigued by the whole process and, who knows, maybe before long I'll be the one sitting there watching while she gets tattooed;) Mike is a totally cool guy and actually reminds me a lot of this friend of ours, Thomas. It kinda hurts a bit today, but not too bad. The best way I can describe it is that it feels like a bad scrape or like when you skin your knee pretty badly, but it really doesn't hurt that much at all.

Anyways, so after the tattoo I ran home to bake some chocolate chip cookies (weirdly domestic after spending the last three hours getting a tattoo) and then went over to Husband and Wife's house for dinner and to watch the VMA's. It was a hoot, as always and we christened their new shot classes (totally cool with little skulls & crossbones, they crack me up). We watched most of the VMA's which they'd kindly recorded for me since I don't have cable and made wise-ass remarks about a lot of the performers. I've decided I reallly like "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley. It's totally grown on me and the video is really cool. However, I think my favorite bit of the awards was seeing Ok Go perform their treadmill routine to "Here it Goes Again." If you didn't see it on the VMA's, I highly recommend you check it out on Ok Go's website. It's fabulous.

Anywho, it was a lot of fun and a great if not slightly bizarre day:) Now I just have a pile of papers to grade and a few reviews to write. Ah, no rest for the weary, eh?

Peace out, starving nachos-
S

Listening to: Fernando Enter to Exit

New Reviews Up

Check 'em out:
The iOs at Revolt.
Eric Bachmann at Static.
Ladyfinger (ne) at Revolt.
Ratatat at Static.

And many, many more to come...
Listening to: AFI Decemberunderground

In Other News...

Ok, I figured a more upbeat post was in order. But before that, thanks to Wife and Ben for the hugs:) You guys rock.

Because I don't have enough to do, I agreed to do a feature on Gatsby's American Dream for Revolt. I'll get to do an interview with them which should be cool and I probably shouldn't have agreed to do it, but features are such fun...



In other music news, rumors are flying about over MCR's third album, The Black Parade. It looks like Gerard and crew have changed their look quite a bit but the bootlegs I've heard of some of the new stuff is very cool. I can't wait to hear the new album! I'm insanely jealous of the folks in London that got to see them perform last week and got a sneak-peek of their new material. Here are a few photos of the new MCR (humor me). Caaaannn't waaaaiiit for the new albummmm... aargh.

And the first day of school?? It went quite well. I have at least one group of boys that amused me immensely. I think they'll be a handful, but they were pretty damn funny, so we'll see. I did already have one girl complaining about an assignment I gave them (which couldn't have been easier) and, of course, I'm blessed with her twice a day. Oh well. It's her grade, not mine. It's amazing how wiped out I am after only a half-day, but I guess that can be attributed to everything being so new. I like it so far, I hope the rest of the week goes well!

Oh yeah, and just to make sure I don't become too boring or conventional, I'm getting another tattoo on Friday (hee hee!) Still won't be visible with regular clothing, but I'll know it's there and I won't feel like I've sold out becoming a Catholic school teacher (or something like that). Wife is coming with to see how this whole process works, so that will be fun (well, fun for me, I don't know how fun for her:) I'm glad she's coming though!)

Righty-o. Better go to bed so I can keep up with all my students tomorrow!
~S
Listening to: Greeley Estates Far From the Lies

Weekend round-up

Well, I guess the summer is officially over. Tomorrow is the first day of school and I'm excited, nervous and bummed that summer is over :( I hope tomorrow goes well...

Friday night was a blast. I went to see "Little Miss Sunshine" with a Jim and had a hoot. The movie is ridiculously funny and smart at the same time. I highly recommend it! We went down to Conor's after the movie, snagged a table on the sidewalk and had a few beers. After that we went to the Fleetwood (haven't been there in ages). I'm glad he'll be back around town now that summer is over (yeah, I'm being selfish, so what:) The only downside to the evening was when my parents called to find out where I was. Ok, so it was 3am, but lately they've been a lot better about not doing stuff like that. It kinda was a bit of a buzzkill...grr.

The only real bummer of late has been the whole dating situation. I went on a few dates with this guy, things seemed to be going well. I liked him, he seemed smart, had a good job, was cute and seemed to have a good relationship with his family. As always seems to be my luck, because I was interested in him, he turned out to not be interested in me. Rather than just telling me this, he did that thing...you know, when the other person just never calls you back. It's like he vaporized or fell off the face of the earth. I've decided something too:

I'm so fucking sick of people doing that. Grow a spine. Be a grown-up. Just tell the other person you aren't interested instead of doing something so fucking middle-school and just disappearing. How rude. How childish. It makes me sick.

So, I'm pretty upset about the whole situation. More than I let on I think. Not so much upset about this guy in particular (though he had more potential than anyone else I've officially dated of late), but more the fact that he pulled the disappearing act and, I have, of course, internalized the whole thing and am now going through the usual questions of: What did I do wrong? Am I ugly? Did I say something I shouldn't have? Am I not rich/smart/successful/thin enough? Aargh.

Here's what else got me really upset about the whole situation (and I'll warn you in advance, I'm in a melodramatic mood). I have a few people around me that believe things happen for a reason/there's a larger plan for you etc. Ok, so if I buy into this, it seems to me that for some reason the plan for me is to DIE ALONE. What's the benefit of that?!? What did I do wrong in this life or some past life (if you believe in that) to be destined never to find someone who will fall in love with me and me with him? It just doesn't seem fair.

It doesn't help that I've been hearing a lot about people I went to HS with since I'm now working at that school. This person is married, that person is expecting twins (and is married), this other person is moving down to DC for a job with some fancy-schmancy law firm (and is married)...I mean, am I the ONLY person from my class that isn't dating someone or married? I honestly think I must be. It wouldn't be that hard, I mean, there were only 42 people in my class. Statistically, chances are not that impossible that I'm the only single one left.

There's this one person in my life who is not only a really good person, he's smart, funny, cultured and caring. He reads books. He listens to music. He's totally Ann Arbor. The problem? He is so not interested in me in that way. What else is new?

Well, I don't know what else to say about it. I just wish I could understand why, if there is a plan for each of us, why this has to be my plan. I want a fucking new plan, this one sucks.

~S
Listening to: Dirty Pretty Things Waterloo to Anywhere

Ahem...I love being right...

Did I not say, AGES ago, that Vaux was a great band? Again I find myself ahead of the curve. If you didn't listen to me then and I haven't foisted their music upon you, you can now go download their single "Are You With Me" for FREE on iTunes. Yes, you heard me right, it is the free download of the week. Go get it! (You can thank me later;)

So, it's been a busy week. Stratford was great, I absolutely love it there and it was so fun to go with Wife, who had never been there before. We saw Much Ado About Nothing and Twelfth Night, wandered around town (in the rain, ugh), visited the costume warehouse and such. Very relaxing overall. Saturday night Husband, Wife and I went to this great little bar in Stratford called Down the Street. It's ridiculously cute and swank without being pretentious and it actually reminds me a bit of the Alley Bar, only nicer. We actually made plans for the party after the Pink is the New Party party, but I'm not spilling the beans on that one yet:) Yes, you'll have to dress up, but it's gonna be SO fun:) The only bad part of the weekend was waiting to get through customs when we were coming home. It took an hour and a half to get through the border, but what can you do? Nothing, so there was no point in getting all irritated about it. C'est la vie.

This week has been all about meetings at school and getting my classroom together. I love my department head so far, she's been really great to me and ridiculously helpful. I think we're going to get along very well. It is a little weird being colleagues with teachers that were my teahcers when I was in high school, but everyone seems very excited that I'll be on staff which is really nice. I know I'll be horribly nervous on the first day of school, but I think it'll all be ok.

Well, I've still got a zillion things to do and 15 album reviews waiting for me, so, off I go.
Ciao!
~S
Listening to: Ladyfinger (NE) Heavy Hands

Girls Day Out

Wow...talk about shopping till we dropped. Wife and I hit the mall today, and we hit hard:) Luckily, most of the damage was done at H & M, so money-wise, it actually wasn't too bad. We both got a ton of cute stuff for school and though much of mine was still black-based, they're "grown-up" clothes. I think my mom was happy I didn't come home with another pair of cargo pants and a band t-shirt:) Seriously though, I know when and how to dress appropriately! However, I am a little sad that I'll have to semi-retire the black nailpolish...that isn't very professional, is it?? Bright red is going to have to do as a replacement for the time being. That should be the biggest of my worries, right?

As if I didn't spend enough money at the mall today, I also ordered this super cool necklace from Leviticus Jewelry. They have all sorts of sweet stuff, you should definitely check it out! Now I'm trying to convince myself that I do not need a new pair of custom Etnies. I do not need them, I do not need them, I do not need them...aargh...must...not...cave...

That being said, I will not need to buy any CDs in the near future because I have no less than SIXTEEN albums to review for Revolt and Static in the next few weeks. I'm slightly freaked out...I knew I'd be getting a couple extra from my editor at Revolt, but I wasn't expecting four extra from my editor at Static too. Yikes! I think I am going to be very, very busy.

Off to Canadia (yes, CanadIA) tomorrow for the Stratford Festival. I'm psyched. I love Stratford to no end and I can't wait to see Much Ado About Nothing and Twelfth Night. I think Twelfth Night is one of my all time favorites, this will be the third time I've seen it (I saw it a few years ago at Stratford in Canada and I saw it last summer in England with the Royal Shakespeare Company). I can't wait!

Next week I've got to get my classroom together and figure out what the hell I'm doing. It's exciting though, I signed my contract yesterday and all the people I ran into at school seem very excited that I was the one that got the job. It's so nice that people are happy I'm going to be there, but it's also a lot to live up to. I hope I can do it!

Peace out starving nachos:)
~S
Listening to: Over It Step Outside Yourself

Review and Photos up on Revolt

My review of the Editors' show is up on Revolt now. Read it here. The photos are mine too (second photo credit-woo hoo!) and though they aren't as good as the ones from Warped, I'm still pretty happy with them. Not too bad for my little point-and-shoot digi cam, eh?

Pretty busy weekend, though it was a lot of fun. I hardly knew what to do with myself Friday night since, for the first time in ages, I didn't have a review to write or show to go to. 'Twas ok, I got laundry done and did some relaxing, things I haven't done in ages:)

Saturday night was Wife's big birthday bonanza. It was a ton of fun though I probably drank a bit more than I should have...oh well. It was a hoot. Sunday, woke up VERY tired (though not sick or headachy, so, bonus), didn't do a whole heck of a lot but then went over to Husband and Wife's for an amazing dinner...I won't need to eat for a week but, damn, it was good:)

It's a bit weird that it's a Monday and I'm not at work answering the phones...I'll get used to it:)
Not much else to report!
Ciao,
~S

The Raconteurs

My review of The Raconteurs' show is up at Revolt. Read it here! I wish I could take credit for the photos, alas, they aren't mine...

I'm all finished with the crazy week o' reviews (a total of four due within a week) and I hardly know what to do with myself tonight since I don't have: a) a show to go to review, or b) a review to write frantically and get to my editor. I think it will be a short rest though...I'll be getting four more cd's to review for Static and at least six, maybe seven, to review for Revolt. I think I'll be busy:)

Only an hour to go and then I'm finished at Plastics! Woo hoo!
~S

Listening to: My Chemical Romance Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge

The Count Down is On

Only one and a half more days in plastic surgery. Woot! I'm SO psyched. The end is very fucking nigh :)

My review of the Love & Heat tour is up on Revolt. Read it here. My review of the Editors' show should be up soon too and I'll get two of my pics published with that story! Yay, more photo credits!

Not too much else going on, I'm thrilled to have some time off next week to get my shit together before school starts. A bit of a belated b-day party for Wife on Saturday night and then a big shopping expedition next week with her, so that will be very fun. Then we head up to Stratford for a few days. Ahh, finally a bit of a vacation!

Peace out, starving nachos:)
~S
Listening to: Vaux Beyond Virtue, Beyond Vice

LOL!

LoLolOloloL! Too funny! That's so what I'd love to do to stupid people...

Steady As She Goes...

Whew, what a weekend. Heck, what a month...here we go, things have been v. v. busy:

Thursday: Editors at the Magic Stick. Read the last post.

Friday: Big City Rock, October Fall, Drive By and Need to Breathe at The Shelter. It was a pretty good show, lots of teenagers (*by lots I mean about 45, and since there were about 60 people there total, it's a lot) and a sprinking of parents. The Shelter was a neat venue though I was a bit creeped out by the area. I'd have been a little bummed about the show if tix had been any more than $8. Let's put it this way, these are bands that have not yet made it to playing even the small stages at Warped.

After the show I ended up meeting Benita, Elana etc. at Deluxe Lounge in Greektown. It was a lot of fun-had some drinks, did a bit of dancing, just chilled. Good times. Having just come from the Shelter, I was in my usual, mostly black, semi-punkish ensemble and therefore did NOT quite fit in at Deluxe. Oh well, twas fun anyways. We should check out more clubs in Detroit...

Saturday: got up reeeaallly late since I didn't get home till 2:30 am, hit the coffee shop for some writing time to work on show reviews and then met up with Jim for dinner and The Raconteurs' concert. We ate at Grizzly Peak and were told that we missed seeing Jack White there by 10 MINUTES. Curses! We had a little time to kill before the show started so we went and had a drink at Ashleys and then went over to the Michigan Theater. Of course I bought a t-shirt:) Now, about the show...

IT WAS FUCKING AMAZING. I can hardly put into words how great it was, totally blew me away. Probably one of the best shows I've been to. My god...They played most of the songs off Broken Boy Soldiers as well as a cover of "Bang Bang" that will make me cry if they don't record some day. It was just non-stop music. Jack White was, of course, awesome, but Brendon Benson, Patrick Keeler and Jack Lawrence were every bit just as amazing. Here's something I decided though: Jack White-hardly conventionally attractive but, my god, fucking sexy voice and he is ripped! You wouldn't think so, I always thought he was a bit scrawny, but it looks like Jack has been doing some working out...

I just can't get over how great that show was. The album is supurb but a lot of the songs were even better live. I "heart" The Raconteurs:) So, after the show Jim and I went down to Conor's and had a few beers, sat outside and digested the whole concert. (Oh yeah, iTunes has a couple of live tracks/special BBC recordings by The Raconteurs. Go buy them!) Another 2am night but it was SO worth it.

Sunday: Hauled my tired ass out of bed early, went to ERC to do some writing, ran errands. Nothing too exciting but after seeing four shows in a week (one being Warped) I think I was allowed a night in. Lest you worry that I go into concert withdrawl, I got tix to see Hawthorne Heights at the State Theater for the end of September. Woot! I'm also going up to Stratford, ON for a weekend in a few weeks to see a few plays which will be fun. I haven't been there in a couple of years, so I'm psyched. I loooooove Stratford.

And, speaking of Warped/concerts etc. My review of Warped is up on Revolt. Even better? My editor ran two of my photos and I get a photo credit as well!! Check it out here. Kinda fun to get my photos published too! (I love the one of the singer from The Sounds, god, she has such attitude!!) I wasn't able to get any pics of The Raconteurs. They didn't allow photos at the Michigan Theater and I wasn't willing to risk it.

In other news, I got called for jury duty. Of course it is the second week of school. I have to try and get this postponed. Aargh.

Ciao,
~S
Listening to: The Raconteurs Broken Boy Soldiers

Editors

Aargh...well, I've got no voice, I'm deaf in my left ear and pretty damn tired, but the Editors show was really good, so it was worth it:) The opening bands really weren't much to write home about, so I won't waste the space. I've decided I really like the Magic Stick as a venue, it's just a pretty fucking cool place and ridiculously easy to get to...

Anyways, they played a long set, fourteen songs in all, and played all the songs off The Back Room. The lead singer, Tom Smith, has this really sexy voice which is kinda funny since he's a bit on the nerdy looking side (yeah, I'm mean, you'll see in a minute). I mean, he isn't bad looking, just you wouldn't expect this very sexy voice to come from a sort of average looking person. He made all these mental arm and hand gestures while singing though, I'm not sure what that was all about...

The lead guitarist, Chris Urbanowicz, was amazing. The entire show he had this sort of blank look on his face but the stuff he was playing blew me away. It's like he was putting so much focus and energy on playing that there wasn't anything left for facial expression:) He looked a little like Brandon Reilly from Nightmare of You though... Finally about halfway through "Munich" which was the first song of their encore, he cracked a smile which amused me.

I'll give them this, there are definitely some songs off The Back Room that are way better live than they are on the cd. Not that they're bad on the album, but they are just so much more interesting and alive in person (duh, I'm not explaining this well at all). Um, I guess a few sound a bit flat on the album, that's the only way I can describe it.

Big City Rock with Need to Breathe, October Fall and Drive By tonight at The Shelter. The Raconteurs tomorrow at the Michigan Theater (woot!). I will have no hearing by the end of the weekend. Oh well:)
Listening to: Big City Rock Big City Rock


I know it's blurry, but I kinda like it in an arty way. I'll post more pics but blogger is being a bitch right now and won't let me post more pics.

Thanks SO much!

Just a fast thank you to Husband, Wife, Shosh, Ben, Elana and Shannon for all their congratulations:) You've listened to me gripe for the last year + over my lack of a "real" job and I thank you so much for putting up with me. I'm sure it wasn't always easy:)

Alas, as Ben said, my plastic surgery stories will be coming to an end, but I'm sure my students will provide a wealth of entertainment on their own. However, I'd love to leave with a bang...hmm, maybe telling patients what I really think. For example:

Boob job-"ok, Pamela Anderson-pneumatic version or do you want it scaled down a bit?"
Penis Enlargement-"how small is it? Oh, I see...yes, that probably would be considered medically necessary..."

Well, I probably never would actually do that, but it's fun to imagine:) Did a little celebrating with Husband and Wife last night at good ol' ABC. Beers and cajun fries led to the following:

• "You look like a tool and you walk like a duck." Courtesy of Wife:)
• Extensive discussion of Starving Nachos and various other celebs.
• Serious plotting for the Pink is the New Party party. We came up with some GREAT ideas, and yes, people, you will have to dress up as a celeb. We've come up with ideas for pretty much everyone, so if you can't think of one, we can provide possibilities. No, I have not taken to referring to myself in the royal "we." I have roped Wife into hosting this sucker with me just because she is too fun and has too many good ideas not to (not that it was that hard to rope her into it:)

Well, that's about it for now. I'm heading downtown to the Magic Stick tonight to see The Editors. I wish I wasn't sick...as much as I want to see the Editors, the thought of being out late, making the drive and hanging out in the smoke just doesn't appeal with a cold...oh well, I'll kick myself if I don't go since they're going to be big and I luuurrrve Brit bands.

Peace out, Starving Nachos :) ~S

Listening to: The Editors, The Back Room

OMG OMG It's about time!!

I got a job. A real job. A real teaching job!!!!!!!! A job with benefits and I'll actually use my brain and not be seen as a total moron (well, some of the students are bound to think any teacher is an idiot, I'm ok with that). I can't believe it! It only took A YEAR.

Of course now I'm in total freak-out mode. I have a MILLION things to do before school starts--I need to haul out all my teaching junk again, go through it, write a syllabus, get my hands on the textbooks for my classes, and, on top of it all, I will be teaching newspaper.

Thank GOD I just took that newspaper advising class!!! Thank GOD I got a ton of lesson plan ideas, unit plans, slide shows etc to use! I still don't know what I'm doing, but it's a start:) I can't believe it, a real job...no more plastic surgery!!!!
Woo hoo!

~S
Listening to: Alkaline Trio Goddammit

Warped Pics

Vaux



Helmet


The Sounds





Aiden


Warped Crowd/Comerica

Waaaaaaaaarped!

Oh. My. God. Warped was crazy, and fun, and hot, and just such a total freaking blast I can't believe it. I had SO MUCH FUN! So, I left A2 around 10:20 which was a little later than I'd wanted to get on the road and made good time till I got to the exit for Comerica Park. Then I sat in traffic for a good 30-45 minutes. The whole parking/plaza area in front of Comerica was blocked off for Warped and they had stages, non-profit booths and merch booths set up all over the place. It was so fucking hot I couldn't believe it (I'm pretty sure it hit the high 90s plus disgusting humidity) but I stuck it out. Ok, so who did I see??

First I saw Vaux on the Volcom stage which was a pretty small stage and there weren't too many people there to watch them which sucked because they're an awesome band. However, I was able to get up close and got some pretty good pics. I also got to talk to the lead singer, Quentin Smith, after their set for a few minutes which was pretty damn cool too.

After that I saw The Academy Is... on the Hurley Stage which was much bigger than the Volcom stage. There were tons of people at this set and I couldn't get too close to see, but they played some good stuff. I liked Vaux more though:)

Right before I saw The Audition on the SmartPunk Stage I caught a few mintues of Helmet on one of the main stages. I feel like I should know more Helmet but I am woefully uneducated about them:) Decent crowd for them! The Audition was pretty good, not the best of the day but I give the lead singer points for his enthusiasm despite how freaking hot it was.

Next was Armor For Sleep back at the Hurley Stage. I fucking loved them, they were awesome. Great stuff, good crowd and a crowd surfing contest:) As with The Academy Is..I wasn't able to get very close (and after a while standing in a crowd in 90+ weather can make you feel a bit squiffy) but I sure as hell could hear them. Go download their album! It rocks!

Then I took a little break and a tour of the merch booths that were set up all around the inside of the baseball stadium-dangerous on the wallet but great to get out of the sun for a bit.


After that I went to see The Sounds on the right main stage. OH MY GOD. They were AMAZING. So sweet! I got up close and got some great pics (if I do say so myself;) and absolutely loved their set. I think they may have been my very favorite of the whole day. They remind me a bit of Blondie and they definitely had a different sound from most of the other bands on Warped but I loved, loved, loved them. The lead singer looks a bit like Debbie Harry to me, but you decide. I also got to briefly meet the band at a signing and got my Warped program signed by most of them which was pretty fun too:)

Because I hadn't had enough yet, and there were still some awesome bands to see, I zipped over to Main Stage Left to catch Thursday who played a bunch of songs off their new album. They drew a big crowd so I really couldn't see a bloody thing, but it was ok:)

Finally, the last band I saw was Aiden on the Hurley stage. I was pretty exhausted at this point (it was 7pm and I'd been running around in the sun for seven hours by then) so I didn't even try to fight the crowd and plunked myself on a curb to the side of the stage. I actually didn't have that bad a view of things, and it was a lot more comfortable than diving into the MASS of people who wanted to see Aiden. They were definitely good, I love the song "Die Romantic" and need to check out more of their other stuff. The lead singer had his face painted very Crow-esque (the movie) but by the time their half hour set was over it looked like his face melted off (lol:).

After Aiden I headed home-totally, utterly, disgustingly filthy, sweaty and hot, but very pleased with the day over all. I am SO going again next year;) Amazingly, I didn't get totally scorched either, a little red and peely on my face and a teeny bit red on one shoulder, but my constant reapplication of SPF 30 paid off. I mean, for ME, being out in the sun for almost 8 hours and to NOT get completely fried is nothing short of amazing. Go me:)

Busy, busy week...I'm seeing The Editors on Thursday, Big City Rock (with October Fall & Drive By) on Friday and The Raconteurs on Saturday. The only problem is, I think I'm getting sick. Apparently my body has decided I've done far too much running around and has decided to shut down. I feel pretty crappy and all I want to do is go to sleep :( I feel like I've already been at work for 8 hours and it's only 10:40...it's gonna be a long day...

Whew, long post, I'm out. I'll do photos from Warped in a separate post since Blogger is wonky about text & pics together (or maybe I'm just inept at it).

~Sasha
Listening to: The Editors "Sparks"

Heavens is Heaven!

OMG...you MUST go check out Matt Skiba (Alkaline Trio's) side project/band Heavens. They are fucking awesome! I can't wait for this album to come out...
Seriously, listen to it on their myspace page. Your ears will thank you.

f*&$@!**! Raccoons!

Bloody hell. Stupid raccoons kept me up again last night. At least they waited to start their attempts at scaling the wall until 2:30 am instead of 1:30...not much consolation though. I am so freaking tired I can't stand it and there isn't an easily accessible Starbucks or Espresso Royale to be found. Two weeks without a decent cup of coffee or tea and a complete lack of sleep.
I am so ready for this week to be over...ugh, ugh, ugh. How am I going to make it through today??

Raccoons, making your ears bleed and a few other quick updates

Word,
So, last night I was awoken not once but twice as these two rather fat raccoons tried to scale the wall outside my bedroom. Cheeky buggers didn't even run off when I turned the light on, banged on the glass in the window and made all sorts of weird noises in an attempt to startle them and get them to run away. Of course all this was going on at 1:30 and then 3:30 am...needless to say, I didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night. Those damn raccoons kept scaling the wall, sliding down it, chattering, grunting, sighing and trying to get into this terracotta planter (why, I have no idea). Finally I got them to run off by talking to them, guess my conversation wasn't all that interesting to raccoons:) Anyways, it all resulted in me being exhausted this morning, hitting the snooze button (which I discovered, doesn't work on my travel alarm clock) and waking up 20 minutes before my class started. Now, mind you, Bath, where I'm staying, is 15 minutes from MSU, so I didn't exactly make it on time. In the end I was only 10 minutes late, but have since felt frazzled all day. Stupid raccoons, I blame them.

New review up on Static. Read it here. The album made me think I was going to bleed from the ears it was so bad. I was rather pleased though, my editor ran my piece as I wrote it and it didn't get toned down which was a bit surprising since I was pretty damn mean.

Psyched for Warped this weekend and I get to cover it for Revolt. Now, if I could only get my hands on a press pass...
I also have a second date with the guy from a couple of weeks ago. I am being forced to play pool. I suck at pool. If I survive this humiliation, it will be a miracle.

That's it for now, back to class...
~S

Oops, almost forgot. My review of Anterrabae's latest is up at Static here. They're a bit slower about getting reviews up. The album I'm reviewing for them right now (won't say who it is yet) is AWFUL. My god, I can't tell if I'm being horribly mean or just honest in my review so far. I may need to tone it down a bit. Good god it's bad though. Ugh. Makes my eardrums want to cut off all the oxygen to my brain.

I'm also going to get to cover Warped, The Raconteurs, The Editors and Drive By for Revolt. Woo hoo! Fun! Man, I LOVE writing for Revolt:)

Feature is up on Revolt

Ok, v. quick post...
My first feature is up on Revolt, go read it here. Woo hoo!

So far, my class is going pretty well, though I think all day for a week is gonna be a haul...I am getting to shoot a Nikon D-100 Digital SLR for the week, which is pretty damn fun and I'm learning a lot about Photoshop. I knew I only used a fraction of what the program was capable of, so this should be good.

Very, very psyched for the art fair. I can't wait to go!!
Right, class is starting back up, go read my feature and let me know what you think:)
Ciao,
Sasha

The Slow Descent Into Alcoholism...

Wow, what a weekend... So, the party went great if I do say so myself. I spent Friday after work doing all the Meijering (yes, it is a verb) and started baking the cake I had planned for the party. Saturday for the most part was a fast trip out to get a few last minute items and frantic cleaning. The highlight of all the preparation was getting a very unexpected phone call from my friend Lodina who was going to be able to come to the party after all. I haven't seen her in a year or two (she lives up in London, ON) and it was so, so exciting to get to see her!!

So, people started rolling in around 7, I managed not to give anyone food poisoning and I think generally everyone had a good time (I suppose it's a good sign if the party began at 7 and people hung around till about 3am...) I had a blast and even though I am exhausted today (um, yeah, lots to drink and going to bed at 4am after drunkenly washing mountains of dishes tends to have that result) it was so worth it. I am totally going to do the Pink is the New Party party in the fall. Watch your email for deets (you know who you are).



As always with these kinds of things, a few important highlights are necessary. 1) Most games are even more fun when you've been drinking. Scrabble is no exception. Best of all is when you say to hell with the rules on the box and make up your own. We played "band/frame name scrabble" and, let's say, the results were interesting if not found in the dictionary. Did you know you only get four points for "snot"? Here's how the board looked at the end...


Also of note were a few quotes, which we all know, I tend to write down when drunk/drinking. Some of the best of the evening were:

• Cute like the Cold War.
• I know about culture. I've offended most of them.
• This is the sort of common sense you don't normally think of.
• That's better than calling your toilet "the ring of fire."
• We didn't drink the Everclear that day, we used it to clean the room.
• The truth hurts like that last coffin nail.

We also got to try the tequila cream that Husband and Wife brought back from their jaunt to Mexico. What amused me most was Husband drinking his from a brandy snifter...well, that and the Hawaiian shirt with the snifter:)
Wife and I ended up drunkenly talking till about 3am after everyone else left and Husband fell asleep in a chair. I know I've said it before, but I am so happy and lucky that my sister in law and I get along so well! We're going to take a trip to the Art Fair at the end of the week and as much as the Art Fair is a huge pain in the ass, I can't help but love it! I missed it last year when I was in England, so I can't miss it this year. There was also some talk of taking a roadtrip out to Jersey which could be a hoot, so hopefully that will work out.







I'm also probably going to go up to London to see Lodina before the summer is over...she & her boyfriend are getting married in the fall so we'll definitely need a girls night of vino in excess before the big day! I love her fiancee though, he's so good for her and I'm so happy to see her happy after all that she's been through lately. I am so happy they came to the party! What an awesome, awesome surprise:) (aargh, I look like shit, oh well.)

So, the fun and games are over for the time being, tomorrow I start one of my week-long, all-day, every-day classes at MSU. I'm not terribly looking forward to it, I figure it'll be somewhat dull, but I get 3 credits done in a week, so I can't complain about that. I won't mind the two weeks off from work either (of course the only problem is, when I don't work, I don't get paid, but I think the time away from that place will be a good thing). No call from the guy I went out with this week which I'm pretty bummed about, but I'm just trying to focus on what amazing friends I have and maybe someday the right guy will fall into place for me.

I probably won't have much time to post this week, so till next weekend, have a good one and get psyched for the Art Fair! Woo hoo!
~S
Listening to Mass Romantic The New Pornographers

Living for the Weekend

Whew, almost the weekend. Thank god:) I'm throwing a smallish dinner party on Saturday (smallish because I apparently picked the single worst weekend all summer to try and get people in one place) but it should still be fun and I'm excited about it. Of course I still need to do all the shopping for it, but I'm figuring it didn't make any sense to buy stuff before today since I need lots of chicken and veg. So, see, my procrastination has its benefits! As far as priorities have gone, I spent more time working on my party playlist and getting my collection of alcohol and related accessories together than I have on actually cleaning or shopping, but good tunes and booze are def. important! A few selections (and recommendations) from the playlist (it is way too long to include the whole list, as always, I went totally overboard):

• "The Distance" Cake Fashion Nugget: an oldie but a goodie, and it always makes me think of my brother:)
• "Cubicle" Rinocerose Rinocerose: yeah that song from the iTunes ads on TV.
• "It's a Hit" We Are Scientists With Love and Squalor
• "A Certain Romance" The Arctic Monkeys Whatever People Say I Am
• "Heart of Glass" Blondie The Best of Blondie: a classic, how can you go wrong with a little Debbie Harry??
• "Hysteria" Muse Absolution: Brit alterna-rock with a splash of techno (very good for working out to too...)
• "The Slow Descent into Alcoholism" The New Pornographers Mass Romantic: no, this is not what I expect to happen to my guests at the party.
• "What to Do" Ok Go Ok Go: the best line might be "mediocre people do exceptional things all the time."
• "Lying Is the Most Fun A Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off" Panic! At the Disco A Fever You Can't Sweat Out: yeah, P!ATD...guilty pleasure, what can I say?
• "The Dark of the Matinee" Franz Ferdinand Franz Ferdinand: "Oh, I Love this track" (quick, Husband, name the movie).

Hung out with E for a bit last night drinking martinis and just having some girl talk which was fun. I went on a date on Wednesday night that went quite well, but b/c I'm interested, he probably won't ever call me. Grr, dating sucks at times, but who knows, maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised. Not too much else of excitement at the moment though I did go see the new Pirates of the Caribbean last weekend which was very fun. Mmm, Johnny Depp...sigh.

Well, I've got lots to do to get ready for my little shindig, two articles to do the final edit to and I suppose I ought to do some work since I'm AT work:) I'm out.

Listening to: Fall Out Boy From Under the Cork Tree

LOLOLOLOL!!

Oh. my. god. These are bloody ridiculous. Ben, it's all your fault.

The North Atlantic

Hey y'all:)
Check out my latest review of The North Atlantic's album Wires In the Walls at Revolt (of course!) Also, I'm going to be having my first feature article on Revolt in a week or two, all about The Distance, a sweet band out of Connecticut (weirdly enough, not all that far from where I was born...karma? kismet? one of those k-words??) I am LOVING the writing I'm getting to do, heh, now if I could just get paid for it, it would be perfect...

Go read Revolt! You know you've got nothing better to do;) You should also go get yourself the latest issue of Rolling Stone if for no other reason than Johnny Depp is on the cover. I'll admit, I was a little skeptical about the first Pirates of the Caribbean just because I'm not usually much a fan of pirate movies, but it just cracked me up. I cannot wait for the second Pirates!

I also just got the good news that I aced my Media Law class-woo hoo! Guess all my busting my butt on the dreaded group project was worth it in the long run. Sure, it wasn't fair that I did more than my "share" but at least I got the great grade to make it worth it. Too bad my slacker group members also got the good grade (at least on the project, who knows what they got on the exams) too... I'm still glad that the class is over though. Oh yeah, how was this for irony-I get home from my very last media law class and what's waiting for me in the mail? A jury duty questionnaire...I wonder if I'll get called?? I'm kinda curious about it, but with my luck I'll get called at a totally rotten time. Guess I'll just wait and see.

That's all for now. Enjoy the beautiful weather! Almost the weekend:)
Ciao,
~S
Listening to: "I Bet that You Look Good on the Dancefloor" Arctic Monkeys

More Adventures

I, unlike most of the state, am at work today:( The U of M never gives days off. Boo, hiss. Ok, yeah, I'm off tomorrow, but everyone I talk to is like 'oh, four-day-weekend this' and 'four-day-weekend that" so it makes me want a four day weekend too!) To add insult to injury, the air conditioning isn't working in our office. Not only is it a bit toasty, the worst part is that there is NO air circulation whatsoever and, being an office building, you can't open the windows. Sucky sucky. Ugh, two and a half hours to go.
If it doesn't rain, maybe E and I will hit top of the park tonight...

Well, interesting weekend. Before I get to that though, my first review for Static is up. Check it out here.

In other news, AMG is looking for pop music editors again (sheesh, if they'd just hired me back in the fall, this wouldn't be an issue;) so I'm trying again. At least this time I've got a bunch of recent clips to send them, which I didn't last time around. Fingers crossed...

Fairly uneventful weekend, except, wait, dying my hair FLAMING RED on Friday. Yeah, decided that I didn't have the personality to go with the color and dyed over it the next day. Actually, the second time around it came out more like I wanted-brownish with some bright red streaks in it. I believe my mom's reaction when she saw the full head o red hair was "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO YOUR HAIR!!!???" It was kinda funny, but I didn't totally disagree with her this time around. My dad called it a mistake, I prefer to call it an adventure;) heh, heh.

Had dinner with some friends in Livonia on Friday night but it was a fairly early night which was ok. Then I went and saw "The Devil Wears Prada" on Saturday and got a big kick out of it. Totally girly but it amused me greatly. Not much else of interest really.


Later,
~Sasha
PS-I will post pics of the hair, before and after, I just don't have them with me right now:)