You Drive Me Wild

This year is going to be filled with concerts, shows, and new music (You should test drive some of my suggestions this week).

I've spent a lot of time with my sister in Austin this past month. It's been a blessing. Great food, great music, and family are a pretty good combination for me. It's looking like I will be in Austin all of spring break for sxsw. Sam and I won some pretty sweet tickets to an exclusive Kills party (I actually have an extra spot ;). That will kick off a week of seeing some cool bands and checking out the new Third Man Records Rolling Record Store.

Ahhhhh...yeahhhh...but let's get to what I really wanna talk about.

Rock N' Roll is an interesting thing. A niche dominated by males. I used to be pretty closed-minded about women in rock bands. They generally don't have the typically masculine traits that make rock...rock, but these next examples are great exceptions. Exceptions so great...I'm obsessed. 

1. Lindsay “Coco” Hames of The Ettes

With a voice that sounds like she breathes in helium on a regular basis, Coco rocks out on guitar and tambourine for The Ettes. I saw the Ettes for the first time at House of Blues in Houston and then later at Third Man in Nashville. Although the first night was not full of memories I care to remember, I remember the Ettes. I don't usually fall in love with a band by hearing them live first, but I did here. Coco combined with an incredible drummer Maria “Poni” Silver and and maybe the most talented of them all, bassman Jeremy “Jem” Cohen, make for a killer rock band currently based in Nashville.

The Ettes

(Not a bad opener for The Dead Weather)

2. Joan Jett of The Blackhearts

Where to start with Joan Jett? How about the killer last name Jett? Not a bad start for a girl rocker. I became more infatuated with her music after seeing the movie "The Runaways" based on her. She's the original basically. Her bold tenacity is what sells her music.

Her music is pretty sick. Wish I could have seen her way back when...

(Not Joan Jett, Actors from Runaways)

By the way, The Runaways is a must see movie. Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart give great performances. Get a lil' Rock N' Roll education. Last and most obsessed with...

3. Allison Mosshart of The Kills and The Dead Weather

Allison is a combination of the first two girls. She can remind you she's just a girl, just like Coco, but then keeps on you on your toes by making sure you know she's not to be screwed around with. She gives some of the best live performances you will see for The Dead Weather, physically exhausting herself. She doesn't have a problem getting her emotion across. She's basically scary...scary good. 

She might as well be made of leather and cigarettes. 

Ya, she'll be dead in 10 years unfortunately. Crazy Chain Smoker.

She'll Rock your face off.

She's usually surrounded by men

Seeing them 3 or 4 times in the next month.

Lastly, if you ever run into Alison, don't mess around with this chick.

From the Treat Me Like Your Mother music video

She's a talented musician to say the least and very attractive, good things to have in her position.

All my music suggestions are either from these artists or are from who I will see at sxsw this year.

PEACE.

Do It

Do It!
...listen to some music. That's what I spend most of my time doing or thinking about. I have started a periodical music recommendation bar on the side to give you some suggestions. You can listen to it, or not...but you should. Nearly all of the songs on there currently you can find on youtube. There are two exceptions: The Happen-ins you will need to go here (http://www.myspace.com/thehappenins), Rachelle Garniez you will need to buy off iTunes (you should buy The Happen-ins too). That is all for now. Here is a good satirical summarization of most arguments on facebook:

Wait

People Are Blind

Ever been in a relationship where everyone around you tells you there is something really wrong with the relationship and you need to be out of it? If you are the average person, then the answer is yes. Those are always fun to look back on and be like "I was stupid. They were smart." However, the beauty of it is that you will probably not make the same mistake again. The smartest choices in life you can make are not repeating the same ones. All the mistakes you make, make you stronger. There is always a positive to a negative.

This may just be funny to me....

Relationships are funny. I was running with a friend last week and had a realization while conversing. In most cases, a guy gets interested in a girl. He usually has to work to get interest back until he has finally won her over. Then, when it ends, he gets over it relatively quickly in comparison to her. Basically, guys like the girl first, then get over her first too (not true everytime).

I was talking with a former teacher a month or two ago and we talked about relationships. She pointed out an interesting point about premarital relations. What is the average age of getting married today? 24 maybe? What was it several hundreds of years ago? 15 maybe? How much easier would it be to stay pure if you got married that early? I'm not so sure we were made to commit to another this late in life. College and careers have made it this way, so never the less...

Everyone is Judgmental.

All this reminds me that we are all judgmental. You know someone who says they aren't judgmental? Are they human? Therefore, they are judgmental and a liar. Seriously, even the best of us slip and think down on someone, but, not only do we not have that right, nothing is ever black and white. My mentor in high school once said "Just remember, you never know the whole story." Those are important words to live by I believe. Just freakin' love people.

No graphs today, but rather some funny, and mostly useless, information. Enjoy.

Your stomach has to produce a new layer of mucus every two weeks or it will digest itself.

The dot over the letter "i" is called a tittle.

A raisin dropped in a glass of fresh champagne will bounce up and down continuously from the bottom of the glass to the top.

A duck's quack doesn't echo. No one knows why. (except in Salford, Manchester. The University of Salford conducted an experiment proving this much quoted internet fact to be a fallacy. So there you go, never believe anything you read on t'internet

During the chariot scene in "Ben Hur", a small red car can be seen in the distance.

I actually held back some of my opinions in this blog for the first time.

On average, 12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents daily.

Donald Duck comics were banned from Finland because he doesn't wear pants.

The name Wendy was made up for the book "Peter Pan". There was never a recorded Wendy before.

If one places a tiny amount of liquor on a scorpion, it will instantly go mad and sting itself to death.

Roses may be red, but violets are indeed violet.

Celery has negative calories. It takes more calories to eat a piece of celery than the celery has in it to begin with.

The glue on Israeli postage is certified kosher.

The Guinness Book of Records holds the record for being the book most often stolen from Public Libraries.

Bats always turn left when exiting a cave

By raising your legs slowly and laying on your back, you cannot sink into quicksand.

There will be one graphic:

Pull A U

So I've decided to see if I can separate my opinion blogs from my personal ones for more structure. So this is what has been going on with me so far this year (month).

I bought 9 concert tickets. I was planning on seeing the Cold War Kids in Dallas, but they cancelled the show so they could go do the first ever International Lollapalooza in Peru. I am slightly upset about that one. I bought a couple tickets to the Greenhornes in Dallas. That one is still on I believe. Now, the ones I am most excited about are the Kills' new tour following the release of their soon to be 4th album., "Blood Pressures." I am going to see them with my friend Sam in Dallas. Then, I am going to see them the next day in Austin, yes the next day, with Sam and my sister, who is about to like the Kills. I haven't been to a concert in too long. Maybe 3 months?

Speaking of my sister and music, her husband just played on the Jay Leno last friday in his band Hayes Carll. What? You missed it? Well with the magic of technology you can watch it here! (NOW.)

So they were pretty much amazing, so you should go buy their music.

So school is in full swing now. My schedule is final and looks like this:

The schedule includes Texas history, Nutrition Intro, Sociology Intro, Intro to Pols Research Method, and Sports Management (not on schedule).

Texas history has been interesting. The first day we learned that we didn't have the renowned easy professor that everyone had signed up for. Instead, we had a mom of four who appeared to hate Texas.

"The Alamo is one of the least important events in Texas history; we probably won't talk about it."

"Dallas is a pip squeak of a city; it wouldn't have survived if not for Ft. Worth."

My Pols teacher is an ex-Israeli Special Forces. He has fought in five wars. He has a really cool perspective on life and a great sense of humor. That is going to be one of my favorite professors. 

I needed to fill a spot in my schedule so I signed up for Sports Management. We meet 3 times this semester to take quizzes; everything else is online. 

So I started working out again these past couple of weeks. Sam has started training for a half-marathon so I went running with him. We ran around campus approximately 3.5 miles. I did alright, but my feet hurt for 3 days after that. Because of my schedule, I have lots of time to work out and hopefully study.

This week in Graphs...

Random Stumble....

Modern Game

It's been far too long. I apologize. Here we go...

Bewildering Break
I can't explain it. I have been off my usual game this break, not myself. I don't know what it is...probably change. I will embrace it when it comes. I'm sitting in my room listening to one of my favorite birthday/Christmas presents that I got this break. It's The Kills album "Midnight Boom" on vinyl, given by Miss Amanda Kirkscey. This is such an inspiring album. They are one of the more underrated bands I have ever heard. This LP rivals my sister's intuitive present, a T. Rex album "Slider." This is the best Christmas break I've ever had. Even the presents stood out. I also got a new bike for school, a hybrid mountain-road bike. Totes practical. Also, some "obscenely expensive" sunglasses, as my mom described them, but they make me happy. My lifelong friend Alyssa gave me something very cool too. A picture frame that she drew a picture of us together because we don't really have any pictures of us together that are recent. I thought it was super original.

Post Alyssa's tragic arm losing accident

I also got other very cool records and stuff from people including a signed Karen Elson record from Sam Pogue, very gracious, Coldplay album "Parachutes" from my brother, very cool, and a sealed copy of "Icky Thump" from my new brother Katherine got. It's eye candy that sits on my dresser.

If you pay attention to my facebook you probably saw the carnage of my trip to the ranch. Another highly efficient trip with the Reynolds family. This was a main event in this event filled break.

So enough of my personal life...

Sick Thoughts

The first thought that popped into my head this morning when I woke up was "curing cancer wouldn't be all good." This came somewhere between dream state and conscience because I only recognized the thought a little later in the morning (afternoon). This was one of the more random thoughts I have had. It came after a night of disturbing dream, which came after a night of disturbing reality. Do people realize what cancer does for our economy? The billion dollar industry that employs many people. Money spent by patients and researchers on treatment, doctors, equipment, research, etc... So what happens when cancer is cured? Spending goes down... People lose their jobs or at least pay decreases... On the upside we save people from dying though. Maybe it's just interesting to me. If you had paranoia, you could even theorize a conspiracy theory where cancer has already been cured but the government is holding it back to keep that economic sector for a while longer. It's not like we have had incredible improvements in the past 20 years. The numbers are improving yes, but as one scientist said "We're not getting out butt kicked as bad as we were 20 years ago."

There is not a shred of truth to a conspiracy though, and I truly hope someone finds a groundbreaking cure to the fight of cancer. It comes down to choosing morals above all else. It just reminds me that there is usually negatives to every positive along these lines. Abortion is a similar study. Legalize abortion, crime rate decreases. Again, I choose morals. 

If you know me, then you know how to take these things I say, along with my dark sense of humor. 

I pick the upset tonight. Oregon by 5. 

Hold Up

Sunday Afternoon

I'm sitting here watching the Texans have their typical sub-par first half, to say the least. My break has gone great so far. Significantly less responsibilities combined with late nights with friends has been the theme of these last 5 days. It's been a good rest from a hectic first semester. I still haven't seen all the people I want to , but that will happen. I just finished helping my mom wrap presents for the Jeans' family. For those of you who don't know who they are, they are the family that my family has given Christmas presents to for 20+ years. My parents met them at our old church way back then and decided to sacrifice some money and time to give presents to their 12 kids who are less fortunate than us. It has been a blessing every year, and, honestly, this means more to us than the usual selfish, capitalistic season this is. Tonight, we head over to their house to deliver gifts, catch up, and sing Christmas songs.

In other news, True Grit comes out December 22nd. I am feeling a little midnight showing birthday celebration.

If you are traveling this month then I thank you for serving our country. The TSA's new policy on flight security is at its best, and I wish I could take a part in keeping America safe too. People are complaining about being looked at and being violated. Suck it up. This is America. A woman went on CNN news and complained about having to take out her prosthetic breast for the woman searching her. She was completely "embarrassed" and "ashamed." First of all, you shouldn't be ashamed to be a  breast cancer survivor. Secondly, if you were so embarrassed you wouldn't be signing up to go on national news and talk about it. For the people who diligently claim this is a violation of constitutional liberties, sit down and shut up. This is completely fair. You lose your certain liberties when everyone else's liberties are at risk. So for the greater good of the 200 other people on the flight, be happy you get to be semi-groped, and like it. One guy had an interesting idea as to what to do about security. He called it "Free Market Air." He said you should get rid of the TSA and let the individual airlines decide how tight to make their security. This way if you were a timid person you could fly on a relaxed "bring any contraband you like" airline. Problem solved? As 9 years ago shows us, the issue isn't people on the plane, it's people one the ground or in buildings. So that is perhaps the worst idea to fix security. It doesn't need fixin'.

Happy Holidays

That is such a genius marketing ploy. Now if you have religious differences with Christians, you don't need to worry. It's the holidays, not Christmas. If you don't believe in Christmas, you shouldn't celebrate it. There is no logic in celebrating in something you don't believe in. TV stations and stores are worried about offending everyone so they've switched over to saying "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas." It's offensive to Christians is what it is. Most likely, this is the first step in just creating a co-existing holiday with Christmas. I wouldn't be surprised down the road, but hey what can you do? "Happy Holidays is what terrorists say!" -30 Rock

On a serious note, I hope you all have a Merry Christmas. I hope to see most of you. Cheers.

Bashful

I haven't posted in awhile so here we go...

Finals

They are boring and painful, so this is all I have to say

Christmas Break

Not so boring! I was worried about this break being enjoyable, but now the break looks like it could turn out to be the best one yet. I have tentatively scheduled parties and hang outs already that are getting me excited. My birthday is 10 days away. Christmas is 12 days away. Then going to Micah's ranch as much as possible after that. I couldn't ask for anything better. I went home this weekend for a mini break. I got to hang out with my two best friends Micah and Sam. I have two finals left, but the lowest grade I can get is a B now so I have no motivation for either. Christmas break is on the horizon and it's looking good. I gave myself a Christmas/birthday present that should be getting to my house next week. Unfortunately, this season has also wrecked havoc on my bank account, so I will be selling many of my prized records to get back to the black. This is sad, but I would never take any of it back. I've had to buy things for friends and family. It's sacrifice. Selling my own belongings to pay for them just makes them mean more for me.

Burn

For the group of girls that unwillingly, unknowingly roped me into buying them all Christmas presents, I've decided that I am burning them all cd's. I feel this is the most cost-effective, loving gift I can give all of you. You're welcome...Cat Crozier.

I can't wait for a good Texas break filled with eating animals and burning fossil fuels.
The new year is almost here! Be excited Repubs...

Love you all