Stumble

I stumbled upon this interesting site...
"it's 99 things you should have experienced on the internet unless you're a loser or old or something"... if you have some time... or are procrastinating... watch a bunch..

the name was enough to get me and if you've got some time some of my personal favorites are:
01) grape lady falls
06) Charlie The Unicorn
25) gangsta barney (idk this kills me)

this is why you're fat

i was looking through UO's Blog and I found this little site, (click on the delicious pizza(?) above)... quite amusing if you ask me.
hope this entertained/disturbed you as much as it did to me.

trendstalk: menswear

I'm not going to lie, i enjoy fashion. I enjoy looking at it. I enjoy wearing it. I enjoy talking about it. This leads me to read about trends and to follow numerous blogs. This season, one trend in particular had caught my attention. Menswear. Why is menswear for women so excellent? When it showed up in Fall '08, I was a little skeptical, but now I see the beauty in it. When worn well it is strong, yet sexy. It doesn't show too much, but doesn't have to be the "conservative mommy goes to work" outfit. Also, black and white is classic. It will never go out of style. The Yves Saint Laurent 'le smoking' suit (picture credit to: lightswitchclothing's Blog)is a classic example of this; sexy, sophisticated, simple, effortless, classic. Skirts can be shortened and blazers fitted. The best part of menswear is the ability to add feminine details. Menswear can be intertwined into many outfits, wither it is a men's watch, bow tie, blazer, button up, vest, oxford shoes, or suit shorts.

Here are some of my favorite menswear picks (that you can get at the mall) for under $75 to spark inspiration:

1. Urban Outfitter's "Lux Little Brother Blazer", $68 here
This lovely little jacket is cropped, which is perfect because it distracts from the masculinity of the jacket. It could be worn casually with a t-shirt or worn even with a dress. (Reese Witherspoon pulled of the casual blazer look here.) A bow accent would help add femininity to this piece.






2. American Eagle's Boy Fit Jeans, $29.99 here
These are honestly a steal. These are on my own personal wish list. For less than $30 (it's close, i know) you can get a relaxed, distressed denim look, which had shown up at the end of summer 2008. These look so comfortable. They could be jazzed up with a blazer or fedora. Even a t-shirt would work fine with this. It works for a relaxed spring look. (Check out Reese Witherspoon at the end of summer 2008, here)

3. Forever 21's Cuffed Dressy Short, $17.80 here
I own these and they are honestly my favorite shorts. They aren't hoochie short and they look good with everything. I typically wear them with a cardigan, tights, a t-shirt, and flats. Plus, they're only $18! I bet they'd even look great with heels.


Shake up your wardrobe a little bit.
Take some risks and don't be afraid to dress like a boy!

Shows Vs. Concerts

Mmmm. Deerhoof.

I really love music. I love Satomi Matsuzaki and Deerhoof. And I love music pure from anything else, don't get me wrong, but lately I've come to realize it's the show aspect of concerts that really get me into the music, and goddamn if they don't have it down.

So when I recently started listening to Deerhoof based on a recommendation I recieved last summer, the music was great. But the most exciting part is that I listened to most of their music through youtube. I don't think I've ever appreciated youtube as much as then. It's fucking great.

 So their kinda a mix of noise rock and japanese pop, and a bunch of people don't think that they're music. So, this is a 10 minute video of one of their concerts at UICA, and it's rad. I think that it's all brilliant, but flip to 9:09 on this video and watch the magic that ensues until about 9:28.

  

It's great. I mean really, really great. I can't describe how perfect those dance moves are.

But, does that mean there's a difference between a show and a concert? Yeah, I mean, that was a show. That might turn out to be a petty point in semantics, but there's something to be said for the difference I'm talking about. That isn't only their hearts and minds flowing through the amplifiers, those are laid out right on stage for everyone to see. There's no mask of fake-ness or uncaring to hide behind. In this age of communication, it's so easy to forget that before cds, before 8-tracks, before vinyl, there wasn't anything. If you wanted to hear music, you had to go out and listen to it for yourself.

Now, obviously, before vinyl, the music being made wasn't much about putting your heart on the table anyway, but the point stands. When everyone walked around with a walkman, exchanging mixtapes of some of the latest underground bands' recordings they've gotten a hold of, it wasn't as mechanical as it is now.

When you're playing a show, you're making a fool of yourself and standing behind it. It's not meant to be this picture perfect reproduction of how the recording sounded, it's meant to be the music you're making and the heart to sing it at the top of your lungs.

Fuck. I'm rambling. I gotta show another concert to keep me focused.

So I've also been in love with Man Man for the past 3 months. I wanna not short change them right now, because I love them too much, so I'll wait for next time to express that.

But I wanna say that this is great. It's all about taking drags from your cigarette in between lyrics and shouting without microphones. And we're slowly making steps from the heartiest to the heartiestest to the most heartiestestest.

I think I found the point of this post, and that's it right there. Having kids a foot away from knocking you to the ground and having another kid be your mic stand is something you can't really describe. I think what all this has been leading up to is that anyone can make music. The current music being made has so much post processing sometimes, it makes your forget that all you need to make music is a frying pan, a stick to hit it with, and vocal cords. You don't need to be doing funny dances to show your heart, but when you're not just hearing or playing music, and the vibrations in the air become a part of every inch of your circulatory system, that's when there's some soul.

A lot of musicians these days are starting to forget why they're playing. And sometimes they call the absence of heart they put on stage an artistic choice. And that's okay, but at that point, you might as well be listening to a cd. The noise that comes out when you're on the same level as the crowd, smiling as you shout. Fuck, man. That's how music is intended to make you feel.

Glamourous Indie Rock and Roll is All We Want?

Supposedly, Brandon Flowers isn't the only one with cravings for indie music. Whether it be "experimental", "chill", or "pop" indie, there has been an explosion of new listeners. This can be credited to a few things. 1, everyone is tired of rap about dancing and grinding on your hoe. 2, who doesn't want to be a hipster. And finally 3, the internet. The internet is clearly the biggest reason why indie bands have been able to make it. With the ability to torrent, download, blog, and "scrobble", indie bands have been able to develop a fan base far beyond their local areas. Bands such as Vampire Weekend and Feist were popular topics of blogs and through that exposure were able to succeed. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah can also credit the large success of their first album to blogging. Last.fm has also had an extremely large impact on music. If you take 5 minutes to start an account, plus about a week of intense iTunes listening, you will be exposed to plenty of bands that you would love, yet never knew existed. The technology that Last.fm uses, as well as Pandora Radio, is allowing bands to get larger fan bases and more success.

This doesn't just apply to newer bands, although. This explosion of music blogs and increased indie exposure has also helped older bands, such as Neutral Milk Hotel, to get exposure they never got when they were playing the nineties. For bands like NMH, it was difficult to consolidate a fan base because they weren't a Billboard 100 band. Without blogging and a solid file downloading system, their music was never able to launch as far as it would have if they were playing now.The internet has allowed Neutral Milk Hotel's music to live on long after they have stopped playing, and have given them a name as an extremely talented indie band.

With the internet being a great medium for getting music, it seems as if indie music has a large pedestal for indie music to sit on. As it continues to get bigger, we can finally see indie hit more mainstream. Bands such as Vampire Weekend, MGMT , Passion Pit, and Chester French will be able to get much more exposure and fame due to their distinct, yet poppish sound. Although these bands have clear pop roots, they experiment and do different things that give them a completely different sound than all of the Fall Out Boy's and All American Rejects.

So as we continue to bask in the glory that is indie music, we give our thanks to the internet. Without downloading, myspace, and other blogs, what would indie music be now?

Super Bowl < The Office

Like the majority of my fellow Americans, I could not wait for this past Sunday (February 1st). Unlike most of them, however, I could not care less about sweaty, large men running around tackling eachother. As I sat with my family, eating pizza and watching the Super Bowl, all that was on my mind was what would come after the annual game. As 10:30 PM rolled around, I rushed to my TV and turned to NBC, overjoyed that The Office was finally on.

The Office, which is usually on every Thursday night on NBC at 8:00, is arguably the funniest show on TV at the moment. The writers have yet to create an episode that I dislike. The characters, unlike those of most modern TV shows, are loved for their sometimes strange and somewhat unlovable characteristics. There are no unrealistically thin & blonde girls with perfect fashion sense, no gorgeous Abercrombie&Fitch model-looking boys. The characters of The Office hardly ever say the right thing or look notably good. They do, however, present an unusual yet very real & natural charm that keeps the viewers laughing.

After seeing the hysterical commercial for this past Sunday's episode, I just couldn't wait to watch. I wondered, however, if the writers, directors, and actors could once again live up to the extremely high expectations I had. I worried that maybe they would run out of good jokes, or that the plot would be stupid.

My worries proved to be completely unnecessary. Once again, the team of The Office had me laughing through the entire 1-hour special episode. This episode, titled "Stress Relief", may have been one of the funniest and best episodes in the show's history, which almost never happens in a TV show's 5th season.

There were many different subplots to this episode. It opened with Dwight; the cocky, socially awkward, gullible, and lovable top sales man (and, as he so often points out, "assistant reigonal manager"), setting the office on fire to prove to his coworkers that they are not prepared for a "real" emergency. This ended with Stanley (the quite, stubborn, token black guy) on the floor having a heart attack. Of course, this was the perfect oppourtunity for Michael (the immature boss with no self-awareness who loves both himself and his job, played by the hysterical Steve Carell) to yet again prove how rediculous he is by saying (in an attempt to revive Stanley): "Stanley you will not die! Stanley! Stanley, Barack is president! You are BLACK, Stanley!"

It was all uphill from there. Michael attempts to de-stress the office in order to prevent a similar situation from reoccuring (in his words: "Nobody should have to go to work thinking, oh this is the place that I might die today. That's what a hospital is for. An office, is for not dying. An office is a place to... live life to the fullest. To the max. To... an office is a place where dreams come true."), which makes him realize that he is, infact, the one causing the stress. It is because of this that Michael organizes a Roast, which will bring everyone together to publicly bash him and, therefore, relieving the stress he is causing. He does not anticipate that his workers will have many things to say about him that would be better left unsaid. After a truly harsh bashing of Michael Scott (I must admit, it was very upsetting to watch), Michael goes off to contemplate his life and his problems on a playground. This saga ends with uplifting laughter among everyone at the office when Michael returns to the office and attempts to harshly roast his workers (epic fail).

While all this is going on, there is also the storyline of Jim and Pam, the best-friends-turned-lovers. Now engaged, they had yet to experience real problems in their relationship (aside from the insane sexual tension and obvious love connection confusion pre-lovers phase). But in this episode, Pam's parents are facing mariage troubles and, after talking to Jim, Pam's father tells his wife that he is moving out. Pam is convinced that Jim said something to her father that made him want to leave her mother. Turns out, she was right. "He (Pam's father) said that you (Jim) told him how much you love me (Pam). About how you feel when I walk in a room. And about, how you've never doubted for a second that I'm the woman you wanna spend the rest of your life with. I guess he had never felt that with my mom even at their best." CUTEST PAM-JIM MOMENT EVER. God, I love them.

So in conclusion, this episode was filled with fire, stress, singing and dancing to "Staying Alive", meditation, romance, a CPR dummie with no arms or legs, a new version of the song "What I Like About You", disses towards Michael, hysterical moments and a happy ending. AND to top it all off, there were cameo appearances made by Jack Black and Jessica Alba. It just doesn't get much better than that. Actually, knowing The Office, it just might get better than that.

I love the 90s! Part I

Being a junior in high school, I don't find myself often turning to Cartoon Network for my television entertainment. However, whenever I am flipping through the channels and Courage the Cowardly Dog is on, I watch. Although this show scared the bejesus out of me when I was a kid, I have grown to have a deep appreciation for the show. If you are unaware of the plot behind the show, maybe I should start with this...

We interrupt this program to bring you... the Courage the Cowardly Dog show, starring Courage the Cowardly Dog! Abandoned as a pup, he was found by Muriel, who lives in the middle of Nowhere with her husband, Eustace Bagge. But creepy stuff happens in Nowhere... it's up to Courage to save his new home!



My love for the show starts with the animation of the show. For example, the screams in the show are priceless. Courage's flailing arms and hole ridden teeth make my day. Another reason to love this show, is because you each episode has two mini episodes. Courage saves the day TWICE, every show. Then of course there are the villeins... like honestly where else can you see a fusia dog fight EGGPLANTS? Villeins include: Katz, Le Quack, The Snowman (aka S'man [??]), Freaky Fred (who has a compulsion to shave everyone's heads), and The Chicken from Outer Space (who sucks off people's heads with a plunger). Each villein is truely unique and convicingly evil.


Time and time again, i fall for Courage, his cowardice, and determination.

Courage: The things I do for love!

Just Dance?

Tomorrow night, 150 teenagers will endure a typical yet sometimes painful experience. I of course speak of the school dance. You pay 15 bucks to gain entry into the exclusive scene that is DJ'd by "DJ Gary" (his real DJ name...sweet). What you see is many things. Awkward freshman guys huddled in one corner of the dance floor talking and sort of rocking their bodies side to side. Then we have the sophomore girls who drank 2 shots of vodka before the event and are out of their mind, jumping across the dance floor and screaming when the song "Buy You A Drank" by T-Pain comes on. Then you have the juniors who don't really want to be there, but truly had nothing better to do, and sit at the tables and make jokes about the underclassmen. The seniors do not come, except for the ones who organize the event, bring a couple of friends, and dance pretty weirdly on the dance floor. On this night, one will hear more Billboard Top 100 songs than one would want to, including six Rihanna songs, four T-Pain, DJ Gary's attempt top mix "Love Lockdown" with a catchy techno beat to make it danceable, and of course the infamous "Last Dance". I am not sure if it is possible to make this night anymore corny than it already is. But there is always hope. You always pray for that teacher who might decide to bust a move on the dance floor, their prime already past, and make a complete fool out of themself. Or perhaps the freshman guy, thinking that he is in highschool and fucking amazing, trying to spit some game on some sophomore girls, only to get shutdown and feel pain he has never felt in his life. These are moment that observers such as myself cherish forever. For me, the Winter Formal will be about watching. I will put my semi formal wear on, but not for nothing. School dances are memories I will hold forever, with laughs and moments that I will never get over. Ever.

Bring Back Straight to DVD Disney Movies!!!

What the hell. When I look back onto my childhood, I just think, "how would I have gotten by without random Casper or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movies?" My childhood was so defined by these movies, whether I was on a 5 hour car trip, or waiting for my dad to finish up at work, I knew that a sick episode of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was awaiting me. Without straight to video movies, who knows where I would be. I am personally insulted by Disney's move to take away sequels to classic movies, such as Cinderella and Snow White. What are the kids going to watch? Without these movies, there is nothing. Disney movies were depended on by most parents to keep their child entertained while they did whatever they had to do. I know I'm not raising my child on High School Musical. I need a movie that is so shitty, that it will have no influence on them. I want my child to hate movies so much by the time he or she hits 5, that instead of staying up and watching T.V., they will hit the books. I realized that at a young age, I was so used to lying on my couch and watching $1.99 movies (and we had a lot), I kept the habit by watching Wayans Brothers and Friends by the age of 12. But god damn, I can't have my kid watching any of the crap thats on T.V. today, so what is a person to do? If Disney brought back the sequels and prequels, my kid would be chilling with "The Little Mermaid: Ariels Begingings". If my child watches good television, such as Made, Lost, and Room Raiders, I'm dealing with a college drop out.

Conclusion: Disney movies raise graduation rates. Tell Barack.

Warning: New Cult Forming

Well, its not so new. The craziness that is "Lost" is sweeping over America like a epidemic. Every high schooler and their mother is watching this show, and all I ask is...why? After watching the first couple of episodes, I was convinced I was watching the stupidest show ever. Polar bears on a tropical island, smoke that eats people, and other bullshit that seems to pop up on that show just doesn't phase me. Maybe I have the wrong attitude. Maybe I need to open my mind up to the possibilities. I understand that to many this show is good, but I could never imagine myself obsessing over this show. I just don't understand...

Oh my God, LOST IS BACK TONIGHT!!! FUCK YEAH!!!

I don't need that.

I like to think I watch pretty practical TV. Obviously nothing on TV is practical, but I watch shows that don't make Lord of the Rings look normal. I'm down with "House" and "The Office". Those are the only two shows I watch, besides the occasional "Colbert Report" at 2am. I really have tried watching "Lost", but I just can't sit down without thinking "what am I doing here?" But "Lost" has made me think, what would happen if I survived a plane crash. Obviously that's a miracle, and if I survived, there's no way anyone else would. It's a plane crash. Numbers of people don't just survive those. But anyway, what would I bring? The necessities.

1. A woman. If I'm on an island for the rest of my life, I'm gonna need to start a little family, perhaps a whole new civilization. But wait a second. How would she survive the plane crash? How do 20 people survive a plane crash? It escapes me.

2. Metal detector. If I'm living on the beach, I'm looking for some valuables. I figure on an island where polar bears roam free, I can find a pearl necklace.

3. Time travel device. Oh wait, nevermind. The island somehow is alive, and skips time for me. Thanks, island.

4. Season one of "Flight of the Conchords". If I were to be killed by human eating smoke, I'd want to go to "You're So Beautiful"

Michelle Obama: Fashion Icon? or Fashion SHM-icon?

Now I am by no means a political person, but today I felt proud to be an american (woo freedom fries) when I watched the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States. But something had been puzzleing me since the night of the election... what was Michelle wearing and why was she suddenly worshiped as a fashion icon? To me, I do not see the difference in Michelle's public dress than oh say Laura Bush's. A first lady is meant to be polished and classy. But does Michelle's choice of dress make her a Fashion ICON? I think that's stretching it a bit folks.
As I listened to the news reports today I was shocked to see her compared to Jackie Kennedy. JACKIE KENNEDY? No, just no. DID YOU SEE Michelle's ALL GOLD ensemble today? Clearly we are not seeing the same thing. I don't care if the designer is some independent non American chick from new york who shares part of my name. The dress is not cute and until you get some better fashion advice you will be no Jackie Kennedy in my book. Sorry Michelle.

I JUST HAVE THE BIGGEST GRIN ON MY FACE!

i would do zach condon.

It's true, folks. Zach Condon is the sexiest trumpet-ukulele-accordion player of all time. Lead singer of the band "Beirut", Zach first tried the ukulele out when he realized that his wrist injury would prevent him from reaching around the neck of a guitar (that's right, straight off of Wikipedia.org. Embrace it. Wikipedia is your friend.) But seriously, this guy's voice will redefine orgasm for you. If I were a guy, I'd go gay for this man. No but seriously. Zach dropped out of high school at 16, adding to the "leather jacket-i-still-live-in-my-mom's-basement-but-can-still-bring-sexy-back" sexyness. Furthering his cool, he studied Portuguese and photography when he returned to college.

This guy's lyrics and song titles revolve, for the most part, around some kind of foreign country or language sorta thing, which would make sense since he traveled so much as a teenager (Nantes being in France, Italy being...Italy, Gulag Orkestar not being in English, etc).
With a couple of shows coming up in New York, an album coming out this February of 09, and a more recent album ("Gulag Orkestar") already released, I suggest you get on that shit.
If this hasn't convinced you that this guy is musical and sexi..al brilliance, I'm sure a couple of downloads will. Ch-ch-ch-check it.

Beirut- Elephant Gun
Beirut- Nantes
Beirut- Postcards from Italy
Beirut- The Gulag Orkestar
Beirut- After the Curtain

hope you guys agree, cause i'm not quite down for losing faith in the human race.
have a lovely night.
always,
the dizmaisquids/get that tricycle team.

we care.

and this is your proof.
here's a decent soundtrack for all you party-goers (compliments of Brett Allen, be sure to get the correct remix) and a notification that we're alive. have a great night, kids.

1. santogold- LES Artists (graham zilla remix)
2. santogold- Get It Up (Radioclit mix ft. MIA & Gorilla Zoe)
3. santogold LES Artists (Left/Right Remix)
4. estelle- American boy (danger remix)
5. foals- hummer(passions remix)
6. klaxons- golden skans (sebastiAn version 1.2.0 remix)
7. mgmt- electric feel (justice remix)
8. digital mystikz- haunted
9. geeneus- you know me
10. mia- paper planes (LAZRtag Remix)
11. bloc party- banquet (boys Noize remix)
12. bloc party- hunting for witches (crystal castles remix)
13. electro rockerz- electro rockerz- beyonce & shakira- beautiful liar (electro rockers remix)
14. kanye west- love lockdown (clockwork remix)
15. mia- bucky done gone tenzin remix
16. mstrkrft- wolfmother- woman