21. I have four tattoos and each one of them has special meaning to me.
22. I LOVE discovering new bands. Recently (read: yesterday) I discovered the Joy Formidable and I don't really understand how they managed to slip under my radar for so long. They're a hard rocking female fronted band. That's like a description of the music I like.
23. When I was in 4th grade, I read a scary story in a book of scary stories about a kid that poured vinegar down an anthill and the next day, he saw an anthill that spelled the word "HATE." Later that night, he woke up and was covered in ants. You can figure out what happened next. Even to this day and even though I'm generally more rational than that, I still get a slight rush of fear each time I step on an ant because I'm scared they will get me.
24. One of my lifetime goals is to live in a house with a secret passage.
25. In high school, my friend Molly and I used to play this game where we'd have someone name something random and we'd try to turn whatever they said into something dirty in less than 5 sentences. It got to the point where we'd be able to do it consistently in 2.
26. I can't watch other people go on Facebook because their Facebooking styles will drive me insane. I can't stand leaving friend requests, event invites, and notifications unresponded to.
27. I have a weird obsession with Canada... even though I've never been there. A lot of it has to do with the music that I listen to because a significant portion of my music is by Canadian artists. Also, everyone I've met from Canada with very few exceptions has been super fun, outgoing, warm, and friendly. I wish I could say that of more Americans.
28. I get really annoyed when I ask someone what kind of music they like and they respond with, "Everything!" or "Whatever's on the radio." First of all, no, you don't like all music. Everyone has music they don't like. Second, the reason most people ask what kind of music you like is to see if you have anything in common and responding with just "everything" gets you nowhere. Third, and this really only applies to the last one, but I find it really frustrating when people just listen to what they're told to listen to. There are a lot of great bands out there that you'll probably like that don't get mainstream radio exposure. Go discover what YOU actually like. If that happens to be on the radio, great. But if you're too lazy to actually discover what you like to listen to... we probably won't get along.
29. I wish I had gotten into snowboarding at a younger age. I'm still pretty awful and I feel like I've been doing it for long enough that I should be much better than I am.
30. I become attached to things too easily and it causes me a lot of angst.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Saturday, July 16, 2011
#40ThingsAboutMe Part 2
I'm supposed to be studying for my organic chemistry test on Thursday... but obviously I'm going to procrastinate by blogging. Here's part 2 of my 40 facts thing!
11. Even though I'm really inflexible, yoga is probably my favorite form of exercise. It burns a lot of calories and builds strength at the same time. One of the things I'm most proud of is going from barely being able to do bridge pose to being able to get into a full wheel.
12. I usually don't crave potato chips or sugary foods like most people do. Instead, I'll randomly crave foods such as (but not limited to) watermelon, strawberries, lentils, peanut butter, spinach, corn, and carrots.
13. The quickest way to piss me off is to not return a text, call, etc. or to just blatantly ignore me. I'd rather you had the respect (if you can call it that) to lie to me about having plans if you don't want to do something than just not respond.
14. I HATE talking on the phone. Please, for the love of Shiva, text me instead of calling me.
15. No Doubt and Metric have had an indescribable impact on my life. I've met so many amazing people because of them and have had incredible experiences because of both of them. Their impact on my life has been absolutely one of the most positive things to ever happen. People often wonder why I'm so passionate about them (and I often get made fun of for this passion) and THIS IS WHY. It goes beyond the music. It's the community and the bonds with people that make them so special.
16. When I was younger, I used to think that I would never end up drinking. Well... things have changed haha.
17. My oldest brother is becoming a Catholic priest. Needless to say, our worldviews are in extreme conflict.
18. Smoking=Instant turn off.
19. I really like gardening. Not so much the actual process of digging in the dirt and what not, but I like seeing the results.
20. I've never kissed someone I'm legitimately attracted to. I've either been drunk or just gone along with it because I liked that I was getting attention from a guy.
11. Even though I'm really inflexible, yoga is probably my favorite form of exercise. It burns a lot of calories and builds strength at the same time. One of the things I'm most proud of is going from barely being able to do bridge pose to being able to get into a full wheel.
12. I usually don't crave potato chips or sugary foods like most people do. Instead, I'll randomly crave foods such as (but not limited to) watermelon, strawberries, lentils, peanut butter, spinach, corn, and carrots.
13. The quickest way to piss me off is to not return a text, call, etc. or to just blatantly ignore me. I'd rather you had the respect (if you can call it that) to lie to me about having plans if you don't want to do something than just not respond.
14. I HATE talking on the phone. Please, for the love of Shiva, text me instead of calling me.
15. No Doubt and Metric have had an indescribable impact on my life. I've met so many amazing people because of them and have had incredible experiences because of both of them. Their impact on my life has been absolutely one of the most positive things to ever happen. People often wonder why I'm so passionate about them (and I often get made fun of for this passion) and THIS IS WHY. It goes beyond the music. It's the community and the bonds with people that make them so special.
16. When I was younger, I used to think that I would never end up drinking. Well... things have changed haha.
17. My oldest brother is becoming a Catholic priest. Needless to say, our worldviews are in extreme conflict.
18. Smoking=Instant turn off.
19. I really like gardening. Not so much the actual process of digging in the dirt and what not, but I like seeing the results.
20. I've never kissed someone I'm legitimately attracted to. I've either been drunk or just gone along with it because I liked that I was getting attention from a guy.
Friday, July 15, 2011
#40ThingsAboutMe Part 1
One of the trending topics on Twitter right now is #40ThingsAboutMe. Twitter limits your posts to 140 characters, however, so it's pretty much impossible to fit 40 facts into a single tweet and tweeting 40 times in a row makes you a real asshole so I've decided to share my 40 facts in blog form. This provides the double benefit of allowing everyone to come back and read it whenever they want. So go ahead, memorize away!
Actually, please don't memorize because that's a little creepy.
Also, due to laziness and lack of ideas for blogs, I'm going to break this into four parts. So here are 10 facts for now. Read and enjoy.
1. I have an irrational fear of getting diabetes. When I was younger, I used to be terrified of sugar because I was completely convinced it would make me diabetic. Obviously I still ate it, I just at it in terror.
2. One time I sang backing vocals on stage with a small group of other people for Jenny Lewis.
3. The band I've seen live the most times is Motion City Soundtrack, followed by Paramore.
4. I have a lot of social anxiety. I have a hard time starting a conversation with someone I don't know well.
5. I'm especially bad at talking to guys, even if I'm not interested in them in a romantic way. I will, without failure, read into everything as a sign that they hate me.
6. If I am interested in you, I show it in weird ways and I become highly terrified of you. More than anything, I probably will become really awkward and subdued when I talk to you.
7. Mushrooms are the bane of my existence. How anyone can actually enjoy them is beyond me.
8. Online shopping will be my downfall. There's something really exciting about clicking purchase and then the anticipation of it coming in the mail... Ohhhhhh yeah!
9. I LOVE science and I share a lot of articles about it on my various social networking accounts. I feel like it annoys a lot of people but I really don't care. Science rules, man.
10. I take lots of naps. Not just 20 minute naps but more like 3 hour naps. If it were for the need to eat, exercise, and go to the bathroom, I'd probably sleep all day.
Actually, please don't memorize because that's a little creepy.
Also, due to laziness and lack of ideas for blogs, I'm going to break this into four parts. So here are 10 facts for now. Read and enjoy.
1. I have an irrational fear of getting diabetes. When I was younger, I used to be terrified of sugar because I was completely convinced it would make me diabetic. Obviously I still ate it, I just at it in terror.
2. One time I sang backing vocals on stage with a small group of other people for Jenny Lewis.
3. The band I've seen live the most times is Motion City Soundtrack, followed by Paramore.
4. I have a lot of social anxiety. I have a hard time starting a conversation with someone I don't know well.
5. I'm especially bad at talking to guys, even if I'm not interested in them in a romantic way. I will, without failure, read into everything as a sign that they hate me.
6. If I am interested in you, I show it in weird ways and I become highly terrified of you. More than anything, I probably will become really awkward and subdued when I talk to you.
7. Mushrooms are the bane of my existence. How anyone can actually enjoy them is beyond me.
8. Online shopping will be my downfall. There's something really exciting about clicking purchase and then the anticipation of it coming in the mail... Ohhhhhh yeah!
9. I LOVE science and I share a lot of articles about it on my various social networking accounts. I feel like it annoys a lot of people but I really don't care. Science rules, man.
10. I take lots of naps. Not just 20 minute naps but more like 3 hour naps. If it were for the need to eat, exercise, and go to the bathroom, I'd probably sleep all day.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
CARDIO, Y U NO BE MORE EXCITING?!
As I so often seem to start sentences in here, I'm going to start another one with "For those of you who..."
For those of you who don't pay attention, know me at all, or are just mildly mentally challenged, I enjoy fitness and exercising. And by enjoy it, I mean I force myself to do it in the hopes of some day attracting a male... even Jillian Michaels has admitted that she doesn't like to work out (or at least that's what an ad on a website told me). My point is that I'm really into fitness. However, lately I've been really lacking the motivation to do most of my cardio workouts. I don't want to run. Running is so... bleh and repetitive.
So, like any person who lacks a social life off the internet, I'm turning to you, my wonderful blog readers and Twitter randos and randos from Germany (seriously, I keep getting random views on here from Germany) for some advice. What the fuck do I do for cardio that's less dull? Keep in mind that I'm cheap and fairly poor so I don't want to go shoveling out a ton of money for new equipment unless it's gonna get me really ripped.
I'm also open to new forms of non-cardio exercise as well (know a great yoga place that's cheap? LET ME KNOW). Doing the same things over and over gets old fast.
For those of you who don't pay attention, know me at all, or are just mildly mentally challenged, I enjoy fitness and exercising. And by enjoy it, I mean I force myself to do it in the hopes of some day attracting a male... even Jillian Michaels has admitted that she doesn't like to work out (or at least that's what an ad on a website told me). My point is that I'm really into fitness. However, lately I've been really lacking the motivation to do most of my cardio workouts. I don't want to run. Running is so... bleh and repetitive.
So, like any person who lacks a social life off the internet, I'm turning to you, my wonderful blog readers and Twitter randos and randos from Germany (seriously, I keep getting random views on here from Germany) for some advice. What the fuck do I do for cardio that's less dull? Keep in mind that I'm cheap and fairly poor so I don't want to go shoveling out a ton of money for new equipment unless it's gonna get me really ripped.
I'm also open to new forms of non-cardio exercise as well (know a great yoga place that's cheap? LET ME KNOW). Doing the same things over and over gets old fast.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
You can call me Dr. Phil
"Only hang out with people you like. I learned this and it changed my life."
-Emily Haines
Most people think of summer as a time to relax and unwind but, I, on the other hand, seem to always have this crazy notion that I should take summer classes. Needless to say, this makes my summer significantly less exciting especially when the class I'm taking this summer is O chem II. I'm gonna keep it real, it's not really going the greatest. It's not that I'm not trying or anything but I just don't get it. Every time I'm asked, "How would you perform this synthesis?" I feel like, rather than attempting to bullshit my way through a synthesis, I'd be better off just writing, "I would ask someone who actually understands chemistry to do it."
Last night I actually emerged from my study shell (and by emerged from my study shell, I mean last night was one of the three nights a year when someone was like, "Gee, Joey still exists. Maybe we should call him!") for a while. We were in some rando's backyard and somehow the subject of prom came up. One of my friends mentioned that she didn't enjoy her prom because she didn't really want to spend time with her boyfriend and would have rather gone with her friends.
For some reason, this statement jarred me. I'm no relationship expert, largely because I have yet to find someone who's desperate enough to date me, but I feel like my almost complete degree in psychology and the fact that I passed social psych brings me pretty damn close, right? I've always been of the school of thought that you really shouldn't be dating someone that you don't want to spend time with because you can only have sex for so many hours in a day (and even then, sex as a foundation for a relationship generally doesn't lead to anything stable) and you'll be spending plenty of time with each other so shouldn't you actually look forward to that time?
Apparently, not everyone thinks this way because I know WAY too many people aren't dating someone who they genuinely like outside of the bedroom. I've always said that I don't want to rush into a relationship with someone because I want to have the foundation of a genuine friendship but it seems like too many many people are waaaay to eager to get right into a relationship or each others' pants.
Now, I may be biased in this last statement because of the types of guys I tend to attract. For some reason, the stage 5 clingers are really into me. I don't really know why this is because I have a tendency to make my annoyance very clear but they persist. Maybe I have a musk that tells guys that I like being texted, "Hey, what's up? How are you? What are you thinking? What are you feeling?" three times a day or maybe it's what I get for trying to be nice to most people. Either way, I have a low threshold for that and I quickly lose any mild interest I may have had before.
My point is that people need to SLOW THE FUCK DOWN and take time to get to know each other. Studies have shown that couples who are friends tend to last longer and quite honestly, you didn't need to do an empirical study to tell me that. It seems kind of... duh? The reasoning behind this may be because there are two different kinds of love that play a key role in intimate relationships. The first kind is passionate love, and, as the name suggests, this is the "OMG I WANT TO HUMP YOUR BRAINS OUT!!!!" kind of love. I don't remember the exact length of time but it doesn't exactly last a long period. Like your passion, your relationship will probably fizzle unless there's a strong foundation of companionate love. This is the kind of love where you genuinely care about the other person and what they think, feel, etc. This is the kind of love found in deep friendships and generally lasts a lot longer than passionate love (and actually grows over time). Without it, your relationship will not work for an extended period and I've never seen the point of getting into a relationship I knew would fail.
To sum things up, if you find someone that you're interested in dating, take the time to actually get to know them. You'll be glad you did because in the long run your relationship will be stronger. If things don't work out between you and them, hey, that's okay. Some people don't work out together. You'll probably find someone else and if you don't, there's always cats!
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Casey Anthony: Justice served?
I'd like to start out with a request: If you disagree with me on anything I say here, please feel free to speak your mind but be intelligent and respectful about it. The internet seems to have made people lose their ability to disagree while still respecting each other.
Those of you who don't live in a hole (which, seeing as you're reading this on the internet, I'm guessing is all of you) have no doubt heard by now the verdict of the Casey Anthony trial. Based on the reaction I've seen on Facebook and Twitter, people are livid about the verdict and seem to think that justice has not been served.
I'd argue, however, that justice was served. Now before you all lynch me, a common misconception needs to be cleared up. Many people assume that "not guilty" and "innocent" are the same thing when, in fact, they are not. A ruling of not guilty does NOT imply that the jury thinks the defendant is innocent. What it does mean is that the prosecution did not prove their case that the crime in question was committed. In lay terms, these two may mean the same thing but in legal terms, they're not. I liken this to the scientific concept of a theory and the lay conception of a theory. The two are COMPLETELY different and the lay conception of a theory is actually closer to the scientific term "hypothesis."
In this case, the prosecution really only had circumstantial evidence and they could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Casey murdered her daughter. In other words, there are possible other explanations that are not completely out of nowhere ("The devil made her do it!!!!") that cannot be dismissed based on the evidence presented. The burden of proof rested on the prosecution and they failed to prove their case.
Some have accused this as being a flaw in the legal system and, again, I'd argue the opposite as it protects the innocent from being accused of a crime they did not commit and being incarcerated for it (***Special note: I am NOT implying that Casey Anthony is innocent***). This is where the concept of "innocent until guilty" comes into our legal system. If we had the opposite, guilty until proven innocent, people could be accused of any crime that they did not necessarily commit and be thrown into jail.
Believe it or not, we actually had this system at one point in our country. Think back to Salem, MA when people were being accused of being witches and then burned unless they could prove their innocence (which, in most cases, they could not). This is an example of the "guilty until proven innocent" system and it was essentially chaos.
To continue the science metaphor I brought up earlier, in science, you can't just make a claim and expect people to find evidence to disprove it. The opposite is true: You have to find evidence showing that your hypothesis is likely beyond a reasonable doubt and the same holds true in our legal system.
So did Casey Anthony get away with murder? Maybe. But we can't say beyond a reasonable doubt that she's guilty. As upsetting as it may be, the system worked. The prosecution needed to step up their game to prove their case and they didn't. But the way the system is designed, the most functional system we've been able to develop as a species so far, worked.
Am I saying that this is not a tragic situation? No. Regardless of how she died or if she was murdered, it is a tragedy that Caylee's life was cut short and this is a wake up call to all of us to take better care of our children and be wary of suspicious behavior that could put others in danger.
Those of you who don't live in a hole (which, seeing as you're reading this on the internet, I'm guessing is all of you) have no doubt heard by now the verdict of the Casey Anthony trial. Based on the reaction I've seen on Facebook and Twitter, people are livid about the verdict and seem to think that justice has not been served.
I'd argue, however, that justice was served. Now before you all lynch me, a common misconception needs to be cleared up. Many people assume that "not guilty" and "innocent" are the same thing when, in fact, they are not. A ruling of not guilty does NOT imply that the jury thinks the defendant is innocent. What it does mean is that the prosecution did not prove their case that the crime in question was committed. In lay terms, these two may mean the same thing but in legal terms, they're not. I liken this to the scientific concept of a theory and the lay conception of a theory. The two are COMPLETELY different and the lay conception of a theory is actually closer to the scientific term "hypothesis."
In this case, the prosecution really only had circumstantial evidence and they could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Casey murdered her daughter. In other words, there are possible other explanations that are not completely out of nowhere ("The devil made her do it!!!!") that cannot be dismissed based on the evidence presented. The burden of proof rested on the prosecution and they failed to prove their case.
Some have accused this as being a flaw in the legal system and, again, I'd argue the opposite as it protects the innocent from being accused of a crime they did not commit and being incarcerated for it (***Special note: I am NOT implying that Casey Anthony is innocent***). This is where the concept of "innocent until guilty" comes into our legal system. If we had the opposite, guilty until proven innocent, people could be accused of any crime that they did not necessarily commit and be thrown into jail.
Believe it or not, we actually had this system at one point in our country. Think back to Salem, MA when people were being accused of being witches and then burned unless they could prove their innocence (which, in most cases, they could not). This is an example of the "guilty until proven innocent" system and it was essentially chaos.
To continue the science metaphor I brought up earlier, in science, you can't just make a claim and expect people to find evidence to disprove it. The opposite is true: You have to find evidence showing that your hypothesis is likely beyond a reasonable doubt and the same holds true in our legal system.
So did Casey Anthony get away with murder? Maybe. But we can't say beyond a reasonable doubt that she's guilty. As upsetting as it may be, the system worked. The prosecution needed to step up their game to prove their case and they didn't. But the way the system is designed, the most functional system we've been able to develop as a species so far, worked.
Am I saying that this is not a tragic situation? No. Regardless of how she died or if she was murdered, it is a tragedy that Caylee's life was cut short and this is a wake up call to all of us to take better care of our children and be wary of suspicious behavior that could put others in danger.
Friday, July 1, 2011
Best of 2011 So Far
Holy moly, it's already July! Where did the time go? The year is already halfway over! It also means that I'm just a few weeks away from turning 21 and I'll be able to taste alcohol for the first time ever!!!!
As I'm sure many other bloggers do, I'm going to take this opportunity to reflect on some of the great music that's been released so far this year by picking a favorite album, song, and live act as well as give some props to some of my favorite new discoveries thus far this year. Obviously these are not final because there's still six months to go which will be including Lollapalooza, a new No Doubt album (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), and many other releases and shows. Who knows, by the end of the year these might seem like complete and utter shit... but I doubt that =)
Best Album (So Far)
The first six months have included releases by two of my favorite artists, the Sounds and Lady Gaga. Needless to say I was pretty much giddy for these albums to come out and when they did... I kinda got blue ballsed a bit. They were decent, don't get me wrong, and they both have some great songs on them (From the Sounds Something to Die For album, I recommend "The No-No Song," "Wish You Were Here," and "Better Off Dead." From Gaga's Born This Way, "Americano," "Marry the Night," "Government Hooker," "You and I," "Shei(weird German symbol that looks like a B)e,"and "Edge of Glory" stand out) but as a whole, neither of them was spectacular as far as I'm concerned. Some stronger releases came from Yelle, Cold War Kids, and the Rural Alberta Advantage. In fact, the Rural Alberta Advantage would probably be my favorite album this year if I hadn't spontaneously gone to see a band known as the Head and the Heart at SXSW and become absolutely obsessed.
Seriously, these guys are AMAZING and their self titled debut is one of those rare albums that I like every song on it. They played an acoustic set at the Electric Fetus in Minneapolis last month and it was incredible. I had the chance to talk with them for a minute after and they were incredibly nice and down to earth.
Best Song (So Far)
This one is a bit harder to choose from because there have been a few songs that I've had on repeat. "The Edge of Glory" by Lady Gaga is just... fucking genius. It's like an 80's throwback and, while she gets criticized for that, I personally really enjoy it. Other favorites that didn't quite make the cut include, "The Bay" by Metronomy, "Louder Than Ever" by Cold War Kids, "Cardiac Arrest" by Teddybears feat. Robyn, "Breaking and Entering" by Tonight Alive and "Muscle Relaxants" by the Rural Alberta Advantage but my favorite, which has found a place as one of the few non-Metric songs on my most played list, is "The No-No Song" by the Sounds. It's. So. Damn. Catchy. And best of all it includes my favorite musical element, angry female vocals! Stick it to whoever hurt you, Maja! You can have me. Seriously. I wouldn't say no.
Best Live Act
As I've mentioned in the past, I went to SXSW and that's where I saw my favorite live act so far... twice. Yes, it's the Sounds! They have so much energy and what's there not to love about a group of sexy, sweaty Swedes with a ton of energy? Nothing. I finally got to see Maja's legs up close and in person and THEY ARE EVEN BETTER THAN I IMAGINED. The other thing Maja is semi-known for is her ability to chain smoke through a whole set and, while I normally find cigarettes incredibly disgusting, I was more than a bit turned on. If that's not enough, I randomly ran into them on the street and got this picture with Maja!
Isn't she gorgeous?! She was incredibly nice, too. I always find that makes me like a band that much more because there are some asshole musicians out there.
Some New Favorites
I'm not going to pick just one for this category because there are so many great ones. This list is far from complete but here's a sample:
The Head and the Heart- But I've already talked about them enough.
The Naked and Famous- I discovered them early in the year and I'm just going to attribute it to Merrijoy because she's one of two people I know who understand how AWESOME they are.
Ellie Goulding- HOLY MOTHER OF SHIVA I LOVE HER. How did I not hear about her before?! She might be my favorite Brit. When she sings, she still maintains her British accent but it's not annoying as accents sometimes can be. She does a cover of "Your Song" by Elton John and the video for it on YouTube... Oh man. She's too cute for words.
Dessa- She's another one who I don't know how I missed her before. She's a rapper from Minneapolis and she's just incredible... and that's coming from someone who generally doesn't enjoy rap.
The Book of Mormon- Okay, so this isn't a band, it's a musical. But it's earned a spot as one of the two musicals I actually like (the other being Avenue Q). Hasa Diga Eebowai is... just glorious. Go look it up.
Aaaaand those are my favorites so far. What have been some of yours? Do share! I'm always looking for new music!
As I'm sure many other bloggers do, I'm going to take this opportunity to reflect on some of the great music that's been released so far this year by picking a favorite album, song, and live act as well as give some props to some of my favorite new discoveries thus far this year. Obviously these are not final because there's still six months to go which will be including Lollapalooza, a new No Doubt album (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), and many other releases and shows. Who knows, by the end of the year these might seem like complete and utter shit... but I doubt that =)
Best Album (So Far)
The first six months have included releases by two of my favorite artists, the Sounds and Lady Gaga. Needless to say I was pretty much giddy for these albums to come out and when they did... I kinda got blue ballsed a bit. They were decent, don't get me wrong, and they both have some great songs on them (From the Sounds Something to Die For album, I recommend "The No-No Song," "Wish You Were Here," and "Better Off Dead." From Gaga's Born This Way, "Americano," "Marry the Night," "Government Hooker," "You and I," "Shei(weird German symbol that looks like a B)e,"and "Edge of Glory" stand out) but as a whole, neither of them was spectacular as far as I'm concerned. Some stronger releases came from Yelle, Cold War Kids, and the Rural Alberta Advantage. In fact, the Rural Alberta Advantage would probably be my favorite album this year if I hadn't spontaneously gone to see a band known as the Head and the Heart at SXSW and become absolutely obsessed.
Seriously, these guys are AMAZING and their self titled debut is one of those rare albums that I like every song on it. They played an acoustic set at the Electric Fetus in Minneapolis last month and it was incredible. I had the chance to talk with them for a minute after and they were incredibly nice and down to earth.
Best Song (So Far)
This one is a bit harder to choose from because there have been a few songs that I've had on repeat. "The Edge of Glory" by Lady Gaga is just... fucking genius. It's like an 80's throwback and, while she gets criticized for that, I personally really enjoy it. Other favorites that didn't quite make the cut include, "The Bay" by Metronomy, "Louder Than Ever" by Cold War Kids, "Cardiac Arrest" by Teddybears feat. Robyn, "Breaking and Entering" by Tonight Alive and "Muscle Relaxants" by the Rural Alberta Advantage but my favorite, which has found a place as one of the few non-Metric songs on my most played list, is "The No-No Song" by the Sounds. It's. So. Damn. Catchy. And best of all it includes my favorite musical element, angry female vocals! Stick it to whoever hurt you, Maja! You can have me. Seriously. I wouldn't say no.
Best Live Act
As I've mentioned in the past, I went to SXSW and that's where I saw my favorite live act so far... twice. Yes, it's the Sounds! They have so much energy and what's there not to love about a group of sexy, sweaty Swedes with a ton of energy? Nothing. I finally got to see Maja's legs up close and in person and THEY ARE EVEN BETTER THAN I IMAGINED. The other thing Maja is semi-known for is her ability to chain smoke through a whole set and, while I normally find cigarettes incredibly disgusting, I was more than a bit turned on. If that's not enough, I randomly ran into them on the street and got this picture with Maja!
Isn't she gorgeous?! She was incredibly nice, too. I always find that makes me like a band that much more because there are some asshole musicians out there.
Some New Favorites
I'm not going to pick just one for this category because there are so many great ones. This list is far from complete but here's a sample:
The Head and the Heart- But I've already talked about them enough.
The Naked and Famous- I discovered them early in the year and I'm just going to attribute it to Merrijoy because she's one of two people I know who understand how AWESOME they are.
Ellie Goulding- HOLY MOTHER OF SHIVA I LOVE HER. How did I not hear about her before?! She might be my favorite Brit. When she sings, she still maintains her British accent but it's not annoying as accents sometimes can be. She does a cover of "Your Song" by Elton John and the video for it on YouTube... Oh man. She's too cute for words.
Dessa- She's another one who I don't know how I missed her before. She's a rapper from Minneapolis and she's just incredible... and that's coming from someone who generally doesn't enjoy rap.
The Book of Mormon- Okay, so this isn't a band, it's a musical. But it's earned a spot as one of the two musicals I actually like (the other being Avenue Q). Hasa Diga Eebowai is... just glorious. Go look it up.
Aaaaand those are my favorites so far. What have been some of yours? Do share! I'm always looking for new music!
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