Hey look I haven't updated this in a week. Oopsies! I've been busy and haven't been using the internet too much at all. At least as much as is normal for me. Anyway, this blog won't be for a lot of self reflection or anything but this piece is all about me because I'm slightly narcissistic.
I don't have any sort of set thing I want to talk about so I'm gonna stream of consciousness this bitch. I made stream of consciousness a verb. What are you gonna do about it? Anyway, I guess I'll start with my social interactions with people. Something I've noticed is that I try to be as nice as possible to people until I get closer to them and then I tend to be asshole mixed with nice. I hope that at that point people know that I don't mean anything by being a dick. I think this characteristic developed from having an older brother or two plus a dad that doesn't mind teasing either. It's just how the interaction has been in my life. The weird thing is that I'm really not mean to people I don't like. I just try to be as polite as possible to them and talk shit about them to my friends and/or family. It's my inner Seattlite. Passive aggressivity is fun. It's probably not the best way to go about life, not confronting anyway, but I've found that I rarely alienate people this way and that it's easier to be civil than to get into an argument. So in summation: nice with hints of asshole to friends, nice to neutral people, possibly overly polite and civil or just quiet to people I don't like. So if I'm a dick to you, don't worry! I like you! Or else you've been a giant, giant douchenozzle. Also, being quiet around you doesn't mean I don't like you, it just means I don't have anything good to say or don't know you that well. I always err on the side of silence.
When people ask me what I do in my free time, I don't really have a good answer. Most of my time, when alone, is spent dicking around on the internet or watching TV or playing video games. An exciting life for sure. I just hate doing some things alone. Like if I wanted to play football or some shit, I wouldn't just walk up to a field of people playing and ask to play, both because I don't generally just walk up to someone and talk to them and because my football and other athletic abilities aren't so good that I wouldn't feel like I was ruining their game or whatever. And I don't run because I have terrible endurance and don't want to look foolish running in public. I'm up for doing a lot of different stuff with friends, it's just a matter of actually doing it I guess.
It's weird, my language is a lot more vulgar in written form than out loud. I don't really swear that often verbally in general. I never swear in front of my parents either. It's just not that natural I guess. The main times I do cuss up a storm is when watching sports or playing video games. It's a good way to put aside that pent-up frustration when I get angry at Sean White or at myself for swinging at a curve up eight feet off the plate. But I use swear words to add verbal flourish and/or emotion to a sentence, not just to use them. Saying "stop sucking you fucks" says so much more than "stop sucking you poopheads".
In general, what frustrates me more than anything is antagonistic ignorance. When I try to explain something to someone and they either get pissed at me for pointing it out or don't care and continue doing it their way, it's frustrating. I guess I can't do more than suggest something to someone but when the thing is something simple, like a spelling problem I notice a lot or a different way of doing something they might not have thought of, it's annoying to face such resistance.
When people have the frownies, I always try to give them the bright side. I've always felt I've been good at looking at two different sides of something. Sometimes this isn't helpful but I think it always help a little bit to look on the bright side of the situation and sometimes people can't see it at that moment. Otherwise, I don't always have much to say other than "That sucks" or "Aw, I'm sorry" which doesn't sound very sincere. But if you really do have a bad thing going on and I give you a meh answer, it's not because I don't give a shit, it's just because I don't know what to say.
And to close, words and symbols I overuse: >_>, whoopsies, ! (since I cannot convey excitement very well in my speaking voice I compensate with sometimes sarcastic internet excitement), well, really, God, aw, :P, lol (I hate myself everytime I use this), clearly, apparently, like, I guess, Jew. Likely more that I'm forgetting.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Random Thoughts
These will probably happen every so often. Nothing big to write about so just these ~bullet points.
-Toy Story 3 is awesome. Go see it now if you haven't. Go see it again if you have. The universe Pixar has created with that franchise - and managed to maintain through three movies - is just fantastic. I love the fact that Mr. Potato Head is a wisecracking semi-coward with Mrs. Costanza as a wife. And that Ham is somehow an expert on a ton of different things that no one else knows about. And that Rex is a giant wuss but still tries his darnedest to be tough. And that Bullseye doesn't talk and is so loyal to Woody. Woody and Buzz are icons clearly but it's the supporting characters that really make the movies for me. I love that Ken is ambiguously gay and that Buttercup the stuffed unicorn is voiced by this guy. It's hard to say if it's the best movie Pixar has made but it's definitely up there. If you don't come close to getting teary eyed at the end, then I envy your abilities to hold back tears and question your status as human or robot.
-My phone's auto correct, while helpful, is sometimes bothersome. If you type something it doesn't recognize, it will add it to its dictionary. This is problematic at times though, since if it senses the wrong word and I go back and hit space again, that word is saved. So stuff like gejl is in there now.
Also words like Wentworth and Friendster are somehow pre-programmed into it. Which comes in handy if I'm ever talking about Prison Break or dead social networking sites. But other than that and its frustratingly small battery life, I love my phone.
-The Mariners have won 4 straight! And somehow lost 1/2 a game in the process. I don't exactly have hope again since the offense has still been pretty pisspoor in those games and Rowland-Smith wasn't that fantastic today but it's nice that they can actually win games every once in a while. The sad thing is that it won't be enough to keep Cliff Lee around. When he leaves I will be a sad panda. He is the best pitcher I have ever seen. I still feel like the trade was worth it even for these 2 months of pure awesome we've gotten out of Lee. If there was a way we could keep him forever it would tickle me pink but I don't see it happening without a stupidly expensive. contract. The good news is that the M's do have some prospects doing well in the minors. Dustin Ackley and Miguel Pineda could be ready next year and Nick Franklin is beasting the Midwest League as a 19 year old. Which makes me think "Oh God, people younger than me are starting to play professionally." Such a weird feeling.
-Song I'm currently loving: Australia by the Shins
-Podcast you should be listening to: Adam Carolla Show. It's pretty racy at times but it's pretty damn funny. Each are like 90 minutes long. It's fun just to listen to him talk about the most random shit that makes him angry.
-Random vent-ish: Kinda frustrating to be getting so few hours at work compared to others my age. I'm getting less than 20 each week and this week I'm only working 2 days. It's nice to have free time but it would also be nice to have money to spend during that free time. It would be one thing if I was told what I could do to improve more than I have (besides being more friendly, which I think I have been for awhile). I haven't even had my yearly review I was supposed to have in May. Which is also tied to whatever raise I may get. I just wish I knew what I could be doing better. If I'm too slow at something or not doing something right, tell me so I can do it better or suggest another way to do it. I'm a smart guy and have a decent amount of common sense.
-School-wise, I'm shocked that I got an A in philosophy but I did work pretty hard to show my professor drafts of my essays and to try to fine tune them into good finished products. Almost more surprising is the A- in geology but it's not like I failed it. I just find it odd that I got an A in my sophomore level classes but an A- in my intro to rocks class. I didn't try as hard though because it wasn't very challenging but probably too much so. This is why I couldn't do core classes in high school. Things being too easy makes me not do them as well as things that challenge me. Anyway, I don't want this to sound like bragging. It's not, I'm just happy about the grades I got and that I'm doing well in college thus far. And terrified for my 20-credit fall quarter.
-Toy Story 3 is awesome. Go see it now if you haven't. Go see it again if you have. The universe Pixar has created with that franchise - and managed to maintain through three movies - is just fantastic. I love the fact that Mr. Potato Head is a wisecracking semi-coward with Mrs. Costanza as a wife. And that Ham is somehow an expert on a ton of different things that no one else knows about. And that Rex is a giant wuss but still tries his darnedest to be tough. And that Bullseye doesn't talk and is so loyal to Woody. Woody and Buzz are icons clearly but it's the supporting characters that really make the movies for me. I love that Ken is ambiguously gay and that Buttercup the stuffed unicorn is voiced by this guy. It's hard to say if it's the best movie Pixar has made but it's definitely up there. If you don't come close to getting teary eyed at the end, then I envy your abilities to hold back tears and question your status as human or robot.
-My phone's auto correct, while helpful, is sometimes bothersome. If you type something it doesn't recognize, it will add it to its dictionary. This is problematic at times though, since if it senses the wrong word and I go back and hit space again, that word is saved. So stuff like gejl is in there now.
Also words like Wentworth and Friendster are somehow pre-programmed into it. Which comes in handy if I'm ever talking about Prison Break or dead social networking sites. But other than that and its frustratingly small battery life, I love my phone.
-The Mariners have won 4 straight! And somehow lost 1/2 a game in the process. I don't exactly have hope again since the offense has still been pretty pisspoor in those games and Rowland-Smith wasn't that fantastic today but it's nice that they can actually win games every once in a while. The sad thing is that it won't be enough to keep Cliff Lee around. When he leaves I will be a sad panda. He is the best pitcher I have ever seen. I still feel like the trade was worth it even for these 2 months of pure awesome we've gotten out of Lee. If there was a way we could keep him forever it would tickle me pink but I don't see it happening without a stupidly expensive. contract. The good news is that the M's do have some prospects doing well in the minors. Dustin Ackley and Miguel Pineda could be ready next year and Nick Franklin is beasting the Midwest League as a 19 year old. Which makes me think "Oh God, people younger than me are starting to play professionally." Such a weird feeling.
-Song I'm currently loving: Australia by the Shins
-Podcast you should be listening to: Adam Carolla Show. It's pretty racy at times but it's pretty damn funny. Each are like 90 minutes long. It's fun just to listen to him talk about the most random shit that makes him angry.
-Random vent-ish: Kinda frustrating to be getting so few hours at work compared to others my age. I'm getting less than 20 each week and this week I'm only working 2 days. It's nice to have free time but it would also be nice to have money to spend during that free time. It would be one thing if I was told what I could do to improve more than I have (besides being more friendly, which I think I have been for awhile). I haven't even had my yearly review I was supposed to have in May. Which is also tied to whatever raise I may get. I just wish I knew what I could be doing better. If I'm too slow at something or not doing something right, tell me so I can do it better or suggest another way to do it. I'm a smart guy and have a decent amount of common sense.
-School-wise, I'm shocked that I got an A in philosophy but I did work pretty hard to show my professor drafts of my essays and to try to fine tune them into good finished products. Almost more surprising is the A- in geology but it's not like I failed it. I just find it odd that I got an A in my sophomore level classes but an A- in my intro to rocks class. I didn't try as hard though because it wasn't very challenging but probably too much so. This is why I couldn't do core classes in high school. Things being too easy makes me not do them as well as things that challenge me. Anyway, I don't want this to sound like bragging. It's not, I'm just happy about the grades I got and that I'm doing well in college thus far. And terrified for my 20-credit fall quarter.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Why am I a Sport Fan?: Depressing Edition
It's times like these where I wish I didn't grow up in Seattle so I wouldn't have to be a Seattle sports fan. Though I suppose liking terrible sports teams here is better than liking terrible sports teams in Cleveland. But it would save me a lot of grief. In my most memorable times as a fan, I have seen my favorite baseball team miss the playoffs for eight straight years (soon to be nine!) and seen my favorite football team make the Super Bowl once and lose in heart-breaking fashion. I've also seen my favorite basketball team suck and then proceed to move to one of the few places in the country I never want to visit. On top of all that my favorite college team has had mostly mediocre and bordering on terrible football teams and good but not great basketball teams. Oh how I pine for the late '90s and early oughts.
My sports fandom began about 15 years ago. I heard about the Washington Bullets and thought "hey aren't they from around here". I was 5, shut up. You're laughing at the innocence of a kindergartener. I hope you feel like an ass. But shortly thereafter, I fell in love with the Sonics. I remember Payton and Perkins (man, he was so fun to watch) and Kemp and Schrempf and Hawkins and, weirdly, Eric Snow. I vaguely recall watching a Sonics-Bulls game (it may have been the '96 Finals but I can't say for sure) and seeing Gary Payton "foul" Michael Jordan and help the Sonics lose closely. I have had a slightly negative opinion of Jordan since. This wouldn't be my last experience with poor officiating, unfortunately. The Sonics were so, so good when I was a kid. I remember them starting 8-0 in the lockout year and then proceeding to finish .500 and miss the playoffs. Short of the 2005 season, my memories of the Sonics are of frustration from poor management to sadness because of their unceremonious departure. But I have been lucky enough to see those aforementioned players on top of Lewis and Allen and one season of Durant. I will always have the Sonics to thank for introducing me to the wonder that is sports, even if it did end in heartbreak.
But it's the Mariners that I have the strongest affinity for and who have caused me the most frustration. I remember the day of my first game remarkably well considering how poor my memory of some things in my early childhood is. It was an August (or possibly May. I don't remember all the details.) game against the Twins in 1996. My dad picked me up at daycare (St. Columbus! Star Lake represent!) and said we were going to a Mariners game. Being 5, I couldn't really protest. I'm hoping it was more excitement than anything. My uncle Bill and cousin Billy were there as well. These were the days where you could sit a few rows behind home plate for fairly cheap. Yay Kingdome. I don't really remember the result, though I think the Mariners may have won. Baseball Reference says no if it was August but whatever, that's not important. I didn't know what a home run was. I was cute in my complete ignorance of the game up to that point.
But I would say that is the start of my fandom. I remember bits and pieces of the wildly successful 1997 season and Randy looking mortal in the playoffs. I was at the game the day Randy got traded and remember either not understanding the trade or just having not heard of the players we were getting back (Freddy Garcia?!?!? Who's that?!). I remember Russ Davis coming up to Sweet Home Alabama and Jay Buhner coming up to Bad to the Bone. I remember portions of the last games in the Kingdome and remember at my first game in Safeco marveling at how wide the aisles were. And the bathrooms were actually usable. I remember the day Griffey was traded and how befuddled I was by the package we got back (boy did that work out. <3 Cammy)
But my biggest memories of the childhood Mariners come from 2000 and 2001. I remember Who Let the Dogs Out playing for A-Rod in what would be his last season as a Mariner. I recall coming home from school and seeing Carlos Guillen (good riddance Randy! (not really)) bunt home the winning run against the White Sox to move on to the ALCS. I think I was actually at a couple of ALCS games (though that might be 2001. or both. Thank you, dad's coworker who had season tickets). But it ended in heartbreak thanks to Arthur Rhodes and David Justice. Then 2001 came. The best team ever assembled. Looking back I really can't see any holes based on their performance besides the terrible Al Martin. My biggest memories, besides the general joy that comes from following a team so dominant, are the terrible loss in Cleveland after being up 14-2 and the 116th win. On the day of the Cleveland game, I remember going to some far-ish off place and hauling back a bunch of plants or something and helping my dad with them. "Oh, we're up by 12. Well this will hold." Guess not! Then I remember Kazu striking out A-Rod for the last out of the 116th win and how amazing that felt. I don't remember actually seeing the celebration of clinching the division with the flag and all that when it happened but that was still pretty fantastic.
Then the playoffs came. We barely scraped it out against Cleveland. My dad and I were at Disneyland for the first time and I remember wanting so badly to know how the Mariners were doing against the Indians and how well the Huskies did against UCLA (not very!). The Mariners lost 17-2(!) that day and the Huskies lost 35-13 after starting undefeated. What a terrible sports day in an otherwise amazing first time at Disneyland. Then I remember listening to Game 4 on the way back from the airport the next day. I remember the sense of despair that would become so familiar when they were down 1-0 going into the 7th. But they rallied and pulled off a 6-2 win. Then Jamie Moyer locked them down in Game 5 and on they went to New York. Then everything went wrong. The series started off 0-2, then the Mariners won game 3 and looked like they were going to win game 4 until Bernie Williams tied it in the 8th (Arthur Rhodes :( ) and Alfonso Soriano won it in the 9th. And then from there it was just a downward spiral. Two straight 93 win teams that missed the playoffs. Then the terrible 2004 and 2005 and bad 2006 with shades of decency. Then the false hope of 2007 followed by the swift kick to the balls of 2008.
Perhaps I assumed that my teams would always succeed early on. Look at that 7 year period from 1995-2001. The Seahawks sucked but I wasn't really a fan as much at that point. The Sonics made the NBA Finals in 1996 and were mediocre to outstanding until 2002-03. The Huskies were still expected to win every year and won a Rose Bowl and nearly a national championship. But then everything went to hell more or less from there. The Seahawks were good and consistently in the playoffs but were only able to make the Super Bowl once (though they probably should have won) and have been terrible for two straight years. The Sonics are gone. The Huskies have made their way back to decency in football and have been good in basketball but still had some terrible years. The Mariners have been many different shades of terrible.
But as I said in the previous post, most of the reason I am a sports fan is the potential joy I get from watching sports. Whether it's watching Felix hit a grand slam off of Johan freaking Santana in an otherwise lost season or seeing Shaun Alexander in his prime cutting up defenses. Going through all of this suffering now will only make things sweeter when the wins actually come. The Mariners, this year notwithstanding, have righted the ship from the terrible Bavasi years and have smart management. It will take some time to heal all the wounds formed by the 2004-2008 seasons but things are overall positive. I will get to watch Franklin Gutierrez and Felix Hernandez for the next 5 years and hopefully Ichiro for just as long. The Seahawks didn't have as terrible of an offseason as I assumed when Carroll came in and hopefully will be respectable this year. The Huskies have a Heisman candidate at quarterback this year and can hopefully improve on their year last year. Their basketball team has almost all the same starters coming back and will hopefully be less raw and better. Sonicsgate's success and Gary Payton's recent comments leave us hope as far as getting a team back is concerned. While we as Seattle sports fans have overall led a miserable existence, it has at least been fairly short and we have had some great teams to watch for all of our major teams. And id our teams being bad is the worst thing in our lives, then things are pretty good aren't they? At least I'm not avoiding making plans to watch the Mariners as much as I had anticipated for the summer.
My sports fandom began about 15 years ago. I heard about the Washington Bullets and thought "hey aren't they from around here". I was 5, shut up. You're laughing at the innocence of a kindergartener. I hope you feel like an ass. But shortly thereafter, I fell in love with the Sonics. I remember Payton and Perkins (man, he was so fun to watch) and Kemp and Schrempf and Hawkins and, weirdly, Eric Snow. I vaguely recall watching a Sonics-Bulls game (it may have been the '96 Finals but I can't say for sure) and seeing Gary Payton "foul" Michael Jordan and help the Sonics lose closely. I have had a slightly negative opinion of Jordan since. This wouldn't be my last experience with poor officiating, unfortunately. The Sonics were so, so good when I was a kid. I remember them starting 8-0 in the lockout year and then proceeding to finish .500 and miss the playoffs. Short of the 2005 season, my memories of the Sonics are of frustration from poor management to sadness because of their unceremonious departure. But I have been lucky enough to see those aforementioned players on top of Lewis and Allen and one season of Durant. I will always have the Sonics to thank for introducing me to the wonder that is sports, even if it did end in heartbreak.
But it's the Mariners that I have the strongest affinity for and who have caused me the most frustration. I remember the day of my first game remarkably well considering how poor my memory of some things in my early childhood is. It was an August (or possibly May. I don't remember all the details.) game against the Twins in 1996. My dad picked me up at daycare (St. Columbus! Star Lake represent!) and said we were going to a Mariners game. Being 5, I couldn't really protest. I'm hoping it was more excitement than anything. My uncle Bill and cousin Billy were there as well. These were the days where you could sit a few rows behind home plate for fairly cheap. Yay Kingdome. I don't really remember the result, though I think the Mariners may have won. Baseball Reference says no if it was August but whatever, that's not important. I didn't know what a home run was. I was cute in my complete ignorance of the game up to that point.
But I would say that is the start of my fandom. I remember bits and pieces of the wildly successful 1997 season and Randy looking mortal in the playoffs. I was at the game the day Randy got traded and remember either not understanding the trade or just having not heard of the players we were getting back (Freddy Garcia?!?!? Who's that?!). I remember Russ Davis coming up to Sweet Home Alabama and Jay Buhner coming up to Bad to the Bone. I remember portions of the last games in the Kingdome and remember at my first game in Safeco marveling at how wide the aisles were. And the bathrooms were actually usable. I remember the day Griffey was traded and how befuddled I was by the package we got back (boy did that work out. <3 Cammy)
But my biggest memories of the childhood Mariners come from 2000 and 2001. I remember Who Let the Dogs Out playing for A-Rod in what would be his last season as a Mariner. I recall coming home from school and seeing Carlos Guillen (good riddance Randy! (not really)) bunt home the winning run against the White Sox to move on to the ALCS. I think I was actually at a couple of ALCS games (though that might be 2001. or both. Thank you, dad's coworker who had season tickets). But it ended in heartbreak thanks to Arthur Rhodes and David Justice. Then 2001 came. The best team ever assembled. Looking back I really can't see any holes based on their performance besides the terrible Al Martin. My biggest memories, besides the general joy that comes from following a team so dominant, are the terrible loss in Cleveland after being up 14-2 and the 116th win. On the day of the Cleveland game, I remember going to some far-ish off place and hauling back a bunch of plants or something and helping my dad with them. "Oh, we're up by 12. Well this will hold." Guess not! Then I remember Kazu striking out A-Rod for the last out of the 116th win and how amazing that felt. I don't remember actually seeing the celebration of clinching the division with the flag and all that when it happened but that was still pretty fantastic.
Then the playoffs came. We barely scraped it out against Cleveland. My dad and I were at Disneyland for the first time and I remember wanting so badly to know how the Mariners were doing against the Indians and how well the Huskies did against UCLA (not very!). The Mariners lost 17-2(!) that day and the Huskies lost 35-13 after starting undefeated. What a terrible sports day in an otherwise amazing first time at Disneyland. Then I remember listening to Game 4 on the way back from the airport the next day. I remember the sense of despair that would become so familiar when they were down 1-0 going into the 7th. But they rallied and pulled off a 6-2 win. Then Jamie Moyer locked them down in Game 5 and on they went to New York. Then everything went wrong. The series started off 0-2, then the Mariners won game 3 and looked like they were going to win game 4 until Bernie Williams tied it in the 8th (Arthur Rhodes :( ) and Alfonso Soriano won it in the 9th. And then from there it was just a downward spiral. Two straight 93 win teams that missed the playoffs. Then the terrible 2004 and 2005 and bad 2006 with shades of decency. Then the false hope of 2007 followed by the swift kick to the balls of 2008.
Perhaps I assumed that my teams would always succeed early on. Look at that 7 year period from 1995-2001. The Seahawks sucked but I wasn't really a fan as much at that point. The Sonics made the NBA Finals in 1996 and were mediocre to outstanding until 2002-03. The Huskies were still expected to win every year and won a Rose Bowl and nearly a national championship. But then everything went to hell more or less from there. The Seahawks were good and consistently in the playoffs but were only able to make the Super Bowl once (though they probably should have won) and have been terrible for two straight years. The Sonics are gone. The Huskies have made their way back to decency in football and have been good in basketball but still had some terrible years. The Mariners have been many different shades of terrible.
But as I said in the previous post, most of the reason I am a sports fan is the potential joy I get from watching sports. Whether it's watching Felix hit a grand slam off of Johan freaking Santana in an otherwise lost season or seeing Shaun Alexander in his prime cutting up defenses. Going through all of this suffering now will only make things sweeter when the wins actually come. The Mariners, this year notwithstanding, have righted the ship from the terrible Bavasi years and have smart management. It will take some time to heal all the wounds formed by the 2004-2008 seasons but things are overall positive. I will get to watch Franklin Gutierrez and Felix Hernandez for the next 5 years and hopefully Ichiro for just as long. The Seahawks didn't have as terrible of an offseason as I assumed when Carroll came in and hopefully will be respectable this year. The Huskies have a Heisman candidate at quarterback this year and can hopefully improve on their year last year. Their basketball team has almost all the same starters coming back and will hopefully be less raw and better. Sonicsgate's success and Gary Payton's recent comments leave us hope as far as getting a team back is concerned. While we as Seattle sports fans have overall led a miserable existence, it has at least been fairly short and we have had some great teams to watch for all of our major teams. And id our teams being bad is the worst thing in our lives, then things are pretty good aren't they? At least I'm not avoiding making plans to watch the Mariners as much as I had anticipated for the summer.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
My Single of the Decade
Well this is 6 months late. Anyway, the last decade was a coming of age decade for me quite literally. I can't say more so than the previous one because I literally became an age during that decade but still, I went from pre-pubescent grade school student to post-pubescent college student. And as such, my music tastes changed drastic. I don't listen to whatever is on Kiss 106.1 anymore. At some point I stopped buying Backstreet Boys albums (hey, I was 10. Don't act like you didn't want it that way) and started buying Black Keys albums. I went from getting all my music from the radio to only listening to the radio if necessary. Anyway, this song comes from the middle of the decade and I didn't really realize the effect until much later. It's weird that this song comes from my least favorite album by them by far but the song just stands out. I remember listening to The End and hearing them introduce this new song and liking it immediately. Then, when MTV2 used to play music, it was on the rock countdown videos for quite some time. Anyway, here it is, without further ado:
I suppose it helps that it had a pretty good video (if a little inappropriate). Me loves some David Cross. Anyway, I never get tired of this song. Ever. I could listen to it all day, every day. I don't know what it means. It probably doesn't mean anything. But everything about this song is amazing. The vocals from Julian Casablancas (who I admit I have a slight mancrush on). The bass line. The guitar. The steady drum beat. This song epitomizes everything I like about music.
Now a lot of people don't like the Strokes, mainly because they feel Julian Casablancas is a pretentious prick. This is pretty much true! However, that doesn't matter to me. I don't really care if he's a dick if he writes music like this. It's a shame they haven't come out with an album for over 5 years but they are apparently working on one now.
The Strokes became one of my favorite bands, if not my favorite, a couple of years ago. I heard Juicebox again randomly after not hearing it for awhile and then I thought "hey, this band is good". Then I checked out their best and debut album, Is This It? That album is one of my favorites of all time. Every song on there is good. Which makes it hard to pick one as a favorite. It was the Strpkes at their best. It's nothing too groundbreaking but every song is a solid alternative song.
So yeah, there's my song of the decade. I don't know what the deep lyrical meaning is, nor can I describe why I really like the musicality of the song that much. I can only say that I will listen to this song whenever I can and not get tired of it. After all, isn't that the quality we most want in our music?
I suppose it helps that it had a pretty good video (if a little inappropriate). Me loves some David Cross. Anyway, I never get tired of this song. Ever. I could listen to it all day, every day. I don't know what it means. It probably doesn't mean anything. But everything about this song is amazing. The vocals from Julian Casablancas (who I admit I have a slight mancrush on). The bass line. The guitar. The steady drum beat. This song epitomizes everything I like about music.
Now a lot of people don't like the Strokes, mainly because they feel Julian Casablancas is a pretentious prick. This is pretty much true! However, that doesn't matter to me. I don't really care if he's a dick if he writes music like this. It's a shame they haven't come out with an album for over 5 years but they are apparently working on one now.
The Strokes became one of my favorite bands, if not my favorite, a couple of years ago. I heard Juicebox again randomly after not hearing it for awhile and then I thought "hey, this band is good". Then I checked out their best and debut album, Is This It? That album is one of my favorites of all time. Every song on there is good. Which makes it hard to pick one as a favorite. It was the Strpkes at their best. It's nothing too groundbreaking but every song is a solid alternative song.
So yeah, there's my song of the decade. I don't know what the deep lyrical meaning is, nor can I describe why I really like the musicality of the song that much. I can only say that I will listen to this song whenever I can and not get tired of it. After all, isn't that the quality we most want in our music?
Friday, June 11, 2010
Why I'm a Sports Fan: Non-Depressing Edition
If you know me very well, you'll know that I am quite the sports fan, mostly baseball but also football and, less so, hockey. Baseball is what I know the most about and what I love the most, for some stupid reason (but we'll get to that reason in a later post). But why do I like sports so much? They're just men in matching outfits exercising after all. It's a legitimate question. After watching the World Cup today, though, I think I may have an answer.
Now I know very little about soccer compared to most of the world. I am aware that the ball gets kicked and the object is to get it into the goal. I know the reasons for offsides and yellow and red cards. But other than that I don't know much. I know some team, mostly in the Premier League and the Barca and AC Milan types in the other leagues. (And the MLS teams but that's like knowing all the AAA teams (which I do!)). I don't know many players and I don't know much strategy. But I do enjoy watching the World Cup and, maybe, hopefully, more than that after this is over. And the reason? The tension.
I was watching the Uruguay-France game today. Now a lot of soccer (I'm not ready to call it football yet) fans said it was a pretty bad game to watch. A 0-0 tie, with Uruguay just trying to stop France from scoring most of the time. And even though it appears France can't shoot very well at all, it was intense just waiting to see if they would break the tie and leave Uruguay with a heartbreaking loss. I was rooting for Uruguay because, while France is a cool place, they are a supposed soccer power (though apparently not this year!) and Uruguay is a pretty small South American country. Plus I love that shade of blue. Uruguay is one of the forgotten countries of South America (you know, besides Suriname and Guyana. Speak Spanish or be bigger, idiots*) so I think it would be cool for them to go far.
Anyway, Uruguay's strategy appeared to be to have all 11 (or 10 after a late red card) stand in the defensive zone and stop France from doing anything. From what I saw, they had no interest in scoring at all and were going for the 1 point from the draw, even more so after they had to play one down. The tension of watching that and wondering whether France would finally break through and score was pretty exhilarating for someone who has barely watched any soccer at all. And this sort of feeling goes into my watching of all sports. I always wonder when something is going to happen.
The anticipation of action is overpowering when watching sports for me. When I watch football (mainly the Seahawks because o the emotional investment) I get that feeling in my stomach when you get excited about something. I'm hoping they can drive down the field to score whenever they have the ball. And I always, sometimes stupidly, have the hope that they do. I always hope and, sometimes stupidly, assume they will stop the other team and get back to scoring when they are on defense. Obviously this hasn't exactly worked out great but still the excitement of waiting for it to happen is nearly addictive. The hope for the joy that comes from achievement of a team I love is what I live for.
And then there's baseball. There's always the tension there. The pauses in the game amplify the tension more than take away from it. You could say that a David Aardsma save (I said start originally. Whoopsy!) is the biggest source of adrenaline you can get because good lord does he give up a lot of fly balls. Anyway, whenever a game is going on, I'm always thinking about what the batting team needs to do to score or how the pitcher needs to attack the hitter to get out. In some cases, it's futile (you are terrible, Ian Snell). In others, it's all sorts of amazing (don't leave, Cliff Lee). But watching your pitcher get that big strikeout or double play ball to end the opposing team's rally is one of the more exhilarating experiences you can have in watching something, as is a player coming through in the clutch on your side.
So what I'm saying in this wall of text is that the excitement of the potential of an event happening and the joy (or despair) that comes from it are the main draws of watching sports for me. Even in a game where I have little emotional investment in a sport I have only a basic knowledge of, I get that feeling of excitement when watching. Obviously it doesn't match what comes from actually playing but that's still different. Seeing my team succeed that I've rooted for since I was 5 and have been watching closely that entire time would pay off more for me than scoring a winning touchdown in a pick up football game. Though each is pretty damned awesome, the years of watching and hoping finally paying off would make me so ecstatic. And the Storm don't count.
Now I know very little about soccer compared to most of the world. I am aware that the ball gets kicked and the object is to get it into the goal. I know the reasons for offsides and yellow and red cards. But other than that I don't know much. I know some team, mostly in the Premier League and the Barca and AC Milan types in the other leagues. (And the MLS teams but that's like knowing all the AAA teams (which I do!)). I don't know many players and I don't know much strategy. But I do enjoy watching the World Cup and, maybe, hopefully, more than that after this is over. And the reason? The tension.
I was watching the Uruguay-France game today. Now a lot of soccer (I'm not ready to call it football yet) fans said it was a pretty bad game to watch. A 0-0 tie, with Uruguay just trying to stop France from scoring most of the time. And even though it appears France can't shoot very well at all, it was intense just waiting to see if they would break the tie and leave Uruguay with a heartbreaking loss. I was rooting for Uruguay because, while France is a cool place, they are a supposed soccer power (though apparently not this year!) and Uruguay is a pretty small South American country. Plus I love that shade of blue. Uruguay is one of the forgotten countries of South America (you know, besides Suriname and Guyana. Speak Spanish or be bigger, idiots*) so I think it would be cool for them to go far.
Anyway, Uruguay's strategy appeared to be to have all 11 (or 10 after a late red card) stand in the defensive zone and stop France from doing anything. From what I saw, they had no interest in scoring at all and were going for the 1 point from the draw, even more so after they had to play one down. The tension of watching that and wondering whether France would finally break through and score was pretty exhilarating for someone who has barely watched any soccer at all. And this sort of feeling goes into my watching of all sports. I always wonder when something is going to happen.
The anticipation of action is overpowering when watching sports for me. When I watch football (mainly the Seahawks because o the emotional investment) I get that feeling in my stomach when you get excited about something. I'm hoping they can drive down the field to score whenever they have the ball. And I always, sometimes stupidly, have the hope that they do. I always hope and, sometimes stupidly, assume they will stop the other team and get back to scoring when they are on defense. Obviously this hasn't exactly worked out great but still the excitement of waiting for it to happen is nearly addictive. The hope for the joy that comes from achievement of a team I love is what I live for.
And then there's baseball. There's always the tension there. The pauses in the game amplify the tension more than take away from it. You could say that a David Aardsma save (I said start originally. Whoopsy!) is the biggest source of adrenaline you can get because good lord does he give up a lot of fly balls. Anyway, whenever a game is going on, I'm always thinking about what the batting team needs to do to score or how the pitcher needs to attack the hitter to get out. In some cases, it's futile (you are terrible, Ian Snell). In others, it's all sorts of amazing (don't leave, Cliff Lee). But watching your pitcher get that big strikeout or double play ball to end the opposing team's rally is one of the more exhilarating experiences you can have in watching something, as is a player coming through in the clutch on your side.
So what I'm saying in this wall of text is that the excitement of the potential of an event happening and the joy (or despair) that comes from it are the main draws of watching sports for me. Even in a game where I have little emotional investment in a sport I have only a basic knowledge of, I get that feeling of excitement when watching. Obviously it doesn't match what comes from actually playing but that's still different. Seeing my team succeed that I've rooted for since I was 5 and have been watching closely that entire time would pay off more for me than scoring a winning touchdown in a pick up football game. Though each is pretty damned awesome, the years of watching and hoping finally paying off would make me so ecstatic. And the Storm don't count.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Okay, this one is actually about a disc.
I'll preface this by saying that I'm not good at describing why I like music or any of the technical parts of it. But I know what I like.
Band of Skulls is a band of three Brits who do indeed have skulls (presumably. I assume they couldn't function otherwise). Baby Darling Doll Face Honeyis their debut album and it was released in March of 2009. If I had to describe them I would use the cliche comparison to the White Stripes. They have two lead singers, Russell Marsden and Emma Richardson. So perhaps that's where the White Stripes comparisons come from, though Emma sings a lot more than Meg does and appears to be more talented. (I said it. As much as I like them, she isn't that technically gifted but she gets the job done as far as the band goes.) I really haven't heard them get much play, nor do I really know anyone else who likes them but I don't really listen to the radio so maybe that's why. I also regularly confuse them with Band of Horses because, well, looks at the similarities in those names. I actually discovered it through my dad. He said that the album was really good and I was sort of hesitant to listen to it at first but eventually it grew on me. The song that really got me hooked is "Blood".
This song stood out to me because the whole song just flows really well. Emma's voice and the guitar are in sync and the guitar just has a rolling quality the whole time. It's one of those songs that has a simple solo that's just a variation on the chorus but often times those are the best solos.
Most of the songs are fast paced but there are a couple slower ones. "Fires" and "Cold Dull Heart" are such examples. They work surprisingly well given the general tempo of the album. If I had to pick a worst song, it would be "Death by Diamonds and Pearls". It's not necessarily bad, I just find it a little repetitive. This is also the rare example of a band where I like the woman's voice more than the dude's voice and this song is just Russell singing. The best songs are when their voices complement each other.
If I had one song for you to listen to, it would be "I Know What I Am".
This is the best example of the singers' voices playing off of each other. It's one of their singles, as evidenced by the video. The constant bass line is always there and that's one of the things I look for in a song. (Note: it might actually be guitar. Like I said, I'm not so good with the music description thing.)
Anyway, I would recommend you picking this up. If you like the two embedded songs, you'll likely also enjoy the rest of the album. It's nothing revolutionary but it's just a solid, consistent rock album. Though if you don't like the White Stripes or bands like them, then avoid it.
Oh, I didn't see you there
Why hello there. You might know me. I'm that kid who doesn't talk that much. And when he does it's all monotone and sarcastic and shit. But enough about me, let's talk about my blog. What is up with that name? Well, a sphere is a round three-dimensional shape. Oh wait, you already knew that? Sorry, it's hard to keep a dialogue up with a hypothetical reader. Anyway, the name comes from the fact that my two passions in life are geography and baseball. The earth is a sphere (okay, well not a perfect sphere but close enough. Stop nitpicking, imaginary audience) as is a baseball. So there. Get your testicle jokes out of the way. I'll wait.
Okay with that out of the way, you might wonder, "Is he just going to talk about Istanbul's economy and the state of the Mariners' AA team all the time?" Well, no. I'm going to blog about whatever might tickle my fancy at that particular time. It could be a movie or an album or just some random thoughts that are floating around my head at the time. I have these thoughts all the time, it's weird. Like I'm a sentient being or something. So anyway, to the eight of you who will read this, I hope you enjoy! And I will try to not forget about this in three days.
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