Two Weeks | Grizzly Bear

From their newest album, Veckatimest, the track Two Weeks is one of the best songs, with an enjoyable, upbeat melody, and a fast pace, it’s a great song to listen to to cheer your moods. And after a great summer ending for me, this album is perfect to lighten me up. You can download it from iTunes here.

Last Flowers | Radiohead

Truly one of the best tracks on In Rainbows, and truly one of the most beautiful alternative rock tracks out there. As a big fan of Radiohead, as musicians and as people, their newest album is one of my favorite albums of all time. From the beginning to the end, Last Flowers takes the listener through a death, and how even with an end brings new beginnings, new love, and new memories. If you haven’t bought this album yet, my only question is: why not?

Taking Leave

Readers of the blog may remember I talked about Taking Leave last week, more specifically about the fact that the whole album was on YouTube in it’s entirety, for free. However, since then, I’ve gotten my hands on a physical copy of the album, and here’s my verdict: Taking Leave is one of the best albums I’ve listened to in a long time (and it’s not even a full-length album.) Tom Milsom’s awing vocal abilities, along with Alan Lastufka’s beautiful poetic lyrics are a match made in musical heaven.

The most intriguing part of this album is that neither Milsom or Lastufka had metbefore earlier this month. For seven months, Taking Leave was produced by two men with miles in between their locations. Milsom recorded all the tracks in London, England, while Lastufka worked in rural Chicago. All communication and work was received over the Internet, which is also how Milsom and Lastufka met. And for those who thought the distance would make the album feel somewhat empty, Taking Leave says otherwise.

Throughout Taking Leave, you get an idea of romance, and relationship. Whether it be in the feelings of true love, or the heartbreak of loss, you’ll understand what’s trying to be expressed through the lyrics and vocals. The songs go in a somewhat chronological order of relationship, and show the feelings of both a man and a woman, and how their love slowly breaks apart, and how, after they leave each other, they rethink what could have been. This romantic timeline shows, especially in tracks like Can’t and The Wind.

Both Milsom and Lastufka have made a masterpiece, there’s no questioning that. If you don’t believe it yourself, you can listen to the album for free on YouTube, as I said above. Check it out and see if you enjoy it. And if you end up falling in love with the poetic lyrics, and wonderful vocals, you can buy Taking Leave here for six dollars.

The only question that’s left is, what’s next? Milsom is already working on his next album, set to be released through DFTBA Records in early 2010, and Lastufka is working on his next album, with vocals from Raven Zoe, and collaborating with many other musicians known on the Internet, also to be released with DFTBA Records. So, rest assured, this talent won’t be going to waste, and this won’t be the last of Lastufka or Milsom.

Shaiku

Sharks are so badass./They can eat cats in seconds./SHAAAAAARRRRRRRK.

Why Sharks Are Better Than Cats

• Sharks don’t leave dead birds on your doorstep.
• You don’t have to clean a shark’s litterbox.
• Sharks actually are dangerous. THEY CAN EAT YOU.
• Sharks have a whole week devoted to them on Discovery Channel.
• Sharks don’t just lay around the house and sleep. SHARKS ACTUALLY DO SHIT.
• Sharks aren’t afraid of the water.

Important Life Questionz

• Where did we come from?
• What is our purpose?
• Is their life out there?
• Why didn’t the Trix rabbit just get any Trix?
• Is it infected?
• Did you really do my mom?
• Why is questions spelled with a “z” in the title?
• Can you stop writing this post? Please?

Going Sober

“You do anything long enough to escape the habit of living
until the escape becomes the habit.” 
-David Ryan

I’ve been using technology a tad too much, I feel. To the point where it’s done with no point, just used as an escape to nowhere, nothing to accomplish. So, for at least the next seven days, I’m going sober online. (With the exception of a few tweets here and there.)

Over these next few days (or weeks), I’ll be reviewing many things. I’ll be reviewing this blog, how I post, what I post, and how my sense in the Tumblr community is played out. I’ll be playing around with how this tumblelog is, from it’s themes, to it’s morals, to it’s design, to it’s title (and of course, it’s content.) In order to get better, I believe, you must step back, and see what you’ve created.

I’ll also be looking at myself. I’ll be seeing how I use technology, how I can change it, and how I can still have an active presence online with spending less time online (oxymoron, amirite?) Everything I’ll be looking over will help me, and this website, and my whole presence online, hopefully grow and get much better.

So, how long will this hiatus last? At the least, I’ll be offline for five to seven days. However, at the most, I’ll be offline until September (probably somewhere between those two points. Don’t worry, I won’t be gone too long.)

So, don’t unfollow me on here, or online anywhere. This break is only temporary, and I’ll still be around here and there, just not as often as I would be normally. If you need to contact me, reply me on Twitter (and, if it’s urgent, direct message me).

Thanks for all you guys do, whether it be contributing to my websites, or just simply reblogging with nice input. I hope you understand where I’m going with this, and where I’m coming from. The Internet is a tool, but not to be an addiction. I’ll try to break the habit as best as I can. And, if I know you guys well enough, thanks in advance for the support.

Oh.

So, apparently, this blog is one year old today.

And apparently, I’ve reached 430 followers.

And apparently, you guys are all awesome.

GOOD EVENING INTERNET.

i AM NEW TO THE INTERNET AS I HAVE JUST INSERTED MY aMERICA oNLINE DISK AND DIALED ON THE INTERNET AND HAVE NOT HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF OWNING AN ELECTRONIC MAILBOX. SOMEONE PLEASE RESPOND TO ME SO I GET ELECTRONIC MAIL DELIVERED TO ME AND BE ASSIGNED AN ELECTRONIC MAIL BOX BY THE ELECTRONIC POSTMASTER GENERAL.

Was Harry Potter good?

I’m seeing it tonight with friends, and the reviews seem mostly positive, but I’ve been hearing somewhat mixed reviews. Is it good? Is it good for kids? Is it too much of a romantic comedy? (I don’t like romantic comedies much.) Review it in the comments, or on Tumblr.

Google vs. Facebook: The Fight for Online Search

As any close friend of mine knows, I love to read, and one of my favorite magazines of all time has to be Wired. I recently read an article published by them in their July 09 issue, where they discussed how Facebook could become he next Google and invent new ways of advertising, search, and even reinvent the Internet. To myself, this seemed pretty absurd. A world where Google wasn’t number one? How could Google not remain at the top? Facebook’s only presence online is as a social network; a MySpace killer. But then I thought about it, and I came to the conclusion that I simply do not know if Wired’s thinking was out of line with what might happen.

Take it this way. There could be two ways of search to use:

Google’s way would be with algorithms, mathematics, and bidding, making online search almost an auction for the top hit. It’s not biased, but based off of how many people have visited it. For example, if you were looking for a doctor, the top result would be the most clicked link in your region; whether or not that’s who you’re looking for or the result you wanted, that’s what Google wants as the top result, for the Internet chose it.

Facebook’s version of search would be asking a close circle of your own friends, decided upon by you, what they think on a certain topic. It could be biased, depending on your friends. For example, using the doctor search again, you friends might have great luck with one doctor, while you might not. However, though it’s online, Facebook’s search is what we all do on a daily basis; ask those around us their opinion on something.

Facebook’s growth has been astonishing, with an online population of 200 million. (If Facebook was a country, it’d be the 8th most populated.) Each of those members contribute information, photos, and video to the site. Though Facebook refuses most offers for the product, they had accepted an offer with Microsoft over Google, which gave the company many looks. However, Google’s still clearly beating Facebook in a profiting point of view, making 15.6 billion last year, while Facebook only made 275 million.

I’m not going to rewrite the article for you, and if you’re really interested you can read it here (which I suggest you do). However, I do want to know, out of the two types of search I discussed, Facebook or Google, which would you rather use? In all honesty, I’m not sure which I’d prefer, so I want to get your input. Leave a comment with your answer.

Before you leave your response, just remember this: Five years ago, a company with a new, resourceful idea would turn down large offers for their product from large companies. People laughed that they wouldn’t accept such large offers, and thought they’d never go anywhere. Today they’re one of the most influential tools on the planet, and have become a household name. That company, was Google.

How I Woke Up This Morning

I was sleeping calmly under my overs, and mycousin, who also is celebrating his birthday today, opened this huge, music playing card, right up to my ear, and started playing the Star Wars theme song. FML. (Oh, and happy birthday Nate!)

Perez Hilton v. Will.I.Am

So, apparently there’s new gossip. Well, at least according to PerezHilton.com, which I, like, read, like, daily!!1!!1!!one!!!eleven!!1! (/sarcasm) But this story’s a little more public, not just Perez’s basic reviews of dresses/CDs/babies. And it ends with blood, Twitter, and videos (just the way I like the end of stories).

Apparently, Perez Hilton wrote a negative review of The Black Eyed Peas’ newest album, The E.N.D. Fergie was upset by this, and asked Perez at an award show after party why he didn’t like her. Perez tried to explain that it wasn’t toward her, or her voice or even her band, it was just that he didn’t enjoy the album (which, even though I despise him deeply, is entitled to believe and say). Fergie then told Will.I.Am how much his comments upset her, and took matters into his own hands by approaching Perez and asking him to never be blatantly mean to the Black Eyed Peas.

Here’s where the story gets confusing, as there’s two sides to the story. So, I’ll tell the two sides in separate parts.

Perez’s Story

According to Perez, Will.I.Am told him to ‘never speak about the Black Eyed Peas ever on his blog’, to which he replied that he’d try but he couldn’t guarantee. Will.I.Am kept telling not to just ‘try’ but to ‘do it’. Again, Perez said he’d try, and to respect that, to which Will.I.Am replied something along the lines of “I have no respect for you.” Then a war of words broke out, ending in Perez calling Will.I.Am a faggot (irony huh?) and leaving the after party. Soon after, Perez noticed that Will.I.Am and his manager followed him outside the club. Will’s manager came up to Perez, and began to beat him, about three of four times.

Perez and his bodyguards quickly drove back to the hotel, which coincidently was the same hotel where the Black Eyed Peas were staying. Perez was panicked that his life might be in danger, so he called the police. When they said they’d try to send someone over, but had to care about real emergencies first, Perez tweeted out that he was in danger, and got thousands of people to call the police to get someone to come over to the hotel. Hilton later made a video claiming Will.I.Am was a ‘coward’ and a ‘liar’.

Will.I.Am’s Story

Will’s story follows along the similar lines of how the original ended, meaning he calmly explained to Perez that he could still blog about the Black Eyed Peas, but to stop being blatantly mean. Hilton apparently responded saying that he didn’t need to have respect for him, or his band. The war of words went on and on, and Will eventually gave up. As Perez was leaving, Will just happened to be leaving at the same time. Will decided to just try and ask Perez one last time if he could try to be nicer in his posts about the Black Eyed Peas, to which Hilton called Will.I.Am a faggot in front of a large crowd. Fans of the Black Eyed Peas began to get angry, and according to Will, beat on Perez. As for anything that happened afterward, Will has no memory of, except for the Twitter army filing a case against him.

So, what’s my final verdict? Perez has said that ‘violence is never the answer’, which I agree with, because I am a huge pussy solutions can be found in other ways. However, this man’s job is to talk crap about other people, so when something like this happens to him, it’s hard for me to feel sympathy for him. However, whether it was Will.I.Am, a fan, a manager, Batman, or Debbie Downer, it’s still not right. However, if Perez was wrong and Will.I.Am or his manager didn’t even touch him, then Hilton’s got some apologies and explaining to do.

But the real moral of this post is that the news for the week sucks if a teenaged boy has nothing else to report on other then a homosexual and a rapper getting in a fight violence is never the answer, but neither is lying. And I can tell you this much; something’s fishy in this story.

I’ll keep you updated on the story (though I hate reporting on gossip so much. I mean I’d rather work seven hours a day picking gum off the bottom side of tables then write gossip reports. Isn’t that what PerezHilton.com’s fo- oh, right.)

Wrong Email Address

A Minneapolis couple decided to go to Florida to thaw out during a particularly icy winter. They planned to stay at the same hotel where they spent their honeymoon 20 years earlier.

Because of hectic schedules, it was difficult to coordinate their travel schedules. So, the husband left Minnesota and flew to Florida on Thursday, with his wife flying down the following day.

The husband checked into the hotel. There was a computer in his room, so he decided to send an email to his wife. However, he accidentally left out one letter in her email address, and without realizing his error, sent the email.

Meanwhile, somewhere in Houston , a widow had just returned home from her husband’s funeral. He was a minister who was called home to glory following a heart attack.

The widow decided to check her email expecting messages from relatives and friends. After reading the first message, she screamed and fainted.

The widow’s son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor, and saw the computer screen which read:

To: My Loving Wife
Subject: I’ve Arrived
Date: March 21, 2009

I know you’re surprised to hear from me. They have computers here now and you are allowed to send emails to your loved ones. I’ve just arrived and have been checked in.

I’ve seen that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing you then!!!! Hope your journey is as uneventful as mine was.

P. S. Sure is freaking hot down here!!!!

How The iPhone 3GS Will Change The World

Today at exactly 7 AM EST, Apple released their newest generation of cell phone, the iPhone 3GS. While it looks just like the iPhone 3G and has the same user interface, it contains many key components, such as twice the speed and video filming and editing, that make the 3GS a game changer for cell phones, and for everyone.

Let’s take the Iran election for example. Thanks to iPhone applications like Tweetie or TwitterFon, Iranians are tweeting their revolution and updating everyone around the world with text updates on their stolen election. However, imagine if Iranians had the iPhone 3GS during these protests. Not only would we receive text updates on the clashes, but we would see live streams on Ustream, or Qik, and more videos being uploaded to YouTube. We would no only be able to read about the revolution, but we would be able to see it, almost like we’re there.

The 3GS provides a new medium that has never really been explored by cell phones (and their users): video. With the power of being able to film anything amazingly fast, live stream what’s going on, and upload clips to YouTube, people won’t just know when something happens, they’ll see it instantly, and respond instantly. The power of video is that you can see, and not just read.

The new iPhone also will allow business to be done quicker, and more efficiently. With twice the speed of the original iPhone, things can get done pretty fast. Imagine emailing with a client on your iPhone. As soon as they send you an email, you’ll get a notice, open up the Email app, and reply within five minutes of their message. You’ll be able to finish things, work with communications, share things easier with new features like copy and paste, and do business (and manage your social life too) much quicker and easier.

So, the iPhone 3GS will change the world in many ways. You’ll soon be able to document everything, not only with text but through images and video. You’ll be able to do business extremely fast, and this single piece of technology may be able to change the way you live. As soon as Apple gets rid of their horrible server, AT&T, I might get one. Today is not the beginning of an evolution of phone, but rather, it’s the beginning of a revolution of phone, one that may single handedly change the world.