So, I heard the new All-American Rejects song, "Gives You Hell," (off their upcoming album When The World Comes Down) for the first time this weekend. Hear it for yourself:
OK, it starts out a little weird/Coconut Records-ish... (Dig the click track!) But, I've gotta admit, it grew on me super fast. (It doesn't hurt that Tyson has chiseled cheek bones for miles and, being from Oklahoma, probably prefers the Big 12 to the Big 10--and that will be today's transgression into fangirl land. Done and done, I swear.)
But it's actually very catchy, and I can imagine that it will do quite well. Honestly, to me, it sounds more like a summer song, even though the album's coming out Nov. 18. But, you know what? We can't all live in sunny SoCal, so maybe a blast of sunshine in the winter months of Northeast Ohio will be much needed. There's been much anticipation around the band's third record. They've had such mega-hits on the last two, I can't even imagine what kind of pressure that might create. Regardless of how much a band will say they don't care what people think as long as they are making the music they want, there has to be a teensy bit of fear of not living up to previous expectations.
Anyway, I haven't personally heard the rest of the album, but I have high hopes for the album and the band, if only because they also grew up in Central Standard Time (and, you know, the cheek bone thing).
So, I know it's not October yet, but I was at Target today and couldn't resist:
Halloween is one of my favorite holidays (neck and neck with the 4th Of July and Christmas), so I always geek out a little bit when all the decorations and costumes and CANDY are put out and seasonal Halloween mega-stores start opening. Expect more Halloween. Soon.
(PS: That candy is staying at home. If I brought it to the AP Office, it'd be gone in about 2.3 hours. Vultures.)
So, let me start this appreciation of all things college football with a hearty laugh about USC's loss to Oregon State last night.
MUWAHAHAHAHAHA!
I am not a fan of Pete Carroll, and this should humble him a bit (but it probably won't).
Anyway, tomorrow Nebraska (3-0) and Virginia Tech (3-1) will face off in Lincoln. This should be the first real test about just how good Nebraska might be this season. Not that our previous opponents haven't put on some pressure this season, but this is definitely the first game that seems to have much weight to it. It'll be a good primer for our conference opener against Mizzou next weekend.
Tomorrow's game is the first in a two-year series with VT. They're not a team the Huskers play normally. In fact, the only other time the two teams have met was in the 1996 Orange Bowl, and the Huskers (who were still coached by Tom Osborne at the time) won 41-21.
A win tomorrow could possibly put Nebraska into the rankings (they're hovering just outside of the Top 25 in both the USA Today/Coaches poll and the AP poll. But ultimately, I just hope we play well, make our tackles, stay concentrated, and keep the turnovers to a minimum.
And no matter what, it's great to be back in the news for the program being in a good place, rather than bad.
So, I'm pretty sure I should have titled my last blog: "Greetings From Nebraska PLUS Next Cover Stars Revealed!!!!" because only one person seemed to notice that sitting next to the delicious ribs was the new cover.
Or, lots of people noticed, but only one person was excited.
Or, of the four people who read my blog, two were co-workers (so they'd obviously already know who was on the cover), and one was my mom--who also happened to know who was on the cover:
And why did my mom know who was on the cover? Well. I wrote the story.
Remember when I was blogging from Warped Tour, but was always running around attending to "other obligations" and things like that? Well, I was scraping together as much time as possible to hang out with the Dallas sextet. I'd met the band when I was out on the road for the AP Tour last spring, but in all honesty, I didn't get to really talk to them too much, as they were in a van and their schedule was a little different than those of us on the busses. Plus, they filled their days with in-stores and high school performances and pretty much anything else they could be doing to meet their fans and play some tunes, so they weren't around a ton. (I did, however, become friends with Kevin, who was their merch dude on the AP Tour, and now drum techs for Kyle. He is one of the sweetest dudes ever--and pretty much has the best hair I've ever seen. I was truly sorry I couldn't work him into the story, as all the FTSK guys love him, and he's been with the band since they were the Flipside.)
Anyway, so Warped Tour was the first chance I got to spend some real time with the band. All I can say is that the guys surprised me on many levels. It was a bit of a challenge to get them to open up at first, but after some time, I found that they are genuine and totally dedicated to their music.
There was a lot that had to be cut from the story because, well, we only get so many pages. So if you have any questions about the guys that don't get answered in the mag, hit me up. I may not be able to answer it, but chances are it might be something we talked about.
For example, if you are wondering whether or not Jeffree Star crashed the stage during FTSK's Warped Tour performance in San Diego, then let me assure you that no, he did not. (He merely stood on the side ramp.)
One of the best things about coming home is undoubtedly having my parents cook for me. I enjoy cooking, I really do. But there's just something about being home and having a home-cooked meal in the house where you grew up that can't be beat.
That said, my parents pulled out all the stops for Sunday dinner, Nebraska style. My dad smoked ribs all day yesterday (MmmMmmMmm) and my mom whipped up her fabulous Cornflake potato casserole. Pair that with green beans, fruit cocktail, olives, pickled okra, cornbread and a cherry pie, well, needless to say, I'm sufficiently stuffed.
It's the kind of meal that I'm guessing someone else in the pic would approve of, too...
Oh, and just so Jenn isn't the only one with cute doggie photos, this is Chloe, my fam's Havanese:
Once again, there will be no Husker Friday this week, as the Red & White are not playing tomorrow. Good news? No Husker game to stress over. Bad news? No Husker game to stress over.
Instead, I thought I'd provide you with three trailers for films that hit theaters today, two of which I recommend checking out, one of which you can probably avoid.
BLINDNESS
This film looks creepy as all get out, which is normally something I would avoid in the theater because I scare easily and tend to think about films for way too long after I see them, inducing paranoia at all the strange sounds in my house, and sometimes even nightmares. However. This was directed by Fernando Meirelles, the same guy who did City Of Men, City Of God and The Constant Gardner. That, coupled with a really enjoyable cast (Mark Ruffalo, Julianne Moore, Gael García Bernal), is enough for me to go see it.
GHOST TOWN
The tag for the new Ricky Gervais film reads: "He sees dead people... and they annoy him." Similarities in basic principle with Sixth Sense aside, I really think this is going to be an entirely different kind of film. I had a chance to go to a sneak peek showing on Wednesday evening, but unfortunately I had a hair appointment (and my stylist is impossible to get into, at least for Cleveland, so I didn't want to cancel).
However, as all my fellow editors can attest, I am an Office snob, and don't really watch the U.S. version. I just don't think anything they come up with can trump "Free Love On The Free Love Freeway," but that's just me. I'm sure you have a different opinion (unless you're my brother). Regardless, Gervais is comedic gold. Get into it.
MY BEST FRIEND'S GIRL
All apologies to Kate Hudson and Jason Biggs (wait, who are we kidding--it was their decision to be in this movie), but anything that perpetuates the career of Dane Cook deserves to take a long walk off a short pier. Seriously. Why is this guy still popular? Probably for the same reason Bush got re-elected...
Okay, so here's the deal. Saturday morning, I am flying to Nebraska to see my family and visit two of my dearest friends who happen to be expecting their first baby next month. It's a really quick trip, as I'm flying out first thing Saturday morning and coming back to Cleveland on Monday, late afternoon.
I am really looking forward to this trip, and especially meeting the baby bump. My brother, who lives in Omaha, is picking me up at the airport and driving us the three hours home to our parents' house--pretty standard practice for the rare times I make it home. This will give me all day Saturday and all day Sunday, before we have to head back to Omaha Monday morning.
But.
This morning a little piece of my heart was torn out when I had a Gchat from my dad waiting for me...
8:50 AM Dad: Rach, I see that Conor Oberst is going to be in Omaha Sat. w/his new band - Mystic Valley Band
Ugh. Are you kidding me? Mr. Oberst is playing a show Saturday night. In Omaha. A mere nine hours after I land? Which makes it only five or six hours after I'd actually get home?
Ugh.
I haven't seen Bright Eyes/Conor Oberst/any other incarnation live since 2002. That's six years, people. SIX! And I've never seen him in our shared home state. In the time I've lived in Cleveland, he's never come through. And I never saw him while I lived in Boston, either.
I mean, in all honesty, my family and friends are way more important than seeing Conor with his "new" band, Mystic Valley Band. But it's a bit of a kick in the teeth knowing I'll be so close, yet so far away.
So... no Husker Fridays this week. AP had a half day on Friday to have one of our seasonal parties (hosted by the lovely art department), so alas there was no time for the Husker blogging, and I didn't want to jinx them by blogging yesterday. I will say that the Huskers are now 3-0 after handily beating New Mexico State yesterday and (not so handily) defeating San Jose State the week before.
Now. If you weren't still mourning the Ohio State/USC game last night, hopefully you caught the Saturday Night Live season-opener. In the flurry of media activity that is attempting to get to the root of who, exactly, Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin is (and just why this country should or shouldn't vote her into the White House), leave it to SNL alum Tina Fey to knock an impression out of the ballpark. Did it help us learn anything new about the Alaskan governor? No. Not really. But it did make us (well, me) realize that good political impersonations are few and far between, and as much as I love 30 Rock, SNL is sad without the Fey-ster.
Case in point:
EDIT: Apparently the original embedded vid is no longer available, so here it is, direct from nbc.com. Deal with the Oil Of Olay commercial--the video is actually much better quality.
Last night I saw a sneak preview of Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist. I'm not going to give anything away just yet--it doesn't come out until Oct. 3 (look for my official online review closer to the release date). I will tell you two things, though.
1: You'll never look at a piece of chewing gum the same way again.
2. The soundtrack is killer.
It would make sense that a film with the word "playlist" in the title would have a good soundtrack, but there's plenty of room to set up high expectations there, only to let the audience down. Good thing Linda Cohen and Mark Mothersbaugh know a thing or two about putting music in movies. I am currently obsessed with "Speed Of Sound," Chris Bell's track that opens the soundtrack and the movie. You should listen to it immediately, if not sooner.
That being said, I can think of plenty of scenes from movies that are made that much better by the music being played... A couple off the top of my head: "Stuck In The Middle With You" during the ear cutting scene in Reservoir Dogs. Could Michael Madsen have danced to any other song in that scene? I don't think so. Or what about in High Fidelity when Barry takes out Dick's copy of the new Belle & Sebastian and replaces it with "Walking On Sunshine" as part of his Special Monday Morning tape? Classic.
What are some of your favorite uses of music in movies? Inquiring minds want to know.
I went to see one of my fave bands this weekend: Dear And The Headlights. If you tuned into AP's recent visit to WCPN, you already heard me gush about DATH and their upcoming album, Drunk Like Bible Times. I hadn't seen the band in awhile, and this was definitely the first time I was going to be seeing them when they were playing new music.
Anyway, the show was in this tiny room within Peabody's--a venue in Cleveland I don't frequent too often. I'd never been in the "Rockstar" room, which essentially has a bar in the middle, a "stage" wedged in one corner, and (I kid you not) "The Make-Out Room" in the other. There weren't a whole lot of people there--less than 30, which is a total bummer as these guys sound really great live (even when the sound in the room is poor).
However, the people who were there (about 8 of them, anyway) were dancing up a storm. The band played about half new material and half old, and the new stuff is really, really bouncy--in a good way. I don't think I immediately got that just from listening to the MP3s on my iTunes, but Bible Times is definitely dance-worthy. And even though not too many people were there, it was almost better that way, because it feels more like you're getting a private performance. DATH have the potential to really blow up (I think), so there may not be that many more opportunities to see them in that small a setting. (Case in point: The night after I saw them, they were playing Allentown, Pennsylania, with Motion City Soundtrack and Margot And The Nuclear So And Sos...)
Not that DATH haven't done some high-profile tours. I mean, they did open the Paramore/Jimmy Eat World tour this past spring. I'm definitely excited to see the reaction to their new music and also see what kind of press/tours they pursue.
In the meantime, here's a clip of "Paper Bag" (off last year's Small Steps, Heavy Hooves) with America's Emo Sweetheart Hayley Williams on guest vocals:
So, I'm gonna try to do a weekly "theme" blog, and talking about the Huskers on Fridays seem the most logical... See, I'd rather discuss them pre-game style, then have to worry about blogging after the game, potentially talking about a loss. Fridays are still full of College Football Saturday Amazingness(TM) anticipation and the hopes of all the sacks and big hits and big runs the next day will surely bring. Basically, Herbstreit and Corso ain't got nothing on me with their College Gameday antics. (Okay, that's not true at all. Even if they're both usually idiots when it comes to the Huskers, they're pretty entertaining to watch. I can't promise that level of satisfaction--mostly because this blog doesn't come with a cheerleader-adorned screaming student section in the background.)
So, let's recap. Last Saturday, the Huskers opened their season at home vs. Western Michigan. The Huskers won with a final score of 47 to 24. That's a pretty solid win, considering it's a brand new coaching staff. You can read all the details in the official recap.
And while it was a solid win, (and hey, a win's a win, right?), there was definitely more passing than rushing when it came to our offense, a trend that began with the period helmed by He (and Him) Who Must Not Be Named.
Anyway, here's a look at Nebraska's offense: Rushes-Yards.................. 31-138 Net Yards Passing............ 345 Total Offense Yards......... 483
Nearly 500 yards of offense isn't bad for the first game out, it's just the ratio of pass to rush that I still have a little trouble dealing with. I mean, hey, I know I should be thinking whatever gets the job done is good enough for me. But I'm bad with change. I miss running the Option. I miss smashmouth, grind-it-out-by-5-or-6-yards-at-a-time-thereby-wearing-out-your-opponent offense.
But I miss winning the Big 12 more. So if we have to be a more passing than running team, and Pelini can still fire up the players and the fans, inspiring the old Husker Spirit(TM) that was strangled out the past few years, then I can deal with it. Mostly, though, because my ecard-making friends give me the option to talk it out:
So tomorrow when Huskers take on San Jose State, I'll cheer for every caught pass, and all the yardage it hopefully brings. The Spartans are apparently going to come out confident (they picked this game over playing Tennessee, thinking it would be an "easier" win for them. I'm sure that was before we had an awesome coach again... Muwahaha!)
I just hope the team look confident, sharp and like they're having fun--no matter the outcome or the offensive plays we take to get there.
"Not the victory but the action. Not the goal but the game. In the deed the glory."
I've spent the better part of the day trying to digest the new Coldplay album, Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends. Yes, I know it's been out for a while. But that's what happens when you work at AP--any Top 40 band who you would listen to in your "real life"* sort of takes its place in the back of a long line of bands who we may actually potentially cover.
Anyway, back to Coldplay. I just don't get it anymore. Maybe it's because I'm trying to listen to it for the first times at work. Unless you're wearing headphones, this never really works. Mostly because, well, I'm actually working. We happen to be in production on an issue, and between wrapping up this one and planning for the next couple, there are always e-mails to send, phone messages to return and meetings to schedule. I keep turning the volume up to try to "hear" it better, but that really only ends with me trying harder to tune it out when I need to attend to something else (and probably irritates Scott, with whom I share an office wall--not that that's anything I usually take into consideration). The best place for me to really listen to new music is in my car. It's about the only time I have that's completely unobstructed by outside destractions. (Note to publicists: If you want me to listen to the new band you just signed, maybe you should have the disc delivered directly to my car. It's the gray 2008 Corolla with the sunroof parked out front.)
So what does this all have to do with Coldplay? I dunno, but I think I have a point somewhere... Ah, yes. I used to LOVE Coldplay. Like, seriously. Love. I actually never minded the over-saturation of "Yellow" on the radio, and when Zach Braff put "Don't Panic" on the Garden State soundtrack, it only enhanced his musical genius in my mind. And then there's A Rush Of The Blood To The Head. I actually wore out my copy of this CD (CDs--remember those?) and had to buy a second one. This album came out right around the time I was starting my junior year in college. This was a particularly difficult year for me, and Coldplay spoke to me through this album. I felt like I could escape in these songs (or that Chris Martin was writing them just for me), and I don't care who knows it now.
I don't think there's a single song on that album that I don't enjoy. It's also one of those "lay on the floor and listen to the whole thing through" albums (which used to be my rating system for a perfect album. See also: Beck's Sea Change and Wilco's Summer Teeth).
As far as Coldplay post-Rush, I just couldn't get into them the same way. Maybe I wasn't connecting with the music on the same kind of emotional level. I don't think I ended up even hearing X all the way through--just a single or two. You'd think that if I loved a band so much, I'd be stoked for all of their follow-up material, but I just didn't get too excited for it...
I don't know why, really. Am I product of the ADD generation, getting bored with something that is still quality? Did some part of me view them as getting too big/mainstreamed to be worthy of my indie tastes? I don't feel that way with every band, so I'm not sure what the reason is. I guess there doesn't really have to be an answer, but sometimes it's funny to think about bands you once cherished and realize that they are now only a footnote in your musical life--even though they're still very much together and recording and touring.
I guess that happens with lots of things in life--roommates, ex-co-workers, neighborhoods... Things can mean everything at certain points, and then grow to not fit anymore. I guess that's one of the cool things about music--there's always something new waiting to grab your attention and define a time and space in your life.
Just don't ever be ashamed of who those bands once (or now) were for you. No matter how much crap your fellow editors dish out.
(*Real Life= Any sort of love one had for music before becoming employed by AP. My "real life" music habits would surely be mocked by most of my fellow editors, including but not limited to, Jason Pettigrew.)
So, my blogs obviously can't really compete with super cute puppy pics, holes in ceilings, or double-layered wetsuits. But I did go on a mini-vacation this weekend, soo....
This weekend, I finally saw the U.S. Capitol. It's pretty sad that I'm 26 and I've only ever seen the National Monuments in pictures and on TV, and the only place I'd actually been in DC was the 9:30 Club (well, that part's not sad--that part's kinda cool, actually).
Anyway, for whatever reason, I'd never managed to make the trip. My parents have been--I was too little to go when they went. My brother's been--on a 4-H-related trip. (Google 4-H if you're not from the Midwest. Seriously.) I was in Vienna, Virginia, for a wedding on Saturday, so Sunday was spent all day seeing the DC sights. Everything from the Capitol to the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. I also really loved the WWII memorial, which I guess is fairly new. I would have liked to have gone to Arlington Cemetery and to the Vietnam Wall, but I guess those are good reasons to go back. I did get to go through the Air & Space Museum and the Museum of Natural History. The coolest thing about the Smithsonian Museums might be that they're free (and seeing the Hope Diamond was pretty rad, too). But seriously, I'm not really sure why all museums aren't free. You know all the big ones have loads of donor money, and what's the point of having a chunk of history sitting somewhere if you're going to charge people $27 to view it? Anyway, random tangent.
The only bad part is that The Mall in DC requires a WHOLE lot of walking (which I'm sure you know, because you've been, because really, who--besides me--hasn't?), and I, foolishly, wore my cute red sandals--even though they give me blisters. Needless to say, my feet are still paying the price. (Hence the blog title.)
I also spent some time in Old Town Alexandria, which was pretty neat. I saw Tropic Thunder there and, I kid you not, the movie theater had a one-drink minimum. For real. This is my kind of place.
Of all the activities during the weekend, though, the quick stop-over in Baltimore yesterday on the way to the airport might have been my favorite. Not because Baltimore is super rad or because I had tickets to a game at Camden Yards (which would have ruled). But because my favorite show on the Food Network is filmed there: Ace Of Cakes!
You can't exactly go inside Charm City Cakes, but there's no one stopping you from posing for a picture out front:
