In anticipation of seeing Girl Talk tonight...

this is how I feel.

Yeah...

You know what I'm

sick and tired of?

I'm sick and tired

of having to eke my way

through life.

I'm sick and tired

of bein' a

nobody.

But most of all...

I'm sick

and tired

of havin'

nobody.

My Labor of Love for America

Here's what I did the past few days to demonstrate my love for the greatest nation on Earth.

The first (and most basic):

Later, after creating most of the pictures included below, I decided I needed a more intense picture for myself:

Here's the picture where I surprised myself with my use of Photoshop. Behold, General Whitney Jones-ington:

Here's Paige Jones, transplanted from the canals of Venice to the harbor of New York:

The wonderful Melia Fonoimoana taking the Labor Day parade to Mt. Rushmore for Independence Day:

Kiss front-woman Megan Rogers rocking out with the original American band:

Matthew Melville strolling with President John Adams on the White House lawn:

The mohawked-2nd Amendment avenger Jake Glazier:

The courageous Elyse Hawks braving the elements as she watches General Washington's historic river crossing from the banks of the Delaware River:

As American as they get, the illustrious Dave Horan:

Captain America Lauren Bytheway:

An Elder's Quorum president (Kevin Firl) riding a giant eagle adorned with a semi-transparent American flag is an Elder's Quorum president I will follow:

Jeremy Jensen, defying the redcoats to his very last moment:

Do not mess with Jared Davis...ever:

Possibly my masterpiece, the greatest thing I may ever produce in my lifetime. I present the Professor, Mr. Jake DeArton, defying the head of the British Empire, King George III:

America the Beautiful, am I right or am I right?

Song of the Next Few Days or Weeks

I discovered my next song-of-the-next-few-days-or-weeks tonight while working on my Summer Jams mix.

It's called "Casual" from Here We Go Magic. I've had their latest album for a couple months, but I've never really given it a fair listen. I remembered seeing something about this song on Pitchfork recently so I decided to given it a spin tonight. It was well worth my time, each of the five or so times I've listened to it tonight. Not many songs are capable of embodying exactly what their title and lyrics suggest, but this song's title and chorus are so perfectly melded with the melody and instrumentation. It's really quite stunning.

Look for it on my forthcoming Summer Jams mix or head over to Pitchfork to give it a listen.

Answer: I don't know but they are.

Question: Why are horns so awesome in rock music?

Sometimes you just have to powerslide.

The National - "Afraid Of Everyone" 5/13 Letterman (TheAudioPerv.com)

This video is fantastic. This band is amazing.

Great site

So I was taking a break from writing something that will probably end up on this blog---yes, I know it sounds strange, but I was writing---and I found an awesome website that has entertained me now for ten minutes. I'm certain it will provide further enjoyment in the near future. Check it out:

Rules for My Unborn Son

New Mix Series - "10 for Friends"

This is my second take on this blog post. I, unfortunately, lost my first attempt to the void that is website/internet malfunctions. This second post will likely be much shorter.

I love to share music with people, and I have since I got seriously into music as a fifteen year old. Not to toot my own horn or anything, because the bands deserve credit, not me, but I have been quite successful in sharing the music I love with my friends. It can be tricky deciding which song or albums to recommend because so much depends on the other person's personality and musical taste. Sometimes it's a shot in the dark, but I think one of the biggest factors in successfully sharing music is to just genuinely love the music. Enthusiasm might not be logically understood, but it's often inexplicably contagious. Maybe that's why I've been able to share my favorite music with my friends.

Anyway, I've decided to create a new series of mixes called the "10 for Friends." The basic idea is that I will choose ten songs from a band that I think an uninitiated listener will enjoy. I plan on starting by making "10 for Friends" mixes for my all-time favorite bands, but any band with at least three albums will be eligible for a mix. I'll even take requests. I don't know how frequently I'll create these mixes. I've already created two, and, along with my two Spring Mixes, I'm feeling the mix-making magic these days.

I will post each "10 for Friends" mix on this blog as well as Sonic Soup, a music blog I am co-authoring. Like my two Spring Mixes, I will make each "10 for Friend" mix available as either a .zip file with the ten individual mp3's or a single mp3 with all ten songs back-to-back. I'm having a lot of fun determining the best track sequence and crossfading the songs into one another.

I will post the first "10 for Friends" mix soon. I'm gonna publish this post before Blogger decides it doesn't want to let me post it. Stay tuned.

Spring Mixes now available

I already posted links on Facebook to my two-part Spring Mix, but I thought I'd put a link here in case anyone might be interested in the mix and didn't see the link on Facebook.

Head over to my music blog, which I plan on using more in the near future, at:

http://sonicsoup.tumblr.com

That's all.