Opeth

Hey guy(s), it's been a long while. I know I haven't posted in a while, and it basically all my fault. Seems like its really hard for me to remind myself to update something unless its right in front of my face all the time!
Anyways, just as a kinda filler until the other poster and I get back into some sort of groove, I'm-a tell you about a band I just discovered via my older brother, Chris.
Their name is Opeth! They're a death metal band, but wait... don't leave just yet! They have a ton of mellow stuff. In fact, they have a whole album that has nothing but mellow songs! Well, mellow compared to their usual fare.
The album is called "Damnation" and so far, my favorite song is the second track, called "In My Time of Need."
Youtube link!: http://youtube.com/watch?v=FHBzSqeM6KQ
I just adore all the weird chords and things they use, and especially the way he delivers the verses all chopped up. Very cool. I do have one of their heavier albums called "Ghosts of Perdition," but I haven't given it a real sit down and listen yet. I did see them live however, which was basically how I was introduced to them. It was great! The concert had a pretty good vibe going around. Plus, the two opening bands were pretty good.

And hey, it was my birthday on Monday! Which, all I did was work and write part of a paper... it would've sucked but I got called/left facebook posts/left voicemails by tons of people wishing me happy birthday, so that pretty much made my day! Love you guys! Then I also got a book of poems by Langston Hughes from Soph, and it is very awesome! Its kinda hard to get used to at first, but once you get in the "groove" of it, it just becomes more beautiful. Very simplistic at times, but thats almost what makes it most beautiful.
I'm also borrowing Rilke's book of hours, which is pretty good... just really hard to get! Plus, there was a ton of introductions that I half skipped through just to get to the poems. It is fun looking at the german translation to see what lines would've rhymed in the original... too bad I don't speak german! But yeah, enjoying both of those.
I've been on a bit of a Dylan kick lately... I bought three of his albums: "Blonde on Blonde," "Highway 61 Revisited," and I borrowed "Blood on the Tracks." So far I've only really listened to "Blonde on Blonde" which I absolutely adore... but I listened to his best of before getting these cds so I am also very familiar with "Like a Rolling Stone." I love that song! Trying to learn it on the guitar now, but most of it is in the memorizing and the delivery! Still, while on youtube, I found this gem:

Enjoy!
'til next time,
-Tom

Terra Naomi

I just got an import of Terra Naomi's CD, Under the Influence, in the mail today. I'm liking it so far! I was listening to her back when it was just her and no drums or bass or extra guitars. She is backed up by a full band this time around, but luckily they add to her music and not take anything away.
You can check out her website at: http://www.terranaomi.com/ .
If you haven't heard her before, heres some of her youtube videos to check out:
"Say It's Possible (Acoustic)"
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ARHyRI9_NB4

"Say It's Possible (Official Music Video)"
http://youtube.com/watch?v=9qo8-NlgRa4

"Up Here (Official Music Video, Uncensored)" some eff words and such.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=3CUkylQ7150

Enjoy!
-Tom

Fwd: Thank You in a Christmas Card

I never forward these, but I think this is a really great idea.
If you are wondering why you got this, it's because I sent it to all of my contacts.

Hello All,

    As Christmas season approaches we begin to reflect on how truly fortunate we are, and all the blessings we have been given.  I think that at this time it is only proper to also think of the brave men and women who have risked their lives for our freedom.  I think a small Thank You in a Christmas Card is the least we could do.   Please read on.

This request came  from the wife of one of our heroic vets...

When doing your Christmas cards this year, take one card and send it to this address.  If we pass this on and everyone sends one card, think of how many cards these wonderful special people who have sacrificed so much would get.

A Great Idea!!!


When you are making out your Christmas card list this year, please include the following:

         A Recovering American soldier
         c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center
         6900 Georgia Avenue, NW
         Washington,D.C. 20307-5001

If you approve of the idea, please pass it on to your e-mail list. Thank you!

                          Catherine Walsh

--
"Maybe we've been caught signing 'Red, White, Blue and Green!' Well that aint my American dream"- Swtichfoot, from the song American Dream on 'Oh! Gravity."

"Once"

Starring Glan Hansard and Marketa Irglova, “Once” is the story of an Irish street musician and vacuum repairman, and a Czechoslovakian flower-saleswoman. She hears him playing his beat-up guitar outside a shop, and they begin a lasting friendship. They play together a little, her on the piano and him on guitar, while both sing, and eventually record a demo album. The acting was brilliant, although neither Glen nor Marketa had ever acted before. The music is amazing. The cinematography is very limited due to the sub-$200,000 budget. Considering this film was made in Ireland, it is no surprise that there is a massive amount of language. All in all, “Once” is a beautiful, well-made, funny and inspiring film. **** 3/4

Too bad they won’t be making “Twice”.

A Close Friend

Anybody who reads this, please take a moment and say a quick prayer for a close friend of mine and Tom's. Her name is Helen. She contracted e-coli at a young age, which did significant damage to her kidneys.This has caused her, among other things, to be pretty short, and she is thus dubbed a gnome. She is now 17, and is currently undergoing surgery to transplant one of her mom's kidneys into her. The operation is to say the least dangerous, and me and my all my friends would sincerely appreciate if you would just say a quick prayer fot the success of the operation and the treatment to follow. To find out more about Helen or to see how the operation is going, go to www.HelenTheGnome.com, and http://helengnomeupdates.blogspot.com

Sincerely,
Patrick

And now for something completely different...

Heres a filler until one of us gets a proper post up:

Long Time... No Post

Sorry I haven't posted in so long. It's cuz nothing has happened since forever, so I have nothing to post about. I am going to Australia next July with Tom and some other people. Oh, I really don't have much of a job anymore. Well, that's 'bout it.

The Original.

1979 MV for "Message In a Bottle."
Embedding was disabled, so I can only provide the link:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=MeQ2yXE1mpU
P.S. I love the drummer.

Summer

Man... I'm sick. Which is kind of sad. I mean, it's the beginning of the summer and I can't really do anything because I am so sick. For those of you that know me, I think it is basically the same cold I had before (and after) the auction. Yeah, meaning soon I'll probably lose my voice. What a party!!

The "prom."

Patrick and I went to an awesome dance, an awesome dance that rocked the house down! They had a quartet play, then a DJ, and it was all cool!
-Tom

Sons of Day

Tom and I were at a concert last night. Bands Sons of Day, The Thirsting, and Hyperstatic Union all played. I had not even heard one song by Sons of Day, but they rocked the house. They are 4 brothers from the Ukraine. They are so cool. I bought the CD and got it signed by all of them. Go to their site and by a hard copy of the CD.

Here is a video of their song "This Place"

Haha.

You make me laugh Patrick. And you also kick butt ;)

Friends

Hey Everyone,
I have really cool friends (like Tom, he kicks friend-butt). Just thought you'd like to know.

Patrick

At War With the Mystics

A few weeks back I picked up the Flaming Lip's latest album, "At War With the Mystics." The album is very brilliant, much up to this band's caliber. First of all, the Flaming Lips are known for being weird and out there, especially music wise. Naturally, once you break through that first layer of "weirdness" you'll find deeper meanings to most of their songs, especially songs such as "Do You Realize" from "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots" and "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song" from their latest release.

I personally enjoyed this album for a few reasons: the vocals, the fantastic effect the music has on you, plus some of the songs are pretty catchy. The lyrics are always good, if even a little weird. The art is pretty cool, nothing extraordinary, but pretty cool. They have an instrumental song on here called "The Wizard Turns On (His Silver Flashlight and Puts On His Werewolf Moccasins)" which is actually pretty fun to listen to, even if there aren't any lyrics. I especially get the feeling you get listen to the songs. You feel almost like you are floating in space... until you open you eyes again.

Alright, I'm gonna end this post with a video.

Video for "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song."

Life... (again)

I decided to look at the world through new eyes. If you look at the world with a frown on your face, something makes you feel cynical and depressed. Well the reverse is true too. If you smile, and then look around you, things seem to  be a whole lot happier as a whole. I was just sitting, with nothing to do, so I decided to feel good. I smiled, and just thought of how good I have it. I have friends (at least some of them) who really care about me and who I really care about. I have a loving family with no alcoholism or adverse poverty. I every day I get farther from the possibility of someday finding myself curled up in a blanket under a bridge. I everything I need, and really, when I think about it, I would not change a thing. Okay, I would solve world hunger and poverty and disease, but none of that is in my life. So yeah, if I could I would not change one thing about my life. See what happens when you smile???

-Patrick

Switchfoot Awakening

Flashback: Mr. Wendell

Ok, today I had a flashback. I was walking out of the classroom to get a stapler from the office, and I remembered how last year, every time some one left Mr. Wendell's classroom during class, as soon the door had closed, he would make some joke about him or her. “Look at him go, that dork!” “She has no idea she looks so stupid!” and other remarks were far from uncommon. Man I miss those days. In fact I spent the rest of the walk to the office reminiscing about by-gone tragically good times. Well, Mr. Wendell, suffice it to say we all miss you… a lot!!

Band stuff

A friend of mine and I are starting a new band. Unfortunately, we can't agree on a name. In fact, the one name we did come up with that was really good, Skeptic Heart, was already taken. Yeah, now I need another name. Our current name is Nothing Once, but beware, thqat is subject to change. Enjoy the far-from-finished website.

Patrick

WolfMother

I got a new album a few days ago. It's the smash hit debut from the Australian rock trio called WolfMother! I love it. Love it, love it, love it.
I first heard a WolfMother (or "played it, as it were) on Guitar Hero II. It quickly became one of my favorite songs, with its driving beat and awesome guitar work. That song was "Woman" which won the grammy for best hard rock performance in 2007. And personally, I think it deserved it.

Anyways, on to the review. First off, the album is pretty much a throwback to 70's rock, especially in the Led Zeppelin vein. The vocals are pretty good-unique, but not annoying. Lots of "Yeah!" and exclamations like that. The guitar work is very awesome. Considering you only have one guitarist, they were probably a bit limited (sure, you can layer tracks on a cd as often as you want, but you will have to play as many of those live as possible sometime). Some songs (such as Woman), during the solo, just have the Bass player take a break from, um, bass-ing, and go on to do the keyboard solo. The drums themselves are also pretty good. The band themselves are hard rockish, so the drums contain a lot of fills to keep the song on its toes. My only complaint is that some of the songs contain extra-long bridges inbetween choruses, or verse and chorus, or whatever. However, I still love the album. I also love how they end it, with a mostly acoustic song called "Vagabond." The song is perfect, when you start it, if you turn it up, you can hear one of the band members say "This is a song about innocence lost," and then it goes on.

So, pros: Catchy guitar hooks, catchy song-writing. Somewhat good lyrics (nothing controversial or political, mostly fantasy stuff about unicorns and stuff.) A good number of tracks (13), that are never way too long or too short.
Cons: They haven't come out with another album yet.

I'll end my review with a video:

Mother's Day

I Have been gone all weekend in Seattle. Actually, a little South of Seattle in the all-but-abandoned town of Bremerton. It is amazing that this dead town could have just one living cell, that being the 2 blocks around my hotel. Well I am enjoying myself. Hope you are too.

patrick