Tequila Sunrise

oh portishead...i love thee. This song is brilliant.
omg its been a month since i last posted? wow. Well so much has happened in the past month. My vacation was amazing, like seriously. I finally am figuring out who i am as a person. I know for sure where i want to be, but as an individual i feel everything is coming full circle. So yeah, the caribbean was amazing, wow. i have so many funny pictures you all must see, but i don't like posting pictures of myself, so eventually when i get a facebook or something i'll post them. I met so many great people and it was just beautiful. My tan is perfect i must say as well...Next year we are thinking another cruise, not sure where though. But thats also with me and blake going to spain next summer. ahhh hellllll yeahhhh.
so some things happened, and now i'm not moving till january. I'm kind of sad, but not so much, this leaves me more time to get things ready and still enjoy the holidays down here. So whatev. Not to mention all of the crazy fun that will ensue 3 weeks from sunday, for my 21st birthday!!!
Its really strange, i used to hate the taste of alcohol, but when i was on the cruise we were return guests, so there were a lot of open bar, free drink parties, and i started having a few, and then another, then another, then another, then another, and before you knew it, i was drunk for the first time EVER. Honestly, i used to never understand why people drink, i mean why would someone want to get drunk? But i never knew how good it feels! or how incredibly social i become. I mean i was talking to everyone, singing karaoke, it was greattttt. So i mean, this isn't going to be a normal thing for me, but once in awhile its a lot of fun. Like going to Hollywood tomorrow night, who's downnnnn?? Tito's tacos, and club bang, going to be a lotttt of fun. Gooooooo.
Vegas for my birthday is really going to be great. I am soooo excited. 3 more weeks, well 4 more till vegas, because i'm not going to vegas on a sunday...
Okay so now to music. Bloc party, who i saw in concert less then a month ago, unexpectedly pulled a radiohead and released their album YESTERDAY. After announcing it on Tuesday. The release, "Intimacy" is somewhat of a mix between "Silent Alarm" and "A Weekend In The City." I actually don't have it yet, but the digital only release is available now and the hard copy should be available by November or December.
I know what i want to do on Halloween. I know i am def going to celebrate it this year, i can't believe i haven't celebrated it in years, this year will be different though. Nonstop fun, and i already know my costume!! Okay but i really want to go to the "Hard Haunted Mansion," which although it sounds like a bad Halloween porno, its actually a hugeeee dance party in la. Featuring JUSTICE, CRYSTAL CASTLES, SMD, boys noize and a tonnn of others. Its a nonstop costumed extravaganza, so it sounds amazing.
I have a lot of other music news, but this post is too long so i'll get to the free music.
This post will have one song from 3 different genres. The first song i'm posting today, i've had forever but i remembered it recently when i heard it on a commercial. Its the amazing, one of the best songs of the 1960's, its the creedence clearwater revival hit, "have you ever seen the rain?" but a cover by Juju Stulbach. Really, really good. Next is brand new Vampire Weekend song, but a cover of Fleetwood Mac, its really good, vintage VW. Enjoy it. And last is a band i kind of stumbled upon accidentally, i love the person in charge of all of the electronics and his band called YACHT. But before he went solo, he was with a great girl as a part of a duo called The Blow. So this song is beautiful and the girl's voice is very pretty. Enjoyyyyyy. Wow this has been a longgg post, but it's my only one of the month so whatevs. Thug Lifeee.

Juju Stulbach - Have You Ever Seen The Rain? (CCR Cover)
Vampire Weekend - Everywhere (Fleetwood Mac Cover)
The Blow - True Affection

Winning A Battle, Losing A War. The MEGA Post.

i believe erland oye (the great dancer/napoleon dynamite lookalike) is one of the most brilliant songwriters of the 21st century. and thats saying a lot coming from me. Everything from the folky kings of convenience, to the beutiful soft electro of the whitest boy alive, to his solo work is all nothing short of brilliant. If you haven't heard the kings of convenience remix album, "versus" you really are missing out. a truly great work.
so i decided to stay in tonight, largely because this is an insane weekend for me in general. So its nice to just sit at home and take in everything that is going on...starting to get stuff ready for my cruise next week. I am sooo incredibly excited, out of any of the past 5 years, where i have taken at least one vacation (niceee) this year, i need one the most. This year has been so...strange i guess i would say. Some things bad, some things good, but definitely an experience nonetheless.
Okay so tomorrow is my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary. How cute is that? 60 years....thats unbelievable. One day i hope i will find a girl i want to be with every single day for the rest of my life....in due time i guess. So its a big celebration at my aunt's house tomorrow night, which is fun, all of my cousins and family from across the country will be there, my cousin from colorado, my cousin from france, so it'll be nice to see everyone.
And sunday, my mom has this what she calls "graduation" which celebrates the ending of these classes she has been taking to be in charge of this ministry, we are going for taps brunch, yummmm and then its time for me and my best girl-friend to head to downtown la for the sweetest event of the year, the annual American Apparel Party. Which has made a huge improvement from last year, because not only is it a flea market sale with a tonnn of stuff for a buck, but this year its an all out, all night party, with Sebastien Tellier dj'ing (who has provided one of the most impressive French dance albums of the year). So that should be fun, i'll be there all night, so if you are going, let me know! Everyone by now knows by complete obsession with aa clothing, strange the first time i bought regular aa clothes, i was buying large, and now i'm buying smalls, but xs fit well too! crazy!
thennn monday is the wonderful kele and bloc party, with another band i saw at coachella this year, "does it offend you, yeah?" Who i don't really care for to be honest with you, but still a worthy opener. So that show is at the glass house, which is amazing enough that a band of such high stature like bp is playing such a small venue. But then i looked at the calender of future shows, and OMG! CUT COPY playing there in oct? Vamp Weekend playing there as well? What the hell is going on? What happened to the days of the el rey and the mayan? perhaps the troubadour and the roxy? Or the fonda and the hob? No, lets play a little place in ghetto pomona guys! alright! Whatev. saves me on parking and gas.
so nothing much has changed in the past week, just continuing to be very busy. i don't know if i'll have time to post again before i leave on friday, but we'll see.
sorry i just have to do a couple quick record reviews. 2 that have constantly been on my mind

the dodos - visitor
this honestly, may be my favorite album of 2008 so far. A truly brilliant album. I have not stopped listening to it, really. The style ranges from beautiful acoustic ballads (below) to ambient klaxon-esque stuff. I cannot recommend this album enough, it is so different, yet so accepting and familiar. This song is one of the most beautiful, yet simple songs i've heard so far this year, sounds like it'd be on the juno soundtrack.
9.4/10
the dodos - undeclared

black kids - partie traumatic
as spin so elequently said, "no band has received this much hype since vampire weekend." And i'd have to agree, i have been hearing about them pretty much every week for months and months, and this week the group finally released their long awaited debut, and it does not disappoint. As spin also says, no lyricist has possessed such songwriting ability since morrissey, or stephen merritt (a la magnetic fields) arguably, and in my opinion, two of the best songwriters ever. But back to the album, it truly is great, mixing the go team! shouting vocals with beautiful vampire weekend melodies. A great debut.
8.5/10
black kids - hit the heartbrakes

wow, a lot of music today! i also have two, amazinggg covers for you. first, is a great australian singer, lenka, covering one of my favorite modest mouse songs, "gravity rides everything." A very interesting take on the song. And the other is a cover/remix of the greatttt 80's hit "take on me," where the singer sounds like ben gibbard, like a lot! enjoy everyone. I hope to post one more time before fridayyyy. Thug Lifeee.

Lenka - Gravity Rides Everything (Modest Mouse Cover)
Karl Kling - Take On Me (A-Ha Cover/RAC Remix)

Mixed Emotions

i <3> the rolling stones. Having their albums just gave me so much more significant respect for them. And this song is honestly, my favorite song of the entire 1960's. Omg. i just typed all of this and it all erasedddd.... ahhhh. Okay whatever.
Well, my life is changing constantly, i always think i know what i want and then something happens and everything changes...As mentioned last week , i thought i maybe wanted to stay here, but Urban doesn't want to pay me enough money, so i now am more sure then ever that i will be leaving. So thats exciting...
Well exactly two weeks from tonight, i will be on a ship in the caribbean with family and friends. No doubt, i will be in my standard cut offs, super v and fedora haha. seriously, i haven't worn jeans in a month...and i've cut up like 10 pairs of pants...and i'm thinking of doing more...hey maybe i'll post pictures of me in the caribbean with a martini in my hand or me parasailing? Or maybe not...
Last night i saw the dark knight at midnight. Going into it, i was hesitant because i didn't really care for the first one, and considering this one was 2 1/2 hours long, but this movie was truly brilliant. Heath Ledger gives one of the best acting performances i've ever seen, very well done. go see it.
Okay... so in commemoration of seeing them in a little over a week for like the 30th time, here is THE NEW bloc party single, "mercury" its like low carb strawberry beer, its okay. so as i mentioned, i love the rolling stones, and this soulwax remix of one of their hits is no exception, very well done. And last is the very fun original version of possibly the best justice song, and also in commemoration of the fabulous new black ghosts album, and also the upcoming new simian mobile disco release. Its the "we are your friends" original, "never be alone" by simian. Fun fact about the justice "we are your friends" remix, justice, before they were big, made that remix for a local french contest, where dj's entered their remix of "never be alone." The funny thing is, justice's remake, came in SECOND place. I have been trying religiously to find the first place finisher, but with no avail. I just found that funny because the justice version is one of the most widely used remixes i've ever heard, not to mention the most amazinggg.
nothing but love.

Bloc Party - Mercury
The Rolling Stones - You Can't Always Get What You Want (Soulwax Remix)
Simian - Never Be Alone

Robot-Phobia

daft punk - alive 2007. without a doubt the best live album i have ever heard. absolutely incredible, its been on repeat in my car for weeks!
wow! i haven't posted in two weeks! crazy. i guess so much is going on i don't really have time to post. Well, so much has happened in the past couple weeks, i may have made a complete 180 in my idea of where i'm headed...well ultimately i will end up in the same place, it will just take me a little longer. So okay...as you know i was having trouble finding a math class so i could transfer schools in enough time. Well i finally found a class, but there's a problem. the class doesn't end till aug 19th and i start school on aug 25th. So with sending transcripts and everything, that is reallyyyyy cutting it close. And i spoke to my advisor and she said that i would get dropped from all my classes, and when they got my transcripts i would have to try and add them all again...which sucks. not to mention housing problems, so i've really been stressing about this whole thing....but i skipped school on wed, and went up there for orientation, and it was 70 deg! and when i came back to corona that night it was like 100 haha. Ahh! sooo amazing. So i figured i would just deal with the stress and hope for the best. But then something happened...
a part of me has always wanted to stay here till january, because then i could test for my 4th degree black belt in december and i wouldn't have to deal with all this crap, but i was still set on leaving...until the one job that would make me stay offered me an amazing opportunity. Well its no secret i LOVE urban outfitters, and they called me and offered me a great job, the catch is, i would have to stay here. But if i stayed here until jan, i could transfer to the store near my new school. I would choose urban over nordstrom any day...mainly because i loveee everyone i'm working with, and the store is just that amazing.
so now i'm really struggling with the confrontation between the two....what shall i do????
Summer school has been okay...but i much rather be doing nothing haha.
RAGING WATERS tomorrow!!! omg i haven't been in so long...this is exciting!
i can't wait...i leave for the caribbean in three weeks and three days before i leave...BLOC PARTY!!! yet again...oh kele, i will be so close to you i hope you don't mind my homosexual remarks towards you. haha.
wow. its strange. i guess more people read my blog then i thought. i kid you not, on my last post i mentioned the university of phoenix, and a couple days later i got an email from someone from the school asking me about what i was planning to do...wtf??? hahaha
i really do enjoy posting. i hope to continue this until i change my blog completely....
someday soon...
two great songs. the first is from a guy who i have grown to like probably more then any one single performer in the world, beirut. throughout the past 6 months or so, i have constantly gone back to his albums and continue to fall more in love with them. so here is a greattttt cover of hallelujah, with that great 20 year old beirut spin on it. And the other is a great acoustic version of a great electronic song from an amazing australian electronic band, its "road to recovery," acoustic, from midnight juggernauts.
nothing but lovee.

Beirut - Hallelujah
Midnight Juggernauts - Road To Recovery (Acoustic)

Obama Said Knock You Outtt

i know i mentioned joy division last post, but i am absolutely in love with them, particularly ian curtis. Just watch this video, and listen to his voice and look at him. Just by looking you see that he is drugged or drunk and he doesn't look well. And it shows, as not long after this, he hung himself in his kitchen...sooo sad. I now have every jd album, and i have never heard a bad song from them. And to tell you the truth it fascinates me despite my love for interpol, how much they completely ripped off jd. And how other bands like bloc party and the arcade fire got the base for their sound. Amazing. Really.
sorry for not posting for awhile. To tell you the truth i didn't even realize i haven't posted until i got a few emails asking where i was. No, sadly i wasn't on vacation, just very busy with everything. It has been a crazyyy week, in both a good way and a bad way...
okay so first...my sister got engaged! That's exciting..he proposed to her at angel stadium exactly a week ago. Very cute. So that's cool, and then father's day was nice where i practically made the entire meal....i am seriously obsessed with cooking, i made dinner 3 times this week, i love it. I must say, i'm good too!
And then after father's day was my sister's birthday, which was also a sort of celebration for the engagement...which was also marked with a trip to glen ivy and a start of a beautiful summer tan haha. but then fear struck...
so the whole deal with my changing schools was done, as long as i completed a college math course. Now i never did a college math class my first year at cpp because i couldn't get one really, but since i didn't take one, i was supposed to take a placement test to place into a math class which would suck. But my advisor told me if i didn't want to take a remedial class, then all i had to do was take math at a jc, because i wouldn't have to take remedial. So i took his word for it, but when i was trying to register for stats at rcc, i was told i had to take the placement test (which i knew i would bomb bc i haven't taken math in 3 years) So i thought i was screwed. i mean i could try to place into college math but if i couldn't then i would have to take remedial in summer and not take college math till fall, meaning i couldn't transfer.
so as i was depressed all week thinking i wouldn't be going, i figured i would take the test, and i did which i didn't bomb, as i placed into college math (who knew i would remember all of that ish) but not the level of math i need. So i still wouldn't be able to transfer....so then in my despair i was left with one choice, find a school that didn't have the requirement. So after searching, i was left with one choice, my sister's school university of phoenix. I contacted the school and i found out that they are offering a class that i can take that would end at the perfect time. So maybe i do have hope?? They are offering a class that is exact to the one i need. So i called my "future" school today, and unfortunately all counselors were out of the office, but first thing monday i will know if this class is acceptable for transfer, and if it is...YAY!!
so i was going to talk about something else, but i forgot, so i'll just go to the music. i have two yyy songs on the word of them in the studio recording their new album! The first is a cover of "diamond sea" a song by the greatest indie band of all time, sonic youth. (i don't think i've posted this song before, but let me know if i have) and the other is a cover of the fabulous yyy song "maps" but done by the arcade fire. Enjoy, wish me luck, and get a nice tan in this heat.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Diamond Sea (Sonic Youth Cover)
The Arcade Fire - Maps (Yeah Yeah Yeahs Cover)

Love Is Like A Bottle Of Gin...

so i would normally be in class right now, but its finals week! I had a final at 7am this morning, now i'm home, and then i have a final at 6pm tonight! Ahh! sucksss not just that i have to drive back, but i am missing the laker game tonight. And this is a class i for sure have an A in. Its my last history class! awwww i love history...So yeah, and i took one yesterday, then i have two on thursday back to back and i'm goneee. Very exciting. Then i have a week before summer school, so i'll catch up on some movies and build my tan haha.
i have a couple of great movie recommendations...first "control" its the story of ian curtis, the lead singer of the amazing 70's - 80's band joy division who tragically killed himself when the band was at its peak. Seriously, a really reallyyyyy good movie. All in black and white and hearing joy division while enjoying a great movie isn't bad at all either. And the other is the amazing french movie, "the diving bell and the butterfly." 'It chronicles the life of the editor of Elle magazine in France, where at 42 he suffered a stroke, right after he signed a book deal for his autobiography. He was left completely paralyzed and unable to speak, but he still wanted to write his book. So with the help of an assistant, he wrote his entire autobiography by blinking! A truly amazing movie....go find it.
So i wish i was going on vacation now, but i still have a couple months, it kind of sucks that i don't have a summer vacation really, i guess two weeks all together, but its going to be worth it in the end. I wish i was 21 already though! This summer would be a lot more interesting...
so coldplay's new album comes out i believe a week from today? And i already have it. Its pretty good, but then again i've never been that big a fan in the first place. So today i have a fun coldplay cover of the amazingly catchy kylie minogue song, "can't get you out of my head." And the other song is a song i never really liked until i heard the cover. Now i may have not enjoyed goldfrapp at coachella, but i respect her musical ability, and her cover of the amazing klaxons song, "It's Not Over Yet."Goooooood stuff, and for those of you still in school, good luck...

Coldplay - Can't Get You Out Of My Head (Kylie Minogue Cover)
Goldfrapp - It's Not Over Yet (Klaxons Cover)

Alone, Oh God, My Heart...

i know this song is like 5 years old...i remember loving it my sophomore year of high school haha but i've fallen in love with it again, and the lyrics are amazingggg
and yet another week passes by...and we finally reach week 10 of the quarter. And my last week before finals and the culmination of my last quarter at cpp. All my final papers have been written, and now it is just time for studying and sending my final transcripts. My intent to enroll has been sent along with my housing request....strange i never thought i would find myself doing this, but here i am.
i am sooo excited for the nba finals...lakers v. celtics is a dreammmm match up.
i ran 35 miles last week...ahh helllll yeahhhh
i can't stop ordering stuff online...i LOVE zappos. they have everythingggg. And i love it because they have free return shipping. I just ordered a crapload of stuff from american apparel online, and i didn't like it so i returned it, but i had to pay like $10 bucks for return shipping. soooo stupid. and i just ordered some stuff from urban..it better fit!
i seriously can't own enough v necks, i won't rest till i have everyyy color and style haha.
i also have an obsession with cooking...i fancy myself a helllll of a cook. i never thought i would say that, but seriously, i am gooooooood. I can't really make desserts though, but i make amazing everything else haha.
Anyways, i'm kind of rambling on, so tonight i have two nice songs for you. The first is a great song by a great new band called neon neon. This song, instantly will catch you and make you dance, its a lottt of fun, a great song and an interesting album mixing hip hop, rock and dance. good stuff. And the other song i heard on the "oxford comma" ep. Its a really fun remix of the great song walcott. Enjoy...and lets get ready for summerrrrr.

Neon Neon - I Lust You
Vampire Weekend - Walcott (Insane Mix #2)