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Showing posts from October, 2008

Music Saves Lives (The Point of it All)

"At their very beginnings, some lives are destined to be saved, or else they will be cut tragically short." This was the first line of a paper I wrote last year about a meaningful experience in my life. I've come to find since writing that paper that there was never one experience that changed my life but several that saved my life: several nights of falling into the comfort of notes of songs, immersing myself in lyrics, and surrounding myself with the love that resonated through my empty room from my speakers. If you never read another of my posts, please take the time to read this one. I have told this story and will tell it again and again through my career. I want to be a writer, because I want to help people. I want to make people feel that they belong, that someone out there cares about them, and that they can make it through whatever this world may shoot at them alive-- The world can fire, but one can evade the shots. I feel as if it is my duty to c

Who Watches the Watchmen?

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Those of you who saw The Dark Knight in theatres also had the treat of feasting your eyes upon something else that was lovely and comic-book related during your movie experience. You, unless you stumbled in late in the dark and probably spilled popcorn on some poor, unsuspecting nerd who thought you did it on purpose, saw the trailer for The Watchmen movie , which is scheduled for release in March, 2009 by Warner Brothers (and 4 days after my birthday, at that). Why is that so special? Well, Watchmen, a 1980s graphic novel written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons, has been highly regarded as a turning-point publication in the comic book industry- changing views of the traditional "comic book hero." So, this film is "kind of a big deal." Some will only see this movie because of the hype, others will simply want the phenomenal soundtrack that is in the works (featuring My Chemical Romance's cover of Bob Dylan's "Desolation Row"), but s

"Stare at the Sun" - Thrice

"Stare at the Sun" by Thrice has the tiny honor of being among my favorite songs. It is powerful enough to bring me to tears almost every time I listen to it, and today I found new meaning in it when thinking of it in the context of my Difficult Dialogues concerning Religious Beliefs class. In our previous class, we spoke about empiricism vs. romanticism. I tend to not take a religious view on anything, but nearly 100% of the time, think romantically about the world around me and beauty and that it is beyond scientific reasoning. In our last discussion in class, we thought of what scientific dissection of things we can find beautiful can do to our own perceptions of how beautiful they are to us personally. I find myself ridiculously conflicted and wanting more than a scientific reason for the things I feel, and I think this song describes that feeling perfectly. So, for your enjoyment, I give you: "Stare at the Sun" by Thrice I sit here clutching useless lists, keys

Last.Fm

Hey, guys-- Most of you have probably heard about audio-scrobbling, and last.fm , but for those of you who haven't, here's the deal: Last.Fm is a website that can document what music a person is listening to using audioscrobbler technology and compile it so that users can see how musically compatible they are with others when visiting their profiles on the site. As the user listens more, the site begins suggesting artists that are similar to the listener's preferences in music as well as events the user should attend locally and even with whom the person should be friends. You can also make nifty widgets such as this listening quilt from my profile: Neat, right? So why not start scrobbling now? Well, you may get picked on for the music you listen to, and I know you all have guilty pleasures... But, who cares? Forget guilty , be proud of what makes you happy! Now, friends, go forth and scrobble!! XoXo c.

One of the Many Reasons (Frank Iero)...

...why I love My Chemical Romance. The video for which I will later provide a link was taken at Projekt Revolution in Tampa, Florida on August 11th, 2007, which I attended, and which also happened to be singer Gerard Way's 3rd "soberversary," as we in the MCRmy like to call it. This video was taken by Youtube user Musicislife428 , and though I do not know exactly who that person is, I know she had to have been standing very near me for this footage to have been shot. This is rhythm guitarist, Frank Iero at the end of "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" doing what I feel is one of his most admirable and common actions- being one of us kids. I was right in front of him when this happened, and I think you can see my hand a little bit in the background of the video. Anyway, watch: "Projekt Revolution 8/11 MCR Im Not Okay..Frank is Awesome" Frankie's birthday is coming up in two weeks- this Hallowe'en. So, this is my early birthday tribute to his amaz

The College that Stole Halloween

I'd like to thank you, Ohio University, for bringing more attention than is average to Halloween (I've heard you should start these kind of rants on a positive note). Here's what I would not like to thank you for: SPOILING MY FUN, INNOCENT HALLOWEEN! Halloween to me is this: it's appreciating Bela Lugosi, it's scary movies and haunted houses, it's showing off my creativity with a costume, it's trick-or-treating, Frank Iero's birthday, and being able to dress the way I do and have it considered normal for a day. But most of all it's the sense that one can be anything he or she wants on Halloween; it's beautiful and empowering. I know I am not alone when I say that -yea, sometimes when I put on a costume I feel powerful. For instance, you probably feel a little bit different when you're wearing a business suit than your regular attire, eh? You do. Don't lie. You may even feel better than those around you. The point is; Halloween can