doesn't love dogs.
wise words.
pop pop mothafuckas,
michael
Grilled Pizza
15 years ago
Monday, March 16, 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009
The Seaweed Is Always Greener in Somebody Else's Lake
Here we go. Day 2 of My (insert name-related pun here) Top 5 Album Countdown. If you're looking for the first post, which contains the synopsis of the countdown as well as my #5 album (and just happen to be too lazy to scroll down), here you go. Now onto album #4...
#4: Thriller
Before The Lion King, there was Free Willy. I'm sure the Free Willy soundtrack doesn't make many top 5 lists itself, but the album had on it a song called "Will You Be There" by some former motown prodigy named Michael Jackson. Now, these next few sentences may leave me wide open to hackneyed (thank you, SATs) and uncreative jokes, so please try to contain yourselves. Michael Jackson was the first artist I can remember declaring as my favorite artist to listen to, even if I only knew a few of his songs. After stumbling upon a few videos of him performing onstage, I eventually decided that Michael Jackson was the greatest performer of all time (even if he was only one of a handful of performers I had ever actually heard/seen/could recognize). In fact, it wasn't until years after I had decided that Michael Jackson was my favorite artist that I saw him moonwalk across the stage. That video clip still amazes me to this day.
As the Napster era rolled around, music became infinitely times easier to get a hold of, and as a result, my Michael Jackson discography expanded exponentially. All it took was the simple process of typing in "michael jackson" and hitting the search button. But one day, after discussing musical preferences with my best friend, he asked if I had ever heard the album Thriller. Of course, at that point I was still listening to singles and individual songs, and the only albums I owned were Astro Lounge by Smash Mouth and some *NSync and Britney Spears albums (that's a whole other story within itself), so the answer was no. Eventually, my friend burned me a copy of Thriller, and the rest is HIStory (that may be above some of your heads, and for that I apologize). All I can remember is listening to it non-stop after school and thinking, "If other albums are anything like this, then I've really been missing out." Even though the main reasons behind naming Michael Jackson as my favorite artist were pretty misinformed and short-sighted, Thriller gave me the argument I needed to finally back up my opinion. It's only 9 tracks, but I can't remember ever skipping through any of them.
However, what really sold me was happens 3 songs into the album. Tracks 4, 5, and 6 may very well be one of the greatest tracklist trios to have ever been recorded on any album. Thriller. Beat It. Billie Jean. A musical Holy Trinity. While Michael Jackson is no longer the sole owner of my "favorite artist" spot, I'll always remember how he and his music was able to make me stop and think, "Wow." Thriller is what helped me see beyond singles and individual tracks. It helped opened my mind up to the powerful effect that a few songs can have when put together in the right way. It's why I think I fall under the 5% of the population that would have zero qualms about going to Michael Jackson's final tour in Europe. It's why I was so shocked when some people didn't realize Rihanna and Kanye had sampled songs off the album. I'm telling you, he's innocent.
Stay classy,
Mai
Before The Lion King, there was Free Willy. I'm sure the Free Willy soundtrack doesn't make many top 5 lists itself, but the album had on it a song called "Will You Be There" by some former motown prodigy named Michael Jackson. Now, these next few sentences may leave me wide open to hackneyed (thank you, SATs) and uncreative jokes, so please try to contain yourselves. Michael Jackson was the first artist I can remember declaring as my favorite artist to listen to, even if I only knew a few of his songs. After stumbling upon a few videos of him performing onstage, I eventually decided that Michael Jackson was the greatest performer of all time (even if he was only one of a handful of performers I had ever actually heard/seen/could recognize). In fact, it wasn't until years after I had decided that Michael Jackson was my favorite artist that I saw him moonwalk across the stage. That video clip still amazes me to this day.
As the Napster era rolled around, music became infinitely times easier to get a hold of, and as a result, my Michael Jackson discography expanded exponentially. All it took was the simple process of typing in "michael jackson" and hitting the search button. But one day, after discussing musical preferences with my best friend, he asked if I had ever heard the album Thriller. Of course, at that point I was still listening to singles and individual songs, and the only albums I owned were Astro Lounge by Smash Mouth and some *NSync and Britney Spears albums (that's a whole other story within itself), so the answer was no. Eventually, my friend burned me a copy of Thriller, and the rest is HIStory (that may be above some of your heads, and for that I apologize). All I can remember is listening to it non-stop after school and thinking, "If other albums are anything like this, then I've really been missing out." Even though the main reasons behind naming Michael Jackson as my favorite artist were pretty misinformed and short-sighted, Thriller gave me the argument I needed to finally back up my opinion. It's only 9 tracks, but I can't remember ever skipping through any of them.
However, what really sold me was happens 3 songs into the album. Tracks 4, 5, and 6 may very well be one of the greatest tracklist trios to have ever been recorded on any album. Thriller. Beat It. Billie Jean. A musical Holy Trinity. While Michael Jackson is no longer the sole owner of my "favorite artist" spot, I'll always remember how he and his music was able to make me stop and think, "Wow." Thriller is what helped me see beyond singles and individual tracks. It helped opened my mind up to the powerful effect that a few songs can have when put together in the right way. It's why I think I fall under the 5% of the population that would have zero qualms about going to Michael Jackson's final tour in Europe. It's why I was so shocked when some people didn't realize Rihanna and Kanye had sampled songs off the album. I'm telling you, he's innocent.
Stay classy,
Mai
Saturday, March 14, 2009
You don’t have the technology OR the steady hands to pull off a procedure like that
What up thugz,
Well, well, well, It's been a while my good friends. Spring break is upon us! What wonderful news. Midterms are over, and now it's time to lay back, and relax. And by relax, I mean watch college basketball until my eyes decided to divorce my optic nerves/face. My nose would be very lonely.
In other news, I like that this blog has some substance now, maybe it can become one of those really famous blogs that people talk about. Maybe like one that tells people U2 will be playing on a college campus. There's no ceiling here people.
On another condiment related note, McDonald's has the tastiest sweet and sour sauce there is.
Peace, Love, and March Madness,
Michael
I Think I'm Getting the Black Lung, Pop
Some people are under the impression that my knowledge of music is somewhat extensive. This is false. I'm pretty sure I missed that entire phase where kids start to develop their own musical tastes. This phase did not happen for me until halfway through my Freshman year at Fordham and is still far from refined. Granted, I understand that many people change their musical opinion every day, and that it never really stops changing for good (unless you're a pretentious tool). However, what I'm saying is that 2 years ago, if you asked me what kind of music I liked, or what my favorite band was, or what some of my favorite albums were, there would be a brief pause followed by me churning out lie after lie about bands or albums that I knew I was supposed to like. To further that point, let me give you an example: before "I Will Follow You Into the Dark," I had only heard of the band Death Cab for Cutie and never any songs by them (or, consequently, Postal Service). As a result, because the word "death" was in their name, I had always assumed that they were a hardcore band. So yes, up until 2006, maybe 2007, I thought Ben Gibbard and Co. were hardcore rockers out to terrify the world. And no, that story was not misrepresented in any way to make it seem more ridiculous than it is.
Mundane rambling (aka "pulling a Pennacch") aside, the main point is that up until now, there are only a handful of albums that I think I could really say are my "favorites," and I think writing down and reasoning out why that's the case would be good for me (and the blog. It's about time someone added some (fake) substance around here). This was partly inspired by that Facebook nonsense about "20 most influential albums in your life," but 20 is far too many for me. I think I'd be able to list maybe 15 if I included albums that I'd just heard and liked. In any case, I have 5, and we'll do this from 5th-to-1st, "worst"-to-first, album-by-album, step-by-step, day-by-day. And yes, this is also because I believe my opinion is so important that you should all have to read about it. So here we go, starting with number 5...
Mundane rambling (aka "pulling a Pennacch") aside, the main point is that up until now, there are only a handful of albums that I think I could really say are my "favorites," and I think writing down and reasoning out why that's the case would be good for me (and the blog. It's about time someone added some (fake) substance around here). This was partly inspired by that Facebook nonsense about "20 most influential albums in your life," but 20 is far too many for me. I think I'd be able to list maybe 15 if I included albums that I'd just heard and liked. In any case, I have 5, and we'll do this from 5th-to-1st, "worst"-to-first, album-by-album, step-by-step, day-by-day. And yes, this is also because I believe my opinion is so important that you should all have to read about it. So here we go, starting with number 5...
#5: The Lion King Soundtrack
It's not a cop-out, I promise. Now, like many of my peers, I have a pretty vast library of Disney songs deep within the corridors of my mind. However, when it comes down to it, there really isn't any Disney album that can even compete with The Lion King's soundtrack (aside from the latest Jo-Bros endeavor, of course). Even if I had no knowledge of any other Disney songs (and hence no childhood), this would still make my list of top albums. Day after day, my mom would put the cassette in as she drove me to school, and day after day, I would go through every song on Side A, singing every word as loud as I could, then flip the tape over to Side B and repeat. It was one of the first times I ever really remember putting that much of myself into anything music-related.
Unfortunately, there is a story related to me singing a song from this album which, coupled with an 8th grade story about me singing with my friend's band at a Chinese retirement home, would scar me for life and leave me feeling as though I never wanted to sing in front of anybody ever again. I've begun the road to recovery over the past 2 years, but I'm still incredibly self-conscious about singing out loud. It's partly because of the fact that I don't have confidence in my singing ability, but mostly that, while I'd prefer it if people would (kindly) let me know if my singing was bothering them or not, most people wouldn't have the heart to tell me, so I'll never know if I'm wreaking havoc on anybody's eardrums. The fact that Mike is a modern-day Liberace doesn't help, either.
There it is. 1 down, 4 to go. Exciting.
Welcome to earth,
Mai
Unfortunately, there is a story related to me singing a song from this album which, coupled with an 8th grade story about me singing with my friend's band at a Chinese retirement home, would scar me for life and leave me feeling as though I never wanted to sing in front of anybody ever again. I've begun the road to recovery over the past 2 years, but I'm still incredibly self-conscious about singing out loud. It's partly because of the fact that I don't have confidence in my singing ability, but mostly that, while I'd prefer it if people would (kindly) let me know if my singing was bothering them or not, most people wouldn't have the heart to tell me, so I'll never know if I'm wreaking havoc on anybody's eardrums. The fact that Mike is a modern-day Liberace doesn't help, either.
There it is. 1 down, 4 to go. Exciting.
Welcome to earth,
Mai
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Nuggets: The Next Episode
A list of things that are connected at the hip in my mind:
1) Alaska/Canada
2) Celine Dion/Mariah Carey
3) Sally Field/Bonnie Hunt
4) Josh Hartnett/Mark Wahlberg
I'll update that list as I remember more of them.
Things that are currently bothersome to me:
1) When you install/update iTunes, you also have to install QuickTime.
2) Those GIANT, uncloseable ads for the iPod Touch that take up a third of the screen when you visit a website.
3) My iPod is breaking. In retrospect, letting those muggers have it would've saved me a few bucks out of my wallet.
I should've just named that list "Rotten Apples."
maybe i'll do the minimalist thing and type in mostly lower-caps. it's much more casual.
i'm flying home saturday!
Nah. That's Mike's thing. He's earned it.
Oh,
Mai
1) Alaska/Canada
2) Celine Dion/Mariah Carey
3) Sally Field/Bonnie Hunt
4) Josh Hartnett/Mark Wahlberg
I'll update that list as I remember more of them.
Things that are currently bothersome to me:
1) When you install/update iTunes, you also have to install QuickTime.
2) Those GIANT, uncloseable ads for the iPod Touch that take up a third of the screen when you visit a website.
3) My iPod is breaking. In retrospect, letting those muggers have it would've saved me a few bucks out of my wallet.
I should've just named that list "Rotten Apples."
maybe i'll do the minimalist thing and type in mostly lower-caps. it's much more casual.
i'm flying home saturday!
Nah. That's Mike's thing. He's earned it.
Oh,
Mai
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
...something D-O-O Economics. Anyone? Voodoo Economics...
So, good thing it's not 1918. Because according to my This Day in History Calendar, the first cases of the deadly 1918 Spanish Flu Epidemic (pandemic, really) were reported today.
Anyway, it was a pretty lazy day around here. I wish I had more to say, but unfortunately I don't. I guess the good news i do have, not to be braggadocios, is I've done very well on all of my midterms! Yay for me! Tomorrow I have to finish my midterm paper for my Literature of the Americas class. So that's that. After Thursday I am OFFICIALLY done with midterms! w-0-0-t.
Happy Trails,
Michael
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Themed blog post!
So today, the episode where Jon & Kate Plus 8 gets two German Shepherd puppies was on TV. It. Was. Adorable. In fact, I think that if anyone were to create a show where the main concept was just 5-year-olds playing with puppies, it would be one of the best shows ever. Ever. Seriously though. Watching them play with the dogs made my heart feel like it was about to burst from all the joy that was filling it.
As if gushing about babies and puppies weren't manly enough, Room 427 has also started following American Idol. Actually, we started a few weeks ago, but I/we just never got around to blogging about it. Yeah. American Idol. Every Tuesday and Wednesday nights at 8. It's what we turned to in an attempt to fill the cold, lonely nights.
Also, if you've got 8 minutes to spare, watch this video. In fact, you should try and make 8 spare minutes of your time just to watch it. It puts our (Mike and my) bro-sessions on Eddie's to shame. In any case, here it is: http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1903319
Love times ∞,
Mai
As if gushing about babies and puppies weren't manly enough, Room 427 has also started following American Idol. Actually, we started a few weeks ago, but I/we just never got around to blogging about it. Yeah. American Idol. Every Tuesday and Wednesday nights at 8. It's what we turned to in an attempt to fill the cold, lonely nights.
Also, if you've got 8 minutes to spare, watch this video. In fact, you should try and make 8 spare minutes of your time just to watch it. It puts our (Mike and my) bro-sessions on Eddie's to shame. In any case, here it is: http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1903319
Love times ∞,
Mai
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
