My Talents

You asked for it!

(figuratively)

(...alright, not even figuratively)

1. I can play the radio

2. I can eat almonds without dying

3. I can smell bacon from my bedroom in the morning (even if there is no bacon cooking in the house)

4. I can sleep through my alarm clock

5. Sometimes I can go over three hours without going crazy

6. I can lose my iPod, my keys, and my shoes at the most inopportune times

7. Even if there is only one pile of cat crap in a gigantic park I will find it first by stepping in it and smearing it all over the bottom of my shoe so bad I have to burn my shoes and bury them in the backyard

8. On a good day it only takes me five or six times to run out of the garage without tripping or triggering the safety sensor as the door is closing

9. I can make any moment (no matter how fun or exciting) incredibly awkward for everyone within a four mile radius

10. I can blow little bubbles of saliva off the tip of my tongue (it's something)

History Lesson

I don't consider myself a hipster (those of you who know me and have seen me in real life will know that this is true). However, I do get a little irritated when I hear songs on the radio these days that people used to scoff at me for liking five years ago. Seriously. They are the exact same songs and people used to ask me why I liked the bands and the songs and now they are all posting them on Facebook and stuff like that. Terrible.

I think, more than anything, it just goes to show that people will like what is easy to like. People have a tendency to take what is spoon fed to them not necessarily because it's the best music out there but because it's the easiest thing to like. And I don't want to knock anyone's interests (and really, this is a rant against the radio and the industry rather than against the audience) but I think it's safe to say that of all the thousands of songs produced every year maybe only a few of the best make it on the radio.

Anyway, like usual, this isn't what I intended to write about when I started this post. I really just wanted to show some history to some of the better acts coming onto the scene (by scene I mean main- stream- radio- air- time- singles- and- general- recognition not "scene-scene") in the past couple years.

First, everyone has heard of 'fun.' They're a great band who just released three fantastic singles last year. They've been around for a while but only recently have they gained any recognition. When I was a sophomore in high school I went to a show to see Something Corporate, Mae, and The Format. I had never heard of The Format but when I left the building dripping sweat later that evening I knew I had found one of the greatest acts of my life time. Here is a bit of what they sounded like-->

After two full-length, self-produced albums that both rocked my world The Format disbanded (the universe is a cruel, cruel mistress) and stopped making music. However, Nate, the lead singer, created a new band to keep making music. He called his new project 'fun.' and they have yet to completely disappoint although I really do miss how indy The Format was. I really like the way fun. has kept away from the traditional sound by implementing some great instrumentation and experimental sound but, really, so many bands are experimenting now that it has kind of lost its novelty.

I was going to do another one but I'll save it for later. Rather, here's fun.'s newest release to wrap things up.