I read your letter, the one you wrote when you broke into my house.
NP-The Mixed Tape
by Jacks Mannequin
This song is amazing. This is like THE perfect fusion of piano and guitar and its done so well... kudos to whoever mixed this song cause they did an amazing job. I was geekin out over this till like one in the morning yesterday and probably played it at least twenty times.
Man I love Jacks Mannequin.
Unfortunately, Andrew is in the hospital with Laryngitis, meaning that they had to actually cancel the rest of the tour...which really sucks big time. At least they didn't have any upcoming SLC shows or I might have had to kill someone. Here's hoping for a speedy recovery.
Finally have drivers ed scheduled (bout time... tried since spring break to schedule it) and have to go tomorrow at like 6:30 in the friggin morning... and I GET MY BRACES OFF! *happy dance*
Off to do fun stuff
-me
'05 School Year complete
NP-Stare at the Sun
by Thrice
(continuing Tuesday evening)
Went in for yearbook and we all stayed till like 9ish working on the books, sticking in pages, organizing, ect. We goofed off a bit too, which was cool. Most of the timem I hung out with Nikki and occasionally Rachel, but the whole evening was really fun and filled with a bunch of random moments.
*rereads what I just wrote*, the whole paragraph sounds cheesy and dumb, but oh well.
The next day we played our 'concert' near the administration office. Acoustic set, which was a little different, but still cool. Matt showed up way late and we only got to play about four songs ish. But the whole thing was cool, from dedicating 'American Idiot' to Mrs. McDaniel, to playing the song that got us banned from our "real" concert, the whole thing was fun.
Yearbook day is always fun. Basically all it is is a chance to get the numbers of as many hot girls as you want all in one day (right?). I think that at least 85% of my signatures were from girls, and more then 75% that included numbers as well. So, cool cool :P. Also a great chance to sluff the classes you dont like because the majority of the teachers simply don't care. I decided that French and English are a waste of time, so I decided to just hang out with Mr. Wright for those two periods.
Thursday the busses were quite late for Lagoon, probably by at least 35 minutes. When we finally went, trafic was unusually bad and we showed up a little late. Lagoon was a fun experience, just cause I haven't been there for a while, and I hung out with Megan Gowers the whole time. Win win situation, cause she's an extremely cool girl, it was cool to be able to have some fun and hang out with a friend I usually don't get to see too often.
Friday we had another concert, acoustic again. This time, the entire band was late and we played three songs before class started. We watched a movie in Wright's room and then after school, got our refunds and decided to play some more. Good thing we decided to play again, we ended up making about 72 bucks just by playing outside after school for a little while. Apparentely, that money is going towards the purchase of our 'Hippie Van', so I figured what the hell, it can sit in our Halfway Toter bank acount (yes, we really do have a Halfway Toter bank acount) till we get enough to buy something we need.
Meghan Wiggins (different Meghan from Megan Gowers) was going to Florida the following day (today) and we were trying to be able to hang out at some point. Things unfortunately fell through though, meaning I won't see her again for at least two months (August 10th). That really sucks, becuase we had just started being really good friends too...
Anyways, im off to record. Later
-me
1,300+ people can't be wrong
NP- Bury Me In Black
by My Chemical Romance
(FYI, this is an extra track included only on the Japanese version of Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge, quite spiffy).
Today was a lot better then I anticipated it would be. Showed up at 7 and rehersed a little before we played for the whole school. We kicked it off with Holiday then ended with American Idiot. I really screwed up the solo in Holiday quite badly, but not as badly as I thought. My grandparents ended up comming, which was extremely awesome of them to do and it was all around fun, my awesome father recorded it so Dan can check it out (he wasn't able to make it because of their sick dog or something unfortunately). I love the family support I have, its always nice to have something like that and I'm very fortunate to have that. My mom even wanted to give me the old shed in the back to practice in, which I thought was cool of her :P.
Second assembly kicked butt over the first. We kicked off with Boulevard of Broken Dreams, which I thought sucked, but wasn't as bad as I thought it was, played Holiday, which was a whole lot better then assembly one, the crowd was better too. Then we finished with Beverly Hills, which was freaking awesome, had a bunch of people on stage, but we had to stop right after my solo because everyone was on stage and stuff. Trish, Mariah, and Mikelle came to that show, which was extremely awesome of them to do, sluff school to watch me play :)
After the assembly, I kinda ditched English and hung out with Trish, Mariah, and Mikelle. Then after a little while of going to seminary, and sitting in an air conditioned car, I went back to English (but not before asking Trish to borrow her cell to ask my mom to check me out from english). Left English, ate food, watched my recorded performance, learned 'Blue and Yellow', went back to school to help in Yearbook.
Did Yearbook stuff for a while, then after school I found out that Ms. McDaniel had canceled our assembly. Who knows what the real reason ended up being, but regardless we tried negociating, because we had been working our butts off for quite a while to play. Negociations failed, but we decided to have practice anyways.
After playing for about two hours ish, we came up with the idea to have our concert outside with an acoustic set. So... we're basically gonna say 'screw you' to McDaniel and play anyways. If we have a conflict, we'll be going to the park about a block away and taking anyone who wants to come with us. It's before school, so therefore, isn't sluffing. But we'll see how it works out tomorrow I guess.
I'll cover the yearbook events that occured after another time, im wasted and have to get up tomorrow early to be there for the concert.
-me
Cavestock and everything inbetween
NP-Give 'Em Hell, Kid
by My Chemical Romance
This has been one packed week. I've been practicing with the band every day fron 3-5 after school trying to get ready for the assembly and concert this week. Hopefully we're ready by now, cause if we aren't, then it's too late now. I've been a bum lately and haven't updated my blog in a while. I 'get too tired' when the time to blog comes around, so I'll cover the last week:
Saturday: Mowed lawns, made money, hung out with Trish, Mariah and Emmy later in the evening. Then a little later, Scott and Josh came and we all hung out in front of Trish's house for a little while.
Monday:...I don't remember a ton apart from my computer tech final, which wasn't too difficult. Oh, duh. We opened Yearbooks and saw them for the first time. Then we made plans to celebrate on Tuesday.
Tuesday: Trudged through Math final, barely making it alive. Went to Brick Oven with Yearbook Staff which was a blast. Got a bunch of pictures too.
Thursday: Math final continued. I wanted to die by this point. I was so glad I finished that stupid thing, probably failed it horribly though. Practiced from 3-5:30 right after school and then ran home to grab a very quick bite to eat before heading out to my Jazz concert. Performed in Jazz concert on what looked like a Fender Tweed Bassman (Don't quote me on that, I wasn't really sure and was in a hurry to set up for performance.) It was quite a nice amp. Headed home to rest from my very very long day.
Friday: Planned on practicing after school, but wasn't able to because Mike wouldn't let Chris use the drumset or something stupid like that. So, we all attended the dance. Savannah and I tried to get them to play some half decent music and Brandon and I were able to get the DJ to play Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana, which was awesome. All the other music was crap. I ended up dancing with Megan, Savannah, and Sarah at that dance.
Heard that Cavestock was that night as well (battle of the bands, powderpuff football game, dance) so I found out a little more and discovered that it was apparently supposed to be for High School students only. But of course, I decided to sneak in anyways. Called Savannah and let her know that it would be easy to sneak in. So I met her there and we ended up hanging out the whole time.
Apparently, the last few Cavestocks have gotten 'out of hand' (according to the administration) and last year, The Trademark had to stop playing because everyone was moshing. So this year was all acoustic and not distorted at all, which really sucked. It would have been nice if any of the bands actually had talent, which only two had any smidge of actual skill. Regardless, I didn't care for any of their music. Had the Trademark been there, it would have rocked.
We had this retarded lady DJ at the dance. She was like the soccer-mom of all DJ's and would stop the music if anyone was 'running into each other' (meaning we could barely jump up and down). So even when 3 people would start jumping (to lame music) around and stuff and happen to hit into each other, she'd stop the music and stick on a slow song. Savannah and I danced together a whole lot because of moshing, which I guess isn't a bad thing at all. Someone ended up throwing a water bottle at the lady, which she decided to inform us of. After she told us, we all applauded which I found quite funny. She needs to learn to lighten up and realize that there's a large group of angry high school kids who want to kill her if she isnt somewhat cooperative.
I appologize to those of you who I didn't really end up hanging out with at Cavestock (namely, Trish and Mitch) because I was a little preoccupied... I'm sorry regardless you guys :(.
Anyways, it's twenty minutes past 11 and I really need to get up tomorrow. Last rehersal, and Dan's coming tomorrow night. Gotta tie up some loose ends and pray that my gear comes from Musicians Friend.com.
-me
New JM Songs (finally)
NP-We Were Made For Each Other
by Jacks Mannequin
Three BRAND NEW Jacks Mannequin songs up. If that isn't enough to make anyone's day, I don't know what is.
Today was cool, save for French, cause I'm sick of that class. I don't remember how to properly construct sentences. Can't wait for Japanese next year.
After school today, Matt asked me if I could play lead guitar for their band Halfway Toter, so I said sure. We have a week to prepare before we play for the school in the End of The Year assembly. Then the next day, we have 30 min before school for a concert, meaning we need to prepare a set list and have enough songs prepared by then. We have two hour practices scheduled every day after school from 3-5 for the next week. These guys have been practicing with each other for a while, so I'm the new one to the group and I get to be the one to learn everything. So hopefully it will turn out. It'll be nice to be in a band for once, I'll still be keeping my solo project going though. I have zero clue what we're going to play for our set during the concert before school (other then Holiday and Beverly Hills). We'll have to teach each other some stuff and work it all out. Should be fun.
I've been seriously looking into spending 10 months in Japan during my Junior Year. I just think it would be really awesome to be able to go to Japan and experience everything. A great adventure to take and definately a memorable experience. It'd be hard to leave my family and friends, especially missing out on an entire year of events, but I think it would be worth it. Hard? Definately. But worth it.
Jacks Mannequin kicks. These guys are awesome.
-me
Make Believe
NP-We Are All On Drugs
by Weezer
It is an Anti-Drug song Dave :)
Anyways, im too tired to get a decent rant. New Weezer CD came out today. Woot.
-me
Success (Somewhat)
NP- Williams Lullaby
by (insert band name here)
Well, I finally was able to record Williams Lullaby (somewhat). It's not quite done, still lacking vocals and a few rhythm tracks as well as the bridge of the song. Need to also set the levels as well. I'll post it on some myspace profile or something when its done.
Last night, Shawn, Lonny, Dave and I raided Target and just kinda screwed around. I don't think I've ever laughed that hard in my life. Lonny found this light that ran along side of Target's walls and decided to chase it around the store. The whole evening was absolutely hilarious.
I can't think of a band name. It's driving me crazy. Crap.
Any suggestions are appreciated.
-me
In a Haze...
NP- Airports
by Something Corporate
Tonight I attempted to write something half decent, and ended up with nothing. Well, I guess in truth, nothing that I was happy with. I'm after something unique, a unique playing style with a unique sound all wrapped up in a unique little packadge with a unique little bow on top. But I just can't seem to achieve what I want.
I think I need to do some more writing of words. I've had ideas floating in my head that I'd love to get out. Might be able to figure out tunes for them later or something, who knows. I've gotta learn a little more piano technique as well, haven knows it would help me out a ton.
I dedicated two hours of my evening mowing the lawn in the dark and emptying the bag over eighteen times then cleaning out the inside of the lawnmower because the grass was wet from the rain. I'm tired, so I guess thats my excuse for lack of creativity.
I've been thinking about spending a school year in Japan during my senior year, I think I'll figure out the details and then get a hold of some information. Because I think it would be a great experience and a chance for me to learn a lot and make some new friends and see a part of the world from a new, fresh, perspective. Here's hoping that somehow works out...
But right now, I'm ready for the summer. I really want to have an EP up and recorded by the end of the summer. I'm sick and tired of school.
-me
A Day Of Tinkering
NP- Lullaby
by Jacks Mannequin
I've been playing around with the mac most of today. Trying to find some kinda internet filter for mac, and so now my comptuer is pretty much in lockdown mode, meaning I don't have administrative access (which really sucks). I'll be finding some sort of filter ASAP so I dont have to be so restricted, cause it's ticking me off... I can't even watch my DVD tonight because I don't have administrative access. Go figure.
Just watching Jacks Mannequin vids from the Berkeley concert. They're pretty spiffy, nice to hear the new songs too.
Back to work on figuring out GaradgeBand.
-me
