Broken Social Scream!

Broken Social Scene's new album drops May 5. I'm so excited. I love BSS! But even better news! I'm going to see them for the second time at this summer's Pitchfork!!! I'm so excited! A four-day trip to Chicago with three days consisting of music and one of Chicago exploration.

Listen to the new album in its entirety here.

More exciting music to come out soon!

Arthur Killroad

One of the best things about OU is about to leave. My favourite OU musician (because I'm a sucker for acoustic guitar and creative lyrics) is graduating! NOOOOO! Arthur Killroad is having his final show in Athens June 4th. I will be there singing every lyric I know. I can't wait to purchase his new album. I'm looking forward to this like nobody's business.

Listen here: http://www.myspace.com/xarthurkillroadx

It's great music. Enjoy.

Cautionary Tale

Never go out and drink after a week of coughing. Otherwise, you'll lose your voice and sleep for most of the following day. At least that's what happened with me. I'm not the brightest bulb in the bin, but I'm one of the brighter ones. But sometimes, the power just goes out up there in that factory called my brain. Despite my coughing since Tuesday morning, I decided it would be a great idea to go out and finish my 1.5 liter bottle of wine. What a terrible idea. Well, at first it was a wonderful idea. I had fun, got a little drunk (nothing like last week, phew), and then got a piece of pizza before retiring to my room. Alas, when I awoke this morning, my wine-related dehydration had robbed me of my voice. The worst part was that I had slept for only a few hours before waking up prior to my 8 a.m. alarm. I downed some water, turned on an episode of Buffy, and flopped back into bed. I next awoke shortly before 3 p.m., watched a few more episodes of Buffy, and then once again collapsed in bed for a few hours. Now, I've got some Tostitos, queso dip, and some Snapples to tide me over during my Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 2 Recovery Marathon. There's also a good chance I'll watch some movies. So what's the moral of the story? Drink when you're sick so you have an excuse to be a hermit the next day.

Run From the Rain!

So I woke up from my nap to be treating with the gift of watching rain pour down at a fast rate. I closed my window so as not to get my room wet. Then I sat back and enjoyed watching people run in the downpour. It lasted for a few minutes before the sun broke through. It was calm for a few minutes, but then started again. Right now it's not raining, so I'm about to head out before it does. Enjoy this rain-related video until my return.



I've actually kissed someone in this manner, except it wasn't raining and I wasn't wearing a mask.

Love and Vampires

No, this is not about Twilight (bleck!). This is about Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It has become my new favourite show. I started watching it this weekend on Netflix instant stream. So good! Extremely cheesy, but enjoyably so. I'm going to watch some before I go to bed tonight. Now, the love part of this title. My love life was a hot topic of discussion in the Post lobby this afternoon. I'm told I need to find someone. That's a little difficult for me right now. I'm still stuck on someone, and no matter how many times I tell myself or my friends tell me to let go, I just cannot. I have no reason to let go, nothing to be angry about. All I had was good things, good memories, good feelings. How can you let go of someone who did nothing wrong except be unable to commit, and even that wasn't wrong. We were never official. Neither of us was looking for a relationship. If anything, I'm the one at fault. I told myself that I wouldn't get too involved, and if I did, then I would cut myself off from that person. I don't know. I just need to distract myself and not think about relationships at all. Maybe I should become a hermit...

Metropolis

No, this isn't about Superman. It's about the animated adaptation of Fritz Lang's silent masterpiece, Metropolis. You should all watch it - I just did. It was based loosely off a combination of the Fritz Lang silent film and the Osamu Tezuka manga of the same name. For those of my readers who aren't as anime nerdy as I am, Tezuka is the creative mind behind Astro Boy and is sometimes considered the Japanese Walt Disney. The film is beautifully animated and poignant. It shows the complex relationship between humans and robots, the nature of mankind, and the possibility of robot sentience, all to a wonderful soundtrack of New Orleans jazz and Ray Charles singing, "I Can't Stop Loving You." Here is the climactic scene from the film.



And also, check out my friend Tony's blog! It's called Neat Stuff Found in Used Books.

Joanna Newsom's New!

I finally decided to listen to my NPR Music podcast of a Joanna Newsom concert. I wanted to listen to her entire album when NPR was streaming it on its website, but I didn't get a chance to before it was released. When I heard the first song, I fell in love. It was so beautiful! Now, be warned, Joanna Newsom is not everyone's cup of tea. I originally didn't like her when I first listened to her. Then I listened a second time, and her voice and lyrics are wonderful. They're otherworldly, much like Sigur Ros. Here's the first song she played at the concert.

Hello and Thank You

Yesterday was an interesting day. My acting skills were complemented by my cashier. I auditioned for the School of Theater's fall productions. That was last Friday, so he recognized me a week later and complimented my acting, saying I should be proud for having little experience and one acting class. Then it was the premiere of Fridays Live Season 22. After the show, I went to my dear friend David's birthday party. I was gifted with a 1.5 liter bottle of wine from one of my legal-aged friends. I finished about half the bottle, so a little more than a normal bottle of wine. Let's just say I was everyone's best friend. I kept introducing myself to the people I didn't know and saying "Hi" to everyone. I'm also a lot better at dancing when I'm drunk. Thankfully, I did not throw up my first time being drunk. I probably would have had David let me finish the bottle. But he cut me off and was kind enough to walk me home when I was too far gone. It was interesting being drunk. I'm still not sure how I feel about it, though.

What Did I Get Myself Into?

How could I let you drift away. I should be more aggressive before you're gone for good. I don't want to lose you, though I fear I might have already. I hope to god my fear does not prove true. I doubt you read this, but I think you might. If I try to learn what's going on in your life, I assume you might be doing the same. I doubt it though. I guess this is goodbye. Please, don't let it be...

Balance

Balance is being restored to my life somewhat. At least that's how it seems right now. Tomorrow looks a lot brighter. I'm going to make this a productive quarter. I'm going to read more often. I'm going to start writing something, get my thoughts and ideas down. And this summer, I'm going to get a license and a car. I'm going to travel. I'm going to live just a little more. And most importantly, I'm going to make sure I spend time with the people I care about most before they scatter in different directions, and reconnect with the people who are already drifting away.

Drama

I acted in a friend's short play for his play writing class a few days ago. I read/acted before his classmates in this short-play festival. My friend's play was last, so I got to sit and enjoy his classmates' plays. It was an interesting experience. There were some good short plays, others were a little long, and some were read oddly. There was a really dramatic one that was ruined for me by the way it was read. The "actors" read their lines in a way that made for more comedy than tragedy. After intermission, I just faded out and didn't really pay attention. I started thinking about writing something of my own, and the skeleton of this monologue just popped into my thoughts. Tell me what you think.

"It was a rush, a euphoria, a pure ecstasy I had never encountered before. I tried it before, but the previous times left me unsatisfied and wondering what everyone raved about. But then it finally happened. I couldn't believe it. It was absolutely wonderful. My heart raced. My knuckles clenched. My eyes rolled back. I was drunk on the feeling. I didn't want it to stop. But all good things come to an end, right? I keep trying to reach that experience, but I never can reach that intense rush. Every time I try, I just end unfulfilled and hating myself because I let that feeling end. I let that feeling escape. Nothing else does it for me. That time was something more. You didn't just fuck me like everyone else; you made love to me. You made me feel that I was the only person who mattered to you. Or was it all just in my mind, and you really did just fuck me, in more ways than one?"

Goodbye Blues

Despite dancing with friends on College Green for people to ogle at us, and having tons of fun doing it, I want to go home. But, I don't know if I'm ready to handle what might come my way while I'm at home. I don't know what to expect from a certain someone when I see them. I feel as if I'm losing my mind because of this person. So to help me cope, I've retreated to music, my comfort. Here's how I feel:



I wish I could play an instrument. People keep telling me it's easy to learn guitar. I tried to teach myself. It wasn't easy, especially since I didn't have a designated time to just sit and practice each day. I really want to learn piano, but the class for non-music majors fills so fast, I most likely won't be able to take the class until next year. Here's to hoping a spot opens up during Spring Quarter.

Jiminy Controversy, Batman!

So I wrote a column for Column Writing about hipsters and how they are invading Athens and OU mainly just for fun because I wanted to write something about hipsters, especially since people compare me to one constantly. So Ryan needed a Between the Lines to fill space on the Editorial Page, and he asked me if I could let him run one of assignments from Column Writing. It was between the Quidditch one and the Hipster one, but I decided on the Hipster column because I didn't see any good reason to run a random column about Quidditch and how it's spreading to college campuses. Yesterday, the Web page of my column received 35 comments in one day, and 1447 views. People searched for me on Google and found good 'ol Life of John Nero. My column has inspired some interesting responses. A good number of people cannot seem to understand the joke that is my column. Look the display image on this blog! It screams hipster. Well, I'm going to head back to bed as moving makes me extremely nauseous.

Read the crazy comments here.

Happy Birthday, Darling!

Have you ever seen me at a party? It's probably best you haven't. I'm normally the most sober person there, but also the most ridiculous. People ask why I don't go out to parties more. My main reason is I'm not much of a party person. I like to relax on my weekends by snuggling up in my chair, eating Ben&Jerry's, and watching stuff on Netflix or Hulu. I also try to read, not so much this quarter, but in past ones. And if I went out to every party, I might lose a lot of weight from dancing so much; and if you know me, then you know I don't have a lot of weight to lose. Slight digression time! I recently became obsessed with this song (not really). I keep finding moments to quote the beginning speaking part. Someone usually says something relating to a party, a birthday, or going somewhere, and I respond with, "We're going to a party. It's a birthday party. It's your birthday. Happy Birthday, darling. We love you very very very very very very very much."

Murder, He Wrote

According to my friend Adam, I'm a 40-year-old lesbian. Why? Because I watch Murder, She Wrote (I apparently furthered my lesbianism by admitting to liking Golden Girls also). I can't help myself! Angela Lansbury is so adorably British. She goes around solving murders with her super-human deduction abilities. She's the Sherlock Holmes of three decades ago. It's also super cheesy. The intro to the show has non-suspenseful music and her jogging around her Maine hometown waving to people on boats. It's absolutely hysterical!

Lost in Translation

So tonight was the final season premiere of Lost! I've been so pumped. I watched it on the big screen at The Post, and prior to its beginning, Dave thought it would be fun for me to explain everything that happened in Lost up to the end of season five. I said he should just watch the five-minute youtube video describing everything super fast with hilarious costume changes. He said it would be much more fun if I explained it to him. I'm not going to try that again. I didn't get to finish and was interrupted several times. Tristan became fascinated with the smoke monster and wouldn't stop asking if something had to do with the smoke monster. It was agitating, but they love to drive me insane at The Post. I admit, I react quite humourously. But yeah, Lost was great. Loved it!

Salaam, Salinger

I wish you hadn't been a recluse, and that I could have possibly trekked to your place of living before you died, but alas, the best laid plans. Thank you for your amazing works, Mr. Salinger. I know this is a day late, but I needed a day to accept that this was true and not another twitter faux death report. Here's to you, Salinger! The Onion by far did the best memorial for you, written in your most memorable character's fashion.

Singing Real Loud in My Room

I wonder if my neighbors ever get annoyed with my singing. I tend to play music and sing to it a little loudly. Like right now. I'm singing to The Hush Sound. They'll always have a special place in my heart. They were one of the first bands I started listening to when I finally found out about good music in good old tenth grade. Those were the days. Now it's four years later and I'm still singing them. I love music. This girl complimented me a few days ago when I was singing a song by Cold War Kids. She told me I should sing at the open-mic nights, but I need to find someone to play accompaniment so I don't speed up.

National Soup Month

So I've gone this whole month without knowing it was National Soup Month! I need to be on the planning committee for this month! We could totally plan a soup-a-day calendar! How did I find this out? Why Yahoo!'s home page! Here's the link. It just proves what I've always known! Soup is the most amazing food creation ever! Other than cheesecake of course!

Unidetified Liquid

So construction guys have been working on the roof outside my window, and they left their drinks right outside my window. There's an empty Minute Maid orange juice bottle, two Mountain Dew cans, and an unidentified liquid in a KFC paper cup. I want to know what's in it! It's going to drive me mad! What did that construction worker drink?! ARGH! I'm just kidding. Actually, I'm not. I'm sort of intrigued. I wonder if he'll get KFC tomorrow. I'll stake out in my room and try to catch a glimpse of the liquid's color that rises in the straw. Then I'll search KFC's offered soda fountain drinks. Huzzah! The game is afoot! Have at you!