yesterday evening, i had dinner with luna and paula, our two spanish group organizers, and sean and tyler, two of the guys from our uni group. we were eating dinner and luna's place and i asked the girls about sesame street, if they watched it when they were young. in spain it's called barrio sesamo. we started talking about it, and i learned the names of characters, like grover in spain is called coco, and they knew the skit where he teaches kids about near and far. how cool is that? they had some of the same skits here in spain, and probably in all the other countries that showed sesame street, as they did in america. other characters, kermit the frog = la rana gustavo, cookie monster = triqui, ernie and bert = epi y blas, grover = coco (and obviously, supergrover = supercoco) and, ready? guy smiley = pepe sonrisas. i almost wish i had grown up watching the spanish version. so anyway, we're talking about different characters and skits, and out of nowhere paula starts singing, "uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez, once, doce". yes. they both knew the pinball skit. the skit where a pinball bounces around the coolest pinball machine you could ever imagination whilst a song plays in the background, singing the numbers one through twelve. the melody during the 1-12 is one of the most indelible memories i have from my childhood. and outside of my family, i've met a total of like three people who know about the pinball sketch, so it was great to meet someone from a different country who knew that from their childhood too.
i gotta say though, hearing the girls sing it, and after seeing the video you're about to see, the spanish one through twelve has so much less rhythm than the english one through twelve. i don't want to sound arrogant, but it just sounds so much better/cooler in english than in spanish. but here is the spanish version anyway. it's not the best quality, just ignore the names of the numbers that pop up, those are obnoxious and weren't in the skit originally. just focus on the song.
ok now check this out. the real thing.
one of my all time favorite sesame street sketches. it was just cool to find out they had it in another country too. that's all.
-jon
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
united kingdom.
i'm nervous. in three days i leave on a bus and then plane to fly to the united kingdom. my friend sean and i are arriving first in london on thursday night, staying there all day friday and then on saturday, mid-afternoon, we take another plane to dublin and stay there until early monday morning.
i'm more excited about this trip than i think i have been about any trip i've taken yet this semester. so why am i nervous? i'm not sure. maybe because i have a strong feeling i'm going to arrive in london, spend a day falling in love with the city, and then have to leave. i've never been obsessed with english culture, but england, and especially london, has such a special history in terms of society and culture, music, films, books, religion, etc. it's an extremely important place in our world and i'm way excited to see it. but in a day and a half? i don't think so. i'm gonna see about 1% of what i want to see and then i'm gonna have to go. bum deal. but it'll be great. we're meeting two good girl friends of sean's from uni who are studying at the university of hull for the semester and hang out with them for our time in london. it's cool too, the girls have been to london a few times so they have a feel for the city and know their way around better than we do, obviously. we don't really know yet what we're gonna do, but one thing for sure we have planned, a musical. YES. when i searched online what musicals were playing, a long list of the greatest musicals ever came up. phantom of the opera. wizard of oz. les mis. wicked. grease. hairspray. the lion king. loads more. immediately the first one that grabbed my attention was les mis, but the girls have already seen it so we're gonna see wicked instead. wicked in london. so awesome.
other london things i want to see. maybe the royal palace? not a huge deal to me, if we make it there that'd be cool, but i'm not dying to see it. i would really like to see the actual london, more than just the tourist trap. i'm gonna try to have us stay away from places like picadilly circus if we can. i've read it's clogged with nothing but tourists and the like, which does not sound good. i'd love to go find an area like camden market and go shopping in some authentic london stores, clothes, records, whatever. also, although i'm not a huge beatles fan, just for the history and sake of it, i'd love to see abbey road and the music studios right there. we'll see what the girls and sean are up for. but i'm way excited.
saturday afternoon sean and i take a plane to dublin. i'm not as excited for this as london, but this is still gonna be incredible. i think because i'm not 100% irish, i don't have a serious jones to visit it. it seems to me like almost more than any other ancestry or heritage, irish people always want to go see their motherland. maybe not but that's just what i've noticed. so sean is extremely psyched about this and i'm about 75% as excited as he is. i am glad we're agreed on what we want to do while we're there. neither of us know much about dublin, so we are gonna have a guiness at the world famous guiness storehouse, maybe visit Christchurch cathedral, and then after that, we both just want to hit the countryside. we want to see the green that ireland is famous for. so for one day we're gonna get out of the city and see as much of the country as we can. it's ambitious but i'm really excited about it. and we only have a hostel there for one night, saturday night, so early sunday morning we can check out of the hostel, head to the guiness storehouse, have our beer, then head off to the countryside with our backpacks and explore as much as we possibly can. how exciting. it will be awesome. and then early monday morning we catch a plane back to spain just in time to miss almost all our classes. awesome.
like most of the trips i've taken here, i think it'll be just long enough to whet my appetite and make me want to come back one day. oh well. it'll be fun though, a long weekend with american friends in an english speaking country. sort of like a reinitiation into english speaking culture before i actually arrive back in the states. fish and chips, here i come.
-jon
i'm more excited about this trip than i think i have been about any trip i've taken yet this semester. so why am i nervous? i'm not sure. maybe because i have a strong feeling i'm going to arrive in london, spend a day falling in love with the city, and then have to leave. i've never been obsessed with english culture, but england, and especially london, has such a special history in terms of society and culture, music, films, books, religion, etc. it's an extremely important place in our world and i'm way excited to see it. but in a day and a half? i don't think so. i'm gonna see about 1% of what i want to see and then i'm gonna have to go. bum deal. but it'll be great. we're meeting two good girl friends of sean's from uni who are studying at the university of hull for the semester and hang out with them for our time in london. it's cool too, the girls have been to london a few times so they have a feel for the city and know their way around better than we do, obviously. we don't really know yet what we're gonna do, but one thing for sure we have planned, a musical. YES. when i searched online what musicals were playing, a long list of the greatest musicals ever came up. phantom of the opera. wizard of oz. les mis. wicked. grease. hairspray. the lion king. loads more. immediately the first one that grabbed my attention was les mis, but the girls have already seen it so we're gonna see wicked instead. wicked in london. so awesome.
other london things i want to see. maybe the royal palace? not a huge deal to me, if we make it there that'd be cool, but i'm not dying to see it. i would really like to see the actual london, more than just the tourist trap. i'm gonna try to have us stay away from places like picadilly circus if we can. i've read it's clogged with nothing but tourists and the like, which does not sound good. i'd love to go find an area like camden market and go shopping in some authentic london stores, clothes, records, whatever. also, although i'm not a huge beatles fan, just for the history and sake of it, i'd love to see abbey road and the music studios right there. we'll see what the girls and sean are up for. but i'm way excited.
saturday afternoon sean and i take a plane to dublin. i'm not as excited for this as london, but this is still gonna be incredible. i think because i'm not 100% irish, i don't have a serious jones to visit it. it seems to me like almost more than any other ancestry or heritage, irish people always want to go see their motherland. maybe not but that's just what i've noticed. so sean is extremely psyched about this and i'm about 75% as excited as he is. i am glad we're agreed on what we want to do while we're there. neither of us know much about dublin, so we are gonna have a guiness at the world famous guiness storehouse, maybe visit Christchurch cathedral, and then after that, we both just want to hit the countryside. we want to see the green that ireland is famous for. so for one day we're gonna get out of the city and see as much of the country as we can. it's ambitious but i'm really excited about it. and we only have a hostel there for one night, saturday night, so early sunday morning we can check out of the hostel, head to the guiness storehouse, have our beer, then head off to the countryside with our backpacks and explore as much as we possibly can. how exciting. it will be awesome. and then early monday morning we catch a plane back to spain just in time to miss almost all our classes. awesome.
like most of the trips i've taken here, i think it'll be just long enough to whet my appetite and make me want to come back one day. oh well. it'll be fun though, a long weekend with american friends in an english speaking country. sort of like a reinitiation into english speaking culture before i actually arrive back in the states. fish and chips, here i come.
-jon
Saturday, April 26, 2008
one long paragraph.
one month left.
walking home tonight from spending some time with a few friends, i found something i think i might miss. i crossed the main street to get to my house and i hopped up on the sidewalk and kept on walking like normal. as i glanced down at my feet i noticed how the sidewalk is designed. it's made up of squares of stoney grey, all with diagonal lines cut into them. every now and again there is a little cluster of squares that are a maroonish color, but less ugly than maroon. i don't know why it struck me tonight. i guess just thinking about how many times i've walked the sidewalks here and how i look down at my feet or at the ground just ahead of me as i walk and how i've become so accustomed to this life, this city, these roads. my normal routine is to come home from class and flip on some music and hope i can get internet in my room. i haven't seen colleen in four months. she used to be part of my routine, seeing my friend joel used to be my routine, double decker tacos and mega buddies from kwik star used to be my routine, playing my beautiful stratocaster used to be my routine. and none of that is it anymore. my routine here consists of listening to music, putting off what little homework we're given, writing, watching tv shows i have, spending evenings at the cafe, spending evenings playing ping pong. i don't know why sidewalk tiles set all this off in my head. it's just so weird to think how my life has changed, just out of necessity. it obviously couldn't have stayed the same because i lost everything that was normal to me before. and i've carved out a new routine for myself. it's not my absolute favorite but it has sufficed. i've learned many, many things about who i am, personality and character wise, things that i want to take advantage of back in the states, things i want to change, things i want to work harder at, things i want to spend more time on. being isolated from community has forced me to examine who i am and what i want to do. as much as this trip has brought me a lot of loneliness at times, it's also brought me a new kind of clarity about my identity. and i don't want to lose that. i think what the sidewalk tiles made me realize is that i'm proud of myself for managing to carve out a new kind of life for five months in a completely new place. some of the kids here wouldn't say that i've taken advantage of my time here in spain as much as i should've, not going out enough, or meeting new people from new places, or whatever, but this trip has gone from being about speaking another language (i learned within the first week that i wasn't going to leave the country fluent) to being about learning about me. and i've had more success in that aspect than i could've hoped for. i'm learning what's important to me, what's not, what i want to work for and fight for and live for when i return to normalcy. and i'm excited to get back to that normalcy with this new kind of confidence. there really is a strange kind of confidence that comes from seeing new and beautiful things. for me it's not always the thing itself that brings me confidence; the confidence comes from the thoughts and realizations that are triggered by seeing new things. i'm returning to the states more confident about my life and who i am because i recognize supermarket signs in spanish. because of the gorgeous cathedral in the middle of the city. because of the concrete ping pong tables outside in the city park. because of the thousands of new faces i've seen here. because of the sunset i saw in san sebastian and the mountains i've seen in the picos de europa. because of the sidewalk tiles. it's odd how the tiniest little things like that set off such a chain reaction of introspection in me. i guess i finally feel really ready to return to something i know. ready to play my strat. ready to study my butt off this summer. ready for fountain pop. i can't wait.
-jon
walking home tonight from spending some time with a few friends, i found something i think i might miss. i crossed the main street to get to my house and i hopped up on the sidewalk and kept on walking like normal. as i glanced down at my feet i noticed how the sidewalk is designed. it's made up of squares of stoney grey, all with diagonal lines cut into them. every now and again there is a little cluster of squares that are a maroonish color, but less ugly than maroon. i don't know why it struck me tonight. i guess just thinking about how many times i've walked the sidewalks here and how i look down at my feet or at the ground just ahead of me as i walk and how i've become so accustomed to this life, this city, these roads. my normal routine is to come home from class and flip on some music and hope i can get internet in my room. i haven't seen colleen in four months. she used to be part of my routine, seeing my friend joel used to be my routine, double decker tacos and mega buddies from kwik star used to be my routine, playing my beautiful stratocaster used to be my routine. and none of that is it anymore. my routine here consists of listening to music, putting off what little homework we're given, writing, watching tv shows i have, spending evenings at the cafe, spending evenings playing ping pong. i don't know why sidewalk tiles set all this off in my head. it's just so weird to think how my life has changed, just out of necessity. it obviously couldn't have stayed the same because i lost everything that was normal to me before. and i've carved out a new routine for myself. it's not my absolute favorite but it has sufficed. i've learned many, many things about who i am, personality and character wise, things that i want to take advantage of back in the states, things i want to change, things i want to work harder at, things i want to spend more time on. being isolated from community has forced me to examine who i am and what i want to do. as much as this trip has brought me a lot of loneliness at times, it's also brought me a new kind of clarity about my identity. and i don't want to lose that. i think what the sidewalk tiles made me realize is that i'm proud of myself for managing to carve out a new kind of life for five months in a completely new place. some of the kids here wouldn't say that i've taken advantage of my time here in spain as much as i should've, not going out enough, or meeting new people from new places, or whatever, but this trip has gone from being about speaking another language (i learned within the first week that i wasn't going to leave the country fluent) to being about learning about me. and i've had more success in that aspect than i could've hoped for. i'm learning what's important to me, what's not, what i want to work for and fight for and live for when i return to normalcy. and i'm excited to get back to that normalcy with this new kind of confidence. there really is a strange kind of confidence that comes from seeing new and beautiful things. for me it's not always the thing itself that brings me confidence; the confidence comes from the thoughts and realizations that are triggered by seeing new things. i'm returning to the states more confident about my life and who i am because i recognize supermarket signs in spanish. because of the gorgeous cathedral in the middle of the city. because of the concrete ping pong tables outside in the city park. because of the thousands of new faces i've seen here. because of the sunset i saw in san sebastian and the mountains i've seen in the picos de europa. because of the sidewalk tiles. it's odd how the tiniest little things like that set off such a chain reaction of introspection in me. i guess i finally feel really ready to return to something i know. ready to play my strat. ready to study my butt off this summer. ready for fountain pop. i can't wait.
-jon
Friday, April 25, 2008
cloverfield.
one bad thing about studying abroad is missing all the great american stuff that gets released while you're gone. so far, i've missed the release of albums like gnarls the odd couple and movies like rambo. ok rambo's a joke, but i'm missing the latest episodes of lost, 30 rock (a new fav.), and the office. and in may, there are loads of movies coming out that i would love to see: iron man, speed racer, prince caspian, and indiana jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull. i definitely want to see at least all of these in the theaters because they're epic adventure movies. you can't see these on a laptop or a crappy tv set. you gotta watch them in style, with killer sound and a gigantic screen in your face.
this is the way i wish i had've seen
cloverfield. i watched it last night on my laptop, and although i was still blown away, i can only imagine how intense it must've been in the theaters. if you haven't seen it, i think it's out on dvd now so i definitely recommend it. it was incredible; a super sweet monster movie. if you don't know anything about it, the whole thing is shot from the perspective of a handheld camera, captured by a guy who was originally supposed to document a going-away party held for a friend. it starts at this party, and then everyone hears a huge explosion, a monster comes storming through the city, and all hell breaks loose after that. basically the whole movie is this group of a few friends running and screaming. and oh man is it scary. never once is the illusion broken that all these events are happening while you are watching; everything seems so incredibly real. the camera is jerked around, it points towards the ground at times, it always seems shaky; it's an incredibly visceral experience. i was dreading what was coming next the whole time because there is such a feeling of outright panic and confusion throughout the whole movie. i was as in the dark as the people running from the monster, i was struggling to keep up with what was going on, just like everyone else in the movie. usually not knowing what's going on is obnoxious in a film, but here it just makes you feel like you're so much more involved. you get a little frustrated when the camera doesn't show you things you want, but so is everybody else because they have no idea what's going on either or if they will be ok or anything. so awesome.
the makers of this movie (i love you j.j. abrams) know exactly how much to give the audience to keep them hooked. there is only one real money shot of the monster, and it is crazy. up until then all you see are glimpses, and never the whole thing. visually, it just traps you and you can't look away. the actors do a great job too; there wasn't a minute where i wasn't involved with them. hud, the cameraman, at times is a bit too dumb, but as far as reviews that said the characters weren't developed or were all 1-dimensional? of course they aren't developed, and it doesn't take away from the film at all. it's a monster movie in real time, of course the characters are trying to survive by getting away from this unseen danger, not grow in their relationships with one another.
it's also a cool commentary on our culture, that a person would actually attempt to keep a camera rolling the whole time this disaster is occurring. when the head of the statue of liberty comes crashing through a street and lands in front of everyone, you can actually see people taking out their camera phones and taking pictures of it. our culture is so obsessed with capturing moments and the movie nails that really well. very cool.
there has been some talk of a sequel, which, if done in an uncheesy way, could be potentially awesome. they've talked about making another movie from the point of view of another camera, another group of people. that would be great, as long as totally new narratives are given concerning the monster. maybe it could go on longer than the first one did; follow-up the story a bit. i don't know. whatever they do, it's gonna have to be killer to top this one. watch it.
-jon
this is the way i wish i had've seen
cloverfield. i watched it last night on my laptop, and although i was still blown away, i can only imagine how intense it must've been in the theaters. if you haven't seen it, i think it's out on dvd now so i definitely recommend it. it was incredible; a super sweet monster movie. if you don't know anything about it, the whole thing is shot from the perspective of a handheld camera, captured by a guy who was originally supposed to document a going-away party held for a friend. it starts at this party, and then everyone hears a huge explosion, a monster comes storming through the city, and all hell breaks loose after that. basically the whole movie is this group of a few friends running and screaming. and oh man is it scary. never once is the illusion broken that all these events are happening while you are watching; everything seems so incredibly real. the camera is jerked around, it points towards the ground at times, it always seems shaky; it's an incredibly visceral experience. i was dreading what was coming next the whole time because there is such a feeling of outright panic and confusion throughout the whole movie. i was as in the dark as the people running from the monster, i was struggling to keep up with what was going on, just like everyone else in the movie. usually not knowing what's going on is obnoxious in a film, but here it just makes you feel like you're so much more involved. you get a little frustrated when the camera doesn't show you things you want, but so is everybody else because they have no idea what's going on either or if they will be ok or anything. so awesome.the makers of this movie (i love you j.j. abrams) know exactly how much to give the audience to keep them hooked. there is only one real money shot of the monster, and it is crazy. up until then all you see are glimpses, and never the whole thing. visually, it just traps you and you can't look away. the actors do a great job too; there wasn't a minute where i wasn't involved with them. hud, the cameraman, at times is a bit too dumb, but as far as reviews that said the characters weren't developed or were all 1-dimensional? of course they aren't developed, and it doesn't take away from the film at all. it's a monster movie in real time, of course the characters are trying to survive by getting away from this unseen danger, not grow in their relationships with one another.
it's also a cool commentary on our culture, that a person would actually attempt to keep a camera rolling the whole time this disaster is occurring. when the head of the statue of liberty comes crashing through a street and lands in front of everyone, you can actually see people taking out their camera phones and taking pictures of it. our culture is so obsessed with capturing moments and the movie nails that really well. very cool.
there has been some talk of a sequel, which, if done in an uncheesy way, could be potentially awesome. they've talked about making another movie from the point of view of another camera, another group of people. that would be great, as long as totally new narratives are given concerning the monster. maybe it could go on longer than the first one did; follow-up the story a bit. i don't know. whatever they do, it's gonna have to be killer to top this one. watch it.
-jon
Sunday, April 20, 2008
don't be offended if i ever talk to you with my earbuds in. i'm probably paying attention.
had an interesting chat with a friend on the bus tonight. we'd spent the day in león with some friends and most people were falling asleep on the bus and we got to chatting about the day and how it went. and i realized a few things.
it's weird living here in spain. and it's especially weird because the closest friends i have are people with whom i'm not really in my comfort zone. they aren't people i think i would ever choose to be close to. they're not bad people, just way different than i am. and i think lately i've been subconsciously distancing myself from hanging out with people cause i'm starting to realize that. i think i'm known around here as the kid with the ipod; at school, between classes, even if i'm talking to somebody, i have at least one earbud in, and most times two. i walk to class with my ipod, i play ping pong with my ipod. blake even drew a comic that was seen by all the students with me in it, and he drew me wearing an argyle sweater and listening to my ipod so people would better recognize me. it's just part of my identity. i think i'm also known as the guy who doesn't go out. there are so many days when people ask me when i did during the weekend or if i'm going out later that night, and my most common answer is "nope, probably gonna head to the cafe". the cafe has become my second spanish home. i'm almost always guaranteed good, functional internet until midnight when they close. and they have pretty good coffee.
but that's who i've become to the kids around here. the kid with the ipod who doesn't go out. and when i realized i was really starting to isolate myself and every now and then would get crap from people about it (oh lame jon isn't going out cause he's got a skype date, etc.), i felt kind of bad about it at first. but i think i've finally pinpointed why i do it. i just don't connect with these kids well. i have a different lifestyle, a different mindset about things than most people here do and it is so hard to truly connect with anybody. i connect best with people through music, through lists, through creativity. and no one here understands that. no one here would rather spend time in a cafe, researching artists and albums online so they can write a Top 5 list about music rather than go out and party. and i would. i'd rather spend time seeing colleen's face and getting to talk to her and connect with her rather than go out. nothing makes me happier than letting her know who i've been reading about or sending her new music that i've been listening to. i'd even rather spend time talking with my other buddy online (yeah, like instant messenger. i still rock that.) than going out because that's how we connect. he and i have hung out in real life less than ten times (girlfriend's cousin) but i feel like he's a close friend cause our minds work in a similar way. he gets excited about music, about creativity, like i do. and no one here does.
today in león, around 7pm, we'd been there since like 2 or so, and people had just bought some drinks and we were gonna walk around the city some more. there were nine of us altogether, and people were eating their snacks and drinking their drinks, and i actually put my ipod on, even with everyone around talking. it's not that i don't want to talk to anybody, it's just that there are times when i'm just dying to experience a tune and i'll forfeit being 100% involved in a conversation for that experience ("rock with you" by michael jackson was what i needed to listen to.) i ended having my ipod on for almost the next three hours, walking with everyone and dancing while we walked. sometimes i'd talk to people, sometimes i'd fall to the back and practice moonwalking or other dance moves off the curb. and it was fun.
it's a weird thing. i feel like a part of my mind has opened up here in spain and i'm nervous about losing that when i go back to the states. i've had the best opportunity to just let music sink into every part of my life here, and been able to have an outlet for it through writing. when i'm in the states, i've got real classes, real homework, a job, a relationship, and actual close friends that i have to put effort into. here, i've got easy classes, joke homework, no job, still a relationship, and one actual close friend. so i have so much time to let this part of my mind open up and let the creativity blossom. and i've loved it. it'll probably be one of the biggest things i remember about this trip. it's just an important part of who i am and i haven't really found it here with anyone else. like when somebody asks me what i'm listening to (which by the way hardly ever happens. why don't more people ask that to people with headphones in their ears?), if i get even remotely passionate about what it is i'm listening to, i almost always get blank responses back, or at least apathetic responses. which just kind of bums me out. not even for me, but like if a person responds in an uncaring type of way, it's like what inspires you? what makes you feel things, get passionate about things? i just wish i was surrounded by more people who cared about things that seem important to me.
that's the biggest reason i'm excited to get back into the states. not to get back into my comfort zone because it's easier, but to get back to that place because it's necessary for me. i need to connect to people who really know me cause i'm starting to really drag without those connections. so if nothing else, i've got about one more month of good blogs in me and then they'll start to suck again. enjoy while you've got 'em.
-jon
it's weird living here in spain. and it's especially weird because the closest friends i have are people with whom i'm not really in my comfort zone. they aren't people i think i would ever choose to be close to. they're not bad people, just way different than i am. and i think lately i've been subconsciously distancing myself from hanging out with people cause i'm starting to realize that. i think i'm known around here as the kid with the ipod; at school, between classes, even if i'm talking to somebody, i have at least one earbud in, and most times two. i walk to class with my ipod, i play ping pong with my ipod. blake even drew a comic that was seen by all the students with me in it, and he drew me wearing an argyle sweater and listening to my ipod so people would better recognize me. it's just part of my identity. i think i'm also known as the guy who doesn't go out. there are so many days when people ask me when i did during the weekend or if i'm going out later that night, and my most common answer is "nope, probably gonna head to the cafe". the cafe has become my second spanish home. i'm almost always guaranteed good, functional internet until midnight when they close. and they have pretty good coffee.
but that's who i've become to the kids around here. the kid with the ipod who doesn't go out. and when i realized i was really starting to isolate myself and every now and then would get crap from people about it (oh lame jon isn't going out cause he's got a skype date, etc.), i felt kind of bad about it at first. but i think i've finally pinpointed why i do it. i just don't connect with these kids well. i have a different lifestyle, a different mindset about things than most people here do and it is so hard to truly connect with anybody. i connect best with people through music, through lists, through creativity. and no one here understands that. no one here would rather spend time in a cafe, researching artists and albums online so they can write a Top 5 list about music rather than go out and party. and i would. i'd rather spend time seeing colleen's face and getting to talk to her and connect with her rather than go out. nothing makes me happier than letting her know who i've been reading about or sending her new music that i've been listening to. i'd even rather spend time talking with my other buddy online (yeah, like instant messenger. i still rock that.) than going out because that's how we connect. he and i have hung out in real life less than ten times (girlfriend's cousin) but i feel like he's a close friend cause our minds work in a similar way. he gets excited about music, about creativity, like i do. and no one here does.
today in león, around 7pm, we'd been there since like 2 or so, and people had just bought some drinks and we were gonna walk around the city some more. there were nine of us altogether, and people were eating their snacks and drinking their drinks, and i actually put my ipod on, even with everyone around talking. it's not that i don't want to talk to anybody, it's just that there are times when i'm just dying to experience a tune and i'll forfeit being 100% involved in a conversation for that experience ("rock with you" by michael jackson was what i needed to listen to.) i ended having my ipod on for almost the next three hours, walking with everyone and dancing while we walked. sometimes i'd talk to people, sometimes i'd fall to the back and practice moonwalking or other dance moves off the curb. and it was fun.
it's a weird thing. i feel like a part of my mind has opened up here in spain and i'm nervous about losing that when i go back to the states. i've had the best opportunity to just let music sink into every part of my life here, and been able to have an outlet for it through writing. when i'm in the states, i've got real classes, real homework, a job, a relationship, and actual close friends that i have to put effort into. here, i've got easy classes, joke homework, no job, still a relationship, and one actual close friend. so i have so much time to let this part of my mind open up and let the creativity blossom. and i've loved it. it'll probably be one of the biggest things i remember about this trip. it's just an important part of who i am and i haven't really found it here with anyone else. like when somebody asks me what i'm listening to (which by the way hardly ever happens. why don't more people ask that to people with headphones in their ears?), if i get even remotely passionate about what it is i'm listening to, i almost always get blank responses back, or at least apathetic responses. which just kind of bums me out. not even for me, but like if a person responds in an uncaring type of way, it's like what inspires you? what makes you feel things, get passionate about things? i just wish i was surrounded by more people who cared about things that seem important to me.
that's the biggest reason i'm excited to get back into the states. not to get back into my comfort zone because it's easier, but to get back to that place because it's necessary for me. i need to connect to people who really know me cause i'm starting to really drag without those connections. so if nothing else, i've got about one more month of good blogs in me and then they'll start to suck again. enjoy while you've got 'em.
-jon
Thursday, April 17, 2008
summer jams.
does anybody need another reason to be amped for this summer? i've got one:
God has now officially smiled on this summer and given it a thumbs up. here's some more info.
"The special, expanded John Mayer live-in-concert DVD/CD "Where The Light Is" will arrive July 1. The new "live" package will be available as a 2-CD set, a DVD (regular and Blu-Ray HD), a CD/DVD combo and a multi-disc vinyl set with an enclosed download card." - tryjm.com
how exciting is that? a new dvd/cd combo. this concert was held last december, and the killer thing is that it was part john mayer solo/acoustic, part john mayer trio (reuniting for the first time in like a year and a half), and part john mayer with his current band. absolutely a 5-star show. i've got the audience recording of it, and it's phenomal, so it will be extra great to get the actual soundboard show. SO GREAT. come quick summer. i'm waiting.
-jon
God has now officially smiled on this summer and given it a thumbs up. here's some more info.
"The special, expanded John Mayer live-in-concert DVD/CD "Where The Light Is" will arrive July 1. The new "live" package will be available as a 2-CD set, a DVD (regular and Blu-Ray HD), a CD/DVD combo and a multi-disc vinyl set with an enclosed download card." - tryjm.com
how exciting is that? a new dvd/cd combo. this concert was held last december, and the killer thing is that it was part john mayer solo/acoustic, part john mayer trio (reuniting for the first time in like a year and a half), and part john mayer with his current band. absolutely a 5-star show. i've got the audience recording of it, and it's phenomal, so it will be extra great to get the actual soundboard show. SO GREAT. come quick summer. i'm waiting.
-jon
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
san sebastian.
road trips will always be my favorite mode of travel. two weekends ago i had the wonderful opportunity to take my first road trip in a long long time to san sebastian with blake, his brother cameron, and a coworker of cam's, cody. it was awesome. let me tell you why.
first of all, man do i miss cars. riding in them, driving them, listening to music, seeing the gas needle at F, windows down, getting out and stretching, the whole kit and kaboodle*. we started our weekend late friday morning, meeting at the cafe and packing the car up. the first advantage of driving in a car: no real packing limit. when you fly, or when you go by bus or train, you have to limit what you pack. with the car, i was able to pack my whole huge travel backpack and bring my computer too. holler. so we got the car packed and tried to find our way out of oviedo. this proved a bit difficult because 1) nowhere in spain do they use real street signs, and 2) the turn onto the highway was called a "sharp left" by google maps. here is a picture of said turn. sharp left? you decide.
once we got onto the highway though it was good. blake threw in the only cd we had because the car unfortunately had no mp3 player jack, and we had no way of connecting our ipods or anything. major bummer. we ended up listening to that cd like literally eleven times. not good.
but traveling by car is just so much more fun. it's more comfortable, windows down is so much fun, it feels so much more communal. like you're sharing a real experience among the other people in the car. and that's such a cool feeling. plus we made killer time. we ended up getting to san sebastian in like 4 hours, which was way fast as far as road travel in spain goes.
a little about san sebastian. gorgeous city. i guess it's somewhat famous for it's beaches, la playa de la concha and another of which i don't know the name. there is a really nice old section of town, with a lot of old, old buildings and churches and structures and the river through the city is really nice too. the bay that is surrounded by la playa de la concha has a little island right in the middle and it's flanked on either side by two little mountains. very picturesque.
we checked into our hostel, which was actually way nice for a hostel, minus a kitchen, and then parked the car and then unpacked and took a walk around while cam took a nap. we were like six minutes from the beach which was great. cody and blake and i took a nice long walk around the old part of town and got a feel for the city, figured out what we wanted to do the next day then headed back to the hostel. by this time it was like seven or so, and cody and blake ended up napping too. once people woke up around ten we went to telepizza close by our hostel and then walked around the city some more. we went into the old part of town with the intention of finding a bar and hanging out for a bit, but it was weird, midnight on a friday night and there was hardly anyone out. so we ended up walking along the beach and heading back to our hostel for an early night.
we woke up the next morning ready for adventure. there were two beaches to see and two mountains to climb. spoiler alert: we conquer everything. anyway, we got some coffee, and headed up the first mountain. it wasn't really a mountain, more of a mount, but still it took us a good 4 hours to hike all the way up and back down. we found tons of sweet stuff though, like a castleish/prison building and this cool soldier monument type place. loads of great photo ops. and at the very top is a huge statue of Jesus, and gorgeous views of the bay.
after we got back down we were all starving so we walked and walked looking for a grocery store. san sebastian is a really gorgeous city, but i gotta say that it was impossible to find anything useful there. like chino stores or grocery stores. not very co
mmon. but we finally found a grocery store, hilarious, and got our lunch here. rocking bocadillos and appetizers from grocery stores is such a better way to eat out than restaurants. that whole meal cost us each like no more than 5 euros, and we had food leftover and we were all stuffed. so great. after we got our food we headed to the second beach, the surfer beach, and ate our lunch on the boardwalk. after lunch it was beach time. cam and cody got in the water and blake started digging a hole which we all helped make huge. and then we buried cam in it. beach time was fun.
we showered up quick at the hostel and decided to go ahead and try and conquer the second mount by day's end, so we headed off to the opposite end of the beach. there was a tram that went right up the mount and ended at the little fair/mini-amusement park they had at the top, or you could just walk. we decided to walk since the tram cost money. what sucked is at the top, there was still a fee to get in. but at 1.70 euro, it was hardly anything. so we went in, and then found out it cost to go up the tower that's on the top of the mount. i was not about to have walked up that whole mount and then not go all the way up the tower, so we paid the two euros tower fee and headed up. absolutely worth it. we were higher up than we were at the statue of JC, and it was right at dusk, so we saw the whole bay and then the sun setting behind us. so beautiful.
it's times like those that make traveling abroad worth it for me. there are times here in spain where i'm ready to go home and times when i'm happy to be here, but i think the times i'm most happy are when i'm seeing new places. there's something special about seeing parts of the world you've never seen before. it's such a cool feeling; there's a confidence that comes with seeing some incredible things. that's what makes this whole trip worth it to me. obviously the spanish i've learned is invaluable, but the fact that i've seen places, seen beautiful parts of the world that i might never see again, is so special and something i don't want to ever take for granted. it's funny to me that i try to take pictures of things that i see sometimes, because there's no way the pictures i took of that sunset can compare to actually seeing that sunset against the ocean and the mountainside that high up. the way the colors mixed and blended and flowed together was stunning and just breathtaking to see the sun's blaze on the water slowly giving way to night. absolutely gorgeous.
so we headed back down the mountain after the sunset to find some food and drink. we ended up ordering pizza again, because around 10 pm, nothing was open except way expensive restaurants. we ate the pizza at our hostel, and then hung out with some american girls who were staying in the room next to ours. we hung out with them for awhile and then decided to see what the san sebastian nightlife was like. so pointless. interesting how we went from such a great memory to something so forgettable as "going out". the nightlife in san sebastian was just the same as oviedo. lots of people are in the street and lots of people are in bars and there's lots of noise. the end. i can't wait to travel with someone else who has no real desire to experience that part of spanish culture, cause i'm very much burnt out on it.
next day we woke up and decided to head out of town, basically seeing as much as we had wanted to see. we did want to make one stop on the way back to oviedo; my host parents had told me that the city of santander has some absolutely gorgeous beaches and that we HAD to stop, so that was the one other main stop we made. and they weren't kidding. the weather was even terrible too; really cold and windy, but as soon as blake and i stepped out of the car in santander along the beach, we knew we had to come back sometime. what we saw was really really pretty, and beaches galore they've got. we saw like two or three individual beaches just from where we parked and there was this HUGE peninsula that has loads more. i really hope we make it back there.
after we left santander, we tried to find the caves of altamira. in my let's go travel book, it gave some extremely vague street directions to this place. we tried to find it, gave up, ended up finding the exit on the highway by accident, found the signs that pointed us towards the caves, got stopped by a random police check zone, then finally found the caves, but they were closed. according to my travel book, they closed on sundays at 5 pm. we made it there a little before 4. bum deal let's go travel book. but it was an exciting jaunt off the beaten path a bit. after that we just headed back to oviedo.
overall a super great weekend. man i miss driving so much. can't wait to make that first drive from kc back to cr. how great will that be, with my ipod plugged in, volume up loud, a 32 oz mountain dew in the cup holder, singing my heart out. can-not-wait. only a month and a half away. i feel a st. louis road trip coming on. adam? colleen? let me know.
-jon
* i'm not sure if kaboodle is a K word.
first of all, man do i miss cars. riding in them, driving them, listening to music, seeing the gas needle at F, windows down, getting out and stretching, the whole kit and kaboodle*. we started our weekend late friday morning, meeting at the cafe and packing the car up. the first advantage of driving in a car: no real packing limit. when you fly, or when you go by bus or train, you have to limit what you pack. with the car, i was able to pack my whole huge travel backpack and bring my computer too. holler. so we got the car packed and tried to find our way out of oviedo. this proved a bit difficult because 1) nowhere in spain do they use real street signs, and 2) the turn onto the highway was called a "sharp left" by google maps. here is a picture of said turn. sharp left? you decide.
once we got onto the highway though it was good. blake threw in the only cd we had because the car unfortunately had no mp3 player jack, and we had no way of connecting our ipods or anything. major bummer. we ended up listening to that cd like literally eleven times. not good.
but traveling by car is just so much more fun. it's more comfortable, windows down is so much fun, it feels so much more communal. like you're sharing a real experience among the other people in the car. and that's such a cool feeling. plus we made killer time. we ended up getting to san sebastian in like 4 hours, which was way fast as far as road travel in spain goes.
a little about san sebastian. gorgeous city. i guess it's somewhat famous for it's beaches, la playa de la concha and another of which i don't know the name. there is a really nice old section of town, with a lot of old, old buildings and churches and structures and the river through the city is really nice too. the bay that is surrounded by la playa de la concha has a little island right in the middle and it's flanked on either side by two little mountains. very picturesque.
we checked into our hostel, which was actually way nice for a hostel, minus a kitchen, and then parked the car and then unpacked and took a walk around while cam took a nap. we were like six minutes from the beach which was great. cody and blake and i took a nice long walk around the old part of town and got a feel for the city, figured out what we wanted to do the next day then headed back to the hostel. by this time it was like seven or so, and cody and blake ended up napping too. once people woke up around ten we went to telepizza close by our hostel and then walked around the city some more. we went into the old part of town with the intention of finding a bar and hanging out for a bit, but it was weird, midnight on a friday night and there was hardly anyone out. so we ended up walking along the beach and heading back to our hostel for an early night.
we woke up the next morning ready for adventure. there were two beaches to see and two mountains to climb. spoiler alert: we conquer everything. anyway, we got some coffee, and headed up the first mountain. it wasn't really a mountain, more of a mount, but still it took us a good 4 hours to hike all the way up and back down. we found tons of sweet stuff though, like a castleish/prison building and this cool soldier monument type place. loads of great photo ops. and at the very top is a huge statue of Jesus, and gorgeous views of the bay.
after we got back down we were all starving so we walked and walked looking for a grocery store. san sebastian is a really gorgeous city, but i gotta say that it was impossible to find anything useful there. like chino stores or grocery stores. not very co
mmon. but we finally found a grocery store, hilarious, and got our lunch here. rocking bocadillos and appetizers from grocery stores is such a better way to eat out than restaurants. that whole meal cost us each like no more than 5 euros, and we had food leftover and we were all stuffed. so great. after we got our food we headed to the second beach, the surfer beach, and ate our lunch on the boardwalk. after lunch it was beach time. cam and cody got in the water and blake started digging a hole which we all helped make huge. and then we buried cam in it. beach time was fun.we showered up quick at the hostel and decided to go ahead and try and conquer the second mount by day's end, so we headed off to the opposite end of the beach. there was a tram that went right up the mount and ended at the little fair/mini-amusement park they had at the top, or you could just walk. we decided to walk since the tram cost money. what sucked is at the top, there was still a fee to get in. but at 1.70 euro, it was hardly anything. so we went in, and then found out it cost to go up the tower that's on the top of the mount. i was not about to have walked up that whole mount and then not go all the way up the tower, so we paid the two euros tower fee and headed up. absolutely worth it. we were higher up than we were at the statue of JC, and it was right at dusk, so we saw the whole bay and then the sun setting behind us. so beautiful.
it's times like those that make traveling abroad worth it for me. there are times here in spain where i'm ready to go home and times when i'm happy to be here, but i think the times i'm most happy are when i'm seeing new places. there's something special about seeing parts of the world you've never seen before. it's such a cool feeling; there's a confidence that comes with seeing some incredible things. that's what makes this whole trip worth it to me. obviously the spanish i've learned is invaluable, but the fact that i've seen places, seen beautiful parts of the world that i might never see again, is so special and something i don't want to ever take for granted. it's funny to me that i try to take pictures of things that i see sometimes, because there's no way the pictures i took of that sunset can compare to actually seeing that sunset against the ocean and the mountainside that high up. the way the colors mixed and blended and flowed together was stunning and just breathtaking to see the sun's blaze on the water slowly giving way to night. absolutely gorgeous.
so we headed back down the mountain after the sunset to find some food and drink. we ended up ordering pizza again, because around 10 pm, nothing was open except way expensive restaurants. we ate the pizza at our hostel, and then hung out with some american girls who were staying in the room next to ours. we hung out with them for awhile and then decided to see what the san sebastian nightlife was like. so pointless. interesting how we went from such a great memory to something so forgettable as "going out". the nightlife in san sebastian was just the same as oviedo. lots of people are in the street and lots of people are in bars and there's lots of noise. the end. i can't wait to travel with someone else who has no real desire to experience that part of spanish culture, cause i'm very much burnt out on it.
next day we woke up and decided to head out of town, basically seeing as much as we had wanted to see. we did want to make one stop on the way back to oviedo; my host parents had told me that the city of santander has some absolutely gorgeous beaches and that we HAD to stop, so that was the one other main stop we made. and they weren't kidding. the weather was even terrible too; really cold and windy, but as soon as blake and i stepped out of the car in santander along the beach, we knew we had to come back sometime. what we saw was really really pretty, and beaches galore they've got. we saw like two or three individual beaches just from where we parked and there was this HUGE peninsula that has loads more. i really hope we make it back there.
after we left santander, we tried to find the caves of altamira. in my let's go travel book, it gave some extremely vague street directions to this place. we tried to find it, gave up, ended up finding the exit on the highway by accident, found the signs that pointed us towards the caves, got stopped by a random police check zone, then finally found the caves, but they were closed. according to my travel book, they closed on sundays at 5 pm. we made it there a little before 4. bum deal let's go travel book. but it was an exciting jaunt off the beaten path a bit. after that we just headed back to oviedo.
overall a super great weekend. man i miss driving so much. can't wait to make that first drive from kc back to cr. how great will that be, with my ipod plugged in, volume up loud, a 32 oz mountain dew in the cup holder, singing my heart out. can-not-wait. only a month and a half away. i feel a st. louis road trip coming on. adam? colleen? let me know.
-jon
* i'm not sure if kaboodle is a K word.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
itunes update.
another month has passed, so here's another itunes play count update. the only notable thing the first half of the month was fly or die by n.e.r.d. spent awhile on that album, just revisiting it. it's so great. and then for like the last two weeks straight, all i've listened to is jay-z. my good friend and music collaborator gave me the blueprint, jay-z's 2001 album. i hate to be jumping on the bandwagon seven years late, but it is absolutely incredible. in the last week and a half, i've listened to it like crazy, along with the black album, kingdom come, american gangster, and for the last two or three days, reasonable doubt. other than blueprint, i'd already digested all these albums (except reasonable doubt, which i'm warming up to finally) at other times, so i haven't felt bad about throwing them all into party shuffle and letting it do it's thing. i've done a bit of skipping, but for the most part i feel like i've listened to a lot of the songs i would normally skip over way way more than normal, along with giving a few tunes far more attention. here are the noteworthy songs i've really been into.
off american gangster:
1. pray - hardly ever skip over this one when it comes up. it's a newfound gem off this album. i had passed it over quite a bit when i really first digested this album, but the beat now is just killing me. so forceful. sounds like an army's coming for you.
2. roc boys (and the winner is)... - fell in love with it again. it's shot up to #25 Most Played in my whole itunes. the horns, oh man the horns in this tune are just so good. and jay totally kills it.
3. i know - if i ever start to think pharrell isn't that good, i'll throw this tune on. such a great beat. can't believe i didn't listen this thing to death the first time through AG. love it.
off the black album:
1. december 4th - obviously. there is too much and not enough to say about this tune. it's possibly my fav. jay song. too good.
2. public service announcement (interlude) - i don't know why, but up until two days ago, i never liked this tune all that much. and then i was at the gym on thursday morning, the song started and i instantly fell in love with it. such a weird thing to fall for a tune that abruptly. the beat is such a pump up, and jay again totally nails the rhymes. phenom.
off kingdom come:
1. oh my god - this just blaze beat has really gotten to me. so much fun. "what doesn't kill me makes me strong as iron". you win jay.
2. 30 something - killer beat. jay getting his grown man on. love it.
3. beach chair - the garbage can drums (thanks adam) sound so awesome, and the melody here is great. i wish chris martin made more non-coldplay music. so far i've loved both non-coldplay songs he's done, i think it'd be great if he kept it up. as far as jay's subpar rhyming this album, i'd say this song is as close as he comes to his hey-day rhyming.
off reasonable doubt:
1. feelin' it - just a laid back groove. i like it.
2. regrets - same thing. killer groove, great rhymes. i think this album will be great the more i listen to it.
off the blueprint:
1. izzo (H.O.V.A.) - oh man. again, sucks that i'm seven years late, but this song is off the wall. a kanye-produced joint sampling a jackson 5 classic? no way this tune could go wrong.
2. girls, girls, girls, - producer just blaze kills this beat. love it.
3. heart of the city (ain't no love) - december 4th's only real competition for fav. jay song. another kanye-produced beat, sampling the classic bobby bland. i don't know what it is about this beat, it's a pretty straight forward chord progression, but the hook with these chords is just out of this world. i can't wait to get my hands on an electric guitar and really dig into this tune.
so as far as my Top 100 goes, there have been some pretty drastic changes. lots of these jay-z songs have shown up in the Top 100, heart of the city shot up to #12 in barely more than one week, and then a few other random songs have just shot up unexpectedly. nothing from nothing by billy preston is at #11 after having added it to my itunes library about three weeks ago; that was probably the most surprising change. and around the world / harder, better, faster, stronger is now in the Top 10, which was also an unexpected change. another surprise was the appearance of a few of the new gnarls barkley songs. aside from that, not too much different, just the normal random rank shifting. so here's my latest Top 10 Most Played:
10. Champion - Kanye West
9. I Wonder - Kanye West
8. Around the World / Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger - Daft Punk
7. I Don't Trust Myself (With Loving You) - John Mayer
6. Lesson Learned (Feat. John Mayer) - Alicia Keys
5. Good Life - Kanye West Feat. T-Pain
4. Slow Dancing In A Burning Room - John Mayer
3. P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) - Michael Jackson
2. Baby Be Mine - Michael Jackson
1. Flashing Lights - Kanye West
five songs have now reached over 100 play count, and one more just barely there. i have a good feeling that next month this Top 10 list will be a lot different. get ready.
-jon
off american gangster:
1. pray - hardly ever skip over this one when it comes up. it's a newfound gem off this album. i had passed it over quite a bit when i really first digested this album, but the beat now is just killing me. so forceful. sounds like an army's coming for you.
2. roc boys (and the winner is)... - fell in love with it again. it's shot up to #25 Most Played in my whole itunes. the horns, oh man the horns in this tune are just so good. and jay totally kills it.
3. i know - if i ever start to think pharrell isn't that good, i'll throw this tune on. such a great beat. can't believe i didn't listen this thing to death the first time through AG. love it.
off the black album:
1. december 4th - obviously. there is too much and not enough to say about this tune. it's possibly my fav. jay song. too good.
2. public service announcement (interlude) - i don't know why, but up until two days ago, i never liked this tune all that much. and then i was at the gym on thursday morning, the song started and i instantly fell in love with it. such a weird thing to fall for a tune that abruptly. the beat is such a pump up, and jay again totally nails the rhymes. phenom.
off kingdom come:
1. oh my god - this just blaze beat has really gotten to me. so much fun. "what doesn't kill me makes me strong as iron". you win jay.
2. 30 something - killer beat. jay getting his grown man on. love it.
3. beach chair - the garbage can drums (thanks adam) sound so awesome, and the melody here is great. i wish chris martin made more non-coldplay music. so far i've loved both non-coldplay songs he's done, i think it'd be great if he kept it up. as far as jay's subpar rhyming this album, i'd say this song is as close as he comes to his hey-day rhyming.
off reasonable doubt:
1. feelin' it - just a laid back groove. i like it.
2. regrets - same thing. killer groove, great rhymes. i think this album will be great the more i listen to it.
off the blueprint:
1. izzo (H.O.V.A.) - oh man. again, sucks that i'm seven years late, but this song is off the wall. a kanye-produced joint sampling a jackson 5 classic? no way this tune could go wrong.
2. girls, girls, girls, - producer just blaze kills this beat. love it.
3. heart of the city (ain't no love) - december 4th's only real competition for fav. jay song. another kanye-produced beat, sampling the classic bobby bland. i don't know what it is about this beat, it's a pretty straight forward chord progression, but the hook with these chords is just out of this world. i can't wait to get my hands on an electric guitar and really dig into this tune.
so as far as my Top 100 goes, there have been some pretty drastic changes. lots of these jay-z songs have shown up in the Top 100, heart of the city shot up to #12 in barely more than one week, and then a few other random songs have just shot up unexpectedly. nothing from nothing by billy preston is at #11 after having added it to my itunes library about three weeks ago; that was probably the most surprising change. and around the world / harder, better, faster, stronger is now in the Top 10, which was also an unexpected change. another surprise was the appearance of a few of the new gnarls barkley songs. aside from that, not too much different, just the normal random rank shifting. so here's my latest Top 10 Most Played:
10. Champion - Kanye West
9. I Wonder - Kanye West
8. Around the World / Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger - Daft Punk
7. I Don't Trust Myself (With Loving You) - John Mayer
6. Lesson Learned (Feat. John Mayer) - Alicia Keys
5. Good Life - Kanye West Feat. T-Pain
4. Slow Dancing In A Burning Room - John Mayer
3. P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) - Michael Jackson
2. Baby Be Mine - Michael Jackson
1. Flashing Lights - Kanye West
five songs have now reached over 100 play count, and one more just barely there. i have a good feeling that next month this Top 10 list will be a lot different. get ready.
-jon
spring music preview '08.
rolling stone just recently released their spring album preview, and there are quite a few albums coming out that make me very excited about the next few months for music. here are the ones that seemed most notable to me:
1. madonna - hard candy (4/29)
this seemed notable to me, but only because of my last blog. 11th studio album? really? come on madge. you've been around since the early 80s. your career is over 20 years old, which in terms of regular careers is like 80 years old. much too old in my opinion. she should be done.
that being said, madonna did do it right this time, getting hit-maker pharrell to produce near half of the album. she nailed her collabs too, my goodness did she ever. justin timberlake, timbaland, kanye? get out of here. after i listened to 4 minutes, the first single off the album, i thought "hm that's a cool timbaland song. too bad madonna's on it." but according to pharrell, "it's like a sex and workout album." outstanding. hearing pharrell say something like that can only make me excited. i love pharrell as a musician and a singer, but he blows me away as a producer. so i'm torn on this album.
2. the roots - rising down (4/29)
madonna releases her 11th and i say be done. the roots release their 10th and i say please don't stop. it's not even that i'm a huge roots fan, to be honest, i would just barely say i'm a fan. i only know like one of their albums semi-well at all, but what i do know is that they put out socially conscious rap, in the vein of a tribe called quest and de la soul and all those early 90s culturally relevant artists. that's so lacking in today's hip-hop. and musically, they're light years more advanced than so many of the drum machine-philes in rap music today. and i'm inclined to be a supporter of anything ?uestlove has a hand in. more on him later.
19. al green - lay it down (5/27)
again, another oldie releasing somewhere around his 30th album. that's insane. but i am absolutely amped about this one. this could very well be the first purchase i make once i get back into the states. what a great welcome home present. i'm psyched about this album because first of all, have you ever heard "let's stay together"? one of the sexiest tunes i've ever heard. along with every other tune off let's stay together, i'm still in love with you, and call me. al green's voice just oozes soul and and production by ?uestlove, there is a 0.001% chance this album could flop. there is a much greater chance that this will be the best album by al green in decades, especially with ?uestlove saying, "we found the formula for getting the fireworks out of him." watch out unsuspecting public.
29. jason mraz - we sing. we dance. we steal things. (5/13)
aside from the few moments when he mentions radio singles in his radio singles and ups the cheese factor, i really like jason mraz. dude's got one of the best voices around, so smooth, and his arrangements are very often gorgeous. i'm holding out hope for another solid album from him.
35. coldplay - viva la vida or death and all his friends (6/17)
weird title. awesome band. this album could definitely go either way, especially when phrases like "broaden their palette" and "helping the band leave its comfort zone" are thrown around. but i've got faith in coldplay. they changed enough with each album since parachutes, i'm sure whatever they've got planned for this 4th album will be great.
39. weezer - weezer (6/17)
are you kidding me? ever since weezer's self-titled debut (i really think a band should limit the number of albums after themselves, rather than THREE, which is half weezer's catalogue.) in '96, critics and fans alike have been waiting for them to release another one that would match the naive quality of that first one. they never have. and they've tried like seven times, and got close only once. this is a great example of another band that should've packed it in a long time ago. from rolling stone: "the probable first single, 'pork and beans,' was inspired by a record-company meeting where the band was told it needed to record more-commercial material. 'i came out of it pretty angry," [lead singer] cuomo says. 'but ironically, it inspired me to write another song.'" rivers is angry because somebody doesn't like his music and it inspires him to write more crap. what's new.
43. n.e.r.d. - seeing sounds (6/10)
i can think of almost no better way to kick off a summer than a new n.e.r.d. record. especially one described as "auditory red bull" by producer/singer/musician extraordinaire pharrell williams. their last album fly or die was insanely good and was my summer '04 album. it will be great to see if they pull it off again. i don't have many doubts though. when chad huge and pharrell come together as producers and band members, magic happens. the 15 seconds or so that i've heard of the first single "everybody nose" is way different but sounds awesome. i'm excited.
56. ben folds - as-yet-untitled (august)
there's hardly any information given about this new set from piano man ben folds, but that doesn't matter. ben folds will deliver. whether it was with ben folds five, his first two solo albums, or his production credits on other people's albums (see the great has been by william shatner.), ben folds does no musical wrong. it'll be great to hear new stuff after nearly three years.
what a spring/summer huh? three albums i'm absolutely ecstatic about, and a couple others that will almost certainly be great, and then a few that'll probably suck. what a powerhouse trio though for the summer, al green/coldplay/n.e.r.d. the summer cannot get here fast enough.
-jon
1. madonna - hard candy (4/29)
this seemed notable to me, but only because of my last blog. 11th studio album? really? come on madge. you've been around since the early 80s. your career is over 20 years old, which in terms of regular careers is like 80 years old. much too old in my opinion. she should be done.
that being said, madonna did do it right this time, getting hit-maker pharrell to produce near half of the album. she nailed her collabs too, my goodness did she ever. justin timberlake, timbaland, kanye? get out of here. after i listened to 4 minutes, the first single off the album, i thought "hm that's a cool timbaland song. too bad madonna's on it." but according to pharrell, "it's like a sex and workout album." outstanding. hearing pharrell say something like that can only make me excited. i love pharrell as a musician and a singer, but he blows me away as a producer. so i'm torn on this album.
2. the roots - rising down (4/29)
madonna releases her 11th and i say be done. the roots release their 10th and i say please don't stop. it's not even that i'm a huge roots fan, to be honest, i would just barely say i'm a fan. i only know like one of their albums semi-well at all, but what i do know is that they put out socially conscious rap, in the vein of a tribe called quest and de la soul and all those early 90s culturally relevant artists. that's so lacking in today's hip-hop. and musically, they're light years more advanced than so many of the drum machine-philes in rap music today. and i'm inclined to be a supporter of anything ?uestlove has a hand in. more on him later.
19. al green - lay it down (5/27)
again, another oldie releasing somewhere around his 30th album. that's insane. but i am absolutely amped about this one. this could very well be the first purchase i make once i get back into the states. what a great welcome home present. i'm psyched about this album because first of all, have you ever heard "let's stay together"? one of the sexiest tunes i've ever heard. along with every other tune off let's stay together, i'm still in love with you, and call me. al green's voice just oozes soul and and production by ?uestlove, there is a 0.001% chance this album could flop. there is a much greater chance that this will be the best album by al green in decades, especially with ?uestlove saying, "we found the formula for getting the fireworks out of him." watch out unsuspecting public.
29. jason mraz - we sing. we dance. we steal things. (5/13)
aside from the few moments when he mentions radio singles in his radio singles and ups the cheese factor, i really like jason mraz. dude's got one of the best voices around, so smooth, and his arrangements are very often gorgeous. i'm holding out hope for another solid album from him.
35. coldplay - viva la vida or death and all his friends (6/17)
weird title. awesome band. this album could definitely go either way, especially when phrases like "broaden their palette" and "helping the band leave its comfort zone" are thrown around. but i've got faith in coldplay. they changed enough with each album since parachutes, i'm sure whatever they've got planned for this 4th album will be great.
39. weezer - weezer (6/17)
are you kidding me? ever since weezer's self-titled debut (i really think a band should limit the number of albums after themselves, rather than THREE, which is half weezer's catalogue.) in '96, critics and fans alike have been waiting for them to release another one that would match the naive quality of that first one. they never have. and they've tried like seven times, and got close only once. this is a great example of another band that should've packed it in a long time ago. from rolling stone: "the probable first single, 'pork and beans,' was inspired by a record-company meeting where the band was told it needed to record more-commercial material. 'i came out of it pretty angry," [lead singer] cuomo says. 'but ironically, it inspired me to write another song.'" rivers is angry because somebody doesn't like his music and it inspires him to write more crap. what's new.
43. n.e.r.d. - seeing sounds (6/10)
i can think of almost no better way to kick off a summer than a new n.e.r.d. record. especially one described as "auditory red bull" by producer/singer/musician extraordinaire pharrell williams. their last album fly or die was insanely good and was my summer '04 album. it will be great to see if they pull it off again. i don't have many doubts though. when chad huge and pharrell come together as producers and band members, magic happens. the 15 seconds or so that i've heard of the first single "everybody nose" is way different but sounds awesome. i'm excited.
56. ben folds - as-yet-untitled (august)
there's hardly any information given about this new set from piano man ben folds, but that doesn't matter. ben folds will deliver. whether it was with ben folds five, his first two solo albums, or his production credits on other people's albums (see the great has been by william shatner.), ben folds does no musical wrong. it'll be great to hear new stuff after nearly three years.
what a spring/summer huh? three albums i'm absolutely ecstatic about, and a couple others that will almost certainly be great, and then a few that'll probably suck. what a powerhouse trio though for the summer, al green/coldplay/n.e.r.d. the summer cannot get here fast enough.
-jon
Friday, April 11, 2008
5 album limit. final answer.
i've been mulling over something lately. after reading rolling stones spring album preview, i noticed there are some older artists releasing new albums in the next four or five months. the whole idea of artist relevance, i.e. how long does an artist have to be around before people start to say "ok...maybe you're time is up."? or more specifically, how many albums does an artist have to release before they pass their expiration date? it's a strange idea to me because when i see someone like madonna or U2 release another new album, i immediately label it as irrelevant and probably not good. U2 has been around since like '79, and they're coming out with a new album too? it seems ridiculous to me. i understand that music is music, and artists might always have something else to say, but how many albums does it take before they're just recycling everything they've said before? the rolling stones have just released a new concert movie; they're still playing shows, much less still alive? crazy. but they have a big enough fan base that they can release something new and it'll be eaten up. much like U2 or madonna i think. but still. artist relevance is a tough thing to handle. i think it's all a matter of taste. there are some artists who are still releasing new material that i don't discount, like stevie wonder and herbie hancock. part of me thinks that with someone like stevie wonder, there is no way he is gonna be able to ever top an album like songs in the key of life, but since he contributed so much to the music world in his peak years, i'm not gonna bash him for continuing to release music. it almost certainly won't be anywhere near the calibur of his best work, but i don't fault him for it. so it's a bit hypocritical of me slash all a matter of taste. since i'm not a fan of madonna, i'm not really supportive of her new music. but someone like eric clapton, stevie wonder, al green, by all means, PLEASE keep making music.
it's weird because i've only really been paying attention to music for the last ten years or so, probably even less than that. every single one of my Top 5 Favorite Artists haven't even gotten to 4 studio albums yet. i wonder when the cut off point is. and i wonder with these artists, will they ever reach a point where even i throw in the towel? i doubt it. i hope john mayer keeps playing shows and putting out records until i'm in my fifties because i will keep up with him. doesn't matter how long he's around, or what kind of musical direction he goes, i will almost certainly like what he gets into, and so will continue to be a fan. same with kanye west, or coldplay, or whoever. it's just an interesting thing that right now, i see the rolling stones still touring and i don't see they as relevant at all but i'd say their biggest fan base are the people who grew up with them. if i put myself in their older fans shoes, how awesome would that be to take a weekend off and go see a stones concert when you're fifty or sixty? totally cool.
if i had to actually put a number limit on albums, i honestly think i would put it at like 5. maybe even 4. at least from an outsider's perspective, as in a non-fan's perspective. i hope john mayer releases like 15 albums, but i don't hope the same for fall out boy or akon. it's just interesting because i haven't yet had to experience a point of giving up on one of my favorite artists because they're all young. john mayer started his career after i became a music listener. same with kanye, and all my other true favorites. it's kind of sobering that three of my favorite artists are right now working on their 4th album, especially since i just said that after 4 albums artists become irrelevant.
i guess what this whole idea illustrates to me is that music is absolutely and completely subjective. for every single song, album, artist, genre, etc. that exists in the world, there is someone who says "that's awful" and someone who says "that's amazing". music does what it wants, it reaches who it wants and it affects who it wants. there's no real choice involved. i would love to understand and absolutely adore bob dylan's music, but i just don't. exactly the same way i don't choose to like blues music, but when i hear stevie ray vaughn's guitar singing in "little wing", it speaks to my heart like nothing else can. i can't explain it. so i guess the conclusion i'm coming to is artist relevance doesn't really exist. artists, old and new, will continue making music, and there will always be fans and non-fans. a pretty lame, fence-riding conclusion if you ask me. i almost wish i could find a more objective answer.
-jon
it's weird because i've only really been paying attention to music for the last ten years or so, probably even less than that. every single one of my Top 5 Favorite Artists haven't even gotten to 4 studio albums yet. i wonder when the cut off point is. and i wonder with these artists, will they ever reach a point where even i throw in the towel? i doubt it. i hope john mayer keeps playing shows and putting out records until i'm in my fifties because i will keep up with him. doesn't matter how long he's around, or what kind of musical direction he goes, i will almost certainly like what he gets into, and so will continue to be a fan. same with kanye west, or coldplay, or whoever. it's just an interesting thing that right now, i see the rolling stones still touring and i don't see they as relevant at all but i'd say their biggest fan base are the people who grew up with them. if i put myself in their older fans shoes, how awesome would that be to take a weekend off and go see a stones concert when you're fifty or sixty? totally cool.
if i had to actually put a number limit on albums, i honestly think i would put it at like 5. maybe even 4. at least from an outsider's perspective, as in a non-fan's perspective. i hope john mayer releases like 15 albums, but i don't hope the same for fall out boy or akon. it's just interesting because i haven't yet had to experience a point of giving up on one of my favorite artists because they're all young. john mayer started his career after i became a music listener. same with kanye, and all my other true favorites. it's kind of sobering that three of my favorite artists are right now working on their 4th album, especially since i just said that after 4 albums artists become irrelevant.
i guess what this whole idea illustrates to me is that music is absolutely and completely subjective. for every single song, album, artist, genre, etc. that exists in the world, there is someone who says "that's awful" and someone who says "that's amazing". music does what it wants, it reaches who it wants and it affects who it wants. there's no real choice involved. i would love to understand and absolutely adore bob dylan's music, but i just don't. exactly the same way i don't choose to like blues music, but when i hear stevie ray vaughn's guitar singing in "little wing", it speaks to my heart like nothing else can. i can't explain it. so i guess the conclusion i'm coming to is artist relevance doesn't really exist. artists, old and new, will continue making music, and there will always be fans and non-fans. a pretty lame, fence-riding conclusion if you ask me. i almost wish i could find a more objective answer.
-jon
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
1080 hours.
that's not exact, but it's a fairly close estimate of how much time i have left in a foreign country. and truth be told, i'm getting more and more excited all the time. especially cause out of the 6 weekends i have left here, only 2 of them are totally free. how about a rundown of what's up and coming.
weekend 1. this next one. nothing big planned. last weekend, blake and i took a trip with his brother and his bro's coworker to san sebastian (much more on that soon), and on the way back we stopped in santander. it was way too cold and windy to really enjoy it, but i could tell if there was the sun, it would be super awesome to go see. so it probably won't happen this weekend, considering it has been rainy all day today and i don't know when it will stop, but if not this weekend sometime soon.
weekend 2. the 19th, the erasmus organization here is organizing a killer day trip to the picos de europa, the famous northern mountain range. it's way cheap for the bus ride there and back, and our group organizers have told us that it is insanely gorgeous. yes.
weekend 3. as far as i know this might be one of the free weekends. but a fellow student just told me that we have that friday off, so something will probably go down here. maybe the trip to santander, who knows. other trips possible, to A Coruña, a town in the northwest corner of the country. it's home to the world's oldest functioning lighthouse, called the tower of hercules. it was allegedly constructed by hercules himself, so that would be sweet to see something a mythological being made.
weekend 4. here's a big one. we have the thursday of that weekend off, so my buddy sean wanted to take advantage of it and head to london where he has some friends studying. so he and i are heading off to london on thursday, we'll spend friday and half of saturday there, and then saturday afternoon we are flying on to dublin. i am way excited. everything i've heard about london is that it's expensive, but i'm happy cause sean and i are only gonna be there a day, and he's not into the party lifestyle much, so the only thing we are really gonna have to pay for is food. holler. and dublin will be great. he and i are both way excited to see as much of the city as we can. and that'll be two more countries under my belt. awesome.
weekend 5. since the first "american weekend" was such a hit, our organizers luna and paula decided to try and set another one up. this one will be great too though, we're going to a different spot, on one of the northern beaches of asturias, and canoeing is one of the possible activities. canoeing?! get out of town. and our hostel has all the meals included and all that. super psyched about it.
weekend 6. the second free weekend i've got. and also the last before i depart for the states. man how sweet that sounds. as each day goes by i get more excited to return, and i'm getting this newfound desire to take advantage of as much as i can while i'm still here. we might be heading to santander this weekend, spend the last weekend before the departure to soak up some sun and chill out before our last week of classes. and how ridiculous is this. the previous week is our finals week, and THEN we have another week of classes! it's how they do things here in spain. finals, then a week of classes, to return tests to students, cover any last topics. how pointless.
weekend 7. The Return. so psyched. i'm really excited to get back into the swing of american things, eating mexican food, making money, studying my @$$ off for the mcat in august.
good things are on the way. bring 'em on.
-jon
weekend 1. this next one. nothing big planned. last weekend, blake and i took a trip with his brother and his bro's coworker to san sebastian (much more on that soon), and on the way back we stopped in santander. it was way too cold and windy to really enjoy it, but i could tell if there was the sun, it would be super awesome to go see. so it probably won't happen this weekend, considering it has been rainy all day today and i don't know when it will stop, but if not this weekend sometime soon.
weekend 2. the 19th, the erasmus organization here is organizing a killer day trip to the picos de europa, the famous northern mountain range. it's way cheap for the bus ride there and back, and our group organizers have told us that it is insanely gorgeous. yes.
weekend 3. as far as i know this might be one of the free weekends. but a fellow student just told me that we have that friday off, so something will probably go down here. maybe the trip to santander, who knows. other trips possible, to A Coruña, a town in the northwest corner of the country. it's home to the world's oldest functioning lighthouse, called the tower of hercules. it was allegedly constructed by hercules himself, so that would be sweet to see something a mythological being made.
weekend 4. here's a big one. we have the thursday of that weekend off, so my buddy sean wanted to take advantage of it and head to london where he has some friends studying. so he and i are heading off to london on thursday, we'll spend friday and half of saturday there, and then saturday afternoon we are flying on to dublin. i am way excited. everything i've heard about london is that it's expensive, but i'm happy cause sean and i are only gonna be there a day, and he's not into the party lifestyle much, so the only thing we are really gonna have to pay for is food. holler. and dublin will be great. he and i are both way excited to see as much of the city as we can. and that'll be two more countries under my belt. awesome.
weekend 5. since the first "american weekend" was such a hit, our organizers luna and paula decided to try and set another one up. this one will be great too though, we're going to a different spot, on one of the northern beaches of asturias, and canoeing is one of the possible activities. canoeing?! get out of town. and our hostel has all the meals included and all that. super psyched about it.
weekend 6. the second free weekend i've got. and also the last before i depart for the states. man how sweet that sounds. as each day goes by i get more excited to return, and i'm getting this newfound desire to take advantage of as much as i can while i'm still here. we might be heading to santander this weekend, spend the last weekend before the departure to soak up some sun and chill out before our last week of classes. and how ridiculous is this. the previous week is our finals week, and THEN we have another week of classes! it's how they do things here in spain. finals, then a week of classes, to return tests to students, cover any last topics. how pointless.
weekend 7. The Return. so psyched. i'm really excited to get back into the swing of american things, eating mexican food, making money, studying my @$$ off for the mcat in august.
good things are on the way. bring 'em on.
-jon
Monday, April 7, 2008
the girl is mine.
i love this video for so many reasons. first of all, john legend is great. i want to play piano like he does someday. secondly, stephen colbert is not only one of funniest entertainers in show business, he has a pretty good voice. thirdly, although not my favorite song off thriller, this is the perfect duet for stephen and john to sing together. and about lady liberty no less. check it.
so great.
-jon
so great.
-jon
Friday, April 4, 2008
pension amalur. bed closest to the door. 8:52 pm.*
look at the time again. i'm in my hostel room in san sebastian and my three travel companions are sleeping. seriously? more to come later.
-jon
* ripped directly from this guy's blog. i am one of the least original people i know.
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