Battle Studies.

Well, that's an embarrassing way to start this review.

Quite an event last Tuesday. John Mayer finally released his fourth studio album, Battle Studies, and I got to experience hearing brand new, non-live, studio-made, John Mayer-written music for the first time in three years. Pretty exciting stuff for me. And admittedly, I was a bit nervous, as John's become quite the douche in the last three years, but it turns out my fears were unwarranted.

JM hasn't branched too far out here. If nothing else, he's taken a few steps backwards in regards to his other music. But this isn't a bad thing. His pre-Continuum music is great, so these new songs are really just a nice addition to his body of work. Most of them are anyway. As a whole, Battle Studies isn't as cohesive as Continuum, in terms of musical style and song quality. The only thing that really does bind most of the record together is a general (I use that term loosely, see Crossroads, Who Says, War Of My Life, none really pertain to the ->) theme of breaking up. Musically, he definitely dabbles in quite a few areas, but as a whole he's stepping back towards the pop scene. Continuum was just so soulful; soul emanated from every part of that album. Not so here. Overall it's much more of a pop music, radio-ready type of feel.

OK the songs. If I had my way, I would cut three songs off the record, completely retool one song, and leave the other seven exactly how they are. That's not the best percentage, but still alright. It's the middle stretch that is just plain bad. The triumvirate of Who Says, Perfectly Lonely, and War Of My Life really pains me, and Crossroads might be one of the most disappointing covers I've ever heard. Who Says sounds like an extension of his a-hole lifestyle set to a pretty little acoustic ditty, which is catchy enough that it's annoying how bad the song is. Sorry John, but very few of your fans relate to planning trips to Japan by themselves and canceling them at will. Perfectly Lonely is one of those empowerment songs that I find so inane. It'll be the one at concerts that all the lonely people pump their fists to and sing along too loudly with, trying to fool themselves and everybody around them that they're so happy they're alone. Annoying. I know this might seem like a dumb thing to say since I'm married but why can't he write one song about actually finding love or being in love where there aren't any negative little asides, or "this is great BUT..."? Just one John. I only want one.

Crossroads is a real bummer for me too. When I saw this on the track list I was psyched because of how great his Hendrix cover was on Continuum. This cover sounds like he pulled it directly from Guitar Hero. I seriously think Steve Jordan sat down to a drum kit with four parts, each a different color. And the guitar tone is so awful, which only makes the solo worse than it already is. This is just a really uninspired cover, which bums me out because usually JM does covers so well (see Free Fallin', Bold As Love, Kid A from the old days). He chooses awesome tunes, not always the most well-known, and makes them even better, injects them with something unique. This is just sonic mush. Wish you could have a re-do on this one John.

But if you listen to the good parts of this record, he really starts to shine again. The strongest element of this whole album is his voice, but only when it's bolstered by the melody lines he sings. He has seemed to hit on really quality melody lines, that are not only gorgeous, but fit his voice perfectly. Assassin and Heartbreak Warfare are the two I'm thinking of most here, but also listen to All We Ever Do Is Say Goodbye, Edge Of Desire (anybody else think this song sounds like Jimmy Eat World circa 2004?). All beautiful melodies.

Assassin is shaping up to be my favorite song off the album, and thank goodness it's smack dab in the middle to break up all those crap tunes. This one really demonstrates the little things that put John Mayer above most pop artists recording today. Just like 95% of popular music, the first chorus of this tune is underlined by some pretty simple power chords. It's at 3:41 when the second chorus starts right after his guitar solo, holy cow he adds just the second note of each chord to each chord he plays and it elevates the foundation of the song to a whole new level. It's a subtle addition but it really distinguishes it from the humdrum music that we hear so often.

And I have to note the bass playing here. Bassist Pino Palladino is out of this world. To get the full effect of his playing, throw on some headphones, turn them up just a bit more than you normally would, and listen to the introduction up through the first chorus. Listen to the bass. Pino is the most controlled bass player I've ever heard. No matter how many notes he seems to bounce over, every single one fits within each chord and leads the listener along without them knowing where we're going. Listening to this song for the first few times, I could never predict what was coming next in the bass line. So great. Pino kills it here.

One quick note about Half Of My Heart, almost certainly coming to a radio near you very soon. The song is fine, nothing too special, but the back-up vocals are sung by freakin' Taylor Swift. Alright JM, I've got beef with this. She's got a fine voice, clear and pretty, but she's hardly even in this song, and the only reason I can really see that you added her in this is to grab a few new country music fans and tween fans who weren't at music-purchasing age when Mayer released Wonderland eight years ago. At the writing of this, Half Of My Heart was at #7 on the iTunes Singles chart. And I guarantee it's only because the title is followed by (with Taylor Swift). And with all of his clout, all of his street cred in the music community, he gets Taylor Swift to guest on his record? The man has worked with Billy Preston, B.B. King, John Scofield, Herbie Hancock, is friends with Buddy Guy and Eric Clapton, and he gets pop-tween-queen Taylor Swift to guest on his record. Just kind of a bummer to me.

Other random thoughts: War Of My Life wins the award for gayest John Mayer song title, while Friends, Lovers Or Nothing is definitely a great track and it will be a great show/encore closer. In very much the same vein as I'm Gonna Find Another You, just more Beatles-ish. Bold move too, leaving out that ol' oxford comma.

So I don't think it's not his best work, but overall it fits well into his canon. And now that I've had a week with it, I can say that it's worn well already. The first two days I gave the songs I didn't like five or six listens to give them a chance and then started skipping them, the last few days they've all definitely grown on me. So go buy it. Support good music, because the month of November will have seen album releases from Weezer, 50 Cent, Bon Jovi, Fall Out Boy (a greatest hits compilation, are you kidding me?), Lady GaGa, Adam Lambert, Rihanna, and Lil' Jon. When the music scene is that bleak, you've got to stand up for what's right and good in this world. John Mayer might not completely fit those two adjectives, but he's far better than all of the other stuff I just listed.

-Jon

A thank you letter to J.J. Abrams

HOLY COW CLICK THIS AND READ.

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I have to give all credit to Adam and his friend who linked this article on Adam's blog. I am speechless after reading this. J.J. Abrams has exactly nailed so many genius thoughts in his commentary of modern American popular culture. The Age of Immediacy, what a dead-on phrase. This is exactly why I strive to keep my iTunes library so immaculately organized and complete, and why I was so excited for The Dark Knight before it came out. This is why I don't want to watch Lost on TV, I want to wait until the whole show is on DVD and I can enjoy it in the privacy of my own home, away from prying eyes and spoiler-happy media junkies. I admit, I am absolutely a technophile and love keeping up with the media and the newest trailers and who's going to be in what new movie four years down the road, but there are some things which are so artful, so full of originality and excitement, that I do my very best to save every facet of the adventure so I can enjoy it the way I want. Slowly and each part in its due time. Mystery is such a valuable thing and in our culture of complete publicity and overexposure, where everybody has to know who is dating who, with a few clicks of a mouse button you can find out what your favorite celebrity's next project is, where they shop or even what they had for breakfast, mystery is such a rare and priceless commodity.

Thank you, J.J. Abrams, for bringing mystery back into the American eye and making us love it and long for it. Please don't ever stop making awesome things to watch.

-Jon

This is why I don't scare people.

'Tis the season. I still laugh every time I see this.

Happy Halloween.

-Jon

Juliet, Naked

I just finished the latest novel by Nick Hornby, called Juliet, Naked. Where to even begin with this one. Definitely worth the read. Hornby has such an incredible way with dialogue and metaphor. He communicates his ideas in such unique ways through his prose; everything he has written is informed with this very intelligent yet accessible use of words.

My favorite Nick Hornby book is still, and probably always will be, High Fidelity. It had the perfect voice of a messed up guy just trying to figure out his relationships, connecting everything in his life with music. The book speaks to me more directly than any other novel I've ever read. And while I liked that one more than Juliet, Naked, this was definitely the most entertaining of all his novels behind High Fidelity, probably because it's much along the same lines. The book is about an English couple who lead mediocre lives. The guy is Duncan, obsessed with the music of Tucker Crowe, a reclusive American musician whose last release (entitled Juliet) came out twenty years ago. Since Duncan is the regarded as the foremost authority on all things Tucker Crowe (he is basically in charge of the Tucker Crowe online forum/message board), he is sent an advanced copy of Juliet, Naked, an album of the demo tracks that eventually would become the tracks of Juliet. He writes a review of this new demo album, and this review is the impetus that sets a whole string of events in motion. That was maybe too long of a synopsis.

There are a lot of reasons why I liked this book. And one big one why I didn't. Let's get the negative out of the way. I didn't like the ending. Done. Now to the good stuff. It read better for me than any of his other books (with the exception of High Fidelity, of course). A big part of that is probably due to the musical nature of the content, which I really enjoyed. Hornby has this intimate knowledge of music, and just as important, he knows how to translate that knowledge to the page. It's incredible. And to hear his observations on music from different viewpoints was very cool. You've got the musician himself, the obsessed fan, and the non-obsessed fan, all with thoughts on the same album. Even cooler, it's not just a normal album, but demos from a critically-acclaimed, classic break-up album. There is an important and intriguing relationship between the recorded album versions of songs by an artist and the demos of those songs. Hornby explores that musical relationship to very interesting depths. And the voice of each main character seems right on. I obviously don't know what it's like to be a famous and successful music artist but it sounds right to me. I do, however, know a lot of how the obsessed and non-obsessed fans think and feel towards the music of their idol and towards the idols themselves, and Hornby has nailed exactly how these fans think and feel and talk.

One thing that I especially loved in this book is how Hornby breaks down the relationship between the fan, the art, and the artist. One of my favorite passages of the whole book is when Duncan's girlfriend Annie reads his review of the newly released Juliet, Naked (the demo album) and finally sees Duncan in a new light. It's such a brilliant exposition of fans versus their idols and the art they create and to be honest, it got me super worried about myself. I'm not an artist. I don't write songs that people listen to and enjoy. I don't write novels that people read and enjoy. Et cetera. Yet I'd say the majority of my blogs are my review of something, an album, a book, a TV show, whatever. And Annie's thoughts on Duncan's review are scathing, because while he writes thinking he is an expert on the music of Tucker Crowe and able to expound on his music with more authority than anyone else, she realizes that really he's just a pompous ass who reviews other people's work with a smug authority because he can't actually create anything of real value himself. As soon as I finished that passage, the passage where Annie realizes what Duncan's review actually says about Duncan as a person, I immediately read it again and then thought about how I write. It's a tad distressing to think that the writing you've spent a fair amount of time and energy on might just be a lot of hot air. It will, at the very least, make me think as I continue to write about things I'm into, or things I'm not into.

Back to the book. So there's lots of cool thoughts on fans, artists, art, etc. Also covered in great lengths is divorce and the relationship between spouses, exes, and parents and children, some close to home, some estranged. Hornby doesn't tread lightly around taboos, and it makes for very thoughtful writing. He challenges societal conventions, but not in a "let's tear the system down" type of way, in a rather subtle way. For example, he touches on the subject of the differing of parental love toward different children. And he handles the subject gracefully and makes sense in the way he writes. That's what I love about Hornby's writing. It makes sense. Even if you don't agree with him, you've never seen the idea presented from quite such a unique angle and it makes you think hard through what he's saying.

This is a great book; Hornby's written another gem. But don't take my word for it! (Dun nuh dun!)

-Jon

Sex & the City

Admission: I watch, and thoroughly enjoy, Sex & the City.

It's an admission not because I feel guilty about it (I don't), but
rather because it's uncommon. While I haven't polled lots of guys
about it, I still don't know many that would call themselves fans of
the show. The core audience is middle-aged, single women. But I'm
throwing caution to the wind here, and it's really a great show.

What the heck do I find enjoyable about it? It's relational. All the
best (or all my favorite) art draws somehow on relationships. Most of
my Top 10 Favorite Movies are, at their core, about relationships. And
I'm not just restricting this to romantic, heterosexual relationships.
SATC analyzes so many different kinds of relationships, romantic,
platonic, hetero-, homo-, parent-child, and on and on. Yes, there is a
nearly superfluous amount of sexual content on the show, but just
because it's called Sex & the City does not limit the breadth or scope
of its knowledge to sexuality. More often than not, it relates its
sexuality to relationships and how the two are intertwined. Makes for
an engrossing show.

Until the last few episodes Colleen and I watched, one of the things I
liked most about the show is that instead of indulging itself in the
ubiquity of the "drama"-filled TV story lines, each episode could
stand alone in an observation of some aspect of relationships. There
is the ever-present story arc of Carrie and Big's relationship, but up
until the last few episodes, that was less about stereotypical, soap
opera-esque "drama" and more about the real issues that the two faced
in their getting together, breaking-up, lasting feelings towards each
other, etc.

However, that important distinction was crushed in the last two
episodes we watched. Carrie is dating Aiden, everything is going
great, and Big finds his way back into Carrie's life. Spoiler alert:
she ends up cheating on Aiden with Big. Not that cheating doesn't
happen in real life, but I certainly don't want to see it pop up on
this show when it's on every other relationship show on TV. It's
unoriginal.

I still hold out hope for the show though. As long as this stupid
cheating story arc ends itself soon, I will continue to watch and
enjoy it. With that in mind, I probably wouldn't recommend it. While
it makes very interesting observations about relationships of all
sorts, its portrayal of life in Manhattan for the thirty-something
single woman seems fairly absurd. They are always eating out, always
out for a drink, always buying expensive shows, always having
uninhibited sex with whoever they want. I've never lived in Manhattan
nor even visited New York, but the lifestyle they depict just seems
far too good to be true. I'm fairly certain that in real life, all of
these women would be homeless, penniless, in debt up to their eyeballs
and just chock-full of STIs. No thanks.

But it's not reality is it? It's just fantasy and so makes for a great
thirty minutes of TV.

-Jon

An iTunes Update. Kind of.

Here's something cool. Pop into iTunes. Highlight your main music library, and organize it in a grid (the three buttons to the immediate left of the search field in the top right of the itunes box). Make sure you're viewing all albums or all artists. Now click View along the menu bar at the top, go down to "Sort Albums", and make sure that "By Year" and "Ascending" are checked. Now back under the View tab, go to "Grid View" and make sure that "Group Albums" is checked. Now you're looking at your iTunes library as chronologically as is possible.

I'm wondering how many people will think this is cool. Or how many people read my blog anyway. Regardless, I find this to be a cool way to look at the music you listen to. It's also started me thinking about music in terms of years. What year was most musically important to American culture? What year is most important to me in terms of my favorite albums ever released? It's an impossible question obviously, but still fun to think about. Based on the music I have, 1967 was a super important year. Aretha Franklin's debut album, along with the first two Jimi Hendrix Experience albums and The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper. I hope Apple eventually lets you incorporate months into the "year/date" classification of your music. I would have a hey-day.

Here's a breakdown of my library. My earliest dated music is from 1924, George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. It's the only classical piece I have in my iTunes. After that I've got Robert Johnson's Complete Recordings released in 1936, and then Miles Davis' classic album Birth of the Cool in 1949. After that, starting in 1954, my library really starts off. Here is the breakdown. Keep in mind this does include EPs and the few singles I have, so these numbers aren't exact. I have, however, taken into account double albums (e.g. The Beatles' White Album, etc.).

'50s: 22 albums

'60s: 67 albums

'70s: 80 albums

'80s: 22 albums

'90s: 50 albums

The Naughts: 269 albums

Year with the fewest albums: 1985 & 1988 (1 album)

Year with the most albums: 2006 (55 albums)

From 1954 to 2009, there are only two years for which I only have one album. That means for 53 years of music, I have at least two albums released in each of those years. Crazy. Interesting too that both years I only have 1 album were '80s years. Man did those '80s suck musically. They were such a weird transitional period, moving from disco and the birth of "hard" rock in the '70s to the oh-so-bubbly bubble gum pop era of the '90s. Don't know what it is about those '80s they just don't appeal to me. With the monumental exception of Stevie Ray Vaughan, one of my biggest guitar player influences.

So sort of a cool thing. You can listen through your library chronologically if you want. Or pick out a favorite song of the year. This will make it a lot easier to do "Best of the Year" lists from now on.

-Jon

11:12 p.m.

Monday night. Writing thank you notes. Drinking Busch Light. I hear rain outside and Vince Guaraldi inside.

No complaints.

-Jon

Are You The Goddess?

This video is starting to make the rounds; I've seen it on various websites, Twitter, that sort of thing, so I decided to jump on the band wagon and post the official The Next Hilarious Video. Somebody just took an awful video dating reel from the '80s and spliced it to make a montage of the worst possible clips. Get a load of these guys.

Whenever the guy who starts at 1:39 pops up, holy cow he says hilarious thing. Really though this whole thing is great. Happy Friday.

-Jon

Countdown.

The wait begins. John Mayer has put the first single off of "Battle Studies" up on his website. (If you want to give it a listen, it's right here.) With his last two albums, I managed to wait until the release date to hear the entire thing for the first time (excluding a few listens of the single, which is hard to avoid due to the radio, music TV, etc.), and it definitely paid off. I grew to know each album as a whole rather than The Single and then The Rest Of It, commonly known as The Good Stuff. I don't want the single living in a different space in my head than the rest of the album. This almost always pays off for listening to most full albums for me, and I don't want to make Battle Studies any different.

That being said, 1 month and 22 days until the album is released. Good grief.

-Jon

"Hey, wha' happened?"

These two clips are from the Christopher Guest-directed a mighty wind. The film is a fake documentary about the organization of a tribute concert featuring three old folk acts from the last 40 years and it stars much of the same cast as other movies directed by Christopher Guest: Best In Show, For Your Consideration, Waiting For Guffman, and the classic This Is Spinal Tap. I'm not a giant fan of any one of them; they're all pretty funny but not laugh out loud. Except for these two clips. Each scene features Fred Willard as a ridiculous manager of one of the folk groups in this tribute concert. Colleen and I were crying after this first clip, we rewound it like four times. Not much else by way of introduction so here you go:

And the second one:

I can't get over how funny his character is to me. The love of catchphrases, the fart machine, the whispering, his hair. His phrasing is just too funny. The "19seventymmmm" is such a funny idea, when I get that old and I ever have to reference anything from my 20s I'm going to do that everytime. Again, the movie as a whole is alright, but man this guy is thoroughly entertaining.

-Jon

Sorority Girls Keep Texting Me.

On Monday, I was at the Union grabbing a bite to eat before class and I got this text that I subsequently deleted because it was from a number I didn't recognize and it didn't make any sense. Anyway, the text itself read somewhere along the lines of "ahoy ladies! anyone up for a kill today?"..... What did it mean? I didn't have a clue, and that's why I deleted it. I thought it was a fluke. I have since received a string of texts like this, and I have yet to reply to any of them to tell them I'm not who they think I am. Here are the other texts I've received in chronological order (note: all poor grammer and spelling is exactly as the texts are received by me, with a blank indicating an excluded phone number):

"Hey girls! If anyone is free between 3 and 4 today... Contact Caitlin lueck about an easy kill for big points! This is laura muyres btw."

"Nik miller is leaving olin at 1 45. Anyone have his name and is ready to kill then? Txt jankowski ______"

"Trevor funk is in class in the school of ed until 1215. lets get him he'll never suspect it and hes worth extra points. Txt _______ its schmelds"

"ahoy ladies! Claire needs ppl to go to intermurals let her know if you are free"

"ahoy laides! Stake out at noon whos in? Talk to jesse if you can make it"

"Ahoy who has Kriepkes name??"

"Anyone free from now till one?"

"Who has matt abrahmsons name?"

"ahoy are you up for a kill at 345"

"Ahoy! If you are not busy, we need to kill some boys who are in aliber. Blake and nick thierer are for sure here. Tell me if youre in! Spread the word please."

"ahoy! Who is up for a stake out this afternoon? Is you are available contact beth ann"

"This is from Carley. we need these names.. brunning rapp myhre brice raether frahm dang and david text claire asap!! ______ foward on"

"BE CAREFUL!! Try not to leave your dorms! Stay inside and if you need to go somehwere get a ride. NO hubble and No spikes! We are almost done!"

"Yes. Its a waterballoon fight!"

"We played better and harder than those baby TCs so let's go super soak them and finish it off! Everyone come to the house at 10 for some sneaky TC fun! Forward!"

I'm so confused by all of this. It seems like some fraternity/sorority type of game of which I've inadvertently become a part. Weird. I'm not sure how long I should keep receiving these before I text back to say I'm the owner of the phone number and not whoever they think they're texting. What a weird problem.

-Jon

album art exchange.

Check THIS website out. By far, it is the most substantial, comprehensive collection of album art I've ever found. And all really high quality too. Plus a nerdy little blog about the new cover art that comes out each week. It's awesome.

I stumbled on it a few days ago and went on a rampage through my iTunes. The only albums that didn't have cover art were a few John Mayer live shows I had, but everything else had at least some kind of art. The problem was that a lot of the cover art was from Google images and wasn't the same size, good resolution, etc. So I went through all my cover art and replaced as many images as I could that weren't uniform. And aside from the approximately 10 dissimilar album covers I couldn't find, all of my 539 albums now have consistent album art. It is a wonder to behold.

-Jon

fall music preview '09.

just noticed that rolling stone has again released another seasonal music preview. let's do it. artist name followed by album title in italics and release date in parentheses.

1. mika - the boy who knew too much (9/22)

this is almost certainly going to be the most fun record this whole season. now i'm not crazy for mika; his last album was great, and i just never really got into it. it's just a good one to have on reserve in your ipod just in case you're ever driving and want to start a party in your car. he's got pop music down to a science, big sounds, colorful melodies, hooks like you wouldn't believe. and he's got the voice to sell it perfectly. he sounds like freddie mercury dashed with just a hint of gay. good joke jon.

2. the roots - how i got over (10/20)

torn on this one. i've got lots of roots records, but i've never fallen in love with any of them. and since i've never seen them perform live, i can't actually lend any weight to the "best live band ever" title that they get all the time. i didn't really give their last two albums more than a few listens as they seemed very dark and very unhappy about white people in general. their beats have always seemed pretty raw and not meant to draw the listener in by being easy to digest. that being said, i saw them perform their single "how i got over" off album of same name on late night with jimmy fallon, the show on which they are the house band (and really make the show watchable in my opinion), and it was super great. lots of fun, high energy, just a great tune. i've also heard the album version on okayplayer.com (the roots flagship website) and while it is different than their performance, it's still a good tune. so i have no idea about this album. could be great, could be a pass-over for me.

3. creed - full circle (10/27)

hahaha. remember how awful these guys were back in 2001? when i mock a song by singing in a ridiculous "rock" voice, scott stapp is who i'm emulating. can't believe they got back together to make more music. a real shame.

4. the swell season - strict joy (10/27)

looking forward to this album more than all of them except jm's. the swell season are glen hansard and marketa irglova, the two actors/musicians from the 2007 movie "once". i've never really written about this movie or it's soundtrack, and i'd like to sometime because it is incredibly affecting to me. suffice it to say that both the movie and the music from it are real beauty, and what i've heard from this new album is very, very good. i've heard a few live versions of a couple tunes and the record version of the tune "low rising" and it completely blew me away. this album is going to be a year-end favorite for me.

5. john mayer - battle studies (11/17)

last and the one i'm most excited for, without a doubt. what's up with jm releasing all his studio albums in the fall? he's got a thing for autumn i think. as of yet, i haven't heard a single thing except background snippets of tunes off this album, and i'm excited and anxious to hear where he's going after one of my very favorite records ever continuum. it's been three years since that album came out and lots has happened in his life since then. mainly he's become a douchebag in the public eye. we'll see how that translates to music. hopefully something great.

there we go. loads more albums were on the list, just nothing that really excited much more than these. and i'm probably only going to buy the last two when they come out, the rest i can wait awhile to hear.

i was looking back at my previous "music preview" posts and noticed that i said lots of things about albums i was excited about and then they let me down or they totally blew me away. i think what i'm gonna do from here on is every time i go over a new music preview, i'll take a look back at the most recent preview and take stock of what i actually liked or didn't like. that being said, i'm gonna do the last two spring previews from this year and last year to catch up. album title first followed by artist in parentheses.

- hard candy (madonna): didn't even listen to it. heard the single with justin timberlake, thought "eh."

- rising down (the roots): like i said earlier, very dark and raw. hard to listen to for me. didn't love it.

- lay it down (al green): without a doubt one of my Top 5 Favorite Albums. of any genre. any artist. of all time. fantastic, brilliant, luminous album. can't say enough good.

- we sing. we dance. we steal things (jason mraz): never really digested it. but it sounded alright.

- viva la vida or death and all his friends (coldplay): another brilliant album from coldplay. totally love this band, and this album, along with al green's, was for sure my most played during 2008. such a great, great record.

- weezer (weezer): didn't even bother. i wrote about it just to make fun.

- seeing sounds (n.e.r.d): definitely let down by this one. i loved the single but the rest was just too off-kilter for a n.e.r.d record. i was hoping for much more along the lines of fly or die and i got just something weird.

- way to normal (ben folds): loved it. listened to this a ton. really fun, great melodies, great hooks, great tunes overall. awesome album.

so those were all from the spring '08 preview, and the four albums i wrote about for the spring '09 preview were all duds, as in i didn't listen or buy any of them so i have no follow-up at all.

have to mention one album that almost fell through the cracks here, since it wasn't on the spring '09 preview and it was just released so it missed the fall '09 preview too. jay-z just released the blueprint 3 a week ago and i must say he has another winner. i am in love with this album right now. great beats, great rhymes, great collabos, everything on here is awesome. jay's still got it. such a great record. definitely will tide me over until october 27th, which will then suffice until november 17th. come on autumn!

-jon

2 videos.

i've come across 2 videos lately.

1: this one is 10 minutes from jay-z's 9/11 benefit concert at madison square garden in new york. he had loads of guests but this is a clip of my favorite guest.

now while i love john mayer, i'm a little iffy about his performance at the show. i don't know what it was, he just didn't seem totally on. he didn't seem to add tons to the music. and he was a little too styled out. leather jacket and tight pants? it just didn't seem very representative of how he usually is. but whatever. he played guitar for jay-z. talk about cred.

2: cat massage.

man i find this funny. i'm assuming this is just a edited version of an awful longer version. this is from the twitter page of neal brennan (created chappelle's show with dave chappelle). hilarious at 2:37 when the cat looks to the cameraman for help.

-jon

make up some music.

this thing is so freakin' sweet.

directions:

click any of the squares. each square makes a tone. each square in a horizontal row makes the same tone at a different timed interval. if you light up two squares next to each other, there will be no pause between the tones. light up two squares with a space in between and you'll get a longer interval between tones. likewise, each square in a vertical column makes tones; the lower the square in the column, the lower the tone. press space to clear the board and start over.

on top of that, if you click on the audiotool button below the grid, and then the audiotool button again on the next page, it loads a flashplayer program where you can basically make your own beats in your web browser. and we're not just talking one simple keyboard here. there are so pedals, electric keyboards, soundboards, and other equipment that you can use to tweak your beat. i discovered all this like ten minutes ago so i hardly even know what kinds of stuff i can do. this is clearly for experts, i'm gonna look at it for like thirty seconds, not figure anything out and be done.

but the tone matrix is awesome. and simple. whether you spend a long time figuring out some nifty little beat in your head or you just randomly light up a bunch of squares, you'll have a very cool sounding thing. have fun.

-jon

p.s. this is from k. west's blog. bummer about him this weekend.

The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day

I just watched the trailer for The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day. Yes, the sequel to the "cult classic" The Boondock Saints.

This movie, or set of movies, now joins the list of "Why did they keep going?" franchises. I know that sounds negative but it's not completely; I would add good movies to that list along with bad. This list includes, yet is obviously not limited to: Green Street Hooligans (yes, there is a sequel), basically any horror franchise, every single superhero franchise (good and bad included, I'm looking at you Christopher Nolan's Batman movies and Fantastic Four, respectively), Lost Boys, most of the Disney Animated Classics, and loads more I can't think of right now. The point is why do studios/filmmakers/directors/etc. continue movie franchises when continuing almost certainly means devaluing the franchise of any sort of credibility?

Let me go back a little bit. The Boondock Saints is a great movie. Funny, violent, exciting, artistic, it's very entertaining to watch. While it doesn't seem to have much premise other than "two Irish residents of Boston go on a violent God-ordained rampage and kill lots of bad gangsters in their city," it makes for an interesting concept and really is more of a vehicle for how the killing goes down. Which sounds mindless but translates to a very cool movie.

So you have this movie. It was (apparently) a disaster to make, made no waves when it was released in theaters, and then became a huge hit released on DVD, thanks to the powerful effect of word-of-mouth between college kids. It's considered a cult classic. And now, ten years later, a sequel is being made. I just watched the trailer, and it looks like they've replaced the Rocco character (comic relief sidekick from the original) with another Rocco-like character, and instead of Willem Dafoe playing the FBI agent tracking the Saints down, he's been replaced with a "sexy" crime-fighter who's "really gonna give them hell." Those are not quotes from the trailer, just a way to emphasize the cliches of movie sequels, the whole "upping the ante" factor. Sounds awful doesn't it?

Here's the interesting part. It might not be. The same writer-director of the original is helming the sequel, and the whole main cast (excluding Dafoe) is returning. This means the same two Saints (who really sold the original), their same bushy-bearded dad, and the squad of Boston police officers who were Dafoe's lackeys in the original. It actually seems like it might turn into a decent movie, as far as movie sequels go.

I think I was just a little annoyed by the fact they were making a sequel at all, as good as this might be. The Boondock Saints was a great movie, why can't it be left at that? People sacrifice their art and continue to make something after the creative well has dried and it cheapens whatever of the original was good.

So unless I hear that it really is awesome, I probably won't see this movie. Because honestly, how many people do you remember saying "Man Home Alone 3 is really where the series took off. I'm so glad they got rid of Macaulay Culkin"?

-Jon

heads up.

hate to harp on about john mayer but he just released very big news.

the latest album, "battle studies," will be released on november 17, with the first single to be released ahead of that.

HOLLER.

-jon

tell 'em that it's.....

i'd like to state first and foremost that as a nation, we should move on from michael jackson's death. yes he was a pop icon, but the guy hadn't released anything really good since '87's "bad." his talent was not taken from us "too soon," as is always said when a celebrity dies. he wasn't murdered, there is no conspiracy, we don't need to hear any interviews with his personal chef. he was just an old dude who had some health problems and had a heart attack. move on, mass media.

that being said, i want to bring attention to this performance of "human nature" from the mj tribute show. say what you will about john mayer, the dude is such a versatile musician. love that guitar tone.

-jon

you don't know jack!

i tend to exaggerate often in my daily speech. two of my most common embellishments are that something is "the best" or "the worst." and since i work at a video store, these are mostly used in reference to movies, tv shows, or actors. i used to think that the office (us) was probably my favorite show on tv, and then i discovered arrested development. really absorbing arrested, and seeing the office's last two seasons of unfunny episodes, led me to replace the office with arrested development as the reigning favorite television show of mine.

it's nearly time to pass the torch, arrested. i just finished watching the third season of 30 rock for the second time and my goodness. what an incredibly funny show. i can honestly (and without any exaggeration) say that it is, by far, the funniest show on television right now. there isn't any show that even comes close to touching 30 rock. this blog wasn't going to be about 30 rock however, so all i do want to say about it is that to me, it seems so similar to arrested development, so if you've seen one but not the other, please go watch the other. they're both outstanding shows.

i wanted to bring attention to jack mcbrayer, the actor who plays kenneth ellen parcell on 30 rock. i recently saw him late night with jimmy fallon about a month ago, and then again on the tonight show a couple weeks ago. he is very funny in person, and even better, very much like his character on 30 rock. here he is on jimmy fallon.

i find him really funny. and he's just one of the many funny characters on 30 rock. so watch it.

-jon

p.s. jimmy fallon uses the word insane too often to describe things.

Jon's 101th Blog Post Spectacular!

i just realized that i inadvertently missed my big 100th blog post by posting a joke about inter-species relations. oh well.

so i've actually written 100 blogs. that's a pretty cool achievement for me, especially considering some of them were pretty substantial. others obviously were pretty dumb (see last post) but i'm decently proud of myself for keeping up with this for as long as i have. it's a great feeling to write something and then put it out for anybody to stumble across. a good outlet. so thanks for reading. i don't plan on quitting anytime soon.

as is hopefully noticeable to the avid reader of my blog, i've changed the look up a bit. this template is called rounders. don't know why. i've seen some other blogs that are designed in very cool ways (awesome picture karlie), but i have no idea how to church this thing up other than changing background colors. oh well.

i'm also confused about font and almost more importantly, spacing of lines. i kind of feel like the blogspot service isn't the most user friendly when it comes to organization.

but that's what i intend on figuring out as i continue to blog. here's to hoping you'll stick around while i learn how to space all my lines evenly. that would be awesome.

-jon

quick joke.

funniest actual joke i've heard in a long time, from conan's monologue, wednesday, july 29th:

"in south carolina, a man has been arrested for the second time for having sex with a horse.

... apparently this guy just couldn't take 'neigh' for an answer."

-jon

turns out my cellular telephone was a lemon.

i've had quite an important last couple of weeks. among other things, i got a new cell phone with a new number. i'll have the old one for the next few days so if you want my new number just text the old one.

and maybe once i've got time to process everything else, i'll write a bit about it. we'll see.

-jon

update.

edited to say: forgot to mention earlier that i am nearing my 100th blog, so when that happens i will update this mug just a bit. change fonts, maybe even a color or two. my buddy adam did it and it looks awesome and it will also look like i am copying him now. dang.

remember when i used to blog? the good ol' days.

since it's been over a month, here's some stuff that's happening as of late.

been listening to ben folds as much as i can. everything too, old/new/stuff with the five. smoke is still one of the most incredibly well-written songs i've ever heard. mulling over a possible Top 5 list of favorite songs. we'll see.

my bachelor party was thrown last night. super great time. might put up pictures recap the night a bit. i want to give a tip o' the cap to my best bud joel and the boys for putting on one hell of a party for me. thanks guys.

and along those lines, it is two weeks until i am married. in exactly two weeks time i will be shaking my tookus on the dance floor at my reception with my beautiful new bride and a bunch of our friends. i am super nervous but even more excited.

started reading a book now that my summer class finished and i've got a tad bit more free time. it's called a severe mercy by sheldon vanauken. it's a walk through of this guy's relationship with his wife and has a lot of letters from his good friend c.s. lewis. pretty good so far.

while making the slideshow for the wedding, i got a glimpse of how cool i was in high school. seeing all the cool clothes i wore made me want to try and reclaim a bit of that former glory so i went out and bought a cards cap. holler.

and that little raspberry on my hand is from the bachelor party. i was a 1st-time kayaker.

consider yourself updated. i'm off to work.

-jon

conan's first week.

conan o'brien has officially taken over the tonight show franchise on nbc. he's gotten through his first week and i couldn't be happier. he moved in with little to no hiccups, and it looks as though he's gonna make a great host.

monday was such an exciting night for me. i'd waited three months with great anticipation to see conan back on the air and i was just amped to see the news anchors end with "stay tuned for the tonight show with conan o'brien on next!" right off, i've gotta say that seeing conan's new show, i was left with the impression that he really loves television. just as a medium, as an art form, as a way of communication, he loves television. his show started with a decades old nbc peacock logo stating, "the following program is brought to you in living color on nbc." super cool homage to an era of television gone by. his intro too has a very cool old-time microphone with a very vintage nbc logo on it and loads of flashy lights, and his new set really has the perfect mixed feeling of vintage and contemporary styles. for example, there is a mural wrapping around the stage above conan that's hard to see on tv, but it's a really trendy art-deco vintage mural with scenes from 1920s LA area and nbc logos. just really cool stuff. it's hard to explain but it just seems that conan loves tv and this whole new show is very much an homage to television from the past. such a neat thing.

conan's cold open was a great way to kick of his show too. seeing him literally run across the united states was really funny to me. the man has just the longest limbs you could ever imagine. it's incredible, and seeing him sprint across wrigley field was great. it was a great intro that i think was endearing to leno's old viewers.

the new intro is really cool too. i mentioned the old mic, but it's just a very hip, vintage montage of lights and sounds with conan's old pal and new announcer andy richter announcing conan and the band and guests. a fitting job for andy. and the theme song. oh man when i heard conan's old theme music from late night i was just ecstatic, but they've updated it with some real flourish and it kills now. it's such a great tune. seeing max weinberg and the tonight show band (previously known as the max weinberg seven) playing was great too, i'm so happy they came from new york to join conan on the show. they are such a great band.

so overall, conan was great. he seems really happy and really grateful for this new opportunity and is really excited to take the show over and make it his own. while he didn't seem completely at ease on the first night, by the end of the week he was really getting into his groove. i have no doubts he will feel right at home right away.

i guess what i mean by completely at ease is on late night, there was a lot more of him killing time during the monologue with just silliness. conan making jokes about his hair or how the audience cheered too much for him or how a joke bombed. so far on the tonight show, there has been a lot more pre-produced sketches, off-set segments (also called "remotes") which has conan interacting with just normal people, like universal studio tourists, workers on the universal studio lots, random LA citizens, etc. i've always found these segments funny, because conan has an incredible knack for improvisational comedy and finding the comical within normal situations with normal people. some of my favorite moments from late night were his remotes, like the old-tyme baseball sketch, anything that triumph the insult comic dog did, conan's bird-watching outing, conan's formation of a boy band, and conan's dinner with associate producer jordan schlansky. these are just a few of the absolutely hilarious sketches that conan has done off the set. if you have a chance, take a look at these sketches because they are thoroughly entertaining. if conan keeps this kind of comedy up on the tonight show, his viewers are in for quite a treat. what has been missing a bit, and was coming back slowly by the end of the week, was his off the cuff silliness on camera. during his monologue, conan plays the audience so well and often rambles just enough to say hilarious things. he comes up with ridiculous "impressions" of celebrities that are just him doing things like pulling on fake suspenders to do larry king. they aren't actually "good" impressions but they are funny. it's this type of silliness that has taken him a bit to ease back into since starting but i think the more he takes over the show the more we'll see it.

one thing that improved greatly as the week went by was the return of great old comedy bits from late night. when i realized they were doing in the year 2000 on wednesday, any of my fears for conan's switch to an earlier time slot were alleviated. i was unsure if they were gonna bring a lot of bits over or use max and the band in bits as much, and seeing them take a classic bit from late night and giving it just a little bit of pizzazz for the new audience was reassuring. thursday's show saw the return of max weinberg as more than just a great band leader but also a really weird and hilarious member of the show's comedy team and friday's show featured the old bit celebrity surveys. i'm not worried anymore. they'll bring over the funny stuff and leave aside the not as good stuff.

the first week was jam packed with celebs. will ferrell, tom hanks, gwyneth paltrow, ryan seacrest, and a few lesser knowns. musical guests included pearl jam (debuting a brand new song from their forthcoming album), green day (who gave conan a guitar as a house warming present), sheryl crow (performing the same song she did on her debut performance on late night with conan o'brien way back in '93 or '94, whenever it was), and most importantly for ME, john mayer trio. the trio hasn't played together in like a year and a half and to see them performing on stage was just really great. they covered california dreamin' by the mama's and the papa's and were backed by a los angeles children's choir. so awesome. leave it to john mayer to turn a '60s folk song into a real rock 'n roll tune. get a load of this.

so it's been a good first week. i want to call it great just because i'm excited to see conan doing the job he was born to do, but i'm gonna keep my grade at good for now, mainly cause i know he hasn't won many new viewers' hearts yet. but i know the show is only gonna get better. conan has only ever improved in his 16 years on television and this is his chance to really do what he wants with his show and with his comedy. can't wait to see what he's got up his outrageously long sleeves.

-jon

out with the old, in with the old.

conan o'brien wrapped up the final episode of late night with conan o'brien back in march. i'm not sure why, but leading up to that show i had been actually kind of sad thinking about conan packing up and taking the reigns of the tonight show. conan had been hosting late night for 16 years now, which is actually pretty incredible if you think about it. the first year or so of the show was reamed by critics and fans alike, and subsequently has become the funniest late night talk show on television and for my money, the funniest show on television period (that's right office writers, you really have dropped the ball).

i guess it made me kind of sad thinking about his move because while i didn't watch him growing up, i started watching him all the time when i was in 8th grade and all through high school. along with jim carrey in dumb and dumber, conan was the most influential person when i was developing my own sense of funny. the guy just did and said things that always made me laugh. he was very self-depricating, but not in a "pity me"-woody allen type of way. he made fun of himself all the time, yet always laughed at the jokes he made at his expense because he knew they were funny. that's a subtle but important distinction that resonated with me very strongly. and he not only made jokes about himself, but jokes about the quality of the show, sketches, props, special effects, ridiculous audience members, inappropriate guests, etc. nothing was really off limits, but he was always respectful. his jokes were never truly mean-spirited, in his monologues, after making a completely inappropriate joke about whatever, the audience would usually laugh/make a "ohhhh" sound and he would make this hilarious face where he tensed up because he knew what he said was too much. he knew it was a joke and that face was part of the delivery but i always found it just very funny.

jay leno is also no longer the host of the tonight show. his last show was very nice; a fitting tribute to end his seventeen years as host. leno has always been kind of a tough cookie for me; i've never wanted to like him all that much but i've always enjoyed watching his show. he was never really loved by the critics or even by carson it seems. letterman was always thought of as the true successor of the tonight show and was generally treated better by critics than leno was. but leno has always been more popular with the american public, and kept the tonight show the number one rated late night show on tv. i think it comes back to his personality. his jokes were never grade A, usually landing in the cheese pile. but he was a nice guy. everybody always talks about how you could have a beer with jay. he didn't "get" twitter, just like most every american over the age of forty-five. part of it for me is that while his jokes might be too accessible or not very intelligent, he always seemed to know exactly that and just went with it and enjoyed getting easy, silly laughs. he reminded me of my dad in that way. he was always ready with the old rim-shot punch line and was pleased whether he got a big laugh or a groan and a roll of the eyes. and that's why he was successful. because people gravitate to kindness. to sincerity. and jay delivered that. he didn't deliver high-brow comedy, but he delivered a lot of silly jokes and a bit of escapism.

jay's last show was surprisingly sweet. he had the obligatory best of jaywalking sketch, and then had conan on as a guest, which was very gentlemanly of him, considering conan was taking over in two days. james taylor was jay's handpicked musical guest, playing sweet baby james, the song jay heard on his way out of boston nearly forty years ago on his way to hollywood to try to make it in show business. and then his sign off. very sweet, very leno. he introduced all the kids that had been born from couples who had met each other working on leno's tonight show, sixty-eight total, from age zero to seventeen. it was a really nice sentiment to end his last show. and it was sad too. the same type of sad conan's goodbye on late night was in march, not completely sad because he's not gonna be gone for long. but still sad. a lot of people my parents' age kind of see this as the end of an era since leno was really the only guy they liked. hopefully they give conan a chance.

if nothing else, he'll be treated better and given more slack than he was when he took over late night in '93. conan's evolution since '93 is really incredible. he started as a nervous, seemingly unfunny host who had just gotten the gig because he had connections with lorne michaels, producer of most of the funny stuff on nbc and a pretty big power player at the network. conan had been a writer on snl at the tail end of the '80s and had started writing for the simpsons during the best seasons of that show (3rd-4th). having known him from his snl days, michaels gave conan a shot once letterman announced he was leaving late night and boy did it not go over well. nobody had ever heard of this guy conan. he had never been on tv. he seemed awkward and unsure of himself. his first episode of late night was posted somewhere online a few months ago and i watched the first little bit of it. holy cow it is uncomfortable to watch. conan so very clearly isn't sure how to perform on tv, he's really nervous, and expresses that anxiousness through a lot of laughter. too much laughter. but it's understandable, the guy was an unknown taking over for fan favorite letterman. but seeing that first episode's awkward laughter and too-slow comedic pacing, it is a wonder to tune in now and see conan do his thing on late night. he owns it. he is perfect. he has become a true performer. he knows how to handle the crowd and make them laugh, he knows how to handle slip-ups in the show, he knows how to appear cool and very relaxed in his role as host. in 16 years he became the perfect host.

he belongs as host of the tonight show. i'm so intrigued to see how he fits into this new role. everything i've heard is "conan's gonna have to grow up to make it on the tonight show" but on his last show of late night, he promised he wasn't going to. reading interviews/articles about his new show recently though, i think that he knows he will have to reformat his unique brand of comedy just enough to keep the older viewers laughing along with the young kids. i don't think it will be too much though. i think he's almost got more freedom now if anything to do things with his comedy he hasn't been able to before. on leno's last show they showed a clip of a bit where conan has an academy award-winning makeup artist turn him into a completely different person and he hosts a focus group of old people watching clips of conan on late night to see how the older crowd likes him. i'm not sure what it was about it but right away it just felt like a little bit different kind of sketch than he would ever have done on late night. and it made me so excited to see what he's got in store for the tonight show.

watching conan walk out onto the tonight show stage after being introduced by jay, hearing the crowd cheer for him, hearing the tonight show band playing conan's theme song, the whole thing made me swell up with pride. conan is my tv hero. he was really gaining popularity as i started to watch him back around 2000 or 2001, and probably more than anything in the last ten years, conan has influenced my humor. it's incredible too, because i haven't even noticed it until the last year or so. conan's comedy was so subtle in sneaking into my subconscious; his bits were just hilarious to me, the way he would mock his hair or his complexion or height, the immediate rapport he had with guests of all types, just from being a good conversationalist. all of this worked it's way into my personality and has influenced me in big, big ways. and seeing him on leno's last show was just great. i hadn't seen conan do anything since his own last show last march, except for watching old late night sketches over getting amped for conan's tonight show, and seeing him again do anything on tv was just so exciting. he really is the funniest real guy on tv. he knows how to talk to people, famous or non, he knows how to ask questions, he knows how to go with the flow when things don't go exactly as scripted, he knows how to make people laugh, he knows how to make fun of himself, he knows how to make fun of others, he is extraordinarily good at improv, he will do just great as the host of the new tonight show. conan o'brien, i can't wait. you are ushering me into my adult life. thanks.

-jon

An Important Message From Conan O'Brien

two more days. funniest man on television.

-jon

old blog #2: i own a giga pet named "A".

i'm excited. november started, a huge test is finished, the next two weeks will keep me sufficiently busy but not crazy, and then thanksgiving break is going to rule. for three main reasons.
1. the wednesday before thanksgiving week, savion glover is performing at hancher auditorium at my university. most people probably wouldn't know savion glover by his name, but if you are anywhere near my age and grew up watching sesame street(one two three four five, six seven eight nine ten, eleven twelve-elve-elve-elve-elve-elve!)(pinball machine cartoon), savion was the black guy with dreds who tap danced all the time.

how could you not love this guy?

he will be performing with a live band, so...a killer tap dancer and a live band at hancher? it's gonna be a fantastic show. what makes it even better is that i have a midterm directly before the show so the show is like a huge treat. and my girlfriend is coming down for it so...how could it be better? if savion invited me on stage to dance with him? yes that would make it better. but that's the only way.
2. as i mentioned before, colleen is coming down for savion's show and then she and i are driving back to uni that night. i'm skipping the last two days of class that week and extending my break to eleven days. unbelieveable. the first five/six days will be spent at uni with friends, getting a feel for my new university. i'm psyched.
3. for actual thanksgiving, i'll be probably in kansas city. which is cool. i'm not ecstatic about going home, but it will be really nice to see my sisters again. thanksgiving day will rule. lots of food. lots of lazing around. post-thanksgiving cold turkey sandwiches are awesome.
so november is bringing good things. and i want you to know about these:

find this movie playing somewhere and watch it.

1. half nelson. i just saw it tonight and really liked it. still digesting it so i'm not even gonna say too much. other than ryan gosling is a phenomenal actor. saw it at iowa's indie theater, the bijou, which is a sweet place. one of the few things i'll really miss when i'm at uni. check this out, they are having a FREE pre-release showing of the tenacious d movie coming out, how sweet is that? i'm going.

"if you want to see the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain."

2. ricky gervais. funniest man on television? possibly. star of the office, which was originally a bbc show before it became popular here in america. and if you like the steve carell version on nbc, it's a hundred times funnier with this dude. and his new show on hbo, extras, is unbelieveably funny as well. i can't really communicate how much this guy makes me laugh through a facebook note so...just watch him if you ever get a chance.
i'm done. i've got lots of other stuff i'd love to tell you about but it's late. so happy november. i hope you'll enjoy it as much as i will. and i really need to figure out how to communicate ideas in some other way than a numbered list. that is so trite. and i'd like to know how to make my photos bigger. adam? anybody?

jon

p.s. i really hope somebody understood my pinball machine cartoon reference. if you did will you let me know? i have never, in my entire life, met anyone who knew what that meant other than my older sister hannah. so if you know what that is, tell me. i'll probably freak out.

thoughts from 2009 jon:

a. i wrote this on november 3, 2006.

b. savion glover is an INCREDIBLE dancer. that show was one of the coolest live performances i've ever seen.

c. half nelson is still a great movie. watch it if you haven't.

d. i'm going to write more in depth about ricky gervais' brilliance sometime in the future.

e. i needed to ease up on the list format. i used TWO numbered lists in this one post. confusing

f. the pinball sketch. number 11:

old blog #1: Web + Log = Blog

I used to think the whole concept of blogs was really arrogant, like it's just one person going on some rant thinking everybody else really wants to hear their thoughts and opinions about the world. and what do I know, maybe lots of people do want to hear the the writer's thoughts. it's just the whole idea that the writer thinks his thoughts should be read/heard by everyone. it just seemed high-handed to me. until lately. i recently read a fantastic review of FutureSex/LoveSounds in a friend's note, and it really convinced me that blogging is alright. not conceited, just a handy way to let people get into your mind a little if they want. ok enough of this intro. here are some things i've been into for the last week or two.

1. Most people know i'm not a huge sports buff, but even I was following the World Series. and while i don't have a tv, i spent game 5 clicking the refresh button on si.com every 30-60 seconds. it made for an exciting night. go cards.

2. organic chemistry...as much as that might be lame, it's actually really interesting to me. unfortunately i'm not smart enough to be a chem major. shame. it's cool now that we're actually getting into practical stuff, we can do all sorts of reactions and crap. actually not in real life, but on paper, i can do reactions involving alcohols and ethers and epoxides. pretty cool.

It's called 18-crown-6 because it has 18 total atoms in the ring and 6 total oxygen atoms...and it looks like a crown.

3. bob dylan. he's just really good. that's all.

4. this whole "my shares" deal on facebook is really cool. at least to me. it's weird, i really thought that this blog feature and now the shares would catch on really fast, but not many of my friends write many notes, and so far the shares thing hasn't gone over too well. which is really too bad, because it's a way cool thing. i've only put up a few things, but i'll add quite a bit as time goes on.

5. i read today that reese witherspoon and ryan phillippe separated? i'm pissed.

Come on. Seven years of gorgeous red carpet snapshots and you're calling it quits?

6. i'm transferring to uni.

so that's all. i have to look over some notes for a biology quiz tomorrow. my bio t.a. has such a big butt, it's really hard not to stare. and he's a dude...so it gets a little awkward. but it's just so big! later.

jon

p.s. Mathmatical equations - actual numbers = really annoying.

thoughts from 2009 jon:

a. this blog was written october 30, 2006.

b. the friend i was referring to who wrote the album review was adam. you can read that blog here on facebook and his actual blog is here. great stuff.

c. the thing about my shares on facebook was way back when facebook was intuitive and cool. remember, back when high school and college were separated? when "apps" didn't exist? when you actually had to be in school to get an account? anyway, the notes feature was brand new and it was an easy way for me to start blogging without having to sign up for an actual blogging site, which i thought was lame.

d. the post script was referring to when people write sentences like "britney spears + last few years = so white trash!" i think i had read a sentence like that before i wrote it and it annoyed me.

e. since the font from facebook carried over to this website, i think i'm just gonna leave it as it is. it's a little disfunctional it seems like but it'll have to do.

old blogs.

tonight i was on facebook and i remembered that i originally started blogging using facebook "notes," and after a few i decided to switch over to blogspot. i don't regret the decision, as facebook as become overridden with so much pap. anyway, i glanced through my old notes tonight and decided to add them onto this mug because a lot of them showed quite a bit of insight into how i write today. reading a few of them i was actually envious of how well thought out i think they are. so i'll start with my oldest one and add them every few days and maybe add a couple two-and-a-half-years-later edits/thoughts to them.

enjoy,

-jon