To my 25-year-old self...

Dear my future self, well present as you read this...

Hiiii :D How are you? Life better be good. But yeah, 10 years in the future... But freaky if you think about it. This whole week of thinking about you reading this 10 years into the future has been messing with my already, too much, paranoid mind. I don't even know if I should refer to you as me/myself. Argh. Confusing.. But it's a bit like the episode Blink. When Kathy left a letter for Sally... Or more like when the Doctor left all of those clues for the Doctor. Actually, it's not like that at all.. Seeing as they knew what she was like then. Argh. MESSING WITH MY HEAD THIS IS. I watch too much science fiction. Well, we watch too much science fiction.. Or I did watch too much science fiction. And you're laughing aren't you? I know you are, I am XD

So catch up. It's the year 2011. You're 14, not yet 15... You're just launching the Fez and Prince William just got married to Kate. Oh, and Doctor Who S6 basically just aired in Australia 2 hours ago. Oh my, as you read this you know how it's ended.. Who River Song is.. AHH. Kay, off track again, expectations? I think so. Actually, they're more qusetions and hopes for my 24/25th year old self.  We shall have a number of them for you, well I will. Yes.

1) You've been on Doctor Who right? Or Torchwood.. Either one. Hopefully they're still both airing then. They'd better be. If not, go start a petition or something to get it back onto air. OR ELSE.

2) You better still be a nerd. You are right? It's all we've really known... From reading books in the library during recess and lunch to joining Nerdfighteria. Which you are still apart of right? No matter how small the role, you're just there. Aware of it all, helping to decrease world suck.

3) Hopefully, the blog's still going on! Either by us five (If Colin ever resurfaces) or some group of nerds around the age we are now have taken over and are keeping it going and doing a good job with it. (Not as good as we are doing now of course) This blog is awoosome. This people are awoosome. Be in contact with them Caitlin. If you aren't, email them or something.

4) You've written at least one book and gotten it published. Or, at the very least, completed NaNoWriMo.

5) The Fez is up and running. It will be awoosome.

6) You're still friends with who you are friends with now. That's all of them. AND GET IN TOUCH WITH CAITLIN DAMMIT. Oh, and stay close with your family. You need them.

7) You've gotten a job, moved out, aren't living Australia and have been to the UK.

8) Met a guy exactly like the one Hayley described to you a month or so back, when everyone was trying to figure out everyone's futures. The whole PLP thing. Yeah, I know, don't think about how important that was.. I'll figure it out.

9) You've travelled. More than you have already. This includes going to such conventions as Vidcon, Leakycon, Comicon etc.

10) YOU'RE LOVING LIFE.

That is all. Now, have fun 25-year-old me. And let's just hope we'll do something brilliant with ourselves (Well, that I will and that you have and still are). You get the point.

DFTBA.

In Ten Years Time...

Dear 28 year old Kim,

I don't know what life has in store for you, nor do I know how your last ten years have past but I want you to always remember these first 18 years. There have been good times and bad but they all have made you into the person you are today. I hope that you look back on these times with the fondest of memories.

Are you still in theatre? I hope so. But if not remember that time your school did Les Miz? And no one thought you'd be able to pull it off but you kind of did? I hope you're still proud of that. I hope you remember the love and support of all the people you worked with through high school and that they still hold a piece of your heart.

Always stay true to who you are. Never be ashamed of setting your ring tone to the imperial march from star wars (Remember your high school art teacher did that!) and never be ashamed of proclaiming your nerdiness. Value intelligence, logic, and kindness above all else and you should have very few problems in life.

Reaching the end of high school I don't know which way we'll go but never let there be regret. Keep optimism and dreams close to your heart and cherish all the good times you've had.

Always you,

-Kim

To my 27 year old self

4/26/11

Dear future self,

Hey. How are you? Well, I hope? I certainly hope you aren't dead. Actually, there are a lot of things I hope for you. I'll make a list of some important ones.

1. I hope you're still a Nerdfighter. That is, even if you don't call yourself one anymore, I hope you're still dedicated to decreasing World suck. You've got a lot of knowledge and tools that I don't, so use 'em wisely. 

2. I hope you're still in touch with your brother. He's a great guy. You should probably call him up as soon as you're done reading this and remind him how much you love him, even if it still annoys him. Also, I really hope you didn't sell him your first car for under $2,000. I need that money for college! Speaking of which...

3. I hope your time at Westmont was amazing. I just sent in my admission confirmation and housing deposit last week, so, as you can probably imagine (and/or remember), I'm starting to get majorly excited here. It had better have lived up to all these expectations! Just sayin'. 

4. I hope you're still making music. I hope you keep on making it for the rest of your life, even when it can be stressful (like right now, for instance, as I'm preparing for my senior recital... I hope that went well, by the way).

5. I hope you've at least started to unravel that vast mystery that is dressing fashionably. ....'Nuff said.

6. I hope you don't look back on the Dr. Who/Harry Potter/Narnia obsessed kid I am now and think, "I was such a nerd!" Unless you mean it in a positive sense, in which case: yeah, I am. And I hope you still are, too.

7. I hope... I hope... (I decided to go to 10, but I'm running out of ideas here...) I hope.... I hope you're still in touch with your high school friends. Specifically, the Owlings (your writing club), and your new friends on the Nerd Blog (nerdleague.blogspot.com, in case you've forgotten). Best case scenario, you're all still writing the blog; after all, this very letter is a project for it.

8. I hope you don't have a cat. I hope you've learned your lesson that you will never look good in concert black until there are no more furry animals in your house.

9. I hope your handwriting is better. But, y'know, if not, it's not that big a deal. I mean, this is okay, right?

10. I hope you finished one of your novels, or finally wrote enough poetry to make a proper collection. At the very least, I hope you haven't stopped writing for fun. It's fun, remember?

11. (One more, for good measure.) I hope you're still hoping. And wishing, and dreaming, and loving, and doing-- and all that sappy good stuff you're supposed to do when you're young. Just as long as you haven't turned all hopeless and cynical, I'm happy.

Finally, and most importantly, I have just one thing to say: DFTBA. It's what all of this boils down to. Seriously.

Sincerely, and DFTBA,

17-year-old Emily

---

I did actually write this all down on paper and put it in an envelope, and then wrote instructions that it's not supposed to be opened until exactly 10 years from now. Proof:

Dear 27 year old me.

(Note this letter was written at 7:25 AM. Just thought you should know that before you thought you might get something with quality...)

Yesterday was easter. I'm currently sitting in spanish, writing this letter to you because it hasn't really started yet. I didn't stand for the pledge and it kind of made me feel like a total badass.

I have a series of questions that I feel you should be able to answer accurately because you're me... and you live like 10 years and one month in the future.

1) Did you vote for Obama?

I don't really know why I'm asking this. Seeing as I already know you're going to waste your vote on an independant, seeing as New York is a blue state and all of the electoral votes will go to Barry anyway... unless Trump runs. Then it's very possible that he could take the state (being a New Yorker and all) in that case you probably will vote for Obama because the only thing worse than the people not being able to directly elect their leader is having Donald Trump as our president. However Donald Trump would never in a million years win a Republican Primary. Just bring up the 14.25% one time tax he proposed in 1999 in a debate and no Republican would vote for him.

2) Are you happy?

Although we both personally feel that happiness is subjective and I don't know much about 2021, I hope that you are. I hope that there's less world suck and I hope you're not senile and/ or cynical.

3) Do you have a dog...?

If the answer to this is yes then I feel very bad for you, because it clearly means that we don't have friends anymore. Not that we really ever had that many to begin with. Except for those people in that blog thing that I'm doing that you probably still have very very very fond memories of.

4) What do you do?

Job-wise, hobby-wise.

5) What did you do?

Where'd you go to school? What'd you study? Did you go to grad-school? Are you still in school getting your PhD? HOPEFULLY! However, that would probably mean that you're broke. Like super broke. Because mom and dad aren't paying for Grad School. *sigh* Woe is us.

I have to go now... Ms Beckmann and me don't really have the best relationship (as you know) and I don't feel like listening to her flip out on me for 'doing other work'.

Au Revoir *wink*

16 y/o Chuck.

Easter!

Easter! Yay!

Probably my favorite part of easter is dinner with my family, not just my parents and sister but my dad's entire side of the family. It's really nice having everyone sitting down together and eating some yummy food. Like ham. I love ham, and I hardly ever get because my dad's alergic but I get it at easter!
When I was little I loved getting up early with my sister to go on egg hunts! All around the house just chocolate eggs in every nook and crany :)
Also there are bunny's all over my house. They're EVERYWHERE but they're cute so I guess it's okay.
This post is super lame. I'm really sorry. It's 12:24am, I have to get up for school at 7 and after school I'm going to the theatre until midnight so I should sleep and I won't have time to post later today. Okay I will see you next week with an exponentially better post I promise!

DFTBA

Easter :D

Easter has never really been a big thing within my family. But starting last year, it's been something that has become significant in my Christian life. Around 2 - 3 years ago I joined my local Youth Group with my best friend (and as of the past 2 months I have found 2 Nerdfighters at my Youth Group. We rock) and after my first year there I went to the Easter Camp. EASTER CAMP WAS AMAZING. So amazing that I'm going this year too :3 But yeah, Easter Camp was the place where I first found God. And he's been with me ever since.

So yeah.. Easter has never really been a big thing for us. My mum will try to get my brothers and I into it, you know, with the whole Lent thing. And we all know about the four days. Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. But I guess for my brothers (and what was me) Easter for us was chocolate. The whole commercial side of it... I can remember in Easter Sunday, our parents would hide Easter eggs in our apartment and we'd paint eggs!! (Like Emily, I had an egg in my room somewhere.. And the smell.. Ugh.) Easter was always a happy time for me. And it still is, even though I'm now doing something different.

On the subject of church, we'd go to church on Easter Sunday. And when I was on camp last year I missed out on family get togethers where they'd be Easter egg hunts for the little kids.. But us big kids always joined in and got all the chocolate first ;) But we're nice.. So we split them up and shared them with the little kids.. Yes.

Just going back on what Emily said.. I'm sorry if this theme offends anyone. I just thought it'd be appropriate because Easter is something that is known on a world basis, on both a commercialism basis and a religious basis.

I'd like to dedicate the remainder of this post to Elisabeth Sladen who passed away on the 19th. Elisabeth died of cancer at the age of 63. If any of you don't know who she is, she played Sarah Jane Smith, a companion of the third and fourth regenerations of the Doctor. She was, of course, Sarah Jane in the Sarah Jane Smith Adventures and became the owner of K-9, the tin dog. She's one of the best companions and in my opinion, the universe just isn't the same without her. R.I.A Elisabeth.

DFTBA

Easter and stuff

Happy Tuesday, y'all. Hope everyone had a good weekend.

So, Easter. I wish my family had a proper Easter tradition, but things happen differently every year. I think this post is going to be somewhat anecdotal.

When I was little, I used to be really jealous of my friends who would wake up on Easter morning with a giant basket of candy. I think my parents either couldn't afford it at the time, or they didn't want to spoil us or give us the wrong idea of what Easter is about. Or both.

There were a few years during my childhood when we spent the day before Easter dyeing eggs, and after church the next day we'd go out to a park and hide them and do an egg hunt. That was fun. We'd have a big race to find the "golden egg", which was somehow special, although I can't honestly remember what the prize was for finding it. After that, we'd throw all the eggs in the river. (They were hard boiled, not plastic, obviously. Although I still don't know how eco-friendly it was.)

Funny story: one year, I spent a bunch of time on a certain egg, dyeing it in stripes and painting patterns on it, and I decided it was much too pretty to throw into the river. I took it home and hid it under my bed in my little box of treasures. And promptly forgot about it. A few weeks later, an awful smell brought the egg back to my attention. Imagine explaining THAT one to your mom!

Anyhoo, back to the theme, which is Easter traditions. In recent years, I've been involved in the music ministry at my church --the choir and whatever semblance of an orchestra we're able to scrape together-- and it's kept me really focused on the "true meaning of Easter" and the holiday as a ministry opportunity. Two years ago (I think it was), a girl who was struggling with drug addiction visited my church on Easter Sunday, and gave her life to Christ. Several months after that, she gave her testimony and told us how that experience had changed her life, how she got off of drugs and turned her life around. That story just reinforced for me that He lives, He saves, and that's what Easter is all about. (And hey, even if you don't believe, you can't deny that Easter as a religious holiday can have a positive impact in people's lives.)

Chuck mentioned that some people may be offended by the fact that we chose to write about Easter this week. I hope that's not the case. If it's an "issue" that some of us disagree on, I hope we can use the opportunity for discussion, and not feel like it's something that has to divide us. If Colin doesn't celebrate Easter, for instance, maybe he can blog about why, and what he does instead. Just a thought.

As for me, I find that Holy Week is often the most spiritually convicting part of the year. After all, it's really the crux of Christianity. I've always found it really beautiful. But I'll spare you any more Christian-y talk. Instead, listen to this lovely Owl City cover of "In Christ Alone." (I don't think this is really an Easter song per se, but I've always associated it with Easter.)

Sadly, we aren't really doing anything for Easter this year, because my cousin is getting married in Kansas the day after, and we're going to be on the road. Ah well.

I look forward to seeing what the rest of you guys write this week.

DFTBA

Easter Week (4.18.11)

This is probably going to be a pretty short post.

I have two opinions about easter.

The first,

Easter has gone from being a celebration of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ to being a secular holiday about Bunnies and Chocolate... However I can't really call this a bad thing because Easter (like Marriage or the Nuclear Family) has changed dramatically since it was first 'created', and (like Christmas) it means something completely different in other parts of the world.

The second,

This theme kind of bothers me. It kind of bothers me because even though I'm a Christian and I celebrate Easter doesn't mean that everyone does. I mean one of my fellow bloggers is a staunch athiest and since this is a Christian holiday it kind of seems (to me at least) like a slap in the face to him...

In my family Easter has never really been a big deal in terms of celebration. We go to church, we come home from church, and then we go out to eat maybe? It's kind of like every other Sunday...

Postscript:

So HPDH1 came out on blu-ray Friday, and I got it, and I watched it... It was fantastic. I honestly don't understand how someone can watch Dobby die and NOT cry.... Seriously.

AND AND AND (this is the exciting part) I saw the opening scene for HPDH2 yesterday! vasdfjasdfkafhakdjfhakjsdhflajsd It was so great.

It starts at about 1:37

Is it seriously thursday again? Time is going so quickly!

Hey all! Hope you're all doing fantastically! And it's question time! What is your political affiliation? Interesting in the timing of this question, there's currently a federal election coming up (may 2) and since I'm 18 I can vote for the first time! The down side is I haven't had much time to follow the campaigns so I don't know who to vote for yet... I don't think I'm going to take the quiz because I kind of want to stay as unbiased as possible until I'm better informed on the current campaign. So yeah, sorry that's not really a good answer to the question but that's what's up with that. Global Warming? Global warming is a natural occurence, there used to be tropical plants where there's now glaciers, however I don't think what we're doing is necessarily letting it happen on it's own. Though whether or not we contribute largely to glabal warming I'm not sure I deffinately think we need to be responsible for where we live and to look after this beautiful planet. Heritage? Well I'm part Scottish, part English, part Welsh, part French, part Norwegian, part I don't even know what else. Evidently there isn't a huge impact of this on who I am and when asked my first response is always that I'm Canadian because I feel like that is a much more legitimate answer, not usually the one people are looking for but it works for me. Keyboard letters to be removed? Probably F5 F6 and F7 because I highly doubt I'd need them for an essay... I don't even know what they do! Random Other Question: Why is this so late in being posted? Well it's currently quarter after 11 at night... I got home from school at about 10, and then had dinner, and then was starting to get ready for bed, realised it was thursday and ran downstairs to type this because I refuse to miss a week no matter how busy I am :)

QUESTIONS! VRAE! PYETJE! PITANJA! PREGUNTAS!

QUESTIONS! VRAE! PYETJE! PITANJA! PREGUNTAS! 


What is your political affiliation?


I took the quiz :D 

... Woo?
What is your opinion on global warming?

Real. But not all of it is due to us. Of course, the Earth's temperature is going to change! It's happened before, and it'll keep on happening. But it's happening quicker than before so it's up to us to slow that process down. We're definitely destroying the world by using fossil fuels and all that stuff.

What's your ethnic/racial heritage and what does it mean to you?

Celtic/Irish/Irish-Australian. It doesn't really mean anything to me.. Sure I'm proud of my roots, but I don't let that define me.

If you could be any fictional character (book/film/tv) who would you be and why?

:D RIVER SONG. I love her. She is awesome.

For those who don't know, River Song is a character in Doctor Who. Nobody knows that much about her but we do know that she's from the Doctor's future. We find out more about her in season 6 though :D

But yeah, she's so totally awesome.

If you had to take 3 letter keys out of your keyboard and then type an essay, what keys would you take out?

4, 2 and M.

4 and 2 because it makes 42.. (and we all know that that's the answer to everything) and M because... I needed another key. :/




That'll do :3 


DFTBA

Question Tuesday!

Time for some questions! Let's go.

What is your political affiliation?

I took the quiz Chuck sent me, and it put me just to the right of the center, and right on the line between authoritarian and libertarian. However, since I didn't feel particularly strongly about a lot of the questions, I don't know if it really accurately represents my political standing.  I would describe myself as a conservative, but not a republican. I definitely fall on the right on most issues.

What's your ethnic/racial heritage and what does it mean to you?

I'm half white (mostly Scottish) and half Filipino. In the past I've tried to find an identity in both sides of my heritage, but I've found that, ultimately, saying "I'm Scottish" or "I'm a Pinay" has very little to do with who I actually am. When it comes down to it, I'm an American, and that's enough.

Although... my cousin was recently on Geneology.com and found out that on my dad's side, we're descended from British royalty. Which is kind of cool.

If you could be any fictional character (book/film/tv) who would you be and why?

Well that's a hard one. I'd like to be a student at Hogwarts, or a Doctor's companion, but if I were either of those things I'd want to do it as me. I think if I had to choose just one, it would be Jane Eyre. Because I am in love with Mr. Rochester. *sigh* <3

What is your opinion of Global Warming?

Mehhhhhhhhhhh. I'm actually inclined to think that global warming is, if not a complete lie, then at least blown way out of proportion by a lot of people trying to make a buck off of your guilt. I've heard a lot to support the idea that if the earth is indeed warming, it has little to do with what cars we drive, or whatever. 

However, I do think we should be environmentally responsible. Even if there's no such thing as global warming, it doesn't mean we can go around trashing our planet. 

Random Question: What did you do over the weekend?

A whole lot of this: 

I'm the mostly-obscured cellist on the far right. As my teacher says at the beginning of the video, this is why we play the cello. :)

DFTBA,

Emily

Question week 1.8?

So there isn't really a theme this week. I think this stems from us either being extremely unorganized or extremely busy or both. AND YET at the last minute we got a few questions together. However, Colin hasn't given us a question yet so I propose we all just make up our own question to answer.

QUESTION #1

What is your political affiliation?

... yep.

QUESTION #2

What's your ethnic/racial heritage and what does it mean to you?

I am an African American (obviously). I've grown up in a predominately white area, my best friend is from bangladesh, and my church is predominately African American so I guess I could say that I've been exposed to a lot of different 'cultures' but race has never really been a major factor in anything I do.4

QUESTION #3

If you could be any fictional character (book/film/tv) who would you be and why?

Hmmmm, that's a hard one, but I would definitely have to say this guy

Why would I say this guy? Good question. It's probably the costume.

QUESTION #4

What is your opinion of global warming?

I don't really have an opinion on global warming... I believe that it's happening and that we do have a major role in it but I haven't really researched it enough to form an opinion on what we should do

QUESTION #5 (The question that would be Colin's question but isn't.....)

Did it really take you like 4 hours to think of a question and this is all you could come up with?

Yes. I actually went for a drive with my mother because it's 80 degrees outside and there's going to be a thunderstorm and we don't hang out nearly as often as we should.

I feel like next week should be MOTHER APPRECIATION WEEK. Although Mother's day is in like a month so that can definitely be put on hold.

WELL THAT'S QUESTION WEEK.

DFTBA, Chuck

Postscript: I found this Bob Dylan cover by Andrew Bird and it's really good and I kinda flipped out when I heard it. Enjoy it.

Postpostscript: Emily's brother is like a youtuber! He uploaded a couple videos on the youtube!! I find them extremely epic!!! Check them out.

Isn't it Friday? Oh *shirt* yeah!

Inspiring Musicians?

I love music, because in a way, music is modern poetry, and poetry is a good thing if done right. I'm not usually inspired by musicians, but I do like music in generally... sorry to disappointed.

Some music that I have been listening to a lot lately is Rise Against. They have a new album out that is really good, Endgame. They try to reach the youth of america and expose hypocrisy and hardship and other bad things all over the world. People who grow up with money and a decent home usually live around people in the same situation and are blind to other people who are struggling to survive.

Prayer of the Refugee

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-SQGOYOjxs&feature=relmfu

I don't know how to make the video playable like the rest of you. I'm bad. Sorry.

Drones

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94vo6NzQD5c

Hero of War

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DboMAghWcA

Some people don't like this kind of music, but there really is no denying that their message is a good one. I really don't have much more to say on the topic, so I hope you enjoyed the tiny post and the bits of music. Now I need to go to New York.

DFTBA

-Colin

Oh My Goodness It's Thursday Already!

I thought it was wednesday today and then I was like "oh snap, it's thursday!" I'd like to appologize in advance for the lack of quality for this post as well as probably all the posts I do until after May 6. This is the most stressful month of my life and I'm kind of freaking out a bit...gah! But this is not a time for getting all concerned, this is a time to celebrate musical inspirations. There are so many wonderful musicians out there that I'd love to talk about but being the theatre nerd that I am I'm going to have to go with Andrew Lloyd Webber. Also I can talk about him without having to look much up... oh dear I'm durning into such a cop-out this month! So Andrew Lloyd Webber is one of the most well known composers and writers in the world of musicals. Some of his best works include Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, Cats, and Phantom of the Opera. Phantom is the longest running show in Broadway history with Cats coming in at number three I believe, and Phantom being one of the longest lasting shows in London's West End. What I love is that he composes these massive musicals and there's so much power to the music. You put a live orchestra and a full chorus onstage and the result swells up and fills the entire room. It's the kind of music that feels so solid you could reach out and touch it, and there are lyrics both funny and heart wrenching. Much of a musical is written through lyrics as well as spoken lines and the way Webber writes both along with the accompanyiment complement each other so well. Now I feel like I've just been raving about how great and talented this man is but I must admit not everything he's done is amazing. Actually I have rather a lot of beef with his newest show. Love Never Dies just premiered last year as a sequel to Phantom of the Opera. It's an interesting concept, and the music is great, and I'm sure if it had no connection to Phantom I'd quite enjoy it. But it is the worst sequel in the history of ever. GAH! So much of it just bothers me! I could rant on and on about it but I'm sure you don't want to read that haha. So unfortunately I don't know how to add videos here... I promise I'll learn someday! So instead here are some links to a few Andrew Lloyd Webber songs to give you an idea of his classic style: Music of the Night (Phantom of the Opera), my favourite :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Imv-7F8zHy4 Coney Island Waltz (Love Never Dies) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDRt8Ilqyu0 Hopefully those work... Also another brilliant composer, Stephen Sondheim, his style is similar to Webber's but a lot darker (Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street and Into the Woods to name a few...) so if you're interested I'd deffinately check him out. That's it's for now, hope you're all doing well and I loved all your posts so far this week!

I’ll see her there, in the underground, where she’ll wake up...

Hey! It’s Wednesday! And like Chuck, I couldn’t pick one. My favourite/inspiring musicians change all the time… But at the moment my top three would have to be Jason Munday, Alex Day and Georgia Germein.

Jason Munday

You may or may not know of Jason Munday, but currently he’s on of my favourite musicians and YouTubers. He’s in the Wrock band Ministry of Magic and in another band called the Oceanic Six. If anything, you may know him as Skyway Flyer, which was the name of his first album. He lives at Echo Base with Luke Conard and Alex Carpenter (both favourites of mine too).

I don’t know how I found him, I think I just stumbled across him whilst flicking through YouTube and warming up to him. His music is a mixture of acoustic and dance-techno. And his lyrics are brilliant…

“Endless roads beg for travellers. Come and run with me.” - Endless Roads

“Shining eyes so full of wonder...” -Some Imagination

He does all of his music, lyrics, vocals, the music parts and the videos. Ahh, I love him :3

A few of my favourite songs by him:

(If you look at the uploader’s comments ^.. MINE’S THE FIRST ONE! I was extremely happy those two days.. {Meekakitty replied to another of my comments})

... I’m going to stop with Jason now and move on.

Alex Day

:D ALEX DAY! NERIMON! I love him, love him, love him. Best friend and roommate of Charlieissocoollike, Alex is a British YouTuber and Musician. A solo artist but part of the band Chameleon Circuit (Songs about Doctor Who.. They are awesome.)… I have all of his albums. (My parents are wonderful at Christmas) I love them all, The World is Mine more than Parrot Stories.

I stumbled across Alex in the way a majority of other people did, through Charlie. I think the first video I saw of Alex’s was The World is Mine.

Just reading his DFTBA wiki page..

“He is mostly known for his frequent strong language, abrasive attitude, intense hatred of current-day video games and obsession with sexual themes and innuendo; the majority of his videos are therefore aimed at mature viewers in comparison to fellow YouTuber Charlie McDonnell's family-friendly, lighthearted ones. Although he has many fans whom enjoy his crude humour and ranting abilities, some of his videos have faced negative reaction.”

This basically does cover his whole YouTube thing.

I love all of his songs, they differ from each other but are similar in some ways. His lyrics are brilliant...

“Tomorrow’s still a day away and will always stay that way.” - Not Just Yet

“Then pen is stronger that any sharpened sword, but anything I write to you makes me feel like a fool.” -The World is Mine.

A few of my favourites:

There’s no video but here’s the link to Dead and Gone

http://alexdaymusic.com/dead-and-gone/

A live version of a Thousand Hours..

Georgia Germein

Now last and surely not the least is Georgia Germein. I know how I found her. At my Youth Group last year, a speaker for the 40hr Famine and her came. Georgia spoke a little about the missionaries she’d been on and then proceeded to play us some of her songs which I instantly loved. She’s 19, Australian and from Adelaide. She was last years South Australian representative for the 40hr famine and I find her  as an inspiration to me.

Her music is mainly acoustic and she writes about her experiences. Now that I think about it... Her music is quite bubbly.. Uplifting. She’s amazing ^_^ My favourite songs by her are and If Only and Wake Up.

She only uploaded her first 2 music videos last night, and I love them both :3

Here they are…

I’m Home (filmed in Adelaide)

If Only (filmed in the Adelaide Hills)

Wake Up (This song inspired me and made me really like her)

That’s all for now folks!

But on the topic of music; I’m getting into the 60’s… I watched the Boat That Rocked over the weekend and immediately decided that if I was to life in any other decade either than now, it’d be the 60’s!!!!! Pirate Radios and the birth of Rock 'n' Roll :D. Tell me in the comments.. If you could live in any decade, which one would it be and why? 

Publish Post

Chuck; loved the music and I hope you’re feeling better soon!

Emily; I will check him out soon!

DFTBA

Inspiring People: Musicians -- Yo-Yo Ma

Yo-Yo Ma

This man is my hero.

Yeah, I do happen to play the cello, but still. What's inspiring to me about him is that he's so versatile as a musician. This is a guy who can play concertos at Carnegie Hall, but at the same time isn't afraid to record Beatles tunes. In fact, he's recorded in a lot of different styles, from jazz to folk to bluegrass to tango. Here's a Time Magazine video about a Christmas CD he recorded a few years ago. (Our friend Jake Shimabukuro makes an appearance!)

The best thing about him is that he's not pretentious. He's not all "I'm-a-great-artiste" or whatever. He just wants to make good music and bring people together through music. In so many ways, he's what I aspire to be as a musician, as well as an educator. He founded an organization called the Silk Road Project, which, according to the website, is "... a not-for-profit arts and educational organization, a catalyst promoting innovation and learning through the arts." It's basically an organization that uses music to connect people from all around the world, which I think is pretty darn cool. 

He doesn't write lyrics (obviously), so I can't use that to fill up any space in my post. I'll just let you guys listen to him play a little. Here's a video of him playing the 1st movement of the Elgar cello concerto at Carnegie Hall. I know that 10 minutes of classical music is a lot to ask, but listen at least to the first 3 minutes or so if you have the time. He starts playing at about 0:25. When I listen to this concerto, I like to imagine the cello as a lonely figure wandering through a barren landscape. It's like, in playing it, he's taking a long and dramatic journey through the music. 

Here he is with another of my favorite musicians, James Taylor, playing "Here Comes the Sun" by the Beatles. I just love this recording.

One more. He played an arrangement of "Simple Gifts" in a quartet at Obama's inauguration. I just love the joy on his face and the wordless communication with the other players as he plays. 

As Chuck mentioned yesterday, this is a lot of music and we all have busy lives to live. If you can, listen at least to the beginning of the Elgar and some of "Here Comes the Sun." However, if you can listen to all of them, I'd recommend it. ;) 

I look forward to discovering the musicians the rest of you guys write about. I definitely enjoyed Chuck's post yesterday! 

DFTBA,

Emily

(Inspiring People: Musicians) Conor Oberst + Jeff Mangum

I couldn't choose between Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst or Neutral Milk Hotel's Jeff Mangum so I'm going to do both.

CONOR OBERST

To this day I remember (in order) the first five songs I heard by Bright Eyes

The first Take It Easy (Love Nothing)

the second Bowl of Oranges

third Lover I Don't Have To Love

fourth Easy Lucky Free

fifth A Song To Pass The Time

After that I just started buying albums and listened to every single song on itunes that I could find (I currently have 131 Bright Eyes songs). A short while after I found out that Conor Oberst has been in 7 other bands and has a solo album.

Those bands being:

Desaparecidos,

Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band

Norman Bailer

Commander Venus

The Magnetas

Park Ave

and Monsters of Folk

Conor is an extremely deep and profound musician. His voice is haunting, lovable, and so addicting.

Example #1

Example #2

Example #3

Example #4

Example #5

His lyrics are thoughtful and evocative

Example #1: 'Sometimes I worry that I've lost the plot. My twitching muscles tease my flippant thoughts. I never really dreamed of heaven much until we put him in the ground, but it's all I'm doing now. Listening for patterns in the sound of an endless static sea. But once the satellite's deceased It blows like garbage through the streets Of the night sky to infinity' - Easy/ Lucky/ Free

Example #2: 'I dreamt of a fever, one that would cure me of this cold winter set heart. With heat to melt these frozen tears, burned with reasons as to carry on into these twisted months I plunge without a light to follow, but I swear that I would follow anything. Just get me out of here.' - If Winter Ends

Example #3: 'There is a man holding a megaphone, so he must have been the voice of God. The bystanders claimed they saw angels flying up and down the block. Well, they must have been attached to wires. I saw one laying in the lawn with a broken arm, so I called 911. So that is one less founded opinion. One more cause for a dispute. So the street filled, like a basin, up with cameras and their crews and they washed away the rumors leaving just the concrete truth. It was a spectacle. No, no, I mean a miracle.' - From A Balance Beam

Example #4: Laura's asleep in my bed, as I'm leaving she wakes up and says "I dreamed you were carried away on the crest of a wave. Baby don't go away, come here". There's kids playing guns in the street and ones pointing his tree branch at me. So I put my hands up I say "enough is enough, if you walk away, I'll walk away" And he shot me dead. - Land Locked Blues

Example #5: We made love on the living room floor with the noise in the background of a televised war, and in the deafening pleasure I thought I heard someone say "If we walk away, they'll walk away". But greed is a bottomless pit, and our freedom's a joke, we're just taking a piss, and the whole world must watch the sad comic display. If you're still free start running away cause we're coming for you!

In my opinion he is the best lyricist still making music today.

JEFF MANGUM

When I was about -1 a band called Neutral Milk Hotel (not-so-interesting fact #1: Neutral Milk Hotel was mentioned in Will Grayson, Will Grayson by David Levithan and John Green!) released their very first EP and it was called Everything Is. To this day the title track of that EP is and will always be my favorite NMH song.

Jeff Mangum was to folk music as Albert Einstein was to physics. Sure he didn't discover it, and he definitely didn't create it, but he changed the way people thought about it. If you look at most semi-popular folk bands today (i.e. Band of Horses, Dawes, Death Cab For Cutie, Arcade Fire, Freelance Whales, The Decemberists, The Mountain Goats etc.) you can hear Neutral Milk Hotel.

Neutral Milk Hotel broke up in 1999 after releasing 7 demo cds 2 EPs and 2 Full Length Albums

Occasionally Jeff Mangum will play a show or two but most people don't find out about them until after he's performed. In mid February Jeff Mangum announced that he would be doing a small tour along the east coast in fall 2011 and soon (practically minutes) after every single show was completely sold out. (I was pissed.)

Postscript: you don't have to listen to every single song. That would take way too much time out of your day and I know we all have lives.......... but at least listen to the first 30 seconds of From A Balance Beam and Take It Easy (Love Nothing) by Bright Eyes and In The Aeroplane Over The Sea and The King of Carrot Flowers by Neutral Milk Hotel

Postpostscript: On saturday I found out that I might be going back to Germany this summer and I'm REALLY excited.

Postpostpostscript: I currently have Streptococcal Pharyngitis. FML