Oh 3-2-1, we go live...The Folie a Deux Review.

So, I've never done this before (in here, anyway), but the thing about FOB that has always gotten me—besides the killer lyrics, thank you Mr. Wentz—is Patrick Stump’s voice. It’s so good, it’s almost too good—it’s like he opens his mouth and this voice just comes out of it, sometimes I wonder if he even has any control over it or if it just comes out like that. I’m eagerly awaiting a Mamma Mia!/Movin’ Out-esc Broadway FOB show, and might have to write it if it doesn’t come out in, oh, we’ll say 10 years. Anyway, I’ve been putting off downloading this album because, first of all, I suspected it was a possibility for a Christmas/birthday present, and second of all, I’ve had no real time to sit down and take it in. However, on a Friday just before February, with nothing to do at work and having just downloaded UTorrent onto my office Mac, I’ve found that time.

1. Disloyal Order Of Water Buffaloes – Can we just start with, what the hell does this track title mean? Anyway, moving on. Starts off with a sweet little diddy from Patrick Stump, then launches into this really strong drums/guitar that I just love. Could the chorus (so boycott love/detox just to retox/and I'd promise you anything for another shot at life/and perfect boys with their perfect lives/nobody wants to hear you sing about tragedy) be a little true to life/self-deprecating? Wentz has never held back with stuff like that before… A chant-heavy bridge and end with Stump shouting “so boycott love” over it will surely induce some fist-pumping at a live show. This, friends, is the way to start an album off right.
2. I Don't Care – Ahh, the first single. Another really sturdy beginning, and a great chorus to sing along with. This one will definitely be getting encores in my car on my way to work. Sounds like a super, super song to listen to/shout along with when you’re pissed at somebody. Fuck not with FOB, friends, and fuck not with this. I don’t care what you think, as long as it’s about me. Stump seems to be experimenting with different sounds he can pull off with his amazing voice, and I fully support those efforts. Go on, girlfriend.
3. She's My Winona - …Ryder?... Anyway. First off, I love a song that starts with a series of oh-oh’s, and this one delivers. That said, I don’t see this being my favorite song on the album. And THAT said, I stand by my theory that it is impossible to name one bad song by Fall Out Boy. This song is heavy on chants, which I generally enjoy, and the ba-dop-op-ba-dop part is amusing at the very least. I also really enjoy the woah-oh-oh-the thunder part of the chorus. Still…not my fav.
4. America's Suitehearts – This one starts off a little slowly, but I have a good feeling about it right off the bat. I think by now it’s clear that I’m pretty convinced that these boys can do no wrong, and this song, again, sounds different from what I’ve grown used to from our boys from Chicago, but I feel like I’m rolling the lyrics over in my head and deciding to like them. I love a good religious undertone, even if it’s just for writing purposes. And lines like “but I don't know much about classic cars (cars)/but I've got a lot of friends stuck on classic coke (coke)/down, set, one, hut, hut, hike/Media Blitz” are so classic clever FOB. I don’t know if I’d say I love this song, but I’ll support it with a good solid “I like this one.”
5. Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown On A Bad Bet – I guess I’ll mention finally that this CD plays, track by track, like a real live album. It’s something I think a lot of today’s artists forget about, and something I really love—but, unlike Cartel's Chroma, who also create albums like that, these songs also stand on their own—no song ends as the beginning to the next song. This one has some solid horns in the chorus and sounds so Broadway it kills me. If I listen to this with my eyes closed, I find myself choreographing this number. This show is going to sell out for at least the first year it’s open. *Cough* What? Get back to reviewing? Right.
6. The (Shipped) Gold Standard – this was the first song that caught my attention when I was just idly playing this as background music. The chorus has heartbreaking harmony and lyrics like “I wanna scream 'I love you' from the top of my lungs/but I'm afraid that someone else will hear me/you can only blame your problems on the world for so long/before it all becomes the same old song”? This one has the potential to be a favorite.
7. (Coffee's For Closers) – Starts off strong with pounding drums and dramatic strings. Stump’s voice gets a great showcase with this one; the “throw your cameras in the air/and wave ‘em like you just don’t care” line will get a huge response at any concert, I’m sure. The drums in this one are very military band (know what I mean?), and it’s a strong song with an anthem like feeling. Ends with a goofy little classical violin piece? I dig it.
8. What A Catch, Donnie – ...Wahlberg? ...Sorry. Another different sort of beginning—NOT classic FOB, just a piano and Patrick Stump singing. This part of the [end of the?] Broadway show will bring the audience to tears, I can feel it. This one is kind of a slow song—I’m racking my brain, but I can’t think of another FOB slow song, but I’m thinking they might want to cash in on this newfound talent again. Kind of an epic sounding chorus, too. And by the way? HOLY GUEST STARS, BATMAN! Elvis Costello? Gabe Saporta? Travis McCoy? William Beckett? People I’ve never heard of? Singing lines from former FOB hits? Be still my heart! File under: shit you wish you had thought of first.
9. 27 – What a way to follow such a nostalgic song! Any time an artist drops the f-bomb in a track, it makes my heart flutter a little bit for some inexplicable reason. This one probably also won’t be filed alongside my favorites, but it’s still a good one. Solid, classic FOB harmonies will always sit close to my heart. I have to kind of wonder if this is about somebody—and, if so, who? PS, where the fuck is the “I love you, Ashlee Simpson” track? C’mon, Pete. Get on that shit.
10. Tiffany Blews – This song has literally been playing for 2 seconds and I already know I love it. The first line, “I’m not a crybaby/I’m the crybaby” reminds me so much of my all-time favorite Jay-Z line (“I’m not a businessman, I’m a business, man”), only solidifying my suspicions. I can’t say enough good things about this song—just listen to the chorus. Genius. The vocals are inventive and awesome. The harmonies—yes, I’m bringing that up again—are awesome. The bridge? Awesome.
11. w.a.m.s. – The last minute or so of this track reminds me of Marc Broussard’s “Home,” which is probably my favorite of Broussard’s, but is not, by any stretch of the imagination, something I would categorize as a FOB song. The first three and a half minutes are VERY classic FOB, with the repetitive “well what makes you so special?” and the clever-as-ever chorus lead-in “my head's in heaven, my soles are in hell/let's meet in the purgatory of my hips and get well.” …Get it?
12. 20 Dollar Nose Bleed – This one starts off a little strange—what is Stump doing with his voice? Just call him Mr. Benzedrine…—but a few seconds in, I can tell I’m going to like this one a lot. Not sure if it’s a sing-along fist-pumper, but it’s definitely going in the musical. Seriously—would somebody please write this already?? Weird little spoken-word thing at the end, but causes it to flow REALLY nicely into the last track on the album. Side note? The horns in this song (around the 3:18 – 3:37 mark) totally rock my world. Yes, please.
13. West Coast Smoker – When Andrew McMahon started up his untitled project—later to be called Jacks Mannequin (and later to have an apostrophe, which I will almost never honor, added to the name)—my bff Bethany got me to listen to the first song he released, Holiday from Real, by telling me that he swore during the chorus. “Oh hell yes/I’m a nervous wreck” isn’t as extreme as “fuck yeah we can live like this,” but it still gets me going. The religious allusions (“knock once for the father/twice for the son/three times for the holy ghost”) are awesome and clever. Just a solid, solid final track.

Well, there you go! My musings on the new (ish) FOB record. What do you think?

finally got utorrent at work after wanting it for a long long time. currently listening to fall out boy's folie a duex (which has been a long long time coming). expect a review...in a long long time an hour or so.

'and ovaries. man, ovaries, huh? [awkward pause] '...faithfully.'

i kind of forgot to read xkcd all week and finally caught this one just now:

happy friday...

woke up with this stuck in my head. enjoy!

oh, perez. i like you.

Penguin status...

Sweenish does the Christmas tree dance

...awesome.

"W-what?! You! You--the one-- who cool...should be!" --30 Rock

Sent from my iPhone

...bloodfeast.

seriously?




wtf is WRONG with miley cyrus? honestly. anybody?

don't...feel like you need to watch that by any means. i just did and now i want to kill myself. just saying.

ps: who the hell is the other girl she's with? i mean, miley on her own is bad enough. k thanks.

pps: although i am a little jealous that she's going to have meatloaf at demi lovato's house after working out. i mean, meatloaf. and demi lovato. just...jealous.

Pretty, pretty princess?...

The fianz and the mom watch Obama's inauguration speech on his iphone. Please note the birthday crown...

via my bff's official inauguration blog--the obama roll, somewhere in D.C. ...awesome.

Yes, we can. Yes, we did. Yes, we will.

PRESIDENT Barack Obama. As I live and breathe.

Oh, Barry O.

Dude, is it any surprise/coincidence that our new prez arrived at the whitehouse at 11:11? I think not!

FREE BLOGGER/BLOGSPOT IPHONE APP

phew. ok. i wanted for people to be able to find this post when searching for such a thing, as I just spent a good hour trying to find a similar app.

first of all, did you know that blogger has it's very own mobile blogging device setting? that was very poorly worded, yes, but it can be found right here. it took me a little while to figure it out--it requests a MMS message (multi-media service, for those--like me--not really in the know) to go@blogger.com, which, as you may know, the iphone kind of restricts you from sending. it's an email address, so, logic would dictate that you could just email that address, but it didn't work for me. give it a try if you'd like, maybe i was just doing it wrong, but i tried a few times, to no avail.

anyway, re: MMS, you could try and try and try to find a way to install an app to do this (uhh...not recommended, as i still haven't found one. but i admit nothing.), OR, you can do what i did. this is maybe a little ghetto, but i remembered that you CAN email photos. using this logic, i simply selected a random photo, and emailed it to go@blogger.com, with the message "REGISTER" (which is what you're supposed to send, by the way). right away i got a response, and signed right up.

now, this service requires that you email photos and notes to that address--this is how you get things posted. if you include text and a photo in the same post, it will post photos first--there may be some way to change this, but i don't know what it is.

what i DO know is that, just after figuring this out, i discovered an app that works just as well, if not better! it's called ShoZu, it's FREE...what more can you ask for? well, i'll tell you--this awesome app can also manage your facebook, flickr, photobucket, twitter, livejournal, and a whole host of other sites--seriously, there are like 30 on there, some i've never heard of. all in all, it seems like a great app to use--i've now updated this blog from the app and from the bloggermobile service and i think i like the app better, but time will tell, i suppose, which is the real winner.

anyway, hope this was helpful! i was going nuts trying to find this stuff, so, hopefully this saved you some time! feel free to poke around my humble little blog a little--it's not exciting at all, but i generally enjoy re-reading old posts, so, maybe you'd enjoy reading them in the first place?...

:::edit:::
the only thing about using ShoZu is that there's a little "posted by ShoZu" icon in the lower right hand corner of the screen on any posts from that app. if that's not your bag, i'd go with the bloggermobile.

Ha! I won this time, iPhone. *devious laughter*

dammit, blogger, HAVE AN IPHONE APP THAT DOESN'T COST $9.99!

this is bullshit.

those freedom fighters, they were good to me

file under: music you need, that you didn't even realize existed.

file under: shit that would definitely happen to me if (a) i could work computers, like, at all, and/or (b) MY computer had a battery that lasted for more than, oh, 72 SECONDS.

from coast to coast, from sea to shining sea:

yes. we. can.

songsmith, you can be my number one

um...



...wtf?


:::edit::: article.

oh, late 90's...

FrogCurlz: Question - what WERE we as a society thinking when it came to popular music in 1999?? The top 4 songs of 1999 were

4. Livin' La Vida Loca - Ricky Martin
3. Nookie - Limp Bizkit
2. That Don't Impress Me Much - Shania Twain
1. Believe - Cher
watchthesky84: hahahahaha
watchthesky84: amazing.

next stop: vegas, please

watchthesky84: vegas was a little weird
watchthesky84: i totally don't understand the point of it
Arce11o: yea i've never had an interest in Vegas
watchthesky84: i didn't like gambling, i don't really drink, and did you know they hand out hooker trading cards on ever street?
watchthesky84: bizzarre.
Arce11o: yea it doesn't interest me at all
watchthesky84: yeah, it never interested me, but i gave it a try.
watchthesky84: i'm thinking i'm going to mail sean some of those prostitute cards, though.
watchthesky84: "dear sean, found you a nice girl. her name is brandi and she has shiny things on her nipples. love, stowell."
Arce11o: haha
Arce11o: nice
watchthesky84: "ps she only costs $35 a night! what a steal."
watchthesky84: i don't really know anything about prostitute wages/pay rates, but i'm guessing $35 a night means "don't go near that"
Arce11o: yea i would assume so

Humpty Dumpty continued thoughtfully as he crossed one knee over the other and clasped his hands round it, ‘They gave it me — for an un-birthday present.’

‘I beg your pardon?’ Alice said with a puzzled air.

‘I’m not offended,’ said Humpty Dumpty.

‘I mean, what is an un-birthday present?’

‘A present given when it isn’t your birthday, of course.’

Alice considered a little. ‘I like birthday presents best,’ she said at last.

‘You don’t know what you’re talking about!’ cried Humpty Dumpty. ‘How many days are there in a year?’

‘Three hundred and sixty-five,’ said Alice.

‘And how many birthdays have you?’

‘One.’

couldn't help but steal this from GFY

go fug yourself is one of my favorite blogs to read at work--this is sometimes a bad idea, by the way, because some of the posts (like this one) make me laugh so hard and then immediately fear having to explain myself. today, for example, i almost snarfed chamomile tea. and while that sounds less awful than snarfing, say, diet pepsi or anything spicy, it's still not what i would call pleasant.

anyway, read on:

Fug Up And Drive

Fug file: I Don't Get It, leather, WTF

Rihanna, I am flummoxed.



Are those boot-pants -- pantaboots? bootaloons? -- like, the adult version of footie pajamas? Where does one acquire such an item? Is it supposed to save you time when your shoes and your pants are one and the same? How do you hang those up in your closet without the show part weighing them down and making them fall off the hanger? How do you get them cleaned? Do you weather-treat the entire thing? When you go hang out at a friend's house and want to kick off your shoes, but can't, do you die a little inside? When you go to someone's home and that person asks that you kick off your shoes before entering, do you just take off the bootaloons altogether and swan around in your underwear? When you get blisters, does it take you half-an-hour to put Band-Aids on them? And does every inch of the bootaloons smell like feet, since they are essentially shoes with a crotch? Don't you ever get afraid you'll have to cut yourself out of them when you're drunk and they just won't budge?

Please advise.


Anyway, that's what I've got. For now.

when i got back from lunch, today, my office manager and HR guy sang me "happy birthday," very, very quietly. i thanked them, and then they reminded me that they will sing much louder at tomorrow's monthly office-wide breakfast meeting. i informed them that i do not like being the center of attention, and they decided to make a special "sarah announcement" at every meeting from here on out.

joy.

i told them "I...don't have a threat for you. YET. ...Just wait."

ok, but, seriously. how did paramore get so awesome?



i mean, aside from hayley's hair, which i totally fucking dig (but could never, ever, in a million years pull off), and the fact that my girl crush is equally obsessed (allegedly), i have to say, this band rocks my socks right the hell off.

right. the hell. off.

fashionplate

sitting at work, where it is so cold that i am forced to don--atop my black turtleneck--a black long-sleeved cardigan (the only sweater i have on hand, here), and a white beret.

conclusion: i look like a misplaced art student.

lists, lists, lists

not sure if you can tell why these ice cubes are fucking awesome--but they're teeth-shaped. yes. that's right. thank you, lise.

(click for bigger image)

sigh.

i almost cried when i saw this sign. i have never loved anything relating to new york more than i did in this moment.

these will always remind me of my second year in tucker hall when we got taco bell for a studybreak snack for our residents and had about 683815 leftover hot sauce packets; this was back when they had just started writing snarky little sayings on them, and there was much more of a variety. so, we lined up every different one we could find in our office (there were like, 40--no joke), and made everybody who walked by the office vote on their favorite ones. i still can't remember which one won, but it was a super fun time, either way.

fall 2005 ftw for reals.

bloodfeast.

"chicago is fuzzy. like bigfoot." *pause* "maybe bigfoot lives in chicago."

"maybe bigfoot is chicago."

"...whoa."

ri-goddamn-diculous

fuck the midwest.

more to follow.

this is the view of the tire tracks we left behind as we were being towed out of a ditch on the side of 90 east in minnesota. my opinion of said state remains intact.

this was 90 east and we were far from home--it was the most dangerous way to travel

dear minnesota,

you are cordially invited to suck it, big time.

no love,
stowell

point a: pump n' pak--not making jokes.
point b: a casino. in a gas station. true story.
point c: i hate the midwest. a lot.

...where we stayed in south dakota. we found it while driving around, listening to oasis, looking for a different hotel room. it seemed completely serendipitous...then, we ended up in a wretched snowstorm.

file under: irony?

file under: shit you wish you could make up

"I think Bigfoot is blurry, that’s the problem. It’s not the photographer’s fault. Bigfoot is blurry. And that’s extra scary to me, because there’s a large, out-of-focus monster roaming the countryside. “Run. He’s fuzzy. Get outta here.”"
-Mitch Hedberg (RIP)

oh, wyoming. why?

goodbye, montana

hello, montana