Let them eat cake!

New post from my tumblr blog

^^This is where I'm moving my blog to... I hope you follow me to my new site. I might post occasionally on this one but pretty much I'll only use this to link to my other blog.

Moving my blog...

I'm pretty sure that I'm switching my blog over to tumblr. I just think that tumblr is a lot more user-friendly than blogger. Since I've have both blogger and tumlr accounts already, it'll be as simple as just writing my posts on tumblr instead of blogger. Here is my url for tumblr: http://marissamarie007.tumblr.com/ . I would also suggest to any current blogger users to consider trying out a tumblr. They are super easy to use and there are cool features with them.


Also, I have had a post about the non profit I want to start half-written for like a week now, I'm going to attempt to sit down and actually finish it in the next day or two.

I've had this stuck in my head for days...

"I Will Follow You Into the Dark" by Death Cab for Cutie. I LOVE this song. I've had it on my iPod for a while and I've listened to it a lot in the past but I didn't really listen to it for the sake of listening until a few days ago. I've had it stuck in my head ever since.

New Goals Part One!!!

**Just to forewarn anyone reading this, it is most likely going to be a long winded post... But aren't they always?**


Growing up I was that kid that always knew what/who they wanted to be. If you asked me at any point between the ages of 6 and 19 what I wanted to do when I "grew up", the answer was always that I wanted to be an attorney. As a kid I always had questions about anything and EVERYTHING, I love(d) a good debate, and I have always felt an intense need to stand up for whomever I deemed to be the underdog. I remember the exact moment that I decided that I wanted to be an attorney. As stupid as this is going to sound, it was the first time that I saw the movie A Few Good Men. There is this part in the movie when Lt. Galloway (Demi Moore's character) says this little speech to Lt. Kaffee (Tom Cruise's character) about how being an attorney wasn't about always winning but about standing up, making an argument, and fighting for what is right. That part really stuck in my head and I always had this glamorous idea of what attorneys did.

Then in college I started working for a law firm and I learned that it truth the practice of law was much more about Lt. Kaffee's always win-even-if-you-have-to-plea-bargain version than Galloway's make-an-argument-stand-up-for-what's-right version. Our criminal clients were dirt bags, you know like repeat sex offenders and people on like their 3rd or 4th DUI's. There were many other reasons but I hated almost everything about my job. On the other hand, I loved all of my pre-law classes and I did really well. I loved, and still love, law in theory. What I finally figured out though it that I love law more philosophically than practically. I mean I probably could have gone to law school and made a decent career out of it. I probably could have even been a cut throat shark if I really wanted to. But the thing was, I didn't want to do that. I know that if I gave in to succeed, I would lose part of my soul. No amount of success is worth losing your soul.

It took me a while to really accept that I didn't want to be an attorney. I had this goal for so long that I didn't really know where I ended and my goals started. My family was so supportive of me and they believed in me so much so that I felt if I didn't want to go to law school, I was letting them down. In particular, my dad was probably the one person in my life that never questioned my ambitions. Other people may have told me to pick a more reasonable goal, like perhaps being a nice teacher, but my dad always believed that I could achieve anything that I really wanted to. I don't think it was completely unreasonable to question my goals since I am the first person in my family to graduate from college. Part of the reason that I felt like I was letting them all down was that I didn't know what I wanted to do if I wasn't going to be a lawyer.

I should probably state that my intention all along was to be a human rights attorney. Obviously you are probably asking yourself what would be so wrong with doing that. The answer is that there is nothing wrong with that, and that I would still love to do that. However, the reality is that I am not independently wealthy. In order to go to law school I would need to go much further in debt than I already am from my undergrad education. Unfortunately, human rights law isn't exactly lucrative. This means that I would need to figure out some way of just paying off my loans... soooo I would most likely have to go into some kind of a general practice first. I knew that if I ever let myself get sucked into something like that I would never leave or do any of the things I want to do.

My number one passion in life is probably human rights and social justice. For me these things are connected to my personal faith. I feel like if we were created by God and if God loves all human beings unconditionally, then the least we can do is love our fellow human beings as well. Part of loving your neighbor is making sure that everyone is given the love and respect that they deserve as human beings. I also feel that when you hurt and dehumanize another person, you dehumanize yourself. So in an effort to retain my humanity, I must at least make an attempt to prevent others from being treated cruelly and inhumanly.

O.k. sooo getting on to my new goal/ambition... I have decided that I want to work in the non profit sector with organizations that advocate human rights and social justice. My ultimate goal is to start my own non profit human rights organization. I will write specifics in my next blog because this one is getting really long and taking me fooooorever to write.

Soooo Funny!

I can't decide which "character" is funniest in this video but it's probably a tie between Ramm Emmanuel and Joe Biden.

I have finally decided on my long-term goal for life. I'll tell more about it when I feel like writing more.
Also, in a round about way this video provided a partial inspiration for what I want to do.

I Shall Not Walk Alone

So I've had the Blind Boys of Alabama's version of this song for a long time and I have Ben Harper's version of the song as well. Little did I know that this video existed. It takes the magic of both versions and puts them together. I seriously have goosebumps throughout this entire song.



If you didn't guess it yet, the song is "I Shall Not Walk Alone" performed by Ben Harper and the Blind Boys of Alabama. They actually did a gospel album together like five years ago and it's incredible. This song isn't on it but their respective versions are pretty awesome too.

"The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn"

**I wrote this a while ago in my myspace blog and I thought I would copy it and stick it in this blog too because it's such a great book. I've also read quite a few books by Robin Maxwell since finishing this and she has quickly become one of my favorite authors.**

I read this book called The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn, it's written by Robin Maxwell. It was an excellent book, probably one of the best historical fictions I've ever read. It was well researched, well written, and extremely accurate according to the actual historical events. It is the second book by Ms. Maxwell that I've read. The first book I read by her was Mademoiselle Boleyn, which was about Anne's time in the court of Francois I of France. It was this book that led me to read more of her work. Anyway... The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn is told from the perspective of both Queen Elizabeth I and Anne Boleyn. The book opens with the beginning of Elizabeth's reign as queen and takes place in the midst of pressures from her advisers to marry and in the midst of an affair with her Master of the Horse, Robert Dudley. Lady Somerville, one of Anne's ladies in waiting during her imprisonment in the Tower of London, delivers the diary Anne to Elizabeth. Anne, upon her impending beheading, asks Lady Somerville to give her diary to Elizabeth when the time was right, so that even though Anne had to die she could still be there to guide Elizabeth in some capacity. Towards the end of the book Anne writes a letter to Elizabeth and I thought it was really powerful and really spoke to the reality of women during the 16th Century. So I thought I'd share that part of the book:

My Darling Elizabeth,

When last I laid my eyes upon your sweet self you were not yet three years old. More beautiful than a painted doll you were, and as toward and gentle of condition as any child I have ever known. I remember that day, for the spring sun streamed blindingly bright through the nursery windows, and your tiny red satin gown seemed afire in the light as you toddled toward me, arms outstretched. Perhaps you have no memory of those early years but I can truly say, Elizabeth that though our times together were sadly few, you knew me and you loved me. Loved me with a fierce possessiveness that all thought was strange for such a small child. My lap was your throne and I your only subject. Whilst there ensconced you did demand my full attention, and allowed no interference to our intercourse. You commanded me of which songs to sing, which tales to tell, which places on your neck and ears and feet to kiss and tickle. I so cherished those rare, enchanted hours and hope you have some
memory of them, because I must die knowing I leave you a motherless child in a
cruel and dangerous world.

All signs say you will never wear the crown of England. Mary may reign and Jane Seymour's issue will surely take precedence, but if I am to die well I must believe that you will one day be Queen. 'Tis not the Nun of Kent's prophecy tells me this, though I do believe she saw the future truly 'fore she came to be the pawn of powerful men. But I see how the fates have such strange ways of turning suddenly and violently beyond out control. I see you one day ruling England for you have besides my determined blood, your father's royal lineage behind you.

Tomorrow I die because I lusted not for flesh, but to command my own destiny. This is not a womanly act, I know, but I have oft thought that in this way my spirit is much the same as a man's. In this world a woman is born with one master who is her Father. He rules her life until he hands her to a husband, who rules it till death. Many preachers preach that women have no souls. But some perverse twisting in my self has always kept me from obedience to men. I was but a girl when I first counted my self their worthy opponent. I defied them all- Father, Cardinal Wolsey, Henry. Held my ground like some knighted soldier on a battle ground. Mustered my forces,
advanced, retreated, fought many skirmishes, practiced diplomacy, won some great
battles. And lost the war.

But except for pain of leaving you, my child, I have no regrets. For I have truly lived as few women are privileged. I have known true love, fought for and won a crown, treated with Kings and Queens and Cardinals. Borne a child. Some say I am a witch, but you have read this diary and know my power came not from Satan.

Methinks my heart first hardened and so grew stronger with the loss of my first love, Henry Percy. I might have withered from that terrible misfortune but instead, like some torn and bleeding bear chained and baited by howling mastiffs in the pit, my ire roused I struck out again and again and lived to fight another day.

Though I loved my Father faithfully and two Henrys passionately and they did betray me, I will not tell you that all men are betrayers. Some I have known- your Uncle George, Thomas Wyatt, Norris, Weston, Breyerton were good men and true. And I forgive your father, Elizabeth, and think I understand the strangeness of his mind. For men love that which they cannot have, and hate that which they cannot control. I was both to Henry.

So, daughter, though I have suffered and shall soon die for this selfish need to rule my fate, I beg of you to do the same. Let no man be your master. Love, lust, marry if you will, but hold apart from all men a piece of your spirit. 'Tis thus that I shall grasp the headman's block with no regrets and never be afraid of death. And though before receiving sacrament I shall swear on damnation of my soul that I am innocent of all crimes charged to me, for you sake I shall yield my self humbly to the King's will and ask for his forgiveness.

I soon shall die yet I rejoice, for in you part of me lives on. My diary, which is your ancestral history, is my only legacy. But be assured that this mother's heart is filled with love for you, Elizabeth, and know truly that whilst in Heaven I shall watch tenderly o'er your self your whole life long. Adieu, sweet girl, adieu.

Yours faithfully,

Anne

I thought I'd share that part of the book because I really thought it was moving. It is like a lifetime worth of wisdom passed from a mother to daughter, that due to circumstances beyond their control, must be passed in the form of a letter. I love this whole section of the book but I think my favorite piece of wisdom in the letter is where Anne tells Elizabeth, "Let no man be your master. Love, lust, marry if you will, but hold apart from all men a piece of your spirit". Obviously, in a literal sense she is warning Elizabeth to be wary of men and their intentions and desires, but I think it's more that just a warning about men in a romantic way. I think that she is telling her to keep a part of herself secret from all people. I think that it is so important to keep a part of your soul hidden from the world. Hidden so that it may stay pure and unblemished by the ambitions and insecurities of others. There should always be a piece of your spirit, of your soul, that belongs completely to you. That is what Anne did. She had all of these powerful men telling her how to live her life but she never gave in. She was pretty much a pawn in the schemes of her father, her King, and the most powerful clergyman in England at that time but she took any adversity that they handed her and persevered. Most women when faced with the advances of a lecherous King, advances that will basically ruin her life but one's that she cannot really say no to, when faced with this King's advances she took all the strength she had and she demanded that she still deserved dignity. She demanded that she would be his wife or she would be a virgin courtier, but she would NOT be his torrid mistress. That took balls. People were ruined or killed for lesser things than that. The only time Anne ever gave in was when she thought that she would be risking her daughter's life if she didn't comply with Henry. I know that these aren't Anne's actual words but from everything I've researched about her, it seems that this is probably how she felt. In a little twist of irony and poetic justice, it turns out that even though Henry had Anne killed so that he could move on to the next wife and possible male heir, it was their DAUGHTER Elizabeth that turned out to be the next great Tudor monarch. She was a monarch so great that she may actually have outshined her father. To this day she is probably the greatest Queen in English history. I was reading this book by an English historian and he referred to her as "The Great Queen" through out the entire book.


On a side note. If you are interested in Tudor history and Anne Boleyn, DO NOT read any Phillipa Gregory books or see The Other Boleyn Girl because they are pure trash. These things are technically categorized as historical fiction but they are FAAAAR from actually being even mildly historical. But the television show The Tudors is Ah-mazing. Natalie Dormer is the best Anne Boleyn I've ever seen on TV or in Movies.

Awesome Death Cab cover stolen from William Beckett's blog.

Marching Bands of Manhattan cover from William Beckett Jr. on Vimeo.

Breakfast at Tiffany's

Since I always write about music, I thought it might be nice to post about something else for a change. Tonight I'm going to write about one of my absolute favorite movies. As you can probably guess from the title, the movie is Breakfast at Tiffany's. This movie is timeless, a classic, and it's themes are universal. Not to mention that this is Audrey Hepburn in some of her finest acting ever (George Peppard isnt too shabby in the film either). I've always really admired Audrey, she was so classy, stylish, smart, strong, and caring. She truly was a movie STAR. I love this movie so much that if I'm ever lucky enough to get married, I want to have a Breakfast at Tiffany's themed wedding. Strictly classy of course, nothing cheesy lol. Little black dresses, coffee and pastry cocktail hour, and Moon River--> Good stuff! =)

This is the original trailor for the movie:


This is the final scene of the movie and one of my favorite scenes ever.
PS. Don't watch this video if you haven't seen the movie because it will ruin your experience when you finally do watch it.

So in continuing posting about my obsession with music... I'm going to post about The White Stripes. I don't think that there is a song of theirs that I don't love. Jack White is a musical genius, and that's not just my opinion either, Rolling Stone Magazine even listed him as number 17 on their list "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". Not only is he a genius, he is also sexy as hell. I have the world's biggest crush on him. Aside from just finding him physically attractive, I aslo find his ridiculous amount of talent to be sexy too. I love how he's kind of weird too lol.
This video, "Conquest", is extremely cool. It's from back in 2007 though, because the White Stripes haven't released any new music or toured at all for the last few years because of Meg's anxiety issues. Apparently touring is "traumatic for her". That should work out well for her since touring is a musician's bread and butter.
Conquest


This is from myspace video and its their only video on myspace. Almost all of their videos have been taken off of youtube because of copyright issues... BUT you can, and should, watch them on their website http://www.whitestripes.com/video/video.html .
As much as I love the stuff that he does with The White Stripes, his work with his other band, The Raconteurs, completely takes things to another level. I'm definitely going to post something about them seperately at some point.

The Best

This is the poem that we put in the little program/handout/whatever it's called thingy at Dad's funeral. This poem is so fitting to who he was that I couldn't read it at all last week without crying- a lot, and I still don't think I could read it out loud... but idk I kind of felt like posting it.

I'll probably post things in here about him or just dealing with stuff from time to time because I'm not really one to vocalize my feelings very often or even very well. This helps to serve as an outlet for some of my thoughts/feelings/emotions. I'm still going to post what I think should have been said at the funeral, I just don't know when I am going to be able to sit here and write it without being disturbed by a thousand people.

"The Best"

God saw you getting tired

and a cure was not to be

so he put his arms around you

and whispered

"Come to me".

With tearful eyes we watched you

and saw you pass away

and although we love you dearly

we could not make you stay.

A golden heart stopped beating,

hard working hands at rest.

God broke out hearts to prove to us

he only takes the best.

Thriving Ivory...

I went to see the band Thriving Ivory play a show at Tink's in Scranton the other night. I wasn't sure about whether or not I wanted to go after all that has happened since last Tuesday, but I bought the tickets over a month ago and I figured the worst thing that would happen would be that I would be miserable and want to leave. I mean I guess I figured that it was better than sitting at home.

The show was definitely good but I wouldn't categorize the band as one of my favorites. They are what I to refer to as a "Playlist" band. What I mean by that is that I like them well enough to put them on a playlist mixed in with other artists, but I wouldn't want to sit and listen to an album from beginning to end. They are good as a live band as far as the way they sound, they definitely don't need the magic of a studio to sound good, BUT they don't exactly throw a big party or anything when they are on stage. If you want to calmly and mellowly listen to a band play a show, then they are definitely a band you should go see. If your idea of a good show is one where you want to get up and dance and sing along, then they are going to fall a little short of your expectations. For the price of the tickets, it definitely paid off in my favor. I certainly feel like my $17 was worth it. Here is a video that I recorded during the show, it's of the band playing their single "Angels on the Moon":

One highlight of the night was the band Barcelona, who opened for Thriving Ivory. They were awesome. Their sound is really rad... it's like a mix between The Fray and OneRepublic yet they still definitely sound unique in and of themselves. They were also really nice, chill guys. I got autographs from all of them after the show.Which is cool because it's my prediction that they are going to be hugely successful really soon. On a side note, I guess I can point out that they were all pretty hot too and that always helps lol. Here is a video that I recorded during the show:

Check them out on myspace! http://www.myspace.com/barcelona

***I just realized I used the word "definitely" waaaaay too often in this post lol, perhaps I need to learn how to use a thesaurus or something.***

I'm going to upload my pictures from the show on facebook and myspace soon I think...

My Dad...

It's been a tough week... Last Tuesday morning my mother called me to tell me that my father had passed away at the hospital. My dad had been sick off and on for a number of years and we had a lot of close calls in the past, it really shouldn't have come as a shock when it happened but it did. This hospital stay wasn't supposed to be a big deal. I thought that everything was fine, so did my dad. We were all planning on him coming home on Tuesday morning.





The doctors don't know exactly what happened. It could have been any number of things that caused his death. I keep thinking of horrible scenarios as to what exactly happened. It also breaks my heart that it didn't happen peacefully in his bed with his family present. The doctors found him lying on the floor in his room that morning. They said they tried to do everything they could to help him, they also said that they didn't know what had happened. The only thing they knew for certain was that he had fallen and hit his head but as for the rest they couldn't be certain.





This is probably the hardest thing I've ever had to face in my life...



I'm comforted by the fact that my dad isn't sick anymore, that he isn't in pain anymore, and that he can finally get some rest now because his sleep hasn't been restful in a long time. I know that lately my dad just looked so tired and weary, it's probably because he's such a fighter. He was so strong, stubborn and brave. He faced things in his life with a courage I can only hope to possess. In his life my dad served his country in Vietnam and faced the threat of death everyday. I don't know if I could do that. In the past twelve years he had cancer twice. In the last five years he had two heart attacks, throat cancer, a growing aneurysm, and countless issues with his breathing. In all of these problems my dad NEVER complained. He never let us know how afraid he was or how bad he hurt. Sometimes I wish he would have let us help him through things, that he would have leaned on us more BUT my dad was a soldier and soldiers don't complain. Soldiers take what's dealt to them and they handle it courage and dignity. My dad was as good of a soldier as I've ever known. I've had some bad ear infections in the last year and I have barely been able to take the pain of them. Everyday for the past few years were a struggle for him but he always had the courage to get up every morning and face the day.

That being said, I need to say that I am really, really, REALLY going to miss him. He was a great dad. I got very upset today at the funeral with the eulogy the minister did for my father. It wasn't even that it just wasn't good, it was that this judgmental little twat DISRESPECTED my father. First of all 90% of the eulogy (or we could just call it what it really was: a self righteous sermon) consisted of the minister/twat telling us why we need to accept Jesus Christ as our saviour... umm yeah thanks I got that memo a long time ago. The other part of his sermon consisted of talking about how he (preacher) wishes our dad told us kids that he loved us more and how after dad became an official Christian he didn't really cultivate his faith and how he still retained some of his "bad habits".

This is BULL SHIT. At most funerals they go as far as making people seem better than they were. You wouldn't need to do this with dad. All you would have to do is state facts. I can't even begin to describe to you what an incredible person David Culver was. If I could even be a fourth of the person my dad was then I would feel that I had a life well lived. I'm so angry right now... I'm even angrier because I was so consumed with anger over that douche bag preacher's service that I couldn't even properly say goodbye to my father. It would have been a little better if they had given us the opportunity to say something after the "eulogy" but they didn't. The only small consolation is that his military burial was really nice, he would have been really proud. . At least at that point he received some of the respect he deserved. If my dad was still here and it was someone else's funeral we were attending my dad would have been furious at the disrespect that the minister showed. He would have thought it was "a bunch of bologna"... he didn't really swear often, in fact he didn't even like it when we said "shut up" in front of them.

**I wrote this last Saturday immediately following the funeral. I have calmed down about things a little since then but I'm still really upset about stuff. When I get around to it/ actually feel up to it, I am going to write the eulogy I think my dad acutally deserved. I started going in a direction with this on Friday night and I intented on finishing it on Saturday but... then I got so upset over the funeral and got sidetracked in what I was writing that it turned into a rant about what happened. I am eventially going to write what I was intending to write when I started this post.**

I kind of suck at this blogging thing lol. I have like 3 drafts saved of blogs I was going to post but didn't. I always start writing a post, then I get long winded with it and then I get bored and I don't finish it... Maybe I'll actually write a complete one tomorrow.

In the mean time, here is the new video from The Killers.
Spaceman


I <3 it!

Guilty Pleasures

Tonight I'm going to see We The Kings/The Cab play a show at Crocodile Rock in Allentown... I'm probably far too old to really be enjoying these two bands BUT I love some good ol' power pop that you can sing along to. Everyone is allowed a couple of guilty pleasure bands/movies/tv shows and I definitely have quite a few guilty pleasures that I don't really feel all that guilty about.

Tell me you don't want to sing along:

Life

So, I should be in bed instead of sitting here writing this because I have to get up mad early to go with my mom and my sister to the hospital tomorrow. My mom has to have outpatient surgery tomorrow morning. She is getting a fischler(?) put in her arm so that she can start her dialyses treatments soon. This is the second time around with this surgery because it didn't work the first time. I'm really hoping that it works this time so that she doesn't have to keep going through this surgery and so that she can get started on dialysis. I know it's definitely going to be a looooong day tomorrow.

Also, I have a job interview in Philadelphia next Monday. I'm excited that I have an interview but I'm not going to get my hopes up too high. They haven't seen a resume yet. Basically I talked to somebody in the office about the job and told them about myself, my education, and my background and they suggested that I come in for an interview. I'm hoping something definitely comes out of this seeing as how I have to pay for bus fare to get there and back.

The other issue is that my friend and I discussed moving to Philly and she seemed really stoked about the idea and seemed to be serious about the idea and now it looks like it isn't going to happen on her end. It was comforting to think that I would have somebody I knew in a city where I knew no one but either way I'll survive. I mean I guess I'll make friends the way everyone else does when they move to a new place... but I'm kind of anxious about the idea of being all on my own. I'm really shy and I have a hard time getting to know new people because of how shy I am. I guess I don't need to worry about it too much seeing as how I don't even have a job yet...

I <3 this...

So I know I post a lot about music, but I here's another post dedicated to music lol. I absolutely love the Killers music. I say their music because they don't exactly seem like people I'd want to chill with but they make some awesome tunes. My favorite song of theirs is "All These Things That I've Done"... It's one of my favorite songs ever. It was stuck in my head for days after my first listen. The video for the song was kind interesting too...



They released a new album at the end of last year called "Day and Age". I really like this album. Some of my favorite tracks off the album are "Human" (also the first single), Dustland Fairytale, and Neon Tiger, among others. Another cool album of theirs to check out is "Sawdust" which is an album of B-sides, remixes, and stuff like that. Some of my favorite Killers songs are from that album.

Just thought I'd share what popped in my head at the moment...

Also, as a side note: they (the band) have been rocking these hideous 'staches lately. The drummer seriously looks like the guy from My Name Is Earl. Brandon (lead singer) has also been wearing this military-style jacket with these feathered shoulders. It is UGLY but it is apparently a very high fashion designer piece that people have been raving about. Spin magazine even named him the best dressed male musician of 2008. I definitely beg to differ.

**EDIT** lol

They also did an AMAZING cover of the Dire Straits song "Romeo and Juliet" that I found a video of. This cover is also on the "Sawdust" album. I'm only midly familiar with Dire Straits so I don't know who in the band is the main lyricist but I LOVE the lyrics to this song. Like "Juliet, when we made love, you used to cry.You said, 'I love you like the stars above, I'll love you 'til I die'.There's a place for us, you know the movie song.When you gonna realize it was just that the time was wrong, Juliet?"; and "I can't do the talks, like the talk on TVAnd I can't do a love song, like the way it's meant to be.I can't do everything, but I'll do anything for you. I can't do anything, except be in love with you"... those are my favorite lyrics but lyrically I pretty much love the whole song. I always puts a little smile on my face when I listen to it.

You shocked me like an electric eel...

I know I'm a little behind the curve on this but I absolutely love MGMT. For awhile I kept reading about this band MGMT everywhere. I kept mentally telling myself to check them out but I never really got around to it. Then as a comment on a video I was watching on youtube somebody mentioned that the video reminded them of MGMT. I figured as long as I was already on youtube I might as well just search them. The first song I listened to of theirs was "Time to Pretend", I realized I kind of already knew who they were because that song was on the 21 soundtrack and I already really liked the song I just didn't know who the artist was. Then I listened to "Electric Feel" and I was completely hooked. Some of their other songs that I really like are "Kids", "The Youth", "Pieces of What", "The Handshake", and "Indie Rokkers".
This is the link to their video for "Electric Feel" because none of the videos let you embed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZfzXKia6KQ

Here is a video of them performing "Time to Pretend" on the TV show Live On Abbey Road:




That show is pretty awesome, if you look at that persons channel they have a lot of different performances from that show. I've only seen it on youtube because we don't get it in the U.S.

We will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist...

I have so much to say and I know it is going to take me forever to write it all down. I don't even really know where to start...

Last week I had the privilege of witnessing the inauguration of our brand new president, Barack Obama. I'm not exaggerating when I say that it was one of the best experiences I've had in all of my twenty-two years. First of all, I had no intention of going to the inauguration until the Friday before. That's when my friend Kyle, who lives in Maryland right outside of DC, offered to give me a ride down there and back and a place to stay during the inauguration if I wanted it. At first I didn't think it was the greatest plan; however, after thinking about it I decided that if I passed up the opportunity to witness an occasion this momentous, I would always regret it.

We arrived in Maryland on Monday afternoon and basically hung around the apartment for most of the day. Later that evening I went with Kyle, his roommate Jenn, and some of their friends to check stuff out downtown. It was kind of awesome to see stuff all set up for the inauguration without any people around. Here is a picture of D.C. before chaos ensued:

On Tuesday morning, because they are THAT awesome, Kyle and Jenn got up extra early and took Danny (another one of Kyle's friends that was staying with him for the inauguration) and myself to the metro station at around 6 a.m. I thought that six would be a good time to get started and avoid crowds because the actual inauguration didn't start until noon. I was wrong. Apparently everyone else in town for the event had the same idea. By the time we got to the station there were already HUGE lines. Luckily, while we were out the night before I got my pass so at least that was one line we didn't have to stand in.


I can't even begin to tell you how insane just the train ride was. First of all, we got on the train a little after six, but we didn't get out of the station at our "destination" (I'll explain the reason for the quotation marks later) until maybe around eight-thirty. Anyway, once we got past the lines for the pass-cards the lines weren't nearly as bad as we had originally thought. However, when we had to switch train lines closer to downtown things got much more hectic than I had expected. We stood on the platform and had like three trains in a row pass by us because the cars were so full. They had police standing at the platforms trying to keep some semblance of order, and by police I don't mean just transit security I mean like real police imported from New York. It was crazy trying to get on the train at this point. People were getting antsy and there was some pushing from people trying to get closer to the front of the platform. Since we were standing at almost the front of the line we received a decent amount of pushing while standing there. It was the only really scary moment all day but I was a little worried that we were going to get pushed down on the tracks. A little later in the day somebody actually did get pushed on the tracks and only missed being hit by a train by squeezing in the crawl space on the tracks... definitely not a fun time I'm sure.

Once we were on our second train things got a little frustrating. You see, the sheer amount of people trying to use the metro was mind-boggling. The issue was that almost all traffic into the city was shut off at sometime in the very early morning. So, unless you were a VIP (like A-list celebrity or politician), you either had to hoof it or use the metro system. Back to my point... with the amount of people getting off the metro downtown, they had to start shutting down stations because they couldn't physically fit anymore people into the stations. You would be on the train and they would announce that so and so station was now open or closed and you needed to alter your plans accordingly. This caused a problem because we thought the station would need was open and then once we were on the train we found out our station had just been closed and we were finally let out like three stations later.

When we finally got off the train we encountered this:

I have never been in a crowd of people like this in my life. One of the things that stuck out to me most about the getting the getting-the-heck-out-of-the-station experience was that no one was rude. You would think with a crowd of this many people all trying to get to one place at the same time, there would be a lot of tension and frustration but there really wasn't. It was like all the "hope and love crap" that I scoffed at Obama for pushing during the election was real. I know it sounds cheesy but it's true. We even had like a little cheer/chant while we were trying to get out. Some lady working for the transit system was on the loud speaker and when she wanted us to move she would say "keep it movin'" in like a sing-songy voice and people answer by saying "Obama" in the same rhythm. And everybody just kind of laughed at the craziness of the situation. And when she wanted us to stop she would say "red light, red light, STOP" and everyone would answer by saying "alright", again this was all done in the same sing-songy voice. It was awesome, like everyone understood that what was going to happen for us as a nation at noon was much more important than our individual desires to hurry up and find a good place to witness it.

When we got outside we found that we were at the back of the Capitol Building. At first I was like "awesome, we're so close"... then I realized that we weren't politicians or celebrities and we were going to have to get to the other end of the Mall to find someplace to stand (and I should clarify that by saying that I realized this fact, what I really meant is that I hadn't a clue and Danny was the one that actually had an idea of where we were going). **On a side note, I ripped my favorite jeans on a stupid parking garage gate while trying to get through all of the people.** We basically had to run like two miles and stand in another sea of people trying to get on to the Mall. We were stuck in this crowd of people for a while. Eventually we were able to get unstuck from here because the policemen just started to let people climb over the barricades so that there was a greater flow of traffic. Once we got out of the section in the picture, the crowd wasn't bad at all on the Mall. We were able to position ourselves in front of a jumbo-tron by elevenish.

While people were waiting for the inaugural events to start, they replayed Sunday afternoon's concert and Obama's speech on the jumbo-tron. I was ridiculously emotional already and I hadn't gotten a chance to see Sunday's speech, so my crying began before any of Tuesday's events actually started. There was also this part in the concert where Bruce Springsteen played "This Land". It should have really been a beautiful moment. Everyone around me was waving flags and singing along. I on the other hand laughed through the whole thing. The reason for this is that all I could think of was the Jib-Jab video from 2004 to that song. Particularly the part with the Native American man that sang "This land was my land" and then all the corporate commercialized crap that makes up our nation pops up and sings, "but now it's OUR land". I can never hear that song the same ever again.

As I said before, I was ridiculously emotional throughout the whole day. I think that fact that I have spent the past four years studying history and political science may have played a part in things. I definitely understand the historical significance of what happened last week. One of my favorite topics in history to study has always been the American Civil Rights movement of the 1960's.

I define a hero to be somebody who sees something that is wrong and they then dedicate their life to trying to right whatever the wrong is. It is somebody who sees something bigger than their self and they decide to do something about it, even if they may not get to benefit from the eventual success. People like Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders, Gandhi, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Alice Paul, and William Wilberforce. These people all fought injustice, not because they wanted to personally benefit from the end result but because they felt a calling to join in the battle against injustice.

The fact that we had just celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day stayed in the back of my head the whole day. The idea that forty-five years ago people stood in our nation's capital in approximately the same spot as I was standing and listened to Dr. King tell them about his dream, a dream of a world where someday people would be judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin. It felt as if in essentially the same spot that he shared his dream with a group of people from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, his dream was now becoming a reality. I have always wished I was alive in the sixties so that I could have experienced some of the huge events that took place in that decade. On January 20, 2009 I got the next best thing. I was at least able to see the fruit of their efforts for all of those years. As corny as this is going to sound I'm going to say it anyway, I really hope that Dr. King, and the rest of the civil rights leaders that weren't able to see the day come, were looking down from Heaven and had the satisfaction of knowing that their lives truly meant something. One of my favorite speeches that he made was his "I've been to the Mountaintop" speech, in this speech he said: "Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!". Those words have always stuck with me. His faith never wavered. He died the next because of an assassin's bullet but I feel like he knew before his death that this day was coming. I really felt like Obama's inauguration belonged as much to the people blazed a trail before him as it did to him.

I was as excited about what Obama said in his speech as I was for the historical implications of his swearing-in. I thought his speech was outstanding. I know that there was a lot of hype and expectations when it came to his speech. The pundits skewered the speech Tuesday night. They said he didn't say anything that was catchy enough to make it stand out for posterity but I have to think that they weren't watching the same speech as me.

I definitely worried that with all of President Obama's rhetoric about hope, love and unity that he wasn't going to take a strong stand on anything while in office for fear of ruining those feelings. I was pleasantly surprised. He was assertive and direct is his stances and intentions without causing people to feel like he was being adversarial towards his opposition. I also disagree with the pundits that there was no part of his speech that was extremely memorable and moving. My favorite part of the speech was this line: "To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist". I love that he is taking a strong and proactive stance on human rights. It is really refreshing after eight years of the Bush Administration's horrible and somewhat hypocritical stances on human rights.

After the inauguration ended two million people all tried to leave the Mall at one time. That was lots of fun. The best analogy to describe what this was like is sheep. You know how sheep are really stupid and they just go where they are told without ever knowing why? Well that is what it was like trying to leave the inauguration. There are so many people and you are so squished you can't even see your feet sometimes but you just keep following the crowd because that's the only thing you can really do. I could probably tell you like twenty more stories about just this. I'm kind of sick of writing so I'm not going to lol.

All in all it was an incredible experience and I'm really glad I went.

This video is of the singer Patty Griffin singing the song "Up to the Mountain" which she was inspired to write by MLK Jr.'s "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech. I love this song, it's one of those songs that if you are sitting by yourself someplace calm and quiet when you listen to it, it will definitely give you chills. It's breathtakingly beautiful.