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.