Year 4, Day 160

Hello. Today's song is If I Didn't Have You from Quest for Camelot.

I was kind of obsessed with this movie as a kid which is weird because I don't remember anyone I knew ever watching it. Looking back my childhood seemed to be filled with things that my other friends never had, like I watched this and Ferngully. Apparently lots of people criticize this movie... I liked it and it was probably the music that tipped the scales for me, but seriously the music in it is incredible. I could have shown you one of the more serious songs, but this is one I always sang. I felt drawn to the tall dragon because I also think a career in the arts would be great. It's funny that I was so obsessed with musical things before I was even conditioned to with choir. I guess I've always been a music kid at heart...anyway enjoy!

Peace.

Year 4, Day 159

Hello. So today I give you The Full Slushious Song from Home.

So I cannot definitively say who wrote this song or anything since its just a small piece used in a movie, but I have had many a day where I just play this on repeat in the background because I'm kind of addicted to it. It sounded so weird and ridiculous the first time I heard it, but it's shockingly perfect for me as background noise. When I accidentally spent 3 hours listening on repeat (I wasn't paying attention to how much time was going past) it was safe to assume this song needed to be displayed. This song also marks the start of an impromptu soundtrack week because I just realized how many songs I have saved on the list that are straight up movie songs... so better to do them all at once. 

Peace.

Year 4, Day 158

Hey. Today I give you Ew! by Jimmy Fallon and Will.I.Am.

This is my favorite song that Will.I.Am has ever been part of. I know it sounds like a joke, but really well done throw away songs can trump serious songs any day. This kind of went viral for obvious reasons, but I still was the one to show it to my internet illiterate family. Sammy and Will aren't exactly internet illiterate, but they never seem to find the weird part of the internet that I basically live in. It means I have to actually put them in it, but I get the added bonus of watching their first reactions. Will loved it which is no surprise. Sammy thought it was pretty funny too which is amazing because sometimes our humor is not synced up at all. They spent a few weeks quoting it at me (which was a mistake since I know most of the words) and felt cool. I'm not shocked that Will liked it so much since he was giddy when Sammy and I showed him Shoes a couple months ago.... the fact that he had never seen that still blows my mind. Anyway moral of the story: the weird stuff is great and will live on forever. So enjoy it.

Peace.

Year 4, Day 157

Hi! Today's song is Anaconda by Nicki Minaj.

Except it's not. It's Anaconda the educational version which is so much better because instead of real Nicki Minaj, you only have to deal with cartoon Nicki making fun of the moves in the original video while you learn actual snake facts! I want more songs like this. Can we bring an educational song genre into the world because how awesome would it be to learn facts as easily as it can be to learn lyrics. I can say from experience that when I had to make a song into an educational version for English I not only did well on that assignment, but studied so much unintentionally for science (I Will Survive was changed to a song about evolution). Seriously teachers, listen up: this type of thing works! Make it happen.

Peace.

Year 4, Day 156

Morning. Today's song is Alfie by Lily Allen.

Of all the Lily Allen songs I've featured this one is by far the weirdest. I really contemplated whether or not to add this one because I've featured so much from this artist. Why not though right, I mean most of this year is things I've already shown before so if ever there was a time, it would be now. This video censors out the song so you don't hear the digs about weed and THC, calling him a twat, but you get the gist from the video. And I wanted this video to be there because I needed you to see why the brother Alfie makes me so uncomfortable. It's like a watered down Chucky and the concept could give me nightmares. So let's all just be slightly traumatized together, okay? Okay.

Peace.

Year 4, Day 155

Hi. So today's song is Cotton Eyed Joe by Rednex.

Since it's weird week I think we should talk about the legit weirdest song I have ever been subjected to, and the fact that I was subjected to it by my school. I don't know if it's like a standard school thing everywhere, but in junior high we had to do a line dancing week in gym. Now as if preteens learning to deal with hormones and being forced to interact with the opposite sex wasn't bad enough, we had to add techno country music. At the time it was hilarious... then it became horrifying... and now there is a slight charm about it thinking about the memories, but I am still so confused at how this song even became that widely known to be a staple.

Year 4, Day 154

What's up. So today's song is The Dog Song by Nellie McKay.

This is so odd. I don't really know what to say, she's singing a song about walking her dog. I mean I like the feel of it, but it's still worthy of weird week. Despite the topic this song I realize now that some of the songs I love have equally ridiculous topics. I mean Liquid Dreams is... well... you know. It doesn't feature heavy breathing like the dog song though, so that's something. Nellie is an oddball person, a triple threat singer-actress-comedian. So she's talented and does what she loves, so enjoy the dog song and look her up.

Peace.

Year 4, Day 153

Hey. Today's song is Sandstorm by Darude.

This song is acting as the marker that things are about to get very weird this week. I don't know how many of you are avid internet people like myself, but considering you somehow managed to find me I'm going to assume you are and maybe understand the significance of this song. So for awhile, YouTube comments asking song names abounded and somebody (who knows who) would always comment Darude Sandstorm. It became a thing. I have no idea why, but that's how pretty much all internet magic happens and now this song is even more infinitely funny through that. The joke has kind of died out now, but why the hell don't we revive it. I love music memes and this is my third favorite one. Maybe someday I'll tell you the rest.

Peace.

Year 4, Day 152

Hi all. So today's song is Someday by Nickelback.

I get it. We all "hate" Nickelback, but that's only because it's cool and expected to hate Nickelback... or more aptly seen as uncool to like them. This has been happening as long as music has been around. It happened with Justin Bieber, and One Direction and probably other cookie cutter tween girl focused music genres. But this band was never geared to them, so I don't know who decided that they were uncool. I have actually never come across a song I hated, they all are kind of good, at least the ones I've heard. I had basically been bullied by society into saying this band sucks and objectively speaking: it doesn't. So no apologies from me for this one.

Peace.

Year 4, Day 151

Hi. Today I give you The Love You're Given by Jack Garratt.

So I'm watching Life Unexpected again right now and there is a concert scene with fake musicians performing. Only now I realize that they are real musicians using fake names for the show and that I've actually featured all of them at some point on this blog. Those musicians would be Ben Lee, Sarah Mclachlan, and Kate Voegele for the record. This is the fun part of going back to shows later is you notice stuff you didn't before... and if that isn't a metaphor for life as you grow up I don't know what is. It's all about the changing perspective. Anyway this is today's song. It's kind of strange, but just keep listening. It's unique and I like it.

Peace.

Year 4, Day 150

Morning! Today's song is First World Tragedy by Sunrise Skater Kids.

This song hits a little close to home. I hate to admit it, but because I've grown up being so privileged based on where I was born these are the kinds of things that I consider problems, and I know it's stupid. These are not real problems, there are so many worse things to be worried about, but it's my reality. I've had to deal with more serious things like my manipulative father stalking his kids, my mom's abusive boyfriend, and becoming the sole breadwinner in a household full of adults while I was a teen... but each of those situations was temporary. Even while I'm writing this I'm doing it from a house that I don't pay anything on from my bed where I'm going to stay for awhile because I don't have any responsibilities right now. I appreciate this song letting me have that reality check while still enjoying great tunes. One of the advantages of music!

Peace.

Year 4, Day 149

Hello everyone. So today's song is Shogun by Trivium. This song is on here specifically because of Will so I'm going to make him do this post. We'll see how that goes!

Hello Everyone, I am Will. I don't know much about music, other than what I enjoy. As well, this is my first ever blog, I hope you enjoy, since I don't really know what I'm doing.

Shogun is the song that got me hooked onto Trivium, simply for the fact that I loved Matt Heafy's vocals. But before I go on, I want you to know I was a huge fan of Metallica since I was 16, Master of Puppets and Ride the Lightning were the first CD's I ever purchased. They were the band that got me into metal, so I grew to love the fast riffing, and melodic guitars, and face melting solos that were so prevalent in the 80's era of Metallica, and for a while I only listened to Metallica day in and day out. I grew accustomed to that sort of sound, and didn't enjoy songs if they didn't have a similar sound.

Back to Shogun, it's the title track for Trivium's 4th studio album. It features Matt Heafy on rhythm guitar/vocals, Corey Beaulieu on lead guitar, Paolo Greglotto on bass, and Travis Smith on drums.  When I was about 21, my friend had just bought the Shogun album. He rushes me to his truck and tells me to listen to a specific point at 4:30 of the song. Instantly I was captured by the soft melodic guitar solo, then the vocals this familiar voice begins singing; "The pulse is now quickening, softly it's painstaking. Look within to calm the storm, raging inside the form. there's no turning back." Then some more melodic guitars, and I was so shocked, I paused it and I asked my buddy if it was James Hetfield singing, he laughed, and said he thought the same thing. I just thought, this is fucking amazing! I restarted the song over to enjoy it in its fullest. I just thought the guitars were fucking badass, then the sound of the drums, man I love drums, (I wanted to be a drummer when I was younger) just fit in so well. Then Matt starts singing, I was drawn in and just sat intensely listening to the first minute of this kickass song, then he starts screaming; "FLESH OPENS UP, BLOOD'S RETREATING!" before this, I never really listened to metal that had screaming, nor had I wanted to with much passion, since I thought most screaming was of a certain, incomprehensible style. I know now, since I've broadened my horizons there are so many different styles. But this, this I just wanted more of. I just loved the lyrics, and the vocals, and the sound of the guitars. Just everything about this song got me excited! I was so thankful there was over 11 minutes of metal bliss, and this new metal God in Matt Heafy and Trivium. After that day, I purchased the previous 3 albums, and all the following albums. 8 years, 3 concerts, hours upon hours of deafening Trivium, cause it's best played loud, Shogun is still one of my favorite songs, and albums, among my collection. if you've never listened to this song or band, give them a listen, you won't be disappointed! Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed my short(ish) blurb.

Year 4, Day 148

What's Up. So today's song is Teenage Dirtbag by Wheatus.

As I’ve gotten older it’s become increasingly hard to articulate my excitement. I don’t know whether I’ve just started trying to say what I feel faster than I had before, or if the words are just no longer there in my brain. I do talk a lot more than I used to, so maybe I don’t let the thought form, but it makes me super self-conscious when I’m trying to explain something I find interesting only to be creating long pauses as I strive and fail to find the term I need. The inadequate feeling is made worse when I’m surrounded by my family because we’re the type to rag on one another about everything, but if I am truly upset about one of my quirks it no longer begins a funny jest out of love, but rather something that truly hurts me. I wanted to raise this as a topic because I want to know if this is true for other people or if it’s simply a flaw for me. Any input would be nice.

Peace.

Year 4, Day 147

Hi. So today's song is Love Me Dead by Ludo.

Obviously it’s been a few months since the movie came out, but I feel like now I can safely talk about what I think about Captain America: Civil War without spoiling it for anyone else. If you haven’t seen it yet and don’t want to know anything I would suggest you advert your eyes now. Not to say that I’m actually going to give spoilers, it’s more of a assessment of the characters. So before the movie even came out I knew I would fall squarely on Captain America’s side. Then I was made even more giddy about the movie when they showed who would be teaming up with who because basically all the one’s I care about were with Cap…the exception being Romanoff but after watching the movie I see why she was put where she was. So the movie: my love of Steve prevails, the interactions between Steve’s best friend number one (Bucky) and Steve’s best friend number two (Sam) was as hilarious as I thought it would be and I kinda want an entire movie of just them bickering like a married couple. Wanda is a seriously badass part of the team and more useful than I thought she’d be which makes me happy, Scott is a perfect addition as far as the humor and crazy cackling, and Hawkeye was of course perfect and needed more screen time. I don’t really care for the new characters mostly because Black Panther is as arrogant as Tony (who is my least favorite Avenger) and I’m so SO done with them remaking Spiderman every couple of years. I used to like Spiderman, but the character has been overdone so many times that I just don’t want it anymore. All in all Cap had the better team and I love them all and Tony deserved to be punched… a lot. That’s my opinion, I know some will disagree, but that’s the nature of the beast.

Peace.

Year 4, Day 146

Morning. Today I give you That's What You Get by Paramore.

Watching this video I realized that it was playing in the Hard Rock Cafe when I went to California with school. I had a picture from that trip on my camera of her face, you can recognize the hairstyle. It's amazing the things your brain holds onto. Anyway, Paramore... you guys know how I feel about Paramore. I show their songs so much. I have to try very hard to find a song by them that I don't like, so expect for this to not be the last time I show off some of their stuff.

Peace.

Year 4, Day 145

Hey guys. Today's song is Now I Wonder by Hello Hollywood.

I went to another escape room with my family. This time we went with a different company and a room that had a blood and gore warning on it. I have to admit it wasn't too bad... admittedly I did not want to go to this thing and neither did my sister, but we made a pact to endure it together. We didn't make it out before the time was up, and some of the puzzles logic was incorrect for how real life works, but in the end we all had fun. I'm a little mad at myself because we couldn't get out of our cage for the first twenty minutes and if I had just looked at the paper rather than letting someone read it out loud I would have found the clue. Oh well lesson learned. I did at least contribute more this time than just holding a light like last time. In this one I found the code to get out of the cage, figured out the code to open the door and found a decoder that we never got the chance to use because time ran out. Meanwhile my sister patted down a corpse and my mom went for a little ride in a coffin! One thing that can be said for my family is we're definitely always down to do some weird shit.

Peace.

Year 4, Day 144

Hello. So today's song is Mr. Brightside by The Killers.

Iconic. That's the only appropriate word for this song. I know we always talk about oldies or classics when referencing things from the eighties and such, but if ever there was a song from the 2000's that has become a classic, it's this one. Everyone knows the song, knows the words, and sings it when it comes on without fail. I assume people would argue about which of The Killers' songs is more widely known, this one or Somebody Told Me. I did hear the other one first, but this one will always be what I associate the band with. Whichever side you fall on, let's both agree that this band is awesome.

Peace.

Year 4, Day 143

What's Up. Today's song is Shake It Off redone by Twenty One Two.

If you are not a fan of Supernatural you most likely will not understand the full awesomeness of this video, but you can still appreciate the sheer talent of the Hillywood sisters. So Hilly and Hannah spend their time creating meticulously done parody videos of movies and TV shows that their fans suggest. The amount of time, effort, and talent it takes to do something like this is insane and these two are incredible for doing it. I'm particularly a fan of the behind the scenes videos because it makes you appreciate the end product, but those are really long so I wont make you watch them if you don't want. Seriously though, check out their channel and other videos. And for supernatural fans you should pay close attention to the video so you pick up on all the little Easter eggs that the girls through in, plus the end has a few surprise guests. It should also be said that this cover/ changing of the song is amazing and I can no longer sing the original correctly. Enjoy!

Peace.

Year 4, Day 142

Hey guys. Today I give you Damned If I Do Ya by All Time Low.

Have I seriously never featured this song before? I find that really odd considering it's one of my favorites from All Time Low. Okay so I just checked and apparently I've also never featured this band in general. I honestly thought I had. Oh well, no time like the present. So throughout all my angsty spats and my foray into adulthood All Time Low has been with me. I don't see it as something that belongs solely in one of my phases, but a band that is always perfect to listen to. I hope you'll like them to.

Peace.

Year 4, Day 141

Hello. Today's song is She Likes by Forever The Sickest Kids.

This is a bit of a throwback to the very beginning of this blog. The band was one of the first ones I featured, and hasn't been seen since, but considering I'm cleaning out all my saved music I thought why not put this one up. I was in a bit of a scene (I guess?) phase in that first year, so all the music was like this. I've grown out of it a bit since then... still though I like going back and jamming out, seeing how far my music tastes have spread and at the same time how they haven't changed at all.

Peace.

Year 4, Day 140

Morning guys. So today's song is Boom by Simple Plan.

So my sister has been running around making people take a personality style indicator because it’s scarily accurate. Like to the point that I’m afraid of being so easily boxed into a category. Anyway I took it and figured I’d share my results with you guys. So I fall under the “practical category” which states: Though concerned with Interpersonal harmony, people with this personal style are often more focused on getting the task done. They have a lot of energy to invest in reaching their goals and want to reach them in a high quality manner. They are likely to desire work in a positive work climate with competent others. Their preference, however, is to work alone toward reaching specific goals. Give a project to these people and expect it to be done; also expect to see them carve their way through any obstacles. This is one of the two most introverted style patterns. People with this pattern seem to prefer emotional distance from others, but also tend to be pleasant and polite in work and social relationships. Anyone who has met me knows this is spot on which I deem pretty impressive for a 16 question personality test.

Peace.

Year 4, Day 139

Hiya. So today's song is Alberta Strong by Neil Szybunka and Tanner O'Dell.

So like I said I've been writing these things in advance, and it's actually May right now for me. And my province is currently burning. Alberta has had some pretty shitty luck in terms of natural disasters in the last couple years. In 2011, Slave Lake was decimated by a wildfire, as you'll recall from previous blog years I was giving a play by play of the floods in 2013. Now, Fort Mac is up in flames and there's no sign of it stopping anytime soon. This post is going to be all about the fire and it's progress up until the actual date of this post comes so I'll update it from time to time.

Update #1:
Okay I'm pissed. What the hell is wrong with people?! I've seen posts with people saying we deserve to burn because of so and so reasons, but regardless of why that is something you should never say. So let's go over all this bitching. 1. The oil sands are the reasons there's a fire. FALSE. This is legitimately a forest fire, started because we had an early winter and it's been ridiculously hot and dry. The oil industry has nothing to do with it and actually has helped because that's where a lot of people were evacuated to. They went to the camps which are ridiculously fire proofed when the fire was blocking the only road south. 2. Trudeau is sitting on his ass instead of doing something to help. ALSO FALSE. Technically he wasn't allowed to get involved until a state of emergency was issued, and that came long after the fire hit Fort Mac. As soon as that order was issued, the troops were sent in. 3. Notley should have declared the state of emergency earlier... yeah okay I kind of agree with this one, but in defense of the government the majority voted in, it had looked like the fire was dying out on Tuesday before winds hit it and it became a raging wall within hours. As of now the fire is the size of Chicago and looks to be heading to Saskatchewan which is just as dry as here. It'll go up like a match. Not to mention BC is also on fire now so the whole west side of Canada could be decimated, but yes please continue to say we deserve this.

Update #2:
So it's about three weeks after the fire now, and still the best story I've heard to come out of this is the cat who survived the fire. I premise this by saying that all the stories are heartbreaking and amazing and it's hard to pin down any in particular, but I love cats and this one was really unique. So a house burned down and the family cat was inside, but he managed to survive the fire by hiding in the oven. I had been telling people about this story and was faced with very good questions like how did the cat get in the oven in the first place? What happened is this: an explosion knocked the front window out of the oven and the cat climbed inside. That wouldn't have saved him except that another explosion (I'm assuming gas lines or something here) knocked the oven over creating a pretty safe box for the cat. His paws had to be bandaged up from burns and he needed some oxygen, but otherwise he was fine. Thus we have my favorite survival story out of so many amazing ones.

Update #3:
A couple of things have happened as of late: a whole fire brigade showed up from Africa to help quell the flames, which is amazing! I love that they wanted to help us, and they we so happy to come. Also it's been decided that the worst areas are probably not going to be rebuilt, like the neighborhood that has one house left standing. People have started being let back in now, and the day that the could go back there was a beautiful welcome home display thanks to some firetrucks waiting for them on one of the overpasses. It's enough to warm the heart. The officials now are also saying that this fire is most likely human caused (which basically means not lightning) and they now have 56% contained. That may not seem like much, but that's a lot more than we had contained before. This is going to be my last update now, but you can always look up more about this if you want because there's plenty of news coverage.


Peace.

Year 4, Day 138

Hello everyone. Today I give you Big Bright World by Garbage.

A common misconception about this band is that the singer is related to Marilyn Manson. They share the same last name, yes, but they are just good friends, probably bonding over the fact that people always assume they're related. anyways, one of the comments on this video shows that this band is going back to  their initial sounds, and if it's anything like this song I think I'd like it. "A really good song and in a way I'm happy, sound and style-wise, it moves away from the not-so-Garbage-like style of Beautiful. This sounds more like the early Garbage that won me over." So if you like this song check out the older stuff, and if not maybe check out the more recent music. You might find something.

Peace.

Year 4, Day 137

Hi. So today's song is Learn To Fly by the Foo Fighters.

The reasoning is because of this cover by 100 musicians. I love that these people cared so deeply about this band's music that they all showed up, set up and rocked out for the purpose of convincing the Foo Fighter's to come there. The whole explanation is at the end of the cover I linked you, but guess what? Their plan worked! The band kind of loved what they did and is planning on going to Italy soon. Just goes to show how much you can accomplish if you put your mind to it and find like minded individuals to help.

Peace.

Year 4, Day 136

Hey guys. Today's song is Young Men Dead by The Black Angels.

Okay, so this is an American band whose name is inspired by a song by The Velvet Underground. They are considered part of the psychedelic genre and actually gained kind of an underground following courtesy of their MySpace page. They've released four albums and four EP's during their career so far, this song being one off of their debut album Passover. It's one of the more popular songs being featured on TV and in a movie soundtrack. If you like this song check out some of their other stuff, and if you really like what you hear you can check out some of their side projects: The Viet Minh, Christian Bland & The Revelators, The UFO Club, and Sweet Tea. Enjoy!

Peace.

Year 4, Day 135

Morning! So today's song is She's A Genius by JET.

Because who doesn't need a little more JET in their lives. I love having Facebook friends who have an eclectic set of interests because it means that I have access to so many cool things. The latest is from a friends who's graduating with a bachelor's in psychology this year and it was an article about rumination and how to end the cycle. A lot of my depression issues comes from the fact that I'm constantly thinking about problem after problem and I think them to death without ever actually making a move to solve them. So this article explained what to do to at least get started on the right track and I'm hoping it'll give me that little extra push to force myself to be better. I'll let you know if it works out. For now though, nothing like a little self love by admitting that I'm the genius (woh oh oh oh oh oh) for trying this article out.

Peace.

Year 4, Day 134

What's Up. Today's song is Joy To The World by Three Dog Night.

I know, I was surprised it's not actually called Jeremiah Was A Bullfrog. I guess there are so many songs titled Joy To The World that it was easier to refer to it by it's first line, much like if you sing the first few bars to try and figure out what the actually title is. Oddly enough the first time I heard this song was in a Hilary Duff movie. The movie was actually a good one, would have been better if they didn't autotune her voice half the time, but ces't la vie. It was performed by a choir and sounded great in it. Then I saw that it was used in the X-Files when I finally started to watch the show and figured it was a good song to show. Where did you guys first hear this song? I'd love to know.

Peace.

Year 4, Day 133

Afternoon. So today I give you I Believe In A Thing Called Love by The Darkness.

I was talking about the eighties hair earlier so let's have a little bit more of that with a bonus of skin tight jumpsuits. It's actually kind of traumatizing so I would recommend listening to the song and not paying attention to the video unless you are fully prepared for the style. I picked this song after Gregg Sulkin did it on lip sync battle. Granted him performing Milkshakes was more memorable, but I'm super pleased that this Britsh hit got some more exposure. So might as well keep it rolling.

Peace.

Year 4, Day 132

Hello. Today's song is Radar Love by Golden Earring.

This song was added to the list because of an episode of Reaper which oddly enough I've been rewatching and it matched up to today. The ridiculousness of Reaper as a show is not lost on me, but it is endearing in its randomness. The episode accurately titled Radar Love is about two lovers much like Bonnie and Clyde that need to be captured and sent back to hell. Their weakness? Every time this song is played they feel inclined to dance and get into the music... to the point where they get sucked into the 8 track. Naturally this song plays a lot in that time frame, but I never get tired of it, it's such a classic. Check out Reaper if you're so inclined but either way I hope you enjoy a little Radar Love.

Peace.