Again, mostly about music, but with some books and TV thrown in for good measure!

Here is a list of albums soon to be released by bands I like (not every single one of them, obviously...only the ones Indie Vision Music has on their site) and recently released ones.

• July 1-Relient K-The Bird and the Bee Sides (it's awesome!)


• July 22-The Classic Crime-The Silver Cord (I've heard Abracadavers..amazing!)


• also July 22-Falling Up-Discover The Trees Again:The Best Of Falling Up (Broken Heart is the first track and my all-time fave Falling Up track!)


• August 19-Family Force 5-Dance or Die (EP with 3 songs available in iTunes now, and it's great!)


• also August 19-This Beautiful Republic-Perceptions (what I've heard of their other album is really good!)


• August 26-DecembeRadio-Satisfied (Can. Not. Wait!)


• Sept. 16-Nevertheless-In The Making


• Sept. 30-Anberlin-New Surrender (They have a new version of The Feel Good Drag on it!)

There are a few others sceduled for 2008, but they don't have a release date (yet) and they are some of the ones I've been waiting for for a long time (HoH)

• House of Heroes-The End Is Not The End (some tracks are on their MySpace and 3 are available for free(!) download, and they are well worth it! Sooner or Later is by far my favorite of the new songs)
• Sometime in November( per the last magazine I've read)-David Cook's album!

I've heard tell of a new Switchfoot album, but I can't find anything about that quite yet. I've also heard The Almost is going to start recording soon on their second album. Expect a new (and most likely the last) album from Dead Poetic sometime in 2009. I'm hoping for some new All-American Rejects soon, but I don't follow them too closely. I'm pretty sure there is gonna be a new album from The Wedding soon, as they have a new EP out. I'd LOVE a new Eleventyseven album...I've read that they're going on tour with Wavorly(I have their album, just haven't sat down and listened to it) in October. There's a local 11T7 show in August, but I'm going to American Idol that same day. New Emery album later this year. I only really like their song 'Studying Politics' but I have all of their 'The Question' album and it's not too bad. I know FM Static is recording a new album (YAY!!), nothing new(that I know of) from Everyday Sunday, Hawk Nelson, Stellar Kart, The Rocket Summer(though he said he's gonna be writing and recording after is next US tour),Search The City or Run Kid Run, though they all have semi-(or very) new releases out.

I know I mentioned The Orphaned Anything's in my last blog and I figured I'd tell you a bit more about it. It's incredible. It's written by Stephen Christian, lead singer of Anberlin, it's amazing and the best book I've ever read. You have to order it online, but it's more than worth the price. I used to HATE Anberlin. I saw them with Relient K and Don't Look Down (local band) 4 years ago (I think, might be 5.) They were not, in my opinion, very good. Early this year, my friend, bound to change my long-standing opinion, told me to listen to Paperthin Hymn. I liked it and some of their other recorded stuff, but I didn't think they were worth my time if they still were bad live. Then she found me a video of them performing 'A Day Late', which is now my favorite track from them, live, and my opinion is forever changed. I have so much admiration for Stephen Christian now. I'd love to meet him if I get the chance at Warped Tour next week.

I'm not sure if I ever said anything about Everyday Sunday's album "Wake Up! Wake Up!" It's one of my favorite albums I own. I'm nearing almost 1,000 songs on iTunes, with only about 700 that I keep on my iPod, and that album is always on there. I can listen to it, from start to finish, over and over again. I love the lyrics and how catchy the songs are. I'm not a big fan of their other albums, but this one is so great.

I've also started watching Friday Night Lights and Gilmore Girls. Gilmore Girls is awesome, but it's been long since cancelled, so I won't tell you about how you need to watch it. But FNL is awesome. I don't even like football(not one bit, unless it's the Philadelphia Eagles, but that's another story) and I love this show. I borrowed season 1 from my friend(the one who likes Anberlin) and it's quickly become one of my favorite shows, up there with Criminal Minds and Heroes.

Project Runway season 5 tomorrow night!! With Austin Scarlet as guest judge!!! Can't wait. And Shear Genius after! Will post after both with opinions (and there will be some) and I love how there are 2 really young guys close to my age, so I'm probably gonna root for them.

Later Days!

La belle musique! Et d'autres choses....

I'm going to promise, here and now, to actually keep up with this blog this summer. It's been nearly 2 months since my last entry. I'm also going to seriously get down to some music reviews, too. I've found out about so many amazing bands (such as The Rocket Summer and Family Force 5.) I'm also going to get to do a couple of concert reviews: Warped Tour (mainly Relient K, Anberlin, and Family Force 5) and American Idol.
I'm going to start off with a mini-review of sorts. I bought the new Relient K EP today. It's got over 20 tracks, many previously unreleased, and each member of the band takes over lead vocals at least once. I'm not even halfway finished listening to it and I'm loving it. I haven't spent much time listening to RK lately. Every once in awhile I'll put on Devastation and Reform (my fave RK song) or randomly start singing Mood Ring. But this band means so much to me. It's that feeling I get when I hear one of their new songs. It's like Matt Theissen's voice is a comfort to me, similar to the way I feel when I talk to one of my best friends. I love the way they have songs that can make me smile and they have songs that can make me think. So many other artists I listen to now can do this, but for some reason, Relient K is different. It's hard to explain, but one of my best friends feels the same way about The Wedding.
Other bands I'm sure I'll be telling you about include: Family Force 5, The Almost, The Rocket Summer, Eleventyseven, and who knows what else.
Something bugged me today. I adore Brian McFadden. I have a Westlife poster on my wall, I have most of the Westlife albums, and I have 4 songs off of his solo record, one of which I got today. Now his single 'Real To Me' has some cursing in it, but there is a clean version available. Now I go and buy another of his songs today based on the 30-second preview on iTunes and I find a similar curse word in it. I hate unnecessary cursing in music. HATE it. If it's used in context, I'm alright with it. But he has 2 songs(that I know of) on the album with cursing thrown about. On the same album where he also has a song he's singing to his 2 young daughters. Here's to hoping the rest of the album is what I'd come to expect from Westlife.
READ THE ORPHANED ANYTHING'S!!!!!!!!!
My friend got me hooked on Friday Night Lights, so expect to hear tons about that. And Supernatural, which another friend got me in to. And there is a new season of Shear Genius! Woo hoo! But they've already cut my favorite! Bye Parker! :( And I so called that Stephanie would win Top Chef! Congrats Chef Stephanie!!!
I might go see a few movies (other than the new Batman) this summer, so I'll post a review of whatever I end up seeing (Like the new American Girl movie. I might take my niece to see it. And I do actually want to see it.)
That's about it for now!
Later Days!
Oh, yeah. David Cook won American Idol! YAY!!!!!!!!!!

Congrats, Whitney!

Yeah, yeah, I know I said I wanted Anya to win. But the last few seconds of the show, I knew it was going to be Whitney, even though I think Anya was the better model. Whitney is probably gonna be a great role model, though I want to know whoa actually think she is plus-size. Yeah right. I know she's a plus size model and plus size models are like a size 8. I also think she'd be perfect for the Heather Wells TV series I've heard is in the works. She seems like the perfect preson to play Heather. I do love that trio of books.
I only sort-of watched Top Chef, but I know who got eliminated. Bye Andrew! But I did think you deserved to go home, but you didn't deserve to be thrown under the bus by Lisa, who was just trying to save her own butt. Oh, well. I think it's either gonna be Stephanie or Richard as the winner. Also, two words. Sam Talbot. Yum. OK, that was 3, but who cares?
I also only sort of watched Criminal Minds, despite the presence of Reid. David Cook won out over Reid and he will again next week. Whose bright idea was it to put the American Idol finale and the Criminal Minds finale on at the same time??? It's times like these I wish I had a Tivo. But there was flashback Reid! Yay! Actually, if it involves Reid in any way, I'll watch it, even that totally gross scence in RV.
I don't feel like doing any music reviews now, but I will sometime soon, I promise. I got a new(ish) DecemberRadio song and a song off the new Run Kid Run album, which I love, from the 3 songs I've heard off it. One In A Million is probably my favorite of the 3. I'm also really into "Who Needs Air" from The Classic Crime. Check it out!
Later Days!

David Cook Sings Switchfoot!

That fact alone made me insanely happy. As 'Dare You To Move' (or 'I Dare You To Move, depending on the album) is one of my all-time favorite songs. And he did great, save for a note or two that were off key. But Jon Foreman does have a unique voice that is hard to match. But David Cook did Switchfoot proud (I hope, anyway!) If he goes home tonight, I'll be highly surprised. Though it doesn't always fare well when the contestants sing Christian music. Yup, that was a Christian song by a Christian band!
Top Model is just now starting, so I'll get to that sometime later. Go Anya!! I'd be happy if Whitney won, though.
Onto Survivor...Erik, Erik,Erik. No giving up immunity! Ever! Now you've gone up with Jason in my "Not So Smart Survivor" category and you have WELL surpassed him. Good thing they're both cute! :) But I didn't expect Parvati to win at all. And how romantic was Ozzy at the final Tribal Council?? I'll admit I had a tear in my eye. And I didn't even like Ozzy this season!
New Criminal Minds tonight! And it was on on Saturday(which I saw) and yesterday(I fell asleep during it, but I had seen it before)
Oh! Going along with the whole David Cook/Switchfoot thing, they have a new single and video (which you will hear at the end of the new Narnia movie!) and..it's actually good! I'll be posting a full review of that song and video soon, as I am very opinionated on that band.
Top Chef tonight as well! I loved the Wedding Wars! So fun!
Expect an update sooner rather than later!
Later Days!!

Perfecting the art of the blindside

I love Survivor. It's been 3 weeks in a row I've said "Holy crapola"(to quote Ozzy) at the end of an episode. Ozzy(way stupid no to use the idol), then Jason( did you not learn from Ozzy?) and Alexis, though she gets props for not being idiotic. And the Survivor Oscar needs to go to Amanda for the amazing acting job she did. She even had me convinced! Erik for the win! I'm holding out an ounce of hope, though I don't think it'll happen, unless he wins the next 2 immunity challeges(could happen!)

Speaking of holding out an ounce of hope, Jason's performance of Memory on AI a few weeks ago was painful. I HATE that song, but it was still pretty bad. He redeemed himself slightly with his first song this week, and even more with the full version of it on iTunes. I love him, but I have no doubt in my mind that he's not going to win. I want David Cook(who can usually do no wrong[see: Music Of The Night] but even he wasn't spectacular this week.) to win. He's amazing. I've gotten a bunch of his songs from iTunes and I love them.

Going on with the music bit for a second, FM Static is going to record a 3rd album this summer!! YAY!!! I love their first 2, and I'm listening to Thousand Foot Krutch(and wearing one of their concert shirts) right now. For those of you who don't know, FM Static is a side project of TFK's lead singer, Trevor McNevan and the drummer, Steve Augustine. Their sounds are completly opposite, but that's why I love them! Also, new Classic Crime album this summer. Again, YAY!!! Along with the new House of Heroes(my fellow LOSTies) album, I'll be a happy camper this summer. Along with going to the American Idol tour this summer!

Top Chef. Stunned when Jen got eliminated. Mark, not so much. He probably should have gone a few episodes ago. And what is up with Stephanie? She needs to get back in the game! Come on, girl! Though I am kind of Team Andrew right now.

Now for Top Model. I cannot believe Kat left before Whitney!! I am all for a plus size girl finally winning, but not her over Kat, or Anya, who should win the whole thing!
Criminal Minds time! I got an advance copy of the new book(don't ask how) and it was AWESOME!! And finally another JJ centric episode! I do really like her character, despite my hatred for her when I first started watching at the start of this season

Hopefully I'll get an album review or 2 done this weekend. Probably Falling Up's "Crashings" and the Classic Crime acoustic EP.
Later Days!

An Actual Update!!

Loooooooooog time, no update!! Let's just get right back into things shall we? I do have a favorite on American Idol this season, for the first time since Season 4, maybe? And it's David Cook! :) I've actually gotten most of the songs he's sang off of iTunes and I love them. I also got one of the performances from Idol Gives Back, one I didn't actually watch, since I'd rather watch Criminal Minds. I was very surprised that they sang Shout To The Lord during the show. It's probably one of the most amazing versions I've ever heard of that song. I also like Jason(and I'm the ONLY one of my friends who likes him) and David A.
I'll go with some ANTM next. I think Anya should win. Her accent reminds me slightly of Frankie off of MMAS, which isn't a bad thing. Though I am rooting for Whitney because she's a normal size which I think could be great for the show. And they're going to Rome this season. Once they went to London in season 5 and ater that I didn't care where they went, they went to the one place I have always wanted to go. I'm happy with that.
Survivor time!! I'm officially Team Erik now. I liked Jason in the beginning, but...he's not the smartest guy on the island, but we'll see where that goes tomorrow night. From all the Survivor sites I've been to seem to think Alexis and Natalie will make the final Jury vote, but we really haven't seen much at all of them. We've seen a bit more of them recently, but still not enough for me to even have an opinion on them. So I'll stick to Erik and Jason since I like them both. :)
Criminal Minds is back! YAY!!!! And tonight's episode was a Reid one. YAAAAY!!!! I was so freaked that he was gonna get shot or whatever by the suspect and then for a split second I thought Hotch was gonna put him on probation or worse, fire him. But it didn't happen and all is well. And they finally cleared the whole druggie Reid storyline up. Took them long enough! I did like the way they resolved it.
Top Chef is back. I don't think I have a clear favorite, but as far as the girls, I like Stephanie and I'm starting to like Jennifer and as far as the guys, I liked looking at Ryan(Spike isn't bad, either, but I'm off Team Spike after last weeks episode.) and Andrew is growing on me.
LOST is back next week, and hopefully when school is out next month, I'll review the TONS of music I've gotten..well over 100 songs.
Later Days!

I Love Thursdays!

Updating!! I've watched all my Thursday shows (Survivor,LOST, and Make Me A Supermodel) and I've decided not to review LOST in this blog, save for the few odd theories and if they kill off any character I like, which the producers seem keen on doing!

I forgot to update after American Idol. They usually don't vote out my favorites until right before the final 12, but not this season! He didn't even make the top 24 which royally sucks! He was the guy that sang with the faux British accent...he was really talented and original..It was totally heartbreaking after he got eliminated..I just wanted to give him a hug..Though I do like to see all the people that are close to my age (18,19,20 I'm one of those) and I can't help but root for them. I hope he auditons next year..Now I'm rooting for the Austrailian guy(not just because of the accent, though it is hot :) ) and the Irish girl(gotta stick with the Irish! And she's amazingly talented)

OK, Survivor..not the greatest episode but good nonetheless. Not sure how I feel about the castaway romances yet..We'll see.. And the completely shallow side of me(which you won't see very often) loves the fan side just because of all the cute guys! OK, shallow me is done now! Ozzy of course blew everyone out of the water(no pun intended) during the immunity/reward challenge while Chet didn't do so hot..Mary was voted out...Who??

Onto Make Me A Supermodel..Ronnie is safe! Yay! Those votes counted! I so heart acting challenges and this was much better than the ones on Top Model. the whole Perry/Jacki/Ben scene was really believable...a little too believable if you ask me..Ronnie and Holly were adorable and Frankie did really well. 2/3's of the Casey/Shannon/Stephanie trio did well and the other 1/3 didn't do so hot and is in the bottom 3. I think that this catwalk assignment was my favorite so far..I noticed they didn't say a word to Jacki(well, they probably did but it got edited out..) Shannon did really well, but "Franklin the Actor" as Tyson put it, wasn't nearly as good... and Perry and Casey were purely entertaining..I loved when Casey whipped out that second mirror! Of coruse Ronnie and Ben were paired..They did OK, definately not their best but I love 'em!Ronnie is in the bottom 3 again! I of course used my 10 online votes to vote for him! I really think he is the most deserving out of those 3.
Hopefully I'll have some music reviews up this weekend.. mostly songs though..
Later Days!