Read my lists!!!
They are great.

TreeLiFe... + obsessions

Leather
KEWL

GRIZZLY BEAR .....

Jon and kate plus 8 SCandALLllll

AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com

Lefashionnnnn

Grieves

The Picador in Iowa city welcomed Mac Lathal and Grieves with a crowd no larger then twenty people on Wednesday May 13th. Despite the small audience the show was most definitely worth it. Grieves and his DJ Budo performed music from their new CD 88 Keys and Counting along with songs from their first album Irreversible. Grieves is a hip hop rapper from Seattle who is just looking for people to appreciate his music.

At his show Grieves came on stage with a smile on his face and his apple computer set up behind him plugged into the huge speakers. Budo had a key board set up behind him and they were ready to go. Imagining myself in his shoes i have tremendous respect for the two on stage. Think of how frightening it would be to stand up there in front of 20 people and perform. In the middle of the show Budo played a solo on his trumpet and the crowd went crazy.

Iowa City is the only place where Grieves had been twice so far!! He has tour with Atmosphere and if that ever happens again i will go anywhere to see them.

Lollapalooza

So freakin excited...

First of all Atmosphere will be there and Lykke Li! Those are probably the two shows i am most excited about. But also i can't wait for The killers, Coheed and Cambria, Arctic Monkeys, Ben Folds, Snoop Dogg, and Rise Against. August 7th-9th i am going to be in heaven.

And the record begins with a song of rebellion

Graduation.....
SONGS
Set your goals-To Be Continued
Rise Against-Broken English
Modest Mouse-The World At Large
Atmosphere-Lovelife
Weezer-Best Friend
Rancid-Journey To The End Of The East Bay
Four Years Strong-Heroes Get Remembered, Legends Never Die
The Ataris-In This Diary
Third Eye Blind-Jumper

The important thing is not to stop questioning.-Albert Einstein

The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.-Aristotle

And we'll collect the moments one by one...


Do not follow where the path may lead. Go, instead, where there is no path and leave a trail.-Ralph Waldo Emerson

New Release!

Rise Against came out with a new CD: Appeal to Reason.

Has been criticized for some of the songs being boring but the songs that are good are REALLY good.

The ones i like the best.....

Kotov Syndrome

Entertainment

Hero of War

Listen and enjoy.

The People's Court

Seeing Set Your Goals live changed my life. Front row, getting pushed into the people around me, singing the words as loud as possible while gazing at the band performing their art, it made me feel like everything was right. New Found Glory was pretty great too.

New CD comes out July 21st and i couldn't be more excited.

Also coming back to Des Moines with Four Years Strong (also great).

Photography

It's your chance to get one of your pictures in Monster Children Magazine! All you have to do is take a picture at exactly 3pm on Saturday, April 25th. Then write a fifty word essay describing the picture and send it here! It will be put in their monthly photo issue.

Monster Children is an art magazine. Very cool.

Inhaling Chocolate?!

This is a new product that was invented by a Harvard Professor. The idea is that you inhale the chocolate therefor eliminating the calories.

"[it's]a mix of culinary art and aerosol science" says the inventor David Edwards

It's a terrific way to curb an apatite or to accompany a cup of coffee according to the website. This product will not be released until later this month. You actually consume so little chocolate and that's what allows it to reduce the calorie intake to about one per spray. They will be sold in Paris, Chicago, London, and Tokyo. Inhaling one of these revolutionary chocolate tubes is called "whiffing".

I think it would be cool to try one just to see what it is like but i think it is kind of a stupid idea. Why should you want to inhale food? It doesn't even sound appetizing. But i guess i should try it before a say anything bad.

Buy One!

Away We Go

I saw a preview for this movie when i went to the movie Adventureland. Its release date is June 19th. The movie was about a young couple that was about to have a baby. They travel the U.S. to find the perfect home and along the way they revive their relationship and see different family members and friends. The genre is a comedy slash drama. I am very excited to go see this movie.
Directed by Sam Mendes who won an Academy Award for American Beauty.

Once

Once is an Irish musical film that takes place in Dublin. It got great reviews and won some awards including best foreign film. This movie is a love story different from most.

The two main characters are an Irish man who performs his music on the streets of Dublin and a Czech immigrant who sells flowers on the streets of Dublin. Neither of them are named in this film, in the credits they are listed as "Guy" and "Girl". The girl is lured in by the guys music and despite his withdrawal she persists with questions about his music. Eventually she finds out that he fixes vacuum cleaners and says hers needs to be fixed. The next day she comes to his spot with her broken vacuum cleaner.

They go to lunch and she tells him that she too is a musician. They go to the local music store and she plays piano for him. They sing and play a song together and it's perfect. (The sound track to this movie is amazing.) After more getting to know each other she takes him to her apartment where he finds out she had has a toddler and lives with her mom. She also has a husband who lives back in Czech Republic, who she seems to dislike. While the guy has a girlfriend who left him and moved to England. They record an album together because the girl wants him to move to London and promote his music. The story ends with all of these things fighting against them being together.

Burn After Reading

A movie by the Coen Brothers. Enough said.

Burn After Reading is a movie that is more and more shocking every step of the way. The whole movie is the climax. Frances McDormand plays Linda Litzki,a recurring character in Coen Brother movies, for good reason. Osbourn Cox gets fired from the CIA and decided to write a memoir. He leaves the CD that his it is saved on at the fitness club where Linda Litzki and Chad (Brad Pitt) work. They find the CD and decide to turn it into cash. These leads to an unbelievable series of events.

The movie has similar plot twists and themes as Fargo and The Big Lebowski, also written by the Coen Brothers. It is really fun to watch all three of these movies and to point out the similarities. They have some of the same actors which is interesting to see them in different roles. These movies take you on a chaotic adventure that you end up feeling apart of. You want to goofy characters to succeed and get out of their predicament.

I really liked this movie but there are some people who hated it. My advice would be if you are going to watch it go into it with an open mind. In Coen Brother movies anything could happen.

I love you Beth Cooper

This book was written by a former Simpson writer and the writing definitely reflects this with its sort of TV show feel. It is written as if in real time. One page will be like two minutes in real life and it's great because not many book are like that. I truly feel like you could make this book into a thirty minute show and not miss out on one part of the book. Actual i just checked and it is a movie. Crazy, i need to watch that.

Will basically the book is a bout a nerdy valedictorian who has been in love with the same girl his whole high school career. He decides that during his speech at graduation it would be a good idea to confess his love for this popular cheerleader in front of everyone. This leads to a comical series of events that you would never expect. The cover of the book shows the various stages of appearance Denis (the nerdy valedictorian) will go through during his adventurous night.

The book is really great because the way it is written is so unique. Larry Doyle uses such a vivid explanatory style that you can see everything going on as if you were watching it. He describes things in a way that you would never think to describe them yourself. He says things that you only think in your head and it's really hard to explain so you just have to read the book.

The cover was illustrated by: Evan Dorkin.

Adventurland

Jesse Eisenberg plays James Brennan beautifully in the movie Adventurland depicting a college graduate broke and living at home. To save money for grad school he gets a job at the local theme park, Adventureland, where he meets Arlene, played by Kelsey Ford. James is an innocent kid who thought his two week relationship with a girl was true love, while Arlene far from innocent. The movie follows them through a rough but hilarious scenario that seems corny but still heart warming.

The movie has sort of a Juno feel where the characters are much older then they look. They look like they are in high school but through out the move they drink at bars and smoke weed, to add to the roller coaster of events of course. I don't know if this was intentional, the young looking characters or not. It kind of confused me in Juno also. I wish Ellen Paige was in the movie though that would have been great. Way off track here but overall the movie was very satisfactory.

My two favorite side characters were definitely the theme park managers. They add to the comedic atmosphere in every scene they are in.

Twiggy

Lesley Hornby, also known as Twiggy, was arguably one of the world's first super models. She was nicknamed Twiggy because she was so skinny and she was said to have started the trend of today's prototypical models, tall and skinny. She got offered a modeling contract at age sixteen, she was only 90 pounds. Twiggy's career took of and she was named the face of '66.

Today Twiggy isn't completely out of the lime light. She was a judge in the hit TV show Americas Next Top Model, where she advised young girls on succeeding in the modeling industry. Twiggy got a lot of criticism for being so skinny and sort of got blamed for aiding the weight problem some teenage girls face. I think this is an unfair accusation because you can't blame someone for having a desirable figure.

I look at Twiggy as a role model because i think she had an amazing life. She was a shy young girl that got thrown into the American eye. Everyone idolized her and she was just an ordinary girl in her own eyes. She wasn't afraid to be different, she was immensely different then the trend in the early sixties.

Wreck This Journal

Keri Smith is the creator of Wreck This Journal. It is a creative outlet for anyone who wants to express themselves or just wreck something. Each page has different directions on it to do to the journal. The first page says to doodle on the cover of the journal and the copyright page. Some pages tell you to write things like: make a grocery list, write the same word over and over, and record in detail an insignificant event. Each person will interpret these pages differently and think of their own creative way to fill them out.

I received this journal as a present form my friend for Christmas. I really like the idea of it and i think it is a great way to get away from everything. it's sort of like a journal where you write down all your worries and problems and get them out in the open, but it's different. You don't actually come out and say these things you can display them through how you "wreck" the journal. I remember when i got to a page that said write the same word over and over i wrote purpose. That day i was very stressed about college and i couldn't decide what i wanted to do with my life. It's a way to get things out of your head and onto paper because it helps to externalize your feelings sometimes.

The journal also has pages that say things like document your dinner on this page and one collect fruit stickers on this page and one say collect stamps on this page. The fruit sticker one was fun because i am a cashier at Hyvee so i day i just stole every one's fruit stickers as i was checking them out. i collected them all on a piece of paper then transferred them to my journal. Also another page i am looking forward to doing is the one that says place a picture of yourself here that you hate. Now scribble all over it.

The back of the journal looks like a letter and has a place for an address and a return address. One of the pages says tape this journal shut and mail it to yourself. I think that when i am all done with my journal i am going to mail it to someone else. I am excited for this day but i still have a lot to do.

Comfortably Numb: How Psychiatry is Medicating a Nation

Written By Charles Barber, Comfortably Numb is a book about how pharmaceutical companies are taking over the world. It gives his perspective on the increasing mental health issue in the United States and the various reasons it is happening. Charles Barber is a talented author who also wrote Songs From the Black Chair, which is a memoir about his own experience with mental illness. He writes a blog for the Huffington Post.

The use of psychoactive drugs in the U.S. has been rising dramatically which has contributed to a nice profit for the pharmaceutical industry. This wasn't by accident. These companies make this medicating readily available to everyone. They blur the line between mental illness and everyday problems with their advertisements that promise a quick fix. These drugs are the second most advertised product in America exposing millions of people to this unrealistic quick fix. It is illegal to advertise drugs in other countries which would explain why the united states has a much bigger problem with over medication then other counties.

"Comfortably Numb chronicles the extraordinary psychopharmaceuticalization of everyday life that has arisen in recent years and appears to be growing apace. Charles Barber marks out the inconvenient truths on our path to emotional climate change but also offers alternatives to readers who wish to avoid pharmageddon."— David Healy, author of Let Them Eat Prozac

Also pharmaceutical companies bribe psychiatrists to promote their drug so they can maximize their profit. There have been reports of companies paying doctors to write false information about their competitors drugs and even same articles in prestigious journals with unknown authors. These are called ghostwriters whom pharmaceutical companies pay to write an article with completely false information about different medications. A good psychiatrist knows to take what they read in these journals with tremendous doubt.

The problem is these companies promote these drugs and neglect telling people the much saver and better alternatives. People have an unrealistic expectation and vision of these drugs, they are a magical cure. Other routes that people could take is going through therapy or even just good old aerobic exercise which has been proven to reduce stress and make you a healthier person. Just talking to someone and having a strong social support system can also help tremendously. You have to try to help yourself before you resort to relying on a foreign substance to mask your symptoms and risk side effects.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

This movie is about relationships. Almost everyone has went through the misery of a breakup and that is what the idea of this movie is based on. Breakups can be a really hard part in a persons life and they usually always are accompanied by drama, broken hearts, and sad memories. In this movie they invented a way to erase the memories from your brain. They erase all of the memories that have to do with the person that you broke up with. You won't remember them at all, not even meeting them. This is a very interesting concept.

At the beginning of the movie Joel and Clementine meet each other on a train. Joel is shy and sad while Clementine is friendly talkative. They end up liking each other but they don't know that they both have a forgotten past. The movie flashes back and forth between their old relationship and new one while in the process of telling the story of Joel getting Clementine erased from his memory. All of this is confusing at first but the cool part is it's all intricately and thoughtfully interwoven into a story that you'll never forget.

While Joel is getting his memory erased he somehow is conscious of what is going on and wants it to stop. He changed is mind while his brain was flashing back to all of this old memories. This movie is definitely interesting and worth watching.

Actors etc.

Taking the Stage

Taking the stage is a new reality show on MTV. I know what you are thinking, not another stupid reality show! But seriously this one is different. It's not your typical scripted lame dating show that is usually featured on MTV. This one is actually interesting and real. You never know what is scripted these days so i have no idea if it is reality but i still like the show and all of the kids on it. This show is about about students at the school of Creative and Performing Arts in Cincinnati. You have to addition to get into the school and afterwards students go to persue their dream in all areas of the performing buisness.

The show follows five very talented students and shows how they are working toward their dream.


Mia is a singer-song writter who i fell in love with the first time i heard her sing. She has an amazing vioce and she plays the quitar. She is incredibly driven to be famous and her goal in life is to be signed by the time she is eighteen. The first episode was about their school's talent show and the judges were actually people from the entertainment industry. Mia was in the talent show playing a song that she wrote with her band in the background. She got first place in the talent show and i was so happy. Also i like how she is not afraid to perform and she goes and plays shows wherever they will let her. She has a very funky style and she seems so confident. She can sing, play guitar, write songs, and even dance, she can do whatever she sets her mind to.



Another person i liked right away was Jasmine. She is a very talented dancer and loves ballet. Her goal is to make it to Juilliard which is a performing arts school in New York. She says she wants to be the best profesional dancer of her generation. She can also dance hip hop and it a very pretty girl. In the first episode she meets Tyler, a new student and they instantly hit it off. Tyler is a hip hop dancer and comes to the school to become a more well rounded dancer. He is in Jasmine's ballet class and he asks her for help. He finds out that there is a hip hop group at the school and Jasmine tells him to come to their practice and check it out. When he does Malike, the leader of the group gets angry. Tyler decides he wants to make his own hip hop group because that wasn't his style.

The show is mainly filmed at their school and shows what goes on. One day they had a dance off in the cafeteria. I don't know it this really happened in real life but if it did that would be crazy. I guess it was kind of corny but it still showed off their really good dancing skills. At the talent show Tyler's dance group won over Malik's and that made him very mad. They kind of have a battle of who is better through out the show.

The series just started but i am very excited to follow along. The reason i like this show so much is becasue it's not your typical reality show. I like the content and just the idea of the show. It shows kids who are motivated and very talented. It gives other kids inspiration for their dreams and it's just interesting to watch other people on their journey to fame.

Requiem For a Dream

Requiem For a Dream is a movie infused with addiction and self illusion, drugs and prescription pills, and lives all headed on a downward spiral. The movie follows a mother, her son, his drug dealer and his girlfriend through their chaotic and dreadful lives. The movie depicts these four people caught in the cycle and exposes the means that people go through to feed their habit.

Ellen Burstyn plays the lonely mom who lives alone in her apartment. She is mesmerized by television and watches the same infomercial over and over. When she gets a call saying she will be on television she becomes excited and it gives her a reason to wake up in the morning. She decides she wants to lose weight so she can fit in the same red dress she wore to her son's graduation. She goes to the doctor and gets prescription diet pills which she becomes addicted to. Her life gets consumed by this medication and she becomes one of many addicts.

Jared Leto plays her son who is addicted to heroin and his girlfriend is addicted to cocaine along with his best Friend. All of these characters live the most horrible lives. Everything is centered around when they will shoot up next and who they will buy their next sack from. The movie shows all these character's lives on a downward spiral as a result of their addiction

An intense(like the circus) part of the movie is at the end when all the characters seem to hit their low point at the same time. They flash from scene to scene showing the dramatic affects the drugs are having on their lives and what it has lead them to. This part of the movie makes you sick but you can't stop watching in horror. The ending brings the whole movie together and really gets the point across. This movie is a great movie portraying how addicts really live, even though people might not know about it.

Overview