30 Day Song Challenge

So a while ago I stumbled upon one of those Facebook phenomenons that just takes you over.

"The 30 Day Song Challenge" is a series of questions about your favorite, least favorite, ect., ect., songs. The gist is that you are supposed to post one question along with it's corresponding youtube video.

I asked some of my friends to play along with me, and it turned out to be a really fun experience for all of us.

Here is the complete list from my 30 Day Song Challenge, and quite a few of the videos.

Warning! I tried to be as honest as I could be with these questions. This resulted in some mildly embarrassing song choices in some categories. I encourage you all to play the challenge this way, it's so much more fun!

Without further ado a month's worth of music choices...

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#1 Your favorite song - I can't really pick one, but here is one of my favorites.



Day 2 - Your Least Favorite Song - Tom Waits, "The Heart of Saturday Night." I know that this is gonna be controversial, but I really, really don't like this song. Sorry to all those who will lose faith in my taste in music.

Day 3 - A song that makes you happy - I love the talking heads in general, nut this song always makes me smile.



Day 4 - Name a Sad Song - This song was written by my great grandfather, and although "O Brother Where Art Thou" kinda made it less sad, the original will break your heart. Unfortunately there are no youtube videos of him singing it, but this version is pretty good too.



Day 5 - A Song that Reminds You of Someone - The Books, "Tokyo." I knew this one was gonna be hard, so I went with the very first thing that popped in my head. It was this song and the memory of driving with Claire Elise in OH so many years ago.

Day 6 - A song that reminds you of some place - David Bowie, "Queen Bitch." My sophomore year apt. with Leigh Missld. We listened to a lot of Bowie in that big ol' yellow building.

Day #7 - A Song that reminds you of a certain event: This will always remind of WET's party where Satori did a rock band cover of this song and I revealed my Alanis Morissette impersonation to Seattle.



day 8 - A song you know all the lyrics to....



day #9 - A song you can dance to - Stevie Wonder, "Superstitious." Yeah drivin around LA with Lauren Ashley Carter doing some fly ass head dancing.

Day #10 - A song you can fall asleep to - Mary Poppins, "Feed The Birds." I don't know if I could anymore, but my mom used to sing this to me every night.

Day #11 - A Song from my Favorite Band - Here comes Queen again, but they really are my favorite. If you haven't heard this song (and most people haven't) I highly suggest it.



day #12 - A song by a band you hate - Garth Brooks. He just makes my skin crawl. Yick.

Day 13 - A song that is your guilty pleasure - Adam Lambert, "What do You Want From Me." I love this song. It's not my usual, but that's why it's a guilty pleasure!

Day 14 - A song that people would be surprised to know you like - Huey Lewis and The News, "The Power of Love." I was never a die hard Huey Lewis fan, but after having to sing it every night in "Artifacts of Consequence" I can't help but enjoy it.

Day 15 - A Song that describes you. I'm not sure that this song describes me very well, but it is weird, and I have been described as such before.



Day 16 - A Song you used to love but now you hate - Jet, "Are You Gonna Be My Girl." So I never really loved this song. But I never changed the channel when it was on the radio. In fact, I kinda liked it. But, now it makes me effing crazy.

Day 17 - A song you hear on the radio - The Beatles, "Get Back." I don't listen to the radio too too often, but when I do I feel like The Beatles are following me. I guess that's what comes from being the best band ever or something...

Day 18 - A song that you wish you heard on the radio. I love this band and I love this song.



Day 19 - A Song from your favorite album. Sorry to get a little angsty on everyone. This album is sad, but such a masterpiece. Listen to it from beginning to end to get what I mean.



Day 20 - A song you listen to when you're angry - Peter, Bjorn, & John, "Nothing to Worry About." This song always makes me happy.

Day 21 - A song you listen to when you're happy - Dirty Projectors, "Cannibal Resource."

Day 22 - A song you listen to when your sad - Sufjen Stevens, "Casmir Pulaski Day."

Day 23 - A song you want to play at your wedding. I'm not much for traditional weddings, so I would kind of love to have just a big ho down. This song is kinda new to be a wedding pick, but I gotta say it's won me over.



Day 24 - A song you want to play at your funeral - Jack White's Version of..."Mother Nature's Son." It was the first song my dad taught me to play on guitar, so I can't shake this one.

Day 25 - A song that makes you laugh - Chromeo, "Mammas Boy."

Day 26 - A song you can play on an instrument - Cee Lo Green, "Fuck You." This is a really easy song to play, but it's so effing good.

Day 27 - A song you wish you could play. I've been working on this one, but I always get my timing off. I love this.



Day 28 - A song that makes you feel guilty - The Heartless Bastards, "All This Time." Because I literally never saw them play. :-(

Day 29 - A song from your childhood. My mom had the 45 of this song and we would put it on and dance to it. It was my jam at two years old.



Day 30 - Your favorite song this time last year. We were in the middle of "MOAM" rehearsals at this time last year and Adam and I were choreographing the high school dance sequence to this song. I had no other option but to let myself love it, cause it was playing all-the-time.



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Give the 30 Song Challenge a try. I think you'll have as much fun as I did.

Can't Stop Pushing Repeat

Nerd Adventures

This weekend Anthony and I embarked on some of the nerdiest adventures in a while.  The past few weeks have been mostly about work, theater work, band work, and day jobs, so it was imperative that we take an afternoon to have an adventure.

This particular outing took us to the Seattle Center for the afternoon to the EMP (Experience Music Project) and the Pacific Science Center where they are hosting a Star Wars exhibit.

Our plan was just to go to the Star Wars exhibit, but when we got there we realized that we wouldn't be able to get in for a couple of hours (quite the popular deal in Seattle at the moment).  Fortunately, I had free passes to the EMP from a nice customer at work and we decided to visit that as well.  There were two awesome exhibits there.

First, the Nirvana exhibit.

I only got these two photos there because it was super dark and crowded.  It was interesting to see artifacts from the band because I can remember seeing them the first time around when Nirvana was playing.  They even had one of Kurt Cobain's sweaters from their MTV Unplugged, which was funny because that is one of the performances I remember most.

We then traveled upstairs where the Battlestar Galactica exhibit was held.  I forgot to mention that the other half of the EMP is the SFM (science fiction museum) and they also had a touring show from the tv show battlestar.

 

That was particularly fun because Anthony and I have been watching that show on and off for years. 

 

I think it's about time we finished watching, don't you?

Then, after some quick lunch it was time for the main event, the Star Wars exhibit.

 

 

 

The neat thing about the exhibit, beyond being a fanboys dream come true, was that a large portion of the exhibit was about how modern science is being influenced by what was created in Star Wars.  There were whole exhibits about real droids and new spacecraft technology that is being developed today.

 

 

 

 

The other thing I was struck by in seeing these props and costumes is just how creative these designers and technicians had to be.  Most of this stuff is not high tech, state of the art materials, but simply whatever they could find that felt right for the story.  Up close Darth Vader's costume doesn't look half as menacing as it does on screen.  These artists had to know how to make something beautiful out of almost nothing.

 

But the greatest moment of the day came when we got to take a ride in the Millennium Falcon.  No joke.  I thought our little nerd brains might explode when it came down to it, but we were very well behaved and made an excellent crew to the famous space vessel.

All in all a wonderful adventure had by all.  We've got a few more in the works for next weekend, can't wait to see what happens next!

I'm so happy that I don't even mind being Chewbacca.

Our Name, Our First Show, and What's Next

The band has been very busy in the past few weeks.

We have recorded about 1/3 of our album, did our first show, and finally came up with a name we can handle.

Our Name:

The West.  I think it has a nice ring to it.  To me it sounds like promises and forward motion.  What do you think of our tentative album cover?  Anthony found the image via our friend Clare and jumped on using it for the album.

Our First Show:

Was two weeks ago at the Satori Loft for their "smash bash" party.  We played 8 songs and the crowed seemed to be very into it.

That's me playing my new synth.  I've really begun to love it.  It's so intricate that I think I could explore it for months and still find new ways to play with it.

The West

Soon we'll be going back into the studio to finish recording our first album.  We'll also begin doing some more shows in mid-June/July.

I'm so excited for what's next and I can't wait to share the journey.