Sistuhs and... BROHANS! *metal sign*

Listen, people.
I was forced to talk to Donna McGuire on Friday for far too long about her disgusting habits in order to get a ride back to my place so that Jon could pick me up for mewithoutYou in Dekalb, Illinois that evening. And listen:

It ruled.

The venue was this respectably sized coffee house which actually had a pretty good room sound and monitors, though admittedly the small stage meant that the bands performing were slightly cramped. Oh well, it wasn't terribly minute; people still had breathing space when all was said and done.
The Felix Culpa was the first support group, and they basically aren't that good, although their drummer is super-tight. Their vocalist kinda blows, and some of their riffs leave a lot to be desired.
However, Dusty Brown played next; they're a brother and sister electronic duo who dished it out awesome-style. Jessica, their vocalist, is sorta like a not-crazy Bjork, mostly in her melodies I would say. Their setup had a few difficulties with feedback, but it still went over very well and left me quite impressed. I was floored when they dished out a rendition of "Love Will Tear Us Apart" by Joy Division. I sang along with Jessica about 2 octaves lower to match Ian Curtis' original vocal and was beside myself with ecstasy, and was briefly (and vaguely) in love with her. She's like a little elven princess. Okay, I'm done. Her brother's very talented, too. See? I said I was done.
Then there was one more band that was a populist pub-rock kinda group who were mediocre but enjoyable. After them, however, was the mighty mewithoutYou, with their new bassist, replacing the dearly departed Daniel Pishock.
They killed.
They played the first 3 songs from Catch For Us the Foxes in order, and for one brief, shinging moment, we were all sure that they were going to perform the entirety of the album in order, but they served up an older song next, which got some kids dancing. I'm aboslutely positive that their vocalist Aaron Weiss smiled at me. I was simply awestruck by their set and was smiling from ear to ear, and while he was singing during one song, our eyes met, and he got an enormous grin on his face and started making up new lyrics to the song. He definitely sang "50 straight edge shirts" but didn't make it any further because he started laughing so hard. I'm positive that we developed a rapport.
As usual, he's completely hilarious during the between song banter, and even their drummer Ricky joined in, making ridiculous new song titles whenever Aaron would ask what was next. "This next song is called... uh... 'Blade Runner.'" Listen. That's funny.
Aaron busted out an accordion during the final stretch of the set and though it wasn't always entirely audible, you were still left with the feeling that Aaron Weiss is probably one of the Top 5 Dudes Currently In Existence. In short, he definitely should be included amongst the ranks of the Men.
Kayleigh's birthday dinner was yesterday (finally) so we dined at Olive Garden and laughed at my grandma for about two hours. Afterward, we did Walken practice for a while before checking out Jenny Wondrash's bonfire. I got pelted with entirely too many marshmallows (in a very Salem Witch Trials manner) for not admitting that I pronounced "Dookie" as "Ducky." I totally didn't, though; when I originally said it, it rhymed with "cookie." And that's that.
I went to church with Kristin the next morning and enjoyed the visiting evangelist's sermon, but lost all veneer of gentlemanliness for the rest of the duration of our time together. I don't know why I suddenly got so goofy; I just kind of awoke that morning really goofball-ish. It's not an excuse; it's a reason.

"...he'll be turning 95 this week."
"Whoa!"

"What'd you guys order?"
"Pig."

Really, really dumb stuff. But if you can't heartily enjoy the small things, what can you really enjoy?
After I finally returned home, we had another tremendously prolific Walken practice, as well as a surprise D.B. Cooper practice. Ohhhhhhhhh, it felt good playing those songs again, believe you me. We ended a bit early so I could obtain foodstuffs for Cell that night and then booked over to Jon's sister's apartment had a nice evening with Paul and Barb and the rest of the Cells crew.
All in all, the weekend pretty much dominated. Oh, and we have a show in Chicago this Friday, so send lots of positive rock energy my way, if you can afford to spare any. And listen, people: you're all overflowing with it, so hook a brutha up.
Thanks for listening, folks.

Love,
Ian

P.S. I acknowledge that I've said "Listen" an obscene amount during this post, but will I continue nevertheless?
Do Pharisees use Xerox machines?
Listen: you got it.

Excuse me... have you seen my BIKE?!

Hullo!

Powers beyond my control have conspired to keep me in school for the rest of this semester (i.e. about 4 or 5 more weeks, oh no!), and by "powers beyond my control," I actually mean my mom. She called MMI yesterday and wired $850 into their Swiss bank account, thus rendering me still a student, thus saving my killer mid-term scores. And besides, like I said, I have roughly a month left in school anyway, so it'd just be a shame to get kicked out now ignominiously.
You wanna know who's seeing mewithoutYou again this Friday? This guy. I'll actually dig the show a lot more this time around now that I'm totally familiar with their material, so I'm about as pumped as John Dillinger is full of lead.*
Did you know that the Earth wobbles a couple of degrees every couple of thousand years? I just read Fingerprints of the Gods which is an investigation into the possibility of a lost, ancient cvilization (which didn't actually mention Atlantis, surprisingly enough), and it mentioned how it's improper to speak of Ice Ages, when in fact, there's always an Ice Age for any landmass which is situated at the poles. When a myriad of factors overlap, the Earth's crust will shift dramatically, sending new regions into the poles. This is what actually accounts for the strange idiosyncrasies we find in each individual Ice Age, and why we find wooly mammoths instantly frozen with fresh flowers in their mouth and other such anomalies. Of course, some of the sources he cited suggested that the next shift of the Earth's crust could possibly be in the region of 2040, so hopefully the Shifting Crust Theory is poppycock. I'd rather not be around when that takes place, thank you.
Anyway, I gotta go spill blood in order to obtain some funding for mewithoutYou, so I gotta head out. Super green.

Love,
Ian

*Even though the FBI didn't get the right guy that fateful night behind the Biograph Theater...

This is Rubber Ducky; what's your 20?

Hello everyone!
Well, the entirety of my Saturday was occupied with EdgeFest, a hardcore festival held in Appleton which featured the soaring talents of a little band you might've heard of called Fallen Sparrows, amongst many others. The festival itself lasted about 12 hours and had 2 stages, roughly 2 dozen bands, and about thirty kids all wearing the same Underoath shirt.
The first band I witnessed was Black Hand Tactics (I forgot to ask them if the name was inspired by the terrorist network which essentially assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, but i assumed this was the case) who dominated a set steeped in originality and good songwriting (and most importantly, as few hXc cliches as possible), though admittedly the sound was quite poor. Not that that's their fault in the least; whoever was in charge of that aspect at the festival really could've done better, though it did improve as the night wore on.
Anyway, their guitarists noodled out countless snakey riffs from their instruments, all while dressed in disgusting short shorts of the variety that girls often wear in Phy Ed, and their drummer delivered technical drumming with finesse, peppered with tasteful blastbeats. Their vocalist did a combination of Entombed-style death metal vocals as well as an early Emperor screech to great effect. Both won kudos from this reviewer.
Fallen Sparrows played 2 sets after BHT, and reliable stalwarts that they are, delivered a killer set of their idiosyncratic brand of... I don't know... post-hardcore? Several bucketloads of sweat later, Zach looked like his head was bleeding, but it was actually the temporary red dye that he had put in his bangs melting and running down his face, thus rendering the look of a combat wounded veteran (who are an excellent band, by the way!).
In the Face of War followed close after FS, and impressed me with the forward-thinking sonic innovations they offered old-school Cro-Mags and Agnostic Front style hardcore. Even their cover of a Foo Fighters song ("Everlong") went over with me quite well. (That one took me a second the recognize it for what it really was; when I first heard the chords, I thought, "Gosh that sounds familiar..." but it kind of eluded me until I heard the chorus and it clicked.) Their vocalist introduced every song with pleas for unity and positive thinking and lifestyles before kicking it into gear with the rest of the band and annihilating everything in sight. As far as I'm concerned, this band can do no wrong.
A few sets after ItFoW played, Zach, Jon, Joel (A., not W.) and Jason and I took a break to check out the theater in the mall the festival took place at and saw "Meet the Fockers" which was disgusting to the utmost and reliant far too much upon gross-out humor and tepid jokes cultivated in the first movie, but was enjoyable nonetheless... for the most part. Some parts still make me shudder, though.
The highlight of the evening came with the second to last band, Nodes of Ranvier, who basically wiped the slate clean and destroyed most of the bands who were nufortunate enough to play in the hour or so before them. I still don't really think that they're a hardcore group, even based on the current defintion of what is hardcore, but I could be wrong, and I might be overanalyzing the entire phenomenon in an attempt to categorize, but that's neither here nor there. The fact of the matter is that Nodes are an awesome group who pummel mercilessly but are totally humble and genuinely appreciative to have had so many kids there to support not only them but the entire movement as a whole, so they drove away from Appleton with a couple dozen brownie points from me.
Allow me to digress for a moment, and just say that if you want to hardcore dance at a show, more power to you. That's cool. But please do it in the area designated for just such conduct, i.e. the big empty spot that people have backed away from that don't want to hardcore dance. There was one pseudo-chubby fellow in a black hoodie who would be standing in the midst of a whole gaggle of people and immediately start thrashing and just destroying people (Jon and myself included). Not cool, man. Be a bit more respectful, eh? Just move 5 feet forward into that big hollow circle where OTHER people are also hardcore dancing (imagine that) and proceed to rip, please.
After Nodes, Jon and I bailed for home once more. We returned at about 1:30 in the morning and I crashed at his place once more to facilitate church in the morning, which was amazing, p.s. The issue of having a sermon was thrown out the window in light of the fellowship we were having and all of the testimony that so many people had to offer. It was quite the emotional experience, and I consider myself privileged for having been there. I also met Nick Pavlik for the first time there, and I am honored to be accounted as one of his friends now.
The Taubes, Nick and I had lunch at Applebee's where of course we saw Ryan Bushaw (aka the Shaw, aka the Bear, aka Ziggy Shawdust, aka Nips, aka the Knife) and hilarity ensued. In fact, hilarity ensued once in the form of Jon's mom spillin raspberry iced tea all over me. I'm not holding onto resentment, it was funny. She asked me how I got my socks wet, and I told her it was because my feet were bellow me...? She forgot that dudes don't really clench their legs together when we're seated, given the whole thing about how (for the most part) we don't wear dresses. For the most part.
Over all, it was a quite awesome weekend, one that has left me destitute financially, but rich in free t-shirts, pens, and EPs, as well as in spirit. Rock and roll, people!

Love,
Ian

I can count to purple backwards!

Hello there, all. I've come to the realization that regular dispatches via Blogger have been somewhat scant as of late, so I'm starting to think that maybe I shouldn't guarantee daily posts anymore. I mean, seeing as how most of said promises end up not amounting to much, it kinda makes sense.
What I can tell you is that I've now missed two days of school due to the Van Galder drivers on Monday and today completely failing to drop me off at the Dutch Mill Park and Ride on Broadway, thus stranding me at the Memorial Union on Langdon with naught but my name. I've already cleared Monday's absence, and I'm pretty sure that Biff won't mind that I missed today, but I'd rather this not develop into a trend. Then again, perhaps it can't...
I got yet another memo from the office saying that $1700 is still unpaid for my tuition, and that if it wasn't paid in full by Friday, my enrollment would be terminated. The memo I got in my mailbox at school said that it was my "Final" notice, which I guess is supposed to sound intimidating or whatever, but I kinda doubt that they'll follow through on this threat after the debacle last time. But then again, you never know. Being kicked out of school now would really suck, since I have about 5 or 6 weeks left of the semester, and especially since I just found that I aced my mid-terms. That would be something of a major letdown, and a bummer of a denouement at that.
Whilst I was stranded today, I was hanging out at the Taco Bell down the block from the Exclusive Company working on electronic equations when it struck me that I couldn't remember the entirety of the quadratic formula. Naturally, I panicked, and I ended up sheepishly asking a group of kids behind me for it, except... they didn't know, either. The only part I couldn't recall was the whole of the quantity below the square root (although I did know that 4ac was in it), so Kayleigh ended up enlightening me after I got back home today.
My soundtrack this week has been Discordance Axis and Talking Heads, virtually non-stop, and now I can't live without the either of them. I know most of you reading this don't dig grind, but you should unequivocally check out Talking Heads, because I know you all dig... uh... good stuff. Sorry. The Heads escaped hasty categorization, so that stupid term I just drummed up had to suffice. But anyways, as always: if you have the means, I highly recommend it.
But anywho, I have to go donate so's I have money for Edge Fest tomorrow, so... I'm off. Like a dog's sense of color coordination.* Be excellent to each other.

Love,
Ian

*Was that funny at all? No? I had to try something...

YEAH, RANDY!!!

Okay, so... that whole business about me promising to update the following day? I wrote a new post, and was later mystified to find that it never actually was published. So, strictly speaking, did I keep my promise? Yes. Did I rectify the situation upon discovering that I didn't have a new entry? No, not really. I was recording all week! I simply couldn't muster the strength to write anything new. Had I attempted it in my uninspired state, it would've been something really dull anyway, so I think, if anything, I did everyone a favor. Right...?
But yeah, Walken was in the studio all of last week recording our debut EP, and it turned out really well. I can notice small things that I would've changed in the production had we more time, but that doesn't change my overall opinion of the recording, and I am still quite pleased with the outcome. The bottom line is this: all modesty aside, I would listen to us, were we not us. Except we are. But I still would, because I honestly think it's good. I'm not taking my ego for a spin or anything, trust me.
Zach and I also got devilocks last week, and we've been thrashing hXc ever since. Jon says I look like the dude from Lamb of God sometimes when it's kind of to the side of my face, but I don't see it. Of course, I don't really want to, since Lamb of God pretty much suck wholeheartedly and blisteringly. I'm completely prepared for a Misfits tribute band now, by the way, if anyone's interested. I'd like to be Doyle, if no one minds, but we'll have to sort all of this out later.
We also went in search of the Bray Road Beast last Thursday. We went in Zach's and the Shaw's pick-up trucks and went up and down the length of the road several times without witnessing the creature. Eventually, it was decided that since there wasn't any convenient spot for us to park without getting arrested, Jon and I would get out and check out this trail on foot whilst everyone else did one more circuit of the road. Once they dropped us off, I immediately regretted the decision; it was black as pitch, and the woods ahead were ominous and forboding. Nevertheless, with the Shaw's dinky little Maglite in hand, I led the way in, and we went a couple of dozen yards before a crunching sound ahead of us on our left prompted me to tell Jon to radio them to come back doubletime (we sagely decided that walkie talkies would be a good idea), and so we bailed out of the woods and back onto the road and got the heck outta Dodge. Or Elkhorn, rather. I'm so ready to go back and get the jump on the BRB, though. I'm altogether much less scared now that Jon has convinced me that the BRB has a poopbutt like Ginger.
There was a freakin' Tornado warning on Wednesday, and the ensuing storm cut off all the power in the studio, so we had to call it quits early (4:00). I so called the storm that day, too. While we played basketball on break, I smelled something in the air, and totally knew that we were gonna have a pretty righteous storm on our hands later that evening. I know, I rule. Zach pretty much dominates at basketball, by the way. Don't play him. He will own you. He will knock your wack shot out of the court.
Argh. I didn't really get a lot of sleep during the week of recording, and now I'm back in school as well, so sleep is kind of falling by the wayside again. At least I tested out of Business English successfully, so I don't have to be back in school a couple of hours after I get done with my studio class. Oh well, I'm not complaining. I just wish it was Spring Break for another couple of weeks.
Speaking of sleep, I'm gonna take a nap. I'm freakin' tired. Peace.

Love,
Ian