I Definitely Didn't Know About This

While perusing the once great, now hollowed shell of musical existence that is Subterranean, I stumbled on this video in their Top 25 Videos of 2008 list. It came in at #16.

I personally have an extreme and memory-rich love of Dr. Dog. I got into them back when We All Belong first came out in '07, and then started digging and basically just fell in love with the whole catalog. My bf knew a little about them and with my obsession with them, he probably got more Dr. Dog in his life than he could handle. I have so many memories and feelings (both happy and sad) attached to Dr. Dog's music that I can't listen to a single song anymore without crying. In fact, I'm starting to tear up just listening to "Ain't It Strange" in my head. It's a bummer though, because I love Dr. Dog and put at least two songs on all my playlists.

Anyways, it would seem they made a video to "Alaska," which happens to be one of the best songs on their '07 release. I remember when my bf and I were driving to the park from dinner at night and we were driving through downtown ATL and I said, "Wait, let me put on some city night driving music," and I put this song on. All the lights...and this song...and then my bf put his hand on mine and we just looked at each other and no one said a thing...it was perfect.

Oh shit. Since I'm getting all teary again, let me just play the damn video. The concept is cool too. It reminds me of the video for "Mountains" by the Spinto Band, or "Who's There?" by Cavil at Rest (but only very loosely). Anyway, watch it, love it, live it. DDFL.

Dr. Dog - New Music - More Music Videos

E

Once Upon A Time I Was A Nerd

Okay, I still have a little bit of nerd girl in me. Not gonna lie. But I was reminded of this deeply suppressed nerdiness when I was listening to my Zune in the car today. See? I have a Zune. I'm like an alt nerd.

Anyway, it was on shuffle and things were chill until "Shimmy Shimmy Quarter Turn" came on. I haven't listened to Hellogoodbye in like two years. And crazily, I remembered all the lyrics. Like they just came pouring out of me like a foreign language in cadence with the music. It brought back flashbacks of me spending forever on the Drive Thru Records website trying to find a cheap Hellogoodbye tee (ahhh to no avail), and putting "Jesse Buy Nothing... Go to Prom Anyways" on repeat, and then practically frothing at the mouth when I heard there would be a second album. I remember pre-ordering that shit a day late, so I actually got my record the day AFTER it dropped in stores, but getting a color by numbers-style black velvet poster with it. I would campaign for HGB and constantly try to propogate their superiority over other pop/punk bands at the time. I felt my heart drop when I saw their video on MTV, and I almost got into a car wreck dancing to "Touch Down Turnaround."

It was kinda sad, in retrospect. I just wanted to hang out with guys who were nerdy and awesome like that. I wanted to go to Huntington Beach and chill with them, playing trivia at Mexican restaurants and TP-ing people's cars and other stupidly fun things. Like I said, it was sad.



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Why I Hate Rock Band

Everyone I know is aware that I hate Rock Band. I do. I kind of really mind Guitar Hero too, but that's more like karoake and Pump to me, so it doesn't really get under my skin. But for some reason, Rock Band really gets me going. First off, I hate those commercials. They try to be funny and sarcastic and clever and all that, but they're lost on me. I know what they're about, but they're stupid.

But I won't continue to talk about adverts forever.

My boyfriend thinks my hate of RB is elitist. Fuck that. You know what, I probably am. When I was in 10th grade, all I wanted was a drum kit. I'd played the flute in MS band for three years (but never got any better) and then took piano lessons under this strict and stringent teacher who never let me paint or grow out my nails. It was boring, but I am an ace pianist.

Anyway, I bought my first drums from Goodwill. It was $25 for four drums that were missing a lot of parts and were pretty crappy, but I sat on my floor and learned them. I bought a ten dollar TEACH YOURSELF DRUMS book. My first pair of sticks were the shittiest ones ever and only cost about three bucks. But day in and day out, I sat in front of those drums and practiced.

Cut to about six months later. My friends and I think it would be cool to start an all girl band. We have two garage sales and raise around $120. With the money we buy an amp, a guitar, and a mic. Then we try to build me a complete drum kit. It's hella expensive. I plead to my mother and she finally buys me a kit about two months later. It becomes my pride and joy. Continuous trips to Guitar Center ensue. I feel empowered when I buy my sticks. I ogle hot boy drummers.

A year and two defunct riot grrrl bands later, I still practice the drums everyday. I am sad to put them in storage when I go to LA. The most wonderful thing that has happened in my drumming career is when I saw this man drumming on an upside down bucket on the street in Atlanta. He was amazing.

I approached him and asked him how long he was playing. He said, "For a really long time." I said, "I've been playing for about a year and I feel like I'm not getting any better."

He said to me, "Keep going. I'm sure you'll get really good."

You don't get that kind of organic, interesting, awesome story from asking your mom to go to Target and buy you Rock Band. You don't get this feeling of accomplishment of learning an instrument from square one and then getting really good at it. You feel like you can conquer the fucking world with that feeling. I don't dismiss the fact that Rock Band gives a lot of people the chance to come out of their shells. I just wonder why people can't just buy a real instrument and do that.

I guess the world likes the instant gratification. Bleh, that's why I hate Rock Band.

Deuces,
Erika

Friends...But Not The TV Show, The People

I really need friends. I'm not gonna front like before I moved to ATL, I had a shit ton of friends, 'cos I didn't. They were all flighty sort of friends that you hung out with and whose houses you slept over and walked to and from school with, but never really connected with. Those girls would ditch you for the popular kids and pretend not to know you if everyone else was doing it.

In fact, when I came to Atlanta, I made more friends than I'd ever had. But they all, in turn, spurned me and left me sad and lost. Somehow I kept fucking up my friendships. It had to have been me, right? That's how I used to see it. They were so much more perfect than me. I had to be the one who was saying and doing the wrong things.

Some girls stayed in my life longer than others, but eventually, they all got filtered out of it, either by some out of hand fight, moving, or just drifting apart.

High school was kind of different. Granted, I faced a lot of bitches, but I thought I had three real friends. Of course, like all girls, they were a lot to handle. One was a chronic liar, one had an eating disorder, and one lived in a perpetual state of childishness. I tried again. I got a spoiled brat, a chick that didn't even have a driver's license in senior year, and a dude that thought women couldn't be rappers. (But he was also the perfect candidate to be a domestic abuser, so we won't go into that.)

In other words, I've never been able to find good, strong friends. I've never had that "tell me anything, I won't judge you, I'll just listen and give you good advice" kind of relationship. I used to spend hours on end telling my mom my problems, but there's only so far you can go with parents, y'know?

I definitely don't have issues making friends. I make friends on the internet, at shows, at the grocery store, blah fucking blah. I have trouble making friends I can hang with outside said internet, shows, grocery stores. People who I can just call and say, "Hey, I'm getting pizza, you down?" and they will actually respond, "Fuck yeah! Meet you there in fifteen." I've never had that.

Well the BBQ yesterday just reminded me of how few real friends I have, since they were all my bf's friends, and not mine. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind doing things by myself. But there's a limit. I was trying to tell this to my bf last night, but he just said, "Dude, if I sat around all day like you, I would just drive anywhere and just walk around."

Sometimes it's not that easy. Sometimes it kinda hurts to walk somewhere by yourself and see people walking and laughing and having fun and NOT BEING HIT ON BY CREEPY DUDES THAT LIKE TO HIT ON CHICKS THAT ARE ALONE, cause that ish is starting to make me crazy. Still, sometimes you want someone to spill your soul to, besides your dog.

Deuces,
Erika

100th Post!!!

Actually, this picture was easier to find than you would think.

So this is it! My 100th blog post! I never ever thought I would get to 100, honestly. When I started this blog in May, my first post was about my mad contempt for that stupid rapper Tyga. And look how far I've come! I've made friends and gotten to know people, I've learned things and even made a few blog-enemies!

You might even say that I've arrived! Well, world, here I am! And I'm taking you by storm! I wanna say super sincere thank you's to Monique, Valentina, Storey Schifter, Jtalk, Lolita Hazed, ShannonElaine, Alex, Mz. Sullivan, and all the people on Missbehave who've ever said something nice about me, my blog, or what I write in it. Oh, and to anyone who ever took the time to email me when there were no comments. And I espesh wanna say jumbo popcorn sized thanks to Sarah Morrison for being so awesome and inadvertently giving me a million more readers! Hearts, girl, hearts!

Here's to another 100 posts! I'm winning out and I'm dropping bottles on you hoes! Don't stop believing!

Deuces,
Erika

Now 28!

Everyone has to remember at least one Now CD. It's short for Now That's What I Call Music! in case you didn't know. Some of the heavy hitters from the most recent Now are:

Leona Lewis "Bleeding Hearts"
Lil Wayne "Lollipop"
OneRepublic "Stop And Stare"
Metro Station "Shake It"
Daughtry "Feels Like Tonight"

As you can see this Now is a veritable bevy of Top 40 singles. But don't fret, some of pop's best rejected dumpster babies are here too. There's obvi a lot going on on this thing. Since I used to work at the 99X radio station, which shared a floor with Q100 (the Top 40 station), I hate popular music. I have to emphasize because I actually love pop music, but I can't stand popular music.

Um, except for "Tears On My Guitar" by Taylor Swift. Oh shit, do I love that song.

Moving on, with the rushing excitement of Now 28's debut, I thought I would do some research. It's been 28 years of great music, right? There have got to be some amazing tracks between now and 1980. Let's see...here is the tracklisting for Now 1:

Janet Jackson - Together Again
The Backstreet Boys - As Long As You Love Me
Fastball - The Way
Harvey Danger - Flagpole Sitta
Spice Girls - Say You'll Be There
KCi & JoJo - All My Life
All Saints - Never Ever
Tonic - If You Could Only See
Hanson - Mmmbop
Cherry Poppin' Daddies - Zoot Suit Riot
Imajin - Shorty (You Keep Playin' With My Mind)
Brian McKnight - Anytime
Aqua - Barbie Girl
Radiohead - Karma Police
Everclear - I Will Buy You A New Life
Lenny Kravitz - Fly Away
Marcy Playground - Sex and Candy

Holy shit! Even though I wasn't born in 1980, I remember almost all of those songs. I used to rock out to Spice Girls, Janet, Marcy Playground, and THE BACKSTREET BOYS!!! like it was going out of style.

It's been a long 28 years, no?

Deuces,
Erika

Magazines And Me

I like to collage. Why? Gawd, you ask sooo many questions! Well because I like to put things together in a creative way and I like being able to use random shots and words to form something meaningful. And because I can draw fairly decently, but I can collage circles around my art friends.

So as I was rounding up a few magazines to get a start on my new collage (old Nylons, double issues of Teen Vogue, a few Cosmos, but I never touch the Missbehaves because they come out quarterly and are therefore a hot commodity), I got to thinking about how I felt about magazines.

I love them. I love how for some they can be 290 page bibles, filled with glossy pages of mantras, wisdom, and life advice, but for some they can be a way to get through the day. When I was in school, I read the same issue of Nylon over and over and over again, just to combat the boredom. I can almost dictate that issue to you now.

Some people buy magazines for the articles, and some people buy them for the cover model (how I impulsively bought ElleGirl for the Adam Brody cover), and some people buy them purely based on the faith that it, based on what it says on the cover, will have all the things they want to read about.

It amazes me how a group of people can fit hours of conversation about fashion, culture, music, or food neatly into 100 pages. Certain articles can change people's lives, cause an epiphany, make your sex life better, update your wardrobe, or help someone lose 20 pounds. People live for magazines, people die for magazines. Editors-In-Chief of magazines are like celebrities. Anna Wintour, Amy Astley, Mary HK Choi, and Marvin Scott Jarrett can transform the masthead into a calling card of all-knowers of pop culture and style.

And I love zines. I love the idea of people turning to an organic creative outlet to voice their beliefs and opinions instead of just logging into Blogger and typing it out for people to randomly stumble upon.

In fact, I used to have a zine. I became antsy after endlessly pouring over my Nylons and Missbehaves and dreaming of writing for one, one day. So I made one of my own. It was called White Rice Magazine, and it was 2 only pages long because I made it on Microsoft Word, which is the only computer program I've mastered save for Powerpoint, but I wrote every article in it happily. It covered new music, fashion trends, upcoming Atlanta shows, recommended reading and a rant about whatever retarded celebrity was being retarded. It even included a current events story. It was published every 2 weeks. I distributed it to three of my friends and my mother and I was soooo proud of it.

I guess I have waxed poetic about magazines long enough, but I truly do love them. I even wrote a little love letter to a certain AWEsome mag awhile back. Now I almost buy them just to collect them. I have two years of Seventeen, two years of Teen Vogue, a year of Nylon, all the Missbehaves except for the first issue, a year of Under the Radar, assorted issues of Cosmopolitan, CosmoGirl, Jane, Entertainment Weekly, and even a year of issues from Dog Fancy back when my mom let me buy a magazine subscription in middle school.

So I'm done. The end. I sort of want to start writing White Rice again; I'd kind of just let it go, but I suppose I might when I get to the Valley and have people to distribute it to. Kthxbai.

“All "little" magazines have the luxury of thinking the reader is the same person as their editors.”

---William Whitworth

Deuces,
Erika

Bring The Blow, Bring The Noise!

I forgot this song existed too! I'm going to have start a feature on songs I used to blast back in the day.

Back when I was still in the pussyfooting stage with my boyfriend, I heard this song. You know that stage, when you're good friends with a dude and you're dropping hints that you want to get serious but just not sure if the dude feels the same way about you...that's the pussyfooting stage.

In '06, the Blow came out with Paper Televisions. I heard this song on the radio, and became intrigued.

Anyway, I listened to this song hours on end. It was my jam. I sang to it constantly. It fit my situation perfectly because we were five years apart and he lived in East Atlanta while I lived in the suburbs. We eventually got it together, and this song got me through it.

Every time I sing to this song I tear up.

"True Affection"



Added bonus:

The Blow: "True Affection"

Rannnnnndommmmmm

I have a Myspace. It's right here. I don't really talk with friends on it (because I have a Blackberry that texts AND makes outgoing calls) and I got it when I was like fourteen. Anyway, when I was in high school, an old friend and I had terrible falling out involving some internet slander, canceled plans, immature name calling, and a few hate emails.

So today I actually logged onto my Myspace and saw a message from her. I hadn't heard from this chick in forever. She said she was sorry about how everything ended and just wanted to talk about things. You know what they say, the internet makes you braver.

I was shocked, but also touched. I messaged her back and we spoke awhile about how things were and could be. We're not best friends all over again, but at least we're on amiable terms again. It's nice to be able to make amends and clear up all of the things we were too childish to see.

We're different people now, and everything's coming together. Just goes to show you that no matter how long it's been since you talked to an old friend, you can always rekindle a spark, an ember, something.

Makes me happy inside.

Deuces,
Erika

Damn, I Miss The West Coast

I almost forgot this song existed. I first heard it on Indie 103 (the best radio station ever) in Santa Monica. Originally, I thought Of Montreal just had a new single. They didn't. I really miss living and being in California. I cannot wait to go back.

Coconut Records is the musical project of actor Jason Schwartzman. His album, Nighttiming is incredible and I heard he plays all of the instruments himself.

This song always makes me cry when I listen to it.

"West Coast"


Will someone take me back with them? I'll pay rent on time, trust.

Deuces,
Erika