Death Cab For Cutie (kickass!)

No one made prettier postmillennial indie rock than Bellingham, WA, foursome Death Cab for Cutie. Smarter and more sensitive than almost any of his studiously introspective peers, singer/songwriter/guitarist Benjamin Gibbard formed the band—with bassist Nicholas Harmer, guitarist-organist Christopher Walla, and, eventually, crack drummer Michael Schorr—after the tape of his solo cassette EP, You Can Play These Songs With Chords, suggested there was a market for charming little photocopies of Built to Spill’s quieter, reverb-warped tunes. (Barsuk’s 2002 reissue bundles these with later, equally charming alternate takes and rarities.) On Something About Airplanes, DCFC took a baby step toward what would become its defining sound, smoothing over Built to Spill’s jittery bombast with Gibbard’s salve of a voice (previously a squeak) and slow builds. The five rerecorded cuts from You Can Play These Songs With Chords, subtly streamlined, showcase the band’s new emphasis on delicacy over dissonance. The critical breakthrough We Have the Facts and We’re Voting Yes applied the same principle, plus a smattering of psychedelia, to a new batch of songs with better melodies. But the best of that album’s tracks, “Company Calls Epilogue” and “405,” are fully realized as simple strummers on The Forbidden Love E.P., which came out later that year.

While sometimes nostalgic, as its brilliant name suggests, The Photo Album showcases Gibbard’s most scathing, not to mention most beautiful, songs to date. The urgent yet dreamy “Why You’d Want to Live Here” joins rock’s long tradition of ripping into L.A.—“You can’t swim in a town this shallow/You will most assuredly drown tomorrow”—and barrels into a break that’s smoggy with fuzz and shot through with sunbursts of chiming guitar. In “Styrofoam Plates,” gorgeously gentle but for its broken, unrelenting beat, Gibbard addresses his “bastard” father as he spreads the man’s ashes, the weariness in his voice giving way to anger: “You’re a disgrace to the concept of family/The priest won’t divulge that fact in his homily/And I’ll stand up and scream if the mourning remain quiet/You can deck out a lie in a suit but I won’t buy it.” And how does he end the song? “La la la la la-la/la la la la la-la.”

Transatlanticism is whipped cream to The Photo Album’s curdled milk, smooth but rarely stunning. Gibbard plants a land mine in the gently rippling guitar reverb of “Tiny Vessels,” recounting, for once, a one-sided romance in which “she was beautiful/but didn’t mean a thing to me.” Tracks like this and “Title and Registration” show the band at its best, pushing lovely melodies with borderline-restive rhythms. But elsewhere, particularly the almost eight-minute-long title track, the band’s slack with melancholy—perhaps a little too full of themselves.

Source: Rolling Stone megazine.

Sleepless -_-

Right now, Im like a pathetic little rabbit sitting in front of my computer surfing the internet. Lol, and obviously I didnt sleep last night, I pulled an all-nighter, as you may have guessed. Yeah I dont sleep at night sometimes O_O I know, I know its unhealty and all but the internet is so addictive! and youtube is trying ban me for watching too many videos! LOL. But dont get me wrong because Im not insomniac or anything and I wont go making song like Fireflies ;)(Although I love it) Sigh, well I guess I was born with the nocturnal decease (A.K.A nightowl) but its really lame in a way unless you have some weed or some friends to entertain you. And I had neither last night -_- just Trish who i was chatting for like 5 or 6 hours (and her crazy brother Sylar! LOL!) YAWN!!! Well Im too tired to type anymore!! I think I'm gonna go and sleep my ass off! Wish me luck! lol actually I wouldnt need any coz I rule at sleeping! Haha. Im done, Im out. Cheers! xD

Random Post 1 Bitch! XD

Why do people have to be so stiff about? And why do they agree to go out with someone if they know that they wont at the last moment. Its so much LOL haha. Well fuck that anyway, I'm just putting it out there. And I know one thing, the goddamn jews are to blame here! xD Lol no! im just trying to be cartman! i love all people, specially jewish people!! (stupid jew -_-) Once upon a time i was a baby, yeah. I choose not to think about the idea but yeah i was a baby and pooping everywhere. I know, it must have been awful for my parents to raise a demon like me :D I destroyed almost anything in my reach, yes I was a baby mephisto. Dont get me wrong, I wasnt like the weird mofo kid from The Omen movies, duck no! (I think =P) I was just flipping through an old photo album and found a pic of me doing something to a poor kitty. I was about 3 but still! Poor cat! I think that incident traumatized the damn cat! Haha you wanna know what I did to him? I was lying on top of the kitty and biting its face :O I swear to god if the people at one of those wildlife preservation companies saw me, they would have sued me xD And there was this other picture of me nude on the bed :O once again i must have been like 3 or 4 years old but still its embarrassing! So i hid it!! Im so tempted to post those pics here but it might shock people :D Well me nude, coz im pretty sexy there :D, but the incident with the poor cat! I dont know why im saying these thing here but once again its boring and I have nothing else to do at this time so I thought I'd improve my already good typing to a somewhat higher level. Okay okay Im done :D (For now...) Ps: and please ignore any spelling mistakes or whatever coz i type these posts without double checking and in a really short time xD

World of Warcraft

Okay im back to the blogging scene after months! I really dunno what to type here. So I'm going to free style. Write whatever comes to mind as I keep writing. Okay I got it!! Guys remember the first time you played Warcarft III? Damn I remember that day very clearly. It was late 2003 and i was on my way home from school, it was the last day and I was pretty hyped up, my mom was driving me and usually she buyed me something everyday because I keep bitching that she picked me up too early and I didnt get to play with my friends. So as i was saying I was a new DVD shop thingy open in Kohuwala (a local town) and I asked my mother if she can buy me some CD's and she was like okay since its last day of school and all. So i went in to the shop and started browsing through. And then I saw it; my first warcraft poster ever. It was so awesome with Thrall the orc and his kickass nose ring..LOL..and there was this cool dude with his really hot girlfriend bitching over what to buy coz they were low on cash. I think it was either a Nelly Furtado CD or the Warcraft 3 CD. And I was wondered by how persistent that guy was. He was a selfish asshole and he somehow manipulated her and got the CD. "Oh baby this is so awesome, i'll teach u to play and we can play together" blah blah blah. So he finally got it and the selfish prick was filled with glee like a fucking 5 year old who just got an ice cream. So I was really curious about this game and I wasnt into games (I still aint that much, mind you)I just got a new PC and I thought I'd try it out. So i bought the game and a couple of other DVD's. So I came home that day and to my fucking horror my brother was playing on MY FUCKING PC lol..coz it was newer than his one obviously. So I had to wait till he got off and Install my god damn CD. So yeah and the I installed it. (It took me about 20 mins i think). And i ran the game. Blizzard Entertainment Presents: Warcraft III, the Reign of Chaos, was its title. The opening cinematic was SO impressive i think i shat my pants (not literally ofcoz) the graphics was so fucking good and the game was really awsm. The game graphics was so impressive that even my brother who used to play top notch violent games stopped and watched. The story interludes after every mission in Campaign and the occational cinematic was so awsm. The game was really progressive and the story rich. I finished the game in a week. And to this day it was one of the best weeks of my life. I loved playing as Arthas Menthil in the human campaign and as well as the Undead campaign. (Also Illidan, Malfurion, Thrall, Jaina, Cairne, Sylvanas and Kel'Thusad)I watched the last cinematic like 10 times I tell ya, the one which Archimonde the Defiler tries to climb up the World Tree to drain its magical powers and Malfurion Stormrage summons millions of forest spirits to destroy him. That was so kickass and by the time it was over i was wanting more. And a few months later an expansion was released called Warcraft III: the Frozen Throne. The expansion followed Illiden the Betrayer summoning the vile naga from the murky depths of the Azerothian Ocean to battle against all who opposes him (even his brother Malfurion and his people who branded him a Betrayer because of something he did 10,000 years ago)and Prince Arthas Menethil as the new King of Undead Lordaeron, with his right hand man Kel'Thusad the lich who was facing a new threat from the high elf banshee Sylvanas Windrunner who was regaining free will from the grasps's of the Lich King's mind control (The Lich King is a being of immense dark power who was the Lord of Arthas and king of undead) Sylvanas (now undead) with the help of like minded undead and a traitorous dreadlord rebelled against King Arthas and his minions. But Arthas had no time to deal with her because he was being summoned by the then weak spirit of the lich king who was under threat by Illidan who seeked to destroy the Undead scourge. Illidan with his new found allies Blood elves (Former high elves who are addicted to magic and avenging their people's death) with their beloved leader Prince Kael'Thas Sunstrider was hoping to find new sources of magic to feed their never dying hunger for it on the Alien world of Draenor (Outland) after destroying the Lich King. So Arthas and his army was summoned to Northrend (An Arctic continent similar to Antarctica) which was the Stronghold of the Lich King. And then the two forces battled against each other on the foot hills of Icecrown Citadel (keep of the lich king) But Illidan and his people was outnumbered and overwhelmed by Arthas' incredible power and were forced to flee to Outland in shame. Atlast Arthas was victorious and the game ends with a kickass cinematic; Arthas ascends to the top of Icecrown to behold the Lich King whihc is nothing more that a trapped spirit inside a large glacier of ice with some kickass armor and helm. So with the lich kings's sword the sould stealing Frostmorne the process will be complete; the process was to join Arthas' and the Lich King's soul together into one immense God-like being. So Arthas wears the armor and puts the helm on and frees the lich king. Their souls fused together to make the new Lich King Arthas Menethil Ner'Zhul, the most powerful mortal ever to exist. And then comes WORLD OF WARCRAFT, NOT a STRATEGY game as many people think, but free-roam 3rd person game with a world so vast that litearlly theres no end to the game. The classic leveling cap of 10 for heroes was increased to 80! and so much more powers were given to the new advanced playable races. It's been called the most addictive game on the history of earth. Iam proud to say I play it and Im NOT addictedm its just some losers cant handle things well. I pay $14.99 everymonth to play WoW (World of Warcraft) with 11 million other players and battle against the ferocious monsters and level up and become so fucking badass! I think I've made like 1000 friends on WoW in a month xD Well of cause I dont need to explain about WoW coz everybody knows what it is :D And if u dont, U SUCK! and you need to google it! LOL Aite im done! :D

Record Prices at Christie's For Japanese Swords

Buyers -- most of them Japanese -- paid record prices yesterday at Christie's in New York for swords and fittings collected by an Indiana physician and businessman. The first day's sale of the Japanese sword collection of Dr. Walter Ames Compton, described by the auction house as the most important ever held in the West, totaled $8 million, a record figure for a sale of Japanese works and within the auction house's expectations of $7 million to $10 million.

"It's the best private collection in the world," the president of the Japanese Sword Company of Tokyo, Tomihiko Inami, said before the sale. "The quality and the quantity is extraordinary. A Japanese cannot keep such a collection."

Mr. Inami outbid all competitors to acquire a 19th-century magnolia-decorated sword guard, called a tsuba, for $88,000 and a 17th-century small auxiliary sword, called a kozuka, embellished with an image of Mount Fuji, for $104,500. Both prices were records. He also bought some of the most important larger swords in the sale, including a 13th-century Kamakura long sword, or tachi, for $340,000; a 14th-century dagger, or tanto, for $154,000, and a 15th-century long sword for $132,000. Interest Began in His Youth

The most expensive sword at yesterday's sale was a 13th-century Kamakura blade that was sold for $418,000 to a European collector who was not identified.

Dr. Compton's interest in Japanese swords began when he read about them in a boy's magazine when he was 14 years old. While a student at Princeton University in the early 1930's he bought his first samurai blade for $6 in a Chinatown laundry in New York. He collected Japanese swords for 50 years while he worked at and eventually headed, as president and later chairman, Miles Laboratories of Elkhart, Ind. He continued to buy swords until shortly before his death in 1990 at the age of 79.

The cream of Dr. Compton's collection was exhibited in 1976 at the Japan House Galleries in New York. The show included the first registered National Treasure lent by Japan for exhibition abroad: a 13th-century sword Dr. Compton had acquired in the United States and identified as a registered missing rarity, which had been taken from a shrine in Kagoshima Prefecture by a member of the United States armed forces after World War II. In 1963, he returned it as a gift to Japan and in later years made six other such gifts. The Compton family gave two important daggers to Japan last month when Christie's exhibited the swords in Tokyo. The Previous Record

Although most of the buying was by Japanese bidders, European and American collectors and dealers were present at the sale or bid by telephone.

The previous record at auction for a Japanese sword was $132,000, a sum paid in 1986 at Christie's in New York for a signed 13th-century weapon once owned by the Duke of Windsor.

Yesterday's sale was the first in a three-part auction the Compton collection of 1,100 swords and fittings that continues in October and ends in December. The collection was originally estimated to bring $15 million to $20 million, but Sebastian Izzard, who heads Christie's Japanese art sales, said he now expects the collection to total about $15 million.

Source: nytimes.com

E-Cigarettes: Can They Help You Quit?

Many are skeptical about the look-alikes' claims.

by Dr. Ranit Mishori, PARADE

The look-alikes, which are less expensive than cigarettes, are made to re-create the real experience. They're marketed in fancy packages with gold inscriptions and photos of good-looking people "smoking." They produce a vapor that looks like smoke, and the tip glows red as you puff on it. When you inhale, your lungs get a dose of chemicals that typically include nicotine, which gives smoking its kick and makes it addictive. But their biggest advantage, one saleswoman told me, is that electronic cigarettes--or "cigars," "cigarillos," or "pipes" designed on the same principles--help smokers kick the habit.I recently was surprised to see cigarettes for sale at several kiosks at my local mall. At least, I thought they were cigarettes. Then I discovered that they actually were "electronic cigarettes"--battery-powered puffables that produce no smoke and contain no known carcinogens or tar.

That caught my attention. I know how hard it is for many of my patients to quit smoking. If there's something new out there to help them, I want to know about it.

Back home, an Internet search turned up thousands of hits and promises: "A great aid for those struggling to stop smoking." "No risk of cancer." "Use anywhere: indoors, airports, hospitals." But I could find no scientific research at all.

Dr. Jack Henningfield, an expert on addiction who serves as a scientific adviser on tobacco to the World Health Organization (WHO), calls e-cigarettes "renegade products" for which "we have no scientific information." The electronic cigarette, he says, is a vehicle to deliver nicotine to the body. Its effects, he says, "are not benign," especially when breathed into the lungs.

While there is a "data void," scientists worldwide question the claim that e-cigarettes help stop smoking. If anything, they worry that these aggressively marketed products could introduce more people to an addiction they never had. Indeed, the WHO has stated that e-cigarettes are not "a legitimate therapy for smokers trying to quit." Dr. Henningfield notes that some manufacturers "blatantly go after young people," advertising e-cigarettes with flavors "like chocolate and candy."

Other nicotine substitutes--the "patch," or gum, for example--are licensed as drugs and require Food and Drug Administration approval. But e-cigarettes, nearly all of them manufactured in China, have not been licensed as drugs or regulated.

Recently, however, the FDA initiated a ban on imports of e-cigarettes on the ground that they constitute unapproved drug-delivery devices (an action being challenged in court). It may take additional measures to restrict their sale.

Without more evidence, we won't know whether e-cigarettes have the potential to do any good or if they really do pose health risks. For now, if you're a smoker trying to quit, talk to your doctor about other, proven methods.

Famous Things Said By Famous People

"Why is it that when we talk to God we're said to be praying, but when God talks to us we're schizophrenic?" --Lily Tomlin

"Every time a baseball player grabs his crotch, it makes him spit. That's why you should never date a baseball player." --Marsha Warfield

"What do people mean when they say the computer went down on me?" --Marilyn Pittman

"When you look at Prince Charles, don't you think that someone in the Royal family knew someone in the Royal family?" --Robin Williams

"A woman broke up with me and sent me pictures of her and her new boyfriend in bed together. Solution? I sent them to her dad." --Christopher Case

"Relationships are hard. It's like a full-time job, and we should treat it like one. If your boyfriend or girlfriend wants to leave you, they should give you two weeks' notice. There should be severance pay, and before they leave you, they should have to find you a temp." --Bob Ettinger

"I ask people why they have deer heads on their walls. The always say because it's such a beautiful animal. There you go. I think my mother is attractive, but I have photographs of her." --Ellen DeGeneres

"I've been doing the Fonda workout: the Peter Fonda workout. That's where I wake up, take a hit of acid, smoke a joint, and go to my sister's house and ask her for money." --Kevin Meaney

"A lady came up to me on the street and pointed at my suede jacket. 'You know a cow was murdered for that jacket?' she sneered. I replied in a psychotic tone, 'I didn't know there were any witnesses. Now I'll have kill you too." --Jake Johansen

"If your parents never had children, chances are you won't either." --Dick Cavett

"I have such poor vision I can date anybody." --Garry Shandling

"I was a vegetarian until I started leaning towards sunlight." --Rita Rudner

"If you ever see me getting beaten by the police, put down the video camera and come help me." --Bobcat Goldthwait

"Our bombs are smarter than the average high school student. At least they can find Kuwait." --A. Whitney Brown

"I'm a psychic amnesiac. I know in advance what I'll forget." --Michael McShane

"Thou shall not kill. Thou shall not commit adultery. Don't eat pork. I'm sorry, what was that last one?? Don't eat pork. God has spoken. Is that the word of God or is that pigs trying to outsmart everybody?" --Jon Stewart

"My mom said she learned how to swim. Someone took her out in the lake and threw her off the boat. That's how she learned how to swim. I said, 'Mom, they weren't trying to teach you how to swim.' " --Paula Poundstone

"In elementary school, in case of fire you have to line up quietly in a single file line from smallest to tallest. What is the logic? Do tall people burn slower?" --Warren Hutcherson

"I voted for the Democrats because I didn't like the way the Republicans were running the country. Which is turning out to be like shooting yourself in the head to stop your headache." --Jack Mayberry

"I have six locks on my door all in a row. When I go out, I lock every other one. I figure no matter how long somebody stands there picking the locks, they are always locking three." --Elayne Boosler

"Ever wonder if illiterate people get the full effect of alphabetsoup?" --John Mendoza

"Today I met with a subliminal advertising executive for just a second." --Steven Wright

"A study in the Washington Post says that women have better verbal skills than men. I just want to say to the authors of that study: Duh." --Conan O'Brien

"When I was a kid, I had two friends, and they were imaginary and they would only play with each other." --Rita Rudner

"I haven't taken my Christmas lights down. They look so nice on the pumpkin." --Winston Spear

"I don't know what's wrong with my television set. I was getting C-Span and the Home Shopping Network on the same station. I actually bought a congressman." --Bruce Baum

"I had a linguistics professor who said that it's man's ability to use language that makes him the dominant species on the planet.That may be. But I think there's one other thing that separates us from animals. We aren't afraid of vaccuum cleaners." --Jeff Stilson

"Did you ever walk in a room and forget why you walked in? I think that's how dogs spend their lives." --Sue Murphy

"The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four Americans is suffering from some form of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they are okay, then it's you." --Rita Mae Brown

"My grandfather's a little forgetful, but he likes to give me advice. One day, he took me aside and left me there." --Ron Richards

"I worry that the person who thought up Muzak may be thinking up something else." --Lily Tomlin

"Some women hold up dresses that are so ugly and they always say the same thing: 'This looks much better on.' On what? On fire?" --Rita Rudner

"I was raised by just my mom. See, my father died when I was eight years old. At least, that's what he told us in the letter.." --Drew Carey

"The ad in the paper said 'Big Sale. Last Week.' Why advertise? I already missed it. They're just rubbing it in." --Yakov Smirnoff

"Everything that used to be a sin is now a disease." --Bill Maher

"Now they show you how detergents take out bloodstains, a pretty violent image there. I think if you've got a T-shirt with a bloodstain all over it, maybe laundry isn't your biggest problem. Maybe you should get rid of the body before you do the wash." --Jerry Seinfeld

"USA Today has come out with a new survey: Apparently three out of four people make up 75 percent of the population." --David Letterman

"If God doesn't destroy Hollywood Boulevard, he owes Sodom and Gomorrah an apology." --Jay Leno

"I just broke up with someone and the last thing she said to me was, 'You'll never find anyone like me again!' I'm thinking, 'I should hope not! If I don't want you, why would I want someone like you?' " --Larry Miller

"I always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific." --Lily Tomlin

"The Swiss have an interesting army. Five hundred years without a war. Pretty impressive. Also pretty lucky for them. Ever see that little Swiss Army knife they have to fight with? Not much of a weapon there. Corkscrews. Bottle openers. 'Come on, buddy, let's go. You get past me, the guy in back of me, he's got a spoon. Back off. I've got the toe clippers right here.' " --Jerry Seinfeld

"Why does Sea World have a seafood restaurant? I'm halfway through my fishburger and I realize, Oh my God....I could be eating a slow learner." --Lynda Montgomery

"I planted some bird seed. A bird came up. Now I don't know what to feed it." --Steven Wright

"If life was fair, Elvis would be alive and all the impersonators would be dead." --Johnny Carson

"If you're cross-eyed and have dyslexia, can you see okay?" --John Mendoza

"I don't kill flies but I like to mess with their minds. I hold them above globes. They freak out and yell, 'Whoa, I'm way too high!' " --Bruce Baum

"Sometimes I think war is God's way of teaching us geography." --Paul Rodriguez

"I don't do drugs anymore 'cause I find I get the same effect just by standing up really fast." --Johnathan Katz

"Where lipstick is concerned, the important thing is not color, but to accept God's final word on where your lips end." --Jerry Seinfeld

"I think that's how Chicago got started. A bunch of people in New York said, 'Gee, I'm enjoying the crime and the poverty, but it just isn't cold enough. Let's go west.' " --Richard Jeni

"I have a microwave fireplace in my house. The other night I laid down in front of the fire for the evening in two minutes." --Steven Wright

"And always remember the last words of my grandfather, who said, 'Shit! A truck!' " --Emo Phillips