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July 18, 2008

How I Spent My Friday Morning

My friends and I are going to see The Dark Knight tonight. There had been some discussion about going to a midnight showing, but we never did anything about it and then assumed that all the screenings were going to be sold out. And, besides, we've all got responsibilities and jobs and stuff. Well, as it turns out, I don't have to be in court tomorrow and I'm not meeting any clients. I've got stuff I have to do, sure, but I don't have to be up at any specific time. That left me wondering what I was going to...

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May 10, 2008

"Disarm You With a Smile."

I remember the first time I heard The Smashing Pumpkins' "Disarm." I had recently fallen head over heels for Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, but I had yet to venture out and explore more of the Pumpkins' work. This was due partly to the fact that I was afraid of being disappointed but also because I didn't know what else they had done--I was completely new to the whole "listening to music" thing. Still, my friend Kenny--who had introduced me to the Pumpkins to begin with--kept mentioning another album the Pumpkins had done that had some awesome songs on...

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March 18, 2008

Acoustic Guitars Totally Rock

I don't know why, but I almost always like unplugged versions of songs more than the original, plugged versions. I mean, that might be a bit of a stretch, but I almost always really like unplugged versions, even if I like them in a completely different way. For example, "Cherub Rock" is one of my favorite songs generally, but I especially like it if I need to get excited or pumped up--it's a great song to listen to at the beginning of a night out, I think. On the other hand, the acoustic version is awesome in a whole different...

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January 17, 2008

Tom Cruise Is the Bat-Shit Craziest

Most of you have probably seen this already, but I just think it's too funny in the creepiest possible way not to post. It's apparently a video produced by the "Church" of Scientology for internal purposes. They're apparently pissed that it got out. And with good reason, because I don't see how anyone could take them seriously after this. Not that there were any reasons to think they were legitimate before. Anyway, without further ado, I give you perhaps the craziest, creepiest person in Hollywood, which is saying a lot (incidentally, Mr. Cruise uses some jargon that I wasn't familiar...

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December 24, 2007

'Twas the Night Before Christmas . . . .

As I've said, this is the first Christmas I'm spending apart from all members of my family. I can remember one Christmas when I was a teenager that I spent in California with my aunt and cousins rather than my mom and grandma, but I think that was the only time I haven't been with my mom for Christmas. So, I'm sort of bummed. But not super bummed. I mean, it sucks that I'm not there, but it's not the end of the world, and I'll get to see them really soon. And my mom promised that whenever I make...

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December 13, 2007

Christmastime Has Come

It hadn't actually occurred to me how close it is to Christmas until I was at the mall today. I was helping a friend do some Christmas shopping and the store was playing Christmas music. I recognize the song, but it took me a little while to realize that they were playing The Smashing Pumpkins. I had actually completely forgotten that SP had recorded a Christmas song sometime after Siamese Dream but before Mellon Collie. Anyway, the song actually took me from being completely out of the Christmas spirit to being completely in it--I'm really excited about it now. Which...

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December 10, 2007

"My Father's Gonna Hurt Me"?

In college, my friend--let's call her Valentine--was notorious for misunderstanding song lyrics. The title of this post is a reference to one of her most endearing blunders: she thought that, in "Why Bother," Rivers Cuomo sings "My father's gonna hurt me" instead of "Why bother, it's gonna hurt me." I referenced another of her misunderstandings here: she thought that the chorus to The Pixies' "Hey" is "We're shoot to aim," rather than "We're chained." In any event, her interpretation of song lyrics was always good for a laugh. But now I fear that I might have significantly misunderstood some song...

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November 17, 2007

You Probably Don't Measure Up

Although I have no evidence to support this conclusion, I'm fairly certain that there are a large number of female readers of this blog that want me. Like, sexually. While I'd love nothing more than to satisfy you all in some sort of huge orgy scenario, I'm really pretty much into monagamy. So here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to post some of the things I must and must not have in a woman. If this is you, then you win. If not, then please try to move on with your life and know that someday, somewhere, you'll...

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November 11, 2007

By the Power of Grayskull!

I have the power! As of Thursday, I am officially an attorney in Illinois. The ceremony itself was pretty lame, actually. There were about two thousand people getting sworn in at the same time, and there were some incredibly lame speakers, not to mention representatives from some bar associations that I, frankly, can't believe actually exist. Still, it was pretty cool to stand up with a bunch of other people and officially receive the power to represent a client in court. The rest of my weekend was also pretty cool. I fucking love Chicago. My interview--which was not at all...

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October 10, 2007

In Rainbows

Lots of people have already discussed the fact that you can download Radiohead's new album, In Rainbows, and pay as much--or as little--as you want. I think it's great that Radiohead is doing this, but mostly because it means that I get their new album for free and don't have to feel guilty about it. I don't think that it'll have any effect on the music industry at large, though. What's more important, though, is the music. So, here are my thoughts on my first listen. 15 Step. I think this is a really strange opener. It just sounds to...

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September 4, 2007

What the Fuck Happened to Coldplay?

I know I'm a few years late on this, but, seriously, why did Coldplay decide to call off being a good band? After some initial waffling following the release of A Rush of Blood to the Head, I have since concluded that Parachutes is definitely their best album. The first five songs off of Parachutes are all excellent--they each earn at least four stars on my iTunes list. "Don't Panic" is a great opener that really sets the tone for the album; "Shiver" is a really good follow-up to the first track; "Spies" is one of my favorite tracks on...

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August 14, 2007

I'd Like to Hear . . .

the solo from "Cherub Rock." I'm just saying....

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July 16, 2007

Zeitgeist

As you may or may not know, The Smashing Pumpkins--my favorite band of all time--released their first album in seven years last week. I haven't been as excited as you might think, though, for a few reasons. First, it's not really The Smashing Pumpkins--it's just Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin. While Billy was always the main songwriter and the Pumpkin sound always depended heavily on Jimmy's drumming, I was afraid that the absence of James Iha (not to mention D'arcy, who I maintain was an underrated member) would result in a diminishment of the band's awesomeness. Maybe the band was...

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July 11, 2007

Wanna Know What I Think?

I have exactly nothing to say right now. I've scoured the internet looking for something interesting to talk about, but there's nothing. I've noticed that my posts have been relatively introspective or narrow lately. This is probably due to the fact that I'm so busy right now that I don't really have time to take note of interesting things to talk about on here. So let's try this. Is there anything you guys would like to have me rant about? I promise to throw in a bunch of "fuck"s. Let me know. Dee, I know you wanted my opinion on...

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July 8, 2007

In Defense of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, Twilight to Starlight

You can read my thoughts on the "pink CD" here. "Where Boys Fear to Tread"--5/5 This song is really simple, but it rocks a decent amount. Moreover, I really like the way it starts off this side of the album: from disparate sounds it builds to a relatively steady, driving rhythm. It's one of the simpler songs on the album--it doesn't involve a solo or any lead work, really--but I think it's a good song to drive to. Also, it features the explosions from the video game "Doom" that are mentioned in the liner notes. "Bodies"--5/5 This is, by far,...

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June 24, 2007

Maybe Things Are Going to Be Ok . . .

Ok, I know this is my third consecutive Smashing Pumpkins post. I'm sorry, but there's a lot of Pumpkins-related stuff going on right now. Anyway, here's a video of the newly reformed band playing "Tonight, tonight" in Paris. I think it sounds pretty good, and I can't wait to see them when they come to the States. It's still really strange to see some other guy standing where James should be, and the new bassist is no D'arcy. I wonder if the original line up will ever get together again . . . . Anyway, enjoy:...

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June 23, 2007

In Defense of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, Dawn to Dusk

In my last post, I called The Smashing Pumpkins' fourth album one of the best albums of all time. Several commentators then challenged that assertion. Which is fine. But you guys are wrong. Let me explain why. Although I've previously explained why I love The Smashing Pumpkins generally and Mellon Collie specifically so much, I think that I can defend the album on its own objective merits. So now let's evaluate each song--all twenty-eight of them (in two parts). I'll give the title, my iTunes rating, and a brief opinion. "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness"--4/5 This serves an excellent...

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June 21, 2007

Fuck Everything. Just--Fuck!

Some time ago, I posted about what I thought of The Smashing Pumpkins' new song, Tarantula. As it turns out, the song is mediocre and, although my hopes had not been high, it confirmed that the new album probably wouldn't be that great. Well today, thanks to some anonymous poster, I know that the picture on the cover of the single for that song features Paris motherfucking Hilton. Why? How the fuck should I know? Here's the fucking cover: . I swear to god, Billy Corgan--what the fuck?...

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May 21, 2007

Tarantula

Thanks to an anonymous tagboard poster, I learned that the first new Smashing Pumpkins song in about seven years is available for download on iTunes today. So I downloaded, and I'm currently listening to it for the first time. My first reaction: it's a punk song. The rhythm guitar part sounds pretty simple, and it doesn't involve a riff; it's just a few chords. The lead work is also minimal and, frankly, unimpressive for a guitarist of Billy Corgan's caliber. There's also a fair amount of palm muting. The palm muting actually has the strange effect of making some of...

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May 17, 2007

My Path to Guitar Godliness

Some people make New Year's resolutions. I make those, too, sometimes--although I haven't kept a single one. In addition to resolving to do certain things at the beginning of the year, though, I usually resolve to do certain things at the beginning of the summer. This is largely due to the fact that the summer is, historically, the part of the year during which I've had the most free time. This being my last summer of relative freedom, I think I should set some pretty lofty goals. I've been playing the guitar for about eleven years ago. Although I think...

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May 9, 2007

Who Needs Electric Guitars?

I've been looking for some new music for a little while. After I burned myself out on "Neon Bible," which was the only album I listened to for about two weeks straight, I decided that it was time to add some new blood to my usual music mix. I've had the Soundgarden best of on my computer for a while but never really listened to it. So I called that up and got hooked on "The Day I Tried to Live" for a few days. Now I'm sort of leaving that phase. And where I've ended up at a new...

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March 20, 2007

Riffs that Rock

As you may or may not know, I play the guitar. I'm not necessarily very good (let me know what you think), but I like to play anyway. Although I haven't gotten to do this as often as I'd like, I can tell you that there's nothing more fun than playing an awesome, loud, distorted riff with a full band. It's one of the most satisfying experiences I've ever had. And definitely one of the best ways to get pissed/pumped. While I don't get to do that nearly often enough, I do listen to music fairly often, and a derivative...

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March 18, 2007

The State of Affairs in the Real World

The past few days have been pretty ridiculous. I feel like I've been on vacation, actually. But a very tiring, stressful, short vacation. That's not to say it's bad, just that the past few days have been a significant departure from the status quo. There's been so much going on, and there's so much on my mind, in fact, that I don't think I can weave it all in and out in one coherent narrative. So, I'm going to break this post up into sections. Law Revue The annual Stuart's Law Revue show was last night. I have to admit...

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February 10, 2007

Great News and a New Poll

It's almost as if today hadn't happened. I spent the whole day recovering from last night--man, I was worthless today. In any event, I'm back amongst the living now and, I suspect, will be back at 100 percent efficiency tomorrow. Which is good, because I've got an insane amount of work to do. I've gotta be better about staying in touch with my friends. Thankfully, the blogosphere has kept me in touch with some friends, and IM fills other gaps, but I've really gotta step up the phone calls. So, if you get a random phone call from me just...

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December 8, 2006

Infinite Sadness

I know that December 7th is a day that will live in infamy, but the day is special for me because something positive happened that day. You see, it was ten years ago today (or yesterday, I guess) that I first saw the Smashing Pumpkins live and in concert. It was on their Infinite Sadness tour, in support of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. It was at the very height of their popularity, and it was the biggest crowd I've ever seen them play for. It was at the America West Arena in Phoenix. And it was awesome. The...

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October 24, 2006

Jimmy's Love Letters

Jimmy Chamberlain, the drummer for The Smashing Pumpkins, has started posting on the band's Myspace blog.Greetings from Pumpkinland! Sorry it's taken so long to write! I'm here to tell you that great things are on track for the future. As some of you know we are indeed creating music again. Music that comes from a place so pure it will burn the lies off the very souls of those who try to discount it. We have arrived at a place in our lives where truth and honesty prevail and we are creating from that place. I will try to keep...

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September 3, 2006

2006 MTV Video Music Awards (Updated!)

For some reason, I woke up yesterday and I was convinced that I was going to have a shitty day. I felt all lonely and shit. But then the universe sort of knocked me around until I realized that I have a large number of extremely high-quality friends. So I'm feeling pretty good today. What that means for you is that you get to read me ranting about something rather than wallowing in self-pity. It has come to my attention that the MTV Video Music Awards were held recently. Now, as far as I'm concerned, the single best VMA performance...

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August 23, 2006

You Suck, Modern Music

So, as I've mentioned, being at my parents' house allows me to watch TV, something I'm not normally able to do at home. Today, I accidentally stumbled onto the most horrific show I've seen in a while. It was called "Rock Star: Supernova." Let me tell you about the show. Apparently, Tommy Lee, Dave Navarro, Jason Newsted (the former bassist for Metalica and the only person with any credibility), and some other guys have started a "supergroup" called Supernova. I put supergroup in quotes because, while the band meets the technical definition of a supergroup, i.e., it consists of members...

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June 9, 2006

Random Crap and a Crappy Sushi Restaurant

I want to write something right now, but I don't know what I want to write, so I'm just going to start writing and see what happens. I'm listening to "Ava Adore" by the Smashing Pumpkins right now. That's a decent song. I heard tonight that one of my most hated people at the Law School, let's call him "The Lord of All That Is Douche-ie," has a "really hot" girlfriend. Not surprising, really, since that's what this guy's all about. It's also not surprising that this guy turned in all his potential mate capital for a girl who's physically...

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March 21, 2006

Spring Break: Day Nine: All Good Things . . .

10:39 am Final cleanup of the room has started. Zachar is massively hung over. I’m doin’ alright. Cole’s ready for first shift, I’m taking second. Man, it’s really over... 12:40 pm Just had lunch at the Denny’s across the street from the beautiful Monaco. Now we’re heading north on A1A, beginning our 24-hour trek to Wisconsin. We’re keeping the music low in order to avoid “noise-induced vomiting� on Zachar’s part. We walked down to the beach one last time before we left. Man, it’s beautiful down here. It’s hard to leave, especially considering all the work we have to do....

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February 3, 2006

Too Good to be True . . .

Go here. Could it really be? Could there really be a new Smashing Pumpkins album in the works? That would . . . that would blow my mind. Now, i know what the naysayers out there are saying (and i'm looking at you here, PJ): the last albums sucked, and let's not even talk about Billy Corgan's solo album, so we have every reason to believe that a new album would suck aswell. Now, that's a perfectly worthy statement. However, the Zwan album was decent, so it's not 100% sure that this new album would suck. In addition, a new...

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January 31, 2006

Shakedown, 1979

So, my favorite band is the Smashing Pumpkins. Towards the end of their career, right around the release of Adore, i believe, they played on VH1's Storyteller's show. It was a decent set, although they didn't play enough songs and i disagreed with the setlist. Anyway, for those not familiar with the format of the show, the whole point is that the artist tells the story behind the song before they play them. I was super excited by the prospect of having Billy Corgan explain the meanings being songs like Bullet With Butterfly Wings and Rhinoceros (explaining the title of...

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January 22, 2006

"I Return to You Now, at the Turn of the Tide."

Well i will be goddamned. The Smashing Pumpkins might actually reunite. This would be the most amazing comeback since Gandalf returned as Gandalf the White. And, they're going to be playing at Coachella, which is an amazing music festival out in middle of the Southern California desert. Last time i was there, Beck played an acoustic, all request set to an overcrowded tent full of people, the Pixies rocked the place, and Radiohead closed out the night on an unbelievably high note. Pretty awesome times with PJ, Lauren, and Gen. Then, in the parking lot, it took us literally three...

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January 11, 2006

Interesting Facts From my Paper

Here are some things which may or may not be interesting about my article: Title: For Fear of a Man and His Donkey: Morals, Laws, and the Fundamental Right to Polygamy Number of characters, counting spaces: 51,144 Number of characters, not counting spaces: 42,790 Number of spaces: 8,534 Number of words: 8,118 Number of lines: 732 Number of Footnotes: 183 Number of paragraphs: 88 Length without footnotes: 32 pages Total length: 42 pages Number of Parts: 7 Margins: 2 inches on left, 1.25 inches on right (as required) Number of slams on James Dobson: 1 Number of Smashing Pumpkins quotes:...

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January 2, 2006

"State of Fear" and Unsuckable

So, I just finished reading Michael Crichton's book, State of Fear. I bought it at LAX so that I would have something to read on the flight home from visiting the family for Christmas. I bought State of Fear even though I had just started Al Franken's new book, The Truth (With Jokes) because I was in the mood for a light-hearted romp of a book. Having read all of Dan Brown's books on my last two trips home (by the way, he's basically been writing the same book over and over again) I felt it was time to return...

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