Tuesday 14 April 2009

It's A Cat In a Box!!

There are no shortage of awesome cat videos on the interwebs, but I think this one just might be my favorite:

Sunday 12 April 2009

Weekly Jukebox -- 2nd Edition



Apologies in advance, its a long one this week!

IAMX -- Think of England



Calvin Harris -- I'm Not Alone



Lily Allen -- "Not Fair"



Kings of Leon -- "My Party" (Remix)



U2 -- "Get On Your Boots" (Justice Remix)



Peter Bjorn & John -- "Stay this Way"



Friendly Fires -- "Skeleton Boy"



Yeah Yeah Yeahs -- "Zero"



Fleet Foxes -- "She Got Dressed"



Phantogram -- "Mouth Full of Diamonds"



White Lies -- "Farewell to the Fairground"



The official video for this song has embedding disabled, but if you'd like to see it, CLICK HERE.

Dizzee Rascal -- "Bonkers"

Wednesday 8 April 2009

Taking it Easy vs. Being Productive



In my life, I have a tendency to err on the side of having more than enough time for everything, to the point where it gets rediculous. (I'll have a 2 or 3 hour window and assume that I can't fit anything in.)

I probably act this way because I'm reacting to the way I was in high school, where I was overworking myself to the point of exhaustion. I took difficult classes (7 AP classes between Junior and Senior years), was in 2 honor societies and key club, took dance classes for 2 or 3 hours a day, was in a youth dance company, took piano lessons, and went to church and youth group on the weekends. In certain cases, I'm somewhat of a perfectionist. If I'm going to do something, then I want to do it right. Trying to do everything and do it perfectly was exhausting. I would literally doze of while typing. In fact, once I dozed off and when I woke back up I had typed "pillow." I was the same way to a lesser extent in College, but I wasn't quite as busy because going away to school separated me from a lot of the activities that had been taking up so much of my time.

Now that I'm free from the constraints of school and I only have a part time job, the opportunity to laze around and do whatever I feel like is incredibly tempting. There is something to be said for stopping and smelling the roses, and there are even entire books on why its a good idea to take like slowly (see Carl Honoré on the Power of Slow ). However, while its nice to have some free time to check email, watch tv, etc, I'm finding its much more satisfying to actually get stuff done. I'm finding that the really healthy way to live my life is not to overwork myself or to do the bare minimum in an attempt to maximize my free time, but to fill my life with things that are positive and fulfilling, or at the very least serve some purpose. (For example: working so that I can afford to do the fulfilling things.)

If I'm honest with myself, I've sort of known this all along, but am just now getting to the point where I'm challenging myself enough to put it into practice. Contrary to what I expected, adding stuff to my routine doesn't make me feel overwhelmed or particularly tired. I actually find it energizing because I am doing stuff I like to do. So for anyone who is feeling a bit lost or listless, I'd recommend looking at your life and start adding in the little things that you didn't make time for before, like volunteering, cooking dinner at home or going to the gym. You'd be surprised at how much of a difference it really makes.

Sunday 5 April 2009

"Bruno" Trailer




I'm a HUGE fan of Sasha Baron Cohen and I LOVED "Borat" (I even did a paper on it for my "Sociology of Deviance" class), so I'm VERY EXCITED that the first trailer for "Bruno" was recently released...Enjoy!

(You have to enter your birth date to watch it)



Also, check out the official Myspace page and official Twitter account, @BrunoVassup

Friday 3 April 2009

Weekly Jukebox -- 1st Edition




































***This entry was originally posted on my other blog: MB's Music Mag***

Wednesday 1 April 2009

Twitter & New Kasabian Video

I've been feeling bad lately for not blogging on here much. I can't help it, though, my relationship with Blogger could never compare to my passionate affair with Twitter. Although I'm still convinced not many people read this blog (or my other blog: http://mbsmusicmag.blogspot.com/), if you'd like to keep up-to-date with all of my ramblings, follow me on twitter! (@Booshette)

If you're new to twitter, or you just want more people to follow, here are some of my favorites (in no particular order).

@Blendetta -- An awesome blog, check them out! (blendetta.com)

@NMEradio -- The best radio station out there, listen live at http://www.nme.com/radio/player

@rustyrockets -- comedian Russell Brand (Some of the funniest tweets you'll ever read)

@glinner -- Graham Linehan (Creator of IT Crowd and other great shows)

@wossy -- Jonathan Ross

@tattydevine -- Tatty Devine (they make the best jewelry EVER) TattyDevine.com

@modcloth An awesome online clothing store -- ModCloth.com

@staringispolite My bro's twitter account -- He writes about tech-y things.

@shakeaway They make THE best milkshakes OF ALL TIME...If you're in the UK, check them out ASAP.

@lilyroseallen -- musician Lily Allen

@Mrs_O -- Companion to mrs-o.org, a website following the fashion of Michelle Obama

Ok, now that I've given you way too much information about Twitter, I bet you're wondering what finally managed to drag me back to blogger. It is this magnificent piece of work:


Kasabian - Vlad the Impaler from Kasabian on Vimeo.

Not only is this song amazing (download the full track for FREE for a limited time at kasabian.co.uk), but 2 of my favorite people are involved in the video. It stars the Mighty Boosh's Noel Fielding, and is directed by Richard Ayoade, of IT Crowd and Mighty Boosh fame.

I have yet to see a video by Richard Ayoade that I don't like. Here are some of my favorites:

Vampire Weekend -- "Oxford Comma"



The Last Shadow Puppets -- "My Mistakes Were Made for You"



The Last Shadow Puppets -- "Standing Next to Me"



P.S. -- If you're interested in a more in-depth discussion of the new Kasabian video, might I recommend checking out "Kasabian strikes again with Vlad the Impaler - and gets a little help from The Boosh" on Blendetta?