Sean Fournier

I'm gonna keep this entry short and to the point. Sean Fournier is awesome, and his album is free, so go download it!

And if that hasn't convinced you, listen to the album below:

Tinted Windows & US Royalty at Black Cat

Tinted Windows are: Taylor Hanson (lead vocals), James Iha of the Smashing Pumpkins(guitar), Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne(bass), and Bun E. Carlos of Cheap Trick(drums).

Being a self-confessed Hanson fangirl for over a decade now, I had to get Tinted Window's album when it came out in late April. While I'm a fan of all of the band members's other work, I can't help but judge them mostly against Hanson, with whom I'm most familiar. Their songs are more poppy and less soulful, with less of the 3-part harmony integral to Hanson's sound. And as much as I would have loved Tinted Windows to be "Hanson 2.0: now with more street cred," I have to admit that their sound just works. The NY Times describes their music as "A multi-generational alliance devoted to power-pop...the songs are hook-slinging verse-chorus-verse testimonials of love and girl trouble."

Between being used to seeing Taylor play with Hanson and how utterly breathtaking their shows are and hearing that Taylor had lately been having trouble with his voice, I was worried they wouldn't be able to pull off the performance. I'm happy to say was worried for nothing. While there's nothing groundbreaking about their music, it's incredibly well-crafted and impeccably performed. (And really, what else would you expect from a so-called "Super Group"?) Having thought they looked a bit too slick in some of their promo videos (see "Messing With My Head" and "Kind of a Girl" ), I was happy to see that they were dressed more casually. Not only their look, but their sound was more casual and less polished, which suited them really well.

While they've played very few shows together as a band, because of the decades of live experience by the individual band members, when they get on stage they simply shine. Taylor Hanson is one of those musicians who was born to be a frontman, and it was his energetic performance that really made it work. While the rest of the band played impeccably, they didn't seem to attract much of the focus.

Even though their set was short because of their small amount of material, I think they made the right decision in not playing songs from their other bands. They could easily have padded their setlist with Hanson or Smashing Pumpkins songs that parts of the crowd would have loved, but they retain much more credibility by sticking to their own limited catalog and a few covers of completely unrelated bands.

Between their "day jobs," it's not surprising that they won't be playing many shows for a while, but if you're one of the lucky people in San Francisco who can see them on September 1 at Great American Music Hall, I'd highly recommend going.



My only complaint about the night was that not enough Tinted Windows fans were rocking out to the opener, the amazing local band US Royalty. The highlight of their performance for me was the lead singer, John Thornley's, vocals (not to mention his epic facial hair). His voice is powerful and distinctive, neither overpowering the band nor being drowned out. Their songs are melodic and catchy, often starting slowly and simply and swelling to the perfect rock crescendo.



My personal favorite was the song "Raincoats".



If they come to your town, go see them and bring all of your friends. You wont be disappointed. And while you're there, buy their two EPs. They're amazing and a steal at just $10 for the pair.

Modcloth is Trying to Kill Me

For anyone inclined to drool over fashion, I highly recommend ModCloth.com They constantly update their site with clothing that ranges from funky to fancy, all with a mod/retro twist.

While frustrating, its probably a good thing that most of their clothes wouldn't fit me, or my bank account would be even lower than it already is.

Here are just a few of the items I'm drooling over today:

"The Places You'll Go Dress"



Cotswolds Booties



Study Abroad Coat



As You Wish Boots



Test Pattern Dress



Double Feature Tunic



Style Coach Necklace

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Review

I got back from seeing Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince mere seconds ago, and while I really should rather be sleeping, I needed to get some of my thoughts about it off my chest.

Overall, I think the movie was very well made. There are parts of it that I absolutely loved. If it wasn't for all the bits that they changed or left out, then it would have been perfect.

In terms of aesthetics, visually, it was very interesting. The colors were beautiful and rich, and the framing of the scenes was really well done. I particularly liked the part towards the beginning of the film when Harry arrives at the Burrow and Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Mrs. Weasley all pop their heads out of various staircases and landings. However, some of the visuals seemed very off to me. My main problem with the movie, visually, is with the cave scene at the end. If the cave is supposed to be close to where the kids from the orphanage visited as children, then it wouldn't be in the middle of the ocean. Also, within the cave, the choice to have large crystal-like rocks doesn't match at all the description in the book. I must say, however, that the Inferi were remarkably well done, and that the shot from above where they are closing in on Harry and Dumbledore is fascinating.

Musically, I found it a bit disappointing. There is nothing much wrong with the music, when it is noticeable, but it seems to take a back seat to the visuals throughout most of the movie. In the past movies, especially the 5th one, the music played a very important part both emotionally and dramatically, and I was disappointed that it did not fulfill the same role here. The only time I even noticed the music was when they were basically repeating the "Fireworks" song from the 5th movie! Also, I don't remember them using Hedwig's Theme, which is fairly iconic, and I think this was a strange choice.

I also had many issues with the way they represented the plot. Some parts of it, such as the scene where Ron is under the influence of love potion from Romilda Vane and the Felix Felicis scene, are remarkably well done. I also liked the way they showed the awkwardness between Harry and Ginny, as well has Hermione and Ron. The "romance" between Ron and Lavender was well represented, but I could have done with less of it in favor of other plot points which I think are more important.

While most of the plot additions seemed fairly harmless, such as Neville being a waiter during Slughorn's Christmas party, some of them made absolutely no sense. I don't understand the scene they added in where Bellatrix and Fenrir Greyback come to the Burrow, taunt them and then burn down the house. This does not happen in the book and doesn't seem to add much to the movie that couldn't have been achieved with the plot points that already exist.

Also, I have many problems with Dumbledore's death scene. Firstly, Harry should have been underneath his invisibility cloak. Dumbledore wanted him to have it with him at all times, but you only see it on the train at the beginning of the movie. Secondly, Dumbledore was supposed to petrify Harry before he is disarmed. It doesn't make sense that Harry would do nothing as Snape killed Dumbledore just because he is told to stay hidden. In the book, it makes perfect sense that Dumbledore protects Harry by freezing him against his will, and that Harry desperately wants to save Dumbledore, but can't. His inaction in the movie, without being petrified, does not help him live up to the heroic position he is supposed to occupy at this point in the story.

After Dumbledore's death, there should be a fight scene in the castle and across the grounds where the Order of the Phoenix battles the Death Eaters, wherin Bill is savaged by Greyback and Harry's loved ones are all saved because of Felix Felicis. I don't understand them leaving this out of the movie because it is important to the plot and provides drama it seems like they were looking for by adding the attack at the Burrow.

Another important part of the plot that is missing is Dumbledore telling Harry specifically about the Horcruxes. By the end of the movie, Harry should realize the daunting task ahead, yet have a list from Dumbledore of what the possible Horcruxes are and some crucial new insight into Voldemort's past and psche. However, in the movie most of Voldemort's back story is left out, which is a shame because it was one of the most interesting parts of the book. Also, Harry still doesn't know anything about what the missing Horcruxes should be, and now that Dumbledore is dead, I'm not sure how in the next movies they'll get Harry to guess what they are.

Finally, one of the big things I was looking forward to in this movie is the part when Harry and Ginny finally act on their feelings for each other. I was really disappointed by this in the movie because they never get their real kiss, and you don't sense the passion that is present between them in the book. Also, they are supposed to have a real relationship that Harry breaks off at the end of the book in an attempt to protect Ginny, but in the movie their public relationship is only mentioned in passing at the end.

Overall, I found the movie to be a bit hit-and-miss. Parts of it were exceptional, while others fell fall short of expectations. In their attempt to shorten a 600-page book into a little over 2 hours of movie, they left out many of the crucial plot points in favor of more trivial, yet amusing, scenes. Maybe if the movie could have been longer, or in 2 parts like the 7th book will be, it would have had more success in merging its artistic and dramatic aspirations with the actual plot of the book. After all, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is supposed to be about horcruxes, not just hormones.

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:

Watch Fat Cat Barely Fits in it's Yogurt Box Anymore and more funny videos on CollegeHumor

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"

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.