friday's random music video vol. XVIII

"if my mind's the weapon, my heart's the extra clip"

that simple line has stuck with me through much of college and beyond. it will serve as the inspiration for some skin art that my boyos have been pushing me to get but i have hesitated. until now.

the movielife - "jamestown"

fun with fun... the band.

i bet the free bagels in your company's common area during breakfast hours all of a sudden seem a little bit lamer...

dallas green may be the best thing to happen to televsion since HD

written and performed by dallas green featuring a few other talented musicians specifically to be featured at the end of the one tree hill finale. the show's director texted dallas and asked him to help put something great together for the finale.

one week later: an amazing song was born.

happy big 1-5 to my only (sort of) sister

15 years ago, my family and i went to a farm an hour west of dc. it was mid-afternoon on a saturday and as picturesque a day in june as you could hope for. i had just "graduated" from sixth grade and was heading into middle school. i was a few days from turning 12 and as a combination birthday/graduation gift, my parents broke down and agreed to get a dog. a big decision that had included fencing in the backyard and dozens of hours spent in the library researching every single breed on earth... twice.

as we arrived at the farm and approached the house, we slowly got out of the car and paused as we observed a small pack of dogs running around the yard. we all realized immediately why we had selected this particular breed. they were not particularly large dogs but they were beautiful animals. large flowing coats and great facial expressions. very similar in appearance to a collie but about half the size and more diverse coloring than the larger breed. roaming around in a loose pack playing in an fenced-in yard with the puppies trying their best to keep up with the bigger dogs. responding immediately to their owner's commands, the older dogs carefully leading all the puppies back towards the house. the breed we were observing was the shetland sheepdog... or "sheltie" for short.

we entered the yard and my parents were intercepted by the breeders and began talking about the dogs. my younger brother and i, completely disinterested in TALKING about dogs(we had been talking about dogs for the past month during all those nights researching breeds in the library. we were done with just talk.), ran right by the adults and joined playtime with the puppies.

as we ran with the dogs, it was as if all the puppies were trying to showoff in front of us. my brother, having a little more energy than me, ran around with each of the puppies making comments about what each had to offer. i tired a bit and slowed up. as i slowed, i noticed one was a little smaller and slower than the others. i stopped and let the little puppy catch up, she slowly approached me, rubbed up on my foot and immediately fell asleep on my shoe.

it didnt take much more for me to know that i had found my puppy. it was love at first sight. three days later, nicole michelle, nikki for short, was the newest member of the family.

today, nikki turns 15 years old... 105 years old in dog years. and she is just as beautiful of a dog today as she was then...

happy birthday nikki!! as much cream cheese as you want today!!

to be a teenager again...

last friday night, i saw a band called the classic crime in a small club called the canal club in richmond, virginia.

a little back story about my current love affair with the classic crime... i have been listening to this small punk rock outfit out of seattle, who resides on a small, but legendary indie label for about a year and a half. they have a new cd out which has on it my new "song of summer" entitled vagabonds. their first two cds and one ep were packed full of heartfelt lyrics and enough power chords and anthemic sing-a-longs to instantly wiggle themselves right on to the road trip playlist.

now i know what you're thinking... ANOTHER punk band that this guy loves.

yes... im not a monogamist when it comes to my music BUT i have been faithful in consistently coming back to the classic crime and not only by enjoying their music, but forcing friends and family to listen as well.

so... anyways, at this show, the classic crime was coming off having played 11 shows prior in a row. the lead singer, matthew, was very apologetic for his raspy voice struggling to make it through each song. the crowd was about 100 strong and had an average age of 16. each song seemed to get the crowd more and more into it... even as they began to get nervous about missing their 10pm curfew. seriously heard more than a few call their moms during and after show to schedule pick-ups.

but the best part about all of this was that i made nice with the classic crime's merch guy and after buying some goods from him, convinced him to get me a poster signed by the whole band. at the end of the show, there it was. a poster signed by each member. an instant treasure that will look lovely next to my poster signed by brand new and my alexisonfire scarf signed by the band.

but as i began to walk out of the venue, pleased with myself... i got nostalgic as i watched young tweeners get their picture taken with the band. i know that im older than these people by a decade but i found myself understanding their desire for just a few seconds of feeling like they are an integral part of punk rock. i had to have one.

i walked up to the band as they finished a photo shoot with a braces-clad 13 year old, and made it known that everyone needed to stay put because i was not leaving without a grainy photo taken on my blackberry. they enveloped me and as we began posing for the picture... i made the comment "im the only 26 year old in this whole damn building."

matthew, the lead singer reassures me "im 27 next month. you're all good, brotha."

he called me brotha. im basically family. awesome show. awesome band. i love these small intimate shows and im sure that classic crime in the next few years will be a staple in the ears of 18-25 year olds across this great nation...

oh, and of course, one 26-35 year old rocking out to their cd and polishing his signed classic crime poster.

this has been looooooong overdue...

andrew jackson, the 7th president of the US, will now finally live out his dream of sharing his life to the tune of emo punk music perfection.

andrew jackson cried when the british were mean to him...

this should be enjoyable AND informative.