November 2002 Archives

Dear Viewers! (as in the common people, the lay people, the NON-SPORKOP PEOPLE)

WELL! Quite a change indeed. Notice something different? No, this time it's not flashy new layouts with a customizing script.

Did somebody order comments?! (actually, Jo did for her own site, so I wrote it for mine first). Now everday users can comment! Marc Farris, I know this is your dream come true! Finally you can say "hah, what a dumbass" to everything I write! Or, other users can post THEIR input on shiat like Music when we talk about it, or bashing emo! (Maybe it's time for another emohatefest ... nah)

Right now, anybody can post anonymously, but with no HTML. Those with .NET logins however ARE allowed to post with HTML, and I know many would love to be one of the special people who can post as a SporkOP, but I don't like SporkOPS cause they never post. So I plan to eventually phase them out (shh, don't tell them). The plan is for a sort of TheSpork.NET portal where people can come together and read news/discussion topics and then post their say. It'll sort of be like SlashDot.org in which the ops there post news and then the users talk about it. What'll be the theme? Well, I actually have no idea. That's sort of where SporkOPs come in because they provide feedback. I dunno.

But regardless, go have fun with it.

Note to SporkOPS - You have the options of posting with HTML, editing/deleting your comments, and also editing/deleting the anonymous comments beneath your own post. So make sure you're logged in each time you comment!

Spork.

im in NYC for the weekend, ill be back tho, dont fret.

look at my name, im like spork :)

For any or all that may be interested...

From Pollstar.com-

Tue 01/28/03 moe. Headliners
Wed 02/05/03 David Gray Palace Theatre
Mon 03/10/03 Coldplay Palace Theatre

-BE

I just upsized the MS Access database to SQL Server 2000. That was quite exciting for me. No longer am I limited to stupid OleDBConnections! Yeah, nobody cares. I know, at least I can acknowledget that fact. Only cool thing this might actually do is simply provide for full text searches of the news database, without much code writing on my part. I could have probably pulled that off with Access, but I thinks it would have been really slow, and also insanely hard to code. Now I think I've got built in support for it. Well, have fun kids. Oh, yes it's thanksgiving, so happy "Thank god we're not british because the indians saved us" day. Or we could call it "Let's celebrate the backstabbing of an entire race!" (Trail of Tears reference)

Spork.

I was asked to cross-post this, so here's my review of Monday's Our Lady Peace show.

I’m still just in awe of how amazing this show was. I’ve probably seen 20 or so concerts and the first OLP show at Jillians is the one I’ve always regarded as the best because there was such a great connection between the band and the audience. Well this last show on Monday just upstaged it. This was by far the greatest concert I’ve ever seen, and quite likely ever will.
OLP is one of my absolute favourite bands so I decided I HAD to be front row dead center for this show. Accordingly, I got there at about quarter to 4, that’s over 3 hours before doors. There was one other girl there who had come in from Ohio and right behind me were another 2 who had also driven in. At one point, we were all just sitting at the top of the stairs waiting where the line always is, but then this guy from jillians came along and told us they were closing the game room for the LRS meet and greet and we would have to move back. Apparently LRS had given away about 20 tickets and they got to meet the band and go in first. No Way were they going in ahead of us though! We got the guy, Paul, to give us his word that we could go in ahead of the contest winners. Very cool. He came through for us, too. LRS was kinda mad, but screw them we waited, we were the dedicated fans. LRS did give us a box of free donuts as consolidation, though :)
Well, a band called Greenwheel opened for OLP and though I had never heard of them they definitely rocked. The three other people at the front with me had basically come for greenwheel, they had seen them 20 something times already. Craziness. They were a great band though. It was hilarious how all the girls were going crazy for the lead singer like he was some pop idol or something. It sucked, though, that the previous night someone had broken into their trailer and taken all their gear so they were playing OLP’s guitars and stuff. Poor greenwheel. I’m definitely going to have to go get their CD, maybe even… BUY it.
Then OLP came on. Their show has definitely progressed since last time I saw them. They opened the last show with a SWEET video montage kind of thing about kurzweil’s ideas from The Age of Spiritual Machines. This time there wasn’t as dramatic an opening, but they had a sweet lighting setup and smoke machines and stuff. The only thing that I didn’t like about this was that it really messed with my pictures, the smoke would reflect the flash and without flash the backlighting made them nothing but silhouettes. They played a perfect mix of material from all their albums. A lot of it was from gravity, which was to be expected, but they did not forget some of the amazing material from clumsy, spiritual machines, Happiness, even Naveed. They played “Bring back the sun” which is probably one of my 5 current favourite songs. It was a really long set too, which was very cool. Like I said, I was FRONT row, DEAD CENTER, so Raine was RIGHT THERE. It’s so amazing to have the band so close that when you are singing along you can make eye contact and they acknowledge you. With a band like Our Lady Peace, whose songs are so emotionally charged, this is an experience that borders on religious. Raine would hold his mic out right over us 2 or 3 times, and I could hear myself on the PA. He came down and shook hands. He climbed up on the speaker stack at stage right and hung from the rafters in the ceiling. (Blast my stupid blurry camera and their stupid smoke, I didn’t get a picture ) It was truly incredible. The audience really got into it. The security guy (who looked DEAD UP like Henry Rollins, btw) told me it was packed clear to the back. Obviously it was a sold out show (Sorry, john ) I can’t even begin to say enough about how great this show was. My throat is still sore from singing so much. I was very upset, though, about their merchandise table. As most of you probably know, I’ve been picking up pins lately, but didn’t really intend to get one here as much as for some other bands, but in the end that was all I could afford! T-Shirts were 25 bucks and not even that great! I wanted to get 2 as gifts for friends that couldn’t make it, but 50 bucks was a bit too steep. Other recent shows have had 5 and 10 dollar shirts. I will not use the “S-O” word about one of the best bands around, but it was disappointing.

The real highlight of the show, for me, however, was this picture. In the middle of one of the songs when there wasn’t a lot of vocals really needed, Raine saw me. He pointed right at me, climbed down from stage, took my camera, leaned into the audience and snapped the picture. It was crazy. Everybody there told me how jealous they were. It really just topped off the show because a concert is all about the connection made between the band and the audience and this was such a perfect example of this. I was shaking when I left. I was on a high like nothing ever before. Amazing. Wow. Unbelievable show. More pictures

-G-

Once again, I've gone and done it. OK, I decided I didn't like my color scheme, and started working with it again. I put it into fotochop, inverted the color scheme, and out popped this (only a little modified). Well, that was semi-hideous, but some people liked it. Next I adjusted the levels of that same scheme, and then changed the urine yellow to blue. Now we have the current color scheme. However, that wasn't enough, so I took the old color scheme and adjusted it's contrasted without inverting the colors. This is what popped out.

Finally, I gave up, and just created a customize script that's much better from the old version, which nobody probably remembers except the diehards. Only thing now to mention is that the new customize script does NOT save to cookies. I don't know if I want it to, because I'm too lazy to fix people's cookies problems when they arise. So just bookmark a scheme if you like one. And when you click on other links that stay within thespork.com/index.asp the scheme will stay even though the link changes. Genius! Session variables! (damnit, I'm going to be up forever tonight).

So yeah, I erased the poll and started fresh. Revote. And if you liked the old scheme, or a different one, just bookmark the old one. And it'll be that way every time you come back to the page! Swwwweeeeet.

Added Note: I think all bugs are finally gone, I'm not sure though. I also added a random scheme, which changes every time you hit a different index.asp link.

Anyone is a better hockey player than basik.

sPoR k.

wow. im insanely jealous.

- jo [concertless]

Well...let me say that my intention is not to make anyone jealous I saw Shadow, except Basik. After all, it is too easy to make him jealous of me. I'm a better hockey player. :)

Anyways, I thought I would share the 'Shadow' experience with those not lucky enough to enjoy.

So its Friday 11/15 and I am digging through Pollstar looking for cool concerts. I always search by city for Lou, Indy, Cincy, Columbus, and Nashville. I see under Cincy, DJ SHADOW in 2 days?!?! I called my roommate at work (he is a bigger Shadow fan than I, and has a huge Private Press poster on the wall) and tell him to get off work early Sunday, we are going to see Shadow. Ticketmaster.com sets me back $46 for the 2 tickets, and we are off.

Sunday, we get to Bogarts around 7:45 for an 8:00 show. The stage set is simple, a huge table full of turntables, etc. with 3 video screens behind him. Finally, at 8:50 Shadow just walks out on stage all non-chalant and picks up a mic. He apologizes, but the opener (I can't remember who) didn't show up. (What kind of professional doesn't show up?????)

So he talks a little, describes his set up- 4 turntables, a sequencer, and some other equip. I'm not really familiar with. He says that since the opener went AWOL, he will just have to play longer.

So he gets into it, and plays songs from all over his discography, many times going for 10-15 minutes mixing several tracks into one big fat one. At the same time, the video screens show different visuals he has put together to compliment/ pass the message he is trying to portray, etc. The visuals were just awesome.

So after about 2 hours, Shadow asks if we want the normal show, or the extended...since we had no opener. Everyone of course screams for the extended, so off he goes again. Played a Private Press medley, including Six Days, that went on for at least 20 minutes.

Shadow says good night, and off stage for about 5 min. He comes back out and tells us he is going to try something new. He is going to use his sequencer and sampler to not only create a song right there with audio, but also sampling the corresponding video. Everytime he touches a sampler button, a sound plays, with corresponding video. He used really cool video from some '70s era how to play drums video to go with a sweet beat he was laying down. He made the video look like the '70s dude was drumming with him. Impressive cutting edge stuff.

A long 2 song jamfest encore, and we left happy as hell. The man is a Turntable Jedi...plain as that. On top of his skills, he just came across as a cool guy...bantering with the crowd, taking requests, etc. He says that the crowd was great that night, so he will have to come back to Cincy (his first gig in Cincy since '97). I know i'll be there.
-BE

Everyone reading first read the post below this one.

I only have a second, I've gotta run off to school (sucks) but two things in response to the post below by PABoy. First, I'm sure I speak for Jo, Basik, and NavySEAL, but I'm VERY jealous you saw DJ Shadow. Secondly, I agree, all music should make you feel good, and in response to those people who wallow in self-pity, and listen to depressing music when they're sad, that somehow, indirectly, makes them feel good. It vents the depression, and in the case of emo, like Dashboard Confessional, I could see how someone would feel better singing lyrics like "I just want to be anywhere making out" (and hopefully Grant won't get all diehard and fix my quote, cause I know it's not word for word). There's some sense of having your spirits raised simply by letting out the steam, essentially. My two cents.

Oh, and thanks for the post, you rock as always, and you didn't necessarily have to respond to previous responses, simply encouraged to. As moderator I've been taking care of that for most people.

Spork.

OK..so I am "technically late". But then again, I usually am. It is still Sunday to me, seeing as though I haven't gone to bed yet. It's just the topic made me think SO much that I couldn't quite come up with what I wanted to say.

So on to the discussion...
Is there a difference between "Name one band that you listen to when you're upset" and "Name one band that you listen to when you want to feel good"? Topics can and should include examples of artists and situations, and the general topic could easily transgress into what are your favorite bands for the proposed questions. Ops are encouraged to reply to any previous responses before theirs. Multiple responses are welcomed.

Well, I guess the immediate thought that popped into my skull when I read this was, "Do I choose what I listen to based on my mood?" After all, shouldn't I listen to a certain band when I am upset, and the same band when I want to feel good? Isn't the whole point of music to make you feel better? I had never really thought about it. After all, I seem to be somewhat bummed more than not, and I wasn't quite sure how that impacted my musical choices. So the last week, I did a little study. I kept a little journal, and in it I listed what I listened to and my general mood. Keep in mind that I am usually listening to XM Radio, so I have a near-endless set of choices anytime I am driving.

A sampling of my notes (I'm too lazy to clean this up pretty for you.):
Monday PM- Mood- Bummed (going back to work). Music: Ethel(Alt. rock)- Audioslave. What a great band...Cornell backed by RATM. Damn. :)
Tuesday AM (after work)- Mood: Tired. Music: Dave Matthews Band CD Live at Folsom Field (Commentary prevention: Hey screw you- I've been a fan since '94!!).
Wednesday PM (To Mom's for free meal!!) Mood: Hungry but happy. Music: The Rhyme ('80s Rap) Band: NWA- Straight outta Compton. Getting jiggy while driving is hazardous.
Friday PM- (Back to Work)- Mood: Chilled. Music: More Ethel Band:Queens of the Stone Age. Grohl on drums again.
Sunday day- (Cleaning the house)- Mood: Content. Music: DMB again..this time Folsom Field DVD.

So in a nut shell, I tended to find myself playing more upbeat dancing type music when happy, and harder, heavier music when down. Also, I found that when tired, I tending to lower the volume a little and settle on something a little more in tune with my mood. But in all, all the music made me feel better than I did prior to turning it on. Period. If it didn't make me feel better, I changed the channel.

I guess my little experiment proved to me that my mood does affect my listening choices/ habits. Granted, this was a small sampling, and is probably as much affected by other environmental influences as by my mood. So don't turn this in to any science journals. It is really piss poor research.

-BE

PS I was supposed to respond to previous posts too...and I didn't. Sorry 'bout that. Well...I guess what I am typing below could be a response.

Hey BASIK- I saw DJ Shadow last wkend in concert. Jealous???? ;)

Well, there's only four hours (by my clock) left on the discussion. watermellen and PrinterAisleBoy have yet to post, although PABoy did promise a post soon. I guess if it doesn't come that's ok. Although watermellen hasn't even shown knowledge of the existence of this discussion, so we'll see what we do about her.

OH! Right, you don't care about that, you're wondering WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED to the layout! Well, I got bored Saturday and tried coding, and did like 4 or 5 different things (image script, edit image script, upload image script, nhs import user, nhs individual hours) and just couldn't finish any of them. I got a little work done on each, but not much. So finally I was like "I want SOME sort of end product for the day that I'm happy with" so I started redesigning thespork.com. And at the end of the night today (sunday) I'm now finished. NavySEAL gave it his SEAL of approval (wow, I didn't plan that) and Jo said no, too much grey. But I kind of like the gray, and besides, I looked at it on my parents computer, and it looked like shit, and that's when I realized only reason Jo doesn't like it is because she (like my parents' computer) has an LCD monitor, and the color settings are never right on those bad boys.

So yeah, I added a .NET login in the upper right, eventually (my plan since like two years ago) regular users'll have logins as well (if they please). I removed of the journal (once in the lower right) because I never update it, and it didn't flow with the layout. I also added links in the upper right of each post to the post ID number. This way if somebody wants to link a certain post, they can copy that shortcut and paste to someone. Or if SporkOPS want to cite/quote a previous post, they can right click the post id number and goto copy and simply paste it into a link tag in their new post. It's conveniant is all. The News Archive at the bottom formats nicely with the new layout, I had to fix it up, as well as fix up the poll. The image script shouldn't have ever gone on the front page anyway I decided, so there's just a link at the top next to thespork.net's. Finally, New Logo!

Anyway, you can still visit the old layout if you so wish. It should be exactly as it was before, and always will be (and will continue to update automatically), however I won't update the journal, keep that in mind.

I'll create a poll that'll start tomorrow to ask how people like the new layout.

Admin.

yea, pop music is characterised by an image, but pop music is ALSO a genre of music. and it moves people. hell, it moves me. i really like justin timberlake's new song "like i love you", and i like two of britney spears's songs. not only because i think justin or britney are hot (but of course, they ARE good looking). i dont think "nothing is self-created" from ALL the people who make pop music. yea, i really look down at a lot of the fabricated stuff (o-town, pop stars, american idol), but there IS good pop out there, and not all pop stars are money making puppets for record companies.

- jo [ ]

Well, I totally agree. But what's to say that music labeled as depressing, or slow, or non-uplifting necessarily doesn't move you? (kamel I'm sure wasn't trying to say that, but I wanted to touch on the idea) If you take any form of music, and I'll even throw in rap, country, and even the dreaded emo into that genre, the music is going to move you. People can get a connection to the music, which is the intangible type of "move you" that can be interpreted here. Or there's the music that can literally make you dance, which can move you. Finally, there's music like the Backstreet Boys in which you literally get up and move to a different room (heh).

The music that moves us doesn't always have to be the most melodically impressive music on the planet. I love Our Lady Peace as much as Grant (and alas, I'm the dumbass that waited till Friday night before the show (this monday) to buy his ticket and found out they were sold out) and while they're not necessarily musicianal geniuses, they certainly can move with powerful lyrics (and other times random lyrics, I'll admit (for instance my t-shirt quoting the line "talking is just masturbating without the mess, in which many have argued (and I'd agree) that this was simply an excuse to put masturbating into a song without speaking of the literal physical act)). However, the greatest bands concoct the best mixture of moving lyrics with moving beats (and the mood of the beats had better match the mood of the lyrics). But yes, music that moves is truly the best, and it's music that moves the MOST which is the best music. I don't see most modern pop doing much movement outside of the third form, moving people (me!) out of the room.

Lastly, someone may listen to Portishead, on a day that they're "up," and think "this just isn't moving me." That's ok. They're allowed to think that. Just as someone who listens to Portishead, on a day they're "down," realizes the strength in the words (as well as the
"totally razor" beats) and think "this is moving me." That's ok too. So then why do I bash the backstreet boys and other forms of pop? Because Backstreet Boys make money because little girls think they're hot, not because they make good music. For one, they don't write their songs, nor perform the music for them, nor do they even at least record the music before they play it live. No, nothing of theirs is self-created. And then for instance Christina Aguilera ... she's only popular because she can get naked on the cover of Rolling Stones and if she WEREN'T popular, she wouldn't be around to get naked on the cover of rolling stones and likewise if she weren't naked on the cover of rolling stones (or in half her videos) then whe wouldn't be popular. I could go on about every artist. Pop music is essentially characterized by image, and actually it's defined as music of general appeal to young people. I could rant about young people, but I won't, I've seriously tangented entirely from the general topic. But it's ok, it's my site, and I can do what I want to :-P.

Feel free to post comments.

Spork.

Oh yeah you though you were gonna be all tricky and shit and get my privldges revoked or something yeah yeah yeah....

Anyway, i have to echo some of what was said before that there are not really points in my life where i get really "upset" and if i am then i ususally don't sit around and listen to music; i go find who is pissing me off or i play music for a while. But i digress, i have found that what truly lifts me up, not saying that i am upset but maybe stressed, tired, lazy or something, is something with a little regee or some funk infused with my rock a la Sublime, Long Beach Dub All-Stars, Of A Revolution, Bob Marley, Jurassic 5, CREAM, Jimi Hendrix, Phish, The Red Hot Chili Peppers (the shear ammout of sexuality in RHCP is enough to make me happy). These are the bands i listen to when i want to feel uplifted, awake, happy, ready to go out and "turn a cherry pie right into jam". These are also the bands that get blasted here in my little cube of a dorm room and the chick who lives below me wants to steal my subwoofer.

think about it, music should move you, in some way, otherwise what is the point of listening to it?

nick

Is there a difference between "Name one band that you listen to when you're upset" and "Name one band that you listen to when you want to feel good"? Topics can and should include examples of artists and situations, and the general topic could easily transgress into what are your favorite bands for the proposed questions. Ops are encouraged to reply to any previous responses before theirs. Multiple responses are welcomed.

um well lets see...

i really dont get upset. ever. i mean i may once, but the longest time that would be would probably be like an hour, so i wouldnt have time to listen to music. also, if i was upset i would want to listen to the music that i listen to when i feel good, because that music makes me feel good, and i want to feel good, becuase at the current moment i would not be feeling good. ;)

ya so bands i listen to when im feeling good...
thats a tricky one, i would say Atmosphere, DJ Shadaow, Buck 65, Aesop Rock, EL-P, RJD2.. the list goes on. when i wanna feel really good, and all like fucking hyber and shit ill bump some Dilated Peoples, because the beats are just so uplifiting, u cant not feel good.

well theres my 2 cents bitches..

keep it thoro. IM OUT.

Glad this isn’t just becoming another dashboard/emo-hate-fest ;)

This question’s right up my alley so I tried writing up a good response last night and it didn’t work so I’ll not post my incoherent, admittedly emotional (in the sense of being timely), late night ramblings and just answer briefly: Our Lady Peace.
I’ve actually discussed the meanings of several of their songs with other people and my impression is often quite different from others, so maybe it’s not a great example, but basically their songs have always appealed to me as an exploration of hopelessness. Reason that they’re good for listening to when you’re down is that you can identify with what the lyrics are saying. Songs like “4am,” “Middle of Yesterday,” “Superman’s Dead,” “Automatic flo-- actually I think the whole Clumsy CD-- those are songs that I could say reflect exactly the way I feel sometimes, and its just comforting to know that somebody else is writing about the exact same things.
I would say, too, that they sort of work for both aspects of the question, whether you want to get better or just stay down. A lot of the songs give hope, but some don’t. I find myself listening to OLP when I get down and sometimes then I get to feeling better and switch random play back on, or sometimes I go turn out all the lights and fall asleep on the floor with my headphones on, a complete wreck…
so yea... That’s my choice music for when im feeling low. Explains why I know every lyric to every song, ey?

O and in direct response to your question, yes, a band to listen to “when you’re upset” is different from “when you want to feel good” because the latter simply refers to any sort of feel-good music. Yet, if you do already do feel good, then you wouldn’t say that you “want to feel good” so that implies that you’re feeling bad and want to feel better. I think the difference between them is clear but easily misunderstood… or.. uh.. something… this is why i dont vote in the polls.

-Grant-

p.s. just noticed, is the preview screen supposed to say your post is on new years 1990?

I've decided to also include a poll on the topic, so as the discussion continues we can see what users think. I've decided to try and do this for each discussion that has the potential for a multiple choice poll. For instance, the current poll is possible, whereas a poll asking what people would respond with for each question would not (I can't list every single band on the planet as a radio button, basically).

Users remaining to post: kamel, watermellen, basik, NavySEAL, PrinterAisleBoy

Admin.

Okay, so, being a good student, I'll restate the question:

<TOPIC>Is there a difference between "Name one band that you listen to when you're upset" and "Name one band that you listen to when you want to feel good"? Topics can and should include examples of artists and situations, and the general topic could easily transgress into what are your favorite bands for the proposed questions. Ops are encouraged to reply to any previous responses before theirs. Multiple responses are welcomed.</TOPIC>

NORMALLY, when you're upset you want to feel good, so in that case there shouldn't be a difference. If you want to wallow in self loathing, you can listen to a different band when you're upset. See, the thing with saying "a band you listen to when you're upset" is that it doesn't ask how you want to feel, it references how you already feel. Whereas, with "when you want to feel good", it's in the future tense, asking what you'd do to get a certain result. Apples and oranges, my friends, apples and oranges.

Now. On to bands, and I'll answer those questions. In my case, there is a difference, and there isn't a difference. See, it depends on the band. I can name one band that I listen to when I'm upset (Oasis) and a band that I listen to to feel good (Oasis.) Or, I can name a band for upset (Travis) and one for good (Doves.) It really does depend on what bands you name...

Why Oasis for both? Well, when I'm upset, if I want to stay upset there are a few songs of theirs that can do that to me. But when I want to feel good, they can do that.

--Fiend

Alright, well, I'd like to thank Jo (and later Phil) for making herself the first to post. I know that was tough, because I started the topic and even I said to myself that I'd post after somebody else. The topic is, "Are the questions band when you're upset and band to make you feel good' different. First, perhaps, I'll offer as brief of an explanation for the source as I can.

It was Sunday night, and I should have been working on homework, and actually was until an old friend who I hadn't spoken to in a long time asked me to name one band that I listen to when I'm upset over something. I offered my most recent experience, in which I found myself listening to solely the slow and sappy songs of the Ben Folds Live CD (points for the ones that were about love). However, I told him that it all depends, because that's just one instance and that if I really had to choose I'd say Portishead, because they're like emo on acid. Although, afterwards, I appended that I actually could say that I listened to Dashboard Confessional once when I was upset.

And while I told him he was free to put either Portishead if he wanted a straight answer, or Dashboard if he wanted a popular choice anser, he put Portishead and told me to check his profile. At the top read "Bands people listen to make themselves feel good." Let's just say I was pissed off, because, in my opinion, this was not the same survey question I'd been asked, and I was being misrepresented (even if my name was not included). So I gave Ryan, the bloke who asked me this, my explanation.

First of all, a CD to listen to when you're upset, can be one of two things. The first is the album that leaves you wallowing in self-pity, and therefore does not remove you of your depression. Best instance would be the Portishead and sappy slow song ben Folds approach. Usually artists feature strong minor keys with prominant voices booming their emotions. The option within this same option is the Dashboard Confessional approach, which is basically saying "damnit, why are you crying over ::insert:: ... you should be crying over the fact that you listen to fuggin Dashboard Confessional." But we've already touched this topic once, let's not try again.

The other approach to the question of "an album to listen to while upset" is the album that will do what the second question asks, which is make you feel good. This can be any range of songs from fast paced techno, rawkin' power chords, to paul simon and art garfunkel (although their songs are mellow enough to keep you tranced). These songs get you singing along (which the last set does as well) but not only add about five beats per minute to your heart rate, but they add about five miles per hour to your driving speed. Once again, there are albums for different types of feel good. Examples can include love emotion filled songs like Frou Frou (no one has heard of, I know) to I'm a badass music like Cirrus (this one adds not just five but ten to my mph) all the way to call me a rebel with some Indie like Modest Mouse or Built to Spill.

The truth comes down to the fact that I'm a conservative, and like many that means I'm a strict constructionist. If the question asks "What artist would you listen to when you're upset" then I don't go outside that and read it as "what album" (because it said artist). So I wouldn't say "oh, the slow sappy songs for Ben Folds Live" because that's an album, and the actual Ben Folds artist as a whole is generally not very depressing. He's more make you feel good (which the question didnt' ask). As a side note, I wouldn't choose Ben Folds in any situation, simply because there's only like 6 songs that are truly slow and sappy and that one day I was feeling down I kept repeating Emaline, Brick, and Fred Jones over and over it seemed and it got boring.

I'll post more when it comes to me.

Spork.

When im upset, i listen to Britney Spears. Then i'm driven to the point i kill myself. Then i keep killing myself and killing myself and then im not upset anymore. Except im dead, it's a small price to pay however. Then when I'm happy, I bust out some skypark. They are the bestest christian band ever. Or atleast their first CD, it was excellent. It's all about the starbucks girl song. okay, i'm kinda like not helping with the whole "post relevant things about a topic" idea, but i don't want to lose posting rights when i want vent!

welp, i didnt go to school today on account of my spewing sickness everywhere, so i suppose i'll use this time to save my posting privileges. yea, i havent posted since august 18th, heh. sorry john.

- jo [the worst of writers]

Interesting, people want to go to Thailand, yet I think we're going to be headed to Vietnam this summer, which is the least picked.

ALL SPORKOPS

We're going to get some discussion going ... I'm going to post a topic, and everyone is required to respond within one week or else SporkOP privelages removed. Now since it's 11:30 on Sunday, I'll give everyone the benefit of the doubt that you won't be reading this till tomorrow, so we'll say that your last day to respond will be next Sunday (That gives you a full seven days).

No, I'm not being a bitch, I just feel like seeing who's actually going to use their privelages and who won't. For instance, Danny as Phlying Monkey begged and begged twice a day for privelages and when I finally gave them to him he posted twice. Now that's an obvious answer, I disabled his account a LONG time ago.

So yeah, all you need is one post, minimum length a good paragraph, on the topic.

<TOPIC>Is there a difference between "Name one band that you listen to when you're upset" and "Name one band that you listen to when you want to feel good"? Topics can and should include examples of artists and situations, and the general topic could easily transgress into what are your favorite bands for the proposed questions. Ops are encouraged to reply to any previous responses before theirs. Multiple responses are welcomed.</TOPIC>

My goal is to do this more often. I'll be less nazi about it in the future, but with this first trial run I'd like to eradicate SporkOPS who don't post.

Spork.

Well, let's see ... I need to update. Jeez, was it really just last week we were in Atlanta? Feels like it's been two weeks. Anyway, I've kind of had a crazy week. First of all, I shot about a roll of film in Atlanta, and I haven't made any prints yet, but I did make prints from the roll I shot after that. It was a roll of Grant dressed in fatigues and face paint. There are a bunch of good pics, but check out barrel of a gun and hiding. Pretty nifty, and I'm in the middle of handcoloring barrel. I think those pictures shout "I'm a badass" but Grant doesn't seem to think so. Or else he just won't admit that he really is a badass.

Let's see. Thursday night I go buy Mech Assault so I can play it on XBox Live which unofficially, for beta testers like myself, released thursday instead of friday. We start out playing a little Mech Assault locally, then get online and get WHOOPED. So Jim moves to NFL Fever 2003, where we play all night and wind up 22nd on the five minute quarter ladder. Friday night I play Live all night and at the end of the evening Jim was 2nd on the Fever ladder and I was like 415 on the Mech Assault (pretty good considering I started out at 3000). Problem with Mech Assault is if you're decent enought to get first or second place every match (which right now I am, simply because everyone else is still bad) then you can climb the ladders just by playing, you don't even have to do extremely well as long as you get more kills than deaths. But the problem is that you turn off the game and come back in two or three hours and your spot has gone from 400 to 500 just because you haven't been playing and that many people have no lives. So I don't see myself ever getting above 5 or 600 simply because I have to maintain a life. I went from 600 yesterday to 900 this morning just because I wasn't playing all night non-stop like the other 900 people ahead of me. Pathetic. But perhaps I'm just making excuses for myself. People are good, damn good, but it's because they haven't left the XBox since noon thursday, and therefore haven't slept or showered since then either.

So anyway, some stuff happens to the Fever ladder so that Jimmy gets knocked down to like 49th, so he keeps playing and jumps back up to 3 last night, 2 this morning, and after a few more games he's number 1. Number one out of some 10,000 people. Although, he's been at practice all day, so he's probably dropped down to three. The thing is that, Xbox Live is so new right now, everyone wants to play it, including us. But eventually we'll get tired of it or just too busy, and we'll lose our spots and those people who live in thier mother's basements and leave the house once a year will keep climbing further and further to first place. Sadly, the ladders are incredibly weighed by the number of games you've played (successfully).

Anyway, yesterday we went to Friday's, and had the worst waiter. I got us some free potato skins because of my Friday's card, and turns out that they don't just give you a free appetizer it's a free 8 dollars towards an appetizer. So the skins were only 6.87 or something like that, and so I actually got an additional dollar or so off my buger. I ate cheap last night. With tip, 8.00 dollars even. But then harry potter at 11:45 for 7.50 wasn't cheap. But yeah, we go back to paul's house and play trivial persuit, and joanna plays piano, and then eventually it's 11:15 and we drop off the kids and paul and I go see Harry Potter 2. Very good, and it certainly met up to the first one, I have no idea what critics were talking about. Now I can't wait for Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. That'll be immensly exciting.

I've been working on college apps this weekend, which is a step for me. I've got a decent list of about 8 schools, and I just have to find one or two more backups. I'd really like them to be out of state if at all possible, but then I wonder why I really have to be like that.

My bank account is getting low. 298 dollars. I've decided to sell off my digital camcorder on ebay. If I get 700 dollars I'll be satisfied, 800 I'll be happy, and anything above that I'll be very thrilled. It's got a ton of extra accessories (carrying case, bag, extended 10 hour
(150 dollar) battery, + more) plus a four year warranty, and the camera with nothing extra and a 90 day warranty is 1000 dollars. So selling it off mint condition (I wish I could call it new but I opened it) and with all those accessories for 800 would be a STEAL for anyone in the market looking for one. And besides, I paid 1000 for the total package because of my discount. It all retailed over 1500. What would I do with the money? Buy a regular camera. Like a decent one (3-400) with an awesome lense or two (2-300 x 2). I'd actually use a still manual camera, whereas the camcorder I just don't have time to think out some form of movie to shoot.

Anyway, that's what I've been thinking about.

Spork.

I was in Atlanta all weekend. Most of what I did is found on Jo's latest post because she went, and she already wrote up about two pages about it so there's no need for me to. Just head over here and read. Only thing to add is that Jon and I were the only ones who actually went to every event (except the dance and that night's closing section, but everybody skipped that). I actually at least stepped into the dance briefly, which is technically better than J Hill. Also, I definitely was in a breakout session with a wannabe Eminem, two diehard nhs service project coordinators (one a president), a girl with a thick accent from New York (kinda cute, too), and this chick from Minnesota who definitely spoke with an extremely thick accent, and I thought she was joking on her state when she said "Hi I'm katie from Wkjlkjlkjlkj Minnesota" and I immediately was like "Wow, can you say that again" and then turns out she really spoke that like that ... and I felt like an ass.

Anyway, I need the following full cd audio CD's:

Built to Spill - There's Nothing Wrong With Love
Built to Spill - Built to Spill & Caustic Resin
Built to Spill - The Normal Years

Will trade any of the other built to spills (full cd audio) plus Sabonis Tracks (rare)

Also:
Modest Mouse - Sad Sappy Sucker
Modest Mouse - Everywhere & His Nasty Parlor
Modest Mouse - Fruit That Ate Itself (EP)
Modest Mouse - This is a Long Drive For Someone

Basically, I already have lonesome crowded west, moon and antarctica, and building nothing out of something ... I need whatever I don't have to complete that collection ...

Finally, looking for
Cirrus - Back on a Mission
Cirrus - Drop the Break
Ugly Casanova - Sharpen Your Teeth

Oh, and Beck's new CD.

Anyone who can help me with that by lending me to copy or just straight burning it for me, will be provided with choice of one cd from my collection, 2 dollars, or a blank.

Spork.

UPDATE

Went running and lifted weights. Also wanted to say that I heard the greatest quote today:

Me (8:15:44 PM): think "hairy grandmas with dildos"
Mark P (8:16:31 PM): you're like the terminator, only you went back in time to KILL MY COCK

Yay for mark.

END UPDATE

Supposedly nobody likes the current poll and/or doesn't get it (ashley/jordan). I just thought it was funny, almost poking fun at marc ... sort of a sarcastic poll ... don't worry, I didn't set the timer on it for very long.

Admin.

Alright, so, I guess I can do a little midweek update.

I'm on chapter four of Prisoner of War on the XBox. That game is so great. You have to sneak out of nazi POW camps ... I broke out of this freaking castle I'm just that good, and in fact, chapter four you have to break back into a POW camp. How kiggaz is that.

Haha, ok, so it's totally not kickass at all and I'm a really big dork, I know. And what's worse, is that I've been programming non-stop all day, making some of the coolest scripts for the national honor society website. Great thing is that I've learned so much doing this website that I can't wait to get back to TheSpork.NET. I've got some seriously really kick ass ideas.

Finally, I had no school today so I have to update my social life last night. Went to dinner (rafferty's) with paul to have dinner (back yard BBQ burger) and then to get joanna from work, and then to diya's to watch Amelie. SUCH A GREAT MOVIE (my third time seeing it). Ugh, makes me want a girlfriend (heh, the first time I watched it made me wish I had a real girlfriend, heh). But I've saved that for second semester when I have more time.

Spork.

Alright, so I did update last weekend, it's just I accidentally, during one of the last sentences of my post, checked the spelling of a word on dictionary.com except visiting that site lost my entire post ... so I never found the time to retype it. But a brief overview, all I really remember was going to see "The Rimers of Eldritch" with Amanda and seeing Karina and a bunch of Walden Theatre people give one of the most amazing performances I've ever seen out of such a young cast. Actually, that play is so good I might even go as far as saying that that play is now one of the best I've seen, just because it's extremely well thought and almost postmodern. Afterwards Amanda, Karina, and I went to Starbucks in the highlands and talked for a couple hours, except because I put two totally contrasting personalities together, mainly just Karina and I talked, Amanda didn't say much, and I felt really bad, but it's all cool cause Karina apologized to ME later that week in school and I apologized to Amanda the very next day for how talkative we were.

The next day I think I screwed around and then went to Devin's for a little Halloween party where we definitely watched Army of Darkness! Such a great movie, but nobody saw the comedy in it. I think you have to watch it once and see the ending scene of the movie to then appreciate the beginning. It's ... well, it's like late 80's humor (I think). It's funny.

Anyway, Sunday I don't remember doing anything, although I may have.

This weekend. You can read about most of my friday on Jo's latest post for her weekend. Basically, wok n' stix (where Diya and I decide that Paul, Diya, and I were going to buy Joanna's Dad a really great christmas gift in return for all the free chinese food (shh, jo, don't tell)), then stuck in traffic because of Bush's speech (I love the guy and all, but that really pissed me off, both the fact that he came just to "save" Anne and the fact that because of that I got stuck in traffic for an hour and a half), then I drop the kids off at Manual and drive home, immediately to get a call from them saying we were headed to Diya's. So we watch Gosford Park on DVD at Dizz's house and then Marc show's up for like the last five minutes (as jo's post says).

Yesterday, Saturday, I took the SAT in the morning (eek). This time I answered every problem on the math, AND, not only that, but was CERTAIN on every answer. So hopefully we're looking above 760 or so, because I'm sure there were one or two where I may have either misinterpreted or didn't read the question (like i used r as a var in one point, but r may have stood for radius and once I found it I was then supposed to give circumference, something like that). So hopefully we're looking between a 760 and 800, cause last time I got a 730 and I did skip one or two and also wasn't sure on one or two. English, I think I finally found the trick to ... be awake when you take the test. It was much easier to pay attention to the reading because I was awake, AND, unlike the last time I took the test, did not have a cold and was not dripping snot out of my nose the entire way through the test (last time I took it I literally was holding my hand under my nose throughout the test ... bad imagery, I know). So, hopefully I can score higher than ... 650 ... If I score an 800 on the math and higher than 600 on English, I'll be VERY happy. Last time I only did 580 on English, which is pretty pathetic. I'd like to get over 600 this time. I basically want to hit or hit above 1400 combined. Hopefully I can pull that off. If I do, I'll be happy. If not, I won't cry, but I'll be dissapointed in myself.

Anyway, then I basically did nothing, just programmed all day, and then around six, when I was totally ready for bed, realized I hadn't eaten dinner AND that it was only six when it felt like ten, AND that we were going out to get thai food from thai siam. So get home at nine or so, and then at ten marc and I go to starbucks and just talk till they kick us out. Felt good to get some caffeine. Then woke up this morning, beat chapter 3 of 5 in prisoner of war on the xbox (w00t! almost done with the game) and programmed.

OH, and I went to my youth group at church for the first time in a long time tonight. We played twister and guesstures. And it was basically a total waste of time cause I was the only senior there and the only reason Jim and I went was to get info on the ski trip and the lady wasn't even there.

Spork.

so Stephanie Ellis wins for the person we would most like to fight, which is fitting seeing that most everyone hates her :)

i just thought i would update seeing that no one has sense last sunday, um thank you john for coming over to fix my computer!

recap of the week, it was red white week, which in my opinion is now big deal, i just dressed up on twin day only because evan made me. i dont really care about getting all peppy and all that shit, its kinda stupid. we got butt raped at the game. 26-0 Male. thats sad, im glad i just stayed home and watched it on TV because it was so friggin cold. my balls woulda been non existant after that.

thats it for now, all u mother f----- better post, cuz its getting lame-o!