I created a youtube playlist for the picks of the week.
Here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4xU9wLV0gQK_dpTj0ORbFv9DnA5hU5bQ
Obviously I’ll continue adding the picks as they come up 🙂
Pick of the Week for September 16 – Tonight Alive
I just heard about this band the other day from my one of my friends during a text conversation. He thought it would be right up my alley, and well he was right. The name of the band is “Tonight Alive“. They are a five piece pop punk band from Australia. That’s right, Australia!
Tonight Alive has been around since 2008, so I would consider them a newer band. Some people have compared them to Paramore… but I think they’ve got their own little spunk that sets them apart. In either case they are a good band and I think you should give them a listen.
The song I’ve picked is from the new album, “The Other Side”. The album was just released on September 6, so it is brand new! I’ve actually picked two songs off this album. The reason is, well I just can’t pick between the two!
The first song I’ve picked is titled “The Other Side”, it’s the title track off the album. I picked this song because of how heartfelt it is. You can truly feel the emotion put into the song, from the way that it is sung to the way that it is played. It’s a great song and you can listen to it below.
The second song I’ve picked is titled “The Fire”. It is the song that I originally intended to put on this blog before I started struggling with “The Other Side”. I really enjoy the crisp guitar in this song. I especially like the guitars in the bridge. The song is sung very well and I find myself wanting to belt out parts of it with the singer.
Buy “The Fire” here.
Buy “The Other Side” here.
The Other Side
The Fire
Pick of the Week for September 9 – blessthefall
Wow! It has been a long time. The good news is that we are finally moved into our new house (although I haven’t got my computer up and running yet, tonight!). We have been homeless since August 15 and it sure feels good to have a home again. I’ve been up late painting and moving things and changing locks and installing blinds. It’s been crazy!
Alright, so the pick of the week is a song called “You Wear a Crown but You’re No King” from blessthefall’s new album “Hollow Bodies”. It’s pretty dang good! Give it a listen below and let me know what you think in the comments section below! Do it!
No Updates for a While
I’m currently homeless (between moving out of a home and moving into a new home). As such I won’t be able to blog until after 08/30/2013. No picks of the week until after I get settled.
Thanks!
Pick of the Week for August 12
The pick of the week is from Dispatch one of my top five all time artists. I’ve only said that about one artist before. One of the things that I’ve always thought was a bummer is that I didn’t start listening to Dispatch until after they decided to call it quits! Yep! I started listening to them in 2004 after one of my friends introduced me to them. This just happenned to be right after there farewell concert, which, according to there website, was the largest independent music event in history. Needless to say, but I will say it anyways. It was only a few weeks before I had all of there albums.
This song comes from there first album, Silent Steeples. Silent Steeples is probably my favorite album by Dispatch. Each of there albums has a unique sound to it. Silent Steeples is more accoustic/folk rock whereas Bang Bang had more of a reggae/ska influence to it.
Well, I would love to go on and on about Dispatch, but I should probably just post the song already! The name of the song is “Bridges”. You can buy “Bridges” by Dispatch here or listen below.
Owl City to be Blamed for Recent Popularity of Electronically Driven Music
I just thought I would post this here while I was thinking of it. I believe that Owl City is to blame for the recent propagation and proliferation of electronic and keyboard driven music making it’s way into the mainstream. Granted, keyboards and synths have been around for a long time and have always had a following. But I believe that keyboard and synth driven music is just going to become more popular over the next few years. Adam Young, I believe, was the catalyst that helped spawn this growing trend in the popularity of electonically driven music.
So let’s say a big thanks to Owl City. Personally, I think the world could always use more keytar.
Taco Bell Removes the Enchirito from Menu
**EDIT 09/20/2013 **
I recently went back to Taco Bell. As it turns out they have put the Enchirito back on the menu. When I asked why, they told me that a lot of people were unhappy and wanted it back. So good work people!
**END EDIT**
Oh Taco Bell. You have done this to me before and you are doing it to me again. When are you going to learn that taking things off your menu is a BAD thing? It is especially bad when you “take” something off the menu and replace it with the same thing albeit more expensive.
A couple of years ago Taco Bell removed the Nacho Cheese Chalupa from it’s menu. (It was probably a couple of years ago although it could’ve been more recently). This made me mad. Let me tell you what I say when I order from Taco Bell. “Hi Taco Bell Person, I’d like 2 bean burritos, a Nacho Cheese Chalupa and an Enchirito”. That’s it! That is what I always had. So imagine my surprise when one day I say my normal order and the response from the other end is “We don’t sell Nacho Cheese Chalupas anymore.” And so I said, “What?…”.
Well that was a bad day. But I quickly learned how to get around it by being a super annoying customer. That’s right, my future orders went a little like this.
I’d like two bean burritos, a Nacho Cheese Chalupa, and an Enchirito please.
We don’t sell Nacho Cheese Chalupa’s anymore.
Oh really…? Hrmmm. Well then I would like a Supreme chalupa with no sour cream.
No sour cream?
Yes. No sour cream. Oh and can you add Nacho Cheese to that too?
A Supreme Chalupa with no sour cream and nacho cheese?
Yes.
So, in case you are wondering how to get a Nacho Cheese Chalupa, that’s how.
So… same story no happy ending yet. Today I go to Taco Bell and I order my order. This time they say “We don’t sell enchiritos anymore”. And so I said “What?…”
So, as it turns out, they are selling Enchiritos, they’ve just renamed them and made them more expensive. They are now called “Smothered Burritos” and they come with Sourcream on them in addition to the normal stuff. Can you say argggggg? I can. You should try it, I think you probably could.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who thinks it’s LAME to rename an item on your menu and make it more expensive. Then again I guess they can do what they want to do… be stupid.
Pick of the Week for August 5th
Alright. I decided that rather than pushing the pick of the week off to the end of the week, like I did last week, I would just post it right at the beginning. No excuses!
It took me a while to decide which song to post here. I knew I wanted to post a song by The Birthday Massacre, I just had no idea which one to post! Now if you don’t know who The Birthday Massacre is, you are missing out! You might not think so my the name, but they are awesome. The have a seemingly perfect blend of 80’s bands like The Cure with modern day rock. I dig them, and you probably will too!
As I mentioned, it took me a while to decide which song to post on here. I decided, hey it’s my blog, so I can always post another TBM song at a later date. In any case, the fact that I had such a hard time deciding is a testament to the band in and of itself. The fact is, the entire Pins and Needles album is good and you should probably go buy it, right now.
The name of the song is “Sideways” and the reason it won out over the other TBM songs is because of the intro. The intro to this song is dang good! Listen below and buy the song here.
Pick of the Week for July 29
Ok. So I’ve been fighting some crazy sickness all of this week and half of last week. This has left me under the weather and the thought of blogging just skipped my mind. You’ll have to forgive me. I said you have to so… I’ll assume it’s a done deal.
Now, the pick of the week comes from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze. It’s the opening song. Now, I haven’t been able to find the actual song anywhere. It looks like the film used a modified version of “(That’s Your) Consciousness” by Dan Hartman.
The song constantly gets stuck in my head. The opening scene of this movie is one of my favorite opening scenes of ALL TIME! It’s just that good. This song just has a good ol’ 80’s feel to it. So, without further ado here is the opening scene of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II.
EDIT: Here is the youtube link to the Dan Hartman song. (The movie rendition is much better)
Use a JSON Parser to Visualize a JSON String
Just noting this here for future reference.
Whenever I am working with JSON I find it useful to be able to parse it. Now I can certainly parse it with Chrome’s inspector and see it in the console… but it’s nice to have an easy online tool to use as well.
The tool I use, and the tool that has helped me find several issues in the past, is JSON Parser Online. It’s really nice to be able to see the JSON string on the left and the parsed object on the right.