RIP The Hand Me Down Kids

 It has come, yet another break up, another happily never after. The Hand Me Down Kids, who have become part of my top 5 favorite bands, broke up. After writing one of my favorite songs, how could they just end so abruptly? Supposedly the members just drifted away. Still, it's incredibly sad. Plus, I was about to send in a Fan Pic soon of me holding a sign for them...I think Lamoni said he was going to be part of a band called Kids Like This? I'm not sure, so if you could tell me, that'd be wonderful.

The Hand Me Down Kids Songs (In Order of how much I like them!)

• Despite the Distance
• College Girl Queen
• Liquor Makes a Liar
• The Comeback
• Heart to Molly
• I Wanna Waste My Time
• Vacate (Vacate never even made it out of the acoustic stage, how sad!) 

I'm going to miss them...RIP THMDK

MY BIRTHDAY GIFTS!

Hello once again! My birthday was on November 10th and today is the 16th. I hope it's not too late to write a post on it! So this was the very first year I went to school on my birthday. It's not because I'm a spoiled kid whose parents allow her to stay home on her birthday, it's because I never had school on my birthday due to Veteran's day. There's two boys at my school, who are twins, named Colin and Clyde who share the same birthday as me so as a joke we always scream, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" to each other. Then when I got home I had four hours of homework because that's how much my language arts teacher loves me. (Sarcasm. Just a little side note, my friend Hannie told me that I'm an overly sarcastic person...Is that true?) After that I had a dinner of my choice, which was curry udon! My favorite dish, but curry gives me stomach cramps....I should probably erase that. Then I had birthday pie! Yes, birthday pie because I usually don't like cake due to the fact that it's usually dry.  The only cake place I like was closed, unfortunately.

Now here's the part that describes the picture. It's all my gifts from various friends and relative!

Mom and Dad: A neon green purse, a donut pillow that I named Tadashi after my favorite character in SA, a silence+noise blazer (not pictured), and a book called What White People Like. (I can't underline anything for some reason...)

Madeline:  Harajuku pencil case, tokidoki for Target binder, a Book Thong(awesome name for book mark), and a homemade mustache pillow that is GIGANTIC!

Rebecca: A paper craft of me, these little baggies that I've been asking her for that are epic, and a little cell phone charm that looks like it's saying Mmmmmmmmmmmm.

Maggie: A $15 itunes gift card

Tiffany: Two mamegoma folders, an angry pineapple, and a Domo-kun key chain/neck strap thing-y

Auntie La La, Uncle Mike, and Kenji: $50 bill

Grandma and Grandpa: $50 check

Sophie: Eventually a Chubby Bunny Pillow 

All the money is going to my traveling savings because one day I'm going to travel the world. Click on the picture to make it bigger!

Edit-I ended up returning the purse because it had this weird stain that we couldn't get out.

Dear Jack EP

Today is November 3rd and you know what that means? The Dear Jack movie, "Swim" art book, and the Dear Jack EP came out. (Does anyone know what EP means?) The Dear Jack movie is about Andrew McMahon's fight with acute lymphatic leukemia. I'm planning on getting it because I forgot to preorder it! (SHOCKING, I KNOW!) Anyways, I'm going to see if Best Buy or Target has it. If they don't, I'll just get it online. Now the "Swim" art book I'm not going to get. I don't need to be reminded about how bad my art is every time I open it up. Plus, I sent in a picture that I drew and it never made it in! (It's my secret shame, that's not that secret anymore...) The Dear Jack EP includes "There, There Katie", "Swim (MusicBox)", "Diane, the Skyscraper" and "Dear Jack", which are all being downloaded on to my ipod right now! "There, There Katie" is for his sister, who donated bone marrow for his treatment. It is one of my absolute favorites by him. The piano music is beautiful and calming. "There, There Katie" was originally called "Katie." I personally thought the song sounded better acoustic. It felt more raw and heartfelt. "Swim (MusicBox" is a lot more calming than the original recording, but I felt the original version was more powerful and inspirational. For some reason "Swim (MusicBox)" reminds me of the sensation of being underwater. "Diane, the Skyscraper" has more of a drumbeat than most of Andrew's other songs.  I'm pretty sure this song was originally just called "Diane." You know how sometimes when you're listening to a song, you just start envisioning what the music video should look like? I felt that the music video should be in black and white, with Andrew walking through New York looking up at the skyscrapers. His breath would leave in wisps of fog in the chilly air and the occasional scenes of him playing at a coffee shop or something of that sort with his band will pop up...And Diane will just walk in. That's about as much as I had planned. "Dear Jack" is set at a faster pace than the rest of the songs and has a bluesy feel to it. A third of the way into it, a slightly country feel hits it. Not the hardcore country about their horses and stuff, but more of a fast paced cheerful country song.  Then half way in, Andrew goes back to his slow powerful ballad ways. Anyways, here is the order in which the songs rank with each other:

• "There, There Katie"
• "Diane, the Skyscraper"
• "Dear Jack" and "Swim (MusicBox)" are tied...

Andrew McMahon Concert :)

SUPER LONG POST! ARE YOU READY FOR IT? 

So I saw Andrew McMahon for the second time on October 27, 2009. When am I going to stop obsessing over Andrew? Not soon. For everyone, there is one band that they just adore for their whole lives. For my mom, it's Bruce Springsteen. For my dad, it's Phantom of the Opera. For me, it's Andrew McMahon. This concert was amazing. I was told that Andrew was only going to play for 1 hour, but he played for around 2 hours straight! Here's what he sang:

• Hammers and Strings (JM)
• Dark Blue (JM)
• As You Sleep (SC)
• Crashing (JM)
• Holiday From Real (JM)
• Annie Use Your Telescope (JM)
• The Resolution (JM)
• She Paints Me Blue (SC)
• Spinning (JM)
• Walking By (SC)
• Just Like a Women (Bob Dylan)
• Olive (Bikelock)
• 21 and Invincible (SC)
• La La Lie (JM)
• The Mixed Tape (JM)
• Moon River (Andy Williams)
• Bruised (JM.One of Andrew's favorite songs from the Everything in Transit record)
• There There Katie (JM)
• Punk Rock Princess (SC)
• Swim (JM)
• The Astronaut (SC)
• Bloodshot (JM)

In the very beginning of the concert Andrew was holding up signs that said, "HI I'M ANDREW. NO REQUESTS! REQUESTS ARE FOR KARAOKE BARS!" I laughed at it and so did everyone else. I was super excited that Andrew played "As You Sleep" because it was the first song I ever heard by him and it's my favorite song in the world. Andrew was talking about how he came up with some of his songs and "Holiday From Real" is about Venice Beach, while "Annie Use Your Telescope" is about one time when he was stranded in an Australian airport. The story behind "She Paints Me Blue" is really funny. It's about when he moved out of his house at 18 and how he bought his bed at IKEA. Then he went and bought a blue light bulb, which he always wanted, but the light bulb gave off about as much light as a night light. So Andrew spent 6 months of his life in a poorly lit apartment. This was all part of his "hippie phase", but now Andrew jokes around and says he's in his "grandpa stage" because he grew a beard. At that moment, the guitarist, Bob Anderson said, "Hey, you have a beard, since when?" "For awhile now," replied Andrew. Before Andrew started to sing "Walking By", he explained that "Walking By" was written to swoon a girl and it was a quick addition to Audioboxer. The girl he wrote it for ended up marrying him. Halfway through "Walking By", Andrew stops and says, "Oh my God. I forgot to mention this, but this was the stage I first played "Walking By" on!" Then he restarted the song. After that, he sang his favorite Bob Dylan song and then Bob sang a song from his side band, Bikelock. Then he sang "21 and Invincible" which he wrote because his eldest brother one day just looked at him and said, "Dude, Andrew, why you gotta sit like a girl?" Andrew then set off for the garage and sulked. (One line in the song says, "No one makes fun of me, 'cause I cross my legs like a girl.")After that, he sang "The Mixed Tape" and instead of singing "Where are you now?", he sang "Where is Bob now?" Bob replied with "I'm right here!" It was really funny. He then did a cover of "Moon River", which he sings just to defame someone. The story is he told a girl he wanted to sing "Moon River" at a concert and she told him it's way out of his range, which he thought was rude. At that moment all these ideas go through his head. He wanted to push her down and have Bob pour beer on her, but Andrew refrained himself. His encore started with "There, There Katie", which is about his sister Katie. Katie was in the audience, so Andrew said, "I didn't have time to practice this Katie, so if I mess up, don't kill me!"  Oh yeah, during one of his songs, he was all like, "Has anyone ever burped into the microphone like I just did? I'm ashamed of myself; it's really quite disgusting."

I should probably end this post because I need to go do homework. I have like 4 hours ahead of me. Aren't I lucky?

Anyways, it was a wonderful night and everything went smoothly. I bought an Andrew McMahon shirt and poster. When I was in the bathroom, I heard someone say they had backstage passes. I wish they took me with them! Oh yeah, throughout the concert, my stuffy nose was ticking me off. And for everyone out there, I have two goals in life. 1. Meet Andrew McMahon! 2. Go through a metal detector and get stopped because of my braces! Good bye everyone.

Meeting Owl City :)

On October 21st of this year, I went to my local Hot Topic to meet Adam young of Owl City. The good news is I got my CD signed and I got a poster! Also, I got some really good photos! Overall I'm pretty happy about the whole incident! BUT on the downside, I was rushed through the line by a group of irritating girls behind me. So I had to use my zoom to get close up! I didn't have time to talk to him but I wanted to ask him a question! Why did he chose to put the Burj Al Arab Hotel on his CD cover? Why did he chose a hotel from Dubai? Yes, it is an amazing looking hotel and it looks like a sailboat, but why that hotel?
Going a bit off topic, but here are some cool facts about the Burj Al Arab Hotel. It's the most luxurious hotel in the world and has 7 stars! (Keep in mind that the Waldorf Astoria only has 4 stars!) There's a plasma screen TV and a jacuzzi in each room! Also, there's butlers on duty 24/7! The Burj Al Arab Hotel is the second tallest building that is used exclusively as a hotel in the world. Some people say that the inside is so incredibly overdone that it becomes tacky, but to me, I would go just because the exterior is so breathtaking.
Anyways, here are the rest of my photos from the day:

Cute Is What We Aim For Broke Up?D:

Two days ago I was wearing a Cute Is What We Aim For band shirt. (For those who do not know Cute Is What We Aim For, go look up their song "Time", my personal favorite.) My friend, Rebecca, started to jab my shirt and she kept on saying, "DID YOU KNOW? DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THEM? THEY BROKE UP!" My response? "I WON'T ALLOW THAT TO HAPPEN! GFLCKHLCF,NBFLKCGNJCKFLNB KFJCBN!" We were sobbing over them breaking up, we were planning on seeing them live together. So, what I'm wondering is did they really break up? Supposedly, Shaant wanted to go solo, but is that true? What happened to Cute Is What We Aim For? Everybody seems to be breaking up...Derek Whibley from Sum 41 and Avril Lavigne broke up and now Cute Is What We Aim For? The world is falling apart. Next thing you know, Andrew McMahon decides to quit music. If that ever happens, I will fail at life.
Here's just one more picture for old times sake!

9 (The Movie)

 I saw 9 on 9/9/09 in theater 9. I watch everything made by Tim Burton because his movies aren't really for adults or kids. The films are animated and cute, which usually doesn't attract a huge adult fan base. His films are usually creepy, which freaks out little kids. 9 is an animated post-apocalyptic film in which anything human is threatened. I loved it, but my mom thought it was weird. 9 is sort of confusing and doesn't answer every question, but it does make you wonder if all of these machines that are made to help make life more comfortable are really necessary. If you are a fan of Tim Burton movies, like me, you should definitely see 9. I thought it was a great movie.

Here is a quick summery of 9:

A scientist creates a robot that creates more robots that eventually started to kill off humanity. The same scientist in an attempt to save the spark of life, creates 9 heroes (pictured above ^^). It's up to these 9 heroes to get rid of the rest of the machines and save the spark of life from the evil robots. Five of the 9 heroes die in the end (1, 2, 5, 6, and 8). In the end, the spark of life is saved and only four heroes are left to start life again.

GO SEE IT NOW!  MY SUMMARY WAS AWFUL AND THE STORY IS A LOT BETTER IN THE MOVIE THAN MY LAME SUMMARY!

Jack's Mannequin Concert Pictures

Here are all the pictures from the Jack's Mannequin concert. The only picture that is not of Jack's Mannequin is the very first one. It is of Vedara. Sorry that the order of the pictures go from the last songs to the first songs. SO SORRY! It should have gone from beginning to end, not end to beginning. If you click the pictures, they get bigger!

Jack's Mannequin Concert

 On July 29th, I went to a Jack's Mannequin concert. I have been a fan of the lead singer, Andrew McMahon, for around three years now and have been dying to see him live for three years. Three years may not seem that long to you, but considering the fact that I had no interest in music until around three in a half years ago, it is a long time. So obviously this concert being the first time I saw Andrew live, it was a huge

deal to me. Vedara opened for Jack's Mannequin who opened for The Fray.

Here is a list of what he played:

-Dark Blue (Everybody screamed when he played this one!)

-Spinning

-Crashing

-I'm Ready

-Bruised

-La La Lie (He told everyone that they had to dance during this song! Andrew danced to it too!)

-Rescued

-The Mixed Tape (The crowd loved this one!)

-Bloodshot (Andrew jumped into the audience during this song!)

-Watch the Sky (Originally a Something Corporate song, which was Andrew's first band.)

-The Resolution 

-American Girl (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers)

I loved every moment of the concert. My favorite part? When Andrew danced around geekily to La La Lie. I loved every geektastic moment of it. I did not stay for The Fray because I am not a fan of them, so I can not tell you about their concert. My brother did say that he thought The Fray put on a wonderful show.

Top Picture: Andrew dancing to La La Lie. The person's head is covering some of Andrew. Sorry!

Bottom Picture: Andrew playing Dark Blue.

Hello!

This is my first time blogging and I thought I should just let you know what this blog is all about. On this blog, you can find everything from music to cute things to just about anything going on in my life. This blog is random, happy, and hopefully entertaining~! Oh yeah, please check out www.tasteslikemyelbow.com
I hope you do enjoy this blog.