The Midsummer Station Album Review

So I received my hard copy of this baby just yesterday and thought since I am way into music, I may as well take this golden opportunity to write a review for one of the hottest albums of summer, The Midsummer Station by Owl City.

Many fans have dissed his recent efforts claiming that Adam Young has gone all-out mainstreamed by using generic, unoriginal lyrics and completely changing in order to sell well. Only one thing is true in that statement, Adam HAS changed, but he isn't selling out (at least not yet). There are a few known reasons why his music seems so different to everyone.

Adam Young has come out of his caged-up-in-the-basement-alone stage in life and is more involved with his fans, friends, and family, all while getting some well-needed fresh air. Angry fans should at least be proud that he is indeed much healthier than before. 

Another factor is that he doesn't just have his basement and his keyboards and computer anymore, he's got a studio with higher quality equipment and the musical experts helping him out with everything. As a bonus, Matt Theissen was very involved with creating of The Midsummer Station, so die-hard Relient K fans should get some kicks from this album.

Now I could be wrong, but judging by Adam's blog posts and recent interviews (and listening to the CD myself) he seems to be far more focused on the musical part of his songs rather than the lyrical. The results were stunningly constructed instrumentation. What Midsummer Station has done to surpass Ocean Eyes, for example, is intensify the depths of sound and rhythm, putting emotions into the beats, and exploring corners of the world of music he's never been before. Through this he has brilliantly tied together his art with what's popular now. 

This is not to say that the creativity has been completely drained from the lyrics either. Traces of his old writing style are subtly laced throughout, namely in Dreams and Disasters, Embers, Silhouette, and Metropolis. The new writing style is more simplified, emotional, and repetitive, but it is more relatable and easy to understand. Each song is written from different events that took place in his life, things that he took to heart, so lyrically there's just as much depth and perspective than any of his old stuff, it's just done in a different style. The Midsummer Station is meant to be enjoyed by a broader audience, and is definitely more fun.

No matter how depressing the subject, Young always seems to provide shades of light and a positive outlook in both his music and life experiences. And that is just what most critics hate about Owl City. They can't stand the fact that he won't express a strand of negativity or any form of edginess in his songs. But isn't that what critics should be acclaiming; something that is different? Haven't there been enough language-laden pop songs about sex, temporary relationships and partying? As someone who appreciates the generic along with the unique and the obscure, I found The Midsummer Station to be quite refreshing. 

Change can be difficult, but to an artist it's usually very good. The last thing any musician wants to do is have all their songs sound the same or be caught in a musical rut. Experimentation prevents one from getting bored or doing what's already done. As Adam Young himself puts it, he is "merely different colors and different brushstrokes over the same canvas". To my relief he's the same ol' Adam with his same love for musical art. He's simply coming at it with a different medium. With the whole "which Owl City do you like better" I'm like, 

Yes, indeed

Are these works not both considered art? They are  allowed to be admired equally.

Mm YEAH!!! 

While the haters mope around I'm going to indulge in the melodious beauty of my personal favorite tracks, Metropolis and Bombshell Bomb. 

Peace out, because I know you're gold! You are treasured!

SCARY! O.o

Hey there my homies in Russia and India!!


I noticed that on the new and snazzy Blogger update I can track where in the world my Blogger is being viewed and searched. If it turns up as someone's search result, it tracks that. If someone has viewed my profile, it tracks that. It also knows where you were when you viewed my page. The cool part about this is that I have people following me and watching me in Russia and India.  So I just wanna say Здравствуйте and Namasté to you! The scary part is that... that's just scary..... too scary..... It's like Google is watching all of us..... All the time!!! In OUR SLEEP!!!!!!!! Ok, ok, maybe not quite THAT extreme, but still, that's just freaky. O_O


I find that the scary factor with Google has gone up a ton recently. Ever since half the internet has been linked together like a web to Google things have made me feel a little uneasy. I dislike the fact that once you set up a Gmail account you get alongside it a Blogger, a Youtube, a Google+ profile and about a million other services associated with Google. I thought maybe the Youtube and (obviously) the Blogger additions were cool, but it's also weird and unnecessary that Google now access and information to everything anyone ever posts. Also, Google "knows" and tracks down a lot more about you than you know, so careful what you post and what you use through it. All you've ever seen, searched and done while Google was open is recorded somewhere on Google under your account. Even if your history was deleted, they still have that information on their end of your account.

Google knows that I have a mac, have about 300 pictures installed on my computer, 25 documents, and that I visit Facebook the most often in my Safari browser. It knows how many songs I've downloaded onto iTunes, how long my computer has been one and when I shut it down, and when I play Bejeweled 3 or Diner Dash.  How does it know all this? IP addresses. I don't even know what THOSE are.


Besides me being freaked out over all the scary things associated with Google and my Blogger account, I DID see the Avengers for the second time yesterday! LOVE THAT MOVIE!!!! Great heroes, great villain, and great fun (See my previous post titled, "The Avengers, gods, and my Latest Thoughts on us Human Beings" under the May 2012 tab if you haven't already). Before that I ate at a Chinese restaurant with my buddies and had this really yummy egg drop soup, a crab rangoon, fried rice, and an assortment of Chinese veggies. :) I rarely have Chinese/Vietnamese/Japanese food, so when I get the chance to eat them, it makes me very happy. :D 


A few days ago I also bought from Wal-Mart a Batman shirt, some colorful plaid shorts, and a picture frame for a Hatsune Miku artwork that my BFF Claire gave me for my birthday. BTW, Wal-Mart is convenient and is loaded with licensed character products, but it scares me too, but that's another story... For another time.... If I even bother telling about it.... Which I prolly WON'T. 


до свидания and Byvajcie Bengali!!!


:)

College Classes and a Refreshing Glass of Water

*Heya my green beans!*


So, just a few minutes ago, I got this book in the mail called, 1001 Things Every College Student Needs to Know. My Aunt Paula sent it to me and so far it looks very interesting. Basically it's a list of 1001 things that every college student needs to know (hence the name, haha). Here are a few random facts that I just now read:

#771. You need to know it's normal to miss Mom's cooking and to not want to be responsible for anything. It's also normal to like, you know, get over it.

#8.  You need to know that over one/third of the people who drop out of college do so because they can't handle the workload.

#342. You need to know that your professor could be an atheist, a communist, a bigot, a feminist, or a sexist. Your job is still to make your grades.

#936. You need to know two words: ramen noodles. They're dirt cheap, and with a little water, they almost become food. College students and mice have been known to live on them for years.

#390. You need to know that while we're all proud of you for reading your textbook, you now have to read it again.

#183. You need to know that just because a professor looks at you doesn't mean he's going to call on you. However, looking down at your toenails does tell him you don't know anything.

#865. You need to know your brain can perform only so long on PowerBars and Pop-Tarts before it loses the ability to produce a coherent sentence.

#112. You need to know the first semester is the hardest.

I think I love this book already! x3




Since I am going to be starting college classes this fall, I'm glad I have this motivational book alongside me. I am looking forward to it, and at the same time it's kinda stressing me out.

I'm going to be balancing working a job and doing college classes. I'm also going to be staying at home my freshman year. C'mon, lotsa fishies do that! The reason I am doing that is cuz my three best buddies and I are going to splitting rent on an apartment next year. These guys are all 17, so I want to wait for them to be graduated, etc. Also it is going to be saving me some money during the so-called "hardest" semester. The year will fly by. My senior year certainly did. :) Anyway, I am off to drink some water. It is important to stay hydrated! 

By the way, did you know it takes a loss of only 1% - 2% of your body's ideal water content to cause dehydration? Did you know that drinking ice cold water actually makes you lose weight because fat calories are burned to bring the water temperature up to internal 98.6 degrees F? 'Tis true. Water works wonders. 

And also, don't misinterpret your thirst drive as hunger.  Drink an ice-cold glass of water and wait a minute or two.  You'll find you are not as hungry as you thought. 

Bipolar Weather

Hey there my cuddly puppies!

Today I got rained on waiting for the bus (this is the second time in a row this has happened) and I got my leather laptop bag all wet! Lucky for me the bag was thick enough to protect my new Mac, my iPod touch, some important school papers, and my beloved sketchbook. I mean, it wasn't down pouring or  anything, but it was still pretty wet out there. My makeup wasn't messed up, thanks to my waterproof mascara and eyeliner, and the rain actually felt kinda nice. OK, from this day on, I am going to take more opportunities to stand (or even sing!) in the rain.


***Hey there, God! I just wanna say thank you for the miracles of waterproof makeup and bags that are unintentionally made rain-proof! But mostly I wanna thank you for the rain!!! TEXAS NEEDED IT! :)***

Rain Girl by Diana Jamieson

One hour later, I get to work and - POOF! - the clouds are completely gone and it's HOT. After I eat lunch -POOF! - it's cloudy. Hopefully the sky will make up its mind and rain again. Maybe if I insult the sky it will start crying!!! Well, when I was little I would imagine the sky was crying when it rained and that the sky was throwing a fit and getting angry. *nostalgic moment*

But back to reality (sorta), Texas weather is messed up. It's baking hot about 90% of the time, and when it's thinking about rain, it gets cloudy for a looooong time, decides that it doesn't wanna rain, then the clouds leave and it's hot again. :P

For those of you who live in Texas, sorry, you're reading about the weather when you already know what it's like. Youtuber Blimey Cow warned me of this...

I'll get back with you when I have something more interesting to blog about. Tschuss!

The First Day of the Rest of My Life

*sigh*


Today the last day of my high school.... days.


And today all I've pretty much been doing is sitting here on my bed with my laptop trying to figure out if I wanna spend some of my graduation money on an iPod dock. I could be finishing my drawing of Thor and Loki, or finishing my painting of Heaven and Hell, or making a collage out of some old teen magazines, or listening to some of my new music, or making a cake with buttercream frosting, or reading some comics, or riding my bike, or working on a slideshow, or playing Boggle, or studying for the SAT or SOMETHING.


Naw.


Imma sit here and waste all of my free time on the internet.


Isn't that just sad? First of all this is my first day of the rest of my life (kinda) and I am doing absolutely nothing to make it special!! Secondly, all throughout my senior year I've been thinking "oh I wish I were doing *insert one of the above activities her* instead of wasting my time studying!" but then when all that free time comes I don't know how to use it.


Free time is a gift from God. So is busy-ness. Busy-ness can teach us how to function and manage our time wisely, to give time to others, and to train ourselves for whatever jobs we are currently doing/beginning. It also teaches flexibility, and to cherish what's important. YOu can't learn everything just sitting there... There is work to be done! And God wants you involved! Free time can be used to give yourself rest or do something meaningful with the people you love or to use your God-given talents or to glorify GOD!!! Too bad electronics are so convenient. OK, I am SICK OF THIS ALREADY!!!! I am going to be doing something useful now.... Think I'll go make a cake.... With buttercream frosting.... Yeah, that's what I'll do.

The Avengers, gods, and my latest thoughts on us human beings

Hey my pretties!

I am baaaack!!! (Again) You know what, ok so first things first, if I am going to be blogging again, imma gonna need y'alls support. Without it, I has no motivation, thus there will be no blog posts, and your life will have a huge hole in it and be completely pointless because my posts will no longer be satisfying that vast void in your heart. There, I said it. *I feel much better now, thank you* 

OK ok, the last thing about my blog being so important, you know, that one? The one about the void in your heart? Yeeeaaaahhhh, sounds really creepy right? Well, guess what? I have been thinking about that very subject lately, what we as humans lack in our very lives and what we tend to do to satisfy it. Remember, these are merely my opinions and ideas, this isn't meant to be a lesson or something... OK boring stuff outta the way, let's jump right in!

So for my birthday, last week my very best buddies (Claire, Emma, and Peggy) and I went to see the Avengers in theaters. Afterwards we headed over to my favorite restaurant and we talked about the movie - our favorite characters, how attractive and cool they were, our opinions on the movie in general, and the like. Our opinions were all pretty different, but overall, it seemed like we all enjoyed the movie. Personally, for the next few days, I kept on thinking about it! Mainly the characters (especially Thor and Loki, my favorites). I even started making fan art featuring Thor and Loki, brother against brother!! I liked the movie that much.

 Now, I wouldn't say I'm obsessed with the Avengers or anything, but there were a lot of positive elements 
and really powerful one-liners that are so rare in modern media, especially in movies (such as the Avengers) that manage to rake in over 100 million dollars in the box-office!! Some of those little "gold nuggets" were delightful to discover and think about, and they could even have the potential to influence and change hearts! The Avengers knows what true heroism is all about, and it expresses it with guts, and, for the most part, good clean fun. 


That being said (uh-oh spaghetti o's), there were other things that I found disturbing about the Avengers. 


No, it wasn't necessarily the movie itself that was a little creepy, it was the effect it had on a huge number of viewers. 

 Take Loki for example, here is a pale-faced green-suited extraterrestrial man who travels to planet Earth in order to take it by force and rule over it by waging war and controlling the minds of men. This character believes that humans were "made for a ruler", and he thinks that he's the one to do just that. He certainly couldn't care less what the "puny" humans could think, probably because he "talks about peace-" and yet "-kills because it's fun" (quoted from Nick Fury). 


Why do I like this character so much? It's simply because he makes a darn good and believable villain. Strong characteristics are always what I look for and admire in the media, and that's something Loki definitely has. He's also not bad-looking either.... Just saying'... So anyway, what disturbs me, however, is how much worship and adoration Loki receives from his fans! Sure it's one thing to gush over a character for his looks or even his character, but sometimes things just go too far.

 One thing I noticed on Loki's Facebook fan page (which was CLEARLY created by a fan girl) is how many females would leave comments saying things like, "invade our planet, Loki my liege," or "I was made to serve you, Loki" or "you can take control over my mind, Loki, anytime".  

o.O     O.O    0,0

Uhhh, weeeird. But that's not all! It's in YouTube, Twitter, blog posts, everywhere! First of all, he's a villain, like, a really really bad guy who would hate you no matter how much you adore him and secondly, he ain't real. Thirdly, if these fans like the actor that played that character, chances are he's not like that character all in real life, because he's being paid to put on a show. Loki's not the only one who has been guilty of this. No, even each of the good guys get far too much love and credit than they deserve.

As a Christian I believe that all humans are born with a void in their hearts, one that only God can fill, and that God has more than everything we could ever want or need, we just must learn to follow His ways and put all else aside for Him. We really are meant to serve Him, but what he has to offer isn't tyranny, death, or pain; it's love, life, and joy, and he's far more gorgeous than any human being or hot actor molded in Hollywood. Now onto my point.

Recently media has been a very effective and persuasive form of communication, so it's always sending several messages to us, whether we "take them" or not. It's becoming more "real" to us; graphics, cameras, and computer animation can accomplish things that the human eye cannot envision in the real world alone. Fictional characters and superheroes can be made and seen. When we allow these characters to get too close to us, dangerous things can happen. People make the false what they live for, what they long for, and what they desire, in this case I mean movie characters. We don't understand that God truly does accomplish the impossible, and we are so blinded by what we let into our hearts that we tend to forget who our real superhero is! I admit, I have been totally guilty of this! 

Like I said before, there's nothing wrong with liking something a whole lot, but when you start to "love" it and it replaces God in your heart, you need to check yourself. With the media, it is SO easy to do that, so next time you talk about how awesome your favorite heroes are, ask yourself, "do I give God this much credit/appreciation/attention?" And remember not just what He did for you, but what He does for you. That's something that a pale alien "god" could never accomplish.

Take..... Onnnn Meeeeee

OK guys, my favorite song right now is "Take On Me" by a-ha. It works wonders, I'm not kidding, turn it on when Daniel Thomas is screaming and throwing a fit and magically, he stops crying and starts dancing. If you guys haven't heard it, it's probably because it's an 80's song, and you youngins are too tiny to know it exists! LOL.

Yet again, I haven't been keeping up with my blog.

LAAAAAAAAME. I know. I've probably caused all of you to lose hope in my updates and therefore stopped checking my blog. I understand. But now that I'm back, pretty please come back! *Pulls out puppy dog pout*

So, there has been no progress so far in my story building either. If I don't do something about it soon, Onyx will throw a fit and cause havoc upon planet.... Urbs. Guess you'll have to wait till I pour out my imagination on paper and have you read my awesomeness. :P Don't worry guys, my story is comin' along! Well at some point it will.... be, uh, comin' along...

I have new art that will soon be posted on FaceBook! Wanna see a famous anime character, Dr. Pepper pint bottle, or a girl with firey red hair? Check back on my FB page! (After Lent is over)

I also have a slideshow of pix of me with friends, etc. that will soon hit FB and possibly Blogger too. I also hope to start up some new AMVs and Dubs of animes, etc.

Etc. Etc. Etc.

Well guys this is my latest update, check back for more!

...And we're back!

Hey yo whazzup, homehz?

Day 6 of Persist, here I come! Last Thursday was Treasure Hunting day. For those of you who don't know what that is, Treasure Hunting is when you pray and ask God for "clues" to help you find a person to pray for. Then you go out somewhere and try to find those people! So anyways the Persist group went to Highland Mall to do our Hunt and so many incredible things have happened! Also the mall was incredibly not crowded, so people were pretty easy to find. Well, I like malls better when they're not crowded anyway. So one of the people in our groups got Earth Bound Trading Co. as their clues, and the first store we saw when we walked in was (guess what???) Earth Bound Trading Co! We were laughing so hard, ah, good times! We found people that were on our lists and some of them took prayer, but some others didn't want to be caught dead with us praying for them... That's the thing though, whenever you go out to do something like this you cannot expect everyone to accept it, I mean, Treasure Hunting requires stepping out of the comfort zone, faith, and guts! They're sooooo much to tell you guys about my trip that I don't have enough room to put it on a post! But, hey, I can always tell you guys about it in person. Feel free to ask about it, iI would love to tell you about it even if you're a complete stranger.

RANDOM fact: "Rhythm" is the longest English word without a vowel.

Oo! Oo!!!I believe that today is Callie's birthday!!! Woo-hoo, she'll be 15! For those of you who don't know, Callie is a friend and fellow intern here at Persist. She has amazing stories to tell and her blog is more well-written than mine... So here's a link,

http://calliewallpersist.blogspot.com/

Random fact #2 (DOUBLE FEATURE!): Vegetarian..... an Indian word for he who cannot hunt.

er well, I got this from Micah... He says it is not infact an Indian word, fyi.

Shadow the Hedgehog Music Video

This is my 3rd AMV!!!! YAY!!!!!!! :D



This is about Shadow the Hedgehog from the tv show, Sonic X. The song is Hindsight by Pillar. ENJOI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Now, this song is dedicated to Sam my little brother

And the video is dedicated to Megan, Vanessa, and all people who love Shadow



(((DARN IT, NOW I HAVE TO TYPE THIS UP)))



note to fbi: i do not own sonic x or the audio of this file

Sonic X Teen Girl Squad!!!

This is a video I made of the three main Sonic X characters and the bad guy as the four teens in Homestarrunner's Teen Girl Squad. ENJOI!!!!!!!!!! lol





to you scary fbi ppl: 1st of all, i absolutely DO NOT OWN Sonic X OR Teen Girl Squad.

secondly, (i'm not scared of you)

Rouge the Bat Music Video

This is the second AMV I ever made. It's about Rouge the Bat from Sonic X and the song is Superchic[k]'s One Girl Revolution (Battle Mix)

Kinda weird how I went from stupid Naruto White and Nerdy vid to a serious Rouge vid. XD



OK, bossy copyright ppl, I do not own Sonic X or the audio and I do not claim to.