Good News for People Who Love Bad News

(Click on the image above to go directly to the music)

A mix tape for those bad days or moments in life that we all have. This mix of eleven tracks including music by Ben Folds, Bishop Allen, Pinback, Death Cab for Cutie, Noah & the Whale, Modest Mouse, Mirah, Straylight Run and Brand New should give you something not only to relate to, but it just might help you see the sun behind the clouds.

Enjoy™

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Still Fighting

Sunday I was driving home from church and I was listening to Ben Folds Five and this song came on and it seemed to perfectly tell the story of my life and where I am right now, and my sentiments.

Good morning, son.
I am a bird
Wearing a brown polyester shirt
You want a coke?
Maybe some fries?
The roast beef combo's only $9.95
It's okay, you don't have to pay
I've got all the change
Everybody knows
It hurts to grow up
And everybody does
It's so weird to be back here
Let me tell you what
The years go on and
We're still fighting it, we're still fighting it
And you're so much like me
I'm sorry
Good morning, son
In twenty years from now
Maybe we'll both sit down and have a few beers COKES
And I can tell you 'bout today
And how I picked you up and everything changed
It was pain
Sunny days and rain
I knew you'd feel the same things
Everybody knows
It sucks to grow up
And everybody does

You'll try and try and one day you'll fly
Away from me
Good morning, son
I am a bird

And you're so much like me
I'm sorry

I edited it a bit, but included the song below for your listening pleasures.

As the years go along in my life I learn more and more about my faults, and how life is such a beautiful struggle and a constant battle between myself. Then I look into my children's eyes and their innocence, purity, and love radiates from within their young souls. I begin to think about the conversations we will have in the future when the innocence slowly wears thin, and the world begins to bring it's awful woes. When the storm clouds of reality begin to flood their life, and the bitterness that accountability will bring. The greatest advice ANYONE can give is that, "Everybody knows it hurts to grow up, but everybody does. The years go on and we're still fighting it."

Then I think about the conversations I wish I could have with my father at this episode of life. What advice and wisdom would he be able to give me over a coke and some fries? How much did his life change when he picked me up? Perhaps he would give the same advice as Ben Folds...

Keep the fight alive, and never give up... Endure to the end.

Enjoy™

Two Weeks: Grizzly Bear

Two Weeks - Grizzly Bear from Gabe Askew on Vimeo.

Beautiful music, and an amazing video. What is more amazing is the fact that this isn't even the actual video.

"This is a fan video I've been working on for a few months now. Not to be confused with the official music video which is really cool. Hope you like it."

Here's the actual music video for a comparison.

Her Morning Elegance

Oren Lavie - Her Morning Elegance
by IgnitionVM

One of the better music videos I have seen in a long time, the song isn't too hard on the ears either.

Lessons of the Heart

Oh when the wild was all covered by snow,
I forgot the colours that the grass tend to grow.
Oh the trees were all leafless,
And lifeless and black,
And I wondered if the leaves could grow back

For your heart is like a flower as it grows,
And its the rain, not just the sun that helps it bloom,
And you don't know how it feels to be alive,
Until you know how it feels to die

The lyrics of Noah and the Whale are so good, I always enjoy to constantly be reminded that life is about both the good and the bad, and that we must have the bad to know the good. The bitter to appreciate the sweet and so forth.

Enjoying the Sound

Lately I've been listening to Noah and the Whale both at work and in my car. Hannah is even a fan, requesting we keep the song below on constant repeat while strolling down the ave. Their music reminds me of a Wes Anderson film, which is basically me saying it's good!

"On the surface the name Noah and the Whale seems to be a mashup of biblical stories. In reality it’s an homage to Noah Baumbach’s film The Squid and the Whale. If you only listen to Noah and the Whale’s single “5 Years Time” you’ll think they were a sunny quirk-pop group. In reality their music is a tasty cake made from many ingredients, from twee to shoegaze. What’s that old expression about judging a book by something?"

here's the full story


Enjoy™

Sincere Sounds for the Soul

Lately I've been tickling my eardrums with the sincere sounds of Jason Mraz. One of my favorite songs of the album is "I'm Yours" take it for a spin with the music player below. Let me know what you think by leaving a comment.

Harvey Danger: Little By Little

Psych had a special Friday the 13th episode on Friday the 13th. Where they played off of the old Friday the 13th movies, which was GREAT. During the episode they played a song that was familiar to me, but I couldn't recall who sang it or what the song was called. So I asked my friend Amanda (who works with me) if she knew who sang the song that went like this, “Paranoia, Paranoia they’re coming to get me...” So she said it was a Harvey Danger song called Flagpole Sitta. So I did a quick Google search and come to find out they have a relatively new album, and this what their website is saying:

"We are offering the entirety of our third album, Little by Little..., as a free download** (if you're curious why we're doing this, you can read our reasons here)."

(**Click on the title to head on over to their website for the FREE download).

Bloc Party

Bloc Party, 'This Modern Love' - A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

I first heard about Bloc Party while perusing VIRB's music section one day. I have one of their CD's, and REALLY like it. I thought this video was pretty cool, how they just sing one of their songs right outside of a bar on the spur of the moment in the street.

Enjoy™

25 Random Things About Me!

I've been tagged multiple times and kept putting it off but I'm finally falling victom of peer preasure...

1.) I prefer drinking flat sodas, & when I go to a restaurant I order my drinks without ice, & I LOVE Fountain drinks (without ice).

2.) I LOVE my job and NEVER dread going to work. (and I'm proud to say I designed the website for the company I work for).

3.) I HATE Internet Explorer (especially IE6) & hope that everyone reading this using internet explorer will download Firefox today!

4.) I love Pizza but take all the toppings (sometimes I eat them separate) and eat just the bread and sauce.

5.) I HATE mayo and am not a huge fan of ketchup, mustard, or any special sauces. I order all of my burgers DRY. It was always funny in high school when we would have far away games and the basketball team would go get food, they would always have to make one special order for me, and I was always made fun of for it, but my burger seemed to always be hot while everyone else's was cold...

6.) Growing up all I cared about was succeeding in basketball and I sat the bench my entire senior year and only played garbage minutes on varsity.

7.) I was awarded a letterman jacket but I have NEVER worn it, not once. (They didn't give it to me until the summer after I had already graduated. It's still hanging up in my closet).

8.) I can't eat food without lights being on.

9.) I love to watch basketball and rarely miss any televised game (college, high school, or NBA), and thankfully my wonderful wife puts up with it all, and has our entire marriage.

10.) I met my wife in a chatroom. (Yes it's because I'm a shy little nerd who is too scared to talk to girls).

11.) For the past two years I have worn a pair of red socks EVERY Friday and have officially renamed "Friday" to "FUN-day" at work.

12.) I am a self proclaimed "Amateur Musicologist"

13.) I wear a pair of basketball shorts under ALL of my clothes at ALL times (because you never know when there will be an opportunity to play).

14.) I LOVE FONTS & Typography in general!

15.) A majority of my emails end with "Enjoy™" (which I un-officially trademarked).

16.) My favorite food is Potatoe (I love it, fried, baked, scalloped, boiled, mashed, diced, sliced, in a soup, salad, and pretty much anyway and any how).

17.) My name is Shane Michael Guymon at least thats what it says on my birth certificate, and Drivers License. My mom has been heard calling me Shaney. When I was younger I used to ask her to call me her little Darling. My sister refered to me as "It" and "squeeky bones." My brother Mark called me splean, until the next time I saw him and everyone he knew including himself were calling me Skillz (I couldn't help but suppose there was some sort of "sarcasm" behind it all)! Next thing I knew my brother Matt flipped that into Spillz, which caught on well enough that this kid named Chris Capps called me that on the way home from Basketball practice, but he wasn't to happy when I called him "Pissin Craps" after that. In Brazil I became a "Greengo" either that or some other mis-pronunciation of my last name. I grew up a loser striving to become a winner. In Jr. High BJ Pratt called me the "White Somalian." In High School he started sayin Shane "The Main Man" Guymon. Mexicans (hispanics) call me Chain. Then that reminds me of all the times Matt called me Stain. A few people through my life have called me a Nerd. A few other people have refered to me as a Friend. Through my life I have grown accustomed to responding to the name Shawn. I even turn my head when people call out the name Matt (since all my life people have thought we were twins). So I guess if I was to introduce myself I would say you can go ahead and start off by calling me Shane, then you can move on from there...

18.) My life has become a constant battle of trying to gain full control over myself, appetites, passions, and emotions. To which I have started referring to life as "The Beautiful Struggle."

19.) I NEVER cuss not even when I'm angry. The worst words I say are "hell" and "damn" and those are very few and far in between.

20.) Movies are my biggest weakness. I LOVE them all!

21.) The two things that have impacted my life the most are, my dad's death when I was 17 (my senior year) and the birth of my daughter Hannah.

22.) I still sit in my moms lap when i go home to see her.

23.) I've always wanted to write a book, direct a movie, and be a photographer.

24.) My dad wanted all of his kids to have dark hair and brown eyes, and I am the only one who listened.

25.) I'm afraid of heights, roaches (and many other bugs), spiders, snakes, rats, & swimming in any body of water that isn't filled with chlorine and other chemicals (rivers, lakes, ponds, or the ocean).


**BONUS**
26.) I drove around for a week with a dead rat in my car and didn't figure it out until I finally took it into the shop thinking there was something wrong with my air conditioner (the only time I could smell it was when the air conditioner was turned on). I picked the rat up visiting my wife in Buna before we got married. Meaning I drove 5 hours home with it up in my car. On the way home was when I first started smelling it.

27.) My dad used to pay me 2 cents an hour to tickle his head.

28.) Almost every night my mom would be tickling my dad's back, arm or head. When I would try to come lay-down and get in on the back tickling action, my dad would tell me to go find my own girl to tickle my back and then marry here. So I spent the rest of my life looking for that girl, and Heather tricked me into believing it was her, but as soon as we got married all the tickling has ceased. Now my only hope is to con my daughter Hannah into tickling my back for 2 cents a minute.

The First Snowflake

Merry Christmas! Here is a brand spanking new Christmas song I just found today (thanks Angie!)

The Submarines

Lately I've been massaging my ear drums with the smooth fun sounds created by: The Submarines
Enjoy™

Spaceman

So Heather was super sweet and nice and bought me the new Killers album last week, and I've been listening to it while I work and in my car while I drive. There's this song that I REALLY like on the album but I have no clue what it really means. So I was going to ask the infinite abyss of the interweb for help. I don't want anyone trying to tell me it is about him getting abducted by aliens either. Cause I'm not buying into any of that silly non sense. I'm especially interested in the chorus which is intriguing to me. If your interested in hearing the album just email me.



It started with a low light
Next thing I knew they ripped me from my bed
And then they took my blood type
It left a strange impression in my head
You know that I was hoping
That I could leave this starcrossed world behind
But when they cut me open
I guess I changed my mind
And you know I might
Have just flown too far from the floor this time
Cause they calling me by my name
And the zipping white light beams
Disregarding the bombs and satellites

That was the turning point
That was one lonely night

The starmaker says it ain't so bad
The dreammaker's gonna make you mad
The spaceman says everybody look down!
It's all in your mind

Now I'm back at home and
I’m looking forward to this life I live
You know it's going to harm me
So hesitation to this life I give
You think you might cross over
You're caught between the devil and the deep blue sea
You better look it over
Before you make that leap

And you know I'm fine, but I hear those voices at night
Sometimes, they justify my claim
And the public don’t dwell on my transmission
Cause It wasn’t televised

But it was the turning point
O what a lonely night

The starmaker says it ain't so bad
The dreammaker's gonna make you mad
The spaceman says everybody look down!
It's all in your mind

The starmaker says it ain't so bad
The dreammakers's gonna make you mad
The spaceman says everybody look down!
It's all in your mind

My global position systems are vocally addressed
They said the nile used to run from east to west
They said the nile used to run… from east to west

And you know I'm fine,
but I hear those voices at night
Sometimes...

The starmaker says it ain't so bad
The dreammaker's gonna make you mad
The spaceman says everybody look down!
It's all in your mind

The starmaker says it ain't so bad
The dreammaker's gonna make you mad
The spaceman says everybody look down!
It's all in your mind

**MY THOUGHTS**
I think he is talking about something that happened to him in his life, something where he was he made a decision to change his life. Then he makes mention to how sometimes he is tempted to go back to his old ways, and aren't we all. Maybe that's why I enjoy this song so much. I can remember when my father passed away it was a turning point in my life, and it changed me. Infact the day of his death I could describe it as an alien abduction as well. I think the Starmaker is like God telling you it ain't so bad, and the dreammaker is gonna make you mad cause in most cases dreams don't ever come true, at least not how you dreamt them to be, and the spaceman is like the natural man trying to deceive you, telling you it's all in your mind.

Reckoner Lockdown

Here's a sweet mix by DJ Earworm. Combining the Lyrics of Kanye West's "Love Lockdown" and the music of Radiohead's "Reckoner." Head over to his website to download it if you'd like.

Enjoy™

Rainydayz

Just found out about this, but a Hip-hop producer by the name of AmpLive (whom I've never heard of) remixed 8 songs from Radioheads latest album "In Rainbows" and got the bands permission to release his remixes for free. So if you love music like me, then click your way over to download the remixed album.

Enjoy™

Hannah's Song

We are sitting on the couch watching the 2008 MTV Movie Awards and I notice Hannah is singing a song. This isn't abnormal or strange in any way because Hannah spends most of her day pransing around and singing songs she hears from cartoons or sometimes she makes them up. Well this song I looked down at her as she was sitting cuddling up beside me on the couch and she asked me if I wanted to sing it with her. So I asked her what the words were and she taught me the song. So if you'd like to hear it, her it goes...

Let's goooooo!
Rocket soup with the Big Jet
Sail away, sail away, saaaaaaail awaaaaaaaaaaay!

**UPDATE**

First Day of My Life

For Moms Day I made a mix CD for Heather with a custom designed CD case. So anyways one of the songs I selected was a Bright Eyes song called "First Day of My Life" and it turns out this song has like the perfect words to describe a relationship it says:

"So if you want to be with me
With these things there’s no telling
We just have to wait and see
But I’d rather be working for a paycheck
Than waiting to win the lottery"

I suppose because a relationship is work, it's compromise, and it's sacrifices. I swear their are far too many people in the world that seem to have the "Waiting to win the lottery" mindset, and it's funny, so when it's worded the way he says it, it's so perfect and simple, "I'd rather be working for a paycheck." I've always been confused with people who seem to date for a year or more, it seems to me you should be engaged and if you aren't ready for that, then you probably NEVER will. So it's past time to move on to the next person, and keep waiting for that "lottery" of a person to drop into your life. (of course this is speaking about people who are out of highschool already...)

Anyways the whole song is good, and beautiful, just those lines REALLY stood out to me this week.

I Wish

"The flower said
I wish i was a tree
The tree said
I wish i could be
A different kind of tree
The cat wished that it was a bee
The turtle wished that it could fly
Really high into the sky
Over rooftops and then dive
Deep into the sea"

"And in the sea there is a fish
A fish that has a secret wish
A wish to be a big cactus
With a pink flower on it
And in the sea there is a fish
A fish that has a secret wish
A wish to be a big cactus
With a pink flower on it"

"And the flower
Would be its offering
Of love to the desert
And the desert
So dry and lonely
That the creatures all
Appreciate the effort"

"And the rattlesnake said
I wish i had hands so
I could hug you like a man
And then the cactus said
Don't you understand
My skin is covered
With sharp spikes
That'll stab you
Like a thousand knives
A hug would be nice
But hug my flower
With your eyes" (--Antsy Pants, Tree Hugger)

I think this song is great, because I think everyone can relate to it. I'm sure that everyone at one time or another, maybe even still today has wished they had someone else's life. Like this song shows it's really just one endless cycle where ironically even the persons life that you view as "the perfect life" also wishes he had someone else's life. It's sad that so many of us waste so much time in our lives wishing for something different then what we are already blessed with. When really we should all just be grateful for the life we are currently blessed with.

So anyways, I watched Juno this past weekend and LOVED it, the script was unique and honest in my opinion. What made the movie even better was how perfect the soundtrack fit each and every scene helping tell the story. I enjoyed it so much that I have been listening to the soundtrack both in my car and at work every day this week.

I've heard a few people say the movie was a bit crude, and I've heard others tell me flaws in the messages it is seeming to spread concerning teenage pregnacy, I don't really agree with either critique, to me the characters where honest and believable rolls. The character of Michael Cera especially was one that I, as a shy awkward person can relate to. The movie evenly distrubtes doses of drama sprinkled with humor. It truly shows how to turn lemons into lemonade!

Lifting Spirits

If you are like me and you need something to pick your spirits up after watching UNC lose to Kansas. Especially since the first half UNC forgot to show up to the game. I mean seriously like five minutes into the game I was searching my remote for a reset button. The second half they finally decided to play and came within five but then for some strange reason they decided to make a change in their defense, even though I've always lived under the philosophy that if it aint broke DON'T fix it.

Either way Lykke Li should make you feel a little better, cause that girl CAN SING! But seriously try to get a hold of the actual version, this is a live acoustic version, the version on her album is MUCH better.

Check her out here or here.

Massaging My Mind

This past week some smooth melodic tunes from Bishop Allen have been massaging my mind while I slave away at coding valid XHTML & CSS, and busting out funky fresh print worthy designs. As far as I know their is no religious affiliation other then they are feeding your soul with innovative sounds.

Just incase I wasn't clear enough, I think you should stop what you are doing and CLICK HERE. to get take a listen for yourself.

Infact you may have already heard part of one of the songs as it is featured on a new commercial for a digital camera.

chip chop chip (chip chop chip?)