Tuesday, November 30, 2010

The Blog Challenge!!! Blog # 01: My Favorite Song

To tell you the truth, my favorite song changes from day to day. Even the genre changes. It just kind of depends on the mood I'm in and what I feel like listening to. One song that has been stuck in my head today, for example, is the Glee version of the Beatles' "Hello Goodbye." Awesome song. Not necessarily my favorite, but a really good classic.

One song that has been one of my favorites lately is "Love the Way You Lie" by Eminem and Rihanna. I love the juxaposition of Eminem's mad rapping skills with Rihanna's beautiful, melodic voice. If you haven't heard it, download it. It is an awesome song.

Of course, Rihanna herself has some really great songs, including "Disturbia" and "Take a Bow," which will always be two of my favorites in the pop genre.

Sadly, I left my iPod at home today, but I can tell you that the songs I have been listening to lately mostly come from the Glee soundtrack. Darren Criss' version of "Teenage Dream" by Katy Perry kicks ass. I also have recently been in love with their version of "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler. One of my favorite Glee songs ever is their rendition of "Over the Rainbow" at the very end of the season one finale. And of course, all the Journey they do is pretty incredible, if you're into that sort of thing. I just hope they don't do any more Journey, ever. It's done. Over. I hope... I also love their version of "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Misérables. "Marry You" and "Just the Way You Are" are two of my more recent favorites from Glee, as well. One of my all time Glee favorites is "I'll Stand By You" as performed by Finn, originally by The Pretenders.

Going back to Rihanna briefly, I never became interested in his music until the story broke of how he beat her up, but Chris Brown has at least one good song, "Forever."

I am probably totally emo for saying this, probably, but I love the All American Rejects. Some of my favorites are "Gives You Hell," "Move Along," and "Dirty Little Secret." I love listening to their music especially when I work out. Their music is full of energy.

The only American Idol artist whose music I have really enjoyed is also from my very own home state of Utah, David Archuleta. I love basically his entire, self-titled debut album, especially his version of "Angels" by Robbie Williams, and a few select songs from his new album, including "Something 'Bout Love." He has an incredibly pure voice and great vocal range. Love his singing, music, and melodies.

As far as the punk/rock genre is concerned, a few of my favorites will always be Green Day, especially "American Idiot," "The Grouch," "Waiting," "Good Riddance," "Boulevard of Broken Dreams," "Wake Me Up When September Ends," "21st Century Breakdown," "Know Your Enemy," and "21 Guns." I also love Goldfinger, particularly "99 Red Balloons," "Open Your Eyes," and basically the entire, ska-like album "Hang-Ups."

A few guilty pleasures: The High School Musical Soundtracks...way better than the movies themselves... Taylor Swift's "Love Story." Good Charlotte... Britney Spears' "...Baby One More Time" and "Oops!...I Did It Again." Alanis Morissete's "Ironic" which is TOTALLY NOT AN IRONIC SONG!!! If anything, it's UNFORTUNATE, but I guess that word had too many syllables for her generally lackluster lyrical skills. Okay, enough of that.

Some random loose ends: Bowling For Soup's "Girl All the Bad Guys Want," The Mamma Mia Soundtrack featuring the best of ABBA, Evanescene's "Bring Me To Life," "Call Me When You're Sober," and "Lithium," Barenaked Ladies' "Pinch Me" and "If I Had $1000000," Katy Perry's "California Gurls," Lady GaGa's "Poker Face" and "Bad Romance," Lit's "My Own Worst Enemy," Neon Trees' "Animal," New Found Glory's "Hit or Miss," Owl City's "Fireflies," The Presidents of the United States of America's "Lump," Puddle of Mudd's "Blurry," Simple Plan's "I'm Just a Kid," Smash Mouth's "All Star" and "I'm a Believer," Sum 41's "Rhythms," Third Eye Blind's "Semi-Charmed Life," U2's "Elevation," The Used's "The Taste of Ink," Vertical Horizon's "You're a God" and "Everything You Want," Weezer's "Beverly Hills," "Buddy Holly," "Undone," and "(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To," and 3 Doors Down's "Kryptonite."

Perhaps my favorite artist and album of all time is Yellowcard and "Ocean Avenue." That's the album that Andrew and I listened to on our first date. :-) It is a totally awesome album and I'm not sure I could pick a favorite song from it. In fact, I think my favorite Yellowcard song isn't even on that album. It's probably "Gifts and Curses" from the Spider-Man 2 Soundtrack. I also love "Lights and Sounds" from the album by the same name.

So if I had to pick a favorite song of all time, I suppose it would have to be Yellowcard's "Gifts and Curses," but really, there is so much music that I love. My taste is very eclectic and I love it that way. It's the diversity and range of my musical taste that makes music itself enjoyable to me. I honestly cannot imagine my life without music. It is probably my single favorite form of media, with close two close ties being the novel and the film. But that's for another blog entry...

The Blog Challenge!!! Yay, finally something to blog about!!!

I stole this idea from Andrew, and I actually do intend to blog once a day...we'll see how well that goes... I will start with #1, my favorite song...

The Blog Challenge Topics:

#01 - my favorite song
#02 - my favorite movie
#03 - my favorite television program
#04 - my favorite book
#05 - my favorite quote
#06 - 20 of my favorite things
#07 - a photo that makes me happy
#08 - a photo that makes me angry/sad
#09 - a photo I took
#10 - a photo taken over 10 years ago of me
#11 - a recent photo of me
#12 - something I am OCD about
#13 - a fictional book
#14 - a non-fictional book
#15 - my dream house
#16 - a song that makes me cry (or nearly cry)
#17 - a piece of art (drawing, sculpture, painting, etc.)
#18 - my wedding
#19 - a talent of mine
#20 - a hobby of mine
#21 - a recipe
#22 - a website
#23 - a Youtube video
#24 - where I live
#25 - my day, in great detail
#26 - my week, in great detail
#27 - my worst habit
#28 - what is in my wallet
#29 - hopes, dreams, and plans for the next 365 days
#30 - a dream for the future

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Christmas Wish List 2010!!!

Below is my Christmas wish list, more or less in order of how much I want each item.

1. Nikon Coolpix S81000 Digital Camera: $239.63 at Amazon.com

and

Transcend 16GB Class 10 SDHC Card: $24.49 at Amazon.com

Because my digital camera was stolen. :-(

2. Laugh it Up Fuzzball: The Family Guy Trilogy [Blu-Ray]: $27.99 at Amazon.com

3. Inception (Three-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy): $24.99 at Amazon.com

4. Galaxy Quest [Blu-ray]: $12.49 at Amazon.com

5. Planet Earth: As You've Never Seen It Before [Hardcover]: $26.37 at Amazon.com

6. Hubble: Imaging Space and Time [Hardcover]: $31.50 at Amazon.com

7. Rainforest [Paperback]: $16.04 at Amazon.com

8. Ocean (American Museum of Natural History) [Paperback]: $18.45 at Amazon.com

9. Universe [Paperback]: $18.45 at Amazon.com

10. The Space Shuttle: Celebrating Thirty Years of NASA's First Space Plane [Hardcover]: $26.40 at Amazon.com

Sadly this book will not be published until June 15, 2011, but it looks so cool!

11. Toy Story Trilogy (10-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy): $64.99 at Amazon.com

12. Star Trek: Original Motion Picture Collection (The Motion Picture / The Wrath of Khan / The Search for Spock / The Voyage Home / The Final Frontier / The ... Captains Summit Bonus Disc) [Blu-ray]: $68.99 at Amazon.com

13. Star Trek (Three-Disc Edition) [Blu-ray]: $19.99 at Amazon.com

14. John Adams [Blu-ray]: $40.99 at Amazon.com

15. An Amazon.com Gift Card

16. An iTunes Gift Card