Bruce Springsteen is one of the few singers/artists/superstars/totally awesome dudes that I might go crazy for and hurl myself at a stage for. If there was of me getting arrested for getting within a foot of The Boss, I would take that chance. I would pay a day of my life to get to touch Springsteen (not in a pervy way). I don’t know what it is about the guy. He’s not super manly, smokin hot, or even in my age range, but I just love him. The Boss’s power ballads and down home style just do it for me. He doesn’t need Auto-Tune (the pitch correcting program that gives the singer a robotic sound when used to the max. Think Cher.) to sound good. He doesn’t need catchy rhymes, or an addictive beat. Springsteen just sounds good and sings about things we can all relate to. Well those of us who aren’t adolescent or younger. He really makes me want to just drop everything and drive away to somewhere new (which I’ve done a few times now). Maybe I should lighten up on the Springsteen tracks while I’m in grad school…. That’s a good thought. I’m glad we talked about this. ANYWAYS, I’m just saying, that if you need a little inspiration or feel stuck in a run, try listening to “Born to Run”. Either you will feel like a badass for the day, or actually change your circumstances. If nothing else, the guy is entertaining to watch when er power slides into a camera man on stage.

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So last night my husband and I are watching the American Muusic Awards and laughing at each other because we are trying to see who can guess the correct winning artist. I told my husband that more than likely any award that Michael Jackson was up for he was more than likely to win because he was dead. I wondered why it was that they continued to put people in award categories when they were dead. My husbad though it was funny that I could actually think that way. I was really being serious however. As we started watching the awards I noticed that Taylor swif won awards I didnt think she deserved. I mean come on she beats out Reba Mcintire since when does anyone beat her out? I was so diappointed. My husband thought it was pretty dang sad that there was this 17-18 year old that wins five awards in one night and cant even be there to accept them. Where was she oh yeah in London. What is up with the Lady Gaga group. Ok seriously I understand people need a show but holly cow that to me just looked like something retarded from outerspace. When they announced that she was up for an award she never smiled she didnt even look at the camera. Then I seen poor Whitney Houston’s daughter who has to walk around with a mom as a music legend but she dosnt have time to fix the bus size gap in her teeth? I was very diappointed with the entertainment last night and the AMA’s for me turned in to a comedy that was make fun central.

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I’m pissed about my Pandora radio. I had heard that they shut you off after a certain amount of listening, but this is the first time I’ve had to experience it. And, it’s impossible to make a new account on a computer that has already been passed the 40 hours. So, I’ve been looking around on the internet for some new music web sites, and I used the Myspace music for a day or two, which was fine. Except for the playlists could only be 10 songs long and it’s a hassle to search around and make them. So, my cousin Riley told me yesterday to try out AOL Radio. I didn’t even have to log in, and there are hundreds of stations to pick from. You can click on any genre and choose a “Best of whoever” station, or “All whoever” station and just listen to a specific band, or you can just click on “Top Country” and listen to a lot of different artists in that genre. Right now, I’m listening to Top Alternative and I have yet to be disappointed. And, you can skip songs that you don’t like. Pandora throws a fit when you skip around. It just has the occasional commercial played and then you get awesome music. I think I might have found a winner. Well, until it decides that it only has an allotted amount of hours of free music and that it wants to make me pay money to listen to anymore. So far, so good.

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I don’t really get on myspace that often just to check my page because no one really uses it anymore. All of the friends that I used to keep in touch with on myspace now use facebook. They used to just use myspace because you had to have a college email to get a facebook account, but now that it’s open to anyone they have that, and it’s just a lot easier to use than myspace. But, I do have a fake myspace that I get on all the time to do my mafia wars game, but I don’t even have any friends on there. The other day, Pandora decided that I had been on there enough for the month and said I had to pay 99 cents to continue the radio. No thanks. I logged into myspace music and started messing around, and I made a playlist. I wasn’t very happy with it because you can only have 10 songs on each, but then I found a place where you can go and listen to other featured playlists and just hear what someone else made. It’s another nice way to find music I’ve never heard, and it’s free, all the time. Pandora is definitely better, but this is helping out for the time being while I can’t get on there. Right now I’m listening to a playlist that’s just new music of this week. Pretty cool idea, though all the music they are playing isn’t my thing, but, check it out at the myspace music web site.

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My boyfriend’s new lap top has a DVD burner and a CD burner like most do, but then it has this new thing on it called LightScribe. All you have to do is put the CD into the drive, and then go into the program and create some cd shaped image. You can put what ever you want on it, graphics, pictures, text, just anything you want. So, you go in there, create it, and then, as most would guess, print it out on a sticker and then put it on the disk as straight as you can get it on, right? NO SIR. This thing has some kind of awesome laser in it that actually burns the image straight onto the disk. You just have to put it into the CD drive upside down, and the laser just goes on and does it work right on the CD. You can burn an image of your face into a disk and give it to your friends. You can burn the list of songs that are on the CD right ONTO the CD. You can write your name on everything you burn so no one can steal it and claim it as theirs. WAY cooler than those stupid CD stickers that used to be really popular. Those things would always bubble up and quit playing, and if you put it on wrong the first time your CD was ruined. And the printed out pretty bad, and if you got them wet they looked like shit. He burned me a movie the other day, and put the cover of it on the actual CD. Technology, you still surprise me. Sure, this doesn’t cure cancer or fix global warming, but it’s real cool to have while were still here, right?

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If I had the opportunity to put together my own musical concert, that would be so awesome. I’ve always thought about this, that when I die and go to heaven I think I’ll be able to go up there and see anything I want, so that the concert I will first make in heaven will be Incubus, Nine Inch Nails, 311 and Under the Influence of Giants all play at Red Rocks together. It will be my three most favorite bands to see live, in the most beautiful music venue available. If somehow that happened right now while I was alive I really don’t think you can put a price on it that I wouldn’t pay to get there. I understand that there’s no way those bands are going to get together for a concert, but I can still dream. I’ve heard of several concerts where Incubus and 311 played live together at Red Rocks… and have yet to get the opportunity to go and see them. It’s half as cool as I want it, so I don’t sit around and think about it and that I would do anything to get to go to it. But, one of these days, I know that I will. I hate saying that because I say that about a lot of things, but I really think I will make an effort to go and see them the next time they are live together at Red Rocks, so at least half of my dream can come true. The rest of it can wait until I am chillin’ out in heaven.

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Last year sometime, Chris Brown decided that it would be a good idea to beat up his famous girlfriend Rihanna. Fucking idiot. I really don’t follow either of their music that closely, but I know just from hearing about them all the time on TV and on the internet I have come to the simple conclusion that she is hot and he is a douche. He beat her face up pretty bad, I saw some pictures that came out and it wasn’t pretty. So, recently she came out with some new music, was featured in a few new songs with other artists, and most recently a single that came out that everyone supposedly loves. Her new cd is going to be coming out later this month. And him? He’s staging his “come back” here soon. Not even able to sell a thousand tickets is pretty pitiful when compared to the twenty thousand plus he used to tell out. Which, of course, makes me happy. Why the hell would he expect any better? I’m kind of pissed at those out there who are actually purchasing the tickets, unless it’s just in hopes that they can beat his ass at some point during the night. He’s a real dick, and I hope he ends up losing money with this come back tour. And then retires at the ripe age of 20. For Rihanna, release your music, your CD’s, and do your interviews on TV about what happened to you and him. Chris Brown, go to counseling and stop trying to be famous, please.

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Texas country music is like no other music out there. There’s just something about it that pulls you in and makes you proud to be a Texan. When I was younger, Cross Canadian Ragweed was all the rage. I remember seeing them open for Pat Green (the original Texas country artist) and loving them instantly. They sang one of their more popular songs, “Alabama.” There was this couple in front of us probably in their early 20s, drunk of their asses, just singing this song to each other as loud as they could. It was adorable. I’ll always remember that moment because I believe it’s when I fell in love with Texas country music. After that I was a little Cross Canadian Ragweed groupie. I’d follow them everywhere! I think I saw them perform something like 12 times over the course of 6 months. Anyways, it wasn’t just them that I liked, although they were my favorite. I enjoyed Roger Creagor, Reckless Kelly and Wade Bowen just to name a few. Then I discovered the love of my life, Mr. Randy Rogers. I’d heard a few songs of his that my boyfriend at the time had downloaded on my computer but it wasn’t until I bought his CD and heard every song that I fell head over heels. There’s just something about the lyrics to his songs that get me, not to mention he has an amazing voice! He truly is a very talented artist and his songs are the best. Another up and coming Texas country artist that I’m interested in is the Josh Abbott Band. They’re originally from here in Lubbock and I’ve heard them play a couple of times. They definitely have what it takes to make it and I look forward to seeing them succeed.

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I just turned on my Pandora radio and Blink 182’s “Dumpweed” came on. Just hearing Blind 182 and I’m instantly back in high school. I love that music has the ability to make you remember things that you can’t just bring up on your own. Not only can I remember things from high school, but it’s almost like I can feel them again. I love it. Sometimes though this can have the opposite effect and I can remember things I don’t want to remember when I hear a song. I can remember funerals with certain songs, I can remember my dog dying with a certain song… I can remember breaking up with boyfriends by music. But, it’s a nice little channel to have to go back to those times and feelings that I wouldn’t remember other wise. I love when ever someone tells me, “This song reminds me of you!” or “This song reminds me of that one time we…”. Music truly is a secret gateway into places in your mind that you can just access when ever you want. As I finish typing this, “Jumper” by Third Eye Blind is starting to play, which takes me back to when I was in junior high and my sister was in high school. Every song I know can hold a different moment in time for me, a different feeling. But also, every one of these songs means so many different things to them individually. I can’t imagine a world with out music and lyrics. I bet there’s no music in hell.

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Joshua Bell, one of the most amazing violinists in the world, is someone that most people would pay quite a bit of money to see in concert. He can play intricate compositions beautifully, and getting the opportunity to see him play live would be enjoyable for anyone.

Some of you may have already heard about this experiment I am about to talk about, but one day in 2007 in Washington Joshua decided to give a little bit of his musical talents out for free to the public. He decided to sit outside the metro station and play his violin for those who passed by. During that time, there were only a few people who actually stopped and paid attention, and he ended with less than forty dollars in tips. One of the most famous musicians, playing on a multi-million dollar violin for an hour was completely ignored by just about everyone.

It’s amazing that something so wonderful can be sitting right in front of you, and yet you have no idea what it’s worth. Some people think that this doesn’t mean anything about human nature, but I think that it means that we are so wrapped up in “me me me” that we hardly notice what is going on outside of ourselves. It’s strange that people just walked by him with no regard, and when we hear about this we are surprised that they were so oblivious. But, do you think you would notice the music man sitting in the metro? I’d like to hope that I would, but when I think about my daily activities I am usually pretty occupied with what I have at hand, and I bet I am missing so much that is going on around me. Isn’t it scary, that we can see something like this and not even notice it going on? What other things do you think we are missing out on?

Written by: Jana Brown

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