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Let me rant for a second. I fucking hate how small Last.fm userpics have to be now. And also how, even when I resize it to the exact dimensions in Photoshop, Last.fm still feels the need to compress the file all to hell so the picture looks ugly and pixelated. Grr. I haven't changed mine since before these restrictions were in place and now I know why. I finally got one to look decent but it wasn't even the picture I wanted to use in the first place. Fuck you, Last.fm.
In other news, went shopping today and spent more Christmas money than I had planned to but I guess it's good not to just buy books and CDs all the time (even though I'm going to buy some of those too, how can I not?!?). Anyway, I got some socks because mine always seem to disappear into thin air on me. Seriously. And also a new coat because I've had the same one for, like, five years now. It's a peacoat like my old one but shorter and red and black tartan patterned. And it was half off. Woo! And I got (500) Days of Summer on DVD. So stoked to watch it again! Though I'm kinda disappointed there are hardly any bonus features. WTF?!? There was so much stuff they could've put on there - I know Zooey and Joe did a bunch of promo-type stuff when it came out like interviews, and that Sid & Nancy thing, and that "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?" music video. WHY IS NONE OF THAT ON THERE?!? And I also bought a new pair of shoes. They are so hot. They were also very on sale, I wouldn't have gotten them otherwise, and here is a picture I found online!
Eeee! I cannot actually walk very well in high heels but I am going to get better, okay? They're also going to kill my feet but, come on, sometimes you have to sacrifice for the sake of fashion, right? THE IMPORTANT THING IS THEY LOOK GOOD!
One negative aspect of the shopping trip though: the bookstore that I go to a lot (pretty much the only one that's less than an hour away) has downsized for whatever reason and now the store is only half the size that it used to be which means less books - and they didn't really have a fantastic selection in the first place so now all they've got is, like, Nicholas Sparks and Twilight and shit like that. So depressing. I guess I'm going to have to do all of my book-shopping online now because I don't get to make the 1.5 hour trek to Barnes & Noble very often. It's probably better for my budget that way because I usually buy them used but still, the feeling of buying one in person, holding it in your hands, is so not the same!
Umm... what else? The new Los Campesinos! album is pretty fucking ace. Pretty much the whole thing has grown on me now. "In Medias Res" is basically the most beautiful, amazing thing ever and it's really hard for me to actually get past that to listen to the rest. I love the part after the glockenspiel solo (which is so typically LC! by the way) where it abruptly gets all dark and creepy and slow. It sounds very much like Xiu Xiu but, um, actually good because, for the most part, Xiu Xiu makes my ears bleed. And the lyrics: "Drag my corpse to the airport/Lay me limp on the left wing/Drop me at the highest point and trace a line around the dent I leave in the ground/That'll be the initial of the one you will marry now I'm not around." I'm torn between finding that a. worryingly morbid, b. strangely romantic, or c. ridiculously depressing. And it's got strings and brass and just, gah, so good and so much growth from their first album.
I also loooove "We've Got Your Back" and "I Warned You: Do Not Make an Enemy of Me" and "This Is a Flag. There Is No Wind" ("CAN WE ALL PLEASE JUST CALM THE FUCK DOWN?!?") and "Coda: A Burn Scar in the Shape of the Sooner State" - that last one is just a gorgeous, gorgeous, albeit far too brief track and closes the album perfectly. I also really like "Who Fell Asleep In" but Gareth's voice is just really far in the front of the mix and it sounds kind of jarring at times, like it doesn't fit with the actual melody of the song, but I think that's probably intentional. I like it more every time I hear it though. And I adore this part of the lyrics: "In a note I read, 'If you should go blind and deaf/I'll cleanse and I'll bathe you and I'll cook for you daily/I will take a dry ballpoint pen and trace on your chest/All of the same conversations that we have now in bed.'" Sweet, right? But then he says in response, "I don't mean to be selfish/But I think I'd sooner just be dead" and I LOL. Also, "Straight in at 101" is great and hilarious: "I think we need more post-coital and less post-rock/Feels like the build-up takes forever but you never touch my cock." Brilliant. And I love the end bit lyrically ("I phoned my friends and family to gather 'round the television/The Talking Heads count down the most heart-wrenching break-ups of all time/Imagine the great sense of waste, the indignity, the embarrassment/When not a single one of that whole century was mine") but Gareth singing a cappella makes me cringe; he just doesn't have the voice to pull it off. And, well, anyway, the whole thing is pretty great. The only tracks I could completely do without are the pointless interludes and the title track and "Plan A" are just okay - I actually loved that one the first time I listened but it's kind of grating in excess; it's really good if you're feeling super angsty and like you want to scream at the top of your lungs though.
One more thing. Also relating to LC!. Everyone should be forced to watch the tour videos they have posted on Vimeo. They're hilarious. I especially enjoyed Lolz in America (Part Two). The alternate life bits had me seriously laughing ridiculously hard. Especially the one regarding Ollie. OMG. Amazing. And now I will shut up.
In other news, went shopping today and spent more Christmas money than I had planned to but I guess it's good not to just buy books and CDs all the time (even though I'm going to buy some of those too, how can I not?!?). Anyway, I got some socks because mine always seem to disappear into thin air on me. Seriously. And also a new coat because I've had the same one for, like, five years now. It's a peacoat like my old one but shorter and red and black tartan patterned. And it was half off. Woo! And I got (500) Days of Summer on DVD. So stoked to watch it again! Though I'm kinda disappointed there are hardly any bonus features. WTF?!? There was so much stuff they could've put on there - I know Zooey and Joe did a bunch of promo-type stuff when it came out like interviews, and that Sid & Nancy thing, and that "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?" music video. WHY IS NONE OF THAT ON THERE?!? And I also bought a new pair of shoes. They are so hot. They were also very on sale, I wouldn't have gotten them otherwise, and here is a picture I found online!
Eeee! I cannot actually walk very well in high heels but I am going to get better, okay? They're also going to kill my feet but, come on, sometimes you have to sacrifice for the sake of fashion, right? THE IMPORTANT THING IS THEY LOOK GOOD!
One negative aspect of the shopping trip though: the bookstore that I go to a lot (pretty much the only one that's less than an hour away) has downsized for whatever reason and now the store is only half the size that it used to be which means less books - and they didn't really have a fantastic selection in the first place so now all they've got is, like, Nicholas Sparks and Twilight and shit like that. So depressing. I guess I'm going to have to do all of my book-shopping online now because I don't get to make the 1.5 hour trek to Barnes & Noble very often. It's probably better for my budget that way because I usually buy them used but still, the feeling of buying one in person, holding it in your hands, is so not the same!
Umm... what else? The new Los Campesinos! album is pretty fucking ace. Pretty much the whole thing has grown on me now. "In Medias Res" is basically the most beautiful, amazing thing ever and it's really hard for me to actually get past that to listen to the rest. I love the part after the glockenspiel solo (which is so typically LC! by the way) where it abruptly gets all dark and creepy and slow. It sounds very much like Xiu Xiu but, um, actually good because, for the most part, Xiu Xiu makes my ears bleed. And the lyrics: "Drag my corpse to the airport/Lay me limp on the left wing/Drop me at the highest point and trace a line around the dent I leave in the ground/That'll be the initial of the one you will marry now I'm not around." I'm torn between finding that a. worryingly morbid, b. strangely romantic, or c. ridiculously depressing. And it's got strings and brass and just, gah, so good and so much growth from their first album.
I also loooove "We've Got Your Back" and "I Warned You: Do Not Make an Enemy of Me" and "This Is a Flag. There Is No Wind" ("CAN WE ALL PLEASE JUST CALM THE FUCK DOWN?!?") and "Coda: A Burn Scar in the Shape of the Sooner State" - that last one is just a gorgeous, gorgeous, albeit far too brief track and closes the album perfectly. I also really like "Who Fell Asleep In" but Gareth's voice is just really far in the front of the mix and it sounds kind of jarring at times, like it doesn't fit with the actual melody of the song, but I think that's probably intentional. I like it more every time I hear it though. And I adore this part of the lyrics: "In a note I read, 'If you should go blind and deaf/I'll cleanse and I'll bathe you and I'll cook for you daily/I will take a dry ballpoint pen and trace on your chest/All of the same conversations that we have now in bed.'" Sweet, right? But then he says in response, "I don't mean to be selfish/But I think I'd sooner just be dead" and I LOL. Also, "Straight in at 101" is great and hilarious: "I think we need more post-coital and less post-rock/Feels like the build-up takes forever but you never touch my cock." Brilliant. And I love the end bit lyrically ("I phoned my friends and family to gather 'round the television/The Talking Heads count down the most heart-wrenching break-ups of all time/Imagine the great sense of waste, the indignity, the embarrassment/When not a single one of that whole century was mine") but Gareth singing a cappella makes me cringe; he just doesn't have the voice to pull it off. And, well, anyway, the whole thing is pretty great. The only tracks I could completely do without are the pointless interludes and the title track and "Plan A" are just okay - I actually loved that one the first time I listened but it's kind of grating in excess; it's really good if you're feeling super angsty and like you want to scream at the top of your lungs though.
One more thing. Also relating to LC!. Everyone should be forced to watch the tour videos they have posted on Vimeo. They're hilarious. I especially enjoyed Lolz in America (Part Two). The alternate life bits had me seriously laughing ridiculously hard. Especially the one regarding Ollie. OMG. Amazing. And now I will shut up.
