here are some things I love (and some I don't)

I love the smell of spring, living in California, and daylight savings. And days like today make me wish I knew San Jose like the back of my hand, i.e. where all the cool restaurants and cafes and really chic boutiques are. My actual hometown is so incredibly suburban, and it's simply not a fun way to spend an afternoon, choosing whether to sit at this Starbucks or that one, or maybe try something really offbeat like going to Peet's instead. Really.

Springtime even makes reading Virginia Woolf enjoyable. But for fairness's sake, I can't tell if it's the good weather or the actual literature. I think after having to read Gertrude Stein (only 3 pages of it!), anything is a blast. Reading "Tender Buttons" absolutely made me want to cry; it was so frustrating and nonsensical, and I even Googled "How to read Gertrude Stein," but it didn't really yield anything that helpful. If you're ever feeling particularly masochistic, go check it out.

I LOVE STARS.

Stars receives a disproportionate amount of the total plays I have "scrobbled" on Last.fm, approximately twice as many as any other given band. Yes, more than The Beatles, more than Queen, more than Blondie, more than anything else I've so far professed to love. I saw them live at the Fillmore this year, and it was an absolutely amazing night. I think Stars is the perfect music for young people because it's so romantic and dreamy, and it makes you want to stay that way too, instead of falling into cynicism or practicality as so many people do. They sing about love, and heartbreak, and revolution, and they do it so sincerely, which I think is hard to find in music now, when everyone's trying to look so detached and ironic. I believe that the music you listen to definitely has an impact on who you become, and I don't want to become jaded and tired of life, so this is what I choose to listen to. Maybe it won't have this effect on you, but I really wish everybody liked Stars as much as I do. It might even make the world a better place. My favorite album is "In Our Bedroom After the War," but "Set Yourself On Fire" is a close second. I would absolutely recommend these two albums to anyone.

Live Nation Entertainment?

Many people are (quite reasonably) upset over the recent news concerning the Live Nation-Ticketmaster merger. I count myself a member of this group, and there are so many reasons why you should too. If the merger should happen, it would eliminate virtually all competition in the ticketing industry, and essentially give one company total control over almost all ticketing for major artists and venues in the U.S. I know everyone always panics about mergers, but trust me, this one is really worth panicking about. The ticketing industry has been nearly monopolized by Ticketmaster until Live Nation created a ticketing service, and now that these two entertainment giants are being all buddy-buddy, it means bad news for concertgoers. Ticketmaster and Live Nation have been ripping us off for years with their ridiculous "convenience fees," which sometimes cost as much as the concert ticket itself. But the new plan may be to sell tickets on a secondary market instead of a primary market, meaning that rather than selling tickets for a fixed price, ticketing will operate auction-style. As a college student, I dread the day this happens. I don't expect to be earning much for at least the next couple years, and the elimination of fixed-price ticketing virtually wipes out my chances of seeing any big-name artists. I can't even cling to the hope that if my internet connection is fast enough, I will be able to secure those coveted tickets, because now I won't stand a chance against those enviable People With Disposable Income. I know the secondary ticket market already exists in the form of Craigslist and scalpers, and some people think it won't be a big deal because it's something we've all had to live with, but I think this is a poor argument in favor of the merger. Live Nation Entertainment could make the majority of ticketing happen in their own secondary market, allowing them to scoop up the surplus previously enjoyed by other companies or private assholes. Oops, I mean sellers. Private sellers, sorry. The upside is that tickets for the more obscure artists may be cheaper than they currently are, but it's a small consolation. While this new ticketing option would eliminate shortages, it really puts many concertgoers at an unfair disadvantage by essentially taking away their privilege to see some really great live shows.

Wanted: Tickets to Coachella

Thinking about summer music festivals always makes me sad because I never get to go, for some reason or another. There's the obvious geographic problem, i.e. what is there worth going to in Northern California? But Coachella (in SoCal), on the other hand. Look at the headliners. Paul McCartney, The Killers, and The Cure, which are right up my lane. Although I tend to view Paul McCartney less as an independent artist and more as a former Beatle. I can't help it. Unlike, say, Dave Grohl, I don't think Paul's solo career will ever overcome the fact that he was one a part of Something Really Big. This week I was supposed to decide which summer music festival I would most want to attend, and for a bit, I was sort of torn between Coachella and Bonnaroo. I think there were maybe three deciding factors. One: I don't really want to go to Tennessee. It's completely not worth the long and expensive flight, made all the more unbearable by the inevitable five-hour stop in Denver, Colorado, or somewhere equally not-my-destination. And Two (see Exhibit A): Bonnaroo does not have The Cure, now does it? It almost makes up for this serious flaw by having Bruce Springsteen, who I've been dying to see live if only my wallet could take it. But I don't love Bruce Springsteen anywhere near as much as I love Robert Smith, who I have a somewhat irrational crush on. Irrational because he's 30 years older, not to mention married. But he's brilliant, and witty, and I imagine he would be a great conversationalist. And Three: the other headliners for Bonnaroo are kind of lame, in my opinion. I would so much rather see Paul McCartney and The Killers than Phish and the Beastie Boys. So it's decided. Now if only I had tickets. And a way to miss class for a couple days without getting screwed. Seriously, whose idea was it to have mandatory attendance for college classes? I thought they weren't supposed to be babysitting us, so what gives?

Exhibit A:

Lollapalooza '09

The headliners for this year's Lollapalooza kind of disappoint me. Beastie Boys, Depeche Mode, and Jane's Addiction? I have nothing against any of these bands, except maybe the Beastie Boys, but it's honestly nothing I'd get excited over. Actually, I'm going to be blunt about this. I like a lot of music, but I don't like the Beastie Boys. Not one bit. They don't even exist on my hard drive, except for "Sabotage," which I downloaded as part of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs. And I think the selection is undeserved, but obviously enough people disagree with me on this one. As for Depeche Mode and Jane's Addiction...I absolutely love the 80s revival thing that's been going on these past few years. It means I get a chance to see bands that became big (and then separated!) before I was even born, and I think almost everything from the 80s is excellent, regardless of what those snotty music critics say. Keyword is "almost," though. Depeche Mode and Jane's Addiction are two bands from that era that I've just never been that into. Depeche Mode is probably one of my least favorite new wave bands. I've made a valiant effort, in my opinion, to like them, but I tend to think of them as a watered-down version of Duran Duran. Sure, they have some good songs. But their music lacks replay value, I think, because once I listen to one of their songs a certain number of times, it gets annoying. For example, "Just Can't Get Enough." And "People are People." As opposed to Duran Duran or New Order, which I will love eternally, I think. Or even Yazoo. I wish Depeche Mode had reformed as Yazoo instead of Depeche Mode. Screw name recognition, really. I have been listening to Yazoo's "Only You" practically nonstop, and I like it better than anything I've heard by Depeche Mode. And I really haven't got that much to say about Jane's Addiction. I like their hit, "Jane Says," don't care much for "Been Caught Stealin'," and I haven't listened much to the rest of their catalogue. Yes, I know they started Lollapalooza, but that doesn't make me appreciate their music any more. I prefer my 80s music to be heavily electronic.

Camera Obscura at SXSW

Looking at the list of bands that are going to be at SXSW, I have to admit that I practically don't recognize any of them except Camera Obscura. So I will write about them. Camera Obscura is a great chamberpop band from Scotland with a very mellow sound. They're also quite retro for a modern band, and one look at their influences reveals why--the list spans everything from Elvis to The Lovin' Spoonful to Joy Division, so their music is occasionally heavy on the electronic instrumentals, coupled with excellent vocal melodies. I think they've been compared to Belle & Sebastian a lot, largely because both bands are from Scotland and they have a somewhat similar sound. I can't say which I prefer, but I will concede that Tracyanne Campbell, the singer for Camera Obscura, has a much lovelier voice. And while their songs have the same upbeat melodies and fun instrumentation, there are definitely darker emotions expressed in the lyrics if you bother to listen closely enough. Case in point, the first Camera Obscura song I ever loved was, "I Need All the Friends I Can Get," which has a very happy, sort of sing-song melody, and lyrics like, "You can't see that you're just the same/As all the stupid people who you hate." They manage to be insulting while sounding absolutely benign and innocent, which is a very trademark sort of thing for them. If it sounds like something you'd be into, I recommend checking out their two most recent albums, "Underachievers Please Try Harder" and my personal favorite, "Let's Get Out of This Country." And if you're lucky enough to be at SXSW this year, make sure you don't miss out on seeing them on the first day of the festival!

no can has english major?

Oh, so tired. I hate writing papers. Four pages is not usually a problem, but T.S. Eliot's poetry is so incredibly dense and elitist. I love it, but I hate having to understand it and construct a logically sound argument from it. While on Google searching for the text of "The Waste Land," I found this: "The Waste Land" translated into the grammatically atrocious language that is LOLCat Speak. Hoping it would elucidate things, I actually clicked on the link and read it.

Unfortunately, I am not at all fluent in LOLCat, so this version made about as much sense as Eliot's. The LOLCat version, however, has caused me to seriously doubt my own faculties of observation. The LOLCat seems to have noticed several images alluding to masturbation, but this has actually gone entirely over my head, even in my repeated close readings.

I wonder what implications this has for my literary future.