We gon' party...

You wanna get in on this? Click the flyer! Or click here.

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Among the books bought is a collection of essays called "What I've Learned From Women Who've Dumped Me." I bought this book at the secret Ok Go show at the Grammy Museum in LA. I was like MERCH! And then I was like BOOK. And then I flipped it open and it was signed by Damian Kulash because he has a story in the book. Had to get it, obvs.

I borrowed Freakonomics from my friend Kevin Wade.

Mostly because it has a quote from Malcom Gladwell and I like that guys books. Plus he says it DAZZLES OMG

Back to business. Right NOW, I'm reading "The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana" by Umberto Eco. It's kind of thick and list-y, but I like it. I like this interview with Umberto Eco, too.

"If you interact with things in your life, everything is constantly changing. And if nothing changes, you're an idiot."

If you're the kind of person who can't decide what to read but are alwayyyys checking your email, I recommend trying out DailyLit. I've been getting excerpts of books mailed to me every day at 4pm. It's long enough to gauge the writers style, but doesn't give too much away. The most recent one I read is Push by Sapphire--there's a movie out right now called Precious, and it's based on the book.

Bam Margera wrote a book, if anyone cares about that.

Since it's nearing Christmas and all, I want to give you some ideas for gifty books:

Zombie Haiku @ Thinkgeek for $8.99

How To Be An Explorer of the World by Keri Smith

And for the non-readers, how 'bout a street art coloring book?

Until next time,

It was a very female-populated show, but at least with tall boyfriend in the center, Kayla was no longer the tallest in the crowd. We basically talked about cupcakes and fan tumblrs until This Providence came on stage. I've never really gotten into that band, but they put on a GREAT show, and I would definitely go see them again. In fact, Ill probably do some i-tunes-ing after this little write up.

They told a funny story about an ex-friend of theirs who became a d-bag. They got a text from the dude last time they were in town asking, "Hey, are you in LA?" They responded yes... then he responded, "Enjoy." [...]

Best moment in the show was probably when during a lull between songs, Emily #1 shouted "DAVID I WANT TO HAVE A MEANINGFUL RELATIONSHIP WITH YOU!" I pretty much laughed about that the rest of the night.

When the set was over, they threw out drumsticks and Emily #2, in an attempt to catch it, basically swatted at back at them.

I giggled.

We quoted Mean Girls until our beloved headliners we're ready to roll.

And then Cartel! They opened with "Let's Go," but I feel like so many of there songs are so ideal for singing/yelling along. I can't give you a precise setlist as I was trying to take pictures with my little handheld, but I do know they played the following: Lose It, Faster Ride, 27 Steps, The Minstrel's Prayer (SO HAPPY THEY PLAYED THIS), Say Anything (Else), Honestly, Deep South, The Perfect Mistake, Runaway and It Still Remains.

Boyfriend, who is only vaguely familiar with thre band, pointed at Joseph Pepper and said, "that guitarist is a badass." Then I said, "That's Jospeh Pepper," and he said that's even a cool name. I agreed.

I really wanted to pull a Say Anything poster off the wall, but a security dude was right there. And I think he was the same one who made me spit out my gum IN HIS HAND last time I was at a show there.

We booked it because we wanted Subway, but the LMU crew stayed back a bit to meet some band peeps. I think David Blaise shattered their dreams, though. Bad encounters of the band member kind.

Yeah, s'bout it.

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I got there a couple songs into the Swellers' set. They're a legit band, but not quite my bag. I feel like if No Use For A Name and Alkaline Trio had a baby and raised it a little less punk, (and maybe Face to Face was the non-parental influential adult) it would end up The Swellers. Probably not the best comparison, but it's the best I can think of based on bands I actually listen to.

I took it to the hallway to wait for Miss Leslie Simon, and meanwhile stripped off a layer of clothing because OMG, so hot in there.

Once she showed up (wearing a great shade of red lipstick, I might add) we gabbed some before trying to find a relatively unobstructed view for Paper Route's set. Leslie Simon loves Paper Route. She wants to build a life with them. I thought I should let you know that in case anyone has connections. PR are sort of a dreamy electro-rock band. All the songs have sort of a space-filling epic quality to them. I get the feeling that this is what Tom Delonge wants Angels and Airwaves to be, but you know, there's Tom Delonge's voice. Which I can appreciate, being a fan of whiny pop-punk, but isn't so... epic. I didn't get one decent picture of them, but I really liked the song that Zac Farro and Taylor York came out to help on. It might have been partially cause I was ready to chant "DE-TOX JUST TO RE-TOX" but hey. Check out Paramore's hometown buddies on MySpace.

And then Paramore took the stage! There were a few false starts when the audience screamed for 1. The backdrop being revealed 2. The crew coming on stage to set ish up. I know the above picture is no masterpiece, but it gives you an idea of their stage set up, no?

Set list:

Intro ("There's evil in your hearts and it wants out to play"...)

Ignorance

I Caught Myself

That's What You Get

Looking Up

--Apologies for postponement of the show--

Emergency

Crushcrushcrush

Turn It Off

Here We Go Again

Careful

Conspiracy

Where The Lines Overlap

Decode

Outro? ("I asked you for mercy...")

ENCORE YAY:

Misguided Ghosts (acoustic)

Misery Business

Brick By Boring Brick

------

And oh holy song of all songs to scream your lungs out to, Brick By Boring Brick is IT. BEST song.

I really wanted them to play "The Only Exception" or "All I Wanted" but hey, I won't be greedy. It was a pretty diverse crowd--there were some families, and I guess one kid was holding up a "it's my first show" sign, cuz Hayley read it. There were some screamers, but not tons. Not too many Hayley-wannabes, or maybe I didn't notice because now Hayley imitators would have blond hair?

I wonder if photogs prefer her red hair just cause she does so many hairwhips and red looks like FIRE sometimes.

I have a short little video going up in a few minutes.

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We gathered some clues when they gave Buzznet some photos from the set, but despite the obvious cleaning crew with hard hats part, the possibilities were still open-ended. Well, kinda. Not ALL videos go right for the lyrical visualization, but this one did. And with lines like "I've been hypnotized / The city's your playground / I watch you take a bite / At 5am roaming in the streets / Drunk all night" what else could be acted out aside from lushes in mini-skirts teetering down the concrete in their party heels.

So, basically, the Cobra Crew were cleaning up the city's hot messes.

I'm not about to get preachy because who WOULDNT want to be scooped up and taken care of after throwing back a few too many after a night out on the town?

But it does sorta glamourize the Lindsay Lohan wannabes of the world, and although it looked like a swell party once they'd gathered the lot of them in their truck, I think they left out pukers and criers.

Yeah, it's a fun video for a fun song, but you have to wonder if the self-esteemed challenged young'ns of the scene are internalizing the message. I.e. one way to be hot is to be a drunk, problematic mess.

If YOU thought about that for a minute, let me just quickly remind you of some celebs who probably think this is an ideal state:

See also: Most people who have been cast on The Real World

Thoughts?

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Alex's hair was like this.

Observations:

-Cassadee Pope was cute and perfect as always, although my boyfriend (who knows things about music) says Hey Monday's sound was muddled. I didn't notice until Cassadee came out to sing Remembering Sunday with Alex and THEN she sounded clear as an angelic bell.

-Hey Monday played a little snippet of "Buddy Holly."

-I was thinking during the set that Hey Monday should record a Christmas song. Or a cover. Which one do you think they'd be best fit to do? Random, I know.

-The lights during All Time Low's set we're pretty damn cool. And the drum set was on a platform so it was possible to actually SEE Rian play, even from the back-ish of the crowd. And they had this strobe-effect that really drew attention to the drumming at times. Band equality is so nice.

-Alex called Danny "a human version of Lassie" after he spilled a bottle of water on lots of important cords.

-I realized I don't much like the song "Too Much"

-Jack didn't talk enough, IMO.

-Some girl like 4 poeple in front of my kept on randomly holding up a pair of pink pants. I don't know if they said something on them or what, but the pants completely blocked my view so I wasn't that cool with it.

-After Alex played two acoustic songs, the band came back out and Jack said, "Give it up for my best friend Alex." Aww. But boyfriend was like, OMG doesn't that make the other guys feel bad? I said I think they have different best friends.

-Some girl in the audience was crying and Alex was like "Geez, do we look that bad?" but then it appeared she was being crushed so he got a security dude to help. I think something similar happened during Hey Monday's set except it was a person crowd-surfing... who didn't want to be crowdsurfing? Ha. I don't know for sure, I couldn't see.

-I wanted to tweet updates in so I could compile them for my review but I had no service in the HOB music hall! Boo!

-I went to the after party for like, 15 minutes, but after boyfriend ordered me a $12 dirty martini (it was GOOD at least) I spilled half of it on our legs. Sigh.

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And yes, I noticed a color pattern emerging in this collection--it's my subconcious telling me it's cool to look like a candy cane this time of year. Anyway, onto those covetous things!

Deux Lux Zipper Panel Satchel @ Urban Outfitters

Stripe Pocket Frock @ American Apparel (I like both colors, to be honest)

Converse Surf All Star Lo @ UO

Wool Herringbone Babydoll Jacket @ Plasticland

Houndstooth Chair @ Horchow.com

Tiered Strapless W/ Belt @ Forever21

Alexander McQueen Double Wrap Skull Charm Bracelet @ ShopStyle

Miu Miu Jersey Ruffle Dress @ TheOutNet

Large Raygun Space Glass Ornaments @ Plasticland

BDG Boxy Stripe Pullover Sweater @ UO

UGG Classic Cardy in Black @ Zappos

(I actually saw a girl in our building wearing these with leggings and a sweater like the one above and she looked so cute)

Element ECHO Knit @ Elementskateboards.com

Soneed Check Tweed Mini-skirt @ Yesstyle.com

Sergio Rossi for PUMA Satin Lace Up Sneakers @ Net-a-porter.com

One of these cool ReBound Journals from Rebound Books

Phillip Lim Ruffle Detail Dress @ Mytheresa.com

Poetic License Fresh Bloom sandals @ Zappos

Rosette Crinkle Dress @ Charlotte Russe

Bottoms Up Stainless Water Bottle @ Plasticland

Chinese Laundry Twist Tote @ Chineselaundry.com

Striped Shawl Collar Cardigan @ AE

Lined Birdie Notepads @ Plasticland

Tea For One set @ UO

Stay minty fresh, mah darlings, until next time

Leave a comment on this journal with your questions you want us to ask for you!

As you know, the band has a new album coming out on December 8th (fyi: that's also my b-day. good day. good day in general) called Heaven Can Wait so we bet you have a bunch of questions regarding that morsel of a masterpiece.

Fire away!

And which of you enthusiastic SoCal WTK fans are going to be in attendance on Monday night at The Mint? You can buy tickets here.

See you there!

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Music: Say Anything

When was the last time you got a taste of an album that was so pungent and perfect and addictive that you wanted to slather yourself in every atom of it? This is a different experience than I have from Fall Out Boy albums—with Folie and IOH and FUCT I just found myself having torrid relationships with each song. “27” and I spent days in bed pawing through old journals; “XO” and I took more than a few aimless drives looking for places we’d happily overthrow and call home (yea, Goodnight Moon reference WHAT). But this Say Anything album is something else entirely. “Do Better” makes you thirsty for the next track—should you just skip to it now? No, no the lyrics are too good right ‘til the end. You want to ingest the next track before you’ve even really put your toes in the current one. And you start wishing songs were like marshmallows you could just stuff in your face all at once. Oh, bet your bottom dollar that every individual track is worth savoring but which one first? They’re all terribly interesting children you want to dote on, endlessly. Oh, God. It’s just THAT GOOD.

TV: Lie To Me

This is a hard category for me, seeing as that I don’t own a working TV or cable or anything of the sort—HOWEVER, I will give props to Fox’s Lie To Me because full episodes are available shortly after airing so I can get my fix of non-verbal manipulation and decoding in all it’s complicated glory. The Lightman Group are the world’s leading deception experts and are called in to catch BS on a variety of cases. The program is based on the very real work of Dr. Paul Ekman. Another cool feature of the network website is a regularly updated collection of real-world stories with a bit of commentary on bodily expression.

Also, I couldn’t put Criminal Minds here because of one of my other Buzz Guide picks. Wouldn't want to overdo it.

Book: Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer

I haven’t read this, but I’m basing this recommendation on “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” being one of my favorite fictional novels and I know a lot of you are vegan/vegetarians who hate being preached to—from what I can tell, this is a non-fiction exploration from a man who just rules at storytelling, point blank. Plus, Natalie Portman likes it. And who am I to argue with Natalie Portman?

Blog: Life Lessons From Andrew WK

Well of course Andrew W.K. is a motivational speaker. I think he’s single-handedly starting a new wave of “posi” music. It could even be a religion. Yes, everything IS a party!

Boy: Matthew Gray Gubler

I’ve had a crush on MGG for awhile, since he plays adorkable Dr. Spencer Reid on Criminal Minds, but you know how sometimes you’re more in love with the character and you feel like a foray into their personal life might leave plenty to be desired?

NOT THE CASE FOR MGG. He is a special prism of eloquence and cuteness and you kinda want to shrink him down to a pocket-size version and keep him forever BUT he also kinda gives you jello knees because you know he makes every girlfriend he’s ever had feel like a princess and then you read this interview that Mademoiselle Robot did with him and it makes you melt like butter (OMG THE DISNEY PRINCESS PART!) and THAT makes you think of how jealous you are that he has a Twitter-relationship with Vicky-T of Cobra Starship and oh, you are head over heels in love with the idea of him. You wish this was elementary school so that you could spend months figuring out which valentine and what candy conversation heart to drop in his hand-made mailbox. OH IF ONLY.

Do you think if I made a youtube video titled “MGG, please go out with me” he’ll go for it? I mean, it worked for prom-date-turned-boyfriend. (Who may or may not read this, but if you are, just know I grant you the same gushing leniency for Regina Spektor. Have at it.) And I'm pretty much Belle, with all the book-reading and whatnot. We could make this work. DM me. Wink wink.

I should stop now.

Until next time,

-Bree

Celebrity DJ Space Cowboy teamed up with labelmate Natalia Kills to put a fresh twist on Edgar Allan Poe's creepy classic narrative, The Raven. And they made exclusive for us and stuff. Hauntingly awesome, no? [cut=Listen...]

A little about the artists involved here: Space Cowboy has worked with Lady Gaga ("Starstruck" on The Fame), Cinema Bizarre, Feist and is much-loved by Idol runner-up Adam Lambert. Yeah, Nick Dresti (real name) is hot sh*t. Just by dropping those names, you can imagine the kind of glitzy mesmerizing glam-rock he rolls out. Did you hear the song he sneaked in at the end of The Raven? You can hear some more of his creations here.

The narrator, Natalia Kills, is a Cherrytree Records artist as well. For some more eerie tunes, check out her video for “Zombie.” It's the first song she recorded for her forthcoming debut album, expected in early 2010.

And Edgar Allan Poe... well, I don't really need to school you on that, do I? If you wish to read along or enact your own dramatic performance of the poem, here's a transcript.

Oh, and I did say I had a gift, didn't I?

Download a shorter version of the reading right here.

Happy Halloween, and enjoy.

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