Violent Punk Protesting!

I guess the only way to get shit done around here is by violent means. At least that's Against Me! frontman Tom Gabel's approach.

I'm kidding. Sort of. Tom Gabel was arrested back in 2007 for getting into a bar fight and slamming some guy's head down on a table, which turns me on, oddly enough.

I've been listening to the Florida based foursome for about six years now and seen them live once at ACL in 2008. Here's a picture from their performance, but you can't even see them. I swear I was closer, it just looks like I'm miles away!
I absolutely love their passion and enthusiasm for everything that's wrong with society. They've got balls, and they use them accordingly.

So far, Against Me! has released five full-length studio albums. Their debut album, Reinventing Axl Rose, came out in 2002. "Baby, I'm An Anarchist" has to be one of my all-time favorite songs. As The Eternal Cowboy made waves in 2003. I recommend "Sink, Florida, Sink" and "You Look Like I Need a Drink." Their next album was Searching For a Former Clarity in 2005. This one's even more anti-politics than their other albums with "From Her Lips To God's Ears (The Energizer)" sadistically serenading Condoleeza Rice and "Unprotected Sex With Multiple Partners" about the corruptness within the recording industry. New Wave graced our ears in 2007 with a slightly poppier sound, but you could still feel the brutality. Check out "Thrash Unreal" about the consequences of hard drug use and "Animal." The band's most recent album, White Crosses, has only been out for a couple of months, and I have to say I'm disappointed. Maybe it's the new label or just Tom Gabel getting softer in his old age (he's only 29!), but, whatever the reason, the album's more about gush than fist fights. They almost have a...hold your breath...Green Day vibe going on. Seriously. I do like "White Crosses" and some of "I Was A Teenage Anarchist" in which Gabel actually sings "Do you remember when you were young and you wanted to set the world on fire?" Pretty much admitting he's a softy now.

Softy or not, he's still as adorable as ever, and now he and his wife, artist Heather Gabel, have a little baby. Congrats to the couple. Now, go find your RAGE, Tom!!!

Now for the Men!

Ok, so I just gave you my Top Ten Celebrity Female Crushes.

Here is my list of Top Ten Celeb Male Crushes:

1. Conor Oberst, age 30, Singer (Brights Eyes, Desparecidos, & The Mystic Valley Band)

What can I say? He just speaks to me.

2. Leonardo DiCaprio, age 35, Actor (Inception, Shutter Island)

3. John Krasinski, age 30, Actor (The Office, License To Wed)

4. Paul Dano, age 26, Actor (Little Miss Sunshine, There Will Be Blood)

5. Paul Rudd, age 41, Actor (Role Models, I Love You Man)

6. John Corbett, age 49, Actor (Sex and the City, United States of Tara)

7. Trent Reznor, age 45, Singer (Nine Inch Nails, How To Destroy Angels)

8. Josh Hartnett, age 31, Actor (Wicker Park, 30 Days of Night)

9. Hugh Jackman, age 41, Actor (X-Men, Australia)

10. Ryan Reynolds, age 33, Actor (Amityville Horror, Adventureland)

But still sometimes I can't believe you're real...

...It's just that I've got diamonds in my eyes for you.

For entertainment's sake, I've decided to give a visual list of my top 10 female and male celeb crushes.

I'll start with the ladies.

1. Jenny Lewis, age 31, Singer/Actress

Check out Jenny's new project, Jenny & Johnny, a collaboration with her boyfriend of five years, Johnathan Rice.

2. Zooey Deschanel, age 30, Singer/Actress

She stars in one of my all-time favorite indie flicks, Gigantic.

3. Megan Fox, age 24, Actress

Two words - Jennifer's Body. That's when I knew I loved Megan Fox.

4. Michelle Williams, age 29, Actress

See the indie film Mammoth. You'll understand my infatuation with Michelle Williams.

5. Alexis Bledel, age 28, Actress/Model

Classic Gilmore beauty, and she's from my hometown, Houston.

6. Evan Rachel Wood, age 22, Actress

She's beauty meets darkness.

7. Scarlett Johansson, age 25, Actress/Singer

It's easy to see the attraction here. I don't particularly take to her singing voice, but she's a decent actress and one helluva bombshell.

8. Elizabeth Banks, age 36, Actress

Such a charmer. She just seems like a decent person to be around.

9. Alison Lohman, age 30, Actress

Drag Me To Hell made me love her.

10. Katy Perry, age 25, Singer

Cute, but outrageous. (like me!)

I'll be your wave carrying you to shore.

Jason and I saw Indie Pop band 'Islands' at The Parish on 6th St. Tuesday night.

Steel Phantoms (meh) and Active Child (omg) opened for them.

Nick T. put on a great show wearing all white with a bizarre white hood that he draped across his face half the set. They opened with "Disarming the Car Bomb" from their newest studio album Vapours. For the most part, they stuck to the newer songs, but every few songs, they'd throw in an oldie from either Return to the Sea or Arm's Way.

A Hot English Toddie and Some Ginger Jam

For the past month, I've been interning, sans profit, at my favorite Austin radio station, 101X (101.5 FM), specifically the morning show, the MorningX with Jason Dick and Deb O'Keefe.

I wake up at 4:50am on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, pack a light breakfast and a Red Bull, drive out to Emmis Communications in North Austin, and sit at a computer from about 6:00am-12:00pm. Ok, I made it sound unbelievably boring, but it's really not. My tasks typically include writing and posting a blog entry about each of the topics discussed on the show, editing and uploading a podcast for each segment, emailing airchecks to our sponsors such as Ideal Image, Budweiser, and Restora Austin, and, finally, I edit a few of the segments, chosen by Cassandra, my boss, and make them into Morning Xtras which are played the next morning prior to the show.


So far I've had a blast. Jason and Deb are hilarious, most of the interns are easy to get along with, and Cassandra, the associate producer of the show, is really easy-going and helpful. This has truly been a great experience for me. I'm still unsure whether or not I'm interested in pursuing a career in radio, mainly because of the money. Almost everyone that works at Emmis, aside 
from the business people like HR and Sales, has at least two jobs, which is pretty discouraging, but I'd much rather be happy and poor than miserable and wealthy. I've stood by that philosophy most of my life. I don't want to be one of those people that dreads going to work each day and never sees their family. Life is far too short for that bullshit.

It's exciting and scary to think I'll be graduating in six months. I still feel like such a baby in this world, but, at the same time, I know I'll be fine because I'm already so independent and have been for years now. If all the adults before me could do it, surely I can too. I'm excited for everything that's about to happen in my life. I'm almost done with school (for the time being), I'm about to get a REAL salary-based job, and I'm preparing to take a really big step with my boyfriend of almost a year. As frightening as it all seems, I know I can do it, and I'm ready.

"...But she was grateful for everything that had happened.
And she was anxious for all that would come next."
-bright eyes, "Waste of Paint"


For more on Jason and Deb:
MorningX Official Site
MorningX Twitter
Jason and Deb Facebook

AMC Has Done It Again

In 2003, Image Comics began publishing the eerie, yet typically comedic black and white zombie comic, The Walking Dead. American Movie Classics, better known as AMC, announced last August that they had bought the rights to make a television adaptation of the comic. Filming began on May 15, and the series is scheduled to debut in October.

The comic revolves around Kentucky-based Rick Grimes, a police officer, and his family, along with many other characters that are introduced throughout the volumes. The synopsis pretty much consists of what you would assume - a group of townspeople learning to work together while struggling to maintain their sanity and survive a zombie apocalypse. Goody goody gumdrops! Sounds pretty fun, huh?

I'm hypothesizing the TV show to be a great hit, especially if it's filmed and produced with the same degree of tact and entertainment that AMC's current original series' are, such as Breaking Bad and Mad Men.

There are currently 12 volumes; I have read the first six and am greatly anticipating the TV series premiere.

To see some sneak peeks and photos go to this link:
The Walking Dead on AMC

Music to my ears (literally!)

Whether they'll be hailed the next Johnny & June or the new Bob Dylan & Joan Baez, this duo is bound to feed folk lovers everywhere the most delectable spoonful of indie-bluegrass ever produced.

That's right. The stars have aligned, the clouds have parted and my dreams have come true. Thirty-one-year-old Singer/songwriter, Jenny Lewis, also the vocals and beauty behind Rilo Kiley, is teaming up with Johnathan Rice, her boyfriend of about six years to form 'Jenny & Johnny.'

Lewis started out as a child actor appearing in various short films, sitcoms and commercials. You might also recognize her from the 1998 film Pleasantville.

In the late '90s, she formed Rilo Kiley, which started out as a country band and slowly transitioned into indie rock. Rilo Kiley released five full-length albums, including More Adventurous in 2004 which received enormous amounts of praise.

She kicked off her solo career with Rabbit Fur Coat under Conor Oberst's record label, Team Love. In 2008 she released her second solo album, Acid Tongue, which contains two of my all-time favorite songs - "Next Messiah" and "Acid Tongue."

Johnathan Rice is intriguingly Scottish-American and devilishly handsome in my eyes. He has released two full-length studio albums, Trouble is Real and Further North.

This isn't the first time that Lewis and Rice have collaborated, however. Rice joined Lewis in "Carpetbaggers" off of her most recent album, Acid Tongue, which also ushered in a little help from mastermind Elvis Costello.