Music of the week CINCO!

Hey, I'm behind on this, you know, vacation. I'm going to do it a little differently and name some of the songs I have been listening to that are not on my MP3.

1. Beautiful Hangover: Big Bang
It's their new Japanese single and I am in love with it. GD, how do you do it? He looks like a nerd and really geeky but very sexy at the same time. Note that the girl in the video is not Asian. That lucky girl! Now, this isn't the official video because YG cut my favorite part at 1:18 Taeyang does my favorite part "We gonna get down, down, down, give me love, love, love." The arm movement looks so cool.

2. The Only Exception: Paramore
This is such a pretty song and I love the message, too. I can never stop listening to it.

3. Kings and Queens: 30 Seconds to Mars
I don't normally listen to them but I love this song. Every time that person is hit with the car I jump, I don't expect it. Wonderful.

4. I'll Be There: Taeyang
What's better than a hot Korean guy who can sing and dance? A hot Korean guy who can dance and sing in English. I love being able to know what he is saying, he's so great at it.

5. Lucifer: SHINee
SUCH AN AWESOME VIDEO. Awesome band, too. Taemin <3 href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOI4OF7iIr4&ob=av2e">Somebody to Love: Justin Bieber ft. Usher
I know, I've fallen prey. I am so weak willed when it comes to a group of people dancing in unison. This music video is just that.

7. Love Like Woah: The Ready Set
Such a cute kid. Good dance music, too.

8. Cooler Than Me: Mike Posner
He looks like Justin Timberlake and I love his voice. The song is so true, too.

9. Up and Down: SHINee
It's just such a funky sound, I love it.

10. DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love: Usher
This is such a good dancing and driving song. <3

Day 12: Victory!

That's right, I have officially completed all forty hours of my shadowing. Notice how I didn't say my Graduation Project? Yeah, that's because it's not over.

Today was a day as the first: boring, in the office, watching Jeff write articles and asking him questions about them. But all of that is okay, because it's done.

I thought it was funny because Jeff and I had a discussion about what I've learned. He said right off the bat "I don't think you learned much." And he didn't mean that as in I wasn't paying attention, more that there wasn't too much I really could learn. I went out "in the field" and watched Jeff know everyone on the spot. People could tell he was writing for a paper, I learned that you have to be social in order to go to events and talk to people. I learned that small newspapers like The Advance have to have editors take and edit their own videos and pictures. I also learned that procrastinating leads to hours of work after everyone has left at the office.

In the end, I learned that this isn't what I want to do. I want to write, but not in this way. I find newspaper articles to be cheesy and boring and they can lack creativity, which is what I love the most about writing.

I'm glad to have had this opportunity with Jeff but I'm still nervous about presenting in November.

Wish me luck!

XDara

Hour Tracker: 40 HOURS

Low budget scary flicks > Romantic Comedies

Ever been so down in the dumps and you just need something to laugh at? We've all been there and we have all reached for the funny, yet romantic movie to tell us that everything is fun and good in movie-land. We all know that everything that happens in those movies is slim to none in real life. So I have to suggest that next time you reach for a more realistic movie: the bad horror film.

These are the movies that make you say "There must have been a one-man staff; who could possibly want to work on this?"

I have seen my fair share of bad movies, Spring Break: Shark Attack, Autumn, Wrong Turn, Wrong Turn 2: Dead End, Star Quest: The Odyssey , just to name a few. Over the years I have noticed that many bad movies have a sign, the colon. It signifies all that is bad, and yet somehow hilariously outrageous.

I guess I always wanted to make a post about this but with the soon to be in theaters Piranha 3D I came upon this article. Even though I have never seen any of the movies on this list I had a good feeling they weren't lying.

The other day I finally got to see the critically acclaimed Spring Break: Shark Attack. I promise you, this is the most amazing movie I have ever seen. Yes, I have just seen Inception and the mind blowing special effects could not compare to the art and skill it took to windsurf into a shark's mouth.

I love zombie movies, and SBSA gave me that. There is nothing better than seeing a bunch of oblivious college students trying to jump onto a floating stage off the shore and crawl out of the water like bloodied zombies. Groaning included.

It had a plot to, go figure. The overacting was spectacular. There was Danielle, the traditional "Damsel in Distress" who was forbidden to go to spring break and unsure if she is having fun at all. Then there is J.T. the "good-looking," overly tan, popular guy that is set out to "get the girl." More like get the date-rape drugs in the girl. But fear not! There is a good guy, a local "nice guy" who carries her back to her room when she is all drugged up.

If you were worried about the fate of J.T., don't worry, a shark eats him after a girl is climbing on top of him to save herself on the stage. Well, she gets eaten, too, but he got what he deserved. The most thrilling part of this entire movie is when the good guy is on a boat with Damsel and her brother [who is mysteriously there researching sharks]. They put a cage off the back of the boat filled with bloody fish and guts and the good guy calls out "HEY SHARKS." He continues to cat call the sharks for about three minutes, inviting them to lunch, etc. and it all becomes scarily awkward for the viewer.

I should also mention that there are no shark attacks until maybe 45-60 minutes in the film. At one point I changed the channel to avoid the freaky trailers for a new exorcism movie [do they really need another?] and almost forgot to change it back. I thought, "Oh no! What happened to Danielle?!"

I won't spoil the ending because this movie is just pure genius. I would seriously consider seeing Piranha 3D but the only person who would really appreciate it with me is in another state. Oh well.

Just remember this whenever you feel down, it could be making you laugh even if the director didn't want it to.

XDara

Day 11: MOOOO is more like Moauoaahaha!

That's right, everything you thought you knew about cows is wrong. Those cute little children's books that told you that "A cow says "Moo,"" it's lying to you! How can you trust me about this?

I just spent four hours in front of cows. Cows that were staring me down. Daring me to challenge their very distinct form of communication.

Remember that post I wrote about the Grange Fair that I had never heard of? Well this is that fair. It was really interesting. I'm lying, you may think one day "I'd really love to learn more about farm animals." Don't. Or, if you do, don't do it at a fair.

It's pretty scary. I don't mean "AH! Serial killer cow!" I mean it's really strange to see young people handling animals almost five times their size. It's also a little sad to see these animals that are used to being in large fields in a small pavilion. It mean, it wasn't inhuman, but the cows did not want to be there.

Jeff was covering the judging of all of the farm animals. He had told me that the day before the goat judging took over four hours. A lot of the time was spent watching cows and smelling their various bodily functions. [It was like being at a zoo but only staying around the Rhinos].

It was one of the less exciting days for my GP but I learned a lot about Al Pacas and Cows. I don't think I will ever see these animals the same way again.

XDara

Hour Tracker: 36:00

Day 10: 80's hair bands?

As I usually do, this post is late. This event happened on August 15th. YES! It was Musicfest, and it was a huge success. I was there from 1:30 to around 3:30, I only saw two bands preform and both were amazing.

Being a young person, I was more interested in the younger group, JC Satellite. Okay, I'll admit it, it's really because I'm a young teenage girl that loves to see guys my age being successful in something they love.

Before JC Satellite went on I wandered around and talked to a few vendors. One was Payton Woodcraft, she was a very nice woman who makes jewelry out of recycled leather and wood. I also spoke to some people working at the Cambridge Sound Studio's table, they are the people that organized all of the bands.

Then JC Satellite went on! So I sat down and took some pictures. Want to see?

Some things you may want to know about JCS: There are four members, Jake, John, Jeff and Sebastian. All but Sebastian are brothers. Jake is 13 and the lead singer, he also plays guitar. For his age he has an amazing voice. Jeff is 15 and the drummer, who I could rarely get a picture of from where I was sitting. Jeff is the 17 year old bassist, and Sebastian is also 17 and a guitarist. Sebastian's father was just recently on tour with his band opening for ACDC and he is their producer.

From what I could tell, they were a huge hit. Looking around at the crowd I saw people singing along of all ages. There was a middle aged man in front of me nodding his head.

I'm just going to say, they rocked! They performed covers of familiar songs like "Johnny Be Good" to which the whole crowd was singing along. I even started to sing to some of their own songs, they are easy to catch on to and just really great.

I bought their CD and I listened to it on the way home. Before I left I got the chance to talk to Jake, the lead singer. I asked him about how the band started and if the three brothers had always worked together. He said "Well me and Jeff [drummer] started it and then John [guitarist] joined later on."

Overall the whole event was really amazing and I look forward to it next year.

XDara

P.S. I also spent about an hour writing an article about the Penn's Landing concert for Jeff to critique.

Hour Tracker: 32:00

Dear Dara

As is customary for my current age I was watching video bloggers and saw Charlie McDonnell's most recent upload. I really thought it was clever, well only if Youtube still exists in ten years. So I thought I would blog to my future self. I hope I don't delete this account. How awful would that be?

Dear Dara,

I hope you didn't change your name...it's quite unique and no matter how many times you have to correct people when they pronounce it, it's really awesome.

I don't want to be too optimistic but I really hope that you have what you want. Whether it's writing for a nonprofit organization or writing novels for a living [which I doubt is happening because you're only 27]. Maybe you have a family. I think it's pretty reasonable, mom was married at 25. I'm sorry if you would have preferred if I left that out. I hope you have at least had a boyfriend.

On to more important things, not really because that is pretty important to me. I just got back from the first vacation with the Driscoll family in North Carolina...I say first because there was talk of similar vacations. [Although when I mentioned this to mom she insinuated that I was not included].

Currently I am talking to Hannah and Marie. Hannah and I are discussing AP English, and Marie is trying to reassure me that I will not be fat...I have reason to doubt her. I currently like this guy....and he's causing so much trouble. But that's all really me because I'm an analyzing fool. If you don't remember then good for you. It means he wasn't worth it. Now why can't I get that into my head now?!

Please remember that you can't sew. It just occurred to me that no matter how certain you are about sewing a curved seam, you're not. Check out a blog post a little ways down, you know, the purse that became a whale?

I hope you loved, or at least found it entertaining, the college/university you went to. I hope you're out of college by now. And I really hope you are not one of those Admissions people who swear they loved the school too much to leave...don't be one of those people.

I hope you don't hold any grudges against people, family especially.

There are so many things to say. I hope you remember that you were or still are a fangirl, and that's okay. I hope you got to travel somewhere outside of the United States.

I would love it if you remembered all of the good teachers you had and use what they taught you to get where you need to go. You shouldn't forget what is good.

I love my family. They are really great people. Uncle Danny [Do you still call him that? Or is he Dan?] just commented on some of my pictures from vacation and made my night. I learned so much about the family from this vacation and I really appreciate them. It still creeps me out that they all knew each other for a while. It makes me wonder if I will know the guy I marry. Scary thoughts.

Caitlyn should be about ten now. I hope she is nice and fun. Is she a combination of Lauren and me? I know that she's a Driscoll.

I hope everything is well. I cannot think of anything else to say. Figures.

Love,
XDara [ahah from Spock to Spock]

Day 9: Rockin Music and Glares Across the Room

So I suppose I should catch up on this, considering Day 9 was really on Thursday, July 29. The reason I have not posted about it is simply because I was busy, college visits and all that jazz.

Back on topic. Early on the morn of last Thursday I joined Jeff at Stony Brook Farm to interview three men. I do no recall their names but they organized Newtown's first annual Musicfest. Now Newtown can be a little notorious with its "fests" but this one seemed genuinely a great idea.

The ad is over to the left but I'll explain what I learned. The event is on August 15th, which is good because I come back the day before, and it's a free night of music. There are several artists performing, the only ones that I knew of were the Mango Men. The three men wanted the event to be free because this is the first year they are doing something like this and thought it would be best to draw a crowd of young people. Other than a free concert, local restaurants will be present to allow people to sample food and advertise the business.

I thought it was quite clever how the three men were divided up, and I thought it was really cool that a small group of very manly men was organizing this event. The first, whose name I believe is Jim, covered the music. He owns his own recording company and was responsible for getting all of the bands. The second, whose name was Paul, runs the actual event, organizing the restaurant and prep work. The third, whose name I do not recall, was the owner or manager of Stony Brook Farms, he was obviously providing the land.

I had little to say during the interview but then Jeff handed it off to me. I didn't have any questions, [I was not previously informed on what we would be doing] but I did tell them how great an idea it was. From the ad, which is young and different [and a lot brighter on paper], to the fact that the event is free. I told them that as teenagers applying to colleges and working on grad projects we do not have money to just throw at people.

Musicfest runs for ten hours and I would suggest going later in the afternoon for bands more age appropriate. It sounds like a fun night out, and I'm definitely going!

The second half of my day may have appeared to be very boring and uneventful but it was actually quite intense. I attended the Northampton board meeting. Some of the topics that were covered involved reactivating the train lines, possible inspections on alternative energy and others.

Before any actual business was preformed a captain in the army was received back from Iraq and another was given a flag on the structure behind the board's table. It was a very nice ceremony.

What I enjoyed most was the people watching. There were so many little hints at who hated who. However, Jeff was taking notes because he could not record it. Then I realized that while I was having a great time watching people...I was alone in the first row. And became extremely self conscious.

Check out this picture of all of the boring names they had! Haha.

Well I'm off to vacation. Adios!

XDara

Hour Tracker: 28:00

Music of the week CUATRO!

Oh no! I'm late with posting this.

1. Taking Chances: Glee Cast
This is definitely one of the good songs from season one. I have never skipped this song when it comes up, that's saying something.

2. The End.: My Chemical Romance
SUCH A GOOD WAY TO START AN ALBUM. This song gets me so pumped for the rest of the CD. Check it out.

3. Mannequin: Britney Spears
It's a different song for Britney. Upbeat but powerful.

4. Until You're Mine: Demi Lovato
Blah, what a boring song. It's not very interesting at all.

5. Don't Want You Back: Backstreet Boys
Ha! This was a really confusing album for a nine year old when the next song is called "Don't Wanna Lose You."

6. Lay All Your Love on Me: Amanda Seyfried
This is a great song! I love the movie as well, but I really only like the songs that Amanda sings because she has a great voice.

7. Disenchanted: My Chemical Romance
This is a beautiful song. The story is just so amazing.

8. Shelf: Jonas Brothers
Ah, this song. I do like it, I remember before the CD came out my friend had already heard this and was always singing this.

9. Viva Forever: Spice Girls
I have always loved this song. I felt like this album was very Hispanic.

10. Hate That I Love You: Rihanna and Ne-Yo
Where has Ne-Yo been? I love his voice. We all know where Rihanna has been, I really dislike her music nowadays.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep! Jeremy!

Hold on Stacy, that's my other line. Oh Hey Jeremy!

So who's a girl who can fangirl over just about anything? And a girl who underestimates her love for Disney celebrities? ME!

On July 31st I went to a free concert in the city. Because my friend Alyssa works for a newspaper and has connections she got us Press Passes. Four years ago she and I attended the same place to the Jonas Brothers, but we were way back in the crowd. This time we were right in front of the stage. As soon as we walked into the roped off area every girl hanging over the gate screamed "What? Why do they get to go there?!" It was great.

Some of the people who preformed were the Philadelphia Mo-town group, Josie [this girl who I think was lip syncing], Cody Simpson, Jason Castro and Mitchel Musso.

Before the show started we got to go back into the dressing rooms to interview Jason Castro. He was on American Idol and is super nice. He also wears Converse, which is a win.

Then as we were walking out of the dressing rooms we ran into Cody Simpson, an adorable 13 year old Australian kid. Some people in the crowd said he reminded them of Justin Beiber but his voice is much more reasonable for his age, whereas Justin Beiber's voice sounds much too young for being sixteen.

Alyssa and I were going to have to leave before Mitchel Musso went on, which Alyssa was extremely upset about. When we were about to leave I noticed there were a few people standing outside the door we had come out of earlier that morning. So, camera in hand, I walked up to the security guard and said "Hey, can I get in with this?" and I held up my pass. He nodded and let us in. Sure enough there was Mitchel taking pictures with a small line of people.

We got in line and that's when I realized...I was shaking. It was the same kind of shaking that I got right before presenting in class. Why in the world am I nervous about meeting a Disney celebrity? It wasn't until after it was over did I understand why: Mitchel Musso does the voice of Jeremy on Phinias and Ferb.

I should have behaved like this, calm and cool, how I always said I would be around celebrities. But instead I acted like this. OooOh Jeremy. My God, his voice is really nice. And he was talking to us!!! Take note to where his hand is on my right arm. I nearly died, he was petting me with his thumb...there is no other way to describe this. And Alyssa had no idea what I was talking about.

He was so nice! The first thing Alyssa said was "Hi, I'm Alyssa, I interviewed you over the phone two days ago." He responded with "Of course! Alyssa! It was nice talking to you, I was on set when I called you." Then Alyssa mentioned how she was in London last week, which confused Mitchel because it was so random and he thought she was from London. Then there was a moment where Alyssa said "Oh, wait the picture," and he immediately said, "No, please, keep talking to me." Which is funny because when Alyssa interviewed him over the phone she said he couldn't shut up.

As Alyssa went to get the camera I turned to him and said "Could you sign this," and handed him my pass. He said "Of course!" like it was no big deal at all. My God, my hands were shaking. I can't help but laugh at my silliness and how stupid it was of me to freak out like that but he was crazy nice and even though in the picture above I look silly because I'm talking it shows that he likes to talk and he's a fun guy. I don't regret not seeing his performance.

This had to be one of the best days ever. I kind of wanted to record his voice because it was so nice. This morning I saw that there was an episode of Hannah Montana where Oliver came back. Of course I watched it and smiled at how adorable his hair was. I never would have thought anything of him if I hadn't met him, but I guess he's just one of those celebrities, you have to see them to believe them.

Here, have a video. It's a shame the sound quality is bad because if Alyssa and I had been there we could have gotten it to actually sound okay. We would have been in front of all of those screaming girls. Hahah funny "dancing." Nice guy, though.

XDara