So here we are, exactly seven days since I decided to post every day. I’ve kept up my promise to post daily and I intend to carry on as far as I can.
Had a pretty up and down day today. First I got two grades that didn’t make me very happy, considering that I had put in a lot of effort. Then, today being the D-Day for fall housing, I looked on in shock as all the good rooms went quickly. Thanks to my shitty lottery number, all the good rooms I had picked out were taken before I got my chance. So, things were not going particularly well.
But I was able to pick into a room right across from a friend and then two more friends selected rooms on the same floor. Quite a turn of events, I must say. I went from wondering if I would even know anyone near me to a situation where everyone that I knew and had not selected suites are going to live right next to me. Then a friend came over to visit and we got some good Ethiopian food and played Rock Band and Smash Bros. And thus the day ended on a high note, in stark contrast to the way it had begun. I now have the pleasure of working on 3 different essays for the next two weeks. My friends, the good times have only just begun.
This post is about how a virgin sacrifice almost didn’t happen. Have fun.
The Columbia University Science Fiction Society decided to have a virgin sacrifice to appease Cthulhu. I found out from a friend and decided I had to go. I wasn’t sure if they were going through with it but figured a walk up to campus before dinner would be nice anyway. I got there a few minutes early so I thought I’d walk around campus for a bit until they started. This was 8:42pm. While walking around, I ran into my friend who was finishing up with his guitar lesson on the famous “Low Steps”. So I sat with him while he practiced playing his guitar. It was a nice evening so I stayed there for a bit. Another friend stopped by to ask for directions on a homework problem.
Now, it got to 9:20pm and there was absolutely no sign of any virgins or sacrifices. My friend and I decided to leave. It was already half an hour past their scheduled time so we thought it wasn’t happening. We had dinner at a nearby pizza place and then I headed back home while he went to his lab.
I was almost home when I got call from my friend saying there was a lot of chanting going on and the sacrifice was about to happen. I didn’t go back. Frak those lazy, unpunctual sci-fiers. Or maybe I didn’t get the memo they sent about a revised schedule because I’m not on their mailing list. In any case, it happened, and I wasn’t there. End of story.
Perhaps some of you know about this already, but I’m staying in NYC for the summer to work with my adviser on research. I haven’t settled on a project yet, but I have a choice of two groups that I can work with. I can either work on solar cells or I can work on microelectronics.
Both areas involve electronic materials (mostly silicon) and the use of sequential lateral solidification to make better cells or microelectronics. Both areas sound interesting. If you’ve followed my epic quest that finally ended when I bought the N95 back in February, then you know how picky I am and how much time I spend thinking and researching before I make a decision.
Right now I’m leaning more towards microelectronics and I have until the week of May 26 to make a final decision. For those not scientifically inclined, the two choices as follows: I get to either save the world (no cheerleaders involved, sadly) or I get to do something that will eventually help the electronics industry tremendously. And as of right now, I’m biased towards the electronics industry.
If you feel like it, leave comments. Otherwise, sit back and wonder how I’m only two posts away from a full week of blog posts.
Free concerts are the shit. There, I said it. Even though I’m not very familiar with the work of Grizzly Bear and The National, I had a great time at the concert. I was all the way up front in the first row, leaning against the fence for the entire show. I was so close that I could hear the instruments “live” rather than through the speaker system. It was fantastic.
Grizzly Bear went first and played for almost an hour. The one song of theirs I was familiar with, “Colorado” is apparently a rarity when they play live. Today was certainly our lucky day - they played Colorado! The drummer for Grizzly Bear was an interesting fella. He did not have a bass drum but used all sorts of tricks to create a wide variety of sounds. I could not take my eyes off his drum work. Most of the band members are multi-instrumentalists so it was amazing to see them play several different instruments during the course of their set.
The National were crazy. The lead singer was high on coffee and it really showed in his performance. Again, some of the band members could play more than one instrument and they even had a trombone section! It was a highly entertaining and energetic performance. Being so close to the stage made it even sweeter as I got to observe the artists play their instruments.
All in all, for $0, this was a superb concert. Anyone who says otherwise can suck it. Also, FOUR in FOUR bitches!
I got into R.E.M. a while back when my then roommate told me to listen to Automatic For The People. I liked it and then moved to other good albums such as Murmur, Reckoning, Life’s Rich Pageant, etc. But I found their work from the last decade or so somewhat lackluster. It was missing the spark from their early work. When I heard that they were making a new album, I was apprehensive - could R.E.M. possibly turn things around?
Turns out, they could. Not only that, but they also show that they can still rock. Hard. The new album, Accelerate, gets off on a strong note with the raw and angry “Living Well’s The Best Revenge”. The one thing you’ll notice right from the start is Peter Buck’s loud guitar work is back. That, combined with Mike Mills’ meaty basslines and Michael Stipe’s vocals give this album a tremendous amount of energy. Don’t forget that these guys have been around for 25 years and are called the “grandfathers of alternate rock” for a reason.
“Mansized Wreath” continues the good work of the album opener and has some typical Michael Stipe “wow” moments. My personal favorite, “Supernatural Superserious” comes up third and immediately brings back memories of early R.E.M. Some reviewers said that this is typical song that the band could write in their sleep - but that doesn’t stop it from being good. After the weird experimentation on the last few albums, it’s great to hear R.E.M.’s old sound back.
The album is given a sense of balance with the slower tracks “Hollow Man”, “Houston”, “Until The Day is Done”, and “Sing For The Submarine.” The title track is again, quite excellent in my opinion and the lyrics seem indicative of R.E.M. as a band: I’ve got to follow another direction/Accelerate. The album might seem to slow down with all these slower tracks but it ends just as ferociously as it began, with “Horse to Water” and “I’m Gonna DJ” proving to be great closers. The latter will remind fans of “End of The World As We Know It” with its lyrics about the world coming to an end.
The production on this album is raw, not clean. I think this was intentional. A clean production would’ve taken some of the energy out of this recording. The jangly guitars sound great and Mike Mills’ backing vocals are back! I also love the drumming on this album - it adds to the overall energy (sorry for overusing this word). I was initially skeptical about going to see them live in June, but this album has me excited. R.E.M. have shown that they’re still in the game and are not going anywhere. I highly recommend this album!
