Thoughts

So, I'm sitting in one of the many Linux labs on the campus of Brigham Young University, realizing that this is pretty much what my life is going to look like for the next two years.

And on that happy note, here goes a post about nothing in particular.  :)

I'm slowly realizing that this semester is probably going to be my hardest yet.  I have two classes in which I have homework assigned every class period.  These aren't just pansy busy-work assignments either.  Heck, I already have a test in my Linear Algebra class.  3 weeks into the semester.  That's ridiculous.

On top of that, I'm in CS 240, which I've heard from everyone who's ever taken it is simply a beast of a class.  The big project that's due near the end of the semester supposedly takes close to 100 hours of coding time.  And all of that in a brand new programming language that I've never used before.  Bleh..... 

On the other hand, I do have some crazy awesome classes this semester as well.  I have gold level social dance, yet again.  I've enjoyed this class every time I take it, and I'm sure this semester will be no exception.  It's definitely a nice break from the daily grind.  Additionally, I'm in a beginning guitar class.  Now, I haven't played guitar since 8th grade, when I took that for my Jr. High music credit.  However, I find that I've really enjoyed it so far, even though my fingers hurt a bunch after I've been playing for a while.  Hopefully I can get some sweet songs learned.  And then play them.  And be awesome.

In other news, I went to a concert a couple nights ago.  Me and a couple friends went up to Salt Lake to see Chris Carrabba in a solo performance of his first Dashboard album, Swiss Army Romance.  It was an awesome show, but probably the coolest part was one of the opening bands called Lady Danville.  I was completely blown away by their performance.  The drummer was using his bare hands for crying out loud!  Also, they had some really sweet vocal harmonies going on.  Because the venue was so small, they actually came out after their set and just chatted with people by their merch table.  I got to shake their hands and talk with them for a bit.  Turns out, they met at UCLA, in the a cappella group there.  That's why they have such sweet vocals!  Anyway, they're a really sweet band.  Check them out.

On that note, I'd better get some programming done tonight, and I think I'll listen to some Lady Danville as I do so.  Until next time!

Mmmmmm....... Concerts..........

(Wow, I fail at this whole 'blogging regularly' thing.  Here's a post that's been waiting for a while, I finally got around to finishing and posting it.  Enjoy!)

So, this one time, I said I was going to blog about every task completed.  I've been doing pretty good at keeping up with reviewing all the movies that I've watched since starting, (at least the ones that I hadn't seen before) but I've been doing terrible at keeping up with the concerts that I've been to.  I'm going to try to remedy this now, with short but awesome reviews of several concerts that I've been to over the past few months.

Thrice - (7.13.10)  This was quite possibly one of the best concerts I've ever been to.  I wasn't a big fan of any of the opening bands, but they weren't terrible.  Once Thrice started though, I kicked it into high gear.  To be fair, Thrice is definitely NOT a band for everyone.  Their style of rock is rather on the heavy side.  Especially since we were at a smaller venue, (In the Venue, for those who were wondering) the mosh pit was ridiculous!  I came home from this concert voiceless, tired, and sore.  And that's how I could tell I had a great time.

Ben Folds - (7.17.10)  This was definitely a more chill concert than Thrice.  It was held up at Deer Valley, for the summer outdoor concert series with the Utah Symphony.  Hearing Ben Folds' songs arranged with a symphony was one of the prettiest things I've ever heard.  That didn't stop him from rocking out with some of his classics, but the encore was perfect.  He came back out and played an orchestrated arrangement of 'The Luckiest' dedicated specially to his wife.

Candlelight Serenede - (8.28.10)  So this concert was way sweet.  It was an all day outdoor benefit concert in support of rescuing youth from slavery and the sex industry here in Utah and the US.  There were a whole bunch of sweet bands, and I actually found some new ones that I've listened to a lot since, like Steel Train and Making April.  My favorite part of this concert though was when Relient K covered Africa by Toto.  About 3 notes in I was like, 'Is this what I think it is....?'  And then it was.  It rocked my socks.  Also, Nick Hexum performing with his younger brother both on acoustic guitars was pretty sweet.  And then, to top it all off, Chris Carrabba playing a bunch of Dashboard songs.  All in all, a rockin' day, despite the wicked sunburn that I had for the next couple of weeks.

Anberlin - (10.5.10)  It's thanks to this concert that I know about Crash Kings, which is one of my new favorite bands.  So favorite in fact, that I actually purchased their CD off of amazon.com rather than simply listening to them on grooveshark.  Crash Kings opened for Anberlin, and they kind of rocked my world.  Then Anberlin came on, and they were also way amazing.  My only complaint about this concert was the lack of moshing.  It was a little bit bigger venue than Thrice, and admittedly, Anberlin is less intense than Thrice, but still, there were several songs that definitely should have had some good pits.  There weren't any.  That said, still an amazing concert.  (side note: I LOVE the shirt that I got at this concert.  It might be my favorite concert/band shirt yet.)

Fun. - (10.16.10)  Well, this concert is just what it sounds like: a bunch of fun.  :)  But really, it was a sweet concert.  Steel Train (see above, performed at the Candlelight Serenede) opened for fun. which was cool, since the lead singer of Steel Train is also the guitarist for fun.  I think my favorite moment of this concert was when Steel Train played a song that they wrote for Yo Gabba Gabba called 'It's Fun to Dance.'  Basically, the whole crowd got to be little kids for that song.  It was wonderful.  Then fun. took the stage, and it was also wonderful.  They are a very unique band to watch live, and very entertaining.

And that's that.  A summary of the concerts that I've been to recently.  There aren't any in the immediate future that I'm planning on, but when Linkin Park comes through next year, I'll for sure be there.  Heck, if it comes down to it, I'll road trip to see them.  But anyway, until next time!