New camera lenses are exciting!

I had the opportunity to shoot a few pictures with the new lens of my dad's camera last weekend. Those flowers were just sitting on the table, tempting me to document their delicacy. I couldn't resist.

This new lens (a Nikon Nikkor 50mm, in case anyone is interested) does not zoom, but it absorbs more light than any of the other lenses we own. It also has a narrow field of focus, therefore blurring any objects surrounding the focal point of the picture to create a nice, softening effect.

There are billions of pictures of flowers floating around, but why not take a few more?

~ OMO

EJE is happy :)

So if you know me, you may or may not know that my step mom was like extremely pregnant. And on April 27, 2011 at exactly 2 am, my little brother, Cassius (pronounced like Cash-us. I dislike it, but what can you do?) Charles (insert last name) was born. It's my dad's second kid and my step mom's first, but it's my fourth sibling. So pretty much old news now considering my other little brother was born almost 3 years ago and this is the 4th time I've dealt with little kids running around my house, but whatever.

So here are a few pictures :) You may have seen them if you're friends with me on Facebook and/or you follow my own blog, but for you foreign folks/non-facebook friends, here are some pictures. Unfortunately, one reveals my true identity, but I'm pretty sure who I am is preeeeetty obvious.

- EJE

Biology trouble? EJE can help!

I made a video about the CALVIN CYCLE with Erina. I'm putting up two videos: the one where I put bundle sheet cells instead of bundle sheath cells, and the video where my computer decided to be stupid and add the name of my camera back across a few picture, respectively.

Sincerely,

The Estonian Jumping Elephant, in case y'all have forgotten my amazing acronym.

allow us to direct your eyes...

...to these lovely reaction thingamees at the bottom of every post.

They seem to not show up sometimes. Not sure why.

You don't have to be signed in and they don't track you or anything. Thus, input takes ONE CLICK! Hooray! We would love it if you would comment, of course, but this is good too!

See, it's right there at the bottom. And it is beautiful.

~the VINYL staff

jump across Europe

So there's this guy, right? Éole Wind. OMO and I found his flickr page during class today.

Bratislava

He and his mates take pictures of themselves jumping across Europe.

OMO is one jealous octopus

Guess who is seeing Mumford and Sons tomorrow.

Wait, no, don't guess. I wouldn't want to strain your imagination, because good writers should never directly ask their readers to imagine anything at all. Not that I'm claiming to be a good writer.

My mom is going to the Railroad Revival Tour Mumford and Sons concert . Without me.

I am seething with jealousy.

But at least she's getting me a shirt.

Sulkingly yours,
OMO

Also -- Have a song.

Clyde loves me some summer

However, being a music- and clothes-loving teenager living in the music and clothes paradise that is Austin, I am almost constantly completely broke. This is bad in the summer since I usually, you know, like to actually...do stuff. But, after many summers of exploring, I've learned that there are some things you can do in this city that are fun and free or at least cheap. So...HOW TO PARTY FOR LESS THAN $5!

Karaoke:
Yes. Karaoke. Specifically, Korean karaoke. Basically you get to rent a room for a few hours with your friends and then you can sing as many cheesy, horrid songs as you want. You can bring food and drinks in with you and they don't even get mad at you if you happen to break a lightbulb with your horrible voice. Not that I would know anything about that particular situation, I've just, you know, heard stuff. These places are almost always super-skeezy and my favorite place, New Seoul, has some super sketchy props included in their karaoke rooms, including a mattress and an inexplicable pair of reading glasses.
Cost: $5 a person, an hour

Exploring:
I am creepy. This is a fact that cannot be doubted. Just a disclaimer, if you are not as creepy as me, you may not enjoy this activity as much as me. See, I like to go exploring in those sketchy-looking creeks that are in every neighborhood that I am pretty sure they use for drainage. If you haven't seen these, they're like tiny tunnel-like holes in the ground with rocks and water and plants in them. And, tons of graffiti. They're actually really fun (according to me at least) because I can always find interesting places to climb in them or cool graffiti to photograph or secret little nooks that look kind of jank but fascinating. Of course, if you see anyone else in the creek, you should probably run because they are probably just as creepy as you.
Cost: Free, unless you get mugged.


Movies at Deep Eddy:
So, they set up this huge screen on the opposite side of the pool, and you can watch a movie while sitting on the hill, or even better, drifting on a raft in the pool. These movies are usually for kids, but they're also super fun. You can spend all day in the park or swimming and then laze around and watch a movie in the water. 
Cost: price of admission (~$2)

Burnet Road:
There are tons of places to go on Burnet that are both cheap and delicious, liiiiike Amy's Ice Creams! Or Hey Cupcake! Okay, actually those places are not that cheap, but I like to make an entire day out of it by walking there with my posse (WHICH I COMPLETELY HAVE, SHUT UP!) and taking pictures along the way or riding the bus, which is always exciting. And, if you are super broke, there is this really amazing Mexican bakery on Burnet called Mi Victoria. They have an impressive selection of pastries, cookies, and even breakfast tacos and their stuff is almost all for sale below a dollar. Like, their cookies are ten cents. I have bought two breakfast tacos, a milk, and two quite large pastries for $3.70. You guys. $3.70. I am a broke teenager, these things impress me.
Cost: ~4

So yes. I hope this helped someone...somewhere. I have many more, so if you would like a continuation, please tell me in the comments! Otherwise I will probably end up blogging about, like, How To Be A Good Stalker, or something terrible like that.

PS Besides loving me some summer, I also love me some re-posting because no one ever scrolls down to read. AYYYYYYYYYY.

RE: religious advertising sucks

IT COULD BE WORSE.

Yours,
IBI

UM?

Ignore my hideous snapshot job--Safari was freaking out on me, okay?!

Did everyone go on holiday for Easter or sommet? 

O_____o

Confuzzledly yours,

IBI

I'm sorry, I'm so, so, sorry....

...if you are in America and don't have BBCA.

...if you hate Doctor Who and hate my posting about it.

...for quoting the Tenth Doctor when I'm about to go on about Eleven, but you can't erase so much love in just fifteen episodes!

...but no matter what you say about Blink or Silence in the Library or Time of Angels or even some of my favourites, like The Girl in the Fireplace and The Lodger...

That was the best episode of Doctor Who ever written.

Steven Moffat, I'd ask you to marry me if your daughter wasn't old enough to be marrying someone older than my parents.

Paradoxical mind screw. If you've never seen Doctor Who before, don't start here--watch through season five first. But if you ever needed a reason to watch Doctor Who, this episode would be it.

I can't wait for next week.

Mind-reelingly yours,
I won't be sleeping tonight,
IBI

online survey

religious advertising sucks...

...and I can't believe I'm blogging about this when I've got a whole list of better things to be blogging about.

Anyway.

Imagine my dismay when, upon realising that our AdSense account is now operational so we could potentially be making money off of advertising (which only works if you click on the links! so if you see an advertisement for something even remotely interesting, you know what to do... Google thinks you'll like it!) and viewing the blog in full to see what ads we were getting picked for us...

I found a Mormon ad.

Aaaah **HEADDESK**!

Now let me be perfectly clear, I have nothing against Mormonism as a religion. I'm not even all that irritated about their ads, which aren't terribly pushy, especially compared to the postcards I get in the mail.

No, what I have something against is when religious organisations of any nature blatantly advertise that you ought to join their religion, without having any way of knowing your previous religious affiliation, if any. What I have something against is when religious organisations push the idea that their religion is so obviously superior that they don't even care what religion you practice or don't practice, they will still believe you ought to convert. What I have something against is when religious organisations insist in response to the previous accusation that all they want is for everyone to be saved, i.e., blatantly stating that their religion is so superior and their deity/ies are so judgemental that all others are condemned to some sort of (generally eternal) punishment (generally in the afterlife) for their beliefs.

It's not that I think nobody should ever be allowed to speak about their religion in a positive light, inviting others to join in their belief.

It's just that I believe they ought to be advertising only to people who actually want to know.

Not the entire Internet.

Headbashingly yours,
IBI


EDIT 25/4: If you're freaking out now, or worried I've gone mental, I recommend that you read the addendum in the comment section. Might clear up where I'm coming from a little more.

dancing in mah kitchen

with mah iPhone in the waistband of mah sweatpants 'cause I don't got no pockets.



Strangely yours,
IBI

JSYK, J Biebs hates Uggs.

So as I was looking at the dashboard thing on blogger,  I saw how many posts we had posted.

And I giggled. I'm sorry, I'm just too immature.

I mean, 63 is just such a funny number! It's 9x7!

ANYWAYS, I'm pretty sure I already have a blog post for this week because I posted on last week and we didn't have to post one last week, but I'm doing ANOTHER! Yay. And it also happens to concern Facebook like pages. However, this concerns real people and real relationships!

...Or, how people on Facebook would define them, actually. Here is a post that has almost 19,000 likes:

Some girls paint their nails, watch chick flicks while counting carbs but they're fake
The real girls watch their fav tv show pig out on food lounge in sweats w/ an old t-shirt and dance like idiots to their fav song
Like if you're a real girl 

The first time I saw this, I was all raging and I went and posted it on this website that I read to get my anger out. However, it's still stupid. So if I happen to like The Notebook or A Walk to Remember (and I do love both of those), I'm not a real girl?  Or if I like to have colorful nails, I'm obviously fake? And what about those diabetic teens, huh?! Are they not real girls either because they count their carbs so they don't, I don't know, DIE?! I'm pretty sure they're all girls because they don't have an SRY gene (or a working one, if they happen to be one of those girls with an Y chromosome that just broke).

Then there's being a real girl. You know, sometimes, pigging out on food can make you feel gross. I know when I eat too much junk, I feel like I need to go eat a salad. Most of my friends prefer jeans to sweats (Facebook stalking when they posted those little notes about themselves that everyone fills out and one of the questions was jeans vs sweats? Not at all), and I know I don't even OWN any really old shirts.


Moral of the story: If you have two X chromosomes, you're a girl. So shut up.


And now, for another post that annoys me:

Having guy friends! No drama, no betrayal, no jealousy, they're much more entertaining, and they're straight up. They're like your brothers, and got your back, instead of stabbin you in it.

If you're having all those problems with girl friends, then you're doing something wrong. That's all I'd like to say. 


There are also a bunch of posts about boy/girl scenarios where one of them starts talking in a different language, then they get dumped because the other person thought they said something mean or some crap like that.


(Yeah, can't find any at the moment, but I shall update later!)


If someone started telling you something in another language, you would ask "What does that mean?" not say, "OMG I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU."


I also found the reverse.

nerd: hi
girl:um hey
nerd: i really really like u and um will u go out with me pls pls pls
girl:bumsen Sie
nerd: i'll take it as yes!
girl:*face palm* gehen Sie verzögert Verlierer get a life werde ich nie will mit dir gesehen werden, und wenn u sagen etwas anderes will ich haben u ​​ermordet, weil ich arbeite in einem großen Mafia und meine Jungs kommen und u ok!
nerd: see u at 7:00 tomorrow night for our date!
girl:bye bye
* google translate german to english* 

If I were that nerd, I would, I dunno, TRANSLATE IT because... are there any other ways for me to say how stupid this is? Also, I'd take the words "get a life" and "Mafia" as a no. 

And then... we have the ever so popular "A perfect guy..." posts. Here's one example:

A Perfect Boyfriend
give her your hoodie even if you go to different schools
give her a big t-shirt of yours to sleep in
leave her cute messages
kiss her in front of your friends
tell her she looks beautiful
look into her eyes when you talk to her
let her mess with your hair
just walk around with her
forgive her for her mistakes
hold her hand when you're around your friends AND in private.
let her fall asleep in your arms.
stay up all night with her when she's sick
watch her favorite movie with her
come up and grab her by the waist... 

Here are my issues with this post:
1) I feel really bad for guys. They must always be freezing. Some girls really need to understand that guys aren't made of fire. I've been given a jacket before by a boyfriend, and it's not that big of a deal, guys. Sure, it's nice because I get cold very easily, but you NEED TO GIVE IT BACK, GOSH DARNIT.
2) Why would you give her a t-shirt? Doesn't she have her own?
3) Kissing in front of your friends is so awkward. I know I would never want to be around my friends while they're making out with guys. 
4) If someone came and grabbed my waist, I'd probably freak out and start screaming.
5) The main thing is that everyone is different. Girls who write these give these crazy weird/high expectations for guys that that not every girl wants. BECAUSE WE ARE ALL UNIQUE AND BEAUTFUL IN OUR OWN WAYS. MY SECRET IS THAT I'M 15 AND I HAVE A TEDDY BEAR.


...Sorry, I'm also reading SBS and getting annoyed with those posts too. 


And one more, because I'm tired of looking at stupid posts:

10 things a typical teenage girl can't live without...
1. A Mobile Phone
2. A Laptop or Computer with internet access
3. Headphones
4. A Warm Hoodie
5. Music
6. A pair of Uggs
7. Sleep
8. Unlimited Texts
9. Hair Straighteners
10. Reality TV
Like this if you can't live without at least one of these things!!

 NO ONE CAN LIVE WITHOUT SLEEP. OH MY GOD.

Also, your boy J Biebs thinks Uggs are ugly.

- EJE, who is annoying and will probably rant about Six Billion Secrets next week.

*edit from a few days later*

I just saw this on a Facebook like page... and I was confused:

some teens are out having sex, partying, doing drugs, drinking, but like this if your the teen at home, on facebook, listening to your ipod, sleeping

How the hell are you on Facebook, reading/possibly liking this page IF YOU'RE ASLEEP?!?!?!

Clyde Loves Me Some Summer

However, being a music- and clothes-loving teenager living in the music and clothes paradise that is Austin, I am almost constantly completely broke. This is bad in the summer since I usually, you know, like to actually...do stuff. But, after many summers of exploring, I've learned that there are some things you can do in this city that are fun and free or at least cheap. So...HOW TO PARTY FOR LESS THAN $5!

Karaoke:
Yes. Karaoke. Specifically, Korean karaoke. Basically you get to rent a room for a few hours with your friends and then you can sing as many cheesy, horrid songs as you want. You can bring food and drinks in with you and they don't even get mad at you if you happen to break a lightbulb with your horrible voice. Not that I would know anything about that particular situation, I've just, you know, heard stuff. These places are almost always super-skeezy and my favorite place, New Seoul, has some super sketchy props included in their karaoke rooms, including a mattress and an inexplicable pair of reading glasses.
Cost: $5 a person, an hour

Exploring:
I am creepy. This is a fact that cannot be doubted. Just a disclaimer, if you are not as creepy as me, you may not enjoy this activity as much as me. See, I like to go exploring in those sketchy-looking creeks that are in every neighborhood that I am pretty sure they use for drainage. If you haven't seen these, they're like tiny tunnel-like holes in the ground with rocks and water and plants in them. And, tons of graffiti. They're actually really fun (according to me at least) because I can always find interesting places to climb in them or cool graffiti to photograph or secret little nooks that look kind of jank but fascinating. Of course, if you see anyone else in the creek, you should probably run because they are probably just as creepy as you.
Cost: Free, unless you get mugged.


Movies at Deep Eddy:
So, they set up this huge screen on the opposite side of the pool, and you can watch a movie while sitting on the hill, or even better, drifting on a raft in the pool. These movies are usually for kids, but they're also super fun. You can spend all day in the park or swimming and then laze around and watch a movie in the water. 
Cost: price of admission (~$2)

Burnet Road:
There are tons of places to go on Burnet that are both cheap and delicious, liiiiike Amy's Ice Creams! Or Hey Cupcake! Okay, actually those places are not that cheap, but I like to make an entire day out of it by walking there with my posse (WHICH I COMPLETELY HAVE, SHUT UP!) and taking pictures along the way or riding the bus, which is always exciting. And, if you are super broke, there is this really amazing Mexican bakery on Burnet called Mi Victoria. They have an impressive selection of pastries, cookies, and even breakfast tacos and their stuff is almost all for sale below a dollar. Like, their cookies are ten cents. I have bought two breakfast tacos, a milk, and two quite large pastries for $3.70. You guys. $3.70. I am a broke teenager, these things impress me.
Cost: ~4

So yes. I hope this helped someone...somewhere. I have many more, so if you would like a continuation, please tell me in the comments! Otherwise I will probably end up blogging about, like, How To Be A Good Stalker, or something terrible like that.

why the US should lower the drinking age...

...and why it never will.


Today's images come to you from Flickr Commons. Usernames are listed below each image.


Alright, so, I'm proving a couple of things with this post:


1.) Dude, I could rule BEDA. Hell yeah.
2.) There is at least one thing about American culture that are, from an objective standpoint, really friggin' stupid.


Anyway.


[This note added after continuing: Into the controversial territory. Administration, don't hail down on me now, I'm not censoring now because I fear the man coming down on me, damn it. Okay, so maybe the cursing was overboard. You know what I mean.]

2D glasses

If you have four minutes, PLEASE just watch the video, it will make explaining this post much easier.



Okay then. If you can't watch the video because YouTube is being blocked, here's what you need to know:

1.) About 10% of Americans experience some kind of discomfort, whether it's a headache or just feeling ill, while watching 3D movies. That's 30,000,000 people.
2.) Everything is in 3D now. Movies, that is. Well, and reality. But that usually doesn't give people headaches.
3.) Hank Green, whose wife Katherine has trouble with 3D movies that's been keeping her from going to movies even though they usually go and see everything that comes out, had this idea after they saw Tron--why not ask someone who makes 3D glasses to make the lenses the same, rather than different, creating what is essentially 2D glasses, i.e., glasses that make 3D movies look flat but still crisp and clear?
4.) So he did it, and he ordered five thousand, and now you can buy them for eight dollars (eleven with shipping).

There is, of course, a little more science to this. This can be found here. You can buy the glasses here. The full story, if you can't view the video, is here.

The real question, though, is this:
Would you guys like to learn more about this whole thing, and Hank and vlogbrothers, as this would be an excellent opportunity for a blog + interview?

survey tools

Scientifically yours,
IBI

Wow... you guys rock.

I love you all.

- EJE

dancing on mah bed with the ceiling fan on

...to a vinyl copy of a 1965 Beatles compilation.

Most fun activity for a Monday night, am I right?



--IBI

EJE loves him so MUCH.

ALKJDFGKDFJGKDFJD. LOVE. SO MUCH. HE NEEDS TO RECORD MORE THAN 4 FREAKING SONGS.

- EJE

Welcome, Figgie friends!

If you have come here from Figment, let me just say thank you, and welcome to Vinyl Online!

Our hit counter is just over there to the right. The numbers to beat:
Now at 1967
Auxiliary Cable at 2456

Links to their blogs are also on the right, and I invite you to look at them... just refresh the page before you leave. Now is "life", AuxCable is music--though they aren't as classy as we are. #runningjoke

Don't be intimidated by the long post directly below this one, we've got lots of shorter ones, too! ...actually, that may have been the longest post we've done.

If you're confused/not from Figment, see my plea for help on the Figment forums.

Again, thank you all for coming! I'm a little amazed by the number of people who've come so far, just in the past few minutes. Hope you like what you read!

Have a free song to browse to.



Awe-struckly yours,
IBI

2,000 hits and forgotten things

Photos today by Julie Harris. Feels a little weird, because she seems to know some of these people. Herp derp derp. Not thinking about it too much, and using pictures that look least like portraits, which is what she does at her studio. 

In honour of this fantastic achievement, and the fact that we've only had one blog post of any length in a while, and because I was looking at things on ModCloth, I will now proceed to write a blog post.

Except that I'm sort of cheating because I already wrote this all out in a long rant to the wall, i.e., in a chat while the person I was talking to was out of the room. (Seems this happens a lot.) (I'm looking at you.) (Actually, I'm looking at multiple people at once.) (Unless you're being all literal about it, in which case I'm really looking at my computer screen.)

ANYWAY. ONWARDS AND OUTWARDS.

Something I've been thinking about for a while* is what has happened to the way we do relationships here in the modern world. We've got the Internet and cell phones (thankfully), and we've also got laxer rules on what is socially acceptable. For the most part, this is a good thing. I mean, I would go mad (madder than I am now, anyway) if it was still some sort of taboo to have opposite-sex friends and not like needlepoint and crap. It's also nice to know that I'm not expected to get married ever before I'm twenty-five, nor am I expected to marry the first guy I date (thank god).

This is snazzy

ModCloth is awesome

~ OMO

You could help build a well in Ghana!

The Watersong Project was born out of one woman's desire to help Africans lacking regular access to clean water. Karen Strange, the founder, began this project several years ago. She combined her interest in humanitarian aid with her interest in classical music to create the Watersong Project. 

Ghanaians struggle to find clean water sources.

Strange held a benefit concert in 2009, featuring several professional musicians, to aid efforts to drill a well in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Her first endeavor to help people living in the DRC was successful; the concert raised enough money to build a well for a Congolese community. The second event occurred in 2010 and was equally successful. With the collections from this concert, she raised enough money to drill a well in Ghana. The third concert took place on April 9th 2011, which was last Saturday. The proceeds from this concert have not been revealed yet, because it happened so recently. If it's as successful as the previous performances, however, another Ghanaian community will have a new well to look forward to.

Many performers have stuck with the project through all three events. Strange herself sings a few songs for each concert. There have been slight variations in the groups of performers. In the most recent two performances, there have been a few students musicians included in the mix. I was fortunate enough to be asked to perform in the 2011 Watersong Project.

Though this specific opportunity to help build a well has passed, the Watersong Project accepts donations at any time. The benefits concerts are shaping up to be an annual event, so mark your calendar for April 2012 if you're interested.

Democratic Republic of the Congo, courtesy of UMCOR

~ OMO

Followers?!

If you follow our blog regularly and have a Google account, you oughtta follow us.
Because that'd be cool 'n' stuff.

kthxbai

~ the VINYL staff

I wish my parents could give me that talk.

perfect timing

Have a song that's been flitting through my head for the past couple weeks.



Lovingly yours,
IBI

a problem

So, I was reading through Vinyl Online's (because this blog is now Vinyl Online, as if we had more than a quarter of a print issue) stats and discovered a couple of troublesome things.

ONE -- I haven't actually posted something marked as "current events" in ages.

TWO -- Nobody ever lists as having viewed my posts. Sadface.

This, from where I stand, can be attributed to one of two things:

ONE -- When I post, it is either something very short or something veeeeeery long.

TWO -- I am not a terribly interesting person, on the whole--at least, not for more than a few lines. (This may also be why I don't get replies back to texts half the time--you know who you are.)

To remedy at least one of these, I present to you all... a moderate-length post about something that happened moderately recently.

--

In case you have been living under a rock, "LOL" was introduced to the Oxford English Dictionary just recently. This has brought about lengthy reviews in the BBC and New York Times (among others, I'm sure, but I've only read it in those two), as well as throughout the general public.

If I was reporting on this, I would be running around shoving a voice recorder into people's faces and going "SO HOW DOES LOL MAKE YOU FEEL?"

Except... I'd rather just continue sitting on my arse, thanks very much.

So instead I'll just make ranting comments about other people's comments as I read this fantastic and entertaining BBC article about LOL.

LOL-ternatives

• :D (smileys)

Simple and clear but may appear childish. Are you a Comic Sans fan?

• ROFL, LMAO, BWL

Even more annoying than LOL.

• !!!

One is fine, three reeks of desperation: 'Look!!! I made a joke!!!' Yes, we noticed.

• Haha, Hehehe, Arf arf

The safe option. Effective but not very imaginative. Were you really laughing?

• Hilarious! How funny!

You are living in the dark ages.

What is this I don't even, BBC. I love you.

Funny thing, none of these are credited as being good alternatives to the accursed abbreviation (not an initialism, as people do pronounce it).

Which must be wrong, as there are only two people I know all that well who blatantly, without irony say "lol". (Funny thing, both of them are guys. Heh. And they all say it's such a tween girl thing to do...)

But many mistake "LOL" for "lots of love", leading to some unintended "LOLs", such as the infamous tale of the mother who wrote: "Your grandmother has just passed away. LOL."

Derp derp derp fail. Seriously, who makes that mistake anymore. On second thought, don't tell me.

Finally, there is a third person, who I will not even quote because it is unworthy. This person stated on a Facebook page that one cannot say "lol" while laughing.

My friends, anyone who has met Luxy knows this to be untrue. I have seen it with my own eyes.

And now, I leave you with two things--

ONE -- A question: Your opinion on "LOL"?
TWO -- The dictionary entry itself, as reported by the BBC:

OED definition

LOL (ɛləʊˈɛl/lɒl) colloq.

A. int. Originally and chiefly in the language of electronic communications: 'ha ha!'; used to draw attention to a joke or humorous statement, or to express amusement.

B. n. An instance of the written interjection 'LOL'.

oh hai der

Good to know our own country has abandoned us.

Current time Germany: One in the morning (What are you doing up this late? No, really, this isn't a rhetorical question, what are you doing up this late on a Sunday/Monday?)

Current time Canada: Between four and seven or so (What time is it where you are?)

Current time Russia: Considering the number of time zones Russia covers... What time is it where you are, too?

Also, which one of you is using Internet Exploder?!

Curiously yours,
IBI

What? EJE is writing her blog post ALREADY?! Yes. TOO. MUCH. POETRY.

When I go to the library, I pretty much just pick a shelf in the teen section (yes, I read YA books. So sue me.) and start grabbing books off it, then get a classic to top it all off. So yesterday, I went to the library and grabbed 3 books: one of those hideous books where the mother dies (yes, all lowercase), Glimpse, and the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. But as it turns out, the first two are written in that Ellen Hopkins style poetry.

Okay, I understand it for the Ellen Hopkins books and Glimpse (a story of a girl whose sister tries to commit suicide and ends up in a hospital while her mom continues to be a prostitute. I liked it.) are poems and only have a few words per line (not sentence). These books deal with heavy stuff: drugs, suicide, prostitution, etc. But the first book, one of those hideous books where the mother dies?! I picked it up because of the title, but it was just about this 15 year old who goes to live with her dad in California who she hates because she thinks he abandoned her at birth. But no, she has to whine that she has her dream room and a dad who loves her and lives in a mansion with Cameron Diaz as her neighbor. She annoyed the hell out of me. Also, the book was incredibly short, and even too short for my attention span. I have a hard time getting into those classics with the weird language (See: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. He talks funny.) and other slow-starting books because my attention span is too short and if something doesn't draw me in automatically, I can't read it. That's why it took me so long to read Harry Potter, the beginning of the first book is too slow. However, this book was way too short and took like an hour and a half to read. I'm not even kidding.

So, yeah. I wish authors that aren't going to write incredibly heavy material wouldn't use that poetry form. It's a total cop-out, since you barely have to do any describing.

Also, books that I would recommend if you like books about death and crap like that:
• Impulse by Ellen Hopkins: This is a really good book. I hate her stuff about drugs and the one about prostitution, but this was truly a good book. It's about three teens who end up in an insane asylum together after all attempted suicides.
• Glimpse by Carol Lynch Williams: Hope and Lizzie are sisters, and only a year apart. But when Lizzie tries to kill herself and Hope realizes her mom is a total bitch and caused everything... well, it's a good book.

• Unwind by Neal Shusterman: This is my FBOATATM (favorite book of all time at the moment). It's about three teens who have all been sent to be unwound (this procedure that basically kills you without killing you. I don't want to give it away) for different reasons. However, they all try to escape. I made my dad read this, and he was like, "OH MY GOD THAT WAS SO CREEPY." He also said it was pretty well written for a teen book. Then I made Sydney read it, and she liked it. It does have a slightly pro-life feel to it because it basically is discussing abortion, but even though I'm very much pro-choice, I felt that the underlying theme didn't get in the way of my enjoyment of the book.
• Ninteen Minues by Jodi Picoult: Jodi Picoult is pretty much awesome. This is one of my favorite books by her. It's about a school shooting and these two kids who used to be best friends, etc. I would recommend any books by Jodi Picoult, though she does have a little too much sex in her books, so if you're an extreme prude (I'm just a prude), then don't read them.
• Harry Potter by JK Rowling: Okay, not a super creepy book, but it's Harry Potter. It will go on every book list of books I recommend ever.



I also hate girly teen books (my best friends forced me to read The Truth About Forever, and I hated every moment of it), so you're pretty safe with these books if you're the anti-YA reader, even if they all have a small little romance in them, excluding Glimpse.

- EJE, who reads YA novels.

Dear Current...

SO I was blog stalking people as I do often, when I noticed some crazy post on Current Magazine. Here you go, give them a few more views to boost their self-esteem:
http://currentechno.blogspot.com/2011/04/take-that-vinyl.html#comments

Anyways, I'm now going to post some of our stats (also know that during the day when it's not 4 am over there, we often have a ton of viewers from Germany and such). And to Current, we've had more views in a month than y'all have had over all :)

Sincerely,
EJE!

leading on your... feature.

Photos by Sam Javanrouh, who I really ought to email asking if I can use his photos so much.
NB: I haven't actually transcribed my interview all the way through, so these quotes might not be exactly worded. That'll be fixed in a couple days at the latest.


One--descriptive

There's always music playing in Waterloo Records, at just the right level for listening, loud enough so you can't hear the other shoppers and quiet enough to concentrate. Four employees stand near the cash registers, chatting while their eyes casually follow the few customers milling about, working their way through the near-endless rows of CDs and LPs. The air is lightly scented with the smell of vinyl, new and old. It's a music fan's nirvana.
"I've wanted this job since I was a teenager," Matt says, scanning the store fondly. Now in his thirties, Matt is the manager of Waterloo Records.

King Street East at Ontario

Two--descriptive also 

All of Waterloo Records is divided into two parts. 
Wander through door, the logo hand-painted onto the glass. In one half of the store, rows and rows of CDs sit with their titles exposed. Pieces of blue paper flag employee picks with hand-written descriptions and recommendations. On the other, rows of LPs rest in their dust covers. Some sit in racks, some in bins. The smell of vinyl compliments the music pipped throughout the store. It's a homey sort of place, especially to the music lovers who have flocked the store since it opened in '82.

Sherbourne Queen Pedestrians Crossing

Three--direct quote

"Nirvana played here, too, over where the cash registers are. It was packed." Matt, a thirty-something-year-old music fanatic and manager of Waterloo Records, indicates a corner of the store with a wave. It's easy to see he loves his store as much as the music collection it contains. Rows upon rows of CDs and LPs sit arranged by genre, artist, employee preference and price, creating a maze of music punctuated with DVDs, hats, and kitchen utensils shaped like guitars. Music and the scent of vinyl fill the air, while music lovers are scattered across the floor. 

 

Adelaide Princess

So yeah. Comment or whatever.

'Kay thanks bye.

Literaturely yours,

IBI

surely this is a mistake/coincidence

 

Note, my friends, how it says now right there.

Right now it is five in the morning in Germany. 

What is this I don't even?! 

Confusedly yours,

IBI 

Clyde's Feature Leads

Narrative:
It's a sweltering summer day on South Congress Avenue in Austin, Texas. Every time a car comes rumbling down the busy street, you want to scream in pain as the hot blast of exhaust crawls across your skin, raising the temperature around you to at least boiling. The spicy scent of Thai food from the food trailers across the street is making your eyes water and you are pretty sure even your fingernails are sunburned. Nearly blind and scrambling for shelter, you tumble into the nearest doorway. It creaks open with a tinkle of bells and suddenly you're face-to-face with a display of peacock feathers standing in a cool, dimly-lit room that smells like the sweet spices of Thanksgiving. Your sigh of relief quickly turns into a gasp as you catch sight of the racks and racks of lovely, unique vintage clothing that surround you.

Descriptive:
A tangle of antique gold necklaces clang softly against shiny mile-long strings of pearls. Old floorboards creak under scuffing footsteps. The musty smells of cinnamon and well-loved clothes fill the air, drifting on the gentle breeze that wafts in through the glass door, making the many peacock feathers scattered throughout the store wave like hands, greeting the few customers stylish enough to know of this store's existence.

Compare/Contrast (or pathetic last effort):
For some people, getting dressed is just a matter of fitting in, finding things that match (maybe) and don't look too much like you're wearing a trash bag. But, for others, it's an adventure, an opportunity to put on a costume and become someone you can only wish you were. These people are easy to spot with their sequin jackets, lace up boots, and shoulder-length feather earrings. And of course, many of them can be found at Feathers.

OMO's Feature Leads

ONE - descriptive: Sunlight spills in from the windows, illuminating the otherwise dark room. An earthy-toned painting of a cup rests above the sofa, hanging simply without a frame. It is mid-day, and the house is bustling with activity. A young boy cantankerously enjoys his Star Wars video-game, leaping around the living room with a game controller. Outside, a man in his thirties bends over a green Toyota, intently repairing it. A metal garden frog calmly regards his endeavors from the grassy lawn. This is the home of marketing director Christina Bennett, who manages the advertising and communications aspects of the Austin-based company, Survey and Mapping (SAM).

TWO - sort of descriptive, sort of my last resort: Christina Bennett must create. She says, "I discovered that making things is like a critical component to my well-being, to being happy in myself and what I do." As the marketing director at an Austin-based surveying company, she is responsible for making sure their clients are content. But at home, she has more freedom to produce whatever she wishes.

THREE - narrative-ish: She designs, she creates, and she...manages the marketing department of a surveying company? Christina Bennett graduated from the design program at UT, intending to work as designer. Somehow, life has led her astray from her semi-original intention. But she's cool with that. Christina thoughtfully remarked, "I mean, if I had to do it all over again, I would still do the exact same thing I did, even though I’m not a graphic designer or an art director..."

~ OMO

OMO's fantastically loquacious interviewee

There are some interviews that completely fail at being useful for anything at all because they are really short. Mine was not one of them. In fact, I had a problem on the completely opposite side of the spectrum. It took hours to transcribe the forty-six minute recording of my interview. In addition to that, my interviewee answered most of my questions in her first response, which happened to be quite thorough and elaborate. I was winging it for most of the interview. Not that I'm really complaining. Having this explosion of content will be great when I start writing my feature and will provide me with a broad selection of quotes to choose from. 

I've been talking about "my interviewee" in very broad terms and to this point in the post her identity is unknown. This is because I don't know what to call her profession. Christina went to college for studio art classes, graduated from design school instead, and works with surveyors. She says that she doesn't call herself a designer and what she does doesn't exactly have a title. Essentially, all of this means that I'm not sure what the focus of my story is anymore and that I may a few follow-up questions for her to clarify some  things.

Exhibition of Jean-Michel Folon

~OMO

not much of an experience

So here's my feature story experience.

I read two or three chapters of a book on the Internet.

And sent an email.

And made a phone call.

And looked through a week or two of [daily dose of imagery].

And wrote a blog post about Internet pranks.

All whilst waiting for my interview with Waterloo.

But it's today. So that's good.

Uninspiringly yours,
IBI

Arnav is missing...

 We found Arnav!!

- EJE

EJE Leads

Here are some of my leads. I guess:

Descriptive:

1) Already at his drums, Suren de Saram of Bombay Bicycle Club waits for the rest of the band to come on. The small crowd of hipsters cheers when every guitar is tuned and Jack Steadman begins to quietly sing, gaining energy with each note. By the end, he's headbanging during Jamie MacColl and Ed Nash's guitar and base solos. After, many of the listeners offer to buy him drinks, but he declines, as the musician of five years is not even of legal age.

Now and Then:

2) Five years ago, Bombay Bicycle Club meant a bicycling group in India. Five years ago, Jack Steadman, Jamie MacColl, Suren de Saram, and Ed Nash were 15 and in high school. Five years ago, these four boys had no idea they'd be traveling to different music festivals around a foreign country to perform.

But now they're living their once teenage dream, just like many other artists who were once playing in their mom's garage.

3) Five years ago, The Canals walked onto stage at their school; it was just another school talent show. The four boys making up The Canals weren't attempting to be a band, they only wanted to play the instruments they loved.

Now, the four young men are still playing the instruments they love, they're just doing it under the name Bombay Bicycle Club and for their over one hundred thousand fans around the globe.

Here's what I really want to do, but kinda is not what you're supposed to:

Imagine what it's like to be hit by a bus while riding your bike on a river and die.
Jack Steadman has to imagine too. He's just the lead singer in the British band, Bombay Bicycle Club, not Jesus.

Since the beginning of time, there have been hippos. But not really, we don't care about hippos here. We just care about Bombay Bicycle Club, an indie band from Britain.

Oxygen has 8 protons. Jack Steadman, lead singer of the British band Bombay Bicycle Club, breathes oxygen. He's just like us.

Against all odds, Jack Steadman has survived the black plague. He wasn't alive then when it was a pandemic though, he's alive now and in a band!

have a pretty picture

from the camera of Sam Javanrouh, via his photo blog [daily dose of imagery]

you ought to follow his blog--link in the sidebar

photogenically yours,

yes I recognise that my sign-offs have been getting worse and worse as I go on,

--IBI

Swedish people suck at being interviewed.

So for MY feature story, I decided that I would interview some bands because I like music and couldn't think of anything else. SOOO I emailed Bombay Bicycle Club, one of my favoritest bands, and they were like, "Sure, email us the questions!"

BUT THEN IT ALL CAME CRASHING DOWN.

They would only allow me to ask 10 questions (or actually, their manager would only allow ten). So I was forced to move onto making it into a topic based. So I emailed this band called We Were Promised Jetpacks, who also agreed, but they have yet to get back to me. Even though I gave them a deadline of last Sunday. But whatevs.

So THEN, at a lack of email for Blue October (who I should really look into interviewing at the last moment, since my step dad went to high school with him. I always think that's so cool, and I started freaking out when my step dad showed me that Justin Furstenfeld had friend requested him. Also, he has a funny sophomore yearbook picture. Now I'm rambling. RAMBO! That's my friend's nickname, since she has a superlong last name.) and Stars of Track and Field (the least known band that I thought about contacting, but they opened for Blue October on their tour last year), I emailed Taken By Trees. Taken By Trees is the solo project of Victoria Bergsman, a Swedish singer. I posted a couple of her videos a week or two or three ago.

But guess what she does? TYPES IN ALL CAPS. All the answers were done with the caps lock on. I had to retype it all. But it wasn't too bad.

So yeah, not such a good interviewing experience. HOWEVS, I got some fantabulous quotes from both interviewees and the bands are all cool and suck at giving good background info. But, that can be googled.

So long, loves, and thank you for reading my rant (I need to write another rant about life)!

- EJE

Clyde thinks Feathers is paradise

I, Clyde, completely ADORE vintage stores. They are lovely and unique and I can always find interesting costume-y pieces at them. Vintage clothes always have a story behind them, which just makes them that much better than normal clothes. SO I decided to FEATURE them in my FEATURE. Specifically, Feathers off of South Congress.

If you have never been to Feathers, all I have to say to you is GO. It's on Milton Street right off of South Congress, so it has that special South-Congress-y feel to it without being as crowded as, like, New Bohemia or Goodie Two Shoes on First Thursday. Every room is on a different level, so there's lots of little stairs scattered throughout the building and it has lovely creaky wood floors and always smells AMAZING. All the displays and light fixtures and shelves have been altered in some creative, artistic way and the clothes make me drool a little. So, of course I had to choose it to profile for my story.

I decided to interview the owner, Masha, and have yet to hear back from her, but when I do I will probably be PSYCHED BEYOND CONTROL.

HERE is the Feathers blog, where they post nifty pictures of merchandise and have a section where they put together sample outfits with pieces from the store called What Alex Wore. If you love clothes or costumes or just strange little Austin-y places you should totes check it out!

help us win something

Hey, Vinyl readers--we know you're there--you know we love you, right?

We love you so much that we're bluntly going to ask for your votes for something, rather than hiding it behind some thin veil of "of course we aren't blatantly taking advantage of you".

Axillary Cable, another magazine in our class, is running a competition for advertising space.

And we think you should vote for us. Because our ad is amazing.

Much love,

IBI and the entire VINYL staff

Portugal too?

Cool.

I post too much.

- EJE

Sorry, I'll stop blogging.

This is from my own blog (yeah, don't go read it. It sucks. Except, I would like some more views... whatever.) but I was incredibly happy.

It made me happy.

- EJE!

HEY FRÄULEIN

HEY THERE, MR./MS. GERMAN. WE KNOW YOU'RE ON. I HAVE MY CAPS LOCK ON BECAUSE SWEDISH PEOPLE DON'T KNOW HOW TO TURN IT OFF. SO, WHO ARE YOU?

- EJE

An April Fool's Update

So, the New York Times did a great roundup of Friday's technopranks, which I definitely recommend everyone to check out (some of my favourites include the Huffington Post's jab at subscription costs from the NYTimes, ThinkGeek's Playmobile Apple Store, and National Public Radio's 3D eye implants). And looking at these is a fair bit of fun, particularly on Friday when they were actually operational and all.

But perhaps just as fun is seeing some of the continuing effects of these little pranks.

For example, the good ol' New York Times (I'm sure later I will rant about how I have FIVE ARTICLES LEFT in my monthly allowance, as of yesterday night--let me remind you, dearest readers, yesterday was the THIRD DAY of April) ran a followup article regarding Google Motion.

Apparently, with just a Microsoft Kinect sensor and a group of college students, one can really have Google Motion!

Of course, they have renamed it, a little more aptly--SLOOW (Software Library Optimized Obligatory Waving).

Now, this can only ever be considered as good as one that honestly, I hope never makes it to the end, for the good of both parties--selling nothing on eBay. It's still for bid, if you've got a bunch of extra cash, on the grounds of around half a million dollars and climbing.

Snickeringly yours,
IBI

Happy April Fools!

I meant to put this up last night... But I didn't. This was our class's April Fools Day prank to the world (I guess), and we figured as long as we uploaded it to the blog, it was relevant.

NOW, I will also include a little rant about the comments on Youtube for the actual video.

People really need to lay off Rebecca Black. Sure, she sucks, but so does Miley Cyrus, and no one is telling her to go kill herself. And why would you tell a 13-year-old to go KILL herself?! You shouldn't tell anyone that, much less someone you don't know who made a crappy song that she didn't even write. We all know she sucks, but if you hate it than much, stop watching it and get away from the video! I hate it too and I very much enjoy watching the parodies, but hey, if Rebecca Black wants to go give herself a terrible image and be made fun of, that's fine with me. I know I would have taken one look at the lyrics and said, "Really? No way. I'm not doing this."

Also, here are a couple really funny parodies.

LOVE,

EJE ♥