Newest Obsession(s)

PIPPIN!

I love Pippin Took. And I'm a little obsessed with Lord of the Rings because of Pippin. But I keep going around quoting Pippin just for the fun of it ... things like "What about second breakfast?" I've been talking about second breakfast all day, even though I had but one breakfast. But I called lunch second breakfast because first breakfast was so small. Yep. I love Pippin. He is a wonderful singer. I love all 4 of those hobbits, really.

I also talk like Smeagol sometimes ... it is a fun thing to do.

I am a little bit obsessed with Billy Boyd as well, but the only role I've seen him play is Pippin. I've watched Youtube videos of him from the LOTR special features and stuff that I don't think I have on my DVDs ... so my Dominic Monaghan obsession is coming back, too! Yay LOTR! Dom and Billy are so great. Speaking of Dom ... I need to watch Lost ... episodes from when Charlie was actually still alive, you know.


I am still obsessed with U2. I'm just not going as crazy as far as spending money on U2 stuff goes. I really really really want all the U2 albums and DVDs that I don't have, but I'm learning to keep my money saved up ... since my mom's making me buy my own gas and all. I guess I can wait for Christmas for more U2 albums and DVDs. But I'm still listening to U2 more than anything else.

Since I've been trying to save my money, all my recent actor obsessions - like Christian Bale, Mark Wahlberg, and Leonardo DiCaprio - have sort of cooled down ... it takes more money to keep up an actor obsession because I can't watch movies all day long like I can listen to music all day long. I need more and more movies to keep an actor obsession going. But I still love all my actor obsessions that are sort of on the down low right now. Perhaps if I ever get a job, I can go a little crazier.


And I've sort of been obsessively reading The Da Vinci Code the past couple days. I stayed up till almost 3:00AM reading it last night. I'm not really obsessed with it, it's just a really good book. Now I see what all the hype was about ...

I need to get obsessive about my homework ... after I get obsessive about those two errands my mom wants me to run. Ugh. Bye.

Whoa

I haven't posted here in a loooooooooooong time. Not since my dad's birthday, right when I got home from the mountains. Wow.

I am obsessed with a few things right now. Still obsessed with U2. My David Cook obsession has resurfaced a bit since I saw him in concert this past Monday! My Michael Johns obsession has resurfaced for the same reason! I am obsessed with Batman and Christian Bale. I am also a bit obsessed with That '70s Show. I don't know if I'm technically obsessed with Mark Wahlberg and Leonardo DiCaprio, but they're certainly around the top of my list of current interests. Lots of exciting things.

Too bad school has to interfere with all my fun these days.

I have this post planned for this blog in which I will talk about all the actors I have been obsessed with and how I became obsessed with them. I did that for musicians/bands, so I figured I'd do that with actors too.

I'm gonna post in my other blog because I have some non-obsession related things about which to rant. Bye!

Obsessive Update

I just got back from a nice, long, amazingly wonderful Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge/ Sevierville, TN vacation this evening ... my vacation started June 26th, so I was gone a long time. It was great! Anyway, while on the trip, I developed a few new obsessions. I am definitely obsessed with Batman. There were a lot of Batman related things in Gatlinburg, and I was so excited every time I saw that stuff. I colored in my Batman coloring book during the whole trip - yes, I colored. It's no problem for an adult to enjoy a coloring book. It's quite fun. My first night on vacation, I watched Batman Begins, sort of. I watched the last half first and the first half second, which was weird, but still fun.

Which brings me to my next new obsession. Christian Bale! It's not a full-fledged obsession yet, as I haven't had the chance to see any of his other movies ... but soon I will make a trip to Blockbuster and make the obsession official!

Speaking of Blockbuster, I could use it to help my last new obsession. Mark Wahlberg! I watched The Italian Job while I was on vacation. Edward Norton and Mark Wahlberg in the same movie! Yay! Anyway, I love him.

Oh, and the U2 obsession is definitely still going strong. Sigh. I need a LOT more money.

Celebration!

I have finally gotten around to posting a picture of my poster! Here it is, hanging on my wall looking so wonderful and amazing. I love it.

The title of this post is "Celebration!" for two reasons. One: I am celebrating my poster. And the second one is ... I am celebrating Paul McCartney's birthday today! He has been an obsession of mine, so this belongs in this blog. Happy Birthday to Paul!!

Hello Hello ...

Just wanted to tell you some stuff.

First of all, I changed the color scheme of this blog. It's sort of based off of U2's album "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb" and the U2 iPod and all that ... red and black exciting colors.

Secondly, I made a purchase on eBay today. Crazy, right? Well. I couldn't help it. I just searched for things with the the "Buy It Now" feature so I didn't have to mess with nerve wracking auctions. I found a U2 poster for $11.99 with free shipping. It's 24" x 36" and it's in brand new condition. The seller has nothing but positive feedback and all of the feedback comments mention how fast the items were delivered. So I am feeling really good about this. Normally, I would feel guilty about spending money so spontaneously, but I feel good about this. I would post a picture of the poster, but for some reason all the formatting options are gone. I don't know what that's all about. No italics or bolds or pictures or anything. I could give you a link. One moment .... aha, here you go:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v233/HyeneHyene/U2poster.jpg?t=1213141407

The picture on the poster is from Decmber 1979 ... so Bono and Adam are my age (19) in this picture, and Edge and Larry are 18. I'm excited, especially since the seller gets the items delivered quickly. You know how impatient I can get (remember when I was waiting for my book?). I haven't told my mom that I bought it yet. I'm not going to tell her. I'm just going to hang it on my wall when it gets here and see if she ever notices. I do have a place for it on my wall, by the way. It's going to require the sacrifice of one of my Scarface posters, but I have so many of those (five of them, actually), I can spare one. And it's not like I'll actually sacrifice the Scarface poster. I'll probably hang it up downstairs in the studio. I'm going to take one Scarface poster off my door, move another Scarface poster to that door, and put the U2 poster on the wall where the non-sacrificed Scarface poster once was.

I bought an iTunes giftcard today. I bought another U2 live EP. Now I have 99 U2 songs. If I can just decide on ONE MORE SONG to buy, I will have 100! Or I can wait until I get a bunch of money and buy all their CDs that I don't already have! You know, their first three albums are being re-released as special remastered editions. I think that is happening in July? I think. So maybe I can buy those when I have money. And their manager said in an interview recently that the new album could be released in late October. Excitement abounds!

Oh, more excitement! I saw a U2 music video on TV today for the first time since my obsession began! There was a show on Fuse called "Video Yearbook" and U2's video for "Elevation" was on it. It was the last video they showed, so if there was an order to the videos ... then it was #1. I'm not sure they show them in any order. But I can pretend. "Elevation" is number one! It's an awesome video.

Any more exciting news? I feel like I'm neglecting David Cook. I still love him! But, like I've said, it's really hard to maintain Idol obsessions once the season's over. I still visit the American Idol forums and websites all the time, so I keep up on all my DC news. Once the tour starts and more news comes out, and then his album comes out ... then I'm sure I'll be going DC crazy all over again. I kinda feel silly for sending him fanmail, by the way. I mean, I feel silly because of the type of fanmail I sent him, especially the stupid necklace I made for him. Geez, what a loser I am. Haha. I'm not even going to tell myself he liked that one. But I hope he liked the drawing I sent him. I worked a lot harder on that than I did on the necklace!

Well, I think Im done for now. I hope the formatting options are back next time I blog! I miss italics!

U2DVDs&MP3s

Hey.

I got two new U2 DVDs yesterday. I will tell you about them now.

The first one is called Classic Albums: The Joshua Tree. It's part of a series of DVDs in which the bands and the producers and engineers and all go back into the studio and listen to all the different tracks of all the different songs on the classic album and then talk about writing and recording the songs. At least, that's what this one was about. The DVD was made in 1999, but it also had footage of the music videos from The Joshua Tree and from different live performances between 1987 and 1998ish (I estimate but do not know for sure). It was very nice!

The other one is Rattle and Hum, which, if you remember two and three posts ago, I tried to win in an eBay auction along with another U2 DVD. Well, now I have Rattle and Hum. I watched it last night. It is wonderful! The visuals are stunning (I almost said something very shallow, but I will refrain from that ... for now). Most of the film is in black & white - it looks amazing. The parts that are in color look amazing as well! But the black & white concert footage with the lighting and all is great. It's not just a concert, remember? It's a film with documentary footage from behind the scenes of the tour and other documentary sorts of things. It's all so great. It made me want to be in a band and play music for thousands of people more than I've ever wanted.


After I watched the first DVD, I came in here and purchased 4 U2 songs. You think I am crazy. But I got 4 that I won't be able to get on CD, so it's okay. The first one is called "Sweetest Thing." The music video for that song was at the end of the Joshua Tree DVD I got, and it was, indeed, sweet. So I just had to buy the song. The other three are actually an EP called Exclusive. It's exclusively on iTunes, you see? And it's wonderful. It has an acoustic version of "Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of," and live versions of "I Will Follow" and "Beautiful Day." Wonderful.


I guess that's all for now. Bye.

I Found It!

I may have lost my eBay auction ... but I found something pretty exciting. And it was free. And it was in my own basement. Sure, it was just one song. But it was free!

You wanna know what it was?

I found my Batman Forever soundtrack.
Guess what track number one is?!

U2 - "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me"


I feel a little better.

Now I have 91 U2 songs. I want to hit 100 soon.

iTunes is so tempting.

Real CDs are better.
Because they come with booklets.
Which have pictures.
And lyrics.

Plus, I just like collecting CDs.


PS - U2 has a new CD coming out this fall.
New CD = New tour?! Let's hope so.
And let's hope they come somewhere close to here.
Because ... you know me ... I will find a way to go.

I Lost It

I lost the eBay auction. With less than I minute left, it looked like I was going to win. But some (expletive expletive expletive) bid a (expletive) quarter more than I had with about 2 (expletive expletive) seconds left. (Expletive)!

Sigh. I guess it's for the best. I had to raise my bid to $2.50 because some other (expletive) was trying to steal my DVDs. So that would have made the total cost $7.00 ... which is still a deal ... but probably a little more than I can afford to spend just yet. Which is really pitiful. But I wanted those U2 DVDs so (expletive) much!

I censored this post because, if I hadn't, all my anger in the profane words I could have used would have caused your eyes to bleed.

Impulse Bidding

I just bid on something on eBay. Someone is selling 2 U2 concert DVDs for $0.99 plus $4.50 shipping and handling. I have memorized this price because it is such a good deal. But I did this so spontaneously! I will tell you about the 2 DVDs I will get should I win the auction, and then you will see why I am SO excited.

The first one is called "U2 Vertigo Tour 2005: Live from Chicago" and it seems wonderful. I looked it up on Barnes & Noble's website. The list price there is $19.99! See?! I'm getting a good deal already! I read the set list. There are only 3 songs on it that I don't have on my iTunes library. Pretty exciting, huh? And all the songs on it that I do have, I absolutely love. So! Excitement!
http://video.barnesandnoble.com/DVD/U2-Vertigo-Tour-2005-Live-from-Chicago/U2/e/602498746448/?itm=4

The second one is called "Rattle and Hum" and it's actually a documentary of the tour to promote The Joshua Tree ... which you know is an album I love very much. I read all about this documentary in U2 By U2, which made me really really really want it. So I really hope I win this auction. Its list price for "Rattle and Hum" on Barnes & Noble's website is $9.99 ... so these DVDs are really worth over $30 ... you know, with tax and all. And I don't have $30. I don't even technically have $0.99 plus $4.50 shipping and handling. But I'm managing.
http://video.barnesandnoble.com/DVD/U2-Rattle-and-Hum/U2/e/097363222842/?itm=3

The auction ends in just under 15 hours. It's pretty nerve wracking. Oh, eBay ... so fun, yet so dangerous. Money! It's Crazy.

New Music

With all those new albums I got yesterday, I feel sort of like reviewing them all like I did for The Joshua Tree ...

But I'll save that for later. (I heard your sigh of relief).

I just bought nine new songs! I hear you now, saying, "What?! You got 5 new U2 albums yesterday!! How can you buy nine of their songs today?!" The thing is, none of them are U2 songs! Not technically, anyway. You are saying, "If they aren't U2, then why are you typing about them on this particular blog?!" Because I might be obsessed with iTunes shopping. Not really. But I think this belongs here.

All nine of my new songs appear on my iTunes library when you search for Paul McCartney, but not all of them are Paul McCartney. Am I confusing you greatly? Then I'll just tell you what they are.

Seven are actually Paul McCartney songs. They're songs that my dad has on records, but since our record player is a piece of crap, it's hard for me to listen to them often. They are:

1. "Monkberry Moon Delight" from Ram
2. "Dear Boy" from Ram
3. "Picasso's Last Words (Drink To Me)" from Band On The Run
4. "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five" from Band On The Run
5. "Here Today" from Tug Of War
6. "The Pound Is Sinking" from Tug Of War
7. "Wanderlust" from Tug Of War

The other two are NOT U2 songs ... they are Beatles songs sung by Bono! Yay! From the Across The Universe soundtrack.

1. "I Am The Walrus"
2. "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds"

I watched Bono's scene from that movie yesterday and then again today because I was showing it to my dad. I like it! It almost makes me want to watch the whole movie again. Almost. Actually, it wasn't a horrible movie. I just prefer the originals of all Beatles songs. Most of the ones in that movie are done very well. Most, not all. There are some that really bugged me. I really liked "I Am The Walrus," even back before I fell in love with Bono. I liked "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" and "With A Little Help From My Friends." I liked pretty much everything that the characters Jude and Max did. I HATED Sadie. And I didn't really care for Prudence, either. Or Lucy, really. Of course, now Dr. Robert is my favorite character. :)

I just went on my other blog and found my post about Across The Universe. Quote of interest from that post: "The appearances of Bono, Joe Cocker, Eddie Izzard, and Salma Hayek were pretty cool." I totally mentioned Bono first. I think I've always had a thing for him.

I think now I will play some online bingo. Then I might go watch a movie, but I don't know. When I was sifting through my blog, looking for that Across The Universe post, I read a bunch of posts from my Steve Carell obsession time. It kind of made me want to watch The 40-Year-Old Virgin. Or Dan In Real Life maybe! I don't know. I'll see how I feel in a little while.

Bye!

A post

I am having trouble thinking of titles.

Anyway. I basically wanted to tell you that when I left the house this morning, I had 36 U2 songs in my iTunes Library. Now I have 90 U2 songs in my iTunes library. It's amazing!

My best friend and I spent some hours together today. He burned me a U2 live album, Under A Blood Red Sky. Wonderfulness! Then, near the end of our adventures today, we wound up at a Coconuts store, where they had a fantastic deal on used CDs: buy three, get one free. I got All That You Can't Leave Behind, The Unforgettable Fire, How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, and Achtung Baby ... all for just over $18. It's all wonderfulness. I am a happy kid.

Update

I haven't posted in a while, so I thought I'd update you on my obsessed state of mind.

My dad says I've been cheating on David Cook with Bono. Sigh. It's just so difficult to maintain an American Idol obsession once the season is over. I know, David won and he's been everywhere on TV lately. But it's mostly morning shows that I sleep through. And I know the videos are online ... but I just have a hard time keeping up. A U2 obsession is just easier to maintain because there's 30 years of material there for me to collect. And I've been reading that wonderful book. I'm almost finished, a fact which is depressing me! It's just SO good! It makes me laugh, it makes me cry. It's just great.

David Cook is breaking records already. He's got something like 17 songs in the Hot 100 singles chart, I think. That's an AMAZING thing. And he's had the number one song on iTunes for the past week. I am very happy! I'd help him keep the high standings on the charts by purchasing more of his music, but I already have all of his songs. Haha. He's releasing an album this fall, which I will either purchase or get for Christmas. I hope I can just buy it - I'm not sure I could wait for Christmas.

I bought three new U2 songs today. I've been trying to hold out to get an actual CD, All That You Can't Leave Behind. But each day I don't have that album, I die a little. Haha. So, to keep myself from expiring, I bought 2 more songs from that album. I bought "Walk On" and "Kite." Now I have 5 of the 11 songs there, so I will buy no more until I get the actual CD. Then I bought the song "Lemon" from the album Zooropa. I didn't have any songs from that album yet, so there's that. Now I believe I have at least one song from each of their studio albums. Here's the rundown:

I have ...
2 songs from Boy
1 song from October
2 songs from War
1 song from The Unforgettable Fire
11 songs from The Joshua Tree (the entire album)
3 songs from Rattle and Hum
3 songs from Achtung Baby
1 song from Zooropa
2 songs from Pop
5 songs from All That You Can't Leave Behind
1 song from How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
1 song from The Saints Are Coming (Live) single

And then I also have 3 songs from The Joshua Tree that I bought before I got the actual CD ... so I have those songs twice each. I need more songs! I don't feel like a true fanatic, only having 1 or 2 or 3 songs from most of their albums. I need to start selling crap on eBay. Then I might get some money to buy some stuff.

Well. I have work to do. Work for which I will be paid no money, just experience. Bye.

Is this too good to be true?!

Did I really just read an American Idol spoiler that says David Cook is singing U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" tomorrow night on the final performance episode of season 7? Seriously?! Should I just die of happiness right now or wait for it to happen tomorrow night? I think I'll wait. Wow. I'm afraid this is too good to be true.

I don't know whether I want Cookie to totally reinvent the song or if I want him to stay pretty true to the original ... because that's a pretty amazing song ... but Cookie reinvents things so well ... but I don't think that song needs reinventing ... but maybe Cookie has a certain way he wants to do the song that would blow us all away ... but really, I think any way he does the song will blow us away because he's talented enough to just sing it straight and be amazing ... oh dear ... I'm so excited.

Now, if only he performed something with U2 on Wednesday's grand finale results show ...

Keep dreaming, right? I'll settle for just the song. Tomorrow evening!

A MELDING OF MY TWO OBSESSIONS! I think I might cry.

(Tears of joy, of course).

I will update you on my mental and physical health after the show tomorrow.

Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon

The title of this post not only describes perfectly what it is I am doing, but it's also the title of a Queen song. I used to be overly obsessed with Queen. That "phase" may be over, but I still consider Queen - tied with The Beatles - as my favorite band. I used to consider the Red Hot Chili Peppers tied as my favorite as well ... and I still LOVE them, don't get me wrong. I just think that I'm not entirely crazy about their very early material, where it was pretty explicit and also included a lot of rapping ... I do consider Anthony Kiedis my favorite rapper, I just haven't listened to the early RHCP albums as much as I've listened to everything they've done from about 1991 till the present. I could also include 1989 in that, I think. Basically, everything they've done since John Frusciante joined the band, including the stuff they did with Dave Navarro. There's no doubt that Hillel Slovak had major contributions to the band's sound - he was a big influence on John Frusciante, afterall. I just think that the stuff they did once Fru joined the band has been ... better, musically. I mean, they started focusing more on melodies and harmonies and all the little details that have made them as amazing and awesome as they are today. Get what I mean? So they're pretty close behind The Beatles and Queen as far as my ranking for favorite music goes.


There was an article on the People Magazine website about Bono's birthday party last weekend. The headline was something like, "Brad Pitt helps Bono celebrate his 48th birthday in Monaco" and there was a picture of Brad Pitt included with the article. And Pitt was mentioned a total of 2 times in the article, which was otherwise about the very nice birthday celebration Bono's wife had arranged for him. So I was a little miffed about that article. Well. The Cannes Film Festival is/was going on this past week, and Bono was there Friday, I believe. People Magazine's website actually had a picture of him from the festival. Aren't you proud of them? I was too. MSNBC's website had the same picture. I was very happy!


I really need some money. I really really really want to buy U2's "All That You Can't Leave Behind" album, the actual CD. There are 2 songs from that album on the Slane Castle concert DVD that I REALLY want (that I don't already have, because I have most of the songs on that DVD), but I don't want to buy them on iTunes because then I'd have most of that album, and then if I bought the CD I'd already have most of the songs and I don't really want that. Do you understand? But I REALLY want that album. And I have a total of five dollars. Actually, I might have a few more than that, if I count the money in my piggy bank ... yes, I actually have a piggy bank. Anyway. If I can ever sell my cousin's Batman stuff on eBay, I would get half the money from that. But did you know it costs 15 cents per item you list on eBay? I didn't know that either. I discussed a solution with my parents this afternoon. We should open a bank account in my name to attach to my PayPal account. Then we can deposit about $50 to take care of the eBay fees. Once the Batman stuff starts selling (if it does, and I really hope it does), we can transfer the PayPal account money to the bank account. Then I can withdraw my cousin's half of the Batman money to give to him and use a debit card to spend whatever money I have in the account. Then I can buy my CD. It will take a long time, though, so I guess that's something I have to look forward to. I would also like the buy the Making of The Joshua Tree DVD ... that would be wonderful. That's another $10 I don't have yet. And then I want every other U2 album there ever was. Even the one I saw on some countdown of "Bad Albums by Good Bands" because you never know if you will like something until you hear it. And I already have 2 songs off the U2 album that was on that list, and I pretty much am in love with both of them. So take that, whoever made that list. You don't know anything.

You should never trust other people's opinions and you should always try things out for yourself. I'd read in several places that Queen's "Hot Space" album wasn't very good, but I bought it anyway and I love it. Al Pacino's new movie, "88 Minutes," has gotten HORRIBLE reviews, but I'm gonna see it anyway ... when it comes out on DVD. Because I could absolutely love it. Like Jake Gyllenhaal's film "Bubble Boy." A bunch of reviews said it was just silly or even stupid. But I watched it and I think it's pretty freaking hilarious. So never trust other people's opinions. You can value opinions and take them into consideration when choosing something or whatever, but don't just trust that someone is right about something. You could always have different feelings.



The American Idol finale is this week. I'm sort of bittersweet about this. After this week, I will no longer be able to see David Cook on TV twice every week. Sure, if he wins he will be on several magazine covers and probably on several talk shows or whatever. And then there's the concert all the way in August. But it's just not going to be the same. I'm starting to get nervous about this finale. That Archuleta kid is gonna be some tough competition. I really really really want Cook to win. And he actually has a chance. This is the first time since season 2 that we truly don't know who's gonna win (at least that's what I've read, although I thought the season 5 finale was pretty intense). I just really want David Cook to win. He really wants to win. I don't know of any true David Cook fan who says it will be better for him not to win so he'll have more "creative control" over his album. There are some news reports that mention that, and there's some non-Cook fans on forums who have mentioned that. But all the true David Cook fans REALLY want him to win. I think the production company won't try to change his sound for his first album. They already think he's the most marketable contestant this season. So I don't think there will be any "creative control" problems if he wins. It's gonna be an intense finale. And I have to vote for 4 hours Tuesday night, which will be very intense. Wow.


Okay, this post is long enough. Bye!

UPS gives me U2

UPS was right on time! Yay yay yay yay! Look at this.




I tried to get a picture of myself with the book, as solid proof that it is, indeed, mine ... but that photoshoot didn't turn out so well. This photo shows the book sitting in the chair which is currently occupied by me. That'll have to be close enough. I've already looked at all the pictures. I figured I could do that so that they won't really distract me as much when I'm trying to read the book later. I am ready to learn so much! It's wonderful!

Tonight I actually have plans - with real people that I've actually met! So, since I'll have to get ready for those plans soon, I'm gonna go from here now. Just wanted to post that celebratory post I told you about before. I've got my book! Yay!

Bye!

Thursday Boredness

I keep coming back to this blog just to look at those pictures on my last post.

Haha!



Hey, guess what?! David Cook is one of the final 2 contestants on American Idol this season! Yay! I really want him to win. I mean, seriously. You don't even know how bad I want him to win. You just don't even know!!! Vote for COOK Tuesday night! Vote vote vote!! VOTE!!!


-----------


In the hopes that UPS would deliver my U2 book a day early, I've been peeking out of the windows all day today. Haha. I'm so freaking anxious! I want that book now. I got a new cell phone several months ago, and UPS said it would take 2 or 3 days to get here, but it was here the morning after it was ordered. So ... it could happen again! I'm just too excited and I don't have anything better to do until good TV comes on tonight. Today is going very slow. It's a good thing I slept relatively late today, or else today would have been REALLY slow.

I know what I can do! I had this idea last night. I can go to the iTunes store and buy all the bonus Joshua Tree tracks I didn't get with my copy of the album because I couldn't afford the super special 2 disc edition ... oh, and then I can update my iPod for all my new music and then listen to it and play a video game. That should pass the time. I bought 2 new U2 songs last night: "Staring At The Sun" and "New Years Day." I'm trying to buy songs from albums from which I don't already have many songs, because (eventually) I plan to buy all of U2's albums on actual CDs. I figure buying all those bonus Joshua Tree songs will be the wisest way to spend my iTunes money, since I'd have to buy the whole album that I already have in order to get them on an actual CD. It's logical, right? Anyway. That's what I'm gonna do.

I'll probably have a celebratory post here once I get my book, so look out for that.

Bye!


EDIT: Uh oh. Turns out the "bonus Joshua Tree songs" are actually a 14 track disc 2 ... and I don't know if I want to spend $14 right now ... I might wait till I get another iTunes card for that. Hmm. Well. I guess I'll just go play that video game. Bye!

The Joshua Tree

I used to do "CD Reviews" on my old blog. Really it's just my opinions about songs on CDs that I get. Actually, it's just me gushing about how much I love each song. But I wanna try doing that for U2's "The Joshua Tree" anyway, since it's so wonderful. Gosh, I love this new blog. I feel so free!

WARNING: This post contains extreme fangirly-ness and music-freak-ness. Because I've become a fangirly music freak, as opposed to the normal music freak I used to be (yeah, right).

Let us begin, shall we?


1. Where The Streets Have No Name - I like the intro. It's really nice. On the "U2 Go Home" Slane Castle concert DVD from 2001, I LOVE how they transitioned from All I Want Is You to this song. It was genius and it made me stop breathing for a little while. That's how wonderful it was. Interesting fact: my uncle's band played this song with Bono back in the day when U2 happened to go in a bar where my uncle's band was playing. When exactly? I can't remember. But yeah. My uncle's apparently met Bono. And I guess maybe the rest of the band too. I'm very jealous. Sigh. ANYWAY. The song! It's wonderful! I love the bass line, especially near the beginning when it slides up an octave. The guitar is pure Edge - instantly recognizable.
I love all the details of Bono's vocals here. I don't really know what I mean either. Well. Yeah, I mean all the little things he adds between the words and at the ends of phrases and whatnot. There are many textures to his voice in this song. God, I sound like Paula Abdul now ... okay. How about we move to the next song, huh?

2. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - What a voice! I try - I really try - to successfully sing along with this song ... but only about the first verse, first chorus, and half of the second verse work. And then I fail. Miserably. Because only the original can do this well. This music video is actually my favorite U2 music video right now. It's so simple - they're just walking around Vegas. But it makes me happy. Especially the part at the end where Bono gets on the front of that car and looks through the windshield at the (I'm guessing bewildered?) people within. It's a pretty incredible music video, I must say.

3. With Or Without You - I think this is pretty much the perfect song. The lyrics are amazing, yet so simple. The singing: *faints*. The instrumentation: *faints again*. I love the structure of this song (among other things, but I thought I'd quit fainting for a second). I love how it starts out very mellow and ... *faints* ouch. Ahem. And then it builds up ... it's just very nice. There's a performance of this song from 2001 that I found on Youtube ... about which I should stop talking now ... don't want to faint again. Anyway. The reason for my loss of all coherent thoughts about this song is, quite simply, the amazingness of this perfect song. It's become one of my favorite songs of all time. It reduces me to a fainting, rambling mess.

4. Bullet The Blue Sky - Well. I might lose coherent-ness for this one too. I'll try not to. The "U2 Go Home" performance of this one was AMAZING. You'd have to see it to know what I mean (ahem, link: http://youtube.com/watch?v=t4LJFSCgxvk). I love the spotlight action in that video. I also love the speaking part in the song, especially the "one hundred, two hundred" part, in both the original version and that live version. I love the differences between the speaking parts in those two versions. I just generally love the groove of the song. Great rhythms, great guitar riffs. Great great song.

5. Running To Stand Still - Poetry. This song is beautiful. I've just been sitting here listening to it, not typing, for the first half of the song. It's captivating. I can't tear myself away from it to type about it. Absolutely captivating.

6. Red Hill Mining Town - I like how the rhythm changes after the intro. Very cool. And I love the melody! The chorus is amazing. Vocals! Don't make me faint again, Bono. It's just not fair. I've fallen off this chair enough today. He sings with so much passion. I love it. The ending's very nice too.

7. In God's Country - Another one with a very nice melody. And this one has very nice harmonies in the chorus, too! I like the mood of this song ... with the reverb on the vocals and all ... geez. Song after song on this album. They're all so great! That one was too short, though! I was enjoying it so much and then it ended. Well. It's a good thing I own the album so I can listen to it whenever I want.

8. Trip Through Your Wires - I think this is one of my very favorites on this album. The harmonica is wonderful. Melodies and harmonies are wonderful. It's just a nice song. Honestly, I'm trying to say valuable things about these songs, not just, "I LOVE IT" but ... sometimes I can't be a technical music critic. I just love this song. Why? Because it's wonderful. Deal with it ... *Faints* This album should come with a warning.

9. One Tree Hill - I'm not going to be able to finish this post. Why am I so light-headed and faint-y? I'm thinking it's mostly due to this incredible voice ... but really ... the whole of this music is just Great. It's just genuinely great music. This is another song with a great melody. The instrumentation is great, too. I love the refrain at the end. Very gospel-y. This whole album is sort of gospel-y, right? Very nice. And all the songs have such awesome hooks. I love great songwriting.

10. Exit - Uh oh. This is another captivating one. I can't type for listening. ... ... Yeah. I'm thinking this is one of my favorites on this album too. And it's difficult to pick favorites. It's a very rhythm-driven song. I love it.

11. Mothers Of The Disappeared - This is sort of an odd sounding song. I love it! It's very pretty. I just read up on the story behind this song. It's actually very sad. I need to listen closer to the lyrics. It is sad, but it is very pretty.


This post took me almost 3 hours! Geez! I kept getting sidetracked, and I am ashamed. But I finished. Now I'm gonna start the album over. Haha. I love it!!


Oh, and one last thing. It's U2 related, so I can stick it in this post. I got e-mails this morning from Barnes & Noble and UPS saying my book's been shipped! I just checked UPS, and it says my book's on its way. It was in Edison, NJ a couple of hours ago. This is so exciting. If you don't know what book it is, here's a link to it: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?EAN=9780641860799&x=07181305

Okay. That's all. Bye!