Radical Face - Ghost

Radical Face - "Ghost"
March 2007
Morr Music Records

Track listing

1. "Asleep on a Train" - 2:01
2. "Welcome Home, Son" - 4:48 (Emeral Cooper on piano and Mark Hubbard on snare drum)
3. "Let the River in" - 5:07
4. "Glory" - 6:13 (Alex Kane on bass)
5. "The Strangest Things" - 4:26 (Alex Kane on bass)
6. "Wrapped in Piano Strings" - 3:38
7. "Along the Road" - 4:18
8. "Haunted" - 4:44
9. "Winter is Coming" - 4:24
10. "Sleepwalking" - 4:43
11. "Homesick" - 3:44

I'm selfish about this album. I want people to listen to it to experience it for themselves, yes, but I also want them to listen to it so that I can FINALLY have someone understand what I meant when I said that this album is "a summer soundtrack, a way to find yourself, and the audio embodiment of most of the emotions I've ever felt". Well not most. That might be a little extreme. Nonetheless, however, I give you my word on this one. It will change your life. It's got a great folkish accent to it which makes a lot of the interludes fantastic, but not to the point where you get the feeling that you are listening to strait up folk music, good or bad (sorry, Bon Iver). "Glory" and "Welcome Home" are seriously the #1 and #2 most played songs on my iTunes right now, it's absurd! Just listen to them, or go longboarding to them if you have the opportunity. I first found these guys in the "Western Sessions" youtube series by OriginalSkateboards, which is a pretty sweet longboarding channel on youtube. Anyway. Go listen. I've got finals to deal with.

Connor: 1, Tony Horton: 0

I did it. Holy freakin crap, I actually did it. Despite all the complaining, bitching, and breakdowns, I managed to survive and successfully compete P90X.

So what can I say? First of all, I owe an incredible thanks to everyone that helped me out on this. And not just the people who worked out with me and helped me going day to day (Anthony, Dano, Patrick, etc). I'm sure many of you probably got real fed up with my complaining and talking about it constantly. I realize this. Please not that, despite your annoyance with me, you were doing me a huge service. There were several points where I was ready to quit, b/c I wasn't satisfied with the results I was seeing and I felt alone in what I was doing. So all that bitching I did was sort of my way to get through it. Yes, I know it wasn't the most mature thing I could have possible done, but hell - it worked, didn't it?

Results! This is the fun part. I regret that I won't be able to post my day 90 pictures right away, because I lost my camera at spring weekend and need to post new ones. but I think the changes from day 0 to day 60 are still pretty significant.

And by the way:

Weight last October (before I started GRAB workouts): 186 lbs

Weight at the beginning of P90X: 175 lbs

Current Weight: 154 lbs

That's right. 32 lbs. Gone. I also lost about 6 or 7 inches on waist overall, and tonnnnssss of fat everywhere, which means I need to to get all new clothes. But I'm not complaining. Afterall, this isn't the end. I've definitely set up a lifelong mission here. I'm done with all the fast food, junk food, and late night binges that I used to have. And trust me, I had that pretty bad. I've learned a ton about the way metabolism works, about the way what I eat and do effects my health, about pretty much everything (thanks again patrick).

So here are the pictures. Don't laugh at the poses. I just did what Tony Horton told me to do.

Day 0











































































Day 30 (ish)



































































Day 60 (ish, more like Day 70 or so)






































































And now a Comparison Shot:































So that's that.

It's certainly an interesting way to look back on my freshman year. I mean let's face it, overall, it's been not much short of a disaster. Everyone knows my whole thing with Gettysburg (see an earlier post for that) but aside from that I've been dealing with the fun situation of having nobody to hang out with, mood swings, frustration with the failure to get a job, depression, etc. But I've countered it with therapy, more school, music, and what you've seen on the above. So what. My first year of college wasn't what I expected. I didn't make a million friends, I didn't fall in love, I didn't find my calling. But I found myself, and I finally began to accomplish what I've wanted to do throughout my entire life. Am I there yet? Not even close. But after many, many, MANY failed attempts, I finally got on the right track. And I owe that to all of you.

So overall? Not a bad freshmen year, all things considered.

Nope

Ok, so I'm laying off the drinking for a bit. Still down to party, but spring weekend was definitely eye opening.

10 Inexpensive Short Notice Summer Ideas

Last summer was awesome, but you have to admit: We really didn't do much. Well, there was Katahdin and North Caroline, but between those two events there was just a lot of hanging around South Windsor, doing absolutely nothing. And since I'm sitting in a 3 hour sociology class, I'm going to come up with a huge list of stuff for us to do this summer! I'll try to include week long epic things like NC and long hikes, but I'm also going to try to come up with a bunch of 1 and 2 day trips that will either be free or very cheap. So anyway.

1. Block Island, Rhode Island.

Description: Block Island is a small island off the coast of Rhode Island. It's beautiful when the weather and nice, and it's got a good mix of shopping, beaches, and sight seeing to do.

Length: Day Trip or possible over night if we choose to camp somewhere near the island on the night before.

Distance from South Windsor: 3 hours 18 minutes / 111.49 miles. I'm pretty sure that the time includes the Ferry Ride.

Expected Costs:
- 11 $ for Round Trip Ferry Ticket
- Food
- Gas
- Shopping $$

Things to do:
- Shopping (That's you, Sarah George)
- Biking (There are some hills that are a few miles long. It's really quite incredible)
- Longboarding
- Hiking
- The Beach



2. The White Mountains: Franconia Range,
Littleton, NH.

Description: One of the two "epic" hiking areas in NH, with the other being the presidential range near it. Doesn't even need a description.

Length: 1 really really long day, 2-3 days if we choose to backpack or camp at a campground near there.

Distance from South Windsor. 3 hours 39 minutes / 218.76 miles

Expected Costs
- Gas
- Food

Things to do:
- Hike (probably the loop we always did in high school)
- Backpack?
- Awesome picture sessions?





3. Watch Hill Beach
151 Bay Street Westerly, RI

Description: We've been here twice before (after prom and after reception), but there's a lot there that we haven't checked out yet. We've yet to be there during the open season though...

Length: 1 Day

Distance from SW: 1 hour 36 minutes / 78.29 miles

Expected Costs
- Parking (Either 5$ or 20$ per car, dont' remember.)
- Food
- Gas

Things to do:
- Go to the Beach
- Explore the Fort there
- Explore the town! This is something that we've actually never done, and I want to go there sometime during the summer so that we can go when everything is open. We'd have to leave really really really early for this.

4. New York City

Description: Come on. It's NYC. Enough said.

Distance from South Windsor: 2 hours 34 minutes / 125.16 miles. That, however, is if we drive. You can get round trip train train tickets though...

Length: 1 Day, possibly more? If anyone has any family in the area than that could be a possibility, but I'm down for a get there early and leave real late type of day.

Expected Costs
- Train Ticket (20-30 Dollar Round Trip)
- Food
- Shopping Money

Things to do
- Longboarding in Central Park!
- Concert?
- Explore the city
- Walk around and find stuff to do
- It's NYC, I don't think we even really need a reason, do we?


5. Build a Trojan Horse

Description: Ok, I know this sounds like pretty much the dumbest idea you've ever heard of, but I totally want to do it.

Distance from SW: We can do this one at home!

Length: This is probably a multiday project. But an awesome one at that.

Expected Costs: Materials. Probably no more than 5 to 10 $ per person.

Things to do: Ok, now I know this idea sounds strange... but that's why it's awesome! Here's what I'm thinking. I don't know how yet, but we could build a wooden frame out of wood we buy/find/have in my basement. PVC pipe could also be used. Sounds like a lot but it really wouldn't be. After that we'd have to acquire a ton of cardboard to actually make the horse look like... a horse. I'm sure we could find that by going around to stores and asking for supplies. Sure, the horse would probably look awful, but hey this will still be awesome. I know it sounds dumb, but I think it would be way cooler, and definitely way more memorable than sitting around playing video games in my basement for a few days or something.


6. Dart Hill Park Cookout or Possible Pig Roast?

Description: Get everyone together and do a cookout at Dart Hill Park. Or at Wichkam park! If we got enough people (20 people at 5$ each) we could try to pull off a pig roast at somebodies house... maybe invite families or something? I feel like that would be a cool thing for us to do.


Distance: Home
Length: 1 Day

Expected Costs: 5 to 7 $ for food and stuff

Things to do: It's a cookout. You cook. Out. and then you eat. The End. Roll on snaredrum. Everybody laugh.



7. Lake Compounce

Description: This is probably the most expensive thing on there, but I love this place. And it's awesome if you go for the entire day... Boulderdash at night is sick.

Distance From SW: 40 minutes / 27.48 miles

Length: 1 Day

Expected Costs: 35$ for tickets, money for other things if you feel the need.

Things to do: Ride roller coasters. All day long.


8. Camping!

Description: Let's go car camping! I know how much some of us love to backpack, but I figured if we do this than we'll have a chance to relax and include more people who aren't inclined to pooping in the woods for a week and eating gross noodles all the time.

Distance from SW: Variable. There are tons of great places to go, but there are a couple free campgrounds that we could hit up within 45 minutes driving distance.

Length - 2 to 3 days

Expected Costs: 10-15$ Per Person for Food.

Things to do: Play music, build fires, sleep outside under the stars, cook food, find lakes, go swimming, pretty much anything.



9. Newport, RI

Description: This place is sick. A lot to see, a lot to do.

Distance from SW: 2 hours 2 minutes / 91.15 miles

Length: 1 long day, possibly spread over two days.


Expected Costs:
- Gas
- Food money
- Shopping money

Things to do:
- Check out the mansions
- Cliff walk trail
- Walk around the town and check out shops and stuff
- Longboard!
- Beach (is there a beach there?)



10. Go Cliff Jumping

Description: I'm sort of sick of going to the same place, so I want to go try to find all (or at least some of) the best places in CT to go cliff jumping. After all, the trip and adventure to get there is more than half of the fun anyway, right?

Distance From SW: >1.5 Hours

Length: 1 Day (Multiple Times)

Expected Costs: Gas. That's pretty much it.

Things to do: Find Cliff. Jump off Cliff. Repeat.
I know we've had some good places that we've been going , but I want to find some new places to hit up. It'll give us more opportunities to see more places and make the most of our summer.







11. Ultimate Frisbee (College Version)

Description: Play Ultimate, but actually follow any sort of rules/plays/anything.

Distance from SW: In SW

Length: All Summer?

Expected Costs: None

Things to do: So I know we play ultimate all the time, but I really want to play the way some of us have played in college. I know some people are going to complain and say we're being "stiff" about it, and that we should just go with it, but eh. I































I'll continue to update this throughout the end of the semester, as I'm hoping to get 20-30 things on here, and while we don't have to do all of them, I want to try to do a lot. I want to actually do stuff this summer. Yes, I know we'll all be working and busy this summer, but I think some people have been over thinking how busy they will be. Also, most of these are free or very cheap, so there's no reason why we shouldn't be able to do some. We've got from roughly May 15th to August 15th - Thats 90 Days. Even if you work 80 of those days (which is totally unrealistic in every sense), that's still 10 days, 10 possible trips. Let's make this happen!

Keep checking for more updates!

- Connor

Addicted to Bad Ideas

The World/Inferno Friendship Society
"Addicted to Bad Ideas"
2007

1. Peter Lorre Overture - 4:45
2. With a Good Criminal Heart - 2:55
3. "M" is for Morphine - 3:01
4. ...and Embarked on a Life of Poverty and Freedom... - 3:32
5. Ich erinnere mich an die Weimarer Republik - 4:13
6. I Just Make Faces - 2:45
7. Everybody Comes to Rick's - 2:05
8. Cathy Catharine - 2:49
9. Thumb Cinema - 3:23
10. Addicted to Bad Ideas - 3:14
11. Heart Attack '64 - 2:40

This is going to be a hard one to pin down. First of all, I'm very mixed about this band. I happen to love this album, but the other three that I've listened to thus far ("Just The Best Party", "Red-Eyed Soul" and "The True Story of the Bridgewater Astral League") haven't really clicked with me yet, if you know what I mean. Regardless, however, this album is one of my favorite fucking albums of all time. Seriously.

World/Inferno Friendship Society is a very odd band. It's a mash up of punk, dancehall, ska, and cabaret influences, and somehow it all comes together to form an amazing and dark concept album (I promise, I'll write about more albums on here than just concept albums, but that's the way it's happened to work out so far). I've never seen them live, but apparently their shows are absolutely nuts and very Pink Floyd-esque, with Pyrotechnics, extravagant numbers and upwards of 15 people on stage at any one point in time. Check them out here if you want more info on them http://bit.ly/9iij51. Anyway, Addicted to Bad Ideas is about the life and career of Peter Lorre, which you can read about here, since I'm too lazy to post a bio on the guy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Lorre. As I've said before, a lot of the songs have a darker tone to them than the other World/Inferno albums, but I believe that this is what makes this album so great. It even starts off with an overture of the themes from most of the songs! That sort of screams "concept album!", doesn't it? The horn and reed combos in some of these songs are a real plus to this album, and these are exceptionally notable on the songs "And Embarked on a Life of Poverty" and "M is for Morphine", two of the darkest songs on the album. Please take note though! This shouldn't in any way prevent or stop you from listening to this album - it's an incredible album, and when listened through from start to finish it proves to be quite moving. If you are looking for a more traditional World/Inferno sound, check out the song "I Just Make Faces" (The vocal breakdown is absolutely amazing in this one), and "Cathy Catharine" - you'll get the familiar fast paced feel that other albums have, though I love the feel on this album the best. Lastly, we have "Addicted to Bad Ideas", my personal favorite song on the album and one of my favorite songs, ever. It combines an incredible emotion with an ambiguous message ("Because I can, cause no one can stop me") and really serves as the climax of the album. This is the way it's done. Seriously.

Also, about to pick up the new Streetlight cover-album. I'll write about that later on.

How to tell whether or not you've succeeded financially in life.

If you've made enough money to have this in your house, then you've succeeded.

Seriously, this is something I NEED to have when I get my own place. Not want. Not hope. Need. Although I'd have to draw the line somewhere before my place turned into Pee-Wee's Playhouse.

- Connor

The Dear Hunter (Acts I, II, and III)

Alright, so I'm starting to get a decent idea of what I want to do with this thing, musically speaking. I'm not going to attempt to be totally comprehensive and cover every genre and every chart topping album. There's plenty of other people out there that do that. Instead, I'm going to stick with posting reviews and promoting my favorite albums and artists, in the hopes that more people will listen to them. And trust me word on these. If I've taken the time to write about it, then chances are I've been listening to it quite a bit. Anyway...

So who's heard of the band The Dear Hunter? A friend of mine showed me them about a year ago, and they've been my favorite band ever since. Why? Well first of all, the lead singer and brainchild behind the group is Casey Crescenzo, former lead singer of The Receiving End of Sirens (commonly written as TREOS). TREOS is an entry for another day, but they are a post-hardcore & experimental group (3 singers is never a bad thing.







Ok, maybe I lied a little bit.







Anyway, after TREOS broke up (although I've heard word that there will be reunion shows coming up this may??? anyone know anything???) Casey went on his own way and start working on his side project that he had started developing while he was still with TREOS. First of all, you have to understand this guy. It's like Paul Bunyan, Pavarotti , and Jesus all combined into one awesome musical genius.


+

+
=

Yup, Casey is pretty much the most awesome man on the planet. Without a doubt. Seriously, I can't stop listening to The Dear Hunter. One of the reasons why I love them so much is because all of their music is based around the same concept. Currently, they are three acts through a six act epic tale of a mysterious individual named The Dear Hunter, who so far in the story has had a pretty rough life for him. I wouldn't say that these are concept albums in the traditional sense, as they don't use leitmotifs and repeated themes, but why split hairs, right? I can't count how many times I've sat down to do homework and listened through all three acts back to back to back.

Act I: The Lake South, The River North

Track Listing:

1. "Battesimo Del Fuoco" - 1:56
2. "The Lake South" - 1:43
3. "City Escape" - 5:56
4. "The Inquiry of Ms. Terri" - 5:56
5. "1878" - 7:02
6. "The Pimp and The Priest" - 6:00
7. "His Hands Matched His Tongue" - 6:00
8. "The River North" - 4:03

*Plot Spoilers Ahead* Yes, there is a plot to this music. In fact, that's what it's all about. Like I said before, through this music we get to hear the story of The Dear Hunter, and it is one hell of a story. Act I is only an EP, but that doesn't mean that it is any less impressive than the other two acts released so far. When listening to this music, I recommend sitting down or doing something that allows you to listen uninterrupted for the length of the three albums, or at least one act at a time. The Dear Hunter isn't the type of band that is going to try to find a "hit single" in their album (though I think that nobody should really be doing that anymore, it lessons the attention paid to the entire album), and you shouldn't be trying to find one either. There's such a wide variety of instrumentation here, and you really can't think of as anything else but the opening of a truly epic story. How cool would it be to be born with something as cool as "Battesimo Del Fuoco" playing? There are some great instrumental segments on this album, particularly with "The Lake South" and "1878". And of course, you have to love the awesome chorale on t portion of "The Pimp in the Priest". Trust me, it's awesome. So anyway, after an
album full of encounters from evil pimps and repeated attempts to get away from a not so great childhood home, we get to act II.

Act II: The Meaning of, & All Things Concerning Ms. Leading.
Track listing:

1. "The Death and the Berth" - 0:38
2. "The Procession" - 4:59
3. "The Lake and the River" - 9:29
4. "The Oracles on the Delphi Express" - 4:18
5. "The Church and The Dime" - 4:57
6. "The Bitter Suite 1 and 2: Meeting Ms. Leading and Through the Dime" - 6:06
7. "The Bitter Suite 3: Embrace" - 7:46
8. "Smiling Swine" - 4:45
9."Evicted" - 3:44
10. "Blood of the Rose" - 3:48
11. "Red Hands" - 6:07
12. "Where the Road Parts" - 4:29
13. "Dear Ms. Leading" - 4:28
14. "Black Sandy Beaches" - 4:13
15. "Vital Vessle Vindicates" - 7:09

I don't even know where I'd begin describing Act II. After a brief funeral (literally), the album kicks off with "The Procession" and "The Lake and The River". If you aren't hooked already than...well I don't know what to say, except to keep listening. The story is a bit easier to understand here (though overall The Dear Hunter is much easier to understand than some of the Coheed albums. I get the fact that there is a story behind those, but I have no clue what it is..), and you can definitely tell by some of the song titles. I mean I'm pretty sure that all of us know that "The Bitter Suite 3: Embrace" isn't about playing scrabble late into the night, and "Red Hands" isn't about painting your hands red in kindercare class. Speaking of Red Hands, I dare you to try not to listen to that song on Repeat. As the best known song The Dear Hunter has, it's spread around quite a bit, and justifiably so. The emotion is intense, and I'm sure a lot of us can relate to what is being said there (I'm not going to go that far into spoilers, sorry). Act II is a story of finding love and losing love, trust and betrayal, and an eventual departure for bigger things. It's a work of art that many of us can identify with. That's a good thing too, because Act III takes that feeling and basically curb-stomps it.

Act III: Life and Death
Track Listing:

1.	"Writing on a Wall"	1:38
2.	"In Cauda Venenum"	5:29
3.	"What It Means to be Alone"	4:49
4.	"The Tank"	4:39
5.	"The Poison Woman"	4:51
6.	"The Thief"	5:01
7.	"Mustard Gas"	4:13
8.	"Saved"	4:41
9.	"He Said He Had a Story"	3:39
10.	"This Beautiful Life"	4:05
11.	"Go Get Your Gun"	3:15
12.	"Son"	2:16
13.	"Father"	3:25
14.	"Life and Death"	5:45

Yeah, you're not going to find any anthems in this one. The Dear Hunter goes to war in Act III (literally), and all sorts of messed up stuff happens. You know, the usual with war... Poisonous gas attacks, killing your brother, evil tanks, the whole bunch. While the last album was a coming of age story in a way, Act III is about the loss of innocence. Well, I don't know how innocent The Dear Hunter was before (he's really got to lay off the prostitutes...), but all things held relative of course. There are some really epic songs in this one ("Mustard Gas", The Thief"), and there is a new intensity to The Dear Hunter's sound that we haven't heard before. Things get really trippy towards the end (I'm not going to reveal that part though), and I'm really curious what Act IV will be about. Act III is darker, bolder, and louder than any of the previous Dear Hunter works, and it makes this known right away. If anything, I wish that act IV would come out sooner, because I can't get enough of these guys. They've been my favorite band since I first started listening to them, and for many damn good reasons. Go listen. Now.

That's all!