The One Where I Tried Sushi

Yup, that was pretty much the day. We went out for sushi for dinner, but I'm not adventurous enough with my food to eat real sushi and I already know that I'm not a fan of California rolls. So I got a cucumber roll, which is just cucumber, rice and seaweed. It was good, although I still don't think I'm going to be eating it often, the seaweed texture is just weird.

Other than that, I sat outside on a bench this morning (early afternoon, whatever) and enjoyed a fresh bagel and a cup of coffee while Kt interviewed the bagel store owner's son for a project. That was lovely, considering how nice it was outside. That will not be the case tomorrow, when I'll have to swim up to the academic complex for tutoring and class at night due to the torrential downpour they are forecasting. I could be making this up, all I know is that the little weather thing on my mac's dashboard shows rain.

The One Where We Took Four and a Half Hour Road Trip

Today Kt and I ventured down to Rutgers for the second time this year. The first time was at the beginning of October to go see Donald Glover do stand up with some guy from The Office (who was clearly very important to me, considering I can't even remember who it was).

This time wasn't supposed to be as fun. For my history seminar we were supposed to go somewhere to access materials that we could not find at our local or school libraries, which is annoying and involved travel that I wasn't too keen on doing. I decided on Rutgers because I could drive there, rather than taking a train into the city, and could go to their library with Ben, who knows his way around the place.

While I got three more books that I can use for my paper, the one that I really needed (a translation of a five hundred year old book by a Dutch physician that those accused of witchcraft were really just girls who had some mental problems) (I know, my life is so exciting) was still checked out. They had a German copy, which was hardly legible due to the intricate calligraphy in which it was written. Oh well, I guess I'm just going to have to beg my professor to let me use his copy...

Because I'm sure as hell not buying it.

Other than that, we had a lovely jaunt to Starbucks, which reminded me of my love for their iced passion tea. It's such a pretty color and it's delightful to boot.

The only negative part of today was when a beat up car with a Confederate flag bumper sticker attempted to merge into Judith's (the beetle's) passenger side. That was adrenaline rush inducing, in the terrified-your-car-is-about-to-be-crushed-because-bugs-crumble-like-aluminum-foil sort of way. Worry not, Judith is in one piece, and I'm exhausted so the adrenaline rush has faded from my system.

The One Where It's April Fool's Day

Not that April Fool's Day has ever made any sort of an impact on my life. The best April Fool's Day thing I've seen today (and in recent memory) is that Hulu tricked out its homepage so it looks like it's operating in the 90's.

It's a Friday night. I'm a senior in college. I'm clearly going to be taking part in chaotic, reckless debauchery tonight. Psshhhht. My big plans for the night include sitting on the couch in our common room, watching Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights with the rest of 19B. We're going to be wearing our jimjams and eating Cars sandwiches. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

That Time I Took a Giant Break...Again

Lame Explanation for Absence!

(For my future self, which is pretty much my only audience aside from Kt, although I have no idea if she checks hers anymore)

Social networking can be difficult. Don't let them tell you differently. I consistently fall behind on these newfangled websites (especially Facebook), due to my severe procrastination problem and the attitude that I don't owe the internet my time, I do what I want! (I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's more the former than the latter, however defiant I can be.)

I could pretend that the reason I stopped typing away on here is that the interview with Robert Schwartzman that I posted was simply too awesome, it couldn't be followed by anything else for awhile (and I mean, I suppose that's true) but I'd be lying. I will say that for awhile I'm sure I got distracted every time I looked at my blog because of that (fantastic) interview, but that isn't the reason I stopped writing. The last time I posted was the end of April of last year, meaning finals were just around the corner. While I didn't just constantly sit around doing my work, chances are I was actually hanging out with real people. Fancy that!

Now I Return

because I have no desire to take notes about China's government for class tomorrow night and I remembered that this existed.

Current Music

Anyway, I'm currently listening to Jimmy Eat World's Invented, because I just realized that I never actually listened to this the whole way through, even though I bought it a little after Christmas. For shame, self.

I just discovered that the band is going to be playing in New Jersey at the beginning of June, which is awesome because it involves less complicated transportation than going to the city. If I end up going to all of the concerts I want to attend in May/June, it's going to be a fantastic/slightly expensive month and a half. I have no doubt that it will be worth it.

INTERVIEW WITH ROBERT SCHWARTZMAN, LEAD SINGER OF ROONEY

1. What would you consider Rooney's biggest musical influences to be?

We're all influenced by different things, so it's hard to say what the overall main influences are for the band. I was attracted to song writing because it's way to create and communicate different emotions. I like songs that make me feel something, whether it's happy, sad, longing, excited, fun, etc. That's why my listening is diverse. I like visual music and movies with memorable musical cues. I don't listen to a lot of new artists cause I'm still learning about so many great artists and albums from years back. So much great music in the world, so little time. I just want to make music that satisfies me and excites the listener.

2. How is Eureka different from Rooney and Calling the World?

Eureka shows the many sides of the band and also is a more accurate representation of our musicality and maturity. We've grown up in the music business, signed right out of high school and hit the road at an early age. We dealt with unfair pressures and many obstacles that would've killed some artists. I like the pressure of having to deliver the goods, but I didn't feel appreciated by the company we were bonded to. Eureka is the beginning of a new phase in our career. Things are in our hands more than ever and I think it had a strong positive affect on the writing process of Eureka. It's hard to be in a band and have to appease your mates, but it's part of the journey. I feel the album is our best sounding album to date. We produced and engineered the album and were the only people in the studio. We had to be critical of our own ideas and edit ourselves, which is difficult, but I feel we make something unique and exciting. We've maintained the "Rooney" sound that our fans like and we've shown a fresh side to the music we create.

3. What is your favorite song from Eureka and why?

I really like Only Friend. I would sit at the piano every night and play the chords over and over, making up the melody as I went. I didn't have any words and didn't know what to say. Eventually, the words just came out...I like when that happens. I like that the words are less literal, but still tell a story. They compliment the music well. I really like show tunes and this one has some of that old show tune feel.

4. What is your favorite song out of all of the albums and why?

It's hard to pick one, they all have something I like. It's nice to have reached our third album. The live shows will be mixed with different material and will be fun to piece together. Playing I'm Shakin and When Did Your Heart Go Missing are always a good time on stage and make me proud of be the writer of those songs. They're crowd pleaser and I love crowd pleasers.

5. How do you choose which songs become singles from the albums? Why did you pick "I Can't Get Enough" to be the first single off of Eureka?

We've had success with more rhythmic songs, especially internationally. We're still in the music business, trying to sell albums and make new fans and grow our world. I Can't Get Enough is upbeat and fun and I hope it excited people.

6. What is your favorite Rooney video? Why?

Our new video for I Can't Get Enough is one of my favorites. We've always done straight performance videos or videos with performances built into the plot. The I Can't Get Enough video uses a lot of visual effects and animation, which is something I've always wanted in our videos, but never had a chance to use. I also like the video for Tell Me Soon, which was banned from TV. Apparently the girl was too young and I don't come off well in it. But, it's a really cool video and an original concept.

7. How did you decide on Eureka for an album title?

We sat around throwing names into the hat. Nothing stuck and no one was happy. The artist who did the album artwork found an image of the Great Seal of California and on it it said EUREKA. We loved the image cause it fit our California vibe and the name was already a part of the image.

8. I recently saw the behind the scenes footage of the "I Can't Get Enough" video. How difficult was it to work on roller skates? How did the band decide on a roller rink?

The idea of roller skating in the video came to me while listening to the song a thousand times in the studio. The verse has a smooth, sliding around rhythm and I thought it would be cool to sing while skating. I worked with the director, Marcus Herring, on a few SOLOBOB videos and I knew he would be able to make a lot happen on a small budget. He's great with post effects and has a dense knowledge of film and music, so his references we spot on. I used to rollerblade in elementary school and I'm pretty good on ice skates. Ned is also a good skater and Taylor and Louie picked it up fast. No one fell and everyone looks pretty comfortable on skates. It was amazing to watch the real skaters in the video, the professional. I also went to check out the roller rink the night before the shoot and was exposed to the fabulous world of roller skating. It's coming back, big time!

(and one last question unrelated the the album--what's your favorite book? I love reading and I'm always interested to hear what other people like.)

Check out:

This is Your Brain on Music

Henderson the rain king

Plays by Ibsen, Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams

Check out the writer Henning Mankell

Okay, Robert Schwartzman is beyond awesome for this. How many bands will encourage fans who write for blogs to conduct email interviews with them? Not too many. The fact that he goes through the emails and answers all of the questions BECAUSE HE WANTS TO makes him a fantastic human being. I'll stop freaking out now.

He also sent this

http://ilgrock.com/rooney/mp3-signup/

which you can get in several different places, but still cool that I have the direct link for this site now.

I really want their new album, Eureka, to come out. I've already preordered and will be waiting for it until June 8th when it comes out (and hopefully I get it on that day). And I'm waiting for them to post tour dates. And for their new video "I Can't Get Enough" to come out. Have I been obsessing over this band for weeks? You bet. Are they worth it? Hell fucking yeah.

Ooooh you're askin' for trouble, don't come around again

Hmm...having conversations with someone who doesn't really seem to care what you have to say about your own life easily contributes to a defeatist attitude in regards to them.

But here's a Rooney picture!

Here, they all have shades.

Booth: You know, you're a smart ass. You know that?

Brennan: Objectively, I'd say I'm very smart, although it has nothing to do with my ass.

"And in that moment, I swear we were infinite."

It's starting to seem like infinity's over