'She plays her vinyl records/ Singing songs on the eve of destruction'

I just want to take the time to say this: (and I couldn't resist the title)
I HAVE THE "1,000 HOURS" E.P. !!!!
Yes, that's right. I totally forgot that Reprise Records re-issued all of Green Day's albums on vinyl- every single one! So in addition to the fabled '1,000 Hours' E.P. I also have "Slappy" and the original '39/Smooth' L.P. It's really amazing to say that I now own these things...they're such 'fabled' items to obtain. And at this point, I just really like like looking at them. Everything is completely the way it's supposed to be...replicated to a tee! Anyway, it's so amazing to have these vinyl copies. I love having those records, because everything seems so much large than life, y'know? Like it's been completely blown up so you can see every possible detail and you just kind of lose yourself in it. I love listening to them and re-hear all those songs as if for the first time! I love the artwork, and the goofy pictures of the band inside, and the cramped, hand-written lyrics inside.
But '1,000 Hours' is still my favorite.
I'm not really sure why, though...Maybe it's because on the back it says, 'Billy: guitar, hat, Mike: bass, hair, John: drums, bus." Or maybe it's because every time I pull out the teeny vinyl .45 and it says copyright 1991 on it. OR maybe I absolutely love the whole damn thing because it has handwritten lyrics and doodles and blurry pictures and hastily scribbled thank-yous.
And the only thing that proves it's a reissue would be the fact it says 'greenday.com' in the lower left hand corner. ;)
So, I encourage those of you who haven't ever heard a record before to go out and find one of them! It certainly opens up a whole new perspective on your favorite band.
And yes, the Green Day-ness won't stop. ;)

'Wasted Youth and a Fistful of Ideals...'

So this entry is not going to be as giddy and happy as the previous. One good thing, however, is that the new Green Day album has comfortably slipped right in with the others, meaning that I absolutely love it. But, I'm not sure if I can continue to find reassurance in these songs without it reminding me of a ridiculous twist of fate.

There is a concert on July 14th. The band is coming to Detroit to play at the Palace of Auburn hills.

And I will not be going.

I figured I would start asking around about it, seeing as how the date is coming up, and all the answers I received were incredulous looks and a flat-out 'No.' You might be thinking, who cares, right? Who decides for you what you can and can't do? Well...unfortunately there is such a thing as living under the same roof with your parents, who therein decide what you can and cannot do. So you see my dilemma. It's times like these when I really hate being an optimistic teenager who sees everything falling into place so she can see her favorite band play on a Tuesday night. Unusually, my parents and I have gotten along fairly well these past couple of years, so for them to not understand this kind of thing really makes me mad. They hear me blasting the new album every other day, put up with me talking about it, not to mention the fact that the DVR is clogged with me recording their gigs on GMA, SNL and a few other spots where they've graced the television screen.

So...I don't understand why they would balk at something like this. The one explanation I've gotten made some sort of sense: that they wouldn't be comfortable with me running around Detroit by myself at 7:30 at night. I can understand that part, but I wouldn't go by myself; I would definitely take a friend with me. I even offered to take my father with me, but that didn't work. Of course.

I understand that they've done a lot for me this past month, what with Graduation and all... which is why I offered to buy the tickets myself. But that didn't work either!!! My last shot was my sister and her fiance, but my mother got to her before I could.

It really feels as though EVERYTHING is conspiring against me, like I'm not meant to see them. It wouldn't be so bad if it didn't' feel as though I was never going to get a chance to see them play again. It really feels that way! After they're done with America, they'll be in Europe for like, a year! And then when they comeback, I'll be in college, have a job, and I wont' get to see them AGAIN.

I admit it sounds stupid to those who can't understand how important this is to me, but....Jeezus. I've been wanting to see this band since I was thirteen. I've missed every chance I've ever gotten to see them, because I was 'too young,' too late, or it was too far away for me to go. So I just don't understand how when the absolutely perfect time comes, it-doesn't-come-to-fruition!!! It makes me feel like this is only the beginning of the next round of disappointments. And not to mention every time I listen to them, now it comes across as bittersweet. It drives me insane. I'm left hoping that I will soon 'grow' out of this phase, because I can't stand the thought of that emotion weighing me down EVERY time I listen to them!! *sigh* Where is that little ray of hope that I keep holding out for?! Did I bring all this stupidity on to myself????

Probably, as is usual.

...I guess I'll just have to keep listening to the live albums, close my eyes and pretend I'm there... At least they can never disappoint me.

The Time Has Come Today!!

So how awesome will today be?! "21st Century Breakdown" comes out TODAY!! I am so uber excited!!! I've seriously been waiting forever- like four years just about. It's really going to be a great day, aside from the fact that I have a horrible unwillingness to do anything in school. Projects and Prom abound... ugh. But I am so happy that today marks the day in which the best album ever comes out. :D I think I'm taking a shot on that fact, but oh well. At this point, whatever is on the album will be sweet. I don't care if it's just a guitar playing for like a minute- at least I'll have something. (Although that would be disappointing. Please don't be like that). Ha. I Can't wait!! The coolest thing is that the band will be touring again, which means that I'll have the opportunity to see them when they come to town.... Sweet. However, the only thing that could possibly suck about going to see them would be the fact that I'm really short compared to everyone else and...yeah. I'd get pancaked in the mosh pit, like seriously. But it's really cool to know that the album- all EIGHTEEN tracks of it- complete with artwork and lyrics and all that.... will be MINE. Finally. I don't even really care that I'll be graduating in a month; Green Day seems to take center stage for me in my mind. Ha.Of course there is going to be some idiots out there who decide that they hate the album and will proceed to trash it, just because it's much more...imaginative than their previous ones. Well, that won't bother me too much, because I won't really care about that. If people want to be dumb and narrow-minded, that is completely up to them. :) Now if someone dares to call them sellouts, however...
....that's a story for a different day....
Peace. And I'm off to buy the thing!! Oh Happy Day! ;)

Anticipation

...It's killer. I am completely serious about that. And I really haven't been writing in this thing- jeez. Sorry about that. But, yeah. The new Green Day album is coming out in MAY. The 16th. That's a month away, and I still have to wait. It wouldn't be so dang bad if they weren't playing all those lovely 'secret shows' in the Bay Area that I won't ever get to see.
Crap.
But that's okay, too, because I know that Green Day is out and about again and is ready to kick Rock and Roll right in the behind- as it so deserves. *sigh* Why must it always be Green Day to come in and take care of business? Oh well, I'm not complaining. :) I actually broke my own stupid rules a few days ago and watched some of the shows on YouTube. It's not like 20 seconds of music and grainy film footage would ruin anything for me, but I digress. At any right, the music sounds awesome, and I'm completely in love with this song called "East Jesus Nowhere." "Last Night on Earth" also sounds so beautiful- I know that song is going to kill me. Figuratively, of course. But I just want to scream sometimes, because I'm so freaking excited for this album to come out. No one else could probably understand this, but this music means the world to me, and often times it's the only thing that actually makes sense in my life. (Not to mention offering me good advice at times.) It's just going to be great- AND the single of "Know Your Enemy" comes out tomorrow!!!! Whee! Maybe I'll have a little review or something...I dunno.
Each song that I manage to hear or whatever lyrics I manage to write sends a great smile across my face. It's all so cool and hopeful.
And Lord knows we need a lot more hope these days. I can't wait!

Awesome!

This is the cover art for Green Day's new album. It's sooooo cool. I'm totally excited! (Thanks to GDA for the pic!!) ;) I love it, and I can't wait! There was even a tiny little blip of a new song I heard somewhere...not enough to even take anything from, but so cool! I seriously, can't wait. Call me what you will, but I love it. What do you think of the artwork? Reminds me of old school 70's punk. Sweet, no? :)

Grammy Griping

Yesterday was the 51st Annual Grammy awards. Usually I like watching this kind of thing. I get to see all the artists and watch them perform. Sometimes I think it's a little bit corny, especially as far as jokes go (I'll get to that in a minute). But most of the time it's usually cool to see. I did like what I saw the first few minutes- U2 was playing their new song, "Get on Your Boots," which I ended up liking. Of course, the stupid L.A. crowd went absolutely mild.... About that... they must not know how to categorize something as cool. Not only was U2 ignored, so was Kid Rock, it seemed. Everyone else had cheers abound for the stupid Jonas Brothers (ugh!) and all the rappers and stuff. Which, yeah, I'm not a big fan of rap, and I suppose it was good or whatever...but come on. Plus, the 'jokes' that came about were the lamest dang things I'd ever heard. Thank God there was only a couple of them. I felt sorry for poor Dwayne Johnson (aka the Rock).... he got the worst of it. His joke didn't even fizzle out- it straight up DIED right there, like all the air was sucked out of the room. I kid you not.
COLDPLAY won best rock album and song of the year. ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?!!!! They were up against Metallica, the Raconteurs and Kid Rock, and they WON?!! Seriously. I was upset with that one... Something is not right with that. Even if you're a Coldplay fan, you know that they aren't rock. They're pop at the very least- Mope Rock is what I call it. I can imagine Metallica trashing Coldplay's dressing room roaring, 'where's my Grammy, you idiots!!' But maybe that's a tad over doing it... :)All the performances were good, though, except for Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus, which I totally flipped the channel for. I have nothing against the former, but the latter I just can't stand. And Raidohead. Ugh- hate them, too. Thank God they didn't win album of the year... Robert Plant and Alison Krauss did, which I was happy about. I was happy to see a deserving artist get that award.

And, much to my ecstatic-ness (which is not a word) my lovely band GREEN DAY showed up to present the award for album of the year. How awesome! I get to see them again after a loooong time, and that's always nice. They don't look too bad, if you ask me. (pic via GDA). Of course, they were their endearingly strange selves. :) The new album is called "21st Century Breakdown," and it's coming out in May! Yay! Can't wait for it! Billie Joe had the last word before they all left the stage, hinting at what's to come, albeit with tongue in cheek, "Good bye, and we'll see ya next year."
I better.

Happy Inauguration Day!!!

Today is a very historical day. Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States! I have to say that I'm very patriotic today! I watched both the Vice President and Obama be sworn in. It was all very cool. I've never really paid much attention to days like today. I think part of the reason was because I was younger and politics didn't really catch my attention yet. At any rate, I'm very glad that I watched it today. There was a lot of silly stuff of course; that's what the media likes to do with things like this.... But under that fluff there was something really important and meaningful.
I thought that Obama's speech was terrific. He addressed the problems we faced in this country, but instead of bringing us down with all that, he lifted our spirits. He reminded us what a great nation we truly are, and of the values that we all share. He believes that we are indeed all created equal and that we can overcome our differences to succeed. The whole speech was very moving, and there were tears in my eyes. At the end, I was crying a little, though I tried to hide that from those around me. I hope we can do everything he mentioned, and that we can do it together.
I am very proud to be an American today, and I hope my fellow peers are, too. No matter your politics, you have to agree that today was very historical and symbolic of change to come.
I certainly won't forget it.

The Real 'Hilts'

I was thinking recently about my nickname. My address for this blog is hiltsthecoolerking. I wanted to explain about the name a little.

I like my nickname of Hilts. No one else has it. A friend of mine started calling me that after we were talking about my favorite movie at the time, "The Great Escape." I love this movie, and she was the only person I knew my age who had seen it. It's a timeless classic; the story of American and British POWs in a prison camp during World War Two. They have to work together to escape from their German captors. It works for a suspenseful, exciting and at times humorous movie. 'Hilts' is Captain Virgil Hilts, played by Steve McQueen, my favorite actor. I liked the character because he's a rebel. He doesn't let the Germans take him down and break his spirit. They call him the 'cooler king' because he always spends time in solitary confinement, which the prisoners nicknamed, 'the cooler.' There is just something fascinating in Hilts' tenacity. Each time he's led into the Cooler by two German soldiers, his friend tosses him a baseball and glove. Hilts sits in his cell and throws the ball against the wall, over and over again, coming up with his next escape attempt. I remember first seeing that. I thought it was so cool. This guy treated his imprisonment as a job. He'd take the baseball and just throw it, passing the time until he could get out and escape again. No matter how many times they throw him in the Cooler, Hilts never learns his lesson. They never get to him; his spirit is never broken.

That's pretty powerful to me.

Hilts is the perfect hero, because he can't be compromised. He's that kind of character that the others want to be. He's independent and rides a motorcycle to freedom. I think Hilts is the embodiment of a great American hero.

And I'm so glad that I've been nick-named likewise.

Burnout

Ugh! The week back from Winter Break is definatley trying on my sanity. I have so much homework to do, especially with exams coming next week. Today I actually have some time to spare, so right now I'm going to gripe about crap to no one in particular....
First, a bunch of exam projects are to be had. English saw me furiously working to comprise my project on Jazz and tie that in with it's African Roots; not as easy as you might think. In Creative Writing, I have to make up a portfolio of all the work we've done this year and then a presentation. Not too hard, really, but it's just one more thing I've got to do. Spanish is what's really making me mad lately. We don't do anything in that class!! I swear to God I sleep with my eyes open. I zone out every day and nothing seems to grab my attention. I've been teaching myself vocab lately, or seeing if I can play a whole song in my head without being called on. (I can, by the way!!) That's how bad it is. I can usually get through two songs without my attention being diverted to something else. So today when we were suddenly dumped-trucked with a bunch of homework, I was like, "Seriously? You're giving us this much crap to do?" It probably won't even be checked in for a grade! And even if it is checked in, we won't get it back 'til freaking March anyway....
....whew. Rant over (for the most part). But it's seriously stupid at times. I know enough about Dia de los Muertos to fill up a book, but when a Spanish person talks to me, I stop and go, "Huh?" Okay.... so I got a little ranty there, but yeah. I'm done. Glad I could find something to blog about. I didn't blog over Winter Break because I was content doing nothing. ;)
But I'm back, for right now. We're getting closer to Inaguaration Day, so yay! I'm excited for that.
Isn't it great to start over at the beginning of the year and have a clean slate?
Yay Optimism!