Music Recommendations

For anyone who's looking for some good new music, I have a few recommendations that I have come across recently.  

The first one is a one-man band called Bon Iver.  I came across some rave reviews of his first and only album so far, For Emma, Forever Ago.  And I absolutely love it.  He recorded this cd himself while staying up in his father's cabin somewhere in the woods of Wisconsin I believe, after his band broke up.  You definitely get a sense of his surroundings and solitude.  For those of you who like Joe Purdy, especially his Julie Blue album, it has a similar stripped down and mellow feel to it, and it's an album that you can listen to straight through.  It's definitely not an album to put in when you're looking for something upbeat.  He sings falsetto almost the whole time, which may seem strange, but it sure does work for him.  I can't think of anyone that he really sounds like, so it will be a different sound.  So, check it out...there's a reason it's gotten such good reviews--it's fantastic!  You can listen to the whole album for free here.  

The second band I recommend checking out, you are more likely to have heard of: The National.  

I heard from somewhere that they were really good and so I listened to a few snippets on itunes and was not blown away by any stretch.  However, they were interesting enough to give them a shot.  And so I checked out their album--Boxer--from the library and listened through the whole thing to entertain myself at work while organizing files, blah.  I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed them.  The lead singer's voice is deep and kind of raspy and so I wasn't sure how much I'd like them.  However, it really grew on me quickly (it has a similar sound to Alexi Murdoch, but a little raspier).  They remind me of a few other bands I really like, although they definitely sound very different (Coldplay and Death Cab For Cutie), maybe just similar genre/style.  The melodies definitely stuck with me--I found myself humming them in my head later that evening.  They definitely have a very layered sound so I think I'll enjoy them more and more each time I listen to them.  I think if you give them a shot you'll also be pleasantly surprised.  You can listen to the album on rhapsody.  

Now, anyone have any recommendations for me?

Oh computers...

So, the past few weeks have not been kind to the Harrell-Delaney household when it comes to computers. First it started with Melanie's macbook.

About 2 weeks ago, her macbook froze up on her and she was forced to force restart it by holding down the power switch. And wouldn't ya know it, when she turned it back on, it wouldn't load up like normal. To make a long story short, after about a week of runaround with Best Buy and the " Geek Squad" we found out that the desktop wouldn't load up like normal because the hard drive had crashed and needed replaced. Thank goodness we picked up Best Buy's accidental coverage so replacing the hard drive didn't cost us anything. However, for us to recover all of the files she had on there it would cost us at a minimum of $300, but much more likely to be around $600-$1600, which is much more than we could afford to spend on such a task. So, Melanie lost a whole bunch of school documents that were not backed up on any of the various places that files get backed up on. Sucky suck suck...

Well, that brings us to today...

This morning, we had to make another trip to Best Buy(well technically Melanie did)...for my computer that is. I woke up to find out that Melanie had spilled some coffee into my laptop and it was no longer working. Sucky McSuck Suck... Melanie took it in and they were able to backup all the files I wanted off of it and they sent it off to determine what needed replaced--most likely the mother-board. I should have it back within 10 business days at no cost because, again, thankfully we got the accidental coverage for my computer when we bought it. Poor Melanie felt so terrible and was so frustrated about it...two computers within the span of 2 weeks broken while in her hands. She said she doesn't want to hold another computer again.

But it turns out, we just got back from another trip to Best Buy to pick up her repaired macbook which finally was ready to go. So, she indeed is holding a computer as I type this (I'm using Melanie's work's laptop, that she is allowed to borrow). We take a computer in, we get one back...I'm just wondering what computer we'll have to take in when mine is ready?!? eek...

Oh computers, I love thee...and...I despise thee ;)

Fantasy Books

I just finished reading The Hobbit last night, after playing and winning our game of Talisman - The Magical Quest Game (which is a freaking awesome board game that any fan of board games and fantasy would love). It's really crazy that I hadn't read such a legendary fantasy book considering my love for fantasy. I've been meaning to read it for a while, and finally I just picked it up and finished it in about a week or so. I really enjoyed it. I thought it would be more of a kid's book than it was, but it was more on par with the LOTR trilogy, maybe just with a lighter tone and a single storyline. For anybody who hasn't read it and is looking for a highly enjoyable and light-hearted story to fall into, I highly recommend pickin it up :)

Now having read The Hobbit finally, I am looking forward even more to when the movie (actually 2 movies: 1 based on the Hobbit and the other bridging the Hobbit and LOTR) comes out, which will likely be 2-4 years. I'm sure Peter Jackson will bring the same artistic genius to these films as he did with the LOTR, so we'll all be in for a treat.

While we're on the topic of great fantasy books, you all should go pick up my bro's book, The Power Within: Book 1 of the Quest for Saerwen (which you can pick up here). I really enjoyed it and look forward to reading the real finished copy, which is on its way! I think you all will be very impressed by how it turned out. Props to you Ryan--when's the next one coming out?!?

Yeahoo for fantasy books and fun reads!

My New Blog

Hey everyone! This is my attempt at blogging. I've never really had a blog before, so I'm going to give it a shot and see how it goes. Hopefully you all will discover that I post often and that you're happy I post often because my posts are just so interesting and insightful. That is yet to be determined, but I do hope to post often enough and maybe at least just throw ya a bone about some new music I've discovered or a fantastic book I've read recently, maybe even some links to some interesting news and such. Mostly, I hope this blog becomes a good way to stay connected with all my friends.
Anyways, here goes nothin...