so you may have noticed...

...that my blog has been a bit inactive lately. So I'm putting up a temporary

sign on my proverbial blog lawn.



Fear not, I will be back soon. Until then, enjoy some pretty pictures of José Nicholas Théodore.

album of the week: quicken the heart

This week's song of the week is a whole album. Shut up, it's my blog and I do what I want. (Well actually I was just going to pick a song off the album, but I couldn't find the one I wanted on the music playlist maker thing, so I settled for a medley sort of mashup of all the songs on the album. Deal with it.)

Maxïmo Park's third studio album was officially released on Monday (when I wanted to have this blog entry posted...ah well, such is life), although I've been listening to it on their myspace practically nonstop for about a week already. At first listen, I liked the album but not as much as the previous two. And then I remembered that I thought the same thing about the second album but it ended up really growing on me. I think maybe I just have to take some time to get used to new things.

Quicken the Heart has a very dreamy quality to it. Like Our Earthly Pleasures before it, it isn't as unfinished or unhinged sounding as their debut, although the first two tracks have traces of early Park in them. "Wraithlike" is slightly frantic (there are even sirens in the background) and you get a strange sense that the song is constantly trying to catch up with the beat. "The Penultimate Clinch" starts off somewhat uninspiring, but by the time the chorus comes around you're bopping around the room.

The third track is titled "The Kids Are Sick Again" and it's the first single released, and it's quite a bit more negative than their usual sound. It's about a never ending cycle of adolescent summers doing fuck all, basically. I can relate to "the comforting ache of the summer holidays / pointless days pining, afternoons whining", seeing as I really don't want to go back home when this term is over. This summer will be boring. But anyways...

"A Cloud of Mystery" hasn't really grabbed me yet. It's a decent song but not one of my favorites on the album. "Calm" and "In Another World (You Would've Found Yourself By Now)" are interesting to listen to back to back, because "Calm" starts out in a slow dreamy happy sort of mode and then turns darker, while "In Another World" is dark and sort of threatening at first but then a major chord kicks off the chorus and it's all happy and dancey. "You'll still end up on a revolving dance floor in the middle of the river" is one of my favorite moments on the album. And yes, that lyric sounds incredibly random, but the band said it's a reference to a weird night club in Newcastle that was on a boat on the Tyne.

"Let's Get Clinical" is a great song. Not a whole lot of symbolism here; just a lighthearted song about doing the dirty. I first heard a live version of this song on youtube and I was so excited to hear the official studio version, and at first I was a little bit disappointed because it was slower than I had imagined. However, I've grown to love it just as much. The next one, "Roller Disco Dreams", was the song that I wanted to use as the SOTW. It's a sad sort of regretful song about growing up, having adult relationships, and wanting to hang on to childhood. The soaring vocals at the chorus are fantastic, and "if it's a grower / why can't we take things slower?" is a sentiment that I think most people have felt at one time or another.

"Tanned" is another dreamy sort of song about happy lazy summer days. Nothing too earth shattering, but I do love the lyrical rhythm in the verses. "Questing, Not Coasting" is a slow song, but it's one of my favorites of the new bunch. The "Hey you, what's new?" part always makes me smile, and I love how it ends with the "thanks for coming by". This is another song with an emotive chorus that sort of soars above the rest of the song. Love it.

The last two songs "Overland, West of Suez" and "I Haven't Seen Her In Ages" aren't really the best songs, so the album kind of fizzes out rather than going out with a punch. That's not to say they're bad, and I'm sure in a few months I'll love them just as much as the rest, but that's just my first sort of impression.

However, I absolutely adore the bonus track "Lost Property". It sounds a bit quirky with just drums and a keyboard, and since there isn't much in the way of musical background the lyrics are free to take centre stage. And the lyrics in this song are some of the best of the whole album. "When I ask how are you / maybe I just mean how am I? / I line up my complaints / and cram them into my reply" is hilarious; we all know people like that, don't we? Also "take me to nostalgics anonymous" is a really strange thing to say, but it made me crack up when I heard it because it sounds so much like me. I'm always going on about one thing or another from the past and feeling all nostalgic.

So yeah...son of godzilla, that was a lot of waffling. I just get excited about new albums, kay? Don't judge. Overall verdict: I'm very satisfied with the release. It's put me in a very good mood, which I'm hoping will last through to the end of exams.

goalie love

I love Semyon Varlamov.

He just turned 21, he just recently got called up from the Hershey Bears, and he still doesn't speak any English. But he makes saves like this against one of the best players in the NHL:


Click the HD button. It's even better.

This probably isn't the most appropriate moment to post this, seeing as how the Capitals have just lost three playoff games in a row, but whatever. He is amazing and the losses weren't his fault. Game 6 is starting...um, now. It's in Pittsburgh, and if we lose this one we're out of the playoffs. I'm nervous.

Come on Varlamov & Co. Football has sucked this weekend. Don't lose and make me even sadder.

LATE NIGHT EDIT: We won!! 5-4 in overtime to force game 7 this Wednesday back in DC. Let's all hope it will turn out better than last year's series against the Flyers. Go Caps!

i don't know why i find this so amusing

The Backstreet Boys had a song called "That's What She Said".

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

How did I not know about this before?? Brilliant.

old school advertisements are better than today's.

For more, go here.

spring fever

It's springtime, which means dress/skirt weather. I have spring shopping fever, and no money to spend if I actually want to go to Ireland at the end of the month. So here's what I'd buy if I could.

By Shoshanna (from Nordstrom):
By Free People:


From Anthropologie:


And I haven't even started on the shoes yet.

Edit: oh em gee. Are jellies coming back into fashion??? From DSW:
I don't know how I feel about this.

august isn't too far away

I know the season isn't technically over, but for us it might as well be. If Chelsea screw up enough we may be able to steal third place, and we could also take revenge on Man U and possibly even keep them from winning the title, but there's really nothing else for us to do for ourselves. We've secured fourth and there are no trophies for us to win (again), so all we can do now is look towards next season.

I'm no expert of course (I haven't even played soccer since I was about 13), but I've noticed some things that the team can work on for the 09/10 campaign.

Defence: Gaël Clichy and Bacary Sagna have been immense all season. Gallas, now that he's stopped complaining and being petty and started concentrating on playing, has been very good too. Silvestre...well, he's more hit-or-miss. He's had some good moments for us, but overall he's just not that great. And with the constantly being injured thing, he's really no help to the team at all. Djourou and Gibbs are young and have made some mistakes, but they are both shaping up to be talented players who will do well for us in later years.

One specific thing the defence can work on is not falling down. Yes, I'm talking to you, Clichy and Gibbs. I love you both, and you're both extremely hard workers, but a few (literal) slip-ups have led to goals being conceded at very inopportune moments, i.e. to start Spurs's comeback last October, and Man United's first goal on Tuesday, respectively.

Theo Walcott: I've been a bit underwhelmed by his performances this season. I know he's a striker at heart rather than a winger, but really, it's not like Wenger is putting him on defence. It shouldn't be that big of an adjustment. If you can score precision goals, you should be able to make precision passes, but his passing has been off lately. And with Robin van Persie, Eduardo, and Adebayor healthy and on form (not to mention Vela, and yes even Bendtner sometimes), the striker position is pretty well covered, so he should do his best to adjust to the wing.

Theo, I love you, so work hard this summer and be even more awesome next season.

Cesc Fàbregas: Cesc seems to be having trouble showing up to the big important matches lately. He hasn't been playing badly, per se, but he hasn't been playing particularly well either. I barely noticed he was on the pitch for the first half of Tuesday night's game, and the lack of Arshavin was even more apparent as a result. He never really had any issues before his injury, save for a few bad games, but everyone's got one or two of those. So I don't know, maybe it's a confidence thing?

Whatever it is, sort it out please Cesc. You're one of the best midfielders in the world, and you playing well usually means that the rest of the team plays well. And then we tend to win.

Nicklas Bendtner: Stop talking and getting shitfaced/dropping your pants and start playing. I know people mention the goals scored statistic as an indication of how he's not actually a bad striker (14 by the way, only two less than Adebayor and four less than van Persie) but imagine how much higher that number would be if he didn't keep missing the easy chances. I don't hate him, really. I've been frustrated with him, and I wouldn't be devastated if he left over the summer, but I don't hate him. I just want him to play to his full potential.

Manuel Almunia and Andrey Arshavin: Have been fantastic lately. If they keep on doing what they've been doing, I will be a very happy girl.

Emmanuel Adebayor: Incredibly talented, but often looks apathetic or bored. Everyone has bad days, but I think he can put more effort into his game sometimes.

Denilson, Alex Song, and Emmanuel Eboue: Ah, what to say about this bunch? They are just so unpredictable. Solid in one match, then making horrible mistakes in the next. Eboue in particular needs to a) not dive, b) not make bad tackles, and c) not whine. To his credit, he's cut down on all three and his game has subsequently improved. In fact, I think each one is improving. Song particularly has been doing quite well lately. I really don't know what else to say about them; they're all relatively talented, and each has had their moments of greatness, they just need to be much more consistent.

Tomáš Rosický: He is still an Arsenal player, right? Tomáš, get healthy and play, please.

Arsène Wenger: Buy a central defender, please. And a defensive midfielder. (I still want Xabi Alonso...any way to make that happen?) As you can see, Silvestre did not solve the problem. We can get by somewhat when our whole team is healthy, but when we have an injury (or two, or three, or four...) our defence suffers abominably. Gibbs will be a great player one day, but right now he's young and inexperienced and not really ready to start big matches like the Champions League semifinal against Manchester United. And as this season has shown, we can't win trophies relying solely on creative midfielders and a porous back four. With an anchor in midfield (like Patrick Vieira or Gilberto Silva, remember them?) the creative players are free to roam as they like, and that's when we play our best football.

I know I haven't gone through every player on the team, but this entry is long enough as it is. Players like Nasri and van Persie just need to keep up the good work and stay healthy.

I'm looking forward to see our youngsters getting more playing time soon too. Vela, Ramsey, and Wilshere have all been excellent when they've gotten to play, and I'd like to see more of the likes of Fran Merida, Jay Simpson, Mark Randall, and Rui Fonte. I believe we're also getting Hårvard Nordtveit back from Norway in August. Of course, there's always the risk of inexperience with the young players, but every time I've seen them play this season they've seemed to play with much more heart and tenacity than the senior squad, who have often looked listless and uninspired (especially in the tail end of 2008).

I'm looking forward to a few more entertaining matches this month, and a great new season come August.

Yay!

oh manchester, so much to answer for...

I made a playlist last October when the Cubs once again crashed and burned out of the playoffs, and I rediscovered it on the train back from London tonight. It's pretty awesomely emo. Most of the songs don't have anything to do with sports, but they are all sad and/or depressing. So if you are ever in a horrible mood thanks to your favorite sports team, slap this on the player and it...well, won't make you feel any better, but it might just fit your mood.

Sarah's Emo Playlist of Epic Sporting Failure:

1. I Know It's Over - The Smiths

2. Casimir Pulaski Day - Sufjan Stevens

3. Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd

4. Bruised - The Bens

5. Atmosphere - Joy Division

6. Romulus - Sufjan Stevens

7. 23 - Jimmy Eat World

8. Gather To The Chapel - Liam Finn

9. Suffer Little Children - The Smiths

10. Vienna - Matt Costa

11. Sandblasted And Set Free - Maximo Park

12. Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd

13. Remember When - Liam Finn

14. Let Down - Radiohead

15. A Dying Cub Fan's Last Request - Steve Goodman (Okay, this one is pretty specific to Chicago. You may want to leave it off any non-baseball heartbreak lists.)

So yeah. Fuck Manchester United. I have nothing but pure, blind hatred for each and every one of them. I hope Cristiano Ronaldo breaks both legs trying to perfect his swan dive during training. I also hope SAF chokes on his chewing gum one day in the near future and dies a very painful death.

I'm also pretty upset with the Arsenal boys at the moment. I don't know that I ever really expected them to go through; the finals were always a longshot. But I certainly didn't expect them to roll over and die within the first ten minutes. Grow a pair and fight for your team, dammit.

song of the week: my mirror speaks

I've always liked Death Cab For Cutie, but they've never been one of my favorite bands. I listened to Transatlanticism quite a bit in my early high school years (and that makes me sound so emo, but I swear I wasn't really!) and I picked up Plans along the way somewhere--probably stolen off my sister's iTunes--but I never got that into them.

However, Vanilla Bear gave me a link to download The Open Door EP a few weeks ago, and I seriously got hooked. All five songs are great, but the first three are especially addictive. I think my favorite is actually track 2, titled "A Diamond and a Tether". It's a bit slower and more angsty than the others, and I'm usually more a fan of the happy songs, but really I love the lyrics. I'm sure you all know from my earlier musical musings that I'm a sucker for well-written poetic lyrics. But I chose "My Mirror Speaks" for the song of the week because it's catchier and more upbeat, and I just can't help but smile when the claps kick in at the chorus. I don't have Narrow Stairs, the LP that these B-sides were recorded with, but I'm thinking that if it's anything like the EP then I might have to get it.

aniversari feliç, el meu capità!

Happy 22nd birthday to Cesc Fàbregas!

The Arsenal babies are growing up so quickly. *tear* I still remember the days of "Fàbregas, woooaah, he's only seventeen, he's better than Roy Keane!" Now he's 22, and...well, the rhyme's gone, but he's still better than Roy Keane.

He came to Arsenal at the tender age of sixteen, in possession of very little English but rocking a pretty sweet mullet:

And now look at him. Given the captaincy at 21, like Tony Adams...

Scoring at AC Milan in the Champions League...


Taking the final penalty against Italy to bring Spain to the Euro semifinals...


And just generally being a fantastic player and playmaker. So happy 22nd, and here's to many more years at Arsenal.