Who doesn’t love Andy Samberg? Only idiots. And also who doesn’t love Sesame Street? Only ass holes. This is the Sesame Street version of Between Two Ferns.
THE TOP 25!
Since I promised. I’ll add captions later, but here is a list without commentary. Scroll down a post or two for the criteria. I am apparently very mainstream? Whateva. And classic rock too, but I saw that coming.
25) Guns N Roses & Queen (get to share)
24) Creedence Clearwater Revival
23) Gnarls Barkley
22) Ratatat
21) the Mamas and the Papas
20) Nirvana
19) the Smiths
18) the White Stripes
17) the Beach Boys
16) Daft Punk
15) the Mars Volta
14) Modest Mouse
13) Weezer
12) the Velvet Underground
11) Jefferson Airplane
10) Gorillaz
9) Brand New
8) the Red Hot Chilli Peppers
7) Simon & Garfunkel
6) Sublime
5) Pink Floyd
4) Radiohead
3) the Flaming Lips
2) Led Zeppelin
1) the Beatles
Roman Holiday
I’ve never seen this poster for Roman Holiday! Isn’t it fun? I love it. I’ve been having a real debate recently about Audrey, and Katherine vs. Audrey. Stay tuned! But a last thought on this film- it really is a good one, especially for a slightly fluffy/romantic premise. I don’t want to call it a romantic comedy but I suppose it is. But that’s not Cary Grant (I’m not insulting Cary Grant I’m just saying…) that’s Gregory Peck motherfucker. YOU KNOW. I just take Gregory Peck more seriously than I take the (ever dashing) Cary Grant.
Let’s Go and Take 9 Shots, We’ll Just Call It Fiddy
So I was talking to the every lovely Hannah Sage, and she was making a list of her Top 25 Bands. Which encouraged me to make a similar list. You can read Banane’s here, and mine below. Some rules: it is specifically bands, though I get mildly creative at times with my use of the word, Banane was using the criteria of loving at least two albums of said band, I have tried to comply with that (very helpful for cutting the number down) rule, but as we are different people, our criteria differ slightly, and while I’d say list placement is reflective of current tastes there are definitely some bands that have made the list out of respect and not because I listen to them that often currently. Before I can even get into my T0p 25 I’m going to go through my former favorite bands that just couldn’t make it, and my honorable mentions.
what music looks like
Let’s start at the bottom and work our way up.
Former Favorite Bands That Just Didn’t Make the List:
(in ORDER. it’s seriuz.)
10- Ace of Base
Self-explanatory. It’s A Beautiful Life. I like them okay!
9- Taking Back Sunday
Whatever, I was cool. Favorites include: The Ballad of Sal Villanueva, Cute Without The ‘E’ (Cut From the Team), There’s No ‘I’ In Team, and of course You’re So Last Summer. I’d be most likely to still listen to The Ballad of Sal Villanueva for that “YOU’D SAY WE’RE ONLY FRIENDS, YEAH- REAL, GOOD, FRIENDS, I BET I BET“. So good.
8- the Offspring
Once again I say, yeah, and? Come on. I was a scorned 15 year old. Self-Esteem was my favorite song. Anyway, you know you’ll sing along if one of their singles gets radio play.
7- Oasis
Didn’t we all though? Favorite song: Don’t Look Back In Anger. Favorite Oasis reference: Charlie on Lost.
6- No Doubt
Whether you agree or not, my list is getting a little cooler. Again “whatever”. I like Gwen Stefani. And I like No Doubt. I like Tragic Kingdom and I like Bathwater.
5-Blink 182
Okay, so whatever. Blink was the best. I am cool! (I am ruining any street cred I had left) My favs: all the good ones-you know what it is, (by that I mean I can’t remember right now), things like Going Away to College, oooh Wendy Clear! And Damnit. Etcetera.
3-Incubus
What does the world think of Incubus? (I am so sensitive! I keep wanting to “say” “psh, whatever” as if someone’s making fun of me! silly Allison) I like it all, and still listen occasionally to my favs. What I think was their last album had some good songs on it, I liked Rogues. Then there’s the usual, Drive, Wish You Were Here, I Miss You, Pardon Me and so on. Ugh except you know what song I can’t stand? Stellar. Shut the fuck up, that song sucks.
3-Third Eye Blind
I love Third Eye Blind! Favorite “deep cut” (that expression cracks me up, I always hear Andy from the Office shouting for Dave Matthews Band deep cuts. lolz) An Ode to Maybe. Other favs: you know them, the usual. The entire first album (particularly Losing A Whole Year, oh man HOW’S IT GONNA BE!), a few off the second (anything for you, turn my castles blue), that one hit from the third (and i’m BLIIIIINDED), if there are more I don’t know about it.
2- 311
Recently I had 311 on in the car and Bryn remarked that it sounded like high school. And so it does. I saw 311 way back when with Chrissy and Ashton and the boy y’all call “Hot Joe”. It was fuuuun! Favorite songs include Don’t Tread on Me, Beautiful Disaster, Frolic Room, the What I Got cover, and so on. At least give this a try:
1- The Postal Service.
I am so sad the Postal Service couldn’t make it. SO SAD. I tried really hard to squeeze them in. You’ll wonder why I didn’t trade them with who I have as number 25. But the difference is I never owned a Postal Service t-shirt and tried to act like I was cool cause of them. Also I’d say there was a year of intense loving and now fond revisiting (fairly regularly but not often) whereas my number 25 is from childhood to my “I think I’m cool” teens. Anyway, what’s not to enjoy about the Postal Service. I don’t know that I can pick a favorite now, they’ve all been my fav at one point or another. My first favorite was The District Sleeps Alone Tonight. Now my favorite is Recycled Air. I remember one night, with Chrissy & Ashton & Lauren, Chrissy and I were trying to pick music and we were being very indecisive and the Postal Service popped up and their album is called “Give Up” which we took as a very funny sign.
Also- Dashboard Confessional is not a band but if he was he and his bitch-ass songs would be all up in this list.
Some VERY Honorable Mentions:
Dr. Dog, Foo Fighters, Deerhunter, Sleigh Bells, Wu-Tang, Tool, System of a Down, Okkervil River, built to spill, A Perfect Circle, Easy Star All-Stars, A Tribe Called Quest, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Knife, Outkast, the Shins, stellastarr*, Pixies, DeVotchKa, Blur, the Clash, Cake.
Whether they are new to me, or an old fav, or simply WU-TANG, I love all of them intensely. It’s just that I either just started loving them, or used to love them more, or simply don’t love them as intensely as the Top 25. But they are very good bands and I had to mention them.
Foo Fighters get an extra special shout out, because I have loved three of their albums and if I wasn’t so over what they’re doing now they would have had a solid spot on the Top 25 (The Colour and the Shape, There is Nothing Left to Lose and One by One. To be fair I liked that stupid “Best of You” song too).
A Completely Befuddled Paragraph (That I Don’t Feel Like Untangling):
Special love to Dr. Dog (omg the song The Breeze) and Deerhunter (Nothing Ever Happened and Never Stops) for being newer and awesome. Special love to Pixies and the Clash for always making me feel bad ass. Horray for the Knife and Sleigh Bells for making me dance, hard. Y’all know about Wu. Thanks to Banane for the serious love I now have for built to spill and Okkervil River (both ripping-this-right-out-of-your-soul bands, favorite built to spill: Randy Described Eternity and I Would Hurt A Fly, favorite Okkervil River either Westfall [which reminds me of both banane & the zuck] or Calling and Not Calling My Ex which is a particularly ripped out your own heart track) I would REALLY like to put in some of my favorite lyrics from these two bands here, but they’re not on the list… sigh, just do me a favor and go listen to them? Please? Outkast is obviously awesome, and it was a way for me to sneak in my ultimate respect for Andre 3000. A Tribe Called Quest- if I had their actual albums and not just a best of, they would’ve made the top 25, but I felt like a fraud. They and the Pharcyde have the best beats. Then Cake. What can I say? I think they’re some fun and quirky fuckers, but I know people who love them so dearly that my love pales in comparison and so, off the top 25. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are funny (that Karen O man, what a kook), and they can both make me dance AND feel bad ass. And the Shins, oh we all love the Shins don’t we? Good times. Easy-Star & DeVotchKa both have one album that I love, and I never expanded further/didn’t like the other ones (in the reverse). Blur can hang out with the badass music, and stellastarr* you should read the Banane’s post for a perfect explanation of them.
Tool and System I have loved a particularly long time but they just don’t fit with the other “youth favs” listed above for some reason. Maybe because I generally consider them more awesome, whatever I mean by that). In fact, Tool and System get their own moment briefly where I will recount my memories of them:
Tool:
So I saw Tool at bonnaroo with Laur & Ash & Chrissy, and it was awesome. I mainly remember screaming with Lauren. After that I associate Tool with my cousin Joe who I have to thank for a whole lot of the music on here. Without him I would have always been some weirdo listening to Dashboard Confessional and classical music. I have to thank him for Tool, Sublime, Pink Floyd, AND Led Zeppelin. So thank you Joseph. Also, they may have written the song Intolerance for 15 year old me (scorned Allison was PISSED).
System of a Down:
More Ashton, Lauren, Chrissy music. My favorite two System memories are of me and Chrissy though. One time we went to a gathering in w.chez and we brought the CD we had, and it was just…. oh so fun. And the other was the time Chrissy and I randomly lived at Water St. for a week in Danush and Jason’s room, when no one else was there (it was break) and Louis and Bryn came over and sat on the couch drinking while Chrissy and I fucking rocked out like maniacs.
Okay, to be fair, that last part got a little extravagant. And became a list of bands I like. If I hadn’t already published it I’d take off a bunch cause they are not really in contest for the TOP 25. If I had to revamp it and name 5 Honorable Mentions not ramble on, I’d pick: (to be added when i get home from work cause it’s 5 and i gots ta go)
So… is your interest piqued? Will you return for the Top 25? You should! There will be more pictures and video! Promise! And don’t forget to check the lovely Hannah Sage Banane’s list.
Here’s Looking At…. You? (Kid).
All pairings of persons have SOMETHING right? The people who wrote Breakfast at Tiffany’s (the song) and their lady have Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Rick & Ilsa always have Paris. So what do WE have? Bryn and I will always have that summer. Fuck, even my questionably moralled high school best friend and I have our own “that summer”. But, what do WE have? I don’t think late night/all night phone calls count. And what do you have when your love is dead? Well, I guess we’ll always have callous manipulation. Here’s lying to you, kid.
I want to make a list of all the things I can think of having with people. But then that’ll just become a list of people I’ve known and our things. And that sounds interesting to only me. So let’s play a game, eh? What’s YOUR memorable “Paris” with your friend/lover/Humphrey Bogart?
A couple of notes before I really get going- I’m very sure that only my post high school friends read this so as much as I would like to go into all my earlier memories (bronxville late at night, the hills, that gold car, that white car, THOSE JEEPS, sublime, bonnaroo, that first trip, those 8AM decisions, snoopy) I am trying to keep this as vaguely interesting as possible so I’m gonna avoid them, except for that poorly written list I just made you read. Also, the last place I mention (don’t skip ahead! dammit I shouldn’t have said anything)- I could go on forever about it (the smell, the messes we’ve made) but I like the drama of the succinct ending.
A Love Letter to my Friends:
I guess the thing (memory?) you “have” with someone (not of them) is the thing that will always remind you of them. As all other memories become waterlogged and fade, you’ll still think of them at least every other time you walk past Columbus Circle, if not every single time. It’s the one shining memory that remains untarnished even after you tore the rest up and threw them away. It is the one thing that is “ours” not yours, not mine. It’s the thing that you’ll remember about them years after the friendship has died. It is nostalgia in it’s purest form, it is missing someone extracted and bottled and contained beautifully and placed carefully on your shelf of old knick knacks. It’s hard to name what I “have” with some people. Our friendship is so strong right now, I can’t be sure what will be under the band-aid should it be torn off. There are too many things now, and many to come. But I can guess. I can say which is the most special moment so far. And I can create an inventory of my knick knack shelf, to place there and become kitsch itself, for me to reread one day and smile. Maybe I’ll post it later, it just seems a little too narcissistic. Although maybe if I write up the little anecdotes themselves and not a vague one line summary they’ll actually be an interesting portrait. It’s important for me to sift through my memories now, even though this posts existence illustrates how far I am from you all. While everyone’s creating new memories, I’m trying to create a new life (with limited supplies). I’m rebuilding myself, and it’s with a touch of embarrassment for how out of the loop I am that I post this. But as I said, I need to remember, and surely you’ll be flattered and sentimental yourselves, and therefore let what could be pity slide on by.
The thing I want to remember most of all is the feeling of being unable to breathe without the other(s) around, because for awhile there my friends were oxygen (now they’re more like books, I always want them, and they’re so great when I can get them, restorative, comforting, but it’s hard to find time to read). I remember panicking every time you walked away for awhile, acting out in desperate ways to prevent you leaving, even if you were just leaving the room.
It is very important to be able to be alone. Being alone (not loneliness it’self as Thomas Wolfe argues) is the central fact of human existence. The fact of being alone is not loneliness. The outcome of being alone is that you become ever so strange, because no one is around to keep you in check.
And you know what, fuck it! I know I’m the one always decrying nostalgia, and don’t get sentimental it always ends up drivel, but whatever, if you read this you’ll probably smile, and yeah of course sometimes I hate everyone and you hate everyone and we all don’t trust each other or don’t even feel like we like each other or what-fucking-ever. You just wanna scream “I EXIST”. But who wants to remember that? What’s the point? I miss being a positive person. I miss being novel. I miss not over-explaining myself because I’m afraid of offending someone. You guys know me well enough to know I’m not trying to be condescending. Enough is enough. I miss good person Allison. This Allison is shady. She’s gone. RIP ShadeAllison. Let’s remember the good things we have, even if I sound like the narration over the sepia-toned ending of some crappy, teenage, coming of age film.
There are things you have in trios, or more. That first one. The Hannah/Katie/Allison trips. The Flaming Lips shows. The surprise party (at central park). The actual surprise parties. Snow Days. Sarah’s birthday at the lake house. How everyone looks when you stare down from the lofted part of the loft during a party. Le Basket. That time we went to Rush. Halloween (every time). The grass on the left side of Union Square. Ham spankings. 5 AM. Plum wine. Those movies that are on every time we’re somewhere. Every time we put on a Disney movie. God, the Seaport. Every time we went to any park as a group. Kim’s BBQ. The view from Water St. That feeling of knowing a friendship was meant to be, that this person understood not only (and most importantly) the new us independence had forged, but the old version of us, that that person could never know. That period of time when we were somehow perfect.
We’ll all always have Long Beach.
Pandora Thinks I’m a Huge Loser
(Pandora’s right LOLZ) Anyway, I fucking miss the Flaming Lips and I fucking love Steven.
Netflix on the other hand, seems to think I’m a genius, due to all the intellectual films on my queue that I’ll never watch. Still love Steven.
The song “Peaches & Cream by 112 was my song with my first boyfriend, cause we thought it was hysterical when one of them said “gonna arrest y’all like veg-ta-baaaallllsss”. In the past three months I’ve been called needy, cold, too slutty, too innocent, depressive, and too excited. What I’m saying is, it’s hard having an identity, it’s hard being a girl, it’s hard being single when the world thinks you’re not supposed to be, it’s harder to be a single girl, and apparently it’s hard to be me, cause I’m a walking contradiction (but not really, my life is so easy. no joke).
