Saturday, July 30, 2005

Life is good

The last couple of nights were really awesome. Aside from the awesome performances put on, there were a few things that I won't soon forget. At the show Thursday, there was a time where a fight almost broke out. I say almost because the only reason punches weren't thrown was because half a dozen people threw themselves in between before anything could happen. What was cool was the people who broke them up talked some sense into them, and a couple minutes later, they were completely cool with each other. Second was all the people I seem to keep running into at concerts, sorry I suck with names, but you know who you are. Third was Gretchen, who I run into every show I go to in Denver. You are truly amazing. Finally, meeting Death By Stereo at the show on Friday. You guys are awesome, have a great time touring all over the world.

This song of the day feels kind of appropriate right now. Sorry, no MP3 this time, but they do have a music video. It's Wasted Words by Death By Stereo. Be sure to read the lyrics.
Video:56K DSL
Lyrics

Ok, now I feel like I should plug my essay on what I think Punk is. Read it, and give me feedback. There is a good chance you could be the first person to tell me what you think about it. Also if you use Myspace, check out my profile.

Peace,
David

Friday, July 29, 2005

I'm beat

I had a great time at the concert, but it really wore me out. I enjoyed talking to all of the people there. I really don't have a whole lot to say right now, so here's the song of the day: Violins by Joey Cape (This is an acoustic version of a Lagwagon song)
MP3
Lyrics

Peace,
David

Thursday, July 28, 2005

Life

I've come to realize some of my fears in the last few days. One of my own fears is in my ability to meet my own expectations. It sounds kind of strange, but in many ways it was holding me back. I was reminded of a short scene from the movie Waking Life. If you haven't seen it, it is a bunch of monologues and dialogues on philisophical, political, and life in general.
The quest is to be liberated from the negative, which is really our own will to nothingness. And, once having said yes to the instant, the affirmation is contagious. It bursts into a chain of affirmations that knows no limit. To say yes to one instant, is to say yes to all of existence.
This can be taken many ways, but in a way my fear was just me being afraid to say yes to some of the opportunities that come my way. But it wasn't just fear, it was apathy that had come along with the feeling of lacking direction in the short term. This summer I felt a lot of the time as if I really had nothing worthwile to do. But while I was in Hawaii, I had a fair amount of time to just reflect on a lot of things. While I was in Hawaii, I made a friend who just talked to me about life, and it was one of the best conversations I had in a long time.

Since I've been back, I feel reenergized, and really want to put some of my ideas in essay form. Expect a lot more like the one I already wrote. Or even an update to that (I'll let you know if I do that).

As promised I have a song of the day for all of you. It is Too Close To See by Strung Out.
MP3
Lyrics

I'm going to be at a concert tomorrow night (Rise Against, Alkaline Trio, and Death By Stereo, for all of you who were wondering). I don't know if I will post or not, but there is a good chance I will. Maybe I'll see some of you at the show.

Embrace what is good
David

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Back from Hawaii

The reason I haven't posted in a week is because I went to Oahu with my family. It was a great reminder that some of the best thing that happen to me are completely unexpected. The scenery and beaches were beautiful. Also, I had several Strung Out songs stuck in my head the entire time (not that it was a bad thing). One thing I get a kick out of is the souviniers I got, which is issues 1&2 of the Second Stage Turbine Blade comic book. Every place in Colorado was sold out, but I found them in a mall in Hawaii, so I got them. If you don't know what they are, they are the comic books that go along with Coheed and Cambria's CDs. They are awesome.

I don't have a song of the day, but I will get one for tomorrow, once I am a little better adjusted. Also, I've been spending some time updating my myspace.com profile. Here is a link if you want to check it out: http://www.myspace.com/punkideas

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Warped Tour '05

The Warped Tour was great this year, and the bands were fucking awesome. The four that stand out in my mind are Strung Out, Thrice, Avenged Sevenfold, and Atreyu. They all completely had not only a great performance, but the audience was awesome too. Also, I met a whole bunch of people, handed out 550 little strips of paper advertising this blog, and had a great time. If you didn't see the strips of paper, here is a link to the file I used to print them off. Several people came up to me later in the day saying how they appreciated what I had done. I had a great time, and will be back again next year.

David

Sunday, July 17, 2005

I'm beat

I went to the Warped Tour today. It was awesome, but I have no energy left. I was thrilled to meet a bunch of people. If you came here because of a little slip of paper, please leave a comment or email me at djmark[at]simla.colostate.edu. I'm too tired to come up with anything good to write, and I'll talk about Warped Tour tomorrow, once I get some rest. Also, check out my essay on Punk if you haven't already.

David

Saturday, July 16, 2005

A piece I've been working on

It's gonna be a short post tonight, because I finished an essay on what I think Punk is that is actually decently long. So check that out instead.
http://rogue.darktech.org/~markham/

Your song of the day is Nowhere Fast, by Pennywise
MP3
Lyrics

David

Friday, July 15, 2005

Something I've been thinking about...

Lately, I've been pondering whether or not it is possible for me to achieve my goals without compromising my ideology. Are my goals and ideology in indirect conflict due to mutually exclusive obligations? I have no way of knowing without actually trying to achieve my goals by acting consistently with what I believe. Actually, my beliefs obligate me to assume that they are not mutually exclusive, but it doesn't stop me from wondering if this path is futile. Needless to say, I have too much time on my hands for contemplation of my life, where it has been, and where I will go with it.
Song of the day: Darkness Surrounding By Avenged Sevenfold
MP3
Lyrics

I need to listen to things other than my own head more.
David

Thursday, July 14, 2005

Sometimes life hurts

I ran across a very interesting and powerful story about a band I listen to, Death By Stereo. They played a concert, where at the very end an accident killed a fan and severely injured 3 others. Despite it tearing them up, they feel compelled to keep making music. Several of the songs of their latest album are about that incident. For a more complete story, go to Epitaph repost of MTV.com story. Even though it is MTV.com, they did do the story justice. The song of the day is Forget Regret by Death By Stereo
MP3
Lyrics

David

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Today's Post

I couldn't think of anything to write about today until I listened to a CD by Operation Ivy. I was reminded of many life lessons that are beautifully expressed in their music. So instead of a normal song of the day, I was just going to link you tio a bunch of sites where you can get their music, lyrics, history, etc.
Operation Ivy.com - Lots of rare songs, lyrics, band history
Lookout Records - Their record label, some mp3s.

That band truly demonstrated what it is to be Punk.

David

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Today's Post

In many ways we are lucky to be alive here in this day and age. We have access to countless examples of amazing technology, and more are constantly coming out. We can depend on these for our everyday lives. But there are some major problems. Our generation is plagued by depression and apathy. Culturally, the majority of people are given their identity via marketing, and those who fight against these things are constantly battling blind conformity and fear of the unknown. To quote Louis Mackey Which is the most universal human characteristic: fear or laziness? Either way, it is best not to be afraid or lazy.
Song of the day: Heaven Knows by Rise Against
MP3 download
Lyrics

Later all
David

Monday, July 11, 2005

I've upgraded my computer

I spent all night installing and setting up Ubuntu Linux to replace my knoppix setup that I have been running. So far it runs well, but I still need to get a lot of software going. It's been a pretty long night.

The Song of the Day is Idiots Are Taking Over by NOFX
MP3 download
Lyrics

Sorry about the short and boring post. I promise I'll make up for it tomorrow.

David

Sunday, July 10, 2005

Another random post

How much of who we are is determined by the environment that we were raised in? An interesting theory that I have run across, is that there are certain traits we are born with, but those traits will affect the environment that we are raised in. For example a child who is taller and more agile might be encouraged to play basketball, so therefore he plays more and is better, while another child may have a predisposition to math and wind up working in physics. Just something to thing about. Unfortunately, I can't find the original source of the theory.

Now for the song of the day: Yesterday's Headlines by Good Riddance
Legal MP3 Download
Lyrics

Later,
David

Friday, July 08, 2005

Don't get too excited

It's just another post from yours truly. One thing I've been thinking about lately is what counterculture could learn from the Religious Right. Counterculture groups are so concerned with not being the establishment, no one rises upto rally the troops. Everyone who rises to the occasion is another opinionated person who wants to be heard. So what does this have to do with the Religious Right? They use various communications mechanisms to repeat certain ideas, like how Roe v Wade needs to be overturned so we can restore the moral fabric of our country. These messages affect the actions of the individuals who would be considered conservative christians. No one in the counterculture is willing to do what Karl Rove does for Bush and the Republicans. No one has successfully packaged the messages of the various counterculture sects in a manner that provokes action. There is nothing wrong with marketing and PR if it is used for the right reasons.

So, now on to my song of the day. It is Suffer, by Bad Religion. It is a true punk rock classic that never gets old.
Legal MP3 Download
Lyrics

I'll talk to all of you again tomorrow.

David

Thursday, July 07, 2005

Like I said...

I will post every day if possible. The only problem is that I have no idea what to post about, so instead of a well thought out, coherent post, I will ramble aimlessly.

The one thing I can think of talking about is why I am posting songs of the day. I do it because Punk is one thing that I know. Currently, my music playlist is over 80 hours. That's my playlist, not my collection. I've decided to try my best to post songs that can be downloaded for free legally off of official websites (either band or record label. The song of the day today is Unstoppable by Death By Stereo.
MP3 Download
Lyrics

I guess I'll start rambling about my summer...oh wait, I haven't done much. I went to Syracuse, NY for the NACURH 2005 Conference. I've been to a few small concerts, a bunch of local bands that are actually pretty cool. Otherwise, I've been hanging out with friends or wasting time in front of a CRT or 3.

I am trying to learn some real web design, beyond the basic links, images and formatting, and hopefully I'll pick that up pretty quick. I spend way too much time trying to have conversations over IM, so if you have my screen name, please feel free to IM me if I am here. It is always greatly appreciated.

This is a random link to something I found. Click if you dare

Comments are appreciated, and no registration is required.

David

I'M BAAAAAAAAACK!!

Hey everyone, I'm back from my dry spell of not posting. Since school has been out, I've had nothing to do, and I have found that having nothing to do makes you feel like doing nothing. It's no fun either.

One thing I've realized in the last couple of days is that I have useful, constructive things I could be doing, but haven't had the motivation to get off the couch and do them. When I actually get up and do them, I feel great and get a lot of stuff done. I will try to post every day, just so I have one more thing to do, and to make sure, I am going to post a song of the day every day I post. If you know how to get a hold of me, I can help you find them. My song of the day today is Analog by Strung Out.
Here is a link to a (legal) download.
Here are the lyrics.
Check it out, and I hope you come back tomorrow for another post.