Wednesday, September 30

ITS THE TRUTH

"At the core of every human being is the undeniable and unexplainable necessity to over-dramatically sing to Queen"

It's the truth. Try not to.

Need more proof? Try this baby for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy.



Posted by Rachael at 4:25 PM 0 comments
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Saturday, September 26

THE FLAMING LIPS


Yes, I realize this band has been around for years. Yes, countless times I was told to listen to them. I responded "Yeah, alright. I'll get to that"...a week later. Sorry, Paul. I really should of listened to you.

The other day I was walking back from one of my Anthropology classes. It was a nice day, I was in a relatively good mood considering I had been up since 7 a.m and already recited a poem to a class full of pissed off freshman. I wouldn't consider the day anything more than average.

Shuffle. The song "Do You Realize" came onto my iPod. I, as I'm sure a million other people, have heard the song before. But for the first time, I really heard the song. It was awakening. It was truly beautiful. I feel so overly dramatic about my emotions towards music sometimes, but isn't that the point? Something so abstract, so artistic and unique (for the most part) can awaken something inside of you?

I know for a fact, my life would take a serious down-spiral if I ever went deaf. I have headphones over my ears more often than not.

I noticed I also had a few other songs by the Lips on my iPod. They totally fucking kick ass! Where the fuck have I been for the last 20 years? Most of you know that I don't really feel the need to drink or do drugs to have a good time, while every once in a while it can be a blast. This band makes me want to take acid...seriously.

Their songs are so emotionally intense, so capable of expanding your mind. So beautiful in their own way, so quirky and awkward and strange.

I started listening and listening and doing endless research. I'm literally in love. Not only with their sexy-as-hell frontman, Wayne Coyne, but everything about their music; including their performances. It was rumored that they are one of the Top 50 bands to see live before you die. Mass amounts of confetti, giant hands, Wayne apparently gets into a giant, man-sized, plastic bubble and walks out onto the crowd. AND they support Barack Obama. What's not to love?

The band even claims to have done entirely too many drugs in their early teenage years; mostly marijuana and LSD. They admit that it had a huge effect on the way their music was engineered. Ya think? Although I haven't completely researched this, I read somewhere that Wayne once attempted to conduct an orchestra of 50 automobiles; all of which were playing their own unique, specially created sounds. Brilliance! Insanity! I LOVE IT!

THEN I READ THIS. If this is not the most epic thing you have ever read...

"The Flaming Lips formed in Oklahoma City in 1983, when founder and guitarist Wayne Coyne allegedly stole a collection of musical instruments from an area church hall and enlisted his vocalist brother Mark and bassist Michael Ivins to start a band. Giving themselves the nonsensical name the Flaming Lips (its origin variously attributed to a porn film, an obscure drug reference, or a dream in which a fiery Virgin Mary plants a kiss on Wayne in the backseat of his car), the band made its live debut at a local transvestite club."

That is just too beautiful to explain. All I can say is seeing this band live and doing acid are now on my List.
Posted by Rachael at 9:36 PM 0 comments

ONE OF MY FAVORITE STARVING ARTISTS

Creativity is what inspires people's lives. My dear friend, Hannah Jordan, is quite the creative little monkey. To honor her fabulous custom work, I decided to post a picture of her most recent creation. You will notice that the word sewn on the bottom is the same as this week's "Word of the Week".
Hannah and I collaborated on a design through the internet and a series of text messages. This was the outcome.
Considering we both have awkwardly awesome obsessions with great-looking facial hair, this was the most obvious design.
Its a 100% organic cotton tote bag, embroidered with felt, and the lettering was done with some kind of yarn.
Basically, Hannah Jordan rules and you should REALLY check out her Etsy for all her other awesome stuff for sale!
She has a really righteous assortment of handmade necklaces, headbands, and other neat art-work. Also, don't forget she does custom orders too!
Posted by Rachael at 8:10 PM 0 comments
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Friday, September 25

POSSIBLY THE SEXIEST MAN OF ALL TIME


Wayne Coyne
of The Flaming Lips

Not only does this band totally KICK ASS, but they have giant hands.
And honestly, what's cooler than giant hands?
Posted by Rachael at 10:03 PM 0 comments
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A QUICK UPDATE

Hello, all!

I thought I would inform you all of what is up and coming with my life and the good ol' blog.

First off, its pretty obvious that I have changed the blog up a bit. Everyone needs a change of scenery once in a while. In case you were wondering, the beautiful photograph on my page was taken by my dearest friend, Tyler Brown. The photo is a picture of the filaments in a hot spring in Yellowstone National Park. I was lucky enough to be with him when he took the photo. Definitely look him up online; this photo, as well as many other equally as stunning photo's, are for sale.

Its been a while since I have last updated, so I will give you a quick run-over of what I have been up to in the recent months.

Well, I transferred to the University of South Carolina to get my degree in Anthropology. I absolutely love all my classes here and the campus is beautiful. All is well in the South...for the most part that is. Of course, moving to a new place will bring up normal roundabouts of loneliness, but I feel like I am handling the obstacles life is throwing in my face quite well.

Also, in a desperate attempt to meet kick-ass people, my roommate and I are training to be radio DJs! We're going through some pretty heinous training right now, and hopefully we will have a show in a week or so. It will be on 90.5 WUSC, Columbia. If you want to listen to a live feed or see what the station is about, check this out!

Finally, and most excitingly...is that even a word? I am busting my ass to study abroad in NEW ZEALAND this Spring. The application process is seriously intense and really stressful but it will be completely worth it if I get accepted. I'll also keep you guys posted on that one.

Everyone have a great weekend!
Posted by Rachael at 9:14 PM 0 comments

WORD OF THE WEEK



Pogonotrophy: Greek for "the cultivation of a beard" or "beard feeder".

I don't think I need to explain why this word is awesome.
Its pretty obvious.
Posted by Rachael at 9:07 PM 0 comments

Monday, December 29

RIGHTEOUS NATURAL FEATURE OF THE DAY: MT. ST. HELENS

I'm sure many of you have heard of the infamous Mt. St Helens. She is a gigantic volcano in Oregon that erupted extremely violently on May 18, 1980.

When Helens blew she created the largest landslide on record at 70-150 mph and a 5.1 earthquake under the mountain. Twenty-three square miles (1, 314 feet) of debris exploded off the volcano when she erupted, covering nearby areas with 150-600 feet of ash and debris.


This is one of the most famous volcanic explosions in American history.

And guess what? I climbed it 28 years after the eruption.

We packed out lunches and got everything ready in the cold and dark the night before. We layered on as much as we possibly could. I had two pairs of long underwear, jeans, sweatpants, and long wool socks on. Followed by under-armor, a t-shirt, a light hoodie, a fleece jacket and a windbreaker. All topped off with a winter hat and a hood. I was still cold when I woke up at 5:00 a.m. We ate as much as we could because we knew we would need as much stored energy as possible. After breakfast, still in the dark, we huddled in a group and danced to Eye of the Tiger. This got us pumped up for what we knew was ahead of us. Did I mention I had a cold, a UTI and was on antibiotics that made me vomit?

10 mile hike round trip. 2 miles of hiking normally in the tree line. This was one of the most beautiful hikes I have ever done. The cool, crisp morning air and scent of evergreens was more like a dream, a really steep and painful dream. I'm not the most athletic person in the world, so I had some trouble getting used to the elevation change.
When you get out of the tree line you see nothing but gigantic boulders and clouds. At this point in the hike we were already above the clouds. We sat and had a snack with some people we met on the trail and looked out over the sky to see Mt. Hood in the distance. This view was magical. I thought I was on top of the world. It was so beautiful. The view got everyone pumped for the next 2 miles of climbing over boulders that were the size of basketballs to Voltzwagon Beetles.
When the volcano exploded a large amount of boulders flew from the eruption site. These boulders are hell on earth. For the next couple miles we climbed, not hiked, over these huge black rocks. Stopping every 15 min for a break, I literally thought I was going to die. Or at least that my ankles were going to snap in half if I took even the slightest wrong step. The elevation was truly getting to me. It was hard to breath and even harder to keep a good pace. We had a time schedule to turn around and we all feared we wouldn't make it on time. There was no designated trail, only random posts placed every few hundred feet. If you see one you are good. If you don't....well you get the idea. There were giant ice crevasses on the side of our "trail" that dropped only god knows how far. I was slowly and surely losing motivation.
Somehow I made it out of the boulder field and started looking upon the ash field. Imagine climbing uphill in sand. Thats what I did for a mile. By this point I had never been in more pain in my life. I was completely physically and mentally exhausted. My back hurt from my pack carrying all my food and water and my ankles were swollen. I couldn't breath, and I don't even have any kind of breathing problem. I took two step in the ash and fell one step back. I felt like I was moving in slow motion. It literally took me around an hour and a half to climb one mile in the ash. I saw the summit. I saw my friends at the top. And I gave up. I honestly thought I was going to die at that point in my life. I had no motivation. I wanted to spent the extra $100,000 and get flown off the volcano. I'm sure my Mom wouldn't of cared.

Then one of the staff members, Ian, came down from the summit in his kilt and smiling away. You could never piss this man off, even if you tried your absolute hardest. He has the most positive attitude of any person I have ever met. And its not even annoying! I asked him if it was worth the pain to make it to the top. He said it was. And he kicked my ass to the summit. I was moving slower than a turtle but he kept telling me I was doing great. He walkie-talkied down to the base and asked our director if we could have an extension on our turn around time so everyone could summit. She approved.

Finally, after the most painful experience of my life, I summited. My friends greeted me with hugs and smiles and walked me to the edge so I could look over what I just climbed. It was the most spectacular scene I have ever seen. To the right was a huge mountain summit, jagged and broken, covered in snow. In the middle was a gigantic lava dome that slowly rose to the current size over many years. There was still steam coming from it. This is something like what you would see in a movie or on the Discovery Channel. I face planted in the snow. I wanted to die and live forever at the same time. I would love to say that I was enthusiastic and happy at the top. I wasn't. I was pissed off, sick and sore and the thought of having to climb ALL the way back down lingered in my mind. We stayed at the top long enough to eat some food and take some memorable pictures. Then the hike back down started.

Once we reached the tree line I completely broke down. I cried for the rest of the two mile hike. I have no idea what force kept my legs moving or my mind sane. It was probably the thought of the pizza buffet that was soon to be in my midst. It is completely unbelievable how hard you can push yourself to do something. You can accomplish so much more than you can ever imagine. I literally still have no idea how I summited that mountain. All I know is that I did, and a week after we got off the damn thing and I wasn't sore anymore...I looked back and said "It was worth it".
Posted by Rachael at 8:44 AM 0 comments
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