Strawberry Fields Forever

Pre-SteverOnline Blog 2005 March - April - May - June - July - August September - October - November SFieldsF

Unsolved Mysteries - UPDATE

[May 5th, 2005|12:47 pm]

Current Mood| sore Current Music| Theme from Danger Mouse So yesterday I ran into someone i havent seen for almost 2 months. who is that you ask? oh, only one of my roommates - the one who usually lives in the room right next to mine. It's Greg, and he's been living at his fiance's for the past 2 months. He was packing up his room to go home for the summer, and i ran into him when he was coming up the stairs, and i was leaving for band practice. the conversation: Me: "Hey, look who it is!" Greg: "Hey" Me: "How're you doing?" Greg: "Alright" Good stuff, huh? So band practice happened, as i mentioned, and we havent practiced/played together in almost 2 weeks. But it did go alright, we're making a demo for bars and clubs and laid down the bass/drums on a few songs. it was very weird, since it was just me and adam playing together trying to remember how the songs go without vocals or guitars. We did alright on the first 2 songs, but had Jabarie standing nearby mouthing words as we did the others. Songs are "I Want You Back/ABC" "No Diggity/Come Together" "What I Like About You/You Really Got Me" and "My Sharona." Maybe eventually i'll have some sound clips up. JMU is also almost over for seniors, they have MAYBE 2 more days of exams. I remember this time last year and in december - glad that's done! Comments: stan: Rubber Toine?

Old Friends

[May 5th, 2005|12:47 pm]

Current Mood| touched Current Music| Nirvana - Breed If you take a look at the top of this Blog, you'll see the name Stever81. Obviously the 81 is my birthyear, and the Stever is my nickname. But i didn't come up with that nickname, originally i kinda didn't like it. Way back during freshman year in college (around late 1999) two of my good friends started calling me that, without knowing the other was doing it - Brian Dudley and Lauren Rowland. Like most of my friends at the time, i met Brian and Lauren in high school band. Brian played tuba, so was always nearby the percussion section I played in and Lauren played clarinet, and was good friends with a Stever-inseperable, Allison Reip. I go thru stages of always hanging out with certain people. Now-adays it's Liesel and Nate. During my time off from school it was Toine and my girlfriend of the time, Puja. A little earlier than that it was Allison. Sophomore and Junior year in highschool it was Brian Dudley - who had just taken over the spot previously taken by Tim McKay. Anyways, it was a pretty fun time, i remember lots of laughs - we were like a comedy team. He was the loud, angry-in-a-funny-way guy and i was the sarcastic, real goofy-humor guy. We even looked like a comedy team with him big and tall, i short and scrawny (and sometimes with long red hair.) Lauren and i became closer when we got to JMU. We'd hang out and just generally help each other out with our similar problems. I feel weird because i see Lauren so sporadically now (maybe once a year) and i haven't seen or talked to Brian in a few years. Lauren is gonna be married this month (so grown up.) Anyways, i just recieved an e-mail from Brian getting back in touch with me, today. It was really random - i can't believe he even remembered my email address. It was a nice letter, just letting me know what he's up to and stuff, even saying he's seen this blog! I just wrote him back which also feels weird. Friends have certain chemistries that you get comfortable with and can just slip into. Since it's been YEARS since i talked to Brian it feels weird, exciting, uncomfortable and refreshing all at once. I also just finished watching the DVD called "Classic Albums - Nirvana's Nevermind" which is a documentary on that revolutionary album. It's not some third-hand, put together piece of crap - it has interviews with people who know, with the best being Dave, Krist and Butch Vig (producer.) Butch plays back some of those songs and isolates certain sections (my favorite is when he isolates Dave and Kurt's harmonizing.) It's really good, and i hope one day they expand this kind of thing into a Nirvana Anthology-like production. Great DVD. While running into Wal-Mart to buy the aforementioned DVD, i randomly ran into Gabs and Gene Cretz. This dynamic duo is the sister and father of Jeff, my freshman roommate. Gabs is graduating tomorrow, so everyone's down here to see her off - Jeff is on his way also. Just a few minutes ago he called to confirm us hooking up tomorrow. I'd like to say that is a non-sexual hook-up, but with Jungle, you've got to be on guard!

2 "bands"

[May 8th, 2005|5:43 pm]

Current Mood| tired Current Music| Salt 'n' Pepa - Push It I borrowed my first book from Books-a-Million today. Yes, that's right, i said BORROWED. The whole store is like a library to employees! Anyway it's a book that's been on not 1, but 2 of my christmas lists. The Nirvana recording sessions by Ray Jovanovic. This one's gonna get devoured! Oh, and the new Backstreet Boys' album - "Never Gone" - just had it's cover released. AAAND it has been confirmed, 4 new Max Martin songs will be on the album (!!!!!!!!) I know you guys are as excited as i am!

Review of a NEW album - Weezer's Make Believe

[May 10th, 2005|2:50 pm]

Current Mood| bouncy Current Music| Weezer - This is such a pity Nothing too new to say in personal life. I just got off early from my job (Books-A-Million) and the secretagents are in the recording process. that's about it. so anyways, here comes another blast of music from Stever's opinion. this time, the greatest lead-singers (who don't play an instrument) of all time! I just bought the new Weezer album - "Make Believe." Here's a rundown as I listen to it for the first time. 01 Beverly Hills - the only song i heard all the way through before buying the CD. I was really diggin it for awhile, it's not on my every-day playlist anymore though (i might have worn it out a bit) but it's still a great tune. Favorite part: in the chorus when River's jumps to "that's where i want TO BE!" 02 Perfect Situation - before i went out and bought this album i had richard send me some mp3s to make sure i didnt "make a mistake." i listened to about a minute of this song, was impressed enough, and didn't listen to any more of the mp3s. Favorite part: the verses. 03 This Is Such A Pity - Great tune. very new weezer sound. it's a mix of the regular weezer thing, only back in time during the 80s new wave phase. Favorite part: the whole song, but especially the chorus. 04 Hold Me - surprise, another great Weezer song. That's not sarcasm, i'm actually surprised at these firt 4 songs' quality, considering i can't stand the last 2 weezer albums. This one's slower (but with a power-ballad-ish sound.) The chorus is a swipe of the first few Lithium chords, but other than that, this is really nice. Favorite part: a tie between verses and choruses. 05 Peace - well i knew it was coming: the filler material. This is a generic weezer song that sounds like it could go on the green album. pretty useless, they could have left this off. There's a guitar in there that does a line very similar to Lennon's Beautiful Boy ... wierd. Favorite part: the bridge. 06 We Are All On Drugs - ok, this is alright. not AMAZING, considering it's the same 4 chords again and again (until the bridge.) funny lyrics talking about how they're "all on drugs!" Favorite part: the verses. 07 The Damage In Your Heart - yay, another generic green-album-weezer song. blah. there's a section where it sounds a little too similar to "pink triangle" from Pinkerton - come on Rivers! Favorite part: uhh... definitely not the guitar harmonics! 08 Pardon Me - This song sounds like it was from the pinkerton-weezer era, and yet new all at once. The chords just keep changing all the time, so it sounds a little jumbled. But it's a nice song. Favorite part: the last chorus. 09 My Best Friend - this sounds like the 60's updated for now. good, upbeat song. There's a nod to the Beatles' Taxman in here. Favorite part: the choruses. 10 The Other Way - Just as Pardon Me is pinkerton-era updated, here is the blue-album-era updated. Nice transition from the last song into this one. Happy, poppy, upbeat song; cool. Favorite part: the verses and the last chorus. 11 Freak Me Out - ugh, again those guitar harmonics. *cough*GIMMICK*cough* This song has a nice atmosphere not found on other weezer songs, though. Brings back the harmonica not heard since the beginning of the band! Favorite part: voices/singing in the chorus REALLY sounds like the old weez. 12 Haunt You Every Day - An ok song. This is the best of the un-great songs on here, but still is un-great. A weird choice for the last song on the album (although i've read other reviews that says this is a great ending song...) Favorite part: hmm... The Stever-rundown: Overall, this is a good album. I like more songs on this than pinkerton (MB = 8ish, P = 6ish) although the ones from Pinkerton i like alot more. This is by no means another Blue Album (best Weez) Make Believe has 5 good-great songs, 3 alright, and 4 uhhh ones. Definitely the 3rd best Weez. Comments: richard: omG pINKreTON r00les ur gdAMn @SS wtflol

TRL isn't really necessary anymore

[May 11th, 2005|5:06 pm]

Current Mood| full Current Music| BSB - I Wanna be with you In No Particular Order... Robert Plant - The singer of Led Zeppelin, whose voice is quite possibly the best in all rock music. Hear Him On: Anything from the first 6 Led Zep albums Steven Tyler - Aerosmith's crazyman. Great showman, with or without all those scarves. Hear Him On: Dude Looks Like a Lady Elvis Presley - If Robert Plant ISN'T the greatest rock singer, the King is. No other singer's voice is beloved by so many different types of people. Hear Him On: It's Now or Never Mick Jagger - The strutting-peacock Rolling Stone who never fails to excite the crowd. His voice is so distinct, he can make any song sound listenable. Hear Him On: Honkey Tonk Women David Lee Roth - Van Halen's over-the-top (and best) frontman. I doubt anyone else can do a jumping split kick, while wearing assless chaps and still have guys think he's awesome. Hear Him On: Unchained Jim Morrison - The Doors' "electric poet." What he lacked in variety he made up for in coolness. Hear Him On: Light My Fire JC Chasez - Higher-voiced, but lower-toned lead singer from *NSYNC. Got less attention than Justin even though he sang more (and in my opinion, a little better.) Justin Timberlake - *NSYNC's dancing, teen-idol. A little girly-toned at times. Hear Them On: It's Gonna Be Me AJ McLean - The "bad boy" from Backstreet Boys. His rough, but amazing voice suits his image perfectly. Brian Littrel - Provides the perfect foil for AJ's dirty style with his clean, steady voice and style. Hear Them On: I Wanna Be With You Bono - U2's leader and frontman is a pretty good singer, but his band's songs are a little too lightweight for the most part, for me. Hear Him On: Mysterious Ways Roger Daltry - The Who's frontman (if not leader) has a great stage presence and rock voice, but other than that, was pretty much just Townshend's sideman. Hear Him On: Won't Get Fooled Again Robin Zander - Lead singer from Cheap Trick. Only in this section because he's not always JUST a singer. He plays rhythm guitar on more than half of Cheap Trick's songs. Hear Him On: Surrender Michael Jackson - Great 80's singer/artist. His talent dried up quickly, and in case you haven't noticed, he's gotten alot more freaky. Hear Him On: Billie Jean Comments: stan: Toine: "I've always wanted to start a band. You could play guitar, Tim could play drums ..." Stever: "What would you do?" TOine: " ... I could sing" brittany: I just wanted to say that I'm excited about updates, but I probably won't read this one until I'm really bored. I NEED REAL LIFE ACTION!!! Ok, in all fairness, I'll probably read it later today :P HAVE A STUPENDOUS DAY!!! Britt brittany: I read this entry just as I promised I eventually would. Steve, your music knowledge is mind blowing!!! :P You've got some good insights! Do me a favor por favor, write about you next entry! Thanks! HAVE A GREAT DAY!!!

Stever's Day Of Fun

[May 18th, 2005|12:27 am]

Current Mood| blah Current Music| Bryan Adams - (Everything I do) I do it for you Editor's Note - Subject line is sarcastic... Last night, nate and i went to a ruby tuesday's gathering (my fourth with him) at Dave's. we got some beers, talked a bit, played that stupid finger game (not THAT finger game.) it was time for us to leave (and this was after midnight, so i'm starting my DAY OF FUN here) so we went over to another bar, where i got a long island ice tea (it didnt look, nor taste like one.) it pushed me over the edge, and i went outside and threw up in a nearby stream!! i went home to sleep it off - luckily i didnt have to work til 4 pm. Oh whoops, i wake up to someone in my room. it's liesel. she's come to wake me up at 10 am to ask me if i want to go hiking later. don't even ask me to BEGIN to comprehend this. i basically yell at her (like the other 2 times she's done this) and she steals one of my 7-Ups. I eventually went back to sleep and woke up and got ready for work, 4-close. When i get to work, i find out that the truck hasn't come by yet. this means it hasnt dropped off any of the new books and magazines, making my day at work pretty much useless: Tuesdays are the days i put out new mags. Anyways, so i'm dusting for awhile, busting up my hands from running them into shelves. blah. Liesel and brittany stopped by, which was nice. but then back to the crap day with nothing to do at work, and trying to stay out of the way of the manager, while trying to read. The truck eventually shows up at 11pm (when we close) and it takes an extra hour at work while they unload everything, bringin the crap day to an end. yay Comments: liesel: You LOVE when I come wake you up, shut up. Also, you lost MY phone. Jerkface. anonymous: LIVE JOURNAL UPDATE IS ABOUT STEVE!!! YAY!!!

Episode III - Revenge of the Sequel

[May 19th, 2005|4:29 pm]

Current Mood| geeky Current Music| Yes - Owner of a Lonely Heart So I went after work to see Star Wars Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. Out of 10 stars, i'd give it a 5, higher than Episode I and II, but still nowhere near IV, V & VI. I'm not a Star Wars nerd, like superfans, but i grew up on this stuff, so i still feel close to it. I know there are Star Wars vs. Star Trek fans, and you HAVE to choose sides, but i neither feel upto choosing one over another, nor do i care enough to. I saw the movie with Nate (who hated it), Brittany (who fell asleep during it) and Anne (who says there ISN'T a bad Star Wars Movie...) There were times where i was blown away with the visuals, sentimental about the characters and events i grew up loving, and downright confused at why the plot went certain ways. Here's my rundown on the good, bad and ugly. THE GOOD (Jedi) : +++ --------------- I thought General Grievous was for the most part cool. A droid who hunted Jedi, and collected their lightsabers sounds awesome. Unlike Darth Maul, he actually had a personality, one that was slick and dastardly. John Williams music was really good. Nothing that brought you into the movie like his Indiana Jones and early work, but when he weaved his old music back in, it was really great. His one song i thought really fit was when Anakin was debating whether he should turn to the dark side or not...it was slow and dissonant and very un-williams like, but great. My favorite scene (all of a few seconds) was when Mace Windu (Samuel Jackson) walks into Palpatine's throneroom with the Jedis, and says "Your under arrest" and draws his lightsaber - so cool. Ewen MacGregor is a great Obi-Won. I always though Alec McGuiness was great in a grandfather way, but Ewen makes him cool younger, even while channeling the late Mr. McGuiness. As much as i hate to admit it, i thought it was cool to see Chewbacca a bit. I know i hate how every character from the "original" star wars trilogy is somehow connected in these new ones, but it was still kinda cool. Dooku was in this one (albiet for a few minutes) which was awesome - love that lightsaber of his. THE BAD (Sith) : --- -------------- The fight between Yoda and Palpatine/Sidius was so stupid. First of all, you knew it was going to be a tie, because both characters are in later films. Same with Obi-won and Anakin, but at least their fight was a little more interesting to watch. I still don't like Hayden Christiansen as Anakin. Such a bad actor. Also, i hate this CGI-reliance that George Lucas feels he needs to get his story across. Obviously it makes more sense if the aliens were less humanoid, hence the CGI stuff, but as i remember the aliens in the "original" star wars seemed more real, cuz they were real (well actors in suits) as opposed to really-nicely drawn cartoons. That thing Obi-Won rides was so dumb. THE UGLY (Huh??) : ??? ---------------- Anakin joining the dark side. I dont buy it, it makes no sense to me. OK, i don't need to be told "he did it to save Padme" - i understand he saved Sidius' life in order to figure out the power to save her life. That doesnt explain why he went evil all of a sudden and killed the jedi kids ("younglings.") What the? The Republic claps and joins up as an empire behind Palpatine, automatically. What the? is EVERY alien in space an idiot? Well he says we need to become an Empire, ok! Overall i'd give it a 5 out of 10. Some good scenes with interesting characters. But horrible plot. Nerd Alert! My Jedi name is Stesy MiEgl, Sekacura of Cough Drop (find yours here) and my lightsaber of choice would be a green one with a curved hilt like Dooku! YAY Comments: stan: I agree mostly (http://www.stanus.net/). However, I thought Chewbacca was completely unnecessary. Finally, Stever, who is Alec McGuinness? - Stanus

secretagent update!

[May 21st, 2005|2:35 pm]

Current Mood| gloomy Current Music| the Doors - When the Music's Over what's the update? we had a show about a month ago, and since then have practiced all of one time. 3 of us also got together another time to add vocals to a recorded demo we're doing. THAT'S IT - so maybe a total of 8 hours of being together since our last show. what did i get myself into? why did i move down here?? ugh, i'm feeling REEEEAAAAL ... i dunno? Comments: anonymous: You defintely moved back down to H-burg because you knew you couldn't spend that much time away from your Naters. How simply sweet!?!

Toine's got Jungle Fever!	[May 23rd, 2005|11:06 pm]
Current Mood| tired Current Music| BSB - Just Want You to Know Comments: anonymous: toine's got jungle fever?!?!?!

Toine's got Jungle Fever!

[May 24th, 2005|3:14 pm]

Current Mood| contemplative Current Music| a-Ha - Take On Me Well, the secretagents had a band meeting yesterday over at my place. we discussed where we are, and where we are going, and other options. It's come to the decision that ben is moving to boston in july to research at Harvard (ever heard of it?) and i am moving back to woodbridge. the future until then is up in the air, but the cruise ship idea is all but gone now. maybe there will be a gig or two, but most likely not. i know the many fans are sad, but cheer up - the "lost basement demos" will be available soon. good journey Comments: brittany: is that available on vinyl? Britt

Just Want You to Know

[May 26th, 2005|7:32 pm]

Current Mood| good Current Music| Kelly Clarkson - Since U Been Gone So last night 29.4 million people tuned in to watch Carrie Underwood beat Bo Bice and become the next (4th) American Idol. Wonder if she's going to outsell Fantasia or Reuban (both doing horribly.) The first American Idol, Kelly Clarkson just had a #2 hit with the Max Martin-penned "Since U Been Gone." Oh by the way, guess who knew she was going to win!

Superlatoine Fever!

[May 31st, 2005|3:11 pm]

Current Mood| stressed Current Music| BSB - I Still... So apparently, according to Toine, someone broke into his apartment and used his computer. what did they do? well in Toine's words they "downloaded some icons to his desktop." basically what i think Toine did (yes, Toine, not the guy who "broke in") was download some kind of virus or spyway from a website. He has adware and spyware searchers but he doesnt use them - smart doh. this weekend i went home to woodbridge and hung out with both sides of my family. my dad, shannon and i saw Star Wars Episode 3 - the second time for me and the first for them. I think we all agreed it was too long, and for the most part pretty weak. Meanwhile back in Harrisonburg, Liesel quit her job at Joe Muggs (the coffee shop in the bookstore where I work) so i'm the only cool person left there. Oh well, i only have a little more than a month left here, so it shouldn't be too horrible. speaking of work, i gotta run to it... literally, i have no car. Comments: liesel: yes! i knew you thought i was cool!

- SteverOnline Home-