"Wonderwall of Broken Dreams" - Green Day/Oasis mashup

After all the years that have passed since I first heard it, this remains one of my favourite mashups:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-PdV61Z8Mg

It's "Wonderwall of Broken Dreams" - a mashup of Green Day's "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" with Oasis' "Wonderwall". On the pop music station my brother and I listened to in Oregon, it was easily the most played mashup on the station, helped significantly by the Open House Party we listened to every weekend.

"Wonderwall of Broken Dreams" has appeared in Air Nice-to-Livelands before, in a post from over six years ago.

A Muslim lady and her flat tire - "What Would You Do?"

The other night, I was watching a few clips from What Would You Do? and came across one involving a Muslim lady in need of help with changing her flat tire. I thought it was an interesting watch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrbnnEZnMOU

Watch the man at the end; he is a testament to the kindness of humanity.

"All Star Wars Characters Have Stupid Names"

A few weeks before my aunt and cousin took me to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens, CollegeHumor released this parody video of the film:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbLqiKg9JkA

It portrays the film's primary antagonist, Kylo Ren, becoming increasingly frustrated over the "stupid" names that inhabit the galaxy. I really enjoy this video; CollegeHumor usually creates hilarious clips but this is one of their best, in my opinion.

Yet another douchebag-infused breakup

It's been well over a year and a half since I last posted about "douchey breakups"; as such, the time is ripe for my fifth post on this subject. The other day, I was watching a video by comedian and YouTuber IISuperwomanII:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UymTap35gmo

At about 6:03, IISuperwomanII reads out the following question: "My boyfriend broke up with me today over a text message that said, 'Wanna see a magic trick? Poof! You're single.' What should I do now?"

As detestable as that text message was, I ended up laughing out loud at the absurdity of it even though I knew it was wrong to do so. Seriously...a magic trick? IISuperwomanII's advice was akin to, "don't bother with him" and she referred to the guy as a "joke"; I agree with her! It is a douchey manner in which to terminate a romantic relationship.

While this method is merely the "Text Message Breakup", the ridiculousness of the person conducting the breakup warranted a blog post. My other blog posts about this matter are here: (1), (2), (3), (4).

"Pictures of You" - The Last Goodnight

Here is a song that I was certain I had written about before, "Pictures of You". It's a song by a band called The Last Goodnight, and was released in June 2007. From what I remember, it charted fairly well from the late summer and into the fall.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7QWZBiNTMc

The Last Goodnight released a second single, "Stay Beautiful", but it not reach the same level of success "Pictures of You" did. They split up in 2008 after a short tour and being dropped from their record label. Most of The Last Goodnight has disappeared from the public view since the band broke up; only the lead singer, Kurtis John, is still (somewhat) on the radar and making music.

"Everything at Once" - Lenka

A piece of music for today's post; it's "Everything at Once" by Lenka, an Australian singer. I saw her a few times in a commercial when I was in Suffolk:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tfy5CBfjZ8s

I had not heard of Lenka prior to seeing the advert, and I had to Google the song's lyrics to find out. I like both the sound of "Everything at Once" and Lenka's pronunciation of certain words in the track. Both her albums are available on Amazon UK.

The irony here is that the advert wasn't for her: it was for Windows 8!

"Everything" - Alanis Morissette

I heard "Ironic" by Alanis Morissette on the radio a few days ago, and so I decided to find the song on YouTube to both watch the video and listen to the song in its entirety. The page for that song linked me to one of my favourite songs of hers - "Everything", from her 2004 album So-Called Chaos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up11CpSBx3Y

I love Morissette's music, yet of her eight studio albums I only have one, and that's So-Called Chaos. I received that as a gift for Easter back in 2005. One day I'll have to get her other albums, especially Jagged Little Pill - where "Ironic" comes from - and Havoc and Bright Lights, as that's her newest album (released back in August).

After this post being about a music link and the ones before it containing almost exclusively pictures, I'll have to put some pieces with a high proportion of written content up soon!

"The Sweet Escape" - Gwen Stefani featuring Akon

I was listening to "The Sweet Escape" by Gwen Stefani and featuring Akon this afternoon. It was the second single from Stefani's second album, The Sweet Escape, and was a hit back in 2007:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0lf_fE3HwA

Another great song from the 2006-2007 era. I miss hearing it on the radio.

Unlike many of the artists I've written about, Stefani has not disappeared into obscurity. I see her name at least once a month in celebrity news, and while she has not released any more solo albums since The Sweet Escape she has been working with her band No Doubt as of late; last month, No Doubt released Push and Shove, their first studio album in over ten years. Stefani is not going away anytime soon!

"Where'd You Go" - Fort Minor featuring Holly Brook

In October of last year I wrote about Skylar Grey/Holly Brook. I covered some history of Grey, which included the hit single she featured in, "Where'd You Go" by Fort Minor, from 2006. After six years of her album, Like Blood Like Honey, somehow "evading" me whenever I wanted it, I finally received a copy from Amazon this past weekend.

Hearing Like Blood Like Honey encouraged me to listen to "Where'd You Go" again:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQdglLeGQXM

Another great song from 2006...it's unfortunate that Fort Minor is listed among Billboard's most notable one-hit wonders of the 2000s, although Mike Shinoda - the originator of Fort Minor - is still achieving plenty of success with Linkin Park. From what I understand Fort Minor is merely on hiatus, although I don't know what Shinoda's future plans for it are.

I should also note that since my post about Grey from last year her new album has not yet materialized. She is active, as she recently created a song for Frankenweenie Unleashed!, an album with music inspired by the upcoming Tim Burton film Frankenweenie. I am ever-hopeful of a second release from her...more so after finally getting Like Blood Like Honey, and her recent song for the aforementioned film "inspired by" soundtrack!

Michael O'Hare

Two days ago, the actor Michael O'Hare died during a coma stemming from a heart attack. He was 60 years old at the time of his death.

O'Hare is notable to me because he starred in the lead role during the first season of my favorite childhood television show, Babylon 5, as Commander Jeffrey Sinclair. Sadly, the Babylon 5 cast has suffered a number of deaths in the past ten years, with Richard Biggs, Andreas Katsulas, and Jeff Conaway all having died; in addition, a main actor from the series' pilot, Johnny Sekka, died in 2006; and a prominent guess actor, Tim Choate, was killed in traffic accident in 2004.

Besides Babylon 5, O'Hare was a stage actor with experience on Broadway. His part in the play Shades of Brown earned him a nomination for an AUDELCO Award for Best Actor; the AUDELCOs celebrate African-American excellence in theater, and O'Hare was the first white actor to be nominated. His other on-screen credits include L.A. Law and Law & Order.

A short memorial video has been uploaded to YouTube. It contains a fitting line of his from Babylon 5 and has a farewell message at the end:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=TA2LjpfTcdg

Michael O'Hare

 May 6 1952 - September 28 2012

The face of Lady Gaga

I discovered this video which someone had put together of how Lady Gaga's face has changed throughout the years. I've seen similar videos before, such as when a person has had their picture taken every day for twenty years; it's interesting to see it with something people are more familiar with like Gaga:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78OHRlX0pyw&feature=related

I recognize several of her "looks", but the two that stand out the most for me are her 2005 look when she was on the MTV program Boiling Points (00:25) and her late-2008 "Poker Face" look (00:42).

Ryan Cabrera

When listening to a shuffled list of music earlier I heard "Shine On", a single by Ryan Cabrera from his album You Stand Watching. During the track I thought about how long it had been since a Cabrera song had been a major hit on the radio; "Shine On" was moderately successful in the second half of 2005 into 2006, but "On the Way Down" and "True" in 2004 and late 2004/early 2005 respectively - both from Take It All Away - were far bigger songs of his.

It's a shame that Cabrera has mainly been off the radar since "Shine On"; his music since that single has so far not reached the level of success his 2004 music attained, and a look for him in Google's news search comes up with articles about people named Cabrera, but they are almost exclusively about other people with his last name. Cabrera seems to be active, as a view of his website reveals that he has plenty of tour dates scheduled for the next couple of months.

Hopefully he'll return to prominence one day; for now, here's "Shine On":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw61uNS7Y7Q

"Jump to the Beat" - Stacy Lattisaw

Perhaps the best thing about listening to Heart Cambridgeshire/Northamptonshire is hearing hits from the 1970s and 1980s. Prior to listening to Heart I wasn't very familiar with disco, but it's a genre I've come to appreciate more; one of my favourite disco tracks is "Jump to the Beat" by Stacy Lattisaw:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3--gpcJlARA

The sole sad part is when I research songs that I really like, only to find out that the performer was a one-hit wonder during their career or their career ended long ago. In Lattisaw's case, she had one other song that excelled on the charts, but she does not appear to have released any more music since 1990.

Gabrielle Giffords at the 2012 Democratic National Convention

I have taken the time to watch a few of the major speeches that have taken place at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina over the past few days. I have been impressed with speeches from Lilly Ledbetter, Sandra Fluke, First Lady Michelle Obama, former President Bill Clinton, former Governor of Florida Charlie Crist, Senator Harry Reid, Vice President Joe Biden, and President Barack Obama himself; all of them gave enthusiastic, resolute and inspiring speeches, and it was amazing to watch and listen to both the speakers and their audiences.

The person I was most delighted to see attend the convention was Gabrielle Giffords; she lead the Pledge of Allegience with Florida respresentative and Chair of the Democratic National Committee Debbie Wasserman Schulz:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYWDn-7dkD4

I felt proud and pleased for Giffords at how well she has improved since the attempt on her life, and it was a beautiful moment for her to be up there on the stage, but at the same time I did have some lingering anger towards her shooter as I watched her have some trouble walking and reciting the Pledge (although she was able to pull off both). As I have written before, Giffords' recovery has been remarkable; it's great she was well enough for an appearance at the DNC this year, and she will remain one of my favorite figures in the political world for a long time.

My videos, and a thank you

I was recently looking at the viewing statistics for my YouTube channel, Askytrill; thank you to everyone - both followers of my blog and people who surf the Internet in general - who has taken the time to watch the videos that I have uploaded. While I am certainly grateful to people who read this blog, it also means a lot when people look at other content of mine. Thank you.

"Domino" - Jessie J

Whenever I am feeling down I always endeavour to listen to a cheery, positive-sounding song. Currently, the song that I usually play to raise my spirits is "Domino" by Jessie J:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJtB55MaoD0

When Jessie J became popular in early 2011 with "Do It Like a Dude" I was unsure what to think about her music, but once later singles such as "Price Tag", "Nobody's Perfect", and "Who's Laughing Now" became hits she had really grown on me. Now, Jessie J is one of my favourite recent artists, and in my opinion "Domino" is one of her best tracks!

"Fireflies" - Owl City

I know this is another Owl City post, but last night I watched the newly-released video for "Good Time" by Owl City and Carly Rae Jepsen. After I watched it I realized that I had not yet seen the video for "Fireflies", Owl City's biggest hit to date:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psuRGfAaju4

When this song was hit back in 2009 I remember the video being praised on the Open House Party; every time I listen to "Fireflies" the track brings back a lot of memories of that year. "Vanilla Twilight" has a similar effect (I watched that video for the first time ever last night, too). Both are incredible songs and have imaginative videos.

Owl City's third album, The Midsummer Station, is scheduled for release on the 20th of August in the United Kingdom and the 21st of August worldwide.

"Where My Heart Will Take Me" - Russell Watson

The song "Where My Heart Will Take Me", performed by Russell Watson and written by Diane Warren, was used as the theme song for Star Trek: Enterprise. Of all the Star Trek TV show themes it was the only one to have any lyrics, and unfortunately there were a significant amount of Star Trek fans who despised it as a result (it should be noted that ST: Enterprise was the first ST series since the original 1960s show to be canceled); I presume that there are a lot of people who think that "Star Trek" and "singing" do not go together. In not being a hardcore, Star Trek purist, I have no problem with the song ever being a theme and I even like the track.

Here is a link to the extended version of the song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0azMOJ-h_o

Interestingly enough, "Where My Heart Will Take Me" is a reworked version of "Faith of the Heart" by Rod Stewart, and of course, written by Diane Warren. It was used for the film Patch Adams. Here's a link to Stewart's original:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1sYjDc8i4I

I was unaware that "Where My Heart Will Take Me" had originally been sung by Stewart until I looked Watson's cover up for the purpose of this post. I like both versions equally.

"One More Time" - Daft Punk

I know this is a music post right after a previous post on music, but "One More Time" by Daft Punk was played on the radio a few minutes ago, and hearing it reminded me to write about the song.

I became familiar with "One More Time" from all the times it was played on Open House Party. The heavy use of Auto-Tune and voice processing in the song have never bothered me, as it is a fantastic dance track. Funnily enough, the Open House Party was played during the weekend, which was when I would hear the song most often, and my most recent time in hearing "One More Time" on the radio was today...a Saturday!

The main difference with the Open House Party version and the one I just heard is that the "One More Time" played on OHP was always the longer mix:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyowTzkPRzc

Daniel Powter's "Bad Day", and his potential return

Remember "Bad Day" by the Canadian musician Daniel Powter? It is a happy, positive-sounding song about having a bad day and was a massive hit back in 2005/2006. "Bad Day" was the biggest single in the United States in 2006, it charted in numerous countries, was the most played song in the United Kingdom during the 2003-2008 period, and earned Powter numerous nominations and awards.

Despite the enormous success of "Bad Day", every single that Powter has released since has flopped. None have reached the Billboard Hot 100, and outside the United States they have struggled to chart...and when they did they reached abysmal positions. His lack of chart success after "Bad Day" was remarkable enough for Billboard to declare him the top one-hit wonder of the 2000s, a feat in itself, but not one that any musician wants to be saddled with.

It is a shame that Powter's work since "Bad Day" has been unsuccessful, but it is even more of a shame that he turned to substance abuse for a period stemming from difficulties handling his sudden fame and being burnt out from constantly having to sing "Bad Day". Fortunately, he has since recovered and moved on from the habit, and is now engaged and has a daughter who is four months old, but it is still saddening and disappointing that he did have an addiction to alcohol and drugs for a time.

Powter is currently working on a new album and has recently released a new single titled "Cupid". Time will tell if his new work will elevate him out of one-hit wonder status, but I hope it does. In the meantime, we can listen to "Bad Day": it is still a brilliant song six years later, will certainly put you in a good mood when you hear it, and will remain in your head for days afterwards (when my brother and I were listening to Heart Cambridge last year, it was the first time we had heard "Bad Day" on the radio frequently since 2006, and that did please us).

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gH476CxJxfg