sailorstkwrning

misc updates:

- Benjamin Font's audiobook thing has been fully funded.

- Jon Walker will be releasing his Home Recordings soon; appreciates Chuck Klosterman; and has announced "manscaping" as Term of the Day for 1/4/11 (I'm kind of dizzy with tired right now and find this hilarious, and also am wondering if he was watching Keltie on The Bachelor; another contestant who is a professional aesthetician brought it up (and brought her waxing tools to the first night!); and "online baby rumor" as a Phrase of the Day for 1/3. (Am now also wondering if someone has told him about the Spencer's Secret Baby thing? STOP GOOGLING YOUR (FORMER) BANDMATES, JWALK.)

- also, y'all, can I just tell you that The Bachelor makes my skin crawl? Because it does. DEAR EVERYONE INVOLVED: YOU ARE NOT GOING TO FIND A SPOUSE IN EIGHT WEEKS AS PART OF A TELEVISION CONTEST. The whole thing is just so revolting and weird and reinforces terrible behaviors, mainly in-fighting between the ladies over the man.

Keltie gets a little bit of that, actually, towards the end; she's being her usual ridiculous/awkward self and teaching him Rockette kicks and meanwhile a brace of other contestants are making disapproving faces and quasi-snide commentary and pretty clearly judging her kind of hard, and I am all >>>>>>>>>>>>:( because while I will acknowledge she's awkward, what she's doing isn't inappropriate at all.

(and now all of you can LOL DEFENSIVE KELTIE-WIFE at me. I know, I know, I just think the whole genre of spouse-contest reality shows are unpleasant and reward a kind of feminine submissiveness that I find deeply disquieting.)

- Meanwhile, in other news, Ryan surfaced after a long silence to share a picture of his face with a big red kissy-lips on his cheek; was excited that the Space Jam website still exists, untouched, after 15 years (holding it down Geocities style, too, it is AMAZING, and you know what, THE WHOLE INTERNET USED TO LOOK LIKE THAT. ON PURPOSE); and also had conversation with a friend / made a tweet suggesting that he (Ryan) was bitten by a "poisonous" feral cat. Dear Ryan Ross: perhaps your New Year's resolution should be: Avoid further serious injury?

briefly:

1. Nick Murray posted to his personal Tumblr confirming the hiatus (I keep wanting to type "split" there) on Friday night, but so far no comments has appeared on any offical TYV spaces, and Ryan has not yet directly acknowledged anything unusual is going on. He did go to a hockey game, though, and also mentioned Blood Ninja, who it turns out was an old-school IRC prankster who used to have epically faily cyber-sex with people and then share the transcripts. Also, at some point in the last week or two, Ryan broke one of his fingers, which may or may not have anything to do with his relative Twitter silence.

2. And because I got a question about this one this morning - Ryan said: "Jesus I'm gonna next some People I follow real soon this is bullshit lately."

It looks like gibberish, but it isn't. "Next"-ing people comes from speed-dating, wherein you meet with prospective partners for 3 minutes each. The implied "joke" is about someone hollering "NEXT!" when they encounter someone they know they don't like in the first 30 seconds. It's also a Chat Roulette reference.

3. Jon's comment about going to a mountain is probably about skiing, which is something he's tweeted about before. Also he's changed his icon again, and is now using the same one as is on his Facebook page.

Jon: Was monosyllabic ("cosmic") and/or fragmentary ("limitless undying love") and/or fragmentary and possibly disapproving ("wow" and a link to It's Almost Halloween video on the FBR channel); told us to retire the television, and then there was this MASSIVE BURST OF INFORMATION in which he told us he'd been working on demos for a week, noted his mother's birthday dinner, and announced he was going to New York, all in one tweet. Then he was back to monosyllabic fragments again, wherein he was excited about science; had a pop (soda! it's soda!) while waiting for Conan; had Creed thoughts (AUUUUUUUUUGH NOOOOOOOOOOO); noted that the weather was making his animal family crazy; quoted Billy Madison; shared a picture of his dog; told us only to spend money on things we REALLY need; expressed his appreciation for Christmas music; may have taken the bus to New York (all he said was MEGABUS); shared a picture of breakfast time in a New York diner; shared a picture of all of his pets and called them his songwriting audience; asked who owns jonwalker.com and "what do you want for it" and then finished up with a picture of his "home recording studio".

So, let's revisit some of that:

1) demos, which no-one else has mentioned or commented on

2) the visit to New York, home of their label

3) rumblings of personal website

4) home recording studio

and, add to that:

He and Ryan used to do publicity more or less together, but Jon hasn't participated in any publicity for The Young Veins since more or less the end of the last tour, not even to RT the links to the list of missing gear, the Daytrotter session or their video premier; both MTV and their label only tweeted the video links to Ryan and the general band twitter; and he is still not following any of his bandmates (or anyone else.)

Even allowing for a certain amount of LOL TWITTER, all I can say is: HMMMMMMMM.

Panic:

Brendon: Would love to believe in life on Mars, and so maybe he will; also he is looking forward to the Rally to Restore Sanity.

Spencer: Has no thoughts that he wishes to share with the Internets at this time.

The Young Veins:

Jon goes first this week, since he has the most exciting news! I (and the rest of the Internet) am taking that "engaged!" to mean "to be married." Woooo! Congratulations, Mr. Walker. He also noted the 5 year anniversary of A Fever You Can't Sweat Out, though, strangely, not the release of the video for Take a Vacation. Further Twitter-related data points: both MTV Buzzworthy and OneHaven tweeted video-related news solely to Ryan and the band twitter; I have a suspicion that the band twitter is run by Nick Murray.

Ryan on the other hand, made no mention of Fever at all, but did RT the band twitter and MTV's tweets about the video and (as it turned out) his solo appearance on Subterranean. Also noted that having an immortal enemy was way worse than having a mortal enemy; complained about the long lasting effects of Tylenol PM; recommended Who is Harry Nilsson? (movie); noted that the B-52s sang the theme song for Rocko's Modern Life (Nickelodean cartoon, 1993-1996); asked the internet what constituted a "floppy appearance", but didn't specify what it was that was supposed to appear floppy; RT'd a comment from Ponytail Groovin' about them both being from the same part of the wrong side of the tracks (so maybe PG isn't Greenwald?); shared that his iPhone corrects "bonehead" to "vinegars" and was possibly puzzled that it was vinegars, plural;

shared a picture of the beach followed by a RT of CNN's story about LA's record high temperature; was puzzled by the popularity of the martini glass on the grounds that it looks like a plate (what martini glasses have you been drinking out of, Ryan??); bit a baby on the head (the following exchange with a friend suggests baby = puppy, in this case, which may or may not be related to the "floppy appearance" query); wished people only had 140 characters in real life; wasn't sure if he'd rather go to a The Like show or watch a new episode of Tosh.0 (he later showed up in the picture TL shared from the casino); had some beef jerky in Baker; and narrowly missed rescuing Shane Valdes from waiting by the side of the road for a towtruck. The tow truck discussion included a reference to Adventures in Babysitting by Shane and the hook-hand killer urban legend by Ryan.

Andy: Went out Trick or Treating (already?) and asked the internet what curfew was supposed to be while noting that he knew he had to be home by the time the street lights were on.

Nick: Wished another fan a happy birthday; offered to trade a present to whoever could get him into Knott's Scary Farm for free; was possibly mildly annoyed that he's been into alien disclosures lately; saw Pavement and Sonic Youth and remembered why he grew out of Pavement at 17 but felt Sonic Youth's set was too short; rt'd his other band's (Black Apples) appearance in a Pepsi commercial though he had to work the morning it was shot; and finally wanted to beat the heat by sitting in a nice cold air conditioned theater and watching horror movies.

The Like: Took in a Daria (cartoon, MTV, 1997-2002) marathon on the Logo network; Z got her stitches out at her pediatrician's office; various West Coast tour related announcements; shared a link to their interview with Nemone at BBC6; also rt'd the CNN headline about the heatwave; RT'd comic Jordan Rubin's comment about Mad Men, 1980s-style; drove through the Mojave listening to Bowie; Annie got 21 at blackjack her first time in Vegas, ; Wishing He Was Dead appeared in the 9/30 episode of Gray's Anatomy; and finally RT'd two pieces of fan art which were renditions of themselves as The Beatles.

Jon Walker has returned! Kind of. He's monosyllabically thanked everyone for their birthday wishes, changed his picture (to one of himself, sitting on a bench, a packed bag nearby, in what could be a backstage area) and adjusted his location to Chicago. He's still following no-one, however.

ETA: Re: latest LJ shenanigans, please don't cross-post anything here (content or comments) to Twitter or Facebook. Thanks! - sailor

Okay, so the last update was only five days ago, but I'm trying to get everyone (or rather, me) back on a regular schedule. or something. I think going forward update day will be either Sunday or Wednesday, depending on how much school is eating my head on any given week.

Panic: Brendon rt'd the link to the page with the song he did with Dallon and Ian, Skid Row from Little Shop of Horrors; Spencer continues radio silence.

The Young Veins: Ryan encountered a "smiling" jalapeno and had a good "sadurday" [sic]; Nick thought being in the studio with Art Garfunkel must have been a pain and offered between-take studio chatter video as evidence, watched Into The Wormhole and joked about learning time travel to go back and get their gear, was amused by "hungover" owls, warned us all about DUI checkpoints, was sad to miss Davilla 666 (band, not girl!) but glad to see San Francisco just the same, and was generally in favor of having a good time all the time; and Jon and Andy continued radio silence.

The Like: Note: As far as I know there are two of them actually tweeting: Z and Tennessee. A very long time ago they told us tweets with "oh my lord" or "OML" were Tennessee, but either they've abandoned that one or she isn't tweeting at all. At the moment I'm operating under the assumption that anything ending in one or more "x's" is Tennessee and everything else is Z. And that at the moment Tennessee is doing the bulk of the tweeting.

Onwards to the notes: Played shows in Newcastle, Manchester, Sheffield and Nottingham; noted that the New York Dolls were in the audience in Newcastle with what I am choosing to read as a "HOLY SHIT HOW IS THIS OUR LIFE??" tone despite the implied eyeroll of "whatever"; were sad to cancel three shows due to a family emergency on the part of one of them (:(); rt'd some fan chatter, one about going to a show, one sharing a picture of their single being featured in the paper in the UK; quoted Z a possibly hungover Z asking how old Edie Sedgwick was when she died (28); posted a picture of the front of a TGI Fridays with the slogan misspelled to say "in her . . . it's always Friday" and were apparently also glad to see the TGI Fridays (caption was "thank you universe"); and also posted a picture of Z posing with an "&" symbol.

Ryan: Has been quiet these last few weeks but wow, he was chatty on tour. I've put in some line breaks in ( what would otherwise be a LOL WALL OF TEXT: )

Jon: As previously noted, but also as of right now: Has totally unfollowed everyone, and following the tweet of a burning painting, it's been a week of radio silence. I saw a comment that he had been deleting tweets, as well, but I don't know which ones he removed. The following is an accounting of ( what remains )

Ok. I'll catch up with Andy and Nick later this week.

Ryan A certain amount of general tour and promotional chatter (highlights from tour: he and nick m got chucked out of a bar; he mistook a keyboard for a power bar (?!); and apparently he gets dressed in parking lots); grumbled a little bit about comments he must have received on the record about the songs being boring; compared Chuck Berry to Babe Ruth; expressed his appreciation for America's Funniest Home Videos and The Office and his lack of appreciation for Oasis, Nirvana and Lost; attended a The Like show and got kicked in the face in the pit (his response: ?!?!); observed Mother's Day; played in a The Like show when Z Berg's arm was injured (according to him it was injured by him, but he didn't say how it came to happen); was baffled by the Irish section of a karaoke menu; had a nightmare starring Stewie from Family Guy; told a "dad joke"; joined Alex Greenwald in a celebration of Bob Dylan's birthday; and, finally, he was awarded a "Boyfriend of the Year" trophy by Z Berg. Also, when they came back from tour he changed his background from himself smoking to a concert shot of himself playing guitar.

Jon: For a while his icon was Desmond, from Lost, but then he changed it to a surprisingly nice picture of his face. Musical selections included Edwin Starr, the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, Bob Dylan, and then for a refreshing change of pace, MC Hammer. Also he quoted his own lyrics. There were as usual lots of pictures -- of his pets, of Ryan, of his Scrabble games, of a quote from Miss Piggy -- and also he shared a link to a video of a TYV performanc, told two Chuck Norris jokes, and observed Mother's Day. Finally, he trolled Ryan a little bit (I think) by suggesting Joe Jonas would be at one of their shows.

Nick Murray A lot of music (he goes to a LOT of shows), and a lot of video, including a REALLY FUCKING CREEPY clip from a documentary about Tiffany's stalkers. Oh my god, just five minutes seriously gave me the howling fantods. Anyway. Moving on. He also shared links to a bunch of news stories about, variously, California's budget woes, the oil spill, and Arizona threatening to cut off California's power over a proposed boycott of the state over the immigration law. Nick Murray: lives in the real world. It's kind of refreshing. He also kept up steady communications with fans, and answerd a question about presents with "yes! socks, bracelets, drawings, polaroids of landscapes, soul/surf 45s, bananas, pre-stamped blank postcards..." I am now envisioning their merch table piled high with bananas.

Andy Still not particularly chatty, though when he does spark up he talks a lot about food -- hamburgers and tacos -- as well as some general chatter with fans. He also shared a picture of a book about NASA conspiracy theories and, briefly, The Young Veins writing a song. Which he then took down because OOPS, there was his email on the Internet.

Big picture note: Well! This was a busy week, what with new pictures, new MySpace design (everything is now pale green and gray/black, and they've changed the font on the header; also it looks like Nick M. may be in charge of web-related things), being signed by One Haven Music AND more or less officially adding a fifth member, keyboardist Nick White from Tilly and the Wall. Who does not appear to have a twitter, though it must be said I didn't spend more than 30 seconds looking to see if he had one. And they are playing their first show tonight, in Los Angeles, before heading out on tour next week.

Ryan Began with wishing he could be a T-Rex (*rawr* CHOMP), announced their first show, mentioned trying to start a night of "Classic Culkin" and that his blanket smelled like play-doh, made a sandwich and noted that he "eats like a nine year old", told Greenwald that Donnie Brasco was on TV again; shared pictures of a beat-to-shit truck with "Change" written on the back in red tape, a vintage amp, and the test pressing of Take a Vacation!; retweeted NickM's joke about Scientology and another friend's joke about Ke$ha; participated in the elliptical "nature" and "who knew?" discussion Jon seems to be having with himself; and tried (and failed) to make a trending topic out of a running in-joke with his friends. He finished up the week with changing his background to a picture in which he seems to be smoking and making a vaguely claw-like gesture with his other hand, and his icon to a picture which he appears only from the neck down, pointing at the infamous Sheriff badge on his guitar strap.

Oh, and, according to Curbed.com, LA division, he has recently bought a house. With a moat. And a drawbridge. &RYAN;

Jon: A fairly musical week, with selections from The Beatles, an episode of The Office, Loverboy and Empires. Also he was apparently busy discussing "nature, who knew?" with himself and googling random stuff (youngest beard and consortist), but I couldn't find anything for Fred Lynch, swamp expert. And of course he was promoting the TYV show.

Nick M. Lots of music this week -- apparently he's revisiting all of Blur's records, and also there was a link to video of a band called the Flat Duo Jets, a picture of the cover of a "kid soul" compilation record, he went to a Jail Weddings show, and played another show with the Black Apples. In other news, the Alice in Wonderland posters gave him bad vibes; Levi's used him in their in-store ad without his permission, he told a joke referencing Interpol and Scientology, and, based on some exchanges with fans, I think he may be in charge of TYV-related web stuff. Finally, he mentioned that there will be more than one TYV tour this year.

Andy: Got the internet back and proceeded to be pleased to see us, collectively; shared "relationship rules" that kind of made my head explode and a picture of himself in which he looks less like Jon Walker than he did before; expressed his appreciation for Cinnamon Toast Crunch; quoted Miley Cyrus (I mentally added a sarcastic inflection, but that may or may not be the case); and asked Ryan if he could eat the blanket that smells of play-doh. Musically, he referenced songs by The Cyrkle and The Beatles song, and his neighbor inflicted some Savage Garden upon him. Finally, he shares a birthday with Shaggy and Timothy Leary (Oct. 22), and thinks the "#thingsuglypeoplesay" topic is ridiculous, because he "wasn't aware we have our own language".

Ryan: A fairly musical week, between promoting shows for friends (Michael Runion, The Like, Gold Motel/Greta, The Black Apples), song mentions (Jumper, Third Eye Blind; two Metallica songs; and then at the end of the week he conflated CS&N's "Our House" with Madness' "Our House"), sharing Jon's joke about Ricky Martin, and concluding with something about a Dylan/Beatles show that I concluded had an implied "and then I woke up" at the end. There was also some discussion with Greenwald about some mysterious missing tapes that may hold TYV back from a record deal. He also noticed the Olympics were on, in the sense that he congratulated Team USA on beating Canada at hockey and made a crack about The Office being more interesting than ice dancing.

Other highlights: went to Universal Studios (I think? I don't know where else a replica of Whoville would be); threatened to cut his hair; shared an outtake from the first TYV photoshoot (I seriously am not sure if that was Andy or Jon in the picture) and also posted a picture of the tour poster. The tour poster featured a drawing of the lead singer of Foxy Shazam striking a "King Kong" pose on the top of the Empire State Building and catching a plane in his hand.

Jon: Another image heavy week, featuring a pictures of Ryan bowling and someone (probably Ryan) playing the guitar, one of a bonfire, one of a rain LA afternoon, and one of a dog. He also shared a picture of the tour poster, as described above; mentioned that Craig Ferguson is a genius; shared a link to a Jimi Hendrix song on YouTube; and quoted Ryan's end of their conversation about what various '90s pop stars are doing now.

Nick: Mentioned being excited to record new songs to Ryan (MORE new music??); went to a dinner party with some soul music; got stuck in traffic; shared a picture of a stuffed bear (as in taxidermy) wearing a Smokey The Bear hat, with a cigar in its mouth; referenced the CS&N "Our House", promoted the Gold Motel/Black Apples show; shared a link to a news story about a chimp who had to go to rehab; and noticed there are always a lot of expensive cars in the Taco Bell drive-in.

Andy: No substantive updates; tweeted once, to ask "you put that on twitski?" with no further context. I decided he was referring to the (possibly) lost tapes.