sailorstkwrning

NOTE: I'll edit Ryan and The Like into this post tomorrow!

Andy: Lost his Spinal Tap VHS tape (?!); attended a Republic of Lights record release show, where Suns were also playing (RoL is his old band, Suns are apparently friends) and had a rough day, got a cold and needed soup.

Nick: You know what Nick Murray loves? HALLOWEEN. Also, Halloween and horror movies and videos. Mentioned or linked: Tim Curry in The Worst Witch (YouTube); Halloween Punch (YouTube); Joe Dante's MANT! part 1 (YouTube); The Curse of the Werewolf; 100 kills / final destination 2; Night of the Creeps, Monster Squad, Black Sunday, Night of the Living Dead; and also Footloose (1984) Kevin Bacon dance in the fast food with shalamar (YouTube) in the context of hoping his Halloween would be like that just with more werewolf masks, booze and fog machines, and finally, Oh My God! Dogs in Halloween Costumes. Get Your Puppy Website (YouTube). Also, he wants to bring back late-night horror TV complete with hosts, he bought a fog machine on the grounds he'd re-use it, re-uploaded his most excellent Halloween mix a couple of times, William Castle and Mario Bava gave him insomnia; and thinks Halloween should be a national holiday. Nick Murray is DEDICATED to sp00ky, creepy, slimy and scary motion, you guys. And I totally, totally love him for it.

Also discussed the general decline of Western civilization; that "Social services, dmv, and cubicles, these are not places human beings are meant to spend time in"; looked for cheap/free things to do in LA; had a moment of clarity at very early in the morning; various promotional tweets for the new Black Apples record and some shows; shared the TYV Daytrotter link; supported the movement to save CA's state parks; quoted a reality TV line about needing sleep; shared a link to This Is How Michael Caine Speaks - The Trip - BBC Two (YouTube) and also La Sera - Never Come Around (YouTube);

wanted to be underwater; was unimpressed with The Beatles iTunes debut; encouraged us to opt-out of the new airport scanners; was sick and annoyed by construction; lost his voice and was subjected to Chris Cornell's new record as a result; conducted a Food Experiment and made a magnificent Thanksgiving Cake out of mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, turkey, sweet potatoes and stuffing; and thoroughly enjoyed his birthday (Nov. 29).

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.

Brendon: Thanked Polish fans for their video "thank you" to the band for playing at Coke Fest and rt'd Dallon sharing a link to an Inception-themed cat video. I haven't seen the movie so I have no idea what any of it is supposed to mean. But there's a comically wide-eyed cat and dramatic music, so it's not a painful two minutes, or whatever.

Spencer: Completed two full months of radio silence.


( the young veins )

The Like: Assorted promotional and show related chatter, including a reminder that the Birmingham show was cancelled; shared links to their Reading/Leeds interview and live conversation on BBC 6Music (today). The biggest news was probably that the opener for their Brighton show was Johnny Borrell of Razorlight's new band. They didn't give a name, and the one show report I read said 1) the name isn't known, 2) the new band sounds like "Americana with Beck influences" and finally 3) the band members who were not Johnny Borrell came out in vests and cowboy hats. All I can wonder is if "He's Not a Boy" is actually about Borrell and if so, if it was at all awkward playing it with him right there.

Well. TYV had a bit of a rough week. Here's hoping things get better going forward!

Ryan: Kicked off with The Picture, then slowed with exchanges with Greenwald about dominos [pizza] is not bullshit (yes it is, Ryan; I mean I'll eat it if there isn't anything else, but surely you can do better in Los Angeles?), Vincent Perini (formerly of Soft (band), also Greenwald's housemate) about dressing like a cowboy as a child and, if I'm reading right, a difference of opinion about Stevie Ray Vaughn (Vincent: likes him; Ryan: may not), and also an Orgeon-trail flavored exchange with Nick Murray, followed by an observation that life is just a pizza party. And then (cue dramatic music) their trailer and all of their equipment got stolen from outside Ryan's house. I'm interpreting the tweets that follow to mean he and Greenwald went driving around looking for it and found it at the gas station. The next day was his birthday; he appreciated the happy birthday tweets and then had to go talk to the police. He had also tweeted the link to the FB post with the list of gear, but it's gone now. Also, his last comment was, in total: "It's the end of an error."

Jon: Has completed 2nd week of radio silence.

Nick Murray: Puzzling exchange with Ryan about "put a bonnet on it" which I suspect is some Oregon Trail-influenced injoke related to "put a ring on it"; shared a link to a Black Apples show; was pleased with his cheap but delicious Indian food veggie dinner; rec'd some bands to a fan (see his Tumblr for details); agreed to make a special ring tone for Will Noon (himself going "heh heh heh"); fed horses at 2AM and got bitten by barbed wire for his trouble; tweeted the FB link to the post about their stolen gear, but later deleted it after Ryan tweeted it; shared a picture of a pretty sunset and a link to making yourself into a vinyl record after you die; was unhappy with LA public transportation; was grumpy about LA smog (also later deleted); wished a fan a happy birthday and thanked another one for a record store rec; was distressed that California didn't okay the plastic bag ban; and posted a link to a John Lennon/Van Halen Imagine/Jump! mash-up that is a thing of beauty and a joy forever.

Andy: Only one update, and that not of significance.

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.

SPECIAL NOTE: There will be no list posts next weekend as your humble scribe will be sailing in distant seas.

Ryan: This week seemed to be in-joke week. Or perhaps "razz Alex Greenwald about being unwashed and/or ridiculous" week. (Side note: Flamin' Hot Cheetos & pizza sandwich should be nicknamed "indigestion on a plate". My tastebuds are recoiling in fear just thinking about it. Also, I saw a Smart Car on the street here and damn those things are TINY. Greenwald probably didn't drive it because he doesn't enjoy navigating with his knees literally up his nose.) Aside from that, Ryan had a fleetingly good hair day, encouraged us to follow another friend of his on Twitter, and, I'm inferring, went to the "secret" The Like show.

Jon: Posted a picture of some trees, participated in "razz Alex Greenwald" week, informed us that his favorite actor is John Goodman, referenced a Frank Sinatra song, and told us that he and Silent Bob Andy will be "setting sail" for California soon, to meet up with Ryan, Nick and "keyboard man". (I'm guessing that keyboard man is NOT Erick, since probably would have just said Erick, if that was who he meant.) Also: this confirms my suspicion that Andy is based out of Chicago.

Nick: Was busy recording drums for nine hours (!) and later admiring a golden moon, then apparently de-cluttered his life in preparation for couch-surfing; answered Michael Runion's trivia question; mentioned a bunch of music (Yes, Montell Jordan, Black Apples, Abe Vigoda (band), High Places); reassured some fans that tour dates are coming soon and also there will be multiple tours; mulled the wisdom of letting Levi's pay him a relatively tiny amount of money to use a picture of him dancing in their store window; and finally played a show with The Black Apples.

Andy: Had quite a chatty week, in which he went to the sushi market; discussed being Very Serious About His Waffles; told a fan the tour would go at least near Little Rock, AR; apparently ran into difficulties at the passport agency (is this a sign that they may be going to Canada, too?) and made a comment to Jon Walker re: the usefulness of maps.

Ryan: Following some prodding from a friend, resumed more or less regular service. And then proceeded to tweet about food (Little Caesers, Thai) and suspicious apple soda (Manzanita Sol is delicius Mexican soda, Ryan, just drink it!), promote a Michael Runion/Jason Boesel/Z Berg show in LA next week, and, this is the best part, he (Ryan) is going to be a guest on the pilot of Runion's talk show. Which is taping next week and will allegedly someday be available on the internets for everyone to see. I, personally, cannot wait. Also he retweeted Z Berg's picture of himself and Greenwald, which she captioned "Lovers reunited". Though it must be said he did grumble a little bit about the caption. Finally, he told us he (or rather, "Boy Orbison" which LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL okay, Ryan Rossy) wasn't feeling well and asked if we had ever wished we had sharper teeth.

Jon: Finally had his wisdom teeth out, and was anxious before and unsurprisingly sore afterwards. Nonetheless he was soon quoting Singing in the Rain and also Home Alone; a John Lennon quote and a Beatles song (I'm So Tired) also made appearances this week. (I feel like should add "and finally all is right with the world" to that sentence.) And there was a nod to the ongoing Leno/Conan kerfluffle and something about underestimating a pear. Finally, how could I forget, he also retweeted the "Lovers reunited" photograph, and has apparently re-subscribed to Brendon and Spencer, though not Zack, and his icon still looks like Prince Valiant.

Nick Received a surprise visit from a turtle (tortoise?); mentioned a whole bunch of music/music-related items, including a Kate Bush/Peter Gabriel song, some African blues, Huey "Piano" Smith, retweeting a link to a blog dedicated to garage rock originating from Spanish-speaking countries (http://www.garagelatino.blogspot.com/), and mentioning that someone had put "Danger Zone" and "We Will Rock You" on the Friday playlist where he works. He also gently reassured us that tour info is coming soon, really and truly, wished The Smell (?!) a happy birthday, and had some car-related adventures (broken windsheild wipers, overheating).

Andy Evidently watched a lot of movies; he doesn't mention which ones, so . . . no substantive update for him this week.

Andy

Special note: Nick and Andy are now listed on TYV MySpace page as official members of the group.

ETA because I forgot: I think Ringo the cat, who showed up in one of Ryan's pictures this summer, is Z Berg's cat, or she has/knows one that looks a lot like him.

Ryan: A video-heavy week, starting with one about 3-D glasses, followed by a reference to a recording of an all-girl Juggalo mosh pit originally mentioned by Michael Runion, before wrapping up with mentions of the frozen iguanas falling out of trees on CNN, James Lipton's ant-sexting PSAs, and an echo of the sport fishing bloopers. He also pocket-tweeted then apologized for it; shared something he overheard in a bar; told us he was "depraved" as a child (I'm pretty sure he meant deprived); and joked with Greenwald about playing harmonica in Greenwald's new "band", Spooky Freckle.

Jon: As previously noted, changed his icon twice, from the distorted fun-house face picture to Megaman to a non-distorted picture of his face. He also noted that words are weird; shared a picture of his cat; mentioned he watches Roseanne and that he tried to shave but "his face said it was too cold"; quoted an episode of the Office; puzzlingly apologized for "mistweeting" someone, called "BS" on something unknown, and wished us all a Merry Christmas, though the latter one was on Epiphany, which is, in fact, Christmas in the Armenian church and is therefore possibly not all that puzzling. Anyway. He finished up with a comment about being anxious for a busy 2010.

Andy: No updates this week.

Nick: Earned himself a permanent place in my heart by quoting one of my favorite Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers songs (The Waiting); also mentioned another song by The Horrors (Scarlet Fields) and Fleetwood Mac's Tusk; mentioned a "record club" which might be a place, or, given his further conversation with someone else, might be related to Beck's music re-recording/sharing project of the same name, or some combination of those things; had some stolen 45s returned to him; and told a fan he was going to soon find out when Take a Vacation will be released. Between that and Jon Walker's "busy 2010," I'm hoping this means more music soon.