Work Text
June 13, 2009-- I kind of want to put the Animal Collective song Spencer rec'd on repeat from now until the end of time. They have found a way to record the sound of summer and a summer crush and I love it.-- Ryan has (maybe) added poetry to the literary mix. I know the Bukowski is most likely, but I'm still voting for the Willie Nelson song. Because I ♥ Willie Nelson always, and I've been wondering why Ryan's country-soaked childhood hasn't come through more often. Also, bands appearing more than once so far on his music list: The Beatles, separately and together; Marc Bolan/T. Rex.-- Cranky Jon continues to be cranky, and also possibly not terribly excited about the upcoming Summer of All Blink-182 All The Time. Also, I'm intrigued by his choice of literature.-- Brendon is still contentedly surfing, snuggling with his puppy, and watching random crap on YouTube.-- Travie can be added to the list of bandmembers with no sense of self-preservation, but, that said, he definitely does have an eye for interesting visual detail. Also, one of the videos he linked to features him being all SRS BSNS about his upcoming trip for AIDS awareness while wearing an oversized pink rabbit-face hat, which was very distracting. On the other hand, he was hot like fire in a suit at the suicide awareness foundation dinner thing, so: we'll call that one a draw.-- Everyone who has seen The Hangover seems to have liked it.June 20, 2009If I had to sum up this week in a word, that word would be: OUCH.-- Ryan is either continuing his late '60s - early '70s trend, or expanding his country trend. It Ain't Me, Babe was a Dylan song originally (and that was how I filed it), but Johnny and June Carter Cash, among other people, had a wildly successful cover. I like the Cash cover better, personally, because I ♥ Johnny Cash always, but thought the Dylan original is more likely to be what he's actually listening to. Also: style shift ahoy! Fedoras and tweed: Out, Military: In? We shall see!-- Spencer surprised me a little with the Stone Temple Pilots song (at least I think he was referencing STP), but it was a pleasant surprise. It starts slow but once it gets moving it's got solid, steady rolling drums and bass, plus Scott Weiland in fine vocal form.-- Brendon is still eating well. (And causing the internet to explode. Oh, Brendon.)-- Jon seemed to have abandoned Twitter altogether, but has come back to us now!-- Brendon and Spencer are participating in current events, in the sense that their icons are green in support of Iranian democracy.-- What the devil is "Thromby" when it's at home? Alex Greenwald's car? A thrombone?-- Travie has done most of his discussion of his trip so far either on his blog or other news sites, but he seems to be having a good time so far, outside of some ferocious jetlag.June 27, 2009Well. This was kind of a hell of a week, current-events wise. Only Travie weighed in on the Will.i.am v. Perez Hilton fracas (followed closely by the Pete Wentz/Ashlee Simpson v. Perez Hilton Twitter-fracas, though that was more inferred than stated) and the death of Farrah Fawcett; both Ryan and Travie commented on the death of Michael Jackson. Travie also mentioned participating in an impromptu memorial in New York City.Ryan continues to be the chattiest member of Panic. Lots of melancholy song lyrics this week, and Harry Nilsson showed up for a second time. He seems to be holding steady in the late 1960s-early 1970s, with some excursions to the '80s and early '90s. Also he would appear to be the resident Early Adopter, technology wise, which I am concluding based on the fact that he seems to read a lot of BoingBoing. (And he did get Twitter first!) Finally, I'm not sure if the scorpion bed protectors were an allusion to actual or metaphorical scorpions, or if by "cane-fu" he was talking about learning t o use a literal cane.Brendon communicated almost entirely in somewhat sad/wistful song lyrics, and, in mirror opposition to Ryan, appears to have settled down in the early-mid 1990s, with the occasional foray into the 1960s-70s. [ETA:] Okay, okay, brace yourselves for some LOL Overinvested, however: Lovefool. Oh, Brendon. Really it only makes me -- well, sad may be overstating the case -- bummed? -- because I associate that song with a disasterous relationship of my own. It makes me think of walking back from frat parties in the cold, a little drunk and humming under my breath. [end ETA]Spencer is the least chatty member of Panic this week, and apparently likes to read horror movie blogs.Jon was the most diverse this week, first dropping some science (literally! Stephen Hawking and black hole theory!), then invoking Oscar Wilde, and then referencing god-awful 1990s tv (Married with Children). In addition he shared a bunch of pictures, and both his face and his pets are still precious and adorable.Travie has come back from his MTV trip. He has written/videoed about it somewhat extensively, but not on Twitter. Aside from current events discussed above, he seems to be generally busy going out to shows, hanging out with musicians and making art.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
July 4, 2009Everyone but Ryan and Travie changed their profile picture this week. Brendon went with a picture of "demonized" Charlie Brown from Ron English's "Grin"; Spencer selected a stylized portrait of Devendra Banhart and Jon chose a distorted picture of himself, and also changed his background to be completely white.Jon continues to drop literary references all over us, including Alice in Wonderland, Slaughterhouse Five for the second time, and also a Roethke poem. He's also redesigned his Twitter page with more Alice in Wonderland references (distorted icon, location is "the willow tree"). Travel to fantastical places was something of a theme; he also referenced The Wizard of Oz. Songwise, there were only four; highlights are a repeat of "I'm So Tired" by the Beatles and Billy Joel being the only artist other than the Beatles to appear more than once.Spencer was quiet this week, save for one exchange with Ryan, though, as noted above, his icon changed to a stylized picture of Devendra Banhart ( Official Website ) The longer I do this the more fascinated I am by Spencer's apparent preferred aesthetic, and increasingly certain that the Circus-era flavor and feel were his ideas that Ryan (& Lucent Dossier) illustrated. For examples, be sure to check out the "pictures" section of Banhart's official website. Note: There's no explicit nudity, but you may not want to look at it at work.Brendon appears to be busy surfing (with seals!) though as we all know, he took breaks to go out on boat with Spencer, Fall Out Boy, some extras, and some videocameras and also to sing some Sinatra. (I'm hoping for a Sinatra cover on the new tour.) The big development this week was that while trying to parse the "pure stoke" comment, I managed to crack the "Eddie would go" mystery -- it's a reference to Eddie Aiku, a legendary Hawaiin surfer. Like "pure stoke", it could be a catchphrase or a book, I'm not 100% sure.Meanwhile, Ryan was busy getting into trouble hanging out with Alex Greenwald, teasing us with puzzling scribbled-upon leaves, and being ill. There were far fewer songs this week, but they were less melancholy; The Kinks were mentioned twice (once was a link to the actual song) and also Ryan appears to be listening to the same Zombies record Jon referenced a week or so ago. Finally, there was another mention of the mysterious Thromby, which is either a) Alex Greenwald's phone (most likely) or b) Alex Greenwald himself, I still am not sure.Travie went to the MJ memorial at the Apollo Theater, in Harlem, then got a tattoo, accompanied by some friends, one of whom had a medium-sized lizard with him. Then it appears he decamped to Miami, possibly to record. He also appears to have had cause to go to the ER :( Feel better soon, Travie!)July 11, 2009 - TravieMy favorite thing from this week was the link to Eternal Moonwalk , which is a Michael Jackson tribute page comprised entirely of home videos of people (and sometimes long-suffering pets) doing the moonwalk. Turn your speakers down, because it plays the same riff over and over, but it is AMAZING. Highlight: Someone moonwalks wearing a gigantic dinosaur head. Travie mentions he's going to make one and submit it, so, I don't know, keep an eye on his blog, maybe he'll post it there too. But the site is fantastic even lacking in Travie.He also talked some more about his musical taste this week, mentioning one hip-hop/rap artist, one really fantastic French female pop singer (Yael Naim), but mostly spotlighting the jazz side of his collection. Also he went to Canada and hung out with some pretty ladies. He seems to be generally feeling better (his ankles returned to normal) and content.July 11, 2009 - PanicThis has also been a hell of week, hasn't it.I'll start with the administratrivia: I've put "**" in each existing section of each list to delineate the point of the split. If I make any new sections going forward I'll find some way to indicate they are post-split additions.As for tracking the influences of potential new members: I'm going to cross that bridge when I come to it, but I'm inclined to start lists only for new "permanent" members (whatever that might mean), should there be any for either band.On a more general note, as I've been doing the compiling and observing, I've been trying to be as, well, "journalistic" as possible, for lack of a better term. To record what I see as precisely and accurately as possible, comment on things that are interesting, but not engage in any serious theorizing about What It All Means. Because, you know, it's Twitter.That said, two weeks ago, when Jon tweeting Doors lyrics and unfollowing everyone on his list was closely followed by Ryan having an emo-fit and seeming to reference Some Kind of Monster (Metallica documentary in which the entire point was Oh Shit, Our Bassist Quit, Now What? (as well as, it must be said, So, Has, Uh, Anyone Heard From Our Band Mastermind Recently?)), I am not going to lie, I asked my screen if I had, in fact, just witnessed Jon leaving the band. Then I told myself I was being ridiculous. Then Jon came back, and I thought, okay, fine, something maybe went down, but they sorted it out, and I'll get the answer to my ridiculous and vaguely inappropriate suppositions eventually.Then this Monday happened, followed by Wednesday, and, well . . . as I said, all of the lists have new weight and meaning now. I'm still going to refrain from theorizing, though, because it's still Twitter.And on that note: onwards!Interestingly (if unsurprisingly) Ryan was the least chatty this week. Aside from reassuring us that he had not died (nor was he done) and that it was his evil twin who had been caught misbehaving, he mostly shared pictures and studio updates. Though there was one Twain reference, one Beatles song, and one mangling of a famous line from A League of Their Own. I am 50% convinced that the text accompanying the Venice Beach shot is also song, but I can't find it. I'll add it to my "mysteries" file (along with Thromby) and see if it is ever revealed.Brendon had more of a classic rock than '90s rock theme this week, with one excursion into nursery rhymes. Though, as I learned, the Itsy Bitsy Spider is also part of a Carly Simon song (Coming Around Again) I'm about 90% sure he just meant the nursery rhyme. He also brought in some David Sedaris, and some movies. (If he does see Bruno, I'll be interested in his reaction.) Also, he loves us, no matter the situation. We ♥ you too, Brendon. Also, he changed his background from the Camp Extravaganza to a lovely (Hawaiian?) waterfall.The best part of this week, though, was Spencer sparking back up and tweeting about music and ridiculous internet and/or television shows. (Again, won't lie: he's totally my most favorite, and it was something of a relief to see him acting "normal" in some way.) I have a sneaking suspicion that he's a regular at Stereogum as well as horror blogs, because I found both The Clientele single (a free, legal download and also the cover, which, he's right, it *is* amazing) and Imogen Heap there. I also continue to be kind of baffled by his taste in comedy, but, at least he's having fun? Musically he seems to be settled in contemporary art-rock with some excursions into pop and classic rock.And then there is Jon, who changed his icon to yet another distorted picture of his face, and who seems to be photo-documenting the recording process as well as reassuring us he's still eating. He did also drop some Twain on us, as well as some Edison. And, speaking of mysteries, I'm adding "Cape Town" to that file as well. All I see in that picture of the hallway is . . . a hallway. The text isn't a song, as far as I can tell. Anyway, musically, he's still heavy on the Beatles, though Billy Joel may have made another appearance. Finally, he's also ventured into the world of funny YouTube videos, though the one he chose to share was, in my opinion, not actually all that funny.July 18, 2009 -- TravieI've decided to make the separate post for Travie-observations into a regular feature.This week included a fascinating array of musical references, covering everything from Stone Temple Pilots (and his man-crush on Scott Weiland, ♥) to Q-Tip to Brazilian soul. The STP was in the context of being excited to play a show at the same event as the band, as opposed to specific song or record, but it was clear he enjoys their music.He also acquired a painting of Marvin Gaye, shared a B*Bot-ified image of himself (aka Travie-as-cartoon), admired some fan-made art (which is actually quite good), celebrated DeJesus' birthday, and is generally gearing up for tour to start next week.July 18, 2009 - Panic/Not-PanicEd note: I'm calling Ryan & Jon's Musical Adventure "not-Panic" until they provide the actual name.Ryan was mostly back to being his usual chatty self this week, especially with MTV. He also seemed to be busy dodging really large spiders and possibly also hornets, attempting to play the dozens with Alex Greenwald (please note the "attempting" in that sentence; I don't think he quite got ahold of the idea) and recording music. He shared pictures of microphones and instruments to prove it! He did also ask the internet for suggestions for band names, but as of this writing has not yet announced any results. There were only two songs, one by George Harrison, and one by the Beach Boys.Brendon was also chatty, and shared a lot of music. There was some from the 1990s (Sugar Ray! Hi there! Amy Grant, fancy meeting you here! R. Kelly, you are still a little too weird for my taste.), some classical, one musical, and one new group that I don't know how to categorize - pop/hip-hop/girl group? - who anyway have very lovely voices and a really cute song. The minor puzzle this week was the self-help phrase that may have been generic and may have been a reference to a specific column in an on-line LDS magazine. Generic is, I suspect, far more likely, but I included the LDS magazine as a point of reference and/or comparison. Also he discussed Amadeus with Pete, and he, Spencer and Zack seemed to be playing cee-lo via Twitter. Finally Zack's mom bought him (Brendon) a present, though they haven't yet said what it might be.The major puzzle this week was Spencer, who on one day was going to "ride the red dragon all the way home." I searched several variations, and came up with bike races, horse races, a pod-cast of a detective novel, a song by the Time Beings, something about Westerners studying in Asia, various D&D-reminiscent books involving red dragons, and of course various things related to Wales. I still have no idea what that means. Urban Dictionary was similarly unhelpful. All I can think of is that it is somehow D&D related and I'm not geeky enough to get it.In other areas, however, he was quite clear, especially with his literary allusions. There was the Hunter S. Thompson and the Oscar Wilde, but the most biting was the self-help article. In lighter news, he also shared a picture of a really adorably hideous dog (♥ Chinese Crested puppy!), started a game of Circles (I read the rules, it's tremendously complicated, but we all looked in the circle, so I think we all lose this round and/or get bopped in the arm; also, nnnnnnnargh big drummer hands, *ahem*, sorry, where was I?) and shared some early PATD canon.Jon took a lot of pictures, mostly of Ryan (or "Brian") though there was one of road and one of a meal. (Mmmm, Indian food. It looked delicious.) He also seemed to be looking forward to the new Harry Potter movie. (I'll be interested in his reaction.) He also made a comment about "10 days", though it wasn't clear if that was meant to be counting up from the implosion or counting down to a new event. Musically, it was a bizarrely Beatles-free week, featuring only some Dylan and an echo of a nursery rhyme.July 24, 2009 - TravieAdministratrivia: I reorganized the "Music" section to create a division between general mentions and live shows.This week: Travie took us on a wander through the Lower East Side with some of his friends (I really did feel like I was perched in one of his pockets, it was charming), took in some legendary jazz piano (note to wikipedia: Giuseppi Logan is not dead as of 7/20/09, and Travis McCoy has the TwitPic to prove it), got a tattoo and then headed out on the Six Flags tour with The Academy Is . . . and Boys Like Girls, The Veronicas and Never Shout Never.While on tour he's been sketching something for Staying Alive, riding rollercoasters and also playing with Hot Wheels. (♥, Travie.) Finally, he seems to have a general affinity for things named "Daredevil."July 24, 2009 - Panic/Not-PanicAdministratrivia: Both Spencer AND Ryan's lists now have items with warnings appended. Ryan's for, well, nature (spiders) and Spencer's for possibly triggery images of food. (I can't look at that website, particularly the background image, for longer than about a minute without feeling panicky. The boys sharing pictures of their dinners doesn't bother me at all, though, my usual reaction is MMMM, delicious, gimme that sushi!) I'm going to continue to include warnings as necessary. If there's anything (past, present or future) that NEEDS a warning and I fail/have failed to include it, please advise and I will fix it ASAP.This week:Ryan spent a lot of time with Alex Greenwald and various of his/their famous friends (and got chased by paparazzi for his trouble), visited with some seals, shared a picture of tremendously adorable puppy, got trolled by his friend with pictures of a t-shirt that may not actually exist (but should) and a massive spider (the source website is amazing, but, um, be REALLY CAREFUL if you have any kind of bug phobias). He also started (and ended) a minor fan kerfluffle on Twitter. Musically there was only the one Bonnie Raitt song, plus a quote from Nas. There were another couple of quotes that were Greenwald, and some that could be Ryan quoting a movie, or could be Ryan repeating conversations going on around him, I wasn't quite sure.Brendon, as we all know, was very busy being a tanned hotsauce at Comic Con and helpfully clarifying his lyrics for us. (Extra amusing as I had actually come up with a non-dirty meaning for "go down on me", but oh well.) He's also been listening to the Imogen Heap song Spencer mentioned last week (:DDD!), Lou Reed, and, ah, Huey Lewis and the News. (Some of that was related to promo stuff for Jennifer's Body; there's a link in [PATD LJ group] to his "soundtrack" for the film, which has some intriguing selections.) The mysterious quote about the still not-pregnant Constitution was from Gore Vidal. Literally the first place it turned up was in the .sig file of a regular commentator on a 2nd Amendment website (thehighroad.us), which, I don't think Brendon is that concerned about our right to bear arms, and I'm guessing he must have some kind of Quote-A-Day calendar.Spencer was also busy being a tanned hotsauce at Comic Con (I ♥ Spencer in all of his shapes and sizes, and I am so, so happy to have pictures in which he doesn't look exhausted and sad and/or dead-eyed; clearly, all that surfing is agreeing with him!). He shared some pictures of Brendon being a hotsauce, teased us with the possibility of Olan Mills-style photoshoots, expressed a desire to go to Awesomecon, mentioned that he was excited for Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland and shared the link to That Website Which Gives Me The Howling Fantods, and took note of the 40th anniversary of the moon landing. Plus there were bonus references to the X-Files and the Berlin Wall.In stark contrast, Jon was quiet, and when not sharing pictures of his adorable cat, or an stunning shot of himself and Ryan in the studio -- clearly someone has finally brought in a Real Camera -- he he seemed to once again be wearing his Cranky Pants. There are a lot of songs on the subject of living a lie, but only the Laura Branigan really matched what he posted. (And even that was a tenuous connection; she had the right words and configuration but not the trifold repetition.) Also he has changed his icon again, to a non-distorted picture of his face. He looks sort of unimpressed and I think I see a hint of moustache. Finally, I'm hoping the Dylan reference on the studio shot is a harbinger of things to come, stylistically.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
8/04/09 - TravieTravie is still on tour and it seems to be going well. In addition to riding roller coasters and winning prizes from games at amusement parks, he's hanging out with friends and loved ones, drawing new tattoos, exploring the many wonders of cereal aisles across the country, and watching a boatload of movies. Also, he really, really likes Hot Wheels.I'm guessing this is an accurate representation of life on a bus: you need something to do that is small, lightweight and unlikely to make a sloppy mess in a shared confined space. Enter either your DVD player, toys appropriate for kindergartners, or both. (Or, well, okay, adult comestibles that make you perfectly content to not move around very much. Honestly, I'm totally charmed by Travie's boredom-fighting skillz.)Not a lot of music this time, one band mentioned in passing, and also evidently he remixed a Bring Me The Horizon song.Overall: Travie is a-OK, and it's both refreshing and a relief.8/04/09 - Panic / The Young Veins (They had announced a band name a few days earlier. - ED)Okay, so I have to drop my reporterly detachment for one second, to say: Jesus H. Christ in a bucket, Ryan Ross.Yeah.So, this was the week & half in which everyone released a new single and, oh yes, Ryan fake-married his friend's (maybe?) girlfriend (I am almost sure it is Z Berg hanging off Michael Runion in Runion's Twitter icon, which admittedly may also have nothing to do with anything) just as Spencer and Brendon were leaving for the Blink-182 tour.I.Just.Well.Let me just say, of all the completely ridiculous things that I thought could possibly have happened while I was away, that was not on the list. Well done, Ryan Ross, for certain values of "well done." I warily await your next trick!(Though, also, and y'all can LOL Overinvested Ryan-Wife me all you want, I deserve it, the picture where he looks like he's actually happy and/or about to drop her and burst out laughing, that one made me almost wish it was real. Almost. I mean, it would be clusterfuckery of the highest order, I know, I KNOW, and I really, really wish there were less generally toxic things that brought that look to his face. Again, I know: It's Twitter. And it's fake. He's kind of a jerk. I'm ridiculous. I still just want for him to not be miserable.)Right, anyway, on that note, back to detachment:In addition to the above-noted shenanigans, Ryan occupied himself with having dinner(s) with Alex Greenwald (and, it was implied, playing E.T. to Alex's Elliott, which, well, he does have the spindly fingers and the big eyes down, that's for sure) and also some karaoke and some movies on TV in which lots of things blow up. He also informed us The Young Veins will be finishing their album sooner rather than later and heading out on tour. I'm not quite sure what the Savoy Express was about (though I've decided it's safe to rule out the cabbage option) but there is, evidently, a Savoy Entertainment Center in LA. Perhaps they were going there? I don't know. There was a fair amount of music, including some lullabies, and repeat appearances from both the Beatles and Harry Nilsson. At least one of the things I filed under music is really a nest of different possibilities -- an actual album called The Long Lost Weekend, which itself echoes the movie The Lost Weekend (which is, I think, based on a book?), and of course there's Lennon and his season with May Pang. Overall theme: alcoholic infidelity. Feh.Brendon, meanwhile, returned to mostly communicating in song lyrics, and at least one puzzling phrase which I suspect may be his own lyrics. Artists represented: Bob Marley, The Beatles, Rod Stewart, The Jackson 5, Sublime, George Baker Selection, the Dirty Dancing soundtrack and two songs from Pearl Jam. Overall the mood is upbeat, while still reflecting the challenges of contending with fans who are still processing the realignment of the band and, I suspect, various reactions to Ryan's activities, both musical and otherwise, as well as genuine joy at being on tour again. Also there was a lot of Family Guy, and he enjoys Curb Your Enthusiasm.This was also the week and half in which Spencer was the classiest person ever to class in an interview with James Montgomery. (He was somewhat more pointed and biting in his Lou Reed-themed commentary, however.) He did present a few more puzzles: Addictive Black: band? bodywash? who can say? If it is a band, I couldn't find them. And who is Ohio Christ, because I don't think he's that into youth ministry, which is mostly what was coming up as I was looking around. And he invited everyone to join him at a waterpark, thus confirming his lack of a sense of self-preservation. Also, he got a new drum (possibly a new set?), and is very excited to be going out on tour. Finally, I nearly forgot, there was more art! Lots of deer with flaming antlers in pieces with a general I Am Legend look/feel to them.Jon, as noted earlier, changed his profile picture again, and is now all big sad eyes. He seems to be back in Chicago, intermittently wearing his Cranky Pants, with puppies (who have the hiccups!) and kittens (which, I join the chorus of wrinkled noses at them eating on your counter, Jon Walker, though maybe that's so Marley doesn't eat their food) and bonfires and playing chess with someone just out of the frame. I think he may have set a record this time for most Beatles lyrics used, and, also, while both the Keith Urban and the Da Brat are somewhat unlikely, they're also the only ones that matched, partially or fully. Unless the Chicago and/or the truth phrases are his own lyrics, which is always possible, now that we know he's done it before. Though he did bust out the Tab Hunter, of all people, so anything is possible. There were also some books, some videos of dubious entertainment value, and a couple of movies. Plus he painted his bedroom and apologized to people who had been planning on seeing him, which I thought was kind of sweet, in a way, or, I guess, bittersweet, but I can understand how it could also be infuriating.8/08/09 - TravieThis week was Happy Birthday to Travie! week; he made himself a Hellboy birthday cake somehow (I can't imagine bus kitchens contain ovens, but maybe?), ate some Fruity Cheerios, watched some In Living Color, and one of his friends rolled him a massive blunt.He also continued to play with Hot Wheels, acquired a bag of tiny ninjas, went bowling with Seth Green and the Robot Chicken crew, and rode some Go Karts. There was only one song this week, (Take Over, The Breaks Over, Fall Out Boy), and only one movie mentioned specifically (American Gangster). He does mention '80s movies taking over his life, which or may not be a reference to the death of John Hughes, I'm not sure.Finally, he's apparently moving to Miami in the near future. He doesn't say why, but I'm guessing it's for the purposes of recording at the Hit Factory.8/08/09 - Panic!/The Young VeinsPossibly because of Twitter being a disaster, and possibly as penance for last week's shenanigans, Ryan was remarkably quiet this week, surfacing only to tell us about a DJ gig, share a picture of himself holding what appears to be a gun-shaped bottle of tequila, and move "All Day & All of The Night" (Kinks) onto the list of songs he's mentioned more than twice. I put down Hijos de Villa tequila for the bottle, but I'm not 100& sure that's right. As it happens there are a lot of gun-shaped bottles of liquor out there (for example: hXXp://www.boxvox.net/2009/06/gunshaped-bottles.html). There's one on the BoxVox site called Fun Caliber that looks more like the item he's actually holding, but it seems to only be available as an antique on Ebay. The Hijos de Villa seems to be a lot easier to get a hold of, so I went with that one, though given our Mr. Ross's penchant for vintage, it may very well be the Fun Caliber.Meanwhile, the Panic!/FOB/Blink tour got underway in earnest, and Brendon seems to be having a good time playing shows and also playing mini-golf on their day off. He did also reference comedian Ron White and shared a YouTube video of something called "Extras" featuring Ben Stiller and Ricky Gervais at their cringe-inducing best.Spencer is also having a good time on tour, and is sharing his happiness one Twitpic at a time. ♥, Spencer. No new songs in this installment, and only one movie (Happy Gilmore), but I did update his Visual Art section to include Michael Michael Motorcycle, the artist behind his Twitter icon and, apparently, their new stage backdrop. (Thank you for that tip, Miss Anonymouse!) The double Michael is key, as singular Michael Motorcycle specializes in feng shui for hair. (I'm totally serious, people. He will read your personality by the way your hair grows!)Back in Chicago, Jon played some frisbee golf, went fishing, and hung out with Eric and Than from Black Gold who were in town for Lollapalooza. He tweeted some random phrases which I have, for now, filed as his own lyrics, and one phrase ("weird ass fear") that might, possibly, be a Some Kind of Monster reference. It's a bit of a stretch, but Ryan did once mention in an interview that that documentary was one they watched all the time on the bus, so it's possible. (A transcript of the movie was, interestingly, the first thing that came up in a Google search. If he is referencing SKOM, he's quoting James Hetfield.) Finally, this week was not only bizarrely Beatles-free, but music-free as well.8/15/09 - TravieTravie was kind of quiet (for him), this week, but he shared several pictures, including an adorable shot of Disashi's son Hiro at a GCH show. Also featured: a giant silver robot that I recognize but can't remember the name of and various of Travie's frieds gleefacing and/or loaded down with toys. Also: Travie is Hellboy's #1 fan.Overall he seems to be busy with tour, which I think is winding down, and also with nesting preparing for his move to Florida. He did watch a bunch of movies, but this week is also notable in that he did not share any musical selections.8/15/09 - Panic!/The Young VeinsRyan was quiet at first, but got chirpier as the week wore on, sharing pictures from his adventures with bowling and himself with a cat (whether or not it's his cat: open to question), and also some links to trailers for Where the Wild Things Are and The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus. Musical selections included The Beatles, Jeremih and he made a joke about covering a Dane Cook album. He didn't say which one so I picked the most recent one. Also he watched some Discovery Channel; was (gently) teased about an old picture by one friend and discussed names for someone else's puppy with another; wished his mom a happy birthday; and someone (possibly Alex Greenwald) gave him a Darth Vader lamp (?) that he couldn't figure out how to turn off. Finally, he changed his profile picture to a cartoonized version of himself, done Mad Men-style.Brendon's list now ALSO comes with a warning, thanks to a terrifying YouTube video featuring graphic (but fake!) self-harm (of the people in the video, not of Brendon). Outside of that, he continued to watch Family Guy, play shows and to play golf, and seems to be enormously happy with all of those activities, even when he got rained upon. Musical selections encompassed a traditional blues song (inferred from the tweet about orbiting Corinna, which might be his own lyric), Regina Spektor, Winnie the Pooh, The Monkees and Rudy Vallee (his iPod must be a fascinating place); he was also the only one of the four of them to make any reference to the passing of Les Paul. And he joined in the Bring Back Pluto movement.Spencer continued to share pictures of mid-show moments and golf games, got a massage, and dodged hornet's nests. He had only one musical selection this week (Big Shot, Billy Joel), and no art. Overall he also seems quite content, if a little bit banged up from tour.Jon, on the other hand: still kind of cranky. Evidently he needs his wisdom teeth out, so that account for some of it. However, in addition to some thrift-shopping, visiting with friends and playing Chinese Checkers and Scrabble, it also looks like he may have settled down to an extended bout of songwriting. As for musical selections, The Beatles made a triumphant return, along with tunes from Billy Joel, the Aladdin soundtrack, Sublime and the Contours, and movie-wise, there was only Office Space.8/22/09 - TravieKind of a quiet week, again; he went to friend's birthday party and a tattoo convention, watched some videos on the internet while soaking his feet, and possibly spent some time in the studio at the end of the week. Musical selections were Slaughterhouse (new hip-hop collective); The Offspring (he said "the new Offspring", and I think "Stuff is Messed Up" is the new(est) single); and The Smeezingtons (Hawaiian/Hardcore/Chinese pop). The last is really, really catchy. Finally there was some general tattoo discussion, with both fans (I think?) and friends, and he told a hater to STFU.Most notable from this week: he's still doing a lot of his communicating with pictures.8/22/09 - Panic!/The Young VeinsRyan: Quiet again this week; chirpy at first, when Alex Greenwald re-appeared, but somewhat melancholy later. The one song he referenced was Elliott Smith's "Needle in the Hay," as it appeared in The Royal Tenenbaums, and that was to tell someone to stop listening to it/watching the clip. The song is lovely, but, WARNING That scene is VERY TRIGGERY for self-harm. There was also a good deal of record-making related chatter (:DDDDDD!) with Alex Greenwald, and he (Ryan) even posted a picture of what could be a track list and/or album art, drawn on a drum head. He also posted a picture of Greenwald fiddling with the intertubes (I'm guessing; he was at a computer) under the beatific gaze of a wall of photos of the Jonas Brothers.Brendon: The last week of the Chester French/FOB/Blink-182 tour, and Brendon was as chatty as chatty could be. Highlights: He saw District 9 and, as far as I can tell, he liked it; he watched a whole lot of Tim & Eric, Awesome Show Great Job!; he wandered into Pete's conversation about the accuracy of the lyrics in "Don't Stop Believin'"; he and Pete played a round of the Floating Circles game that Spencer introduced a while back and we all have to smack ourselves in the shoulder; and he found a blog full of moments of Epic Fail. Musical selections encompassed The Spaniels, the Goo Goo Dolls, Journey and Nelly.Spencer: He only tweeted once, and that was to Mark Hoppus about staying in the tour, so there were no substantive updates for Spencer this week. :(Jon: Another bizarrely Beatles-free week (though maybe not so much now, since it keeps happening), in which the only musical reference was to Purple Rain, by Prince. He's also back in LA, and has resumed communicating almost entirely via pictures, specifically pictures of: food; a crow, pooping; Ryan's back yard; himself on Ryan's back porch (?); Ryan reading a book (♥RYAN♥); someone, possibly himself, fiddling with a drumset while Than Lu looks on; and the view from his hotel room. Finally, he also made an allusion ("Because the World is Round") to the blog of another Chicago musician.Special note about Ryan and the book: I had added that one to the "puzzles" file, but then Michael Runion, another musician in their circle, popped up with a picture of Cavett , which is approximately the right size and shape for what Ryan was reading. It's a stretch, no question, but I'm making a note of it just the same. I didn't put it on Ryan or Jon's list(s), as neither of them mention it specifically by name.8/29/09 - TravieThe bulk of this week's communications were about his impending move and/or going away party at Angels & Kings; other topics: a link to a parody "tourist" video for his hometown of Geneva, NY; being in the studio with DeJesus; and the passing of DJ AM.The video (hXXp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThvlOTFKxWY) is apparently a commercial for the Not Yet Rated show, created in Central/Upstate New York, and if you ever wanted to see the New York that Travie comes from: watch this video. The joke -- that anyone would special trip up there -- is a sharp one, underscored by the images of post-industrially depressed landscape and generalized grinding decline. The fleeting image of the dead fish on the shores of the lake kind of says it all.In terms of art, he shared a picture of a new Hall & Oates painting, but that was it. There were no musical or movie selections this week.8/29/09 - Panic!/The Young VeinsRyan: His "bare necessities" are apparently his guitar and a . . . hula hoop. Whatever makes your socks go up and down, dude. Interestingly, that was the only song specifically mentioned, and there were no movie references this week. There was a new book, however; he quoted Frankenstein and followed up with some photographs of his Frankenstein-themed socks.In other news, he and Jon and Alex Greenwald (and assorted other friends; Than Lu keeps turning up in pictures, too) are by all appearances powering through the recording process. When not recording, however, he and Alex occupied themselves with shopping for denim suits, "big Nikes" and wedding rings. All I can think of is some kind of cracked-out '80s-style ZZ Top video in which everyone swans around in not-quite slow motion wearing silly clothes, sporting ridiculous hair and pulling exaggerated faces while people fly through the air and land in wedding cakes. (If they manage to churn out ZZ Top-style guitar candy, I will be the happiest girl in the world, but I am not getting my hopes up.)The other possibilities, of course, are a) he's trolling the hell out of the internet or b) he did actually get married for real. If there is one thing I have learned from this fandom, it is that the most ridiculous, "get the hell out, no way" option is most often the right one, but until he specifically confirms or denies (or we get pictures of him in a wedding ring) I'm filing all of it under "Wacky ZZ Top-Style Antics".Finally, he closed out the week (or at least the reporting period) with a mention of watching the J.O.N.A.S. show and more (probably) trolling the internet, this time with something that would be a truly epically ridiculous baby name: Whimsy Pillow Jingle Jangle Ross. That's it, there's no further context. He could as easily be telling us he has a new pet turtle. (Not going to lie, all I could manage was an "Awwwwwww", because I am the most ridiculous.)Brendon: Watched a lot of YouTube videos this week (including one tweeted by a fan that got deleted before I could see it); declared Wednesday was Wacky-Tie day; sat in a smoking hot Batmobile; and made allusions to songs by Peaches & Herb, Queen, Rufus Wainwright, George M. Cohan, Imogen Heap, Aaliyah and Timbaland, and Bob Marley; went bowling; wished Pete good luck with not getting bottled at Reading/Leeds; mentioned some existing Twitter tees, and watched some Penn and Teller.Also, he and Spencer released the "Weekend at Pete Rose's" video, combining in one magnificent cultural moment both Weekend at Bernie's, Pete Rose and Pete Wentz.Spencer: Was almost all pictures all the time, including one of Brendon's dog, one of the back of Brendon's head and an arm, and the rest of various sporting/evening out activities. No music and no movies, and no link to their video, which was odd. Also odd, but in an entertaining way: a comment about "tender loving caltrate" in reply to something Brendon said about "tender loving care." Clearly only the affectionate calcium supplements will do.Jon: Mostly pictures of studio time, with some discussion of the arrival date for the new record (by the end of the year, Jon? Really?), and one of a pool that I'm guessing is at his hotel. He gets a puzzle prize this week for "There's nothing protecting the story" which is a fascinating concept but I have no idea what he's talking about. Protecting the story from what, Jon Walker? Please expand on that thought!And of course there is his end-of-week Tweet of Fail. >:( I . . . kind of don't know what to say, but I don't want to not mention it. (What I said to the screen at the time was: Oh, Jon, NO.) It's been discussed elsewhere, so I think I'll leave it there: it happened, it was stupid, hopefully he will learn the error of his ways.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
9/05/09 - TravieWe can has puppy! Well, Travie does, anyway, a male French Bulldog he has named Stitch, as in Lilo and Stitch. He took the puppy on something of a road trip to San Diego this week, and they listened to De La Soul, Digable Planets and Phil Collins in the car. (Travie's iPod must also be an amazing place to visit.)He also mentioned the video for Danny Diablo's cover of "Don't You Want Me" by the Human League, and, ladies and gentlemen, this video is a masterpiece. It is Danny Diablo growling out the lyrics over the top of a re-telling of True Romance. It reminded me of The Sisters of Mercy cover of Jolene, kind of: bizarre but beautiful, totally something I'd crank up while driving. (If you have not had the pleasure of that last one: hXXp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Bpm-ahi2ns)Finally, he mentioned the DJ IV sampler, which as far as I can tell is a music-creation-related machine. He has one, or access to one, and he likes it.Pictures this week were, unsurprisingly, almost all of the dog. (The dog is really cute.)9/05/09 - Panic!/The Young VeinsThis week was Happy Birthday to Ryan and Spencer! week. There was an adorable video featuring puppies and terrible nicknames, which may refer to yet more Internet "humor" and also be a kind of gentle self-mockery (the "Brenny" is canon, after all). Also I think Brendon & co. may have given Spencer a bike as a present.It was also a good week for the solving of puzzles. Most notably, after Spencer's friend unlocked her Twitter, it emerged that Addictive Black is the name of their Rockband band and Ohio Christ is a joke name for a competitive band. I feel slightly silly now, but I'm glad to have it cleared up. A couple of movie references also emerged, which I have added to the appropriate section.Also, I think I managed to get to the bottom of Brendon's baffling tweet about Corinna -- it's a reference to David Liebe Hart, an LA public access star and repeat character on Tim & Eric, Awesome Show, Great Job!Panic! administratrivia: I've reorganized Brendon a little, so that he has a separate section for YouTube videos, like Spencer does. It seemed tidier that way.On TYV side, it would appear "Thromby" is, in fact, a nickname for Alex Greenwald. The origins of the nickname are not clear (Trombone? Thrombosis?) but I'm just chalking that one up to LOL Ryan Ross and moving on.Ryan: Birthday shenanigans (mostly thanking people for birthday wishes, though possibly some drunken rollerblading in the pool), a missing peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and some commentary about progress on the new record. (New songs soon, he pinky swears!) The one non-birthday, non-recording comment was about Nancy Drew, which, I really hate Nancy Drew. A lot.Brendon: Watched a lot of Family Guy and YouTube videos (a Bollywood-esque dance clip, the 10th dimension stuff which I don't know how to classify (earnest performance art?), and a snippet of Born on the 4th of July; went to a baseball game with Pete (and Larry King!); watched some movies; hung out with Shane; and rode his new bike around Venice Beach. Musical selections included a first appearance by The Beatles (I think the Birthday song is required on birthday occasions) as well as selections from fun. and Sublime. I've been seeing fun.'s name everywhere but never listened to them; they're pretty catchy, as it turns out. Also he shared a mind-boggling adorable picture of himself sleep-cuddling his dog, and had an interview with Diablo Cody which was no doubt Jennifer's Body related.Spencer: This week was All Birthday, All the Time, including a tweet that featured a Lars Ulrich quote that may or may not be from Some Kind of Monster (it's not in the on-line script), which was in reply to a friend's comment that did specifically reference SKOM.I have to say I'm endlessly fascinated by the ways that particular documentary keeps showing up, because of both the specific subject matter (Metallica, the gradual un- and re-raveling of) and in the larger of context of how these bands interact with the cultural legacy of the bands I grew up with (which, in large part, included Metallica). I note it the same way I note the times one of them says "We're not, you know, Motley Crue, or anything" (I love that they tried to borrow Motley Crue's circus tent for the NRWC tour, though) or shows up in a picture in the iconic Gn'R Appetite Tarot-spread shirt.But getting back to Some Kind of Monster: I've watched it, and like LOTMS, it's a brutally revealing and honest documentary about a band. LOTMS was completed after Gerard Way had mostly pulled out of his downward spiral, but used archival footage of the events that had occurred; SKOM was made during James Hetfield's downward spiral, using a mixture of archival footage and things filmed as they happened. (I am not going to lie, I seriously choked up at the 30 second concert clip of them performing "Enter Sandman" live. It was like, there they were, my boys as I knew and loved them, age 13, and how I will never see them again. It was strange, because a) I wasn't even that attached to Jason Newsted, I mean, I didn't even know his name until recently; Kirk Hammett was my favorite, and b) by the time St. Anger rolled around I had been pretty much done with Metallica for years. First love stays with you forever, I suppose.)The scene I keep thinking about these days is the one where Lars goes to see Jason Newsted's new band, and points out all the roadies/techs who have previously worked with Metallica and (as far as Lars is concerned) have taken Jason's side in the divorce. Afterwards he goes back to say "good show," only to find Jason has vanished. Lars makes painfully awkward smalltalk with the remaining bandmembers, all of whom are wearing matching LARS ULRICH! FROM METALLICA! IS TALKING TO ME! OMG!!!!! expressions. It would be hilarious if it wasn't so sad.Also, and this was the scene the friend referenced: Lars Ulrich just wants to know when to wear a Hawaiian shirt, you guys. In the film, Kirk Hammett has a birthday party with a Hawaiian theme, to which everyone but Lars wears a Hawaiian shirt. He then proceeds to have something of an epic tantrum on camera about not being informed of the Hawaiian Shirt Birthday Protocol. Again, won't lie: I felt a deep sympathy for him even as I was kind of like, Oh, Lars, bb, come on now, take a deep breath and have some cake.Other activity: Spencer and Jon had some joking back-and-forth centered around Jon planning a apparently stereotypical Vegas night out. (I followed them up until the bit about LAX, which I only knew of as an airport. Reading ONTD/Keltie's blog: Apparently good for something!) The one non-birthday related moment was Spencer posting a picture of one of his boxers (dogs, not underpants). It is also a really cute dog.Jon: The Beatles are back! Also he might be teasing us about looking for meaning in lyrics (or tweets) where there is none. Some birthday business, as noted above, as well as wishing Ryan the returns of his day (and setting up a shiny banner in the studio, awwwww). The rest is, I think, commentary on working on the Young Veins record, though he did seem to possibly be getting in on the overall wedding-theme action with the "From this day forth" comment. I included two songs that he may, possibly have referenced, but I'm not 100% sure I'm interpreting correctly. And, too, see above, re: finding meaning where there is none.Special note: The Beatles song contains legions of references, but one of the lines Jon picked echoes the title of a ground-breaking photobook by Jacob Riis that spotlighted the terrible conditions and poverty in New York City tenements in 1890, so I put that in his visual art section.9/12/09 - TravieI'm starting to wonder if I should make Travie a "toys" section, he talks about them so much. Though I'd really have to make two: Toys (for playing) and Toys (collectible/art), as that is how it seems to split out. This week was further adventures in the area of Toys (collectible/art) when he went for a wander around the Kidrobot store in Miami and encountered a gigantic Dunny statue (which is close but not quite the same as the still puzzling Inscrutable Silver Figurine of Baffling Familiarity) and also a hand-painted MAD fatcap sculpture.(Fatcaps are toys that are essentially the spray nozzle of a can of spray paint with little arms and legs. They are really cute and I think I want about 10 of them for my own desk. I'll pretend-spray callers who annoy me, it'll be great.)He also found some tattoos he liked (including a Hellboy), hung out with some friends (Lil' Wayne, Tyga, esthero), watched at least one movie on his brand-new fancy LED screen and played some Rockband: The Beatles. There was also something that could have been puppy-related and could have been a reference to Tim and Eric, Awesome Show, Great Job!, which is how I recorded it.[1]Other music was limited to Peaches & Herb and himself and Lil' Wayne. There was also a quote about heavy flow that I have a feeling is a song, I just can't find it.[1] The more I have to type out that name, the more I a) don't ever want to see it and b) become absolutely certain that is a terrible show and also c) develop a devout wish that they (Travie, but mainly Brendon and Spencer) will start watching something else.9/12/09 - Panic!/The Young VeinsRyan: Another somewhat quiet week, featuring one nonsense tweet that was nothing but a string of symbols and another puzzling one where he was googling images of rigatoni, of all things. Several of the rest were recording and/or Rockband: The Beatles-themed, though it looks like he also went to fabulous Mexican restaurant (Elvii on the walls!) to continue his explorations of the concept of, as we used to say in college, One Tequila, Two Tequila, Three Tequila, Floor. He also discussed his desire for a cinder block of pez with fake!Jon, and wrapped up the week with a mention of someone stealing his iPod and Alex Greenwald's leather jacket out of his car [>:((] and teasing Agyness Deyn about being late to the emo party. Finally, the one song this week was one Brendon referenced several months ago, from the Lonely Island, though Ryan picked a different verse, one that is a reference to Judy Blume's classic Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret.(The verses Brendon picked were about smoking up, if I remember right, and one of them featured a word he didn't realize was a fairly potent West Indian curse word.)Brendon: Made another visit to the 1990s and shared a Squirrel Nut Zippers video. Other music: The Righteous Brothers and Manchester Orchestra. Limp Bizkit also made an appearance on video (under "worst guitar solo", which, ouch, Fred Durst), and so did the "Stranger Danger" song. In non-musical news, he played some Arkham Asylum, watched at least one movie (That Thing You Do!) and a really hilarious "bloopers" clip from a mobile home salesman, experienced a sonic boom, quoted some Family Guy and showed his support for World Suicide Prevention Day.Spencer: Very quiet this week; nonetheless made two references to the video clip of the wretched brat from Wife Swap and the bacon, one for the original and one for the remix. He also referenced the Whistle Go Woo! clip again, and there was some discussion of Pusswhip Banggang, which I'm guessing is the modern equivalent of Spinal Tap. No other music, and no pictures this week, :(.Jon: Fake!Jon showed up somewhere in the middle of the week, but seems to have gone quiet now. Real!Jon wasn't all that chatty either, confining himself to quoting candy jingles, a line from A Goofy Movie, commentary on recording and one puzzling line that may be his own lyrics. And he enjoyed playing some Rockband: The Beatles.9/19/09 - TravieMy current favorite thing about Travie's twitter: all of the mindblowingly adorably photographs of his dog. Especially the one where Stitch is a Most Unimpressed Alien in a tuxedo. Also I love that Travie bought him formalwear. Now that is how we dress a dog, people.Anyway, aside from attending Bob McLynn's wedding, Travie (& Stitch) were busy getting settled in Miami (Travie's bikes and scooters have arrived), hanging with musical friends and finishing up work on The Lazarus Project, going to a strip club, discussing some fond Warped Tour memories with a different friend, picking up art supplies (and signing up for an airbrushing class), and smoking on his porch. At some point he also watched the VMAs and was Not Impressed with Kanye Wests behavior, and finally he noted the passing of DJ Roc Raida.Overall: Travie seems to be both content and productive this week.9/19/09 - Panic!/The Young VeinsRyan: Played the George Harrison tribute show, which seems to have gone well; briefly donned his cranky pants (which, okay, I'm hopeless, but I love his stupid just-woke-up cranky face); continued to shenanigate with Alex Greenwald, including taking in an The Like/Arctic Monkeys show, earworming us all with "Eye of the Tiger" from karaoke, and driving around Beverly Hills looking for belts and admiring the homes of strangers (I do appreciate those turrets, I have to say). Also he watched a fair amount of TV, wished Jon Walker a happy birthday and connived to get Z Berg to join Twitter. I'm not making a list for her, but so far she's kind of charming.Puzzle for the week: Who is Joe Sesna? I found a RAW fighter called Joe Cessna, or maybe Joe Cena, but I'm not sure that's right. In conclusion: aside from the random getting sick off a Slurpee incident, he seems to be reasonably happy. Also, he's changed his profile picture again, to a slightly recent photograph of himself.Brendon: Kicked off the week by sharing a video of a scene from The Music Man which celebrates the most bizarre term of affection ever. If you ask me "Shipoopie" sounds like someone trying to do a quick-save on cursing. Watching it, I noticed some Family Guy videos in the YouTube sidebar; evidently it was part of a scene on the show. I'm amused by that, and intrigued that Brendon chose to share the original with us. He does seem to have as much of a fondness for Golden Age musicals as he does the Disney kind.Anyway, after that, he came to New York during the VMAs but apparently watched it on TV rather than attend (he was also Unimpressed With Kanye West); did a whole bunch of press, probably for Jennifer's Body, watched a football game and a Chris Rock special; talked about Journey some more with Pete; wished Jon Walker a happy birthday; and wrapped it up with a Jennifer's Body-related performance and a wedding. (And an acoustic show, but he didn't mention it himself.)Other musical selections included a fantastic Foxy Shazam song that somehow reminded me of Meat Loaf (in a good way; I love Meat Loaf in all of his bombastic glory, and also if you're going to make big pop music with sing-along choruses, Meat Loaf is how you do it), Jay-Z, The Bird and the Bee, Otis Redding and KC and Jo-Jo.Spencer: Was quiet save for sharing one picture of Brendon playing acoustic in the offices of SPIN magazine, and wishing Jon a happy birthday. It may be he's the one updating the band Twitter, but that reads more like Zack than Spencer, to me.Jon: Also very quiet this week; he posted a picture of himself and a friend (relative?) in silly hats, challenged us to a game of "Guess those toes!", grumbled about money being the root of all evil, thanked us for birthday wishes, and quoted a Coolio song and Beauty and the Beast.9/26/09 - TravieIt looks like Travie was busy filming the VH1/Def Jam Hip Hop Honors show this week, which resulted in a dizzying array of hip-hop stars showing up in his twitpics. (His contribution was some kind of hosting duties and participating in a Beastie Boys tribute; the show airs in mid-October.) He also re-tweeted DeJesus' picture of a (male) porn star (caption: For the ladies!), though not, it must be noted, DeJesus' extensive documenting of the XXX tradeshow he (DeJesus, not Travie) apparently attended. Also, Stitch was by no means ignored, he appeared this week snoozing adorably and also rocking a Dead Kennedy's shirt. Again: this is how you dress a Small, Unimpressed Alien dog, people.He also did some shopping in Brooklyn (noting some grafitti tributes to SACE/Dash Snow along the way), attended a Phoenix show at the Apple store, noted the arrival of his truly fabulous couch, and watched several movies, including Hellboy II, Hook and the Secret Life of Bees. His musical selections were all hip-hop/r&b: Kid Cudi, Jo-Jo, Notorious B.I.G. and KRS-One. The last is most notable as it is apparently the first one he shared with Matt McGinley in high school.9/26/09 - Panic!/The Young VeinsRyan: Not a lot of cultural stuff, this week, really. He shared his odd dream(s), talked about shooting spiders, did some chores, watched some TV, and then came to New York to continue to shenanigate with Alex Greenwald. (And then promptly got sick and retired to bed (or couch) with Rodney Dangerfield movies for company.) He did share a link that revealed that the dude from the YouTube video Brendon was watching two weeks ago (I think) now has his own movie, Winnebago Man, which has been making the rounds at festivals, but that was kind of it.Brendon: I've come to the conclusion that a busy, chattering Brendon is a happy Brendon. This week he watched a bunch of movies ranging from Grease to Brazil to Kindergarten Cop, as well as some tv (The Soup, Community). Outside of the Oklahoma! video, his musical selections were kind of hard to pin down; I searched for the songs based on the lyric fragments he posted, but I couldn't find much of anything. So either he was making up his own "sample" lyrics, or the artists in question don't have a web presence. (I'm voting for door no. 1.) He also shared one of his dreams and went on a minor tangent about Paul Reubens/Pee Wee Herman being busted in an adult theater. ("what the hell else are you supposed to do in an adult theater? take notes?" ahahaHAHAHAHHAhahahahaha, oh, Brendon, how much do I love you? Kind of a lot.)Spencer: Again very quiet, popping up only to promote TAI . . .'s new single, troll a friend with a link to a Huffington Post story about Jon Gosselin, and, in conversation with a different friend, share a puzzling quote about David Koresh and the Branch Davidians. I searched but I can't find the source; if anyone recognizes it, please let me know.I was particularly struck (interested by?) in this reference as in 1993, I was 18 and going off to college; Spencer was 6. [Ed note: Jesus Christ, I'm old. Anyway . . .] Remember, too, that the standoff at Ruby Ridge (1992) was still reasonably fresh in the national memory at the time. It was, I guess, a time when armed standoffs looked like they might be getting to be a trend.Jon: Also fairly quiet; he noted the occasion of the autumn equinox is a roundabout sort of way, referenced black hole theory for the second time (Jon Walker: secret physics nerd?), shared a picture of one of his cats, and quoted a Wet Wet Wet song.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
10/03/09 - TravieTravie kicked off this week with some general ruminations on a variety of topics, diverged briefly into a multi-tweet statement about KRS-One disrespecting Def Jam/the Beastie Boys at the Hip Hop Honors award, reiterated his commitment to being part of the On the Beaten Track program, and then talked a little bit about recording and posted a lot of pictures of his dog. Who is rapidly growing into his ears, so I can't call him an Unimpressed Alien any longer. Travie wrapped up the week/reporting period with, as far as I can tell, buying a lot of plastic crap in a gas station en route to a show in Vermont.The Beastie Boys tangent stood out the most, for me, mainly because of Travie's comment that he and Wale were "tykes" when it came out. They, or at least Travie, were 5; I was 11. Fight For Your Right To Party is actually one of the first videos I can remember specifically watching on MTV, back when MTV actually showed videos. (The other one is Welcome to the Jungle.)I guess this specifically gave me pause as I don't normally feel the age difference as much with Travie as I do the others. In this case we both have the Beastie Boys as a cultural touchstone, but for him they have, in a way, always been there, always been part of rap/hip-hop, whereas I remember when they were new and shocking and everyone was appalled. (In fairness, Fight For Your right was one of their lighter songs; they've revised some of their lyrics over the years.)10/03/09 - Panic!/The Young VeinsRyan: Still in New York, shenanigating (shopping, singing karaoke, bowling, wandering into blood-spattered bathrooms, you know, the usual) with Alex Greenwald & assorted other friends. (And also, apparently, getting the new record mastered. I guess they weren't kidding about having a record out by the end of the year!) He also dropped down to Philadelphia briefly to see The Like in concert (again). Also James Valentine (Maroon 5) sent him some fanart, in the form of drawing of himself (Ryan, not James). He mocked himself for being an ass and was sort of grumbly about being "mistweeted", but overall seems reasonably content, if tired of wet weather.Brendon: Still chirpy, despite mysterious blanket-fort inspiring drama. He also watched a bunch of movies, his usual tv shows, a small selection of videos (I have a suspicion that YouTube and now wimp.com are Brendon's solutions to insomnia and/or random moments of downtime) and trolled us all with a link to some mindboggingly hilariously terrible hardcore. Musical selections included Weezer, Lordi and Todd Snider.Spencer: Too busy tracking drums to tweet! No updates this week.Jon: Has changed his profile picture once again, this time to a not distorted picture of his face. He has a beard and curls and, well, his face looks good. Outside of the (mangled) Ginsberg quote (he left out the part about saving the world with poetry), his commentary was as elliptical as ever. He mentioned "going east" which I thought meant he would soon be joining Ryan in New York; if he has, no-one has mentioned it. That said, I got a much more cheerful feel from him this week than I have for a while, so I'm going to assume, for now, that all is well.10/10/09 - TravieThis week seemed to be a productive week, encompassing the completion of his Unbeaten Track song for South Africa and also The Lazarus Project, which he was working on with quite a lot of people, including the Smeezingtons. (I really, really love that name.) He also discussed further collaborations with other artists before heading back out on tour. In non-musical news, he also made an attempt at starting a trending topic (7th grade girl/boyfriends; it was cute!), urged people to help the people in the Phillipines who have been affected by the recent storms, gently smacked down someone who criticized him/GCH for gearing shows for mainstream teenieboppers (Travie: We can't control who buys tickets. Also, we don't discriminate. ED: ♥); watched some Chevy Chase movies; and discouraged people from buying dogs from pet stores. He also asked how to get his account verified, but that doesn't seem to have happened yet.10/10/09 - Panic!/The Young VeinsRyan Still (!) in New York shenanigating with Alex Greenwald, which this week included buying matching birthday suits ( . . .) & capes (ahahahahaha OH GOD); having a "listening party" for the new record; attending Michael Runion and Alex Greenwald's recording session with Mark Ronson; spending several evenings at the Standard Hotel; Alex Greenwald's 30th birthday festivities; Alex performing at Glasslands (Williamsburg) and Ryan being offended by hipsters; and Ryan donning his extraordinarily elaborate "Cranky Hat" on a couple of occasions.He also shared a New York moment or two, realized the city has no time for his bullshit, bought Z Berg a snuggie, mis-attributed one of Aesop's fables to the Bible, allowed as generally he'd rather be watching America's funniest home videos, made allusions to Garth Brooks and Star Wars (at the same time!) and Van Halen's Running with the Devil. He did also mention something about "gold metal" but I suspect either a) he made that up or b) he could be talking about jazz (gold metal = trumpets, etc); there is a r&b box set by that name as well.There was of course the end-of-week tempest-in-a-Twitter-pot when he noticed he was losing followers, told people to unfollow him, and then they did. In droves. Though his numbers seem to be going back up now. His commentary at the close of the week/reporting period seemed to be generally hang-over related.Brendon I reorganized him (again!) so that the non-YouTube videos also have their own sections. He was slightly quieter than usual this week, though he did share an adorable picture of his dog(s) while watching sports on TV, went on a haunted hayride, quoted Back to the Future, conflated Neil Young, Foreigner and (maybe) the Wizard of Oz, all in one tweet (now that is what I call talent!), mentioned Ryan Gosling's new band and that The Notebook made him cry (I've noticed this seems to be a popular movie with our rockstars; I'm half sure I remember both William Beckett and Trace Cyrus mentioning watching it), and posted a clip from Stepbrothers that I'm pretty sure is meant to be a Beastie Boys parody.Spencer Brendon's wiles regarding wacky instruments are clearly superior to Ryan's, for this week Spencer shared that he was playing some wooden frog [a real instrument - ED] on the new record. Take that, Mr. Tamborine Man. He also shared a link to the elusive Chili Cheese Burrito, discussed missing his dogs with his ex (at least I'm assuming she's his ex) and retweeted the Bananas Music Club weekly selection.Jon: Only updated twice, neither of which were substantive, so I didn't add anything to his list.10/17/09 - TravieThis week was mainly about pictures. There were a couple of Travie with various life-sized Simpsons and friends and several of his dog with life-sized Simpsons as well as on his own, and one of Stitch's baby pillow. Baby pillow, you guys. ♥TRAVIE♥ He (Travie) also shared pictures of his knife (!), a sculpture in the Seattle airport and a rainy Washingtonian afternoon.In non-pictorial news, Travie shared that he's teaching Stitch commands in Portuguese (?!), got a beverage in a DOMO cup from 7-11, grumbled about the poor quality of flash art in a tattoo magazine, and continued on his Chevy Chase movie kick. The only musical selection was one of his own songs (Crab Apple Kids), as part of a partially-visual pun involving a California Angels hat.10/17/09 - Panic!/The Young VeinsRyan: Kicked off his third week in New York with recovering from Gabe Saporta's 30th birthday party and experiencing one of the joys of city living, i.e. neighbors who do make strange noises at awkward hours. Then! Big news! The name of the record (Take a Vacation), a two-part interview with MTV and a listening party at AK47, followed by an appearance on the East Village Radio. Around all of that he shared a link to a copy of a painting: The Nightmare, Johann Heinrich (Henry) Fuseli (1781), referenced in the context of sleep paralysis (again), shenanigated too hard, broke one of his credit cards in half and had to glue it back together, and one of his friends sent him a link to the webpage of an Internet-famous (infamous?) Peter Pan cosplayer in the context of, as best I can determine, a discussion about dreams. [Ed note: That cosplayer is kind of totally epic. I forget about him now and again, and then something like this reminds me, and I sit and boggle at his pictures for a while. He is totally serious about his devotion to sparkle Peter Pan-motion.)Ryan also noticed the Balloon Boy drama, learned that he must always trust librarians, bantered with Greenwald about Geocities and Angelfire, expressed a desire to be in two places at once for Christmas, admired a coat, joined Greenwald and some others in (apparently) taunting a mutual friend into joining Twitter, got sick (again), mocked himself for whining, and sent Z Berg a link to cosplay costumes for Max in Where the Wild Things Are. (Ed note 2: If something like that is his Halloween costume this year, I will expire from his adorable and there had better be lots and lost of pictures, is all I'm saying.)Brendon: Shared musical selections from Tiny Tim, T-Baby, Fall Out Boy and Tenacious D; went to a Horror Night at Universal Studio and carved a bitchin' pumpkin; watched at least one movie (Point Break), some football and discussed an episode of The Office with a friend; and played a lot of Need for Speed. He also noticed the ongoing Balloon Boy drama.Spencer: Still too busy playing drums to tweet; only sparked up once to share the new Fall Out Boy song.Jon: Also quiet this week, he shared a picture of some Day of the Dead bookends; posted lyrics from three songs, Taxman (Beatles), Up the Junction (Squeeze) and Waterloo Sunset (The Kinks); awarded us all the unlovely prize of 5 years in prison, and mentioned his band name.10/24/09 - TravieTravie was unusually quiet this week, stopping in only to share a picture of a truly epic piano-boat from the green room at a venue in Washington State, a video he did for A&E for Daryl Hall and John Oates (he showed them their faces, tattooed on his hands; Daryl Hall told him he was a good singer!!) and also rec their new box set. Also there was a picture of himself and Michael Ian Black, but no context.Finally, he mentioned listening to Ray Charles (and being very sad, which may account for the quiet), watching football with Stitch in the airport, and making a Gym Class Heroes video.But getting back to the piano-boat (!) for a minute, I've noticed, in doing this, that if there's art somewhere around him, Travie will find it and share it with us. I'm not sure I can go so far as to say he seeks it out, but: it is a regular feature of his communications. He's especially (and unsurprisingly) drawn to graffiti, but modern and/or pop-art features heavily as well.10/24/09 - Panic!/The Young VeinsRyan: Still exploring the joys of New York living, including neighbors who play music too loud at irritating times. Like 10 AM. (Ed aside: Oh, Ryan Rossy, welcome to apartment dwelling. Just wait until they come home at 5 AM and start playing Quake!) He continued to be ill, may have decided to stop smoking, stopped in to the Standard Hotel, and made a reference to Sins. A relatively light week, Twitter-wise, which may have been due to external drama. Puzzle for the week: Has he upped and moved to New York? He's been here for a solid month now.Brendon: When not writing, recording, or extracting Italian greyhounds from unlikely locations, is apparently watching a ton of movies and surfing You Tube. References were made to Hackers, A Serious Man, Marley & Me, Three Amigos, Howard the Duck and Evil Dead, and he discussed watching Beverly Hills Chihuahua with Diablo Cody. More precisely, he discussed seeing of Bogart would enjoy watching it.He also shared some commercials, one for mobile homes that was evidently part of some larger Internet project, and one for a BBQ joint that he may have found on Funny or Die. Musical selections encompassed Manchester Orchestra, Grizzly Bear and Daft Punk (as part of a video). He also had a conversation with Pete Wentz that included fragments of one of Pete's blog entries from 2006 and something else that might, possibly, have been lyrics, but I couldn't find the song. Finally he re-tweeted Keith Buckley on the joys (or not) of being getting drunk and asked Hayley Williams if she'd visited the haunted parts of a venue yet.Spencer: Still too busy drumming to tweet; only stopped in long enough to re-tweet the Grizzly Bear song link, and do some call and response with Brendon about the BBQ commercial video.Jon: Was positively chatty, at least for him. Evidently he's been watching Mad Men as well, and I don't quite know what to make of the Twilight reference, but it was there. I'm also not sure what the "this one looks a lot like home" and preferring vacuuming to hockey are all about; I filed those under random life observations and moved on. He also rec'd Greta's new project, had a dream about the first Young Veins show, forgot to wear pants at least once, and capped off the week with a bonfire.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
11/01/09 - TravieAnother quiet week, though he did manage to pack three allusions into one tweet, referencing Hunter S. Thompson, Adventureland and My So-Called Life, all in less than 140 characters. There was also some discussion of Obama signing a new Ryan White C.A.R.E. bill and lifting the HIV travel ban, and then at the end of the week, Travie met two graf artists, Neckface and Skam2. The pictures suggest they're at a show, but Travie doesn't say which one. Gym Class Heroes themselves played Homecoming for Florida State (along with Pitbull) so I suppose it could have been there, but I'm not sure. The pictures also serve to highlight, again, how Travie is the Tallest Person Ever. Both Skam2 and Neckface look like hobbits next to him. Finally, he did mention there will be a new GCH video soon. All things considered, he seems to be in good spirits, if periodically somewhat bored.11/01/09- Panic!/The Young VeinsRyan: Returned to LA, extracted his car from the parking lot, and commenced shenanigating with Z Berg. Together, they found a hippie bus and attended a Michael Runion show; Ryan also mentioned thinking about going to Disneyland, but that doesn't seem to have happened.Halloween observations were a major feature. Ryan shared several pictures of himself trying on a variety of Halloween costume-y hats, and according to Z's twitter, they also went back to the Velvet Margarita Cantina and then took in a showing of Nightmare Before Christmas at El Capitan. (Ryan didn't mention any of that, so it isn't on his list. Nor were there any pictures of Z in silly hats, more's the pity.) In the end they apparently settled on being Mod Burglars, and decamped for Chicago to crash Jon Walker's party. Best part: they wore their costumes on the plane and got some poor soul in coach to take their picture.In non-Halloween-y news, one of Ryan's friends sent him an animated gif of a jumping fox that was adorable and hypnotizing, and someone else sent one of the "owl in box" pictures that was on Boing Boing earlier in October. Both of these things were almost totally absent context, though they may have been related to costume ideas. There was also some discussion of children with cellphones, the final departure of the hornet from Greenwald's hair, and two mentions of Phoenix afterparties, which I am starting to think is a code for something else.Conclusion: Happy Goth Christmas, Ryan!Brendon: Two video clips early on (breakdancing, Family Guy sequence), followed by a mention of Logic Studio and Garageband, leading me to suspect he was busy working on songs while Spencer and Zack were emptying the storage units. There was also some baseball (he's watching the World Series) and, of course, some Halloween-related chatter, including a reference to a horror movie marathon. He also had something of a puzzling conversation with Pete about Point Break (there is no Jimmy Carter character in that movie).Spencer: No new tweets; his list wasn't updated. The news of the emptying of the storage unit was via Zack's twitter.Jon: Changed his profile picture again, to another non-distorted (but still sort of sad-looking) picture of his face. He may or may not have cut his hair. This seems to have been the week he did actually get his wisdom teeth out, though. His commentary was a mixture of Halloween and pet pics, a little bit of snark about Ryan's progress getting a record deal, two song references, one of which was the Beatles, and one of which was either one of three songs or, possibly, a video game. Or, you know, meant nothing at all, as he reminded us as well. He also shared an evil laugh and referenced the swine flu vaccine shortage. Finally, either he's petsitting for Halloween or has acquired another cat.11/07/09 - TravieA little bit of a quiet week. He did, however, share that The Untitled (as yet) Unbeaten Track documentary is rolling towards its opening night, and teased us a little more with references to the Lazarus story that are most likely related to the Lazarus Project, the record he's been working on. He also mentioned Freddy Madball's record (Catholic Guilt) again, shared his appreciation of the word "torpid" and Katey Segal (not in the same tweet), discussed the band Patent Pending with a friend (he likes them, and took them on tour once, with the Cobras), posted two pictures (one of his puppy, one of himself and a friend), and discussed his emotional reaction to reading Push by Sapphire.11/07/09 - Panic!/The Young VeinsRyan: The first music-heavy week for a while, including mentions of Weird Owl (Brooklyn-based modern psychadelia, though this might also be about the odd pictures of owls Chad Crews keeps sending him), followed by an actual song link ("Moulty", by The Barbarians), followed by boomeranging back to the present with taking in a Black Gold/Pixies show, and a brief discussion of the ruinative powers of bad ska with Mark Ronson. Then at the end of the week he (and Z) apparently ran into B.B. King in a bar (possibly in Vegas) and Mr. King implied Ryan could teach him something about selling records. Ryan: bzuh?, which was my response, too. Speaking of Chad Crews and stupid animal tricks, Ryan also shared a picture of Chad watching a squirrel on skateboard in his (Chad's) apartment. A different picture of the same squirrel with a bottle of tequila produced the Gremlins reference.Brendon: A relatively quiet week; he mentioned Kenny vs Spenny (and teased us with the possibility of a Brenny vs. Spenny version), noticed Google's special 40th Anniversary of Sesame Street features, shared a picture of Ian eating a giant hamburger, and oh yes, went to Brazil. I'm hoping for many more pictures of their adventures in the next week.Spencer: Only just barely qualified as having a substantive update this week; he shared a picture of Zack in blond wig, which was possibly some sort of visual joke I didn't understand. (I thought maybe it might be a Wayne's World reference, or a Ras Trent referece, but I wasn't sure, so I left it off his list.) In any case, there were Bart and Kenny dolls in the background, which is what I added. I've noticed he seems to tweet more when they're on tour, hopefully that will happen again this week.Jon: Kicked off the week bantering with Ryan, then made some lists, some song references -- two Alkaline Trio, one Built to Spill -- and played a game of Star Wars Monopoly. He also wished his mother a happy birthday and declared himself "uncle fun." It turns out there's a store in Chicago called "Uncle Fun" which I didn't put on his list but which I am including here for entertainment value.11/14/09 - TravieThis week seemed to be a mostly promotional week for Travie, particularly with regard to his Unbeaten Track activities. The single launched in both New York and London (there are a lot of new Travie pictures on the Unbeaten Track website; he seems to have gotten rid of the bleach-y highlights and prefers to wear bow-ties when dressing up) and a mixtape came out in Japan featuring a song by himself and Tim William. Speaking of new pictures, he shared a link to his new blog header, which is a shot of him rolling up something smokeable and giving the camera an intense look.Getting back to promotions, he also mentioned lockerz.com, who evidently sponsored a GCH show. It seems to be a social networking site that includes shopping, and their "about" page suggests they're maybe angling to compete with Facebook. They're invite-only right now so I don't know any more than that. Additionally Travie talked tweeted about JJ Brown's new record, Connect the Dots and discussed the auction of DJ AM's shoes with Samantha Ronson.Finally, on top of all of that, he managed to get to the Bad Rabbits/Goodie MOB/Slick Rick/Scarface show.11/14/09 - Panic!/The Young VeinsRyan: Does seem to maybe be drifting a little towards the alt-country/modern folk corner of the musical world; this week he was at a wedding with the Dave Rawlings of the Dave Rawlings Machine, who some of you may know better as Gillian Welch's long-time musical partner. I note this as the alt-country people are a very different kettle of friends than his current collection of socialites. Tangentially, the lightbulb joke Ryan repeated came from Rory Guinness, who is indeed one of those Guinnesses. He is, as it happens, also a musician, and, with his sister Rebecca (writer for Vanity Fair), step-child of J.P. Donleavy, author of (among other things) The Ginger Man, which Ryan appears to have read back in the spring.Following the wedding there was some getting lost and some buying sweater vests, then some shenanigans with Z, and then a diverse (if not dizzying) collection of films: Pippi Longstocking, the Crips and Bloods documentary, and Big Daddy. Musically he made a reference to "Sex On Fire" by Kings of Leon and also re-tweeted a link in support of Jason Boesel's new record. (Boesel is also part of the alt-country/modern folk crew, having previously been affiliated with Rilo Kiley, The Elected and various Conor Oberst ventures.) Finally, he was pleased that the Shit My Dad Says twitter is going to be made into a TV show, wished Dan Angel Snow Freak a happy birthday and congratulated him on sharing it with Lou Ferrigno, and bantered about his "munchkin fashion sense" with a friend.Brendon: Went to Brazil and Chile, and discovered that sometimes terrible television is better in Spanish. Also combined references to "It's So Cold in the D" (song) and The 'BU (OC parody show by Lonely Island crew set in Malibu) in one tweet, and traded Back to the Future allusions with Dallon. There were also a couple of tweets about what is clearly the best breakfast of all time, a pancake-hashbrown-sausage sandwich, followed by an introduction to Hawaiian slang. (Broke da mouf and ono-licious are both indicators of tasty food.) Finally, he also wished Dan Angel Snow Freak a happy birthday.Spencer: Discovered that good tv is still good in Spanish, but bad tv in English is still bad, was sympathetic (and a little sarcastic) at Haley about the cancellation of Dollhouse, and shared a picture of a tarantula. (It's kind of cute, actually, but arachnaphobes, be warned.) He also wished Dan Angel Snow Freak a happy birthday.Jon: Has changed his profile picture again! His face continues to be undistorted, and it looks like he may have cut his hair, or at least done something with it. To me he looks a little thinner, though that might just be the camera angle and the refracted effect of the big sad eyes. I also thought maybe he'd gone back to the eyeliner, but on closer inspection that was wrong.In other news, he also won his game of Star Wars Monopoly before kicking off a very interesting week, cultural reference-wise. He mangled some quotes from War and Peace and Victor Hugo, joked about working on Thanksgiving and Christmas records (I have totally had to sing Thanksgiving songs; anything he came up with would surely be an improvement), quote a line of Do You Hear What I Hear followed by a cold-weather play on "It's Getting Hot in Here" by Nelly and then was evidently swarmed by ladybugs. He also told someone (or a collection of someones) to write their own songs; the "I take it back" that followed may or may not be related.the six month line - Panic!/The Young VeinsI started this project at least in part because of the number of times I read a tweet from one of them and say What? out-loud to my screen. The last six months have, if nothing else, been a crash-course in current pop-culture, or at least, certain parts of it. The following are some general observations, an attempt at synthesis and discussion of things I have learned from annotating their public personas.1. Film/TVRyan is really, really not a film snob. He does tend to be attracted to cult-favorite directors, like Woody Allan, Wes Anderson, Terry Gilliam and Tim Burton, but he's also enjoys things like Big Daddy. His favorite tv show is America's Funnies Home Videos, which, really now, that's nothing but visual comfort food. Brendon will apparently watch anything on tv, but he seems to generally appreciate musicals (Golden age and current) and comedies, with the occasional horror movie thrown in for spice. He also gravitates towards cult-favorite directors, but less so than Ryan. Spencer seems to align with Brendon (and did before the divorce, as well) in the sense that while he's clearly the resident horror movie buff, he also seems to enjoy some truly god-awful movies, I'm assuming for comedy value. (Which I say as a fan of really terrible films, by the way.) Jon has mentioned significantly fewer films than the other three, and what he has mentioned, with a few exceptions (Mall Rats and Office Space) the only word I can think of to describe them is bland.2. MusicShortly after the divorce due to "musical differences", I looked at Ryan's and Brendon's lists, and saw that indeed they were like opposing bell curves, Ryan almost entirely focused on music made between 1968 and 1972 with periodic excursions into the present, and Brendon lodged firmly between about 1993 and the present, with excursions into the 1970s. That trend has largely continued. Spencer and Jon both have significantly shorter musical lists, but Spencer does seem to again align with Brendon, though with a more even mix of the 1970s and the present. For a while there it felt like Jon was All Beatles, All The Time, but they've been absent recently. I have noticed his commentary-via-music seems to be more, shall we say, direct than some of the others, but, still: It's Twitter, you can't take it too seriously. That said, his latest Alkaline Trio/Built to Spill run did cause me to frown thoughtfully at the screen.3. General/Current Events/Internet/OtherBrendon watches a metric fuck-ton of YouTube and other videos. He and Spencer also seem to watch the news with some regularity, whereas Ryan, unsurprisingly, floats along in his own little world. (I wonder sometimes if his life is like being on vacation somewhere and trying to figure out what's going on the world by watching the TV over the bar, which is on mute, or perhaps an endless series of airport channels. You get the general highlights, but no depth.) Jon is largely a series of seasonal nonsequiturs and science and/or historical facts.11/21/09 - TravieAgain a somewhat promotional week, of the Unbeaten Track single as well as a new GCH video. Which, incidentally, has some really interesting camera work and is an intimate portrait of a show from both sides of the stage. They did it all in 24 hours, evidently, but it doesn't feel rushed or sloppy at all; in fact I was struck by the delicate artistry and attention to details, such as the shots of the crowd with their hands up marking the beat in perfect syncopation. It can be a little dizzying at times, as the camera swings from the stage to the pit, but it also felt like a slice of all the best concert experiences, the moment where the pit comes together and the music lifts you, committed to film.In addition to the video, Travie also shared several pictures, including his dog, some friends, a hip-hop show he attended, and two pieces of original artwork. Well, at least one; I put down Bronx's birthday present as an original work because it looked like his style, but I could be wrong. The other one he specifically said was created by himself and his friend Dale, and it's a truly fascinating piece of work. This is how I described it on his list:
Appears to be "LOVE" spelled graf-style by finger-like figures and accompanied by a headless figure doused in blood and carrying a sperm in one hand (by the tail) and a red rose in the other.
But I do not feel I did it proper justice, the finger-letters especially. They've done some neat things with perspective, depth perception, and the concept of "sign language" there. Also I'm honestly not sure if the first two finger-letters may actually be leg-letters, or if the sperm-thing might be a balloon. Also I think the headless figure may be carrying his head.Anyway, Travie closed out the week/reporting period with a hometown show, and generally seems quite content.11/21/09 - Panic!/The Young VeinsRyan: Changed his icon again, to a picture in which he is looking mournful and sweet and a sweater vest is barely visible under his (golden, velveteen?) blazer. The picture is of sufficient size that the top of his head gets cut off, so all you really see is his mouth. My overwhelming visual association is Stephen Fry-as-Oscar Wilde, which may very well be exactly what he intended. In other news, he was a veritable cornucopia of pop culture this week, between failing at eating in a Snuggie because it was on backwards (WTAF???), discovering the magic of Google Alerts (I feel this will end badly), and someone describing him as a mix of "Fwankenstein" [sic] and Hank Moody, of Showtime's Californication. (Tangentially, the recurring theme of monstrousness in general and of Frankenstein in particular is interesting and may be worthy of further investigation. By which I mean if I have some brain cells to rub together over the holidays perhaps I will read the book.)He also implied he really likes Billy Joel but is perhaps a little embarrassed to admit it, shared the link to Michael Runion's revamped website, talked a lot about the Cheescake Factory and made an allusion to Warhol's Factory Girl, and had an exchange with Alex Greenwald that included a tweet (from Alex) that shoehorned references to the Almond Joy jingle, Joy Division and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory into less than 140 characters. He wrapped up the week/reporting period with the mention of four movie stars (David Duchovny, Kiera Knightly, Amy Adams and Adam Sandler, as best I can guess) and searching YouTube for instructions on how to "boogaloo." (There are several very entertaining "how to" videos.)Brendon: Went to Hawaii, and found some art! Or at least venue flags with images of native carvings, and also a "living statue" street performer. He additionally shared a Rollos commercial (mmmmmm, Rollos), talked about being more of a coin collector than a video game/games shit-talker (♥♥), quoted some Three Amigos back and forth with Dallon, expressed his general appreciation for Julian Casablancas new record as whole as well as for two individual tracks, and told us he likes Lays Lightly Salted potato chips.Spencer: No updates this week, :(.Jon : Has changed his location from "Under the willow tree" to "midwest, us" -- he actually did this last week and I forgot to include it. In any case, he continued to be elliptical and vague, though reasonably chatty, for him. Again his updates were heavily pictorial -- the instruments in his basement (?), clementines, a scrabble game, his dinner, his dog (and dozing girlfriend), and his morning tea. His non-pictorial updates were heavily pet related; I feel your pain, Jon Walker, re: not being able to go to the bathroom alone, and I winced in sympathy with the stinky horse-poo covered dog. (Also the dead fox in the garbagecan, because, ewwww.) Also he wished his brother a happy birthday, mentioned baseball, and went to a Black Gold show. Finally, I am wondering if the instruments might imply he'll be playing with Greta at her Chicago show in December; I have no hard evidence for that at all, it was really just a stray thought.11/28/09 - TravieThis week was a banner week for concerts. He attended his first Phish show and lamented how he hadn't given them a proper chance before, then took in Midnite (reggae, out of St. Croix, with an especially deep back catalog) and then a unspecified hip-hop show. He also watched a whole bunch of movies (Deep Blue Sea, The Triplets of Belleville and Porco Russo) and I'm guessing an episode or two of Ancient Civilizations. Also he went shopping at his old home-town record store. On a related note, there was some promotional business for his new single/video, but not as much as in previous weeks. He wrapped up the week with giving his parka to his brother and linking a new song/video from The Snowgoons.11/28/09 - Panic!/The Young VeinsRyan: Saw New Moon, but no commentary on what he thought about it (I read "funny" as being about the situation, though I suppose it could be about the movie), retweeted a Happy Gilmore quote from Jon, complained about Thanksgiving traffic, listed things he was thankful for ("my grumpy hat, wearing it backwards, waffles, carpool lanes, dogs, foxes, and you" and also Halloween), discussed Thanksgiving foods with Z Berg, told Alex Greenwald that he (Ryan) also needed a haircut (ED: NOOOOOO, NOT THE CURLS!!), asked whatever happened to Joaquin Phoenix being a crazypants rapper, and had some discussion with a friend who was apparently shopping for office supplies in France. As you do.Brendon Kicked off the week on a somewhat down note (and with whisky sours) but seemed to be restored to good spirits by an ELO record, Grand Theft Auto 4, 24 Hour Party People and the prospect of epic amounts of food. Referenced "So Cold In the D" for the third time, continued the overall Adam Sandler theme for the week with a mention of the Thanksgiving song, quoted Land of the Lost then, in conversation with Ian, jumped to a bunch of songs of or related to the cartoon Doug. Finally he mentioned he was reading a David Sedaris book (though not which one) and quoted Keith Buckley, lead singer of Every Time I Die. Icon note: His "Grin" icon has vanished (Twitter bug or his intent, I'm not sure) and been replaced by a generic Twitter bird.Spencer Suddenly chatty after weeks of silence/near-silence, he referenced the "So Cold in the 'Bu" parody, shared two songs (one Lou Reed, one Say Anything), discussed some Things To Do With Google When You're Bored, mentioned searching Ebay for some piece of equipment that will help them fake Eddie Vedder's voice for some mysterious and/or nefarious purpose, and also noted he was about to watch Kazaam. There was also a conversation with a friend about something (videos?) to do with famous musicians, but I couldn't find the start of the thread (it may have been deleted), so I have no idea what that's about.Jon Went to another show, but didn't say which band; quoted Happy Gilmore once and one episode of Family Guy twice; his list of things he is thankful for included Rock Band: The Beatles, and specifically, the drums; shared an 11:11 moment with us; made a bro-date (or perhaps a double regular date?) with Tom Conrad to possibly watch The Last Waltz; and possibly made a Spinal Tap related quote. The possible ST quote I couldn't find it anywhere so I can't be sure, and thus is it not included on his list. Finally, he always recycles. Icon note: He's changed to a black and white image of Young Frankenstein.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
12/05/09 - TravieHe started the week off with taking us on a tour of his childhood/teenage years via photos, including one that he described as "fatty Travie" in which he was, indeed, pudgy. And looked miserable. There was also one of tiny!bb!Travie with an enormous Afro that was adorable, and one of bb!Travie with dreads, which was also cute. The next big topic was the arrival of World AIDS Day, and promotion for the single and MTV documentary. He also congratulated T Pain on getting 4 Grammy nominations, and apparently watched Lars von Trier's Antichrist, regretted it, and had to go to Universal Studios to for a palate cleanser. At least that is how I'm interpreting that last picture of the Stitch ride.12/05/09 - Panic!/The Young VeinsRyan Kicked off the week with exploring the concept of pink lemonade as an unsolved mystery, then progressed to watching The Fantastic Mr. Fox (and expressing a desire for a pet fox; I informed my screen that this was not going to end well), generated his TweetCloud, retweeted Z Berg/Tennessee's Tweet Cloud link, got the wrong Brody in The Pianist (he said Adam, whereas Adrien is actually in the movie) and shared a link to a studio video for Michael Runion which he evidently was "narrating" and/or operating the video cam. As a side note, he was somewhat quiet this week, possibly due to external ladyfriend drama.Brendon Commented on Assassins Creed 2 (in Italian, no less; he said it was impressive); contemplated the proper way to express watching movies OnDemand; wished Shane a happy birthday; mentioned two songs -- Travie McCoy's "One at a Time" and The Noisettes "Never Forget You"; played a round of the Floaters/The Circle Game with Zack, traded lines from The Breakfast Club with Ian and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation with Keith Buckley (Every Time I Die); shared his idea for tuna in a tube; played Doom, iPhone-Scrabble and then a show; afterwards he (and the rest of his band + Zack) stumbled over some people screwing in the bushes. Finally, he wrapped up the week/reporting period with making a bro-date with Pete for sushi/risotto and bad movies.Spencer: No tweets at all this week, :(.Jon: So, I guess he & his friends play a lot of Monopoly? The Chicago edition made an appearance this week. He also welcomed December home, shared a couple of pictures of his dog (♥ Marley), teased Sisky Business about being wimpy about weather, possibly bought a new microphone, quoted something that might be a movie (I couldn't find it) and said something about organizing a Young Veins practice station. Which almost sounds . . . promising. I don't know, I think I've already mentally filed Take A Vacation in the same place as the infamous Lost Cabin Sessions. On the subject of music, he quoted two Billy Joel songs -- "The Stranger" and "Laura" -- which once again caused me to make a thoughtful face at my screen. Finally, he was excited about something called the "Mini Winnie" which could be either a miniature Winnebago or a Winnie the Pooh miniature. His last comment for the week was a blurry picture of the Chicago highway sign for the Loop, which I have put in the Wait for Further Information pile.The six month line: TravieSome of you may be wondering why I picked Travie as my one non-Panic/formerly-of-Panic person to track. The answer is: because someone expressed a general sense of appreciation for his tweets but puzzlement about what he was talking about.I got (and get) about 80% of his cultural references most of the time without having to look them up (as opposed to P!ATD/TYV, where I'm collectively, running at about 70%), but whether that is because his style is less opaque or because he's talking about things I'm already familiar with is open to question.That said, the last six months of annotating his Twitter have been really interesting. Unlike the other four, his "art" section is fairly extensive, and, as I mentioned before, he has a very distinct visual sensibility, or possibly orientation would be a better word. I get the impression he reads (sometimes literally) the landscape in a different way than the others. Generally speaking, if there is art, or something visually unusual somewhere around him, he will find it, photograph it and share it with us.He's also shown in interest in a variety of films -- everything from Fletch to Antichrist. Though it's worth noting he really didn't enjoy the latter at all. I'm trying to find the right words to summarize his film list -- film snob really isn't it; film geek is probably closer. Some of the movies are just dumb fun, but a good many of them are challenging.Musically he's an mix of hip-hop, jazz and the fairly broad spectrum of modern pop and rock, with an emphasis on hip-hop. He has probably the least amount of Beatles songs (one) of anyone I'm annotating. I actually find the lack of Beatles rather refreshing. One of the more complex parts of annotating him was figuring out how to class references to friends-who-are-musicians. Hence the "general" catagory, where I stash everything that isn't specific to a song or video, or related to a live show.Finally, the #1 thing I've learned in the last six months: Travie loves toys. A lot. He loves them as playthings, as art, and as art you can play with.12/13/09 - TravieThis week Travie evidently spent a lot of time with T. Pain and other friends making a Nappy Boy All-Stars Mix Tape. He also mentioned working with Infamous, I'm not sure if that was in the context of the mix tape or his own songs. He also mentioned a One Chance/T. Pain song, and shared a picture of two record covers that both had dudes in iron masks on the front and had ended up next to each other on the rack. Finally, he spent one night researching Beatles conspiracy theories and may have signed up for a class on the subject. And, for those of you as may be local, he is playing his first solo show in Williamsburg, Brooklyn on 12/19.12/12/09 - Panic!Or perhaps this should be a "technically irregular" Panic!-only edition, as from now on I'll be considering Brendon and Spencer apart from the Young Veins. Probably I should have made that split when the band(s) did, but I guess I couldn't bring myself to do it. But now with TYV having new members, I think it's time.Also, for those of you as may be wondering, if/when Ian and Dallon are made formally added to the Panic! line-up, I'll start lists for them too.Brendon: Started off the week bantering with Ian about boobs (he thinks they're fun), then traded Flight of the Conchords and Three Amigos lines with Dallon before and after being in the studio with fun. the band. Also he watched at least one episode of Jersey Shore and was amazed at how seriously everyone took themselves.Spencer: Is apparently on Twitter-vacation? No posts again this week.12/12/09 - The Young VeinsAs noted below, The Young Veins are going to get their own summary post from now on. This week started slow and then got very exciting at the end, with the announcement of two new members: Nick Murray (Foreign Born, Crooked Cowboy & the Freshwater Indians) and Andy Soukal (Robot Love Story, Elegant Universe, Republic of Lights).Nick seems to be LA-based but may originally be from Chicago, while Andy is currently out of Chicago. Or at least his last band was from Chicago. Also, Andy seems to have more than one Twitter. He was "ndeee" back in April, and exchanged some tweets with Jon when Jon was "amazondotjon", including a picture of, I think, himself at one of Jon's bonfires. But that account was abandoned in April, if the profile is anything to go by.Anyway, in addition to new members, the line-up appears to have shifted as well. As best I can tell this is the current arrangement:Ryan Ross - lyrics, vocals, guitar?Jon Walker - lyrics, vocals, rhythm guitar?Nick Murray - drumsAndy Soukal - bassRyan: Strapped a Christmas tree to the top of a car for the first time, then left for Chicago in time for a blizzard. While snowed in, he and Jon were ostensibly practicing. When not rocking out, he may have watched some Twin Peaks. He did banter a little bit with Greenwald, which produced the Do the Right Thing reference; after that there wasn't much until he went to the airport (evidently without his glasses), and someone sang Christmas carols in the security line. I recorded them under the name of the people who first sang them. Then he re-tweeted Greenwald's call for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to induct the California Raisins, discussed Mystery the pick-up artist with another friend (ED: If Mystery is your life guru, Ryan Rossy, I think I may have found the source of many of your troubles), quoted a Bootsy Collins song, took a picture of his back yard in the rain and then announced the new bandmembers.Jon: Shared a picture of Chicago, as seen from the top; a snowy vista; and the Young Veins practice space. He also watched some Dexter, quoted the Mighty Ducks, may have seen an ad for the upcoming National Geographic special [WARNING: PICTURES OF CATS IN UTERO, and also a link to a video with graphic discussion of cat mating] In the Womb: Cats (that was all I could make of "Cheetah Fetus"), listened to Randy "Macho Man" Savage rap (he's calling Hulk Hogan out, I'm not sure for what), told us to put something in our pipes and smoke it, and then also announced new band members.Nick: It's his first day and he's shared seven songs and a video director. So far, music-wise, his taste encompasses old-school gospel-inflected blues from the 1940s-50s, pop/folk/jazz (Margo Guryan), progressive folk and folk-inflected rock (The Verlaines). The T. Rex song, which wins a prize for being the most irritating T. Rex song I have ever heard, is something of an outlier in the mix.His previous bands are also fairly heavy on the folk side of things. Crooked Cowboy and the Freshwater Indians describe themselves a "2-step/experimental/country" which, on listening to it, I'd say is about right. Imagine Explosions in the Sky-type classical instrumental noodling in the context of the country genre and that's what it sounds like. Foreign Born are much more up-tempo and trend more towards rock. Indie-folk rock, but rock nontheless.Andy: Has not made any substantive updates yet, but when he does, I'll make a post for his master list. Meanwhile, his previous bands sound really different than the Young Veins. Robot Love Story is classic pop-punk-emo (sample lyrics: "You're why I don't sleep at night"), and Elegant Universe now Republic of Lights are electronica. Evidently they retooled as they didn't actually like electronica, but: not that much. I listened to it, and it still sounds like electronica to me. One of These Things Is Definitely Not Like The Others.12/30/09 - TravieCame back to NYC briefly and attempted to take in a Cage show; shared some pictures of clothing/stickers from lines made by his friends (Rebel 8 and Boot Camp); shared another picture of himself plus Nappy Boy labelmates in their Nappy Boy bling (he + one other dude have small!bling, the others have massive!bling, because he's not into gaudy (he said "gawky"?) necklaces); an artist called Matty Undead gave his "big brother" Stress a painting/artwork that may or may not be a depiction of Travie himself; he mentioned an MTV Unbeaten Track Times Square promotion; was kind of freaked out by an old picture of Eazy-E taken by Ricky Powell (there was a "tombstone" notice for Dr. Dre in the photo); had a great first solo show in Brooklyn; spent some quality time with puppies while wearing a Snuggie (I dare y'all to find a MORE adorable picture than Travie with a lapful of dogs, wearing a gigantic pink blanket) and watched some probably terrible TV (Steven Seagal: Lawman, or as he called it, Steven Seagal Deputy of the Law); mentioned that his blog/life is under construction, and finished off with an exchange with a fan about "mean mugging" them in an airport.12/29/09 - Panic!Brendon: Verified his Twitter account; came to New York for terrible tequila & Steve Aoki, and also to hang out with Pete Wentz and the dudes from fun.; got into a scuffle or a near-scuffle in the Meatpacking District but emerged unscathed; may have watched attended a performance of Wicked; traded lines to a Bone Thugs-N-Harmony song with Keith Buckley and quoted line from "Zip-A-Dee-Do-Dah"; watched a bunch of movies, including Mission: Impossible, My Fair Lady and part of Dreamscape; wondered how Tyler Perry has successful movies and tv shows; may have had breakfast at swingers (LA restaurant); as previously noted was a nerdy hotsauce in his new glasses in front of a Wes Anderson Tribute Wall, as determined by Untapped Beauty whose eyes are much sharper than mine); desired a painting of Jack Nicholson by Sebastian Kruger (he misspelled it as "Krueger"); wished everyone a happy Chrismukkah and Festivus; and reacted, somewhat obliquely, to the passing of Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan of Avenged Sevenfold, in the sense that he responded to an anxious fan's request that he not die by promising not to die. I think he may also be playing a running game of Circles/Floaters with Zack and they keep trading opportunities to punch each other.Spencer: Appeared in at least one of Brendon's pictures from New York, and verified his own Twitter account, but appears to still be on Twitter-vacation. Hopefully he will come back to us after the holidays.12/29/09 - The Young VeinsRyan: Had a sudden burst of chatter with Alex Greenwald on a variety of topics, including the delusions of grandeur of Bono and Chris Martin; had a fire in his fireplace; shared a link to some truly hilarious professional fishing bloopers; watched Home Alone 2, at least one episode of Jersey Shore, a SNL skit, and Avatar; as previously mentioned, was horrified by a baby in Ed Hardy gear; discovered that only strip clubs and liquor stores are open in LA at Christmas; interrupted Greenwald's most tiresome Twitter stunt yet (a retweet war with another friend) to tell him to STFU; went to a dinner party, possibly a Michael Runion show and possibly also an actual Phoenix afterparty; and referenced music by Adam Sandler, Scott Walker and Will Smith; expressed a desire for two vaguely terrifying parody items by Tim & Eric; and finally, some dude at a Fatburger told him he looked like the guy from Freecreditreport.com.Jon: Changed his icon twice (once to a 4 portrait collage colorwashed Andy Warhol-style, once to a distorted fun-house image of his face); unfollowed Zack, Brendon and Spencer; went to Medieval Times; shared several pictures of his pets in his bed and in the snow; watched a truly epic (and exhausting, for the listkeeper) number of Christmas movies and/or specials, including the White House one; played some Scrabble; shared and/or referenced some Silverchair, Sam Cooke, Fleetwood Mac and Bill Evans (jazz piano); had mimosas and cookies for breakfast then went to a cookie party; watched some silly YouTube videos; thought Jim Carrey's tweets were weird; and wished a fan a happy birthday. (Seriously, JWalk + Christmas specials = Out. Of. Control. That is WAY too much Christmas in a small space. Or else my heart, like the Grinch's, is three sizes too small.)Nick: Added his blog URL to his profile [he had a Tunblr - ED] and removed previous band affiliations; had a bunch of exchanges with fans (evidently he's joining the ranks of chatty drummers); mentioned 14 songs, including works by Beach House, George Harrison, Elvis Presley, The Who, Roy Tyson, The Horrors, Grizzly Bear, and Crooked Cowboy and the Freshwater Indians; noted the occurence of the Winter Solstice and the passing of Brittany Murphy; attended shows by Black Apples and Foreign Born; watched a meteor shower and encountered a grilled cheese truck (not at the same time); shared a video comprised solely of blue skies over Illinois; watched The Cove, quoted Woody Allen, and also mentioned he (Nick) was the music supervisor on an award-winning film. There were also some neat pictures of the LA skyline; there's more located in (on?) his blog. He seems to like to take pictures of skylines, treelines, and his feet. There are some other pictures that may or may not be his, I really can't tell.Andy: Wasn't very talkative; sparked up to link a fan to the Republic of Lights website, agree that Silverchair is excellent, link to a violin cover of "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley (it is AMAZING) and also link a recording of David Lee Roth doing "Runnin' with the Devil" acapella.Final note: I am, as of right now, taking Ryan and Jon's Twitter announcement about Nick and Andy as a formal announcement of new band members. They haven't updated the band's MySpace since early-mid November (!) and Twitter seems to be their main form of "official" communication. Also Nick (and possibly Andy) is referring to his other bands as "old" bands, which I am taking to mean he is not with them anymore.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
1/02/10No really substantive updates; he did share two pictures of his dog and general New Years wishes. His most recent tweet suggests someone in his family has died, which is a shitty way to start a new decade no matter who you are. Hopefully it will get better for him soon.Also, in unrelated news, he validated his account sometime in the last month or so.1/02/10 - Panic!Brendon: Had Mickey Mouse pancakes for breakfast (d'awwwwwwwwww) and watched some unnamed live comedy before celebrating NYE at "headquarters". (All I could think of was Batmobiles.)Spencer: Is still maintaining radio silence.1/02/10 - The Young VeinsNB: The band Twitter (@theyoungveins) appears to be active now, though the only updates so far are a) Nick Murray joining the band (I'm taking that as official confirmation) and b) a collective New Year's wish. The profile and icon are still Twitter-generic, and they aren't following individual members of the band, so it may just be something of a placeholder.Also: This edition is somewhat thin as the last one was, well, four days ago. Still, I wanted to get back on schedule.Ryan: Confessed that he still can't tie a bow-tie even after spending an hour on YouTube trying to learn; retweeted The Like's (Z's?) resolution to make 2010 her bitch with the puzzling addition of "thanks"; shared a funny/puzzling parking lot sign; may have watched Thelma & Louise, and discussed the merits of combined Bollywood dance numbers and double suicides as ending for movies with Zack.This is tangential, but Zack also twitpic'ed Ryan a photograph of himself in the A rosevest, which, judging by Ryan's terrible hair and stripy vest/cowboy scarf combo in the picture, was taken somewhere around the Honda Civic tour -- WELL after it was meant to have been lost which was funny. [Ed: Coomenters let me know it was NOT the original rosevest, but rather a copy.]Jon: May have been watching Man vs. Wild, with Bear Grylls.Nick: Noted the passing of Rowland S. Howard; wished us all a happy blue moon & new year; mentioned he was looking forward to Daybreakers (vampire movie w/ Willem Dafoe); shared songs by Flavor Flav & Dean & Jean, mentioned a Harry Nilsson record and then deleted the tweet (I'm keeping it anyway); and finally shared a link to an adorable YouTube video of a man living with a fox in England. Also he changed his icon to a picture that may or may not be himself with a dog.Andy: No substantive updates, but he did wish us all a happy new year. Also recently (i.e. w/in the last month) changed his icon from his face to a picture of a Japanese sculpture.1/10/10 - TravieA lot of art this week, most notably Vous êtes aímé , a portrait of Travie and Stitch by Jason Rudolph Pena, which was a gift of (musician) Esthero. The title translates, loosely, as "You are my love"; she's also previously collaborated with Travie on at least one track for the Lazarus Project. I don't know if she's his ladyfriend or a close friend who is also a lady, but she definitely likes the color pink, and has interesting taste in art. The painting itself contains many symbols; I spotted a film reel, a key, some buttons (like coat buttons), and a big quasi-Illuminati-style eye, and I'm sure there's more.In addition to that painting, Travie also shared a picture of a Munny figurine that someone had painted to look like the blue person on the front of As Cruel As School Children, discussed working on his own Munny figures, mentioned he was working on a diorama of some kind; and shared some new (and wonderful) photographs of himself taken by Snapkracker.In musical news, he was was back at the Hit Factory with T. Pain, taking pictures of his shoes and Pain's car in the parkinglot, when not working on an unspecified project indoors; he did also mention he's working on The Lazarus Project, and shared a clip of himself soundchecking with a new song from TLP. Also he noted he finally got to enjoy John Legend, but he didn't say which song or record.Finally, he wished Disashi a happy birthday, flooded his bathroom due to excessive text messaging, and caught an episode of the Wendy Williams Show wherein Bill Billamy was evidently promoting Nuvo Vodka's breast cancer fundraiser. (Nuvo Vodka, if you haven't seen it, is bright pink. It looks terrifying and tastes, basically, of pink. Or maybe bubblegum.)1/09/10 - Panic!
Brendon: Re-tweeted Hayley Williams (Paramore) talking about Michael C. Hall/Dexter; congratulated Shane on breaking the shit out of his iPhone cover; quoted a Shania Twain lyric (evidently from a now-lost kareoke session, more's the pity); referenced MTV's Jersey Shore (again, ugh, that show is SO AWFUL); got a shout-out in a 10th dimension video; went to Red Robin for a meal; talked about doing short films with Dallon in response to a link Dallon shared to a video of himself (Dallon) and Ian talking about cables while standing in a shower stall, and, finally, the big news, seems to have gotten a new puppy!Her name is Penny Lane and she is either a Boston Terrier or a black and white English Bulldog. (From the actual AKC webpage for English Bulldogs: "While good at alerting their owners to danger (Look! The UPS Guy is coming!), their main role is that of lap warmer."Awwwwwwww.)Spencer: No updates this week.1/09/10 - TYVSpecial 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.1/17/10 - TravieThis week Travie told us about a song Mary J. Blige and Sinead O'Connor collaborated on for National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, shared some more (beautiful) photographs of himself taken by Snapkracker, was excited by Black Dynamite (movie) and Michael Jai White, also recommended The Lovely Bones (movie) and shared a link to a video of himself (and maybe Cee-Lo? I'm not sure of they were both present for that specific performance) singing Dr. FeelGood, which is NOT a Motley Crue cover but rather a new song from Travie's solo record.1/15/10 - Panic!Brendon: Shared a link to a remake of the rap scene in Teen Witch; was sarcastic about Keanu Reeves' acting ability in Speed and Point Break; made several terrible puns about snow (while enroute to NYC where it was/is currently . . . not snowing, nor even all that cold); traded some airplane gossip with Spencer; congratulated Mark Hoppus on the song on the Alice soundtrack, hung out with Pete Wentz, and then quoted my all-time favorite Frank Sinatra song, New York, New York. It is the very best for Rockette-style high kicks while slightly drunk at parties. Usually weddings. Anyway, I really do hope they use a Sinatra song as their cover on the next tour.Spencer: Back from Twitter vacation, yay!!!!, and evidently watched the wedding episode of The Office on the plane on the way to New York/New Jersey, where he and Brendon working with fun. He also shared a link to a video of the rap scene in Teen Witch, a picture of Brendon, and documented his encounter with an Ed Hardyfied beer bottles.1/15/10 - TYVRyan: Too busy organizing a tour (yay!!!!) to do more than encourage us to buy Jason Boesel's new record Hustler's Son and quote a line from the classic screwball comedy film It Happened One Night (1934).Jon: Informed us the Clover is a Mighty, Mighty Hunter and Sister Act is his favorite musical; quoted American Pie 2 (I'm taking it as him telling us about tour in his own elliptical, non-sequitor, opaque fashion); and asked the internet about both Farmville and Facebook.Nick: Told us about tour in clear and mostly-precise terms; encouraged everyone to donate to the Red Cross/others to help earthquake victims in Haiti; was surprised by the death of Jay Reatard; discussed a song with Jail Weddings (band) and the Conan/Leno thing with a friend, and also shared a link to a Corey Haim video that is a really amazing trainwreck from sometime in the 1990s. (Haim rambles on many subjects, including kissing. I had to turn it off.)Andy: No really substantive updates; he did have a couple of exchanges with fans, expressed happiness to be going out on tour and promised to use Twitter more. I decided the "night on the town" tweet was to vague to qualify as a specific reference, though I suppose he could also have been talking about tour.1/23/10 - TravieStarted off with a reference to Pump Up The Volume; then, on realizing he has (now more than) 1 million followers, echoed Sally Fields at the Oscars in 1985; jumped from there into a link to his blog and a recap of a discussion of his favorite documentary, Paris is Burning, vogueing, associated drag culture and people who have co-opted it (Madonna, that would be you) and also neatly connected Madonna to Lady Gaga via vogueing; was encouraging to BC 2-Tone, a young rapper from Newark; and asked his readership to donate to either/both the Red Cross and Wyclef Jean's foundations to support earthquake relief in Haiti.1/23/10
Brendon: Went to a Julian Casablancas show, not sure if Knickerbockers were the openers or where he had dinner (suspect dinner); then they departed for the UK for unknown purposes (mixing at Abbey Road? exploring the theme of "terrible winter weather?). There was some back and forth with Zack about landing cards and pizza made by Jesus, he shared a picture of a drink, was good-natured about being teased about his alcohol-photographing habit, and then asked us to click on a Facebook/Chase Bank link to support Invisible Children.Spencer: Teased us with the possibility of them Jersey Shore-ifying themselves (I would be horrified and amused. Horrimused? If this happened.), shared a picture of Brendon strumming a cello (and looking like a scruffy Clark Kent) and also shared the Invisible Children link.1/23/10 - TYVRyan: 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, 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.1/30/10 - TravieLots of video this week, including a clip from Basquiat (the "Famous People" scene), of a friend of his working a console, and some of himself, Stitch and Bessie at a friends' house in Philadelphia. A special note: it sounded to me as if he were calling to Stitch in Spanish. Also, he held the dog still for the camera so we could appreciate his cuteness for a while. ♥ TRAVIE ♥.There were also some pictures of himself and the dog and himself and T Pain from the Hit Factory, where work on the solo record continues apace, and one of the outside of his favorite restaurant in LA. Finally, he has come across Fuck Yeah, Travis McCoy [Tumblr blog] and was excited about it, as they find pictures he had forgotten he was in. He also noted the passing of J.D. Salinger, and referred to (I'm guessing) Catcher in the Rye as the greatest book he's ever read.1/30/10 - Panic!Brendon: Lots of movies this week: Batman (1966), Whatever Works, The Shadow, Zombieland, Yes Man, and Orgazmo. (Brendon likes superheros/comic book characters a lot. Though I'd venture to say Batman is his favorite.) Also an aside about framing pictures of his favorite food. That was pretty much it, actually; kind of a quiet week for him, possibly due to whatever it is they were/are doing in the UK.Spencer: Has probably seen Avatar; also quiet, again perhaps due to travel/mixing a record.1/30/10 - TYVRyan Somebody (possibly a member of The Like) finally taught him how to use a DVR; he used his powers to record episodes of America's Funniest Home Videos and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He also played a short round of Twitpic tag with Greenwald, informed us that someone has recently compared him to Benjamin Button (!), quoted Thomas Jefferson, failed to see Daybreakers, commented on Zack's puzzling Hannah Montana reference with "at least we did it first", lost his glasses, was disingenuously baffled as to how he might have gotten one of his friends more followers (and then later, for added hilarity, made a Follow Friday out of a different friend), proposed a new but apparently short drinking game to play with the movie Taken, and shared pictures of a bottle of vodka with his name on it (the date on the label suggests it was birthday vodka) and the full moon. Other things he didn't do this week: Tape the pilot of Michael Runion's talk show. The reason for this is as yet unknown.Jon: Shared a picture of himself and his gf; told Black Gold to have fun in Australia; posted a link to a Built to Spill song; finally shared tour/cd release news (or, rather, news of impending news) in clear and specific language; told us about two books, one about cat-watching (oh, LOL, Jon Walker; also, reading the Amazon description, the cats in the book all seem to come to violent ends -- I'm a LOL sensitive cat owner so I won't be reading that one, though the title IS intriguing) and another about competitive Scrabble; photographed his beer, quoted a song (The Fool on the Hill) that seems to have been done by multiple people - I put down the Beatles version as it seems the most likely; got trapped in a conversation with an old person, and finally possibly mentioned a song by The Romantic Tragedy (Seven Days Make One Weak). Then again it might just be a bad pun. Also, while the continued presence of the Beatles seems to indicate the planet is rotating on its axis as it should, the appearance of Built to Spill causes me to make a contemplative face at my monitor.Nick: A lot of music again this week (Elvis, the Growlers, The Black Apples, Derek Martin) and two live shows (Lucky Dragons, the Runion Birthday Extravaganza -- he later deleted the tweet from the latter), and one YouTube clip of a cat being "moved" by a ghost. Also he wants to see The Tooth Fairy, the dog in his icon is a girl dog and her name is Lola, his favorite coffee shop is apparently full of professors, and his car is not a piece of junk, it's just special! Finally, he admired the wolf moon, and Mars next to it.Andy: No updates this week.