Also, congratulations Shawn on a magnificent piece of facial hair, may it rest in piece and may it’s new own cherish it forever.

Barnes and Noble baby.  Free Wi-fi and awful coffee was all I needed to get my day going strong.  Reading, writing, and blogging occupied the rest of my day.  Of course with my severe case of ADD I couldn’t help but affected by the endless amounts of stimuli surrounding me. Those being:

The little rodents (13 year olds) running around acting like they own the join and nearly dismembering all the shelves as they passed by them.  Honestly, is there any reason for it at all?  Often times the things we hate most are the things we ourselves do.  I know that at one point I was very much the same, thinking that the more noise I made, the more people would recognize me and maybe even like me.  I couldn’t have been any farther from the truth.

Creating an obstacle course for people passing by to conquer.  Apparently it was very difficult to see my charging wire for my laptop much less walk over it.  Two people tripped over it and at least a dozen people did that forceful step over it, where they lift there foot up and over an unreasonable amount.  As if they were trying to say, “Get this fucking thing out of my way.” I had a few chuckles and went about my business.  Dear Barnes and Noble, If you’d like some inabstrusive guests at your establishments then please put outlets that don’t require me to “block” an walk way and test people’s limberness.

How unhappy people truly are….most of the time.  I noticed more people with a scowl on their face today than ever before.  What is going on in their laugh that warrants such a ‘tude?  Not that I’m on cloud 9 or anything, but damn, crack a smile.  Now, in their defense, that could just be how they are, or maybe just before they slammed their finger in the door or lost their cell phone for a moment, I don’t know.

After finally conquering all of this, I reflected on all the music I had listened to throughout the day and would like take a moment to thank all the artists.  Weezer, Minus the Bear, Therefore I Am, Converge, Vanna, Hans Zimmer, Danny Elfman, Keane, Steve Jablonsky, and the list goes on.  Without all of you guys, there would be no productivity or creativity.

side note:  8 oz of beef and 16 oz’s of beer later I’m feeling pretty good.  food coma’s are nice.

Brian and Shawn, along with their respective bands, Therefore I Am and Vanna, have shown that hard work and persistence can land you just about anything you desire.  Brian and Therefore I Am, signed by Equal Vision Records in 2008, is fresh off a brand new full length album release, The Sound of Human Lives, and a full stint with Warped Tour.  Shawn and Vanna, signed by Epitaph Records in 2005, is cleaning up after their third studio release, A New Hope.  Both are now on tour with beloved friends, A Loss for Words, on the This is New England Tour.

I am sad to say that I’m a complete moron and did not catch any shows.  Because this is truly what New England is all about.  They are all amazing musicians with a passion that runs as deeper than the deepest caverns known to man.  You can check them all out on their website, myspace and of course the most popular twitter.

If you are lucky enough to ever catch their music be sure to thank them for the endless efforts they have put in to continue playing the way they do.  Also, be sure to scratch Brian’s chest hair, he’ll purr like a kitten.

**Would also like to thank the beautiful Erin Caruso for the use of the photo.

Vanna is back with their brand new album, A New Hope.  Along with their new album comes a brand new single and thus a music video.  Safe to Say has become one of my favorite songs.  Chris, Shawn, Nick, Evan and Chris have taken their musical talents to a whole new level and unleashed hell upon their instruments.

The result?

One of the best metal albums that I have listened to in a while.  From Evan’s melodic voice on Safe to Say, to Chris’ ear shattering vocals in Trashmouth.  You’ll definitely feel the wrath of Nick’s guitar and the thumbing of Shawn’s bass as Chris starts an earthquake on the drums.  Check out the video above for Safe to Say and support my friends in Vanna.