Memorial Day Music Mayhem

Guess who's back in action just in time for Memorial Day and more importantly, Fleet Week!

In this 21st year of our lives we will be bringing you the best of everything in summer '09 and we're starting out with the Memorial Day playlist to keep you moving through the long weekend. Get excited!

(1) Ida Maria - I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked

'cause we had to start out with a bang. ;-)

(2) Little Boots - New In Town

Beware of dance orgies this weekend!



(3) Cage - I Never Knew You

Yes that was Shia LaBeouf (♥ Ace in love)



(4) Plastiscines - Barcelona

This Nylon Records band looks like something out of Nylon.



(5) Ladyhawke - My Delirium

'cause we had to get animated with it.

(6) Mandy Moore - I Can Break Your Heart Any Day Of The Week

Something new from Mandy Moore. What do you all think of it?



(7) Mest - Cadillac

Bringing back the good old days with Cadillac. This is dedicated to my friend Annie; here you go punk!



(8) D Generation - She Stands There

Shall we continue with some good old punk rock? Yes, we shall.



(9) Apocalyptica f/ Ville Valo & Lauri - Bittersweet

Let's slow it down. Enjoy listening to the double bass. ^_^



(10) Adam Lambert - Mad World

Doesn't he look like a vampire?? Adam is awesome. *Cough* He's the real American Idol *cough*

An InSensical Halloween

Since we've returned to school, Jynx and I have been really busy. We've decided to take a hiatus from this InSensical world until next summer when we have more time to devote to it.

In the meantime, subscribe to our posts so you will be the first to know when we're back in business.

Happy Halloween! Enjoy our favorite Halloween music videos!

- Ace

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Fall Out Boy - A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More Touch Me

Rihanna - Disturbia

Backstreet Boys - Everybody

Chris Brown - Wall To Wall

Rob Zombie - Dragula

Michael Jackson - Thriller

Stage Diving Gone Wrong

Watch as Katy Perry attempts to stage dive while performing with 3OH!3 at Warped Tour. I don't think this is the way to do it.

I was in a debate with Jynx over whether or not she survived. Jynx says she did, so I guess Travie won't be filing any missing person reports anytime soon.

3OH!3 - Katy Perry stage dive

Pockets Full of Sunshine and Showers

Last Thursday my mom, my friend Lauren, and I did our annual summer ritual: go to Rye Playland, get a number one at Nathan's, and watch a free concert. This year one of our favorite singers, Natasha Bedingfield, came to perform. I was in shock when I found out she'd be in my neck of the woods and I think I still am.



We knew we had to get there early for good seats. My friend and I wanted to be closer to the stage than we were when we saw Teddy Geiger last year. We got to the park around 4:15 and so did a thunderstorm. We huddled together surrounded by camp children and two girls from the stage crew for almost a half hour. When the storm ended we rushed to get seats and luckily found some in the seventh row. Mom watched the seats while Lauren and I fetched food.

Natasha came onstage at 8PM decked out in a black dress, a purple belt, and cool heels. She, her backup singers, and the band were amazing. When they put on a show, they put on a show! She sang with all her might, as did the backup singers and the band played with passion.

Natasha worked the stage as she moved from one side to another, which made it hard at times to get good photos of her, but I liked the challenge. One of my favorite parts of the show was when she read a sign that said "Natasha, can I sing with you?" and she replied, "You just did. You sounded good."

Natasha got the crowd to stand up, wave their hands, and sing along as she sang a slew of songs from her new album mixed with old favorites and a cover of Madonna's Ray of Light. The last song in the set was Unwritten. As she started singing, the rain started falling, but I kept on filming. I was literally "feeling the rain on [my] skin" and "reaching ... in the distance" to get a good video as the people in front of me started putting up their umbrellas.

Seeing Natasha Bedingfield live was definitely a dream come true and the highlight of my summer. Now one can only wonder how Playland will top this next year. Justin Timberlake anyone?



Here's my vid of Natasha singing Unwritten. Sorry the audio's so sketchy, but you can totally see those people putting up their umbrellas in the front rows.


Natasha Bedingfield - Unwritten Live

Sisterhood 2 - Story of My Life

WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!!! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!

Two weeks ago from today I celebrated my 20th birthday. That was also the day Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 came out. My mom took me to see it as a surprise bday gift. I was glad she did. The movie was awesome and just what I needed. I felt like my life could have fit seamlessly in the storyline.

Sisterhood 2 finds the girls now in colleges scattered around the country. Carmen (America Ferrara) is involved in theatre, Tibby (Amber Tamblyn) is studying film at NYU, Lena (Alexis Bledel) is studying art, and Bridget (Blake Lively) is playing soccer. Each of the four lead actresses does a great job handling what comes her character's way.

Change ::

Everyone has that one friend who hates change, and in this movie, Carmen is that friend. Unfortunately for her, she has to deal with a lot of it. Her mom is now married and pregnant. Plus, her family's moving to a new house and she must leave her childhood home behind. Of all the girls, Carmen is the most dependent on the circle of friends and feels lost without them. When the four friends finally reunite for their Friday night ritual, she is shocked to learn that the other girls made plans for the summer. She just planned to catch up with them all summer. Luckily, a college "friend" is able to get her a job doing backstage work at a summer theatre in Vermont. It's there that Carmen meets Ian (Tom Wisdom), a Brit who gets her to audition for the play.

You totally feel for Carmen. Changes are hard getting used to sometimes and she's so bombarded with them. America pulls this role off well. You feel she could really be the innocent backstage girl one moment and a drama queen the next. (Although, I'm pretty sure America's not much of a drama queen.)

Love ::

At a funeral in Greece Lena finds out that her now former flame, Kostos (Michael Rady), is married with a baby on the way. She's really upset that her first love has moved on so quickly. While trying to take her mind off Kostos, Lena spends her summer taking an art class. It's there that she crosses paths with Leo (Jesse Williams ... a.k.a. my new husband). Did I mention that after Lena meets him, he strips down in front of her in under a minute? He's the nude model for her art class. (So believable. Have you seen that body?) There's no actual nudity, except for the hottest six pack I've ever seen on the big screen. If that doesn't capture your attention, I don't know what will. Of course, Kostos returns with major revelations and Lena must choose between Leo the artist and Kostos her first love. (Lena, go for the abs!)

Lena kind of reminds me of me. I'm not Greek and I can't draw, but temperament-wise we're similar. Plus we both like Leo.

Pregnancy ::

Tibby's story is way more nerve wracking than the other girls'. She loses her v-card to her boyfriend Brian (Leonardo Nam) and of course there's a pregnancy scare. Amber does a great job making the pregnancy scare believable. You feel like the situation's taking place in the real world, not a movie.

Tibby and Brian also break up and he moves on with Lena's younger sister Effie (Lucy Hale). I found that part of the story semi-odd and semi-believable. Why would he go out with Effie? Then again, he'd still be in shock from the pregnancy scare and wouldn't be thinking straight.

Family ::

As we learned in the last movie, Bridget's mom committed suicide. In this movie, Bridge discovers letters from her maternal grandmother that her father kept hidden from her for years. She confronts him and heads to Turkey for the summer where she's working on an archaeological dig. It's there that an archaeologist gives her a lesson about family. She then bolts and heads to Georgia for a long-awaited reunion with her grandmother (Blythe Danner) and discovers more about her family.

Bridget's storyline was a bit farfetched in the beginning. Why would she go on an archaeological dig in Turkey? Then again, she is an adventure-seeker so this totally works with the storyline.

Greece ::

I love that part of this movie, like the last, took place in Greece. The scenery's so beautiful. Jynx and I have to stop off in Greece when we go to Helsinki.

Boys ::

The love interests for all the girls were really good. They fit perfectly with each character, and the boys looked good with the actress they were placed with. By the way, are washboard abs a requirement for these roles?


Overall, Sisterhood 2 was very enjoyable. It gave a realistic view of what life is like for college girls these days. Each girl's storyline could happen to me and anyone of my friends. All the actors in this movie were great, and the leads were amazing! It's hard to believe that these actresses (especially America and Blake) were relative unknowns when the first movie came out. Oh the difference 3 years makes.

Carrie Bradshaw 2.0

I know women have been all about the "He's just not that into you" since Miranda Hobbs uttered those words to two twenty-somethings in an episode of Sex and the City. Soon after a book followed, the author got a talk show, and a movie starring Jennifer Aniston is set to be released in February 2009. I'm happy for Greg Behrendt, but I'm so over his book. It's a light-weight compared to two other books I've read.


In The MANual self-proclaimed bad boy Steve Santagati plays the part of male best friend for women everywhere. He provides the dos and don'ts of attracting men while interjecting anecdotes from his life throughout each chapter.

Unlike Santagati's book, Neil Strauss' The Game was written for men, specifically pickup artists (PUA) in training. My philosophy is where best to learn what's going on in the mind of a guy, than from their guru.

The Game is Strauss' autobiography about how he transformed himself from a gawky rock and roll journalist to a Pickup Guru (PUG). Strauss' techniques aren't your run-of-the-mill cheesy pickup lines. They're actually quite technical and have their own set of terminology. This book gives an intriguing look into the social dynamics involved in picking up women.

I know you're wondering why I would even recommend these books to you. I think reading them gives girls the upper hand. This is especially true in the case of The Game. Knowing PUA terminology can come in handy when you least expect it.

It all started two weeks ago on Facebook. I was on Facebook chat with one of my friends when I checked to see who else was online. That's when I spotted it: the Facebook status of he-who-shall-not-be-named. It stated that he was "out sarging the night away."

I gasped, my eyes widened, and my heart skipped a beat. HWSNBN was using a pickup artist term for picking up girls. I was (and still am) in shock. I would never have taken him for a pickup artist.

After hours of debating whether or not to call out the potential PUA, I jokingly wrote on his wall, "Since when did you become a pickup artist?" The following morning I received a wall post from him saying, "... when did you discover the terminology?"

What followed was a series of messages between me and HWSNBN. I told him I had read The Game, and he said he had read it too. I had shocked the hell out of him when I called him out. Taking my initial wall post very seriously, HWSNBN said he was a minor league PUA back in the day (i.e. pre-sophomore year), but he lost a bit of his game after being in a relationship. The Game helped him fine tune his strategies.

Why he felt the need to divulge his dating history to me, I don't know. Jynx thinks he's feeling guilty. Maybe he is. He did delete my wall post that called him out.

After the messages with HWSNBN, I started thinking about the guys who've approached me. The ones who expected a response after an absurd pickup line were dutifully ignored. Guys who used some of the strategies I later recognized in Strauss' book got responses from me. Not major responses, but responses nonetheless.

The MANual and The Game are really excellent guides. You'll be able to navigate the dating scene more efficiently after adding these books to your reading list.

Movie Dates for Harry Potter and Twilight Moved

It has just been announced that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has been postponed until July 17, 2009.
According to Warner Bros. president and chief operating officer, Alan Horn, the change was only done in order to "take advantage of an open weekend in Hollywood's busy summer season."
Source



Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was originally set to open on Nov 21st of this year, but instead Twilight will be taking it's place. Twilight's original release date was set for Dec 12th , 2008. But I guess Summit thought us Twilight fans couldn't wait that long. =]

It also has been announced that the date changes for Harry Potter and Twilight are completely unrelated.