I'm officially linkedIN. But if you're on my contacts list, you already knew that

Today I got an account through LinkedIn. It's a professional networking website that keeps you connected with all types of people who are too good for myspace. Everything was all well and good until I accidentally sent LinkedIn membership invitations to EVERYONE in my Outlook contacts. This wouldn't be that bad of a thing, however, there are definitely people in my Outlook contacts that probably don't know who I am. They're the clients/customers that I've never met, they're just CC'd on emails from time to time. So that's kind of embarrassing.

I listened to the new Arcade Fire album called "Neon Bible" today at work. Before I go any further, I feel the need to mention something about myself - I am a person that likes to discover things on my own. I don't like when people tell me I need to like something. This applies to movies, music, and TV shows mainly. I almost refuse to watch things or listen to things if I have a dozen people telling me I should. A good example of this is watching/not watching Fox's 24. I realize that the show has been on for a few years now. I also realize that everyone loves this show. People have been telling me that I NEED to watch this show ever since it was introduced on network television. I have seen probably half of one episode. It's not that I'm not interested, I just want to experience it in my own time! I will watch 24 when I'm good and ready, until then, quit bossing me around! I really wish people would quit telling me how awesome of a show it is and how Jack Bauer could find Osama Bin Laden if George Bush would just let him!...I say all of this because Arcade Fire is another example.

I was introduced to them a few years ago by my friend Olivia Keaggy. She told me about how listening to Arcade Fire is like listening to a chorus of angels and that if you're not listening to them right now, you obviously don't have any business breathing air and you might as well shove toothpicks into your ears and pray for the apocalypse. Before I knew it, people at Samford were doing the typical "I want to prove to you that I know more about music than you because I like this indie band" routine and they were saying things like "yeah, Arcade Fire is amazing...but I like their older stuff."

(Side note: You know a person doesn't really care about a band and they're just trying to make you believe their some kind of a music expert or artistic themselves if they describe their "favorite band" to you by saying things like "this band is so good. But I like their older stuff when they were independent and grass roots. Their new stuff is too produced and big label." On that end...I hate it when people refer to music as "stuff." Since when do we refer to music, an art form full of different forms of expression, the same way we refer to the contents underneath our beds or in our attic?? Why don't we give doctors referrals by saying things like "you know, he really did wonders when he helped cure my cancer last month, and he was named the number one brain surgeon in the country last week, but I can't help but like his old stuff better. I was a lot happier when he would write prescriptions and put the Popsicle stick down my throat. His new stuff is too big time and doctory for me. His old stuff was so much better." It makes me want to ram my head through a wall.)

Needless to say, I didn't listen to Arcade Fire for about 2-3 years. Then I saw them on Saturday Night Live a few weeks ago and they KILLED IT. They were the best thing I had seen since seeing Fergalicious for the first time. There were so many people on stage, the string players (both women) were mildly attractive (note: I'm still learning about this band, and if these women are in fact very unattractive, and I was just delusional because A: they were playing instruments and B: they were on TV, I apologize and take back the previously stated comment), the guitar player was using a megaphone as a microphone, the music was solid and tight, and I felt like I was listening to a full blown orchestra at a Broadway show. I couldn't understand a word the guy was singing, but that didn't matter. I'm a huge lyrics guy, and the fact that I couldn't make out one single lyric (part of this reason is because the vocals seemed to be turned down) is a significant deal.

So I listened to them today, and was equally impressed. I didn't think I would be because sometimes you see a live performance, and then buy the album, and it's just not the same. This can go the other way too (this is the case most times). You buy an album and it rocks, and then you go to the show, and it's like the band met each other and picked up an instrument for the first time in their lives. Listening to this album on repeat all day long, made my day. It made me so happy. When music makes me happy, it has to be good because I typically like music that makes you want to take a bath with a hairdryer.

So, you HAVE to listen to Arcade Fire's Neon Bible! You HAVE to! If you don't listen to Arcade Fire, you have no business breathing the breath in your lungs. Arcade Fire could find Osama Bin Laden at this point if we'd let them. They are THAT good. Although...I gotta say... I like a lot of their older stuff a lot better.