Pa Pa Pa Paws UP!

On St. Patricks Day I went with my sister to see Lady Gaga's Monster Ball Tour in Omaha.   Here are a few of the videos we took of the concert.  Sorry for any shakiness.... its hard to dance, sing your lungs out, and still hold a camera straight :)

Opening of the show - lead into Dance in the Dark

Lady Gaga talks about the sweet success of her single Born This Way and makes fun of all the drunk people on St. Patricks Day.

Born This Way - Piano Only - Definitely one of my favorite parts of the concert.  If nothing else you have to respect what a great artist and singer she in this video. 

Teeth - One of my favorite Lady Gaga songs.  Wearing the famous blood soaked outfit and all...

Alejandro what else can I say but "Paws Up Little Monsters"

Paparazzi - This was another of my favorites... the whole fame monster in the background really took this one to another level of crazy.  I felt like I was at a broadway show or something.  Oh Lady Gaga.

The first Encore - Bad Romance - Amazing performance. Such a great concert.

Born This Way Dance Version - The Final Song and 2nd Encore-  I've never heard a crowd go so insane in my life.... I was also going insane with everyone else.  There was so much to capture we had to take 2 videos... enjoy.


Needless to say I had an amazing time.  Here is my sister and I getting all Gaga-ed up for St. Patty's day.

Musical Soapbox

I feel like I’ve read about and heard a lot of inspirational things lately… It got me thinking about the power of inspiration, motivation, and hope.  Now I don’t want to get all sappy on you… not my style Jk… but I thought about what inspires me the most, and I realized that what inspires me most is the exact same thing that inspires most people in the world but in completely different ways.  This is a crazy concept… and obvi I love crazy concepts so that’s what I’m gonna blab about today. So what am I talking about?

Music

Well duh.  Everyone is inspired by music.   If you’re not inspired by music you suck… joking. But really you’d have to be dead to not be moved by music at all.  Why? Well depending on whether you’re the audience or the artist there are many reasons

1.   1.   Music is an outlet to express and feel emotion in a completely isolated but social way.  What do I mean? Emotions are universal… everyone knows what it is to feel love, loss, fear, hope, inspiration.  Emotions are universally felt, but many people don’t express them to others whether this is a voluntary or involuntary choice.  Musicians express emotion better than anyone in the most organic, raw way possible…. Through their voice and body (playing an instrument).  When you listen to music, you are invited to share universal emotions in a completely personalized way.  Without saying a word or interacting with a single person you can fully indulge in any emotion via music.

2.     

    2.   Music is a source of immense power to create something from nothing.   You literally have the ability to fill silence with whatever you want.  I would never say I’m a musician, but I love the guitar and it really is true that when words aren’t enough music can complete what you are trying to say in a magical way.  Yes I said magical…. deal with it.    When you compose a verse, a riff, a piano piece, or whatever, it’s the same as writing a story.  There is a story behind it, no matter how deep or compulsory it is.  The song is a journey, a means of transporting you somewhere else. However, unlike some traditional stories, there aren’t limits to the meaning.  The music blooms into a different journey for every person that hears it.  No two stories are the same.  This is my favorite part about music.  I love to listen to someone sing a song or play an instrument with such passion and think…. What are they thinking about? What story has this song taken them into? Okay I realize that sounds creepy but you got to admit, music is unlike anything else in the way is permeates into everyone differently. 

3   3.  Music creates an amazing connection between audience and artist.  As a listener you most likely have never met the artists you listen to…. But don’t they seem to know you better than anyone else?  Because of the universality of music, music can create that eerie and overwhelming feeling that this artist has revealed to the world emotions or thoughts you guard so tightly that no other person even knows you have.  Have you ever heard lyrics that gave you paralyzing shot of self-consciousness? “This is me!” “Surely everyone can see that this is exactly what I’m feeling.” Well relax…. No one knows this song is a mirror into your mind or probably even cares.  This is the beauty and power of music.  However, when we have these moments its only natural that as humans we try to create an emotional bond with something in order to share the moment.  Despite what we think, no one really wants to share powerful moments alone…. So what do we do? We create a connection between the artist and us.  This is why people are so passionate about musicians they like… it’s because it’s an emotional/personal/defensive subject.  Does this explain Kanye’s outburst at the VMA’s? Was he just so emotional about what Beyonce’s song did to him that he had to go defend her? Ha… no he’s just an idiot.  But I think you get the point.   

There are undoubtedly other explanations for why music moves us and inspires us so much, but I don’t feel like thinking anymore.  So what’s the best kind of music? 

 When you don’t hear instruments or voices at all.  What?!? Let me finish yo…  The best kind of music is when you don’t hear music…. its when you experience pure passion and the music literally sounds like life and feelings not just words and sounds.  It’s when you see someone making music and radiant colors are literally forming out of the sound, or when you can’t even sit still because music is running through your veins so forcefully.  The crazy thing is that while the feeling is the same…. Different genres of music do this for different people. I don’t get rap or country for that matter… but I know that many people don’t get my music.  I guess it doesn’t really matter.  The universal end we all find justifies our various means, in a way.  

Obviously I’m pretty passionate about the subject as are many people.  Here a couple videos of songs that inspire me.  Maybe they’ll do the same for you…. Or maybe you should go listen to your Justin Bieber cd instead, whatever. 

K'Naan Wavin Flag - South Africa World Cup Song.... a pretty cool video too.

You knew you weren't going to get a music blog from me without seeing a video like this... Streetcorner Symphony and the other 3 finalist groups cover Coldplay's Fix You in the show's finale number. 

Joshua Radin and Ingrid Michaelson are amazing on their own, but nothing beats this collaboration.  Sky is definitely one of the greatest and most beautiful songs out there. 

It was really hard to pick just one Boyce Avenue song to post. Here they cover Bruno Mars' Gerenade in a really interesting way.  I love all their stuff and they have an awesome YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/boyceavenue so check it out.  

Okay I’ll get off my musical soapbox now…

My Hiatus

So I haven't been able to write a new entry in a few weeks.  The main reason for this is that I still don't have a computer.  Apple ended up charging way more than I expected, so at this point I'm thinking I might as well just get a new one.  However,  I don't really have money to just buy a computer at this point... so we'll see when that all gets figured out!  The other reason I haven't been posting is because I have been on spring break the last 10 days.  I'm sure there will be a good post regarding Panama City spring break in the coming days.... but for now I'll just say I didn't spend much of my time doing anything but living the lazy beach life.  It was a great senior spring break trip, and now it's time to power through the last 8 weeks of my college career.

So, the short of it is that I haven't had time to document this crazy exciting lifestyle of mine recently, but I'll be sure to step up my game on the homestretch.  I feel like a hypocrite because I always complain about TV hiatus breaks in the winter and in March before sweeps, yet here I am doing it with my blog :) See I really am a TV nerd. Anyway, a lot can happen in 2 months, and hopefully some of it will be post-worthy. For now I'll just give you a short preview of the two most exciting things coming up this week.

1. Most importantly Thursday is St. Patricks day and I will be living it up at the Lady Gaga concert all night.  this is by far the most exciting part of my week.

2. Coming in at a close second is the massive amount of schoolwork professors dumped on us after spring break this year.  I'll be reading a bajillion case studies and writing even more useless reflection papers over the next two weeks. Thankfully, 9 weeks from today I'll be a college graduate with nothing to worry about but real life from then on.

I've been told that real life is much harder than college, that I should stretch my 3 years out much longer.  Maybe I'm just ignorant and young, and don't get me wrong I've loved college, but I'm so ready to be done.   I'll really miss my friends here, but for the most part I won't miss college student, Omaha and the bs that goes along with classes.  I'm ready to live on my own doing a job I love and hang out with new people.  But.... that's living in the future.  I'm going to do all I can to enjoy these last days as a college kid.  If anything actually exciting happens.... you'll be the first to know.  If nothing exciting happens... well then my posts are about to get even more boring.  

And the Oscar goes to the Auto-Tune Montage

Ah what a crazy week its been.  I haven't had much time to post anything because its the dreaded midterms week here at Creighton.  Somehow I've managed to make my last semester here my busiest yet.  So much for those lazy afternoons doing nothing! Anyway, I took some time out of my rigorous study schedule (not really) to watch the Oscars.  As an entertainment junkie, I love award shows but usually am disappointed when they never live up to expectations.... unless its the 2009 VMA's with an MJ tribute, a Lady Gaga performance, and Kanye vs. Taylor.  The show wasn't bad, but I had a few issues with it...

1. When you are pushing hard for a younger audience and hiring people like Anne Hathaway and the always sexy/ always high James Franco to host you should probably  consider giving more awards to movies that a younger demographic has actually seen.  The King's Speech is good period piece, but what about game changing, revolutionary movies like Black Swan or Inception.  How about a culturally profound and relevant choice like The Social Network?  "No thanks" says the Academy.... "We'll stick with the stammering King."

2. More autotune please.  Seriously the autotuned montage was one of the most entertaining parts.  I think they should have considered autotuning Kirk Douglas' speech as well.... or maybe it already was autotuned.



                                  


3.  Back to the hosts... I love Anne and James.... really I do but they were pretty boring.  Especially James who seemed to be on another planet the whole time, but really what did we expect from him? Have you seen Pineapple Express, or any interview he's ever done? I'm surprised he was able to sit still long enough to actually film 127hrs.

4. The acceptance speeches.  If you were nominated there is a chance you will win, and you know that.  It's great to act humble and surprised but don't act dumb.  You should have prepared at least something for the millions of people watching... its embarrassing for you and a waste of time for me if you are going to just stand there looking dumbfounded at the shiny little statue you're holding and then say "I can't believe it." You. are. a. movie. star. this is not a shock to the rest of the world, where have you been?

Okay enough about the bad things. There were a few things I was pretty happy about.  For one the Bob Hope moment was clever and touching.  I also was happy with many of the award winners.  It was great to see Natalie Portman win Best Actress for Black Swan, which I think was well deserved.  I also was glad to see Christian Bale get some love.  Inception (my pick for movie of the year) didn't get shut out completely thanks to visual effects and sound categories (and a clever intro to the show).


                                       





Overall.... not the best year (Especially if you're True Grit which had 10 noms and won a whopping 0... I mean even Wolfman won an award!).  But, on the bright side we may have some contenders for next year's hosts.  I thought Sandra Bullock and Robert Downey Jr. were awesome presenters and would make awesome hosts.... but hey I'm just a 21 year old kid, why would the academy ever take my opinion into consideration?

Hufflepuff Know Whats Up. Put Yo Put Yo Hands Up.

Some people are addicted to Facebook, or Twitter, or checking their email..... I'm addicted to YouTube (oh and all those other things too).  I feel it's my responsibility to find hidden gems among all the cyber crap and then force family and friends to watch these amazing videos and laugh even when they aren't funny.  Also,  I just get really bored in my product operation management class.  Monday night from 6-9 has become my most productive time of the week.  I get blogs written, homework done, and catch up on a lot of emails.  On the downside I'm probably failing the class I'm tyring so hard to block out.  But that's not really important.... So the point is, I've compiled some of my favorites below... I've done my job, and brought them to your attention.  Watch them, or not, but seriously... the balls in your court.




 Like a G6 Harry Potter style
It may come as no surprise that I'm starting this off with a HP musical parody. Half of these videos will probably involve either A music B a parody of something or most likely C both.   This little shin dig was originally sent to me by my sister and every time I hear it it makes me smile." Butterbeer's flowin cus we got all this money in Gringotts. Ah yeah!"

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On-
I first saw this video during a sorority chapter meeting. Its so dang awkward/pathetic/ridiculous that its really funny.  If you like this check out Charlie the Cheez-It http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sd4bXYJvhzY&feature=related

 

Best News Bloopers Ever-

this is a longtime favorite of mine.  Partially due to the fact that I first saw it on one of the best nights of my life Rockin Shoppin Eve 2007.  So many great clips in here.  The woman falling off the podium, the violent crime tantrum, and the nice pussy lady.  It's always funny to see people on tv embarrass themselves in epic ways.  It makes us feel better about ourselves, which is all that really matters, right?

Literal Harry Potter

Another HP favorite.  Courtesy of my sister Emily as well.  Amazing that someone who never read a Harry Potter book (unless you count the last chapter of each book... yeah she's that person) has been the source of so many great HP parodies.  This one is seriously hilarious for anyone, whether you've seen HP or not. 

 If you like these Harry Potter parodies check out Dear Reader (this is my fav. chapter http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPVhmZodaLA)  This guy narrates the entire first movie in the most ridiculous sarcastic way possible.  I have the full audio file if you are interested  :) yes I've watched the entire movie with just his voice.... and you can too!

The One and Only Charliece Show.

This list wouldn't be complete without a personal plug for my own little YouTube video.  The Charliece show was created by me and my sister Kelsey.  This is the second episode of about 5 or so.  Honestly we have many funnier videos but Emily and Kelsey are embarrassed of our Lady Gaga remakes and I am banned from posting them.  Sorry. you're missing out. The outfits were epic. This will have to suffice. 

Beiber Fever Parody

The Key of Awesome ( http://www.barelydigital.com/awesome) some of the greatest music parodies of all time.  It was hard to choose just one, but Bieber does the trick. I  tried to find one of Esperanza Spalding (i don't even care if that's spelled right)  but for some reason I couldn't..... oh wait you probably don't know who that is.  Well she won the Grammy for Best New Artist.... yeah what a travesty. Don't worry,you won't catch Beiber Fever unless you're a single mom or substitute teacher.

John Mayer- I think that she knows interlude

Favorite song of my life? Possibly.  This is the back end of Justin Timberlake's Lovestoned song.  I thought it couldn't get better.... until John Mayer threw down this amazing guitar piece to it.  My guitar dream is to someday have a Collings I-35 guitar and be able to play this.  So great. 

There ya have it. I'm sure I'll be back with more videos soon.  I'm sure you'll be bookmarking this site, and waiting on the edge of your seat. Great things come to those who wait.

Peace

Road Trip to Mankato

So this past weekend I took a road trip up to Minnesota to visit my friend Kyle and celebrate his 21st birthday with him.  After a long week of classes and work I hit the road on Friday afternoon.  It's about a 5 hour drive from Omaha to UM-Mankato.  Luckily our other friend Jeremy was able to come to so I picked him up in Sioux City on the way.  It was nice to have company on the long drive.  Jeremy and I enjoyed the trip and had some great music pumping and good conversation too.  Jeremy and Kyle have been two of my closest friends for about the past 8 years, but we all go to different colleges.  Needless to say, getting together with them is a rare blessing.  We have a great time together, but because of sport, school, and work schedules we really don't get to see each other much.  To be able to spend the whole weekend with them celebrating was a much needed break from the school routine.

On Friday night we got to Mankato and loaded all of our stuff into Kyle's apartment.  We met all of Kyle's baseball buddies and headed down to a local bar and grill for dinner and a very competitive game of darts (which Jeremy and I won).  After dinner we hit the Makato bars in order to make the most of the 2-for-1 deals that end at 11. Yay for Cherry Bombs :).  The bars in Mankato were a lot of fun, and all within walking distance from each other.  We made sure Kyle made the most of his night and got home late after great night!

On Saturday we all slept in....real late.  I hit up Caribou Coffee (apparently MN hates Starbucks) immediately.  We just hung around the house during the afternoon and watched a movie and reminisced on the good-ole-days of AHS. oh boy.  We also took a little tour of the University of Minnesota-Mankato where Kyle goes to school.  Definitely a pretty cool school.  I loved how their student union had a bowling ally and pool tables! Creighton.... take a hint.  Unfortunately I was left behind during the locker room tour... not sure why we needed to see the baseball locker room at all (unless it had been shower time (; ), but I wasn't too disappointed about missing that spot.  Kyle's sister and her husband showed up around 5 and we hit up Mexican Village for some Margaritas and Nachos! The Margaritas packed a surprisingly powerful punch which made the food taste even better than it probably was.  Jeremy and I were planning on staying over Saturday night and heading downtown with everyone, but the weather started to get bad.  Jeremy and I ended up driving home from Mankato Saturday night.  I dropped J off in Sioux City and got back to Omaha a little after midnight. I was kept awake by the lightning show in the sky and of course some great tunes from my BackBeats.

Overall it was a great trip to MN.  The only downside was that technology completely failed me.  My computer screen (that has been getting progressively worse since I cracked the LCD screen in Nov.) went completely black, and I left my phone charger in Mankato. Awesome.  Luckily my computer is getting fixed and US Cellular gave me a free charger for the week until I can get mine back.  You might be wondering how I'm writing this wonderful blog if I don't have a computer (you probably didn't even think about that.... and you probably don't care) but luckily Creighton has done something right and has some sweet new mac desktops in the Coba lab.  Looks like I'll be living in here until my computer is fixed. Until next time...

Old school pic of Jeremy, me, and Kyle!
Love these guys :)

About Me

01) What are your nicknames?

Until college it was Beans. which seems weird but literally everyone called me that. there is really no reason for it... my parents just called me that and it stuck... for 20 years.  now its larneson or larney mostly. Not many people call me Laura.

02) What was your dream growing up?

I had so many... I was set on being a paleontologist at one point, and an astronaut, I also idolized Mia Hamm and thought I'd play professional soccer, then it was an actress or rock star, I also legitimately wanted to be President.  haha I had big dreams i guess. 

03) What talent do you wish you had?

I wish I was an amazing singer.  As a guitar player and obsessive music junkie it would be really great to be able to sing really well. 

04) Do you care what others think about you?

yeah... probably too much.  I've gotten better as I've grown up but I'm very self-conscious about my reputation which has its pros and cons i suppose. 

05) What is your current desktop picture?

Safeco Field with the Seattle skyline in the background.  I took the picture at a Mariners/ Yankees game. 

06) What was the last book you read?

The Shack.... so amazing. My dad gave it to me. If you haven't read it stop reading this crap and go get it now. 

07) What zodiac sign are you?

Aquarius duh.

08) Any Tattoos?

No.... but I'm getting one, maybe.   I'm so indecisive on what I would want and where.

09) Worst Habit?

biting my nails... my mom literally smacks me when i do it.  

10) What's your favorite TV show?

haha the million dollar question.  I'm obsessed with TV. I watch like 15 shows via DVR a week.  I'm not really a casual TV watcher though, I actually schedule it into my day. If I had to choose an all-time favorite I'd say Lost... nothing can replace that show.

11) What is your favorite sport?

To watch - College football and Elite Track and Field.  To play - probably flag football :)

12) Do you have a Pessimistic or Optimistic attitude?

I'm a glass half-full-kind-of-girl.  I'm really optimistic... what's the point of being a downer?

13)Do you like musicals? 

YES! Love musicals.  My absolute favorite is Wicked.  I would give my arm to see Idina Menzel & Kristin Chenoweth together.  The music is amazing. 

14) Worst thing to ever happen to you?

Probably when my appendix blew up and I was in the hospital for 2 weeks in high school.  It totally destroyed my cross-country season... oh and everything in my stomach too.  

15) Tell me one random/weird fact about you.

hmmm... I've broken my leg, hand, and collar bone. The first one wasn't my fault.... the other two were definitely my fault and both occurred on 11/11 one year apart from each other. 

16) Are you currently single?

very much so

17) What was your favorite game to play as a child?

I always loved Life and Dream Phone.  Most of the games I played were ones I made up though... i played with my sisters and made the rules up as I went so that I'd always win. I was a competitive kid. 

18) Would you rather be rich or healthy?

Healthy for sure.  My lifestyle is way to active to deal with being unhealthy. 

19) Do you think clowns are cute or scary?

Scary... always scary.  

20) Favorite Movie franchise?

Easy. Pirates of the Caribbean. I'm pretty obsessed with it. I actually get defensive when people hate on Pirates. I could probably quote every line in the movies. 

21) Has a song ever made you cry?

Music is pretty much the only thing that can make me cry.  The artist most likely to make me cry is probably Alli Rogers. Most power ballads will do it too if the timing is right :)  

22) What color eyes do you have?

I used to think brown... but they are more green now... i guess that's hazel then. 

23) Ever been arrested?

No way. I like to think I'm more of a bad ass than i really am. 

24) Bottle or can soda?

Neither. Not a huge soda...or as i say.... pop fan.  If I had to choose I'd say bottle of root beer. 

25) If you won $10,000 today, what would you do with it?

Go on vacation to somewhere really warm. Or get a crazy expensive new guitar.  I should probably save it though... seeing as I'm in college and broke.

27) What's your favorite place to hang out?

Starbucks... there are few places I love more than Starbucks.  

28) Do you believe in ghosts?

Yeah I think so.  more like spirits though.  I think there are good and evil spirits probably.  wow that sounds ridiculous... never mind. idk.

29) Favorite thing to do in your spare time?

I'm a big youtube fan.  I find the most bizarre videos on there.  I also love www.barelydigital.com/awesome. 

30) What’s your favorite gambling game?

Apparently i'm lucky at video poker.... but i'd love to be able to count cards and play blackjack. that'd be awesome... is that illegal? maybe i could get arrested :) 

31) Biggest pet peeve?

slow drivers. ugh their the WORST! just get where you're going and don't slow me down. 

32) In one word, how would you describe yourself?

Passionate 

33) Do you believe/appreciate romance?

I believe in it.  I don't see it very often.... but i think it's out there. I definitely appreciate it. 

34) Favorite and least favorite food?

hmmm dang i love food.  chocolate is a cop out but I love, love, love chocolate.  Least favorite food is probably like coleslaw or fish, i don't really like fish. but i like shrimp... it's not my favorite though. 

35) Do you believe in God?

yeah, with all my heart.

36) Do you parallel park or drive around the block?

i got pretty good at parallel parking when i was in Portland.... but in Omaha I'm lazy and i drive around the block.

37) Who is the last person you think about before you fall asleep?

depends on the night i guess.... but I often fall asleep during my prayers so a lot of times it's Jesus :) 

38) Have you ever been cow-tipping?

Almost.... In high school we my friend lived by a field with cattle and we were close enough to do it but we chickened out.  

39) Do you have any siblings? are you close?

2 younger sisters. They are my best friends in the world! 

40) Do consider yourself to be a happy person?

Yes! Life is great :)