Chronological X-Men 135 – “Unnamed”

k kicking it off with an arc that i own a lot of in actual paper. Its really really cool and the way it ends is very rad. A lot of stuff about the Upstarts, which is a thing that i really really love and i think was under utilized.

The issues in this iteration are New Warriors #31, X-Factor #88-91, Avengers v1 #350-351, X-Force #19, and Uncanny X-Men #298-300.

Usually the unnamed folders tend to be a collection of one offs and that’s about right. A New Warriors issue closing the matter of Nova Roma, X-Factor closing up some Genosha plot threads and introducing the Legacy Virus, a really, really dry multi-issue story of Avengers where some dumb space stuff happens and Carol Danvers quits the Starjammers, X-Force heading out on their own with no ‘adults’ watching them, and the genocidal return of the Acolytes, and more importantly Fabian Cortez, in Uncanny.

Live Blogging Devotional

1:52 – Listening to Sophisticated Side Ponytail, looking for familiar faces in the crowd.

1:53 – Listening to Magic Trick by M.Ward, giving up on find familiar faces.

1:54 – Our Father by D+.  staring at President Clark, hoping that makes him stand up quicker and begin devotional.

1:54.5 – i think my computer clock is wrong. Either its wrong or the digital clock on the wall is wrong. it is so not 1:57.  checking my ipod.

1:55 – my ipod says its 2:01. no wonder i’m always early to Book of Mormon.  Well, except when i neglect to go at all.  Didn’t even hear the alarm this morning wtdh.

1:56/1:58/2:02 – WHAT TIME IS IT REALLY

1:56.5 – decided to just go by my computer clock.  its better for my sanity i think.

1:57 – Devotional is starting, THREE MINUTES EARLIER.

1:57.5 – not sure who is speaking, still had my headphones on. Ugh we’re singing because I have been given much.

1:58 – whooooooooooooooooooooo haaaaaaaaaaaaaas the need of heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelp from meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. the tempo feels off i dont know why.  Feeling self conscious about my jeans and my rock band shirt. Also about my blogging. Maybe i should tweet this? going to get my internet right and then im going to tweet all devotionals. @BYUIBoredomAndUncomfortableSeats imo.

2:00 – short song. Forgot it was tuesday today so i just wore street clothes to science. Then i saw all the ties!!!!! Oh well, its the thought that counts.

2:01 – Brother Richard Smith. That’s his name. He is the liason between BYUI and the City of Rexburg! PoliSci BS, Law Degree, Idaho Bar, church lawyer like Pres. Corbit i think.

2:03 – starting to think i should maybe be editing myself a little but nah screw it stream of consciousness.

2:03.5 – need a haircut or something. hair in my eyes is starting to bug me i think.

2:04 – i dont get this whole “lets show x that we’re ready to be taught so lift up yr scriptures!!!!!” thing.  “TRADITION” i guess. Neat scripture today tho.  Lift up dangly arms, get a mansion.

2:05 – Choir is singing. The more comfortable i try to get my legs, the less comfortable my typing becomes. I think my pants are shrinking re: length and growing re: waist.  Or i’m just losing weight and getting taller. Frustrating really. Need New Pants 4sure. Skin tight, leopard print imo.

2:07 – and we’re off. Brother Smith approaches the stand.

2:08 – only 33 minutes of battery life left. Gosh this is going to be frantic towards the end. here’s hoping we end before 4:41!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2:08 – thats 2:43 Wall Clock Time.

2:09 – Whoa.  The student population of BYUI is half the population of Rexburg. That’s ridiculous. Why am I here again? Oh, right, 2.3.

2:11 – YO SPIRIT OF RICKS WOOOOOO

2:12 – Dude’s got a crazy memory!  Remembering how he met his wife right now, blind date. Love at first sight.

2:13 – HAHA RUMBLED.  Saw her at the door, said he was here to pick up Jill, she said “No Jill left 15 minutes ago.” Then her roommates started laughing and oh gee. Hilarious.

2:14 – Feeling self-conscious about my Pink Spiders sticker on my laptop. Need to get a B&S and a NPSH sticker.

2:15 – oh he’s talking about friends. No wait he’s talking about strangers. Matt 22, “Love the lord thy god. Love thy neighbor as thy self.”  Matt 25:31, “Come, ye blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I were hungry, you gave me meat, etc.” “Lord, we don’t remember when you were hungry and we fed thee.” “Verily, I say unto you, inasmuch as you have done this unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”

2:18 – A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief just popped into my head. Man that song :’] I can see why it was a favorite of The Prophet.

2:19 – Oh gosh, hitting me where it hurts: insecurity.

2:21 – haha he hung around Hard Rock Musicians, oh no!

2:24 – okay i guess i paid attention to this for no reason, re: all my friends are p.great mormons. No hard rock musicians for me.

2:25 – “The best we can be really is who we are.” Goshdang thats profound, not even being sarcastic there.

2:27 – 13 minutes of battery life remaining. Don’t know where those two minutes went. Wait, yes i do. my wireless card was still on D:,’

2:29 – “President Monson, what do you do all day? Do you just go to church all the time?” “A few administrative duties, watching over the church, then, we listen.” Then he told stories about reaching out to those who were in need, those alone, those who were strange.

2:30 – “Parting guidance?” “Always remember, you never know who’s angel you’re supposed to be.”

2:31 – 7 minutes remaining.

3:02 – my computer died at 2:35. In the 4 minutes between 2:31 and 2:35, brother smith talked about picking up chicks.  I’ll type what i can from memory.  i cant time stamp it unfortunately.

“Think back over today.  Think about the people you’ve seen. What have you felt or thought while seeing/meeting them? The warm feeling when you bump into a good friend or roommate, that cute boy you saw, maybe you should talk to him, a member of your study group, that cute boy again, he seems to be in a bunch of your classes maybe you should talk to him. Oh but he’s quiet and reserved, maybe there is something sad about his countenance, maybe you need to speak to him, be his angel.”  The whole time Brother Smith is saying this i am screaming in my head, “YES TALK TO HIM DO IT TALK TO HIM.”

then he says “When I was a youth going to Ricks College, I was terrified when it came to meeting girls. When it came to the moment of truth when I spoke to them, i shrunk back, i ran away, i was afraid. […] My daughter loves it here blah blah blah she gave some advice, ‘No matter what you do or who you are, put yourself out there.’ Put yourself directly in the path of that other person you need to reach.” “OKAY I WILL JUST RUN RIGHT INTO Q. TOMORROW, FULL SPEED AHEAD.”

Seems like a good plan to me.

Top 5

Haha okay so i just opened my blog for the first time in months, and i guess wordpress has that snapshot thing for links well i held it over my twitter link on the side bar and its keywords were “guitar hero,” “Power metal,” and “schizophrenic.”  My three favorite things.

I was just thinking right now not ten seconds ago, top five favorite bands off the top of my head.

1. Mountain Goats obv
2. Belle and Sebastian also obv
3. Beat Happening
4. David Bowie
5. ?????

Can’t really think of a fifth artist that i like enough to say “Yeah thats my fifth favorite artist.”  I think my facebook says that Harry Chapin has that coveted spot but who knows maybe i made that when i was on a chapin kick.  It could just as easily be Blind Guardian or Eluveitie or Rammstein or All Girl Summer Fun Band or heck even the Decemberists. When it comes down to it though, i can’t make that final cut.  I dont think any of these artists can affect me as emotionally as tMG and B&S do, or as creatively as Beat Hap and Bowie.  Basically all the music I listen to has influenced they way I think, has influenced my paradigm, has formed my opinions towards different things that also affect my life.  I mean, my whole personality could basically be divined from those four artists, my outlook on art itself is in there.  So uh i guess what i’m saying is that the reason i listen to those artists so much is because they make me?

I dont know how to solidly choose that fifth arist. It just seems to me that I should choose an artist that has had a lot of influence on me. I guess thats The Decemberists and Rammstein. Getting into those two bands laid the groundwork for what i was to become. But the problem with using either one of those is that i kind of grew out of them? Pretension and silly vulgarity arent really what i look for anymore. I’d much rather listen to anything really. There are still like five Decemberists songs i love (Grace Cathedrial Hill, Everything I Try To Do Nothing Seems To Turn Out Right, Engine Driver, I Don’t Mind, Angel Won’t You Call) and sometimes i really get in a Rammstein mood, but I wouldn’t put them on the same level as tMG, B&S, Beat Hap, or Bowie as far as I Could Listen To Them Forever And Never Get Bored.

Maybe I need to acknowledge my metal side. Man cannot live on Twee, and Folk, and Glam alone. Then you have the next dilemma. Blind Guardian, the indisputable Power Metal kings, or Eluveitie, pagan folk metal and hurdy gurdies $$$$. While both Nightfall in Middle-Earth by BG and Slania by Eluveitie have influenced me and introduced me to two of my favorite genres (Power Metal and Melodic Death Metal), are they really top five material? I dont like all of Blind Guardian’s catalog in the same way I like all of the Mountain Goats or Belle and Sebastian or Beat Hap, and I haven’t even heard all of Eluveitie’s catalog. They were influential to me and i still love them, but do i love them that much?

All Girl Summer Fun Band rules. Everything about them is awesome, i could listen to them forever, just incredible music but………………….. Do i really want All Girl Summer Fun Band in my top 5?

Screw it, number 5 is Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head.