iConcertCal

While I publicly thank Fuzzy Lion for making me aware of this - thanks for the heads up! - I just wanted to let anyone else know of this really neat iTunes visualizer to download. It's called iConcertCal and what it does is go through your iTunes Library, sees what artists you listen to, finds tour dates and release information about any of those artists, and puts them into a calendar that's similar to iCal. It's pretty neat and I'm already reaping the benefits of this application.

While I knew that Imperial Teen were planning on releasing a record in the future, I didn't know it actually had a release date of August 21! iConcertCal also tells me that Caribou, Rilo Kiley, and the New Pornographers are ALSO releasing records that day... even though I already knew that.

So thanks again to Fuzzy Lion for bringing this up and I definitely suggest checking out iConcertCal!

Down and Out Again?

Here's a few quick points to get me started again since I've apparently fallen off the writing wagon:

1. While getting excited all day for the upcoming Thrashers/Sabres game "tonight" and turning on Turner South at seven and watching 10 minutes of lame college football, I finally realized that the game is TOMORROW night. Apparently I want 2007 over sooner rather than later.

2. Speaking of the Thrash, they're quite the streaky punks, aren't they? They either win five in a row, or lose four consecutively, or win five more... and then decide to have another five-game winning streak and attempt to go through Buffalo while in the process. Of course, we all remember what happened the last time the South invaded the North earlier this season... dare I say repeat performance? Ehhh... hush.

3. Games I've gone to in the past few weeks: the Anaheim game was unfortunate but could've been our's, the Pittsburgh game was lucky (and that pesky Crosby... ugh!), New Jersey was testy at the beginning but eventually went in our direction, and the Tampa Bay contest was something else (despite gnatty St. Louis getting his way for a goal). Up next on the agenda? Phoenix, at home, on the 5th. I really should look into getting season tickets.

4. Yeah, Christmas was unreal. After a few days of tweaking and getting pissy, it seems like I've finally gone the route of satellite radio (Sirius, seriously) in my car. It looks like I won't have much hockey going on (that's XM's thing), but it's still pretty neat. And I have yet to play around with my new camera that'll surely be something amazing. It also looks like I have to turn into a bowling professional with all the bowling supplies I acquired.

5. It was never in doubt that I'd make a return to Coachella next April, but trying a secure a place to stay for the thing is looking testy at this point. With the lack of announcements of any bands playing as well, I hope I'm not biting my nails come February when everything gets finalized in terms of the whole entire trip. Of course, there are some hopefuls that I'd love to see there, but we'll get to that in another post that's closer to the big day.

6. I'm a downloading fool lately because of OiNK not caring about ratios for the holidays. Initially, I had no idea what to do with all of this freedom, but I overcame it when I realized I was being a tool for not taking any action. Here's what I've got so far:

Emily Haines - Cut in Half and Also Double
The Knife - Silent Shout and Deep Cuts
Do Make Say Think - Winter Hymn Country Hymn Secret Hymn
Final Fantasy - he poos clouds and has a good home
Goldfrapp - Supernature and Felt Mountain
Keane - Hopes and Fears and Under the Iron Sea ("they're for the girlfriend/sister/mom/female" - haha)
Ladytron - Witching Hour
Mono - You Are There
Silversun Pickups - Pikul EP
Sonic Youth - Rather Ripped
The Stills - Rememberese EP
The Cardigans - Super Extra Gravity and Life
Supergrass - I Should Coco and In It For The Money
Talking Heads - The Best Of
The Thermals - The Body The Blood The Machine
TV On The Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain
Air - Pocket Symphony
Explosions in the Sky - All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone

Do I think I'm done? I really don't think so. But I've gone effing crazy.

7. Sorry about the lack of posts... hopefully when things settle down in the next few days/week or two, there will be some more time to spend writing. Ugh.

8. And back to hockey... I'd like to congratulate Britt (of Nasty Nest fame, really) for making the cut over at Hockey Buzz and becoming the Thrashers' blogger on the site. That site definitely has some great people up there providing some great pieces on teams around the league and just on hockey in general, so for her to be a part of that is great. Check her column out here: http://v2.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?blogger_id=74

We're working our way back, kids. Just hold tight for the immediate future. We'll be back in full force in the coming weeks.