Allthyngs

More from Daytrotter! Frightened Rabbit is one of those bands that I don’t like all that much generally but has come out with a few songs that I adore. Download this version of Good Arms vs. Bad Arms now! Scott’s accent, crooning, and unaccompanied guitar make you want to feel as sorry for him as he is feeling for himself. I think this version is a huge step up from the one on the album.

Check it out on daytrotter.

This is possibly one of the most useful websites I have ever found. You can convert any youtube video to an mp3, you can select any part of the video and also edit its tags for iTunes, you can use it for songs that you can’t find or don’t feel like buying, or for comedy routines or something you want to listen to later. It doesn’t always work, it can be slow, and some videos require a few tries. When it works, however, it’s really awesome.

Check it out at Dirpy.com

This Oscar-nominated short film has all of the best parts of those three to five minute sequences that precede every Disney/Pixar movie: really good animations, humor, an original storyline crammed into a very short amount of time, and a warm and fuzzy aftertaste at the end.

Passion Pit’s Sleepyhead is probably one of the most fun things to dance to ever. This remix is better.

I go to Bowdoin, a small college in New England, and we have a lot of bizarre stereotypes. The first time I walked on campus I noticed that a lot of the boys rolled up their jeans a little too high so that their Tevas would poke out. We also have a lot of lacrosse bros who listen to too much Dave Matthews for anyone’s good. This video is technically about Middlebury, but the stereotypes it points out definitely apply to all of the other tiny liberal arts colleges in the area. Bowdoin doesn’t have a Quidditch team, but we are still G’s throwin some free granola.

This blog sums up tiny things that make every day… awesome. Example: Correctly guessing the actor voicing the animated movie character or finding hidden compartments in things you already own. Awesome! Reading it at the end of the day just makes me happy. Even though they spelled “things” wrong.

Check out the book at 1000awesomethings.com, and buy their book on Amazon

Josh Ritter’s Girl in the War is definitely one of my favorite songs of the past four years. The originally recorded version is just really lush and atmospheric — the music is so gorgeous that his amazing voice kind of gets lost. This live acoustic version exhibits his husky voice and endearing drawl really well, and the crooning at the end is my favorite part. If you haven’t heard the original version yet, however, get on it now.

You probably know what a Rube Goldberg machine is — one of those contraptions where a ball slides down a slide and hits a windmill which triggers some other mechanical event. This OK Go video features what is basically the mother of all Rube Goldberg machines and even inspired me to think about making one of my own.

Being a poor, miserable college student with nothing better to do than listen to music all day, I am always finding ways to download things without having to pay for them. Every now and then I feel guilty about my methods of doing so, so this site offers some good ways of getting FREE music LEGALLY.

Check it out at Friedbeef.com

I’ve been resisting posting this for a while, because it’s just me shamelessly sharing a song I’m obsessed with. But this is a DAMN good song and I haven’t been able to get it off of repeat since, well, November.

Find out more about the Avett Brothers at Last.fm
And watch the video for November Blue, embedded after the jump (click “read more”).

How you feel about this will probably depend on what you’re majoring in…

Find more great comics like this at XKCD.com

There’s no way I’m going to get to California in April, but for anyone who can, GO TO COACHELLA. Look at this lineup! Passion Pit! Avett Brothers! Hot Chip! Frightened Rabbit! AND MAYBE EVEN THOM YORKE. I would gladly give my left and maybe even right hand to go.

Find out more at Coachella.com

Yet another goodie from Daytrotter for all you Okkervil River fans. April Anne is my favorite, in particular. It starts out thin, but then unfolds into the gorgeous meoldy with drums and harmonica. Check it out!

Check it out on Daytrotter

You basically chat with other random bored people online. It sounds lame, but is actually pretty fun if you’re doing it with a friend. Warning: you are very likely to see a lot of people jerking off.

Check it out at www.chatroulette.com/

This pretty much undermines the foundations of higher education for me.

Check it out at http://writing-program.uchicago.edu/toys/randomsentence/write-sentence.htm

I have a Mac and I love it, but this guy makes a pretty good point.

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=macs_cant

I began running about three years ago, and after three years of not going more than three days without running, running three seasons a year, and competing at least every other weekend I’ve been at college, I’m taking time off. I’ll get back to it soon enough, but I’m feeling kind of vindictive towards the sport for now.
Why Running Sucks on Words for My Enjoyment

Hey, everybody. Welcome to the first Allthyngs Blog post. The basic idea is that it’s a blog, but instead of being written by one person who’s more interested in himself than he is in being interesting, we have a bunch of people who are actually interesting. We had a big decision to make between doing our first post about the Apple tablet unveiling and Obama’s State of the Union, and we went with the tablet. It’s a pretty nice commentary on our generation’s priorities. I don’t want to give you a whole rundown of what’s in the damn thing, so if you want that go to this post on Gizmodo. Anyway, without further ado…

Arcade Fire, Neil Young, David Bowie, Bon Iver, and others…
These musicians must be pretty awesome if Peter Gabriel decides to cover them. GET EXCITED.

http://blackraptor.wordpress.com/2009/12/14/peter-gabriel-scratch-my-back/

NPR’s “Tiny Desk Concerts” are exactly what they sound like: mini concerts for your computer. This three song session by the Avett Brothers (another favorite band from this year) starts off with a really lively version of Laundry Room. The vocals sound a little harsh and maybe even flat at first, but the harmony ends up [...]