Friday, November 25, 2011

Dream Band

I do not have a great amount of musical talent. I can listen to music and think to myself, "I couldn't play that." There are a few songs that are exceptions to that. They include "Lady Madonna," "Linus & Lucy," and "Oh, Susanna." Those are just on the piano and can be guaranteed by me to be played at some point in time or another.

I've written some songs. They are not Grammy worthy, yet, but I know that I must bring together a bunch of people that would assist me on my journey to musical mediocrity. I'm not saying that this band of people will be the best of all bands, I am just saying that these people would best be my homies in a band. The name of my band has yet to be decided, but I am sure that it will be a good one. I will now introduce the people that will be a part of this group of musical talent. At this point, I must apologize. I seem to be unable to form sentences properly. What I am trying to do here is form a band that is made up of people I really like and think would be awesome to have in a band with myself.

Guitar
Dan Auerbach from the band The Black Keys

Some of you people may be thinking, why? Well I'll tell you why. This dude can give a new meaning for cool. He can play both the guitar and sing, but it is his guitar skills that I am praising. He likes to wear sunglasses a lot. I find that to be pretty off the hizzle. He is from the town of Akron, Ohio, which he proudly admits. If he was to be in the dream band, he would add the swag that it needs.
Guitar man
Bass
Simon Rix from the band Kaiser Chiefs


Oh, yeah. That dude. Sadly, I might be three for three with naming guys from bands that have never heard of. But if you have heard of either of these two bands, good for you. You share some of my musical tastes. This bass playa (yeah, I said playa) was born in England. Because he tends to have long curly hair, he is sometimes called, "Jesus." In my book, if you have a nick name, you must be pretty cool. I personally like his bass playing, although that should go without saying. If he was in my actual band, he would at a funky beat in the background.
This bass player means business
Drums
Brian Chase from the band The Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Some of you may know him. Some of you may have know idea who he is. I have never met this individual in person, but I do know that he plays the drums. I find his beats to be off the hizzle. He even holds his drum sticks in a traditional grip, making his drum playing to be more advanced than mine. What you guys should really know about him is that I find him to be very cool, so naturally, you should think the same way. If it makes you feel any better, he grew up in Long Island, New York.
Drummer extraordinaire
Designated Clapper
Me from the band (Insert Band Name)

You know how in some songs, there is someone clapping to the beat of the song. I feel I could totally be that person. Songs like "Car Wash" and "Dog Days Are Over" can be defined by the claps that go on in the background. I could be a serious driving force behind the band. I could also be the cowbell, triangle, or electric triangle player. Yes, I am not from a certain band, but musicians have to start somewhere. For those of you who do not know what I look like, here is a picture:
Me




Singer


I am torn between several singers. This is where you, the people, get to choose from:

Matt Berninger from the band The National

The person I am about to present to you has the voice of someone that is not me. I am not a singer, but this guy really is. If you just kick back and really listen to some of his songs, you can hear a bit of awesomeness. He is from Cincinnati, but don't let that discourage you. This guy can really hit the notes we want to hear.
Possible Singer
Justin Vernon from the band Bon Iver

For you French language lovers out there, Bon Iver sounds a lot like bon hiver doesn't it? Well that was this singer's intention. This guy can also sing better than me. He is from Wisconsin. I find his voice to be emotionally connected with the audience so he could really kick it into gear when we go on our two month tour to Australia.
Possible Singer
Florence Welch from the band Florence + The Machine

Didn't think I'd throw a female in there, did you? Well I considered Lady Gaga at one point, but I decided she would steal the show from the true talent (not me, I'm just a clapper). Florence (I hope she's okay with me calling her either Florence or Flo) has a very significant voice that you just can't forget because of the power she sings with. She is from London.
Possible Singer
James Mercer from the band The Shins and Broken Bells

Ooh, that guy. He is from Hawaii, which you couldn't tell by looking at him, the caucasian.  He was raised in New Mexico, which might account for his U.S. citizenship. I truly dig his relaxed way of singing. He can hit the high notes, he can hit the low notes, and gosh darn it, he can even hit the medium notes.
Possible Singer
James Murphy from the band LCD Soundsystem

I just had to go with five singers didn't I? Well this person here is not the sixth favorite person on this list. They are all very dear to me. I just can't choose between them. This guy seems to put passion into every note that he writes and sings. He may not win American Idol or anything like that, but he can be a driving force behind the band that has yet to be named. As a bonus, LCD Soundsystem is over. He has a free schedule.
Possible Singer
Robin Pecknold from the band Fleet Foxes

On a sliding scale with no units, minimums, or maximums, I'd say this guy is about a 3.7. He has that voice that if it were to be converted into food, it would be a cherry because of how sweet it is. He can also arrange harmonies for all of us other yokels to sing in the background. We may be terrible in comparison but at least on stage we will all be included in the fun. He is from Seattle.
Possible Singer
Marcus Mumford from the band Mumford & Sons

No, he is not the father of all the other band members. That rumor was proved false on the show "Maury". This guy seems to have that passion for singing as a silverback gorilla has a passion for kicking the crap out of anything that walks into its territory. This guy was originally born in Anaheim, California, but was raised in London, England. The British accent could definitely work in his favor.
Possible Singer


Emily Haines from the band Metric


Okay, I realized that there were too many male candidates without an equal representation  of females. Well, I'm sorry to say this, but I just like some other male singers better. But this paragraph is starting to turn away from the main focus, which is Emily Haines. She's a Canadian singer whose birthday is unknown except for the year (at least it is on the Wikipedia page of her). You may find her voice a little different, especially when she sings words like, "world" and "choices," but I personally like it. She was born in New Delhi.
Possible singer


Producer


Brian Burton a.k.a. Danger Mouse

Does this band really need a producer? I would go with the answer of "yes" since I have no idea what direction this band is heading in. I personally like what Danger Mouse has done for the musical world. He was a part of the making and producing of the following acts:
Beck, The Black Keys, Broken Bells, Cee-Lo Green, Danger Doom, The Good, the Bad and the Queen, Gorillaz, Gnarls Barkley, Jemini, Joker's Daughter, MF Doom, Sparklehorse,  and Underground Animals. He is also producing/produced an album for the band U2. He looks like a pretty cool dude. I think he would be a fun addition to the band that I am forming.
Producer with many hats
Tour Manager/Regular Manager

Tom Hanks
He is also a pitcher. Overqualified

Why not? He could handle a rowdy group like us. 'Nuff said.
Other Instruments

All the people in Animal Collective from the band Animal Collective

They can play those keyboards like nobody's business. The thing is, They may not fit into every single song that our band makes. They can be featured in a song, that seems to be the craze of today. They would be a neat addition, but a permanent "Band Member" I.D. tag will not be made for them. They do get an honorable mention.
Close, but no band spot
I might get kicked out of this group. I might have brought in people that will not mix well with each other. This band may such a bad mix that I will get stabbed in a dark alleyway somewhere. In that last sentence, those two events would normally be independent, but in this dream band scenario, anything could happen. I look forward to your feedback on the band that has just been created.

The Daumenator has spoken

Friday, November 18, 2011

Sideburns

I found the wikipedia page on sideburns. You can find it here. I decided to make this as picture free as possible with all the words like [2] still in for the full effect.


Sideburns
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Mutton chop" redirects here. For the cut of meat, see Mutton chop (meat).
"Sideburn" redirects here. For the Transformers character, see Side Burn.


Ambrose Burnside, the term's namesake

Sideburns or sideboards[1] are patches of facial hair grown on the sides of the face, extending from the hairline to below the ears and worn with an unbearded chin. The term sideburns is a 19th-century corruption of the originalburnsides, named after American Civil War general Ambrose Burnside,[2] a man known for his unusual facial hairstyle that connected thick sideburns by way of a moustache, but left the chin clean-shaven.


Contents
1 Variations
2 History
3 Slang
4 Gallery
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

Variations

Sideburns can be worn and grown in combination with other styles of facial hair, such as the moustache or goatee, but once they extend from ear to ear via the chin they cease to be sideburns and become a beard, chinstrap beard, or chin curtain.

Indigenous men of Mexico, who shaved their heads and wore their sideburns long, as well as Colombians, who wear their sideburns long and typically do not have any other facial hair, are said to be wearing "balcarrotas", rarely seen in modern times, but prized in the sixteenth century, as a mark of virile vanity and banned by the colonial authorities in New Spain, occasioning rioting in 1692.[3]


Mid-ear sideburns and mustache on a French hussar, 1804
History

In ancient history, Alexander the Great is depicted with sideburns in a mosaic from Pompeii.

Following the eighteenth century, when European men west of Poland were universally clean-shaven, sideburns, like beards, began to grow in popularity during the Napoleonic period, as first among military men (illustration, left); the trend eventually made its way to Meiji Japan, in the first wave of Western fashion there. The return of facial hair in Western Europe began as a military fashion, at first inspired by the heroic sideburns sported by hussar regiments.

Following the fashon in Europe young South American criollos adopted sideburns. Many of the independence heroes of South America, including José de San Martín, Manuel Belgrano, Antonio José de Sucre, Bernardo O'Higgins, José Miguel Carrera and Antonio Nariño had sideburns and are as such depicted on numerous paintings, coins and banknotes.

Nineteenth century sideburns were often far more extravagant than those seen today, similar to what are now called mutton chops. As with beards, sideburns went quickly out of fashion in the early twentieth century, and in the First World War in order to secure a seal on a gas mask, men had to be clean-shaven; this did not affect mustaches.[4]

In 1936 President Roosevelt's brief experiment with sideburns, grown on a yachting cruise, provoked only laughter.[5]Sideburns made a comeback in the mid-1950s, when James Dean's sideburns identified him as a Rebel Without a Cause(1955). Spurred by Elvis Presley, sideburns were sported by "hoods", "greasers" and "rockers" as an emblem of rebellious post-pubescent manliness by young men who scorned to be "Ivy League".[6] Sideburns gained new connotations in 1960s hippie subculture: the struggle of a New Jersey youth to wear sideburns to his public high school graduation made a newspaper article in 1967[7] and in the 1970s among youth subcultures such as hippies and skinheads(although skinheads often favor mutton chops). Sideburns also became a symbol of the gay club scenes of San Francisco and Sydney, primarily Lambchops. Because of their multifarious history, sideburns may be seen as stuffily Victorian and ultra-conservative, a sign of rebelliousness, or merely an artifact of current fashion.
Slang

In slang of mainly British usage, sideburns and handlebar moustaches are referred to as buggers handles, buggers-grips or buggery-grips.[8]

Gallery (Of Names)

Martin van Buren (1782–1862)

Robert Francis Fairlie(1830–1885)

Carl Friedrich Gauss(1777–1855)

Ignaz Moscheles (1794–1870)

Jules Ferry (1832–1893)

Louis-Philippe of France(1773–1850)

William Robert Grove(1811–1896)

Thomas Henry Huxley(1825–1895)

John Bright (1811–1889)

Herbert Spencer (1820–1903)

Caspar David Friedrich(1774–1840)

Francis Galton (1826–1911)

James Hogg (1770–1835)

Charles Darwin (1809–1882)

John Stuart Mill (1806–1873)

George Cruikshank(1792–1878)

Richard Wagner (1813–1883)

John T. Ford (1829–1894)

Tadeusz Czacki (1765–1813)

Wilhelm I (1797–1888)

Andrew Dickson White(1832–1918)

Elvis Presley (1935–1977)

Alexander Pushkin (1799–1837)

Arthur Schopenhauer(1788–1860)

Isaac Asimov (1920–1992)

Duane Allman (1946-1971)

J.P.R. Williams

Lemmy

See also
 Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sideburns

Beard
Facial hair
Payot
Stubble

The Daumenator has copied and pasted

Friday, November 11, 2011

11/11/11

Here it is, November 11, 2011. I have been waiting for this day for a long time. Although, I don't really know why. I guess I like it because it is really easy for a digital clock to show. It uses up a lot less electricity than 6:58. Other than that, I really don't have anything to say about 11/11/11. Let's take this time to share a little information about me:
  • I am known as the Daumenator
  • No one that I know in real life ever calls me The Daumenator
  • I once got bit by a dog
  • I am a fan of Harry Potter
  • My go to spell is protego
  • If I were an animagous, (spelling?) I would be a hawk
  • I confuse Kung Pao Chicken with Kung Fu Panda often
  • I know the Canadian National Anthem, "O Canada," but I am not Canadian (NHL)
  • Go Sabres! (They play both anthems before each game)
  • My favorite food is lasagna
  • I have a tendency to end my sentences in a weird way so that
  • I find finishing someone else's sentences to be a demonstration of your intelligence and the fact that you are quicker than the person who is talking
  • I feel that if I say too much about me, I won't get to know you
November 11 is the 315th day of the non-leap year according to the Gregorian Calendar. Here are some events that took place on this day:


308 – At Carnuntum, Emperor emeritus Diocletian confers with Galerius, Augustus of the East, and Maximianus, the recently returned former Augustus of the West, in an attempt to restore order to the Roman Empire.

1215 – The Fourth Lateran Council meets, defining the doctrine of transubstantiation, the process by which bread and wine are, by that doctrine, said to transform into the body and blood of Christ.
1500 – Treaty of Granada – Louis XII of France and Ferdinand II of Aragon agree to divide the Kingdom of Naplesbetween them.
1620 – The Mayflower Compact is signed in what is now Provincetown Harbor near Cape Cod.
1634 – Following pressure from Anglican bishop John Atherton, the Irish House of Commons passes An Act for the Punishment for the Vice of Buggery.
1673 – Second Battle of Khotyn in Ukraine: Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth forces under the command of Jan Sobieskidefeat the Ottoman army. In this battle, rockets made by Kazimierz Siemienowicz are successfully used.
1675 – Gottfried Leibniz demonstrates integral calculus for the first time to find the area under the graph of y = ƒ(x).
1724 – Joseph Blake, alias Blueskin, a highwayman known for attacking "Thief-Taker General" (and thief) Jonathan Wildat the Old Bailey, is hanged in London.
1750 – The F.H.C. Society, also known as the Flat Hat Club, is formed at Raleigh Tavern, Williamsburg, Virginia. It is the first college fraternity.
1778 – Cherry Valley Massacre: Loyalists and Seneca Indian forces attack a fort and village in eastern New York during the American Revolutionary War, killing more than forty civilians and soldiers.
1805 – Napoleonic Wars: Battle of Dürenstein – 8000 French troops attempt to slow the retreat of a vastly superior Russian and Austrian force.
1813 – War of 1812: Battle of Crysler's Farm – British and Canadian forces defeat a larger American force, causing the Americans to abandon their Saint Lawrence campaign.
1831 – In Jerusalem, Virginia, Nat Turner is hanged after inciting a violent slave uprising.
1839 – The Virginia Military Institute is founded in Lexington, Virginia.
1864 – American Civil War: Sherman's March to the Sea – Union General William Tecumseh Sherman begins burning Atlanta, Georgia to the ground in preparation for his march south.
1865 – Treaty of Sinchula is signed by which Bhutan cedes the areas east of the Teesta River to the British East India Company.
1869 – The Victorian Aboriginal Protection Act is enacted in Australia, giving the government control of indigenous people's wages, their terms of employment, where they could live, and of their children, effectively leading to the Stolen Generations.
1880 – Australian bushranger Ned Kelly is hanged at Melbourne Gaol.
1887 – Anarchist Haymarket Martyrs August Spies, Albert Parsons, Adolph Fischer and George Engel are executed.
1887 – Construction of the Manchester Ship Canal begins at Eastham.
1889 – Washington is admitted as the 42nd U.S. state.
1911 – Many cities in the Midwestern United States break their record highs and lows on the same day as a strong cold front rolls through.
1918 – World War I: Germany signs an armistice agreement with the Allies in a railroad car in the forest of Compiègne, France. The fighting officially ends at 11:00 (The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month) and this is annually honoured with a two-minute silence. The war officially ends on the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on June 28th 1919.
1918 – Józef Piłsudski comes to Warsaw and assumes supreme military power in Poland. Poland regains its independence, celebrated each year on this day.
1918 – Emperor Charles I of Austria relinquishes power.
1919 – The Centralia Massacre in Centralia, Washington results the deaths of four members of the American Legion and the lynching of a local leader of the Industrial Workers of the World.
1919 – Lāčplēša day – Latvian forces defeat the Freikorps at Riga in the Latvian War of Independence.
1921 – The Tomb of the Unknowns is dedicated by US President Warren G. Harding at Arlington National Cemetery.
1924 – Prime Minister Alexandros Papanastasiou proclaims the first recognized Greek Republic.
1926 – U.S. Route 66 is established.
1930 – Patent number US1781541 is awarded to Albert Einstein and Leó Szilárd for their invention, the Einstein refrigerator.
1934 – The Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia is opened.
1940 – World War II: Battle of Taranto – The Royal Navy launches the first aircraft carrier strike in history, on the Italian fleet at Taranto.
1940 – The German cruiser Atlantis captures top secret British mail, and sends it to Japan.
1940 – Armistice Day Blizzard: An unexpected blizzard kills 144 in the U.S. Midwest.
1942 – World War II: Nazi Germany completes its occupation of France.
1944 – Dr. jur. Erich Göstl, a member of the Waffen SS, is presented with the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, to recognise extreme battlefield bravery, after losing his face and eyes during the Battle of Normandy.
1960 – A military coup against President Ngo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam is crushed.
1962 – Kuwait's National Assembly ratifies the Constitution of Kuwait.
1963 - Nothing happened on this day

1965 – In Rhodesia (modern-day Zimbabwe), the white-minority government of Ian Smith unilaterally declares independence.

1966 – NASA launches Gemini 12.
1967 – Vietnam War: In a propaganda ceremony in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, three American prisoners of war are released by the Viet Cong and turned over to "new left" antiwar activist Tom Hayden.
1968 – Vietnam War: Operation Commando Hunt initiated. The goal is to interdict men and supplies on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, through Laos into South Vietnam.
1968 – A second republic is declared in the Maldives.
1972 – Vietnam War: Vietnamization – The United States Army turns over the massive Long Binh military base to South Vietnam.
1975 – Australian constitutional crisis of 1975: Australian Governor-General Sir John Kerr dismisses the government of Gough Whitlam, appoints Malcolm Fraser as caretaker Prime Minister and announces a general election to be held in early December.
1975 – Independence of Angola.
1977 - Gosh darn it, nothing happened at this time

1981 – Antigua and Barbuda joins the United Nations.

1992 – The General Synod of the Church of England votes to allow women to become priests.
1993 – A sculpture honoring women who served in the Vietnam War was dedicated at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.
1994 - Nothing happened today, either.

1999 – The House of Lords Act is given Royal Assent, restricting membership of the British House of Lords by virtue of a hereditary peerage.

2000 – Kaprun disaster: 155 skiers and snowboarders die when a cable car catches fire in an alpine tunnel in Kaprun, Austria.
2001 – Journalists Pierre Billaud, Johanne Sutton and Volker Handloik are killed in Afghanistan during an attack on the convoy they are traveling in.
2004 – New Zealand Tomb of the Unknown Warrior is dedicated at the National War Memorial, Wellington.
2004 – The Palestine Liberation Organization confirms the death of Yasser Arafat from unidentified causes. Mahmoud Abbas is elected chairman of the PLO minutes later.
2006 – Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II unveils the New Zealand War Memorial in London, United Kingdom, commemorating the loss of soldiers from theNew Zealand Army and the British Army.
2008 – RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) sets sail on her final voyage to Dubai.
2011 - This post was published


November 11 is also:

Christian Feast Day:
  • Bartholomew of Grottaferrata (Roman Catholic Church)
  • Martin of Tours (Roman Catholic Church)
  • Menas
  • Søren Kierkegaard (Lutheran Church)
  • Theodore the Studite
  • November 11 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
End of World War I related observances:
  • Armistice Day (New Zealand, France and Belgium)
  • Independence Day, commemorates the anniversary of Poland's assumption of independent statehood in 1918 (Poland)
  • Remembrance Day (United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Nations, including Australia and Canada)
  • Veterans Day, called Armistice Day until 1954, when the holiday was re-geared to be for all American military veterans. (United States)
Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Angola from Portugal in 1975.
Lāčplēsis Day (Latvia)
Opening of carnival ("Karneval"/"Fasching"), on 11-11, at 11:11. (Germany, the Netherlands, and other countries)
Pocky Day and Pretz Day (Japan)
Pepero Day (South Korea)
Republic Day (Maldives)
Singles Day (China)
St. Martin's Day
Women's Day (Belgium)


The Daumenator has spoken

Friday, November 04, 2011

Doodles By Me

I once showed you people a drawing of mine that represented how I drew cats. I then began fooling around on the same site making other drawings. These are some of the masterpieces that I have created:


Jackson Pollock Impersonation
I may not be a famous artist. I do not work for companies like Pixar. I barely even know all the colors on the color wheel. But I do know that Google understands my creativeness and gives me that chance to make my work digital. I highly recommend using this on your spare time because it is a fun thing to do. I will end this post with some more of my drawings that will complete your day.

Hairball




The Daumenator has drawn