Weekly Musings (August 26, 2019)

August 26, 2019 • Weekly Musings

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Hey, friends!

Welcome to Weekly Musings, a place for me (Chris, Get Sad Y'all founder) to dump my thoughts and recommendations for the week. The structure of these may change, but for now, you can count on...

News on the Get Sad Y'all brand
Thoughts on music & non-music items
A product recommendation
An album recommendation
A playlist of 15 songs to check out

Let's hop to it.

State of Get Sad Y'all

Our first hyper-local/charity-focused Get Sad Y'all is this Friday at Local 506. Have some great friends lined up to help keep the party going. Excited to have Oak City Amaretto and Merry Franksters onboard as well - look out for some emo-themed goodies from them - and hoping we can donate some serious cash to the Florence Project and RAICES to help those in need on the US/Mexico border.
Ticket prices for our birthday party at the Ritz on 10/18 have been fixed. Snag those here. A portion of the proceeds will go to Hope for the Day - this includes the cut we get from free tickets you physically get from us. Hoping to get the bands announced this week when we get artwork back.
Reminder that our artists on the birthday show will be paid for by sponsors, so if you or someone you know would like to sponsor, shoot me an email.

Upcoming Events

Random Music Thoughts

Tons of great releases this past week - Taylor Swift, The 1975, Knocked Loose, The Devil Wears Prada, The Menzingers, Bayside, A Day to Remember. A lot of these ended up on my playlist for the week.
Not a huge Menzingers fan, but I'm enjoying "America (You're Freaking Me Out)" a lot. Starting to see an uptick in politically-charged releases with this current administration and I'm loving every second of it.
This new Knocked Loose record is truthfully the only thing I've ever enjoyed from them. Still don't really get it, but continue raging, kids.
One of the cooler things I saw this week was AJR performing "Break Your Face" using only music apps on iPads. Love the creativity and commitment, reminds me a little of all those great Ok Go music videos back in the day.

Random Non-Music Thoughts

Stoked to see my hometown finally get out of their own way and lock in a MLS team. Also, ecstaticto see them be the first female majority-owned team in the league. I'll be cheering you on from here in 2022 and beyond.
Lots of people shocked by Andrew Luck's early retirement from the NFL. I'm not. The younger players in the NFL know that it's a taxing sport and they need to get out early to live a long and pain-free life. Think we'll be seeing this a lot more - it's honestly already starting - and we'll need to see some serious changes in how football is played or risk it fading away all together.
I can't stand cancel culture. If someone does something awful and deserves to be "cancelled," great, lay it on them. But most of the time, I see someone trending on Twitter and it's because they're being "cancelled" for something so mundane. I don't know if y'all are just trying to get a rise out of people, if you really think you're helping, or what, but this behavior is just as toxic as some of the things y'all "cancel" people for. Get off your phone/laptop and go out and actually do something to make a difference.

Product Recommendation: West Paw Dog Toys

As the owner of a German Shepherd, I have serious issues finding toys that she won't destroy in five seconds flat.

Then my mom sent me some toys from West Paw and my problems have been solved.

First, we got this frisbee that has survived hours and hours of play and chewing as well as accidentally being left in our backyard for months with nothing more than a single tear and a little discoloration. We now have three of them.

Then, we got this stick toy. Same thing: hours and hours of tug-o-war and chewing, not a scratch on the thing.

We've since picked up a couple of these balls and this guy that we stuff with peanut butter and will probably buy more after this summer when we're not in a tiny condo.

So if you have a power chewer, definitely pick some of these up and stop worrying about replacing toys every week.

See all of their options here.

**Album/EP Recommendation: Lover - Taylor Swift**

If you know me well, you know I've loved T.Swift from day one - my wife and I bonded over her on our first date, my college roommate and I blasted all of Fearless through the halls of our dorms to annoy people, my buddies and I made up a dance to "Our Song" at the skating rink we worked at.

It's a thing you have to accept to be friends with me.

And here we are in 2019 with a new Taylor Swift record, Lover.

And who knew that a happy and in love Taylor Swift would produce arguably better music than a heartbroken one?

I'm not going to waste your time explaining Taylor Swift's musical stylings and background - you know who she is and what she does. I'm going to say one thing:

This is a flawless pop record.

From the beautifully simple melody of "I Forgot That You Existed" to the patriarchy-challenging "The Man" and the infectious bubble-gum pop style of "ME!" - plus Brendon Urie's vocals of course - you need to give this record at least a few spins.

(Side note: Thank you for removing that dreadful "spelling is fun!" part.)

Listen/Buy: Spotify | Apple Music | Amazon

Socials: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

Weekly Playlist

These are songs - new and old - that I've either (a) been heavily spinning, (b) got stuck in my head randomly, or (c) hold a special meaning over the past week.

1. I Forget That You Existed - Taylor Swift

2. Dream Boy - Waterparks

3. Baby Blue - Grayscale

4. Degenerates - A Day to Remember

5. People - The 1975

6. Prayers - Bayside

7. America (You're Freaking Me Out) - The Menzingers

8. Lines of Your Hands - The Devil Wears Prada

9. Forget Your Name - Knocked Loose / Keith Buckley

10. Breath - Breaking Benjamin

11. It's So Simple - Saosin

12. Adelaide - Anberlin

13. Frozen - State Champs

14. Holding on to You - Twenty One Pilots

15. The Reaper (Reimagined) - As It Is

This playlist can be found on Spotify.

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Would love to hear your thoughts on my thoughts as well as anything I've missed that I should check out! Drop a comment below. Previous week's musings can be found here.

Thanks for reading and have a great week, everyone!

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