...when lights close their tired eyes" You must get this, or you don't have a soul. If you don't know it, you are a meaningless empty body walking around the Earth listlessly. That, or you haven't had the fortune of hearing the song . Has the best riff ever (don't "Smoke on Water" me anyone).

I saw a pretty sweet criminal chase today. I had to go with my parents to a friens house. It wasn't bad, pretty fun actually. We heard a helicopter, and assumed it was just passing by or something. But it went on for a good hour, and we saw a spotlight. We heard a speaker, "We have you surrounded. We know you're in the apartment. Surrender yourselves." We think they lost them because the pursuit continued, but no matter what, I nearly sh!t my pants walking back to the car, I was pretty freaked out. I'm used to police sirens though, my house is a block away from a police and fire station, so we hear sirens about 10 times a day, ambulance, firetruck, police cruiser, whatever.

My birthday's coming up. I'm taking some friends to see the new Indiana Jones. First, we're going to the only mini golf place on Esrth that doesn't suck (you'd know why if you saw it), then seeing the movie, that grabbing some food. Unfortunately, it seems like it'll be really orderly, but you never know. On my 13th birthday, security for a mall yelled (and I mean yelled) at me and my friends for f*****g around with the escalator outside a bowling alley. My parents had driven us there, but we were pretty lucky because they were somewhere else at the time, that guy seriously wanted to talk to them. We avoided passing him later .

Today's one of my friend's birthday. Another meaningless day for you to celebrate . Chug, chug, chug!!!

I woke up today and decided to learn how to [lay "Better Man" by Pearl Jam. It took about 2 minutes to learn, and one minute to perfect considering how simple it is, two riffs and a chord progression.

Last night, I made a cover recording of "Mayonaise", finally. The recording software wasn't coooperating well with me, so there is a strange volume swell in the first 30 seconds of the song, and I had trouble getitng the rythym for the solo in time with the solo with Garage Band, but it still kicked many-a-bottom. If I ever figure out how to upload songs, I'll put it up.

Last night, I watched the movie Into the Wild. It was a pretty haunting and sad story, but very inspirational and thought invigorating. It teaches a good lesson, that all the best times in life are spent with other people. *SPOILER**SPOILER**SPOILER* I didn't like the fact that he died from eating a poisonous plant which caused paralysis and digestion problems, but it was a true story and all, so it had to go that way. The ending was gruesome and hard to take, but you have to acknowledge that it happened, and he died content in life. I loved the mai song Eddie Vedder wrote for it, "Guaranteed". It's beautiful. Some of the other songs are okay, but this one stood out as great. I don't know if I could take watchng the movie again knowingwhat happens. It's too depressing.

Mario Kart Wii is getting better and better. The controld just clicked with me and I was really good at it from the start. There aren't many games where everything just clicks with me and I'm great at the game, but this was one. I will destroy you in any race. I killed my friend in every race yesterday, beating him and everyone else by about 8 seconds each time. Because he sucked at the game, he decided that the game was okay, but did admit it was just because he was bad at it.

Tomorrow, I will journey to the Wii Shop, and for the mere price of $10, revisit the magic of Legend of Zekda: Ocarina of Time, the greatest game ever, no arguments. I never finished the game, but it was amazing, and I have to go back to it, now that I've mastered Brawl and Mario Kart Wii. I think I'll play OOT tomorrow, then a little mario Kart Wii and end with a little Super Smash Bros.: Brawl. All three great games.

Hahaha, I got $40 from my grandma today and $25 from my aunt and uncle, so I've got money for CDs. I'm waiting until my birthday, on which day I get a 20% discount at F.Y.E., which would mean, that it's practically a buy 4 CDs get one free deal (assuming all CDs are almost $20, which they usually aren't, but oh well). I've ogt ony my list "Parklife" by Blur (sorry Shadow, after demoing every Blur album, this one sounds best), "Disraeli Gears" by Cream, "Pinkerton" by Weezer, "Pablo Honey" by Radiohead (gotta finish my RH collection whether or not I'm trying to get into some new bands), and whatever else I find that looks good. If I can't find anything by a band I've never heard of that looks good, I'll extend my Pearl Jam collection. I'm making (finding) new friends (bands), but keeping the old, and continuing to love the old. Even if I'm getting into new bands, 'm still just as hyped about the Radiohead concert in August. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

Of course tomorrow's Mother's Day for us Yanks, so I have to cater to my mom, give her some expensive sh!t, go to dinner, yadayadayada. But I don't mind, my parents are actually cool. My step-dad's favorite bands are Nirvana and Bad Religion, my mom's is Sublime, and they both like just about any band I like. My step-dad taught me how to play volleyball, something I enjoy a lot, and my possible ticket to beer sometime, and taught me how to surf. On top of that, they actually have never given a sh!t about me watching South Park. My dad's cool too, but I don;t see him as often. I owe him thanks for every bit of musical talent I have, as he was a badass saxophone player (before he had brain surgery and couldn't pucker to play), and a f*****g awesome singer. He sings opera, which is annoying, but it's the hardest thing in music possible. He can sing like Chris Cornell, Thom Yorke, anybidy with a great voice. Not quite as good in the rock area as Cornell, but still great.

Why the f**k am I talking about my parents? Oh well, I have the only parents that rock (as my friends also agree), you might rock, Radiohead rocks, Pearl Jam rocks, tons of other bands rock, but I still rock the most of any of them. Uhhh, not sure where I'm going wit this, *sneaks of and ends blog*.

...with a wine glass in my hand/whose wine?/what wine?/where the hell did I dine?" This should be easy for some, but might prove difficult for others. I gurantee you've heard at least part of this song before. I f'in love this song, listening to it right now. May I suggest you celebrate my birthday by getting drunk . Although, I don't think I have to tell Shadow to do that .

Anyway, my birthday's coming up in about two weeks (May 19th, a little less than 2), so I figured I begin clebrations. I'm already planning to buy some CDs on my bithday in the wake of a few suggestions (thanks Shadow, and Elmis for suggesting a "broadening") to try out some new genres. I think I'll grab "Parklife" by Blur (I know one person who'll be happy about that), "Disraeli Gears" by Cream, "Pinkerton" by Weezer, and any other suggestions you throw at me. Well, the best suggestions I get. I still want to get "Pablo Hney" and finish my Radiohead collection, but I'll get these too.

I made a few changes to my 50 greatest bands list for school. I moved Pearl Jam down near 20 and Radiohead around 10 (I understand that's still too high to be unbiased at all, but oh well, deal with it). I added in quite a few bands, that clearly deserved a high spot (like CCR and Buddy Holly).

I still am obsessed with Radiohead, and have almost relistened to all their albums. I wanna make sure I know everything for the concert.

MORE TO COME LATER...I NEED TO DO HOMEWORK I'LL LEAVE YOU WITH A FUNNY PICTURE:

..she's in love with him, can't find a..." Finish that lyric, and in the process, name the song and then say who it's by.

Today was a pretty tiring day. I did my usual 8:00 (yes, eight o'clock) wake up, rushed to get ready and get to school on time, ran to class (my step-dad drives me, I'm sooo lazy ). We had STAR (Standardized Testing and Reporting) tests today. We had the )get ready for this long name) California English-Language Arts Standards Test (whew). As it is every year, it was really easy. Not a question about whether or not I did exceptional. Tomorrow, we do part 2 of it, and then Social Studies, which I'll probably do worst on (we have to remember everything we've learned in that class for the last three years on this test), then Math and Science next week, which I'll ace.

Speaking of saying "ace", I nearly aced my Math test. Since our first test (which I got an 100% on), I've been itchin for an A. I finally got my wish when I got a 197/200, a 98.5%! I got every answer right, but I didn't label two of my graphs and lost three points. A parent signature gives me 6 extra points, pushing me over 100% to 101.5%!!! I brought my grade up from an 82% to a 90% in a few days. That means on our progress report (quarterly report card, not the same as a normal report card) which we get this Friday, I'll have my first 4.0 of the year (I've consistently got 3.833 and once a 3.666666). I'm smrt .

I got a few early birthday presents from my dad this week. He flew out to visit, and I gave him his birthday presents (his birthday is on tax day, sucker), and so he bought me a few early since I won't see him for a while. First, I needed a new basketball, so we grabbed one of those. Nothing great, but I liked getitng it. Next, I got these two things.

Mario Kart Wii

Wow, just wow. One of the best games for the Wii. The wheel makes it feel like you have an arcade machine right in your hoouse. The levels are creatively done and deliciously zany, and the characters are fun, as in any Mario game. The addition of thge option of using bikes is interesting and adds two different driving skills to the game (it feels a little different although the controls are the same). I'm looking forward to long weekends with this game .

"Amnesiac" by Radiohead

I got to choose between this and "Pablo Honey", and of course, I would pick this. I figured this would just be a dumbed down, less original version of "Kid A". I figured it would be good, not great. I was totally wrong. With "Amnesiac", Radiohead finds a great middle ground between "Kid A" and "Hail to the Thief", altering in between full electronics like "Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors" and brilliant guitar driving like "Knives Out". Quite a good record.

Standouts:"Pyramid Song", "Knives Out", "Morning Bell/Amnesiac"

Score: 9.0/10

To think that Radiohead's second worst album gets a 9.0 is astounding.

Tonight, I'm listening to "Kid A" again. I've relistened to all my Radiohead records in the past week (meaning I've heard all their songs except those from "Pablo Honey"), and find them even better than usual. Tomorrow I'll listen to "In Rainbows" again, and I'll get "Pablo Honey" soon so I can finish my Radiohead fix. Once I'm done, I'll review every RH album.

I worked on a 50 Greatest Bands of All Time list in Science, Social Studies, and in Multimedia. In multimedia, the list was actually my work. I had to make this article with a partner because after he saw my idea, he copied me and when I bb!tched to him, we decided to make the list together. I had to make some compromises, so everything isn't how I would put it. I'll post it when we're done. I tried to keep it unbiased, but I couldn't help putting Radiohead at #5 (which most people who saw the list surprsingly agreed with) and Pearl Jam at #7 (same thing). The only person who didn't think Radiohead should be on the list was an idiot. He heard me and my partner mention Bob Dylan when making ths list, and he said, "Is Bob Dylan in Radiohead?" I told just about every about this. Everyone cracked when they heard it.

The other article I'm gonna write for the newspaper will also be about music. I'll write about my theory of a musical recession, and ask people their opinions.

In political news: Obama absolutely destroyed Clinton in North Carolina with a 14 point spread. In Indiana, luckily for Obama, the race is still too close to call in a state which was highly Clinton favorable. He trails by only 4 points and still has a shot at victory. Even if he doesn't win, the delegate spread he gains will be massive. He's also recently gained many superdelegates. John McCain is fading into the background, and both Obama and Clinton are beating him in nearly all polls. Nat'l polls between Obama and Clinton are close again, but Obama is still winning on average.

At school we had a volleyball game against a school from Palos Verdes. If yo don't know (which you probably don't) PV is the snobby rich kid area. We beat their team 25-9 and 25-5 in an absolute destruction. In the second game, I served the first 15 points! We usually play a thir game just for practice, and the other team said "Yeah! Let's play another game! Except we get that guy so we'll win!"and he pointed at me . Me and the other club player left for our practice and actually would have made it on time, but we were hungry and stopped at 7-11 for some food (AKA ice cream sandwiches). We got worked like dogs at practice because a few players were being lazy.

Last night, I added "Just" by Radiohead to my guitar repertoire. That's all for today. Now leave...comment first .

...then God is seven" Easy one if you know anything about undergroundish music. Otherwise, farily easy nonetheless.

I had my first school volleyball match, against the school that is usually hailed as pretty much the volleyball god school. This is why it was such a disappointment. We started off the game with a quick kill, and then I was up to serve. I served 10 in a row, hard float serves, about 5 aces. They eventually got a sideout, but they were down by so much (11-1), it didn't make a difference. We beat them 25-12, which is a beating. The next game, all of the non-club players (everybody except me and one of our setters) went in overly-confident. We ,ost 26-24 (the games are to 25, but you have to win by 2). We went in, starting with the serve/ We got the first point, but two inexperienced players let an easy ball drop right in between them. They got a few points, and it mostly went back and forth. Long story short, they won the third game 15-12 (third game is to 15). Ther reason we lost is probably because our starting middle blockers were replaced to give other players some time. Unfortunately, one of the two plyers made 9 errors (this means he lost 9 points for us), and only got 1 point. That combined with the fact that he was subbed in for one of our best passers didn't help much. I took the loss lightly because it was a school game, not a competitive club game where the ball is traveling back and forth at about 100 mph . You should have seen the last hit I had in the game. Traveled at a good 50 mph, straight down the line for a kill. I own. Speaking of volleyball, my club team has an Optional (meaning it's for practice, it isn't worth points and it doesn't affect ranking or seeding) tournament, and we're seeded 2nd! That's because we're the 4th seed overall (tied for 3rd technically), and the top two teams aren't playing.

I figured I'd list my ten favorrite bands of all time in response to my last blog.

I learned that there still is a two way tie for first, followed by a three way tie for 3rd (meaning 3rd, 4th, and 5th are tied).

Keep in mind:

THIS IS A FAVORITES LIST, NOT A GREATEST OF ALL TIME LIST!!!!

1. Radiohead

Top 5 Songs: "Fake Plastic Trees", "Karma Police", "Weird Fishes", "In Limbo", "Myxomatosis"

2. (1) Pearl Jam

(gotta love that energy)

Top 5 Songs: "Alive", "Daughter", "Why Go", "Better Man", "Rearviewmirror"

3. Smashing Pumpkins

Top 5 Songs: "Mayonaise', "Geek USA", "For Martha", "1979" , "Cherub Rock"

4. (3) Red Hot Chili Peppers

Top 5 Songs: "Under the Bridge", "Fight Like A Brave", "Organic Anti Beat-Box Band", "Good Time Boys", "Suck My Kiss"

5. (3) Soundgarden

Top 5 Songs: "Outshined", "Jesus Christ Pose", "Black Hole Sun", "Superunknown", "New Damage"

6. Nirvana

Top 5 Songs: "All Apologies", "Drain You", "Scentless Apprentice", "Been a Son", "Heart-Shaped Box"

7. Alice in Chains

Top 5 Songs: "Man in the Box", "Them Bones", "Bleed the Freak", "Rooster", " We Die Young"

8. Sonic Youth

Top 5 Songs: "Teen Age Riot", "The Sprawl", "Junkie's Promise", "Silver Rocket", "'Cross the Breeze"

9. Mudhoney

Top 5 Songs: "Touch Me I'm Sick", "In 'n Out of Grace", "Suck You Dry", "Sweet Young Thing Ain't Sweet No More", "Beneath the Valley of the Underdog"

10. The Pixies

Top 5 Songs: "Monkey Gone To Heaven", "Where Is My Mind?", "Hey", "Here Comes Your Man", "Gigantic"

There you have it. I haven't listed my ten favorite bands in a long time. That took some thought to think out the order, but the songs weren't well thought out, so I likely missed something.

Now for an unbiased list.

The Ten Greatest Grunge Songs

The first three all get an explanation, but I don't have time to explain every one.

1. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana- Although most Nirvana fans would tell you that it's one of the weakest tracks on "Nevermind" (including myself), it was the most popular grunge song made, and the one that broke grunge into the mainstream.

2. "Alive" by Pearl Jam- Clearly a '90s anthem, not to mention one of the greatest solos ever. It helped Pearl Jam break out and become the best selling American band of the '90s. One of the most influential songs written in the '90s.

3. "Jesus Christ Pose" by Soundgarden- Because of controversy about the lyrics, it never completely broke into the mainstream. However, nearly any grunge fan would always put this as one of their top ten songs. It has an amazing vocal performance, and the band spits out whatever they want in the lyrics.

4. "Say Hello 2 Heaven" by Temple of the Dog

5. "Touch Me I'm Sick" by Mudhoney

6. "Man in the Box" by Alice in Chains- Note: AiC is really metal, but since they were such a large part of the grunge scene, I have to consider them grunge oon this list.

7. "Heart-Shaped Box" by Nirvana

8. "Intersate Love Song" by Stone Temple Pilots- Considered more post-gringe, but had to include it.

9. "Jeremy" by Pearl Jam

10. "Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden

...you wear on the protein delta strip" I expect Elmis, Indie, and possibly Shadow and Jacob to get this. It should prove tough to most.

I'm am absolutely befuddled. I got 32 comments from you readers on my last blog. I believe 7 or 8 different people posted (excluding myself), but everybody kept coming back and posting more. Thanks for making me feel like I'm entertaining lots of people out here.

Anyways, I'm in a state of...........................err..............................let's say mental confusion. I'm trying to settle on one single favorite band of all time. Only problem is, I've got so many favorites, picking one is hard. I need you to get behind oe band and convince me why they're better than all the others. The most convincing argument will win, and I will likely declare them my favorite band of all time. I'm not looking for an essay here, just tell me why they're the best, and it will convince me, or it won't. If it doesn't convince me, that doesn't mean it's bad, it just means it didn't show me anything.

RADIOHEAD

Why they'd be here is quite obvious. Extreme talent, amazing lyrics, their frontman is crazy, you know, the works. But is there something I'm missing? Is there some tiny element that would push them over the edge and make them my favorite?

PEARL JAM

Easily the most talented grunge band. Two amazing guitarists, a great vocalist, great drummer, versatile bassist, and to top it off, some of the best lyrics ever written. What could push them over that I haven't mentioned?

THE SMASHING PUMPKINS

The Pumpkins have an extremely unique **** They take grunge elemtns, and toss in a little dream pop, put the blender and high, and get something great. They have an amazing frontman (Billy Corgan, my favorite musician ever) whoshreds like crazy and writes great songs, one fof the best drummers around, and the other two, no matter who they are, always do their job nicely. Sure, Billy is a stuck up a$$hole, or so I've heard, but they more than make up for it.

RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS

They're slowly slipping out of their ranking, but I'm giving them a chance to be revived as the favorite. Kiedis can't write lyrics for his life, but Frusciante, Flea, and Chad make up for it with funk filled talent bursts. Kiedis is a great frontman, and when he raps, a great vocalist.

SOUNDGARDEN

Kind of ties Pearl Jam as the most talented grynge band. First off: Chris Cornell=best vocalist in history. Kim Thayil is an amazing shredder. His solos have the coolest sound imaginable. Ben Shepherd always had an awesome attitude and stage presence, and they had Pearl Jam's current drummer Matt Cameron. They're so talented, they write great songs, what could possibly stop them? For one thing, they're no longer a band. That's their biggest weakness.

Runner-up bands: Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Mudhoney, Sonic Youth

There are the facts, now persuade me!

NOTE: I often talk of my hate for negative campaigns in politics. But remember, this isn't a f*****g election! Attack the bands you don't like at your will. Use videos as examples in comparisons, but convince me dammit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!