http://www.soundmagonline.com/?p=2079

I love this song. Go read my article about it.

“Rill Rill” — Sleigh Bells

By Kathy Hopkinson

Alexis Krauss of Sleigh Bells takes us back to the ’80s with a snappy, retro sound in the song, “Rill Rill.” Her airy, young voice makes the song reminiscent of a high school cheer or jump rope chant — connecting the sound of the song to the lyrics. This cheerful tune touches on the darker sides of high school anxieties including boyfriends, braces and subtle references to drug use.

While the song itself is catchy and upbeat, the music video gives the song an intriguing dark edge. Krauss calmly drives through the desert while flashing back to images of popping balloons, a switchblade, a bloody telephone and red fog in the locker room — it’s up to the viewer to put the pieces together. Despite the eerie music video, this song is truly addicting, so be ready to put it on replay and have it stuck in your head for days.

I scratched my eyeball

My sister once told me that I should have a blog just about injury stories. I have a tendency to get hurt a lot, and it’s usually kind of ridiculous. Her suggestion was inspired by an incident last fall.

I was over at a friend’s house late one night and decided to just sleep on the couch because I was too tired to drive home. I woke up around four in the morning and realized I had fallen asleep with my arm bent over my head, resting on the arm of the couch. It was completely numb and I decided that I should probably move it down by my side so I could get the blood flowing again. I used my other hand to grab my arm by the fingertips and started lifting it over my head. It turns out that a dead arm is really heavy, especially when you are half asleep. I got my hand directly above my head and then lost my grip. Wham! I dropped my entire dead arm on my face. There was a flash of light and then my left eye started to hurt. I had scratched it with my fingernail. I’m not sure why my eyes were open, seeing as how it was completely dark, but they were and it hurt. I remember thinking, “that was stupid, but it will probably be funny later.” Little did I know.

A few hours of fighting for sleep later, I got up to go home and get ready for school. My eye was red, watery, and in pain. I thought I just needed to put in my contacts and let them adjust and then I would be fine. I made my way to school, suddenly much more sensitive to sunlight, and waited for the irritation to pass. Finally, half way through my 10-hour day on campus, I realized that not only was my eye still bothering me, but also that my vision in that eye was a little blurry. Suddenly worried, I decided I should get it looked at. I called my mom first to let her know what happened, and appreciated her sympathy. Then I called the insurance company to find out which eye doctors I could go visit in Provo. I tried to explain what happened and the woman on the phone seemed amused. I would have been, too, except that I was irrationally worried that I may have done some permanent damage. I finally found an eye doctor and was able to call and make an appointment. That phone call was about as embarrassing and confusing as the first.

On my way home from school, distressed about missing work, skipping class so early in the semester, and having to pay for a doctor’s visit, I called home and talked to my sister.

“Mom said you hurt your eye.”

“Yeah.”

“What happened?”

I started to explain. Before I could finish my sister was laughing hysterically on the other end of the line. I was ready to stop making phone calls.

Finally, after arriving at my appointment and reenacting what had happened for the receptionist, I was able to see the eye doctor, who was nice yet entertained by my story. He took a look at my eye with some fancy equipment, pulled out a piece of paper, and drew a large circle.

“Do you know what your cornea is?”

“Not really…”

“It’s the clear part of your eye that covers the colored part of your eye.”

“Oh, okay.”

He pointed to the circle. “This is your cornea.” Then he drew a jagged piece in the middle of it. “This is the part of your cornea that’s missing because you scratched it out of your eyeball.”

He said it with a bit of humor that let me know I wasn’t going to go blind. It finally all started to become kind of funny to me. Maybe it was because he had given me some eye drops that made everything feel better, or maybe I was finally realizing that my instinct was right that morning. It was definitely funny later. The doctor gave me a special contact to wear for a few days, some eye drops, and some cool sunglasses that stuck on my face and made me look like a robot. I still have them.

I am happy to report that my eye is fine, as well as my dignity. But I’m sure there will be more injury stories to come that will take care of that.

My first SOUND article

You can just read it here, but you should go to the website.

http://www.soundmagonline.com/?p=2034

"Go Outside" -- Cults

The video for the retro sounding single “Go Outside” by the band Cults gives this song a truly haunting twist. Director Isaiah Seret used actual video footage of life at Jonestown, the informal name of the People’s Temple Agricultural Project, to add an eerie feel to their upbeat sound.

James Warren Jones and his religious community of followers relocated to Jonestown in Guyana after heavy negative press coverage and an IRS investigation in the United States. As relatives of members of the Peoples Temple voiced concern for their loved ones, U.S. officials continued their investigation into South America.

Jim Jones — as the leader came to be known — told this community of over 900 that their only option to preserve their church would be “revolutionary suicide,” his term for what has since been labeled a massacre since not everyone participated willingly. Members of the community were given a deadly mix of poisonous substances in a purple drink that was consumed by the masses in November of 1978.

While this particular and shocking event is what makes Jonestown memorable to so many, Seret instead used footage of life before the tragedy occurred as a setting for the music video. Band members were embedded onto real footage of members of the People’s Temple who were singing, dancing and smiling for the cameras. Mixed in are tidbits of NBC news reports and clips of interviews with community members and Jim Jones himself. This catchy song will get stuck in your head, but so will the video — whether you want it to or not.

Kathy the Sixth

What's in a name?

My siblings were all named after family members. Larry, my older brother, is named after my dad's uncle. Nicki, my younger sister, is named after my grandpa Nick. Lisa, my youngest sister, is named after my aunt. I, however, was named after a doll. My mom's favorite doll from when she was growing up was actually named Cathy, but I guess Mom and Dad like K's better. My first name has bred many nick-names. My mom sometimes calls me Katherine, which is funny because my full name is the shortened version of my nick-name. My friends in high school started calling me "Aunt Kathy" because on more than one occasion I would introduce myself to someone and they would excitedly exclaim, "I have an aunt named Kathy!" Then there are things like "K-dawg," "K-hops," "cuddlebug" (which doesn't come from my name but I still like it), "Kaffy," "Kathandra," and "Hopping-skins," but my favorite nickname actually comes from my middle name, Vi.

Unlike my first name, my middle name is a family name. My grandma's name is Violet, but she grew up being called "Vi," so I carry on the tradition. Even though it's only two letters, people have a hard time pronouncing it ("Vee? Kathy Vee?"). I tell them "No, Vi, like Violet." They usually don't get it. The most interesting pronunciation came from my Bishop (a church leader) when I was in high school. He was looking at a record that had my full name on it and asked, a bit surprised, "Are you Kathy the Sixth?"

"Huh?"

He repeated the question.

I hesitated, answered no, and then wondered why. He said "It looks like Kathy the Sixth. 'V I?'" Everything clicked. I laughed and explained that I am not Kathy the Sixth, nor the Fifth, but I am the only Kathy in my ancestry of which I am aware. This has happened a few more times since and I have decided to embrace the name, as have friends and family who have heard the story. Sometimes I even pretend it's true.

I am Kathy the Sixth. This is my blog.