Part 1: In which I take a deter into country, and other things...

Heeeeey everyone!!!
Holidays are finally over, and it's back into it. Kinda ironic that I decide to post now (when I should probably really be studying for my test on Friday), but oh well. Procrastination always seems to win out in the end.
Lately I've been feeling a little bit under the weather. Last night I was coughing so much I started to feel sick. Then I stupidly decided to do some situps, which was a really bad idea in hindsight because I pretty much died. Not worth the pain for the muscles haha. It was just annoying because I can usually do them without any worries. But no. When you're sick, you can't do anything right.
So tonight I decided to play it easy, skip going to indoor soccer and instead had a weak one-hour jam (weak, because usually I do two/three hours per night). Also probably not a good idea considering I have a GAZILLION songs to practice/learn but I really wasn't feeling up to it. And it didn't help much that I left my headphones in class and kept coughing halfway through trying to play a solo. Which makes it pretty difficult.
Anyway, UCOL's been pretty interesting this week. The current genre of the month is country.
Now to my mind, country has always been terribly bland, boring, and tasteless. I blame this on a few experiences I had in my childhood: such as watching far too much line dancing, seeing a guitarist play a country song which had only something like 2 chords in (and those were only changed about every twenty seconds or so). But recently, I've been discovering that although some country songs are downright appalling, there's actually a whole lot of it which is awesome.
Although country-pop isn't really my thing (thanks to Taylor Swift haha), the piano-driven tunes of Rascal Flatts and the ballads of Keith Urban are actually quite tasty.
Then there's the classics, like Johnny Cash and Neil Young. You literally can't go wrong with those guys! I remember hearing "Walk the Line" by Cash two years ago in a cabin halfway up Mt Ruapahu and loving it almost immediately. And yesterday I was listening to his cover of "Hurt" by Nine Inch Nails - and it was absolutely beautiful. That guy is a legend! Neil Young is incredible too - "Heart of Gold" gets me every time I hear it. I can only dream of writing a song that awesome!
Then there's a new style of music I've been cranking lately: alt-country. It's still country, but with little twists and nuances in it that make it real different and original. Definitely worth checking out if those traditional country standards are getting you down. My favorite artist in this style is Ryan Adams - he's SO good! I love how he delves into all styles while keeping his country roots - if you just listen to even one of his albums there's so much in there: from acoustic tunes, to punk rock, to foot-stomping no-holds-bared classic country (and sometimes a smidgen of slight metal on the side). Good songs of his to check out are "Everybody Knows" and "Oh My Sweet Carolina" (which is such a good song!!!).

So with the country obsessions flying around, and an irritating cold keeping me under the weather, I better bid you all adieu before it gets to late and I end up getting no sleep. Which happens way to much these days than it ought too....