Addicted to Streaming Music

Wow, second post on streaming music in under two weeks, but that just goes to show you how truly addicted to music I am. Last year, I stumbled across a website called Seeqpod that allowed you to create free streaming playlists. The music selection was decent, though I often found myself a little disappointed with the accuracy of the search results. That sight was taken down a few months after I found it, leaving me scouring for something better than Youtube for listening to music that I didn't own but wanted to hear. Imeem never did much for me. Well on Thursday night, I saw Grooveshark bumpin at the party I was at, and immediately investigated when I got home. What I found is so far the best online way of building playlists from an expansive library of streaming music. My typical first search of "Lil Wayne" brought up a more complete and organized listing of playable Lil Wayne songs than anything I've seen elsewhere. Legal? Doubtful-- though you're not downloading the music. Awesome and addictive? Absolutely.

Check it out here: www.grooveshark.com

Addicted to Jim Rome

Each day, I truly look forward to the hours between 12 and 3 as this is the time when the Jim Rome show airs on the radio. Though talk radio seems to be a thing of the past/ a thing that never was for many people my age, I couldn't enjoy it more. Many people who know me know that I am a huge fan of Jim Rome. To many, this is a highly controversial admission. At least 90% of the people who I've said this to have responded by telling me how much they hate him. This is fine, I will still continue to enjoy him and even pay $7 a month to hear the podcast of his show every day, commercial free. However, in the past I have converted a fair number of people from downright hating to tolerably listening to straight up laughing out loud aside me. For this reason, I encourage everyone to at least try his radio show and then be the judge rather than judging him purely for his TV show which is structured completely different and is admittedly more annoying.

The best part of the show is not Rome himself, but his loyal league of followers, known as Clones, who provide humorous takes (calls, texts, etc.) every day. These takes are littered with pop culture and sports culture references, making the show both an entertaining and enlightening experience. For example, if it weren't for Rome, how would I have know about this gem? (Note: I heard this on his radio show then looked it up to re-listen and found this clip from his TV show. Cut to :38 seconds in.)




The biggest knock on Rome is that he is arrogant and obnoxious. This can probably be said about any media personality, but Rome probably gets this because when seen on TV, the guy does come across as smug, with his goatee and sarcastic takes on issues. Still, he conveys his message by taking a stance and supporting it with humor, allowing the Clones to also voice an opinion and never dominating one side over another.

To those haters, that's fine... talk personalities are an extremely divisive topic and I don't think I can change that. That being said, try listening sometime and you may find it's quite enjoyable.

Here are two takes from the show:

Addicted to Freakin Awesome Web Apps

Today I accomplished one of my greatest accomplishments ever. My accomplishments list is long. For example, one morning I beat 3 other roommates in a game of Worms on PS3 that lasted nearly 2 hours. One other time, I sang RENT at a transvestite bar in New York City and brought a smile to All Beef Patty's face. Today, though, I did something much better. As you know, my passion is for music. It is with much joy that I announce that my entire music library, some 60 gigabytes of music, is available to you on your friendly computer browser as we speak. There is a little bit of everything and something for everyone. Getting there takes just seconds. Simply go to the following:

http://beats.gachillies.operaunite.com/stream

Once there, you will need a password. For privacy reasons, ask me for the password. If you are Rob Garibaldi, however, you will easily know the password as the name of the man known as The Lord of the Rings (no caps).

After signing in, I will be at your disposal 24/7 recommendations if you are looking to dabble in something new. Just call, text, gchat or snail mail!

Finally, as an incentive to keep you tuning in to my radio show each week, the site will not include the most recent jams until they're a few months old.

Happy listening!

Addicted to Job Hunting

A very stressful time of the year is upon us. Job hunting feels like the validation of our work thus far in college. I have been fortunate enough to accept an offer from a Big 4 accounting firm in New York City, while my co-writer is in the process of scoring a sweet gig in I-Banking. If the AddictedToChampagne writers both end up in New York City this summer, it is certain to be the summer to end all summers. So as Matt approaches 2nd round interviews in the next week with a very prestigious bank, I thought I'd let you in on my secret towards landing a job, and hopefully you can apply it to your situation.

Start with the following video for understanding basic interview conduct and question solving strategies:



Make sure when the interviewer asks you for some of your weaknesses, you do not even try to suggest them as being possible areas for improvement. Instead, shape them as complete deal breakers so you don't have to worry about being hired then fired when your inability to complete simple tasks becomes apparent.

Also, if you tend to be an awkward individual, make sure you completely draw this to the forefront so that your employer is not unpleasantly surprised when they hire you. After all, go with what go you there:




Lastly, the interviewer will often give you a chance to ask some questions. This is a great chance to really inform them of your intentions and desires to work for the company by taking the questions in your preferred direction.

Some possible questions include:

How do you feel about inter-office romance?

Would you describe your leadership philosophy as Machiavellian or Stalinist?

What do you think was the most clever aspect of the Enron scandal?

What is your personal view on abortion, minorities and midgets?


Follow these hints and the job is yours. Go get 'em.

Addicted to Beyonce

Take a break out of whatever you're doing today to watch this incredible display of talent and beauty.



Then, while you're at it, listen to another track off of Wiz Khalifa's mixtape, If I Were a Lame. Wiz will be performing at ND next weekend. I won't be able to go. Hope to hear a good report from the show.

Wiz Khalifa- If I Were a Lame

Addicted to Items of Insignificance

Okay, so I borrowed the title of this post from another favorite blog of mine, my Dad's at itemsofinsignificance.blogspot.com. Check it out. But I really came across several insignificant items that just had to be reported.




1.) Charlie Weis gets on a rap song

That's right.. no other than Lil Wayne aka Weezy F Baby gave the big man a shout out on his recent verse on Trae the Truth's song Inkredible. Raps Weezy, "Big boy money, bitch, pockets on Charlie Weis."

2.) Addicted to Twitter

I can't say I'm at all addicted, but I finally joined the Twitter community. I did this purely to advertise for Dawg Pizza, the pizza business I run in the dorm. Right now we have 0 followers, just 3 less than this blog.

3.) Weezy goin to jail

Not much time left

Addicted to New Music

Perhaps the best 5 minutes, 30 minutes or sometimes 3 hours of my day is searching the internet for the freshest in music. Quite simply, I am addicted to music. My iPod is my single most prized possession without which it would be difficult to make it through a day. My passion for music begins with finding it, but my ultimate goal is to share it with others. There is no higher form of flattery for me than someone telling me how much they enjoyed a song I gave them. It's almost as if it's my song, except that I don't have an ounce of musical talent in my body, short of belting out Linger by The Cranberries on occasion.

Recently I decided that my formal education in accounting here at Notre Dame may prepare me for real employment when I leave school, but is doing nothing to further my truest career ambition. Following Matt's recent post about using this blog as an opportunity to discuss things that could be interesting for our future, I recently decided that I would love for music to be an essential part of my job in the future. So what did I do? I sent a Facebook message to Scott Vener. Who's dat? Perhaps the man with the sweetest job in the world- that of music consultant on Entourage. Some of his scenes with notable songs have been more memorable than the characters and dialogue. This guy is good.

It's been nearly two weeks now and I haven't heard back from Scott. If any readers can put me in touch with him or any in the music supervision business, I just want to know how they got their starts... nothing creepy or weird. Until then, here's a jam for y'all to feast on.


The K-Os - I Wish I Knew Natalie Portman