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Double Digit Love Leisure Cruise Double Digit Love

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Music Discovery: Leisure Cruise

Quick! You've been chosen to choose the signature album for your hometown. But surprise! You live in a spaceship and anything less than exciting just won't do. So what kind of synth-y, hypnotic, danceable music is out there that isn't your run-of-the-mill synth-y, hypnotic, danceable music...

Well there's an easy solution to that problem--Leisure Cruise. Imagine one of the most fitting music collaborations to grace your ears; bingo that's Leisure Cruise. A collaboration between Canadian-born musician Dave Hodge and singer-songwriter Leah Siegel, the two have joined to create a unique sound that is all at once "dark and light, serious and fun, melancholic and euphoric."

Definitely give them a listen and you might find yourself wishing you were on that spaceship with Leisure Cruise blasting all around.

Check them out on:

Website: iloveleisurecruise.com

Facebook: facebook.com/LeisureCruise

Twitter: @LeisureCruiser

Instagram: http://instagram.com/leisurecruise#

SoundCloud: soundcloud.com/leisurecruise

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Riptide Vance Joy God Loves You When You’re Dancing EP

God Loves You When You’re Dancing EP on iTunes: http://smarturl.it/glywyd

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Music Discovery: Vance Joy

If you’re looking for a solid summer album to kick back by the pool to and soak in those summer rays, check out Vance Joy. Reminiscent of innocence and carrying an aura of nostalgia, his music brings you back to a place of simpler times. The honest melodies produce a feel-good effect, making it the perfect album to play on your speakers as you let your mind wander away from the hustle and bustle of life and float in the realm of relaxation.

Vance Joy, also known as James Keogh, released his first EP God Loves You When You're Dancing in 2013 and has been gaining popularity ever since. "Riptide," a single on his EP, has been climbing music charts since its release and has been featured in multiple commercials.

On those lazy summer mornings, you'll find me playing Vance Joy throughout the day and once you get hooked, I'm sure you'll be doing quite the same.

Check him out on:

Website: vancejoy.com

Facebook: facebook.com/vancejoy

Twitter: @vancejoy

Instagram: @vancejoy

YouTube: youtube.com/user/vancejoymusic

SoundCloud: soundcloud.com/vancejoy

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Duet - Glen Keane

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A beautifully animated short by the animator who brought you Ariel, the Beast, and Aladdin.

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Books Books Books!: Animal Farm by George Orwell

Comrade...

I'm a bit late reading this novel taking into consideration that I'm a third year in college and I've read this book for the first time when most have read it by their third year in high school. Nevertheless, I absolutely loved this book.

Animal Farm traces the story of Manor Farm, turned Animal Farm, as a result of an animal uprising and rebellion against the human race. Led by the resident pigs, who lead the other less intelligent animals, the animals seek a world where they work hard for themselves and a place where "four legs good, two legs bad" is the farm motto. However, the democratic farm is soon turned into a dictatorship, with the pigs ruling with an iron fist, reminiscent of the Stalin era Soviet Union.

The novel is a political satire, an allegorical, and a dystopian novel. Orwell was known to be a democratic socialist, yet like many others, saw Stalin as a cruel dictator, only maintaining control over the USSR by ruling with an iron fist. In his essay titled "Why I Write," Orwell wrote about his novel Animal Farm, claiming that "Animal Farm was the first book in which I tried, with full consciousness of what I was doing, to fuse political purpose and artistic purpose into one whole" and the novel accomplishes just that.

Apart from the underlying political commentary, Orwell's prose style writing is what sets this novel apart. In the simplest of terms, his prose is descriptive, concise, and packs more than just a punch. His approach to writing allows the reader to remain dedicated to the novel and entranced in the storyline.

I would highly recommend Animal Farm to anyone. The sequence of events keeps you wanting to read to the next chapter and the next. Reading into Orwell's satire adds a fresh, new dimension to the basic novel form. And I think it's also safe to say that I don't have much of a problem frying up a pan of bacon for breakfast after reading his novel.

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Tranquilize Finish Ticket Tears You Apart

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Music Discovery: Finish Ticket

If you combined the sounds of The Killers, The Strokes, Coldplay, and Phoenix, it would sound a little bit like Finish Ticket.

Hailing from the sunny west coast, Finish Ticket is a San Francisco based quintet whose music "straddles the line between indie rock and radio-ready pop." Finish Ticket is an example of a success story for a band formed during the bandmembers' high school years in 2008 when they attended Alameda High together.

The band debuted in 2009 with their EP, Life Underwater, then just a year later, released their second EP, Shake a Symphony. In 2013, they released their first, full-length album titled Tears You Apart.The tracks are all masterfully produced, each song carrying the characteristic sound of the band, while each still exuding different feels and emotions.

Their latest album, Tears You Apart doubles as my pool party mix and my kitchen album staple. If you're in the mood for uplifting melodies and vocals that perfectly complement the beats and instruments, Finish Ticket will do you no wrong.

Check them out on:

Website: finishticket.com

Tumblr: finishticket.tumblr.com

Facebook: facebook.com/finishticket

Twitter: @FinishTicket

Instagram: @finishticket

YouTube: youtube.com/user/FTComm

SoundCloud: soundcloud.com/finishticket

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Books Books Books! : The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Is it real? The fire?

Yes it is.

Where is it? I dont know where it is.

Yes you do. It's inside you. It was always there. I can see it.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy trails the survival story of a man and his son. In the post-apocalyptic world, there is little that is left intact--be it food, shelter, clothing, and even the minds of people. While bands of the "bad guys" have resorted to murder and cannibalism, this man and his son fight to remain human and continue living.

What made this even more interesting to read, apart from the plot and the writing style, was the formatting of the text. The book lacked chapter markings, quotations, the occasional apostrophe, all contributing to the effect of the absence of structure. Particularly with the absence of quotations, the dialogue between the characters is simply denoted by the start of a new line. Otherwise, the dialogue and narration are indistinguishable. The effect that this has, especially in the dialogue, is the sense of hopelessness and the lack of structure that the characters are faced with.

Despite the darkness that blankets the books, The Road is beautifully written and completely draws you into its pages. If you're looking for a book to pick you up, I wouldn't hand this book off to you, but if you are looking for a brilliantly composed novel, give it a go.

Cormac McCarthy won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2007 for The Road.

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Books Books Books! : Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

Telling the gripping tale of Louie Silvie Zamperini, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand traces his heroic and testing journey from adolescence through the trials as a bombardier of the USAAF.

Once I picked up this book, it took a lot of persuasion to make me put it down. Hillenbrand has a way of captivating the reader, giving the reader a place in the story as an observer. Once you dive right in, it's as if you're standing there on the sidelines while she tells Zamperini's story. If that's not enough to keep you on the edge of your seat the entire time, I don't know what will.

As a pilot in the Pacific War, Zamperini was faced with many harsh realities of being a pilot as well as the dangers that were involved on and off the battlefield.

I don't want to give away any spoilers because I think this book is worth the read for anyone who wants to read about Zamperini's journey as well as learning about the Pacific War from a biographical perspective. I think that's what I liked about the book apart from telling his story. The amount of historical information about the war that the book lends itself to telling is incredible and reading the book opened my eyes to a lot of the things I didn't learn about in my high school 20th Century World History class and I'm always down for a history lesson.

So if you're looking for a book that is tells an incredible story that also happens to be intertwined with an eye-opening historical perspective, pick up Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand and give it a try!

Unbroken is also coming to the big screen later this year, directed by Angelina Jolie.

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{by Johanna Tagada, on Flickr}

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I like a person who reads...

What started out as a way to pass the time, I made it a personal goal to read at least one book a week. And instead of keeping a boring list on a Word document, I figured I might as well share my experiences and write about it. I'm no book critic so that's not the point of this page/tag, but it's a place to share what I read and hopefully give you an ongoing list of books that can keep you company on those lazy days.

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May I take your order?

I don't know about you, but I love food. It tastes good, makes you feel good, and there's no better way to have a good time with a friend than over a table of good food.

So channeling my inner masterchef, this is where the goodies go. Pictures of food, recipes, restaurants--anything and everything that has to do with food. It'll be inspiration, actual food I eat and actual places I go. So have a seat and join me on this lovely adventure :)

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Fashion Fashion Fashion

An outlet for creativity in the form of fashion. That's essentially what the purpose of this page/tag is. It'll be inspiration, goals, a wishlist, and maybe even some of my personal wardrobe :)

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Sea Green The Sun Flights Roam to Ramble

Listen/purchase: Sea Green by The Sun Flights

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Music Discovery: The Sun Flights

A folk duo hailing from the land where it’s always sunny, The Sun Flights is a folk duo that “emphasizes harmonies & songwriting” and there is no doubt that that is precisely what they accomplish in their music. You’ll be hard pressed to find a sound more pure and beautiful in its simplicity. Aided with the plucks of an acoustic guitar, their two voices blend seamlessly together to produce this unique sound.

For the past couple months, The Sun Flights have been on a tour titled Road to Ramble. They have released two EPs, one self titled and the second titled Road to Ramble.

“The Sun Flights music has always been a conversation between Natalie Butts (guitar & vocals) and Claire Duncombe (vocals). A conversation about stories, questioning and expression. A conversation who’s music plays with harmony, rhythm and composition. The music is best experienced during live performance within an atmosphere created with the help of others.”

So if you're looking for that perfect, effortless sound, check out The Sun Flights and I guarantee you'll fall in love with them instantly.

Check them out on:

Website: sunflightsmusic.com

Facebook: facebook.com/TheSunFlights

Twitter: @TheSunFlights

Instagram: @TheSunFlights

YouTube: youtube.com/user/TheSunFlights

Bandcamp: thesunflights.bandcamp.com

Also--they hand print and sew all of the merch. Can't get better than that~