Hey everyone, I know it's been a couple of weeks, but I'm back with photos from London and Cambridge, England for your viewing pleasure.

I fell in love with London, and if you ever have the chance to go, DO IT DO IT DO IT. It's the most expensive country in the world, so don't expect to do very much shopping, but if you eat at Mark's & Spencer's (basically a grocery store chock-full of delicious ready-made food) for every meal of every day you should be alright. Plus, the Tate Museum of Modern Art is free admission, and there…

On February 17, 2009, Paramore released their video for "The Only Exception". Initially, I was quiet excited because it was supposed to be unlike any Paramore video. The first legit video I saw from them was for "Misery Business". The fire-haired, feisty Hayley commanded a video with such power, setting the stage for the Hayley Williams show. Since then, we've seen Hayley explode all over the mainstream radio. Scene kids all around started dying their hair with Hot Topic hair dyes, buying yellow or red skinny jeans, and wearing vans like no tomorrow. Hayley Williams not only has become a…

Is everyone enjoying the Olympics so far? Watching bobsled after bobsled flip over on that icy track has... well, made me want to ride a roller coaster, but it has also scared the living hell out of me. Seeing peoples' heads slide on ice at 90 miles-per-hour sends chills down my spine.

Local speed-skater Apolo Ohno had a couple of intense races tonight, and he took home the bronze medal! Woot woot. I think I heard the announcer say that he now holds more medals than any other winter Olympics athlete, and that this is his third Olympic games. Wow.…

You heard that right, fans! There's been some Gingers in the news, well, at least in my world. I think there's a steady trend. They might take over the world. Anyways, here is my quick top 5 list brought to you by Rain City Ambience. :D


5. Conan O'Brian
Since my favorite comedian of 2009 got shafted by NBC quicker than yesterday's hooker, he's been doing some growing. Well, some personal growth could do him some good. It's attached to his face! That's right! Conan is now sporting the unemployment beard! I didn't know he could grow facial…

It's Celebrity Doppelganger Week in Facebookland, and I finally decided to participate in a Facebook fad. Rather than setting my status as my bra color or Urban Dictionary-ing my first name, my profile picture is now Emma Stone of Superbad and Zombieland. When I am at work I honestly hear that I look like her at least once a day. Anyone see a resemblance?

Emma Stone:

Excuse the grime, I had a midterm today:

I DON'T SEE IT!

Who is YOUR Doppelganger?

First off, can I say how much I do not like Green Day? Does anyone else agree with me?!

I'm disappointed by the Grammy's, for this is the AWARD show, the face of "music". I really don't care about people who can't sing, dance, or move a crowd. But seriously, since when did cencoring Eminem become such a unknown concept? When did the great Stevie Nicks become Taylor Swift's backup singer? Why is Travis Barker playing drums for Drake & Lil Wayne? Who is T. Pain really? Lady Gaga + Elton John? WHAT IS THIS MADNESS!!!

Well, anyways, tonight I…

A bit late, but here you go regardless.


Top 10 Albums of 2009


10. Keith Urban - Defying Gravity

Matter of fact songwriting, with one of the best guitar players in the biz today.

9. Sherwood - Qu

Nothing but catchy melodies. Great use of what is now becoming classic "indie" production instruments.

8. Muse - Resistance

This album is a compositionally enlightened album. All the string arrangements were done with great consideration to classical music eras. To fuse it with rock music is pure genius.


7. Manchester Orchestra -…

Throw together absurd fist pumping, eight over-tanned, over-gelled Italians, and a few cameras and you have MTV’s latest poor excuse of a reality show, Jersey Shore.

As a young adult I have found myself easily thrusted into the consumption of what can arguably be considered reality television. I admit to finding entertainment in discovering whether the 16-year-old’s baby daddy is finally going to get off of his lazy ass or which performer will ultimately be unveiled at the “BEST PARTY EVER!” Although I often indulge in these idiotic…

All I can say is this: OH MY GOD I WISH I WERE STILL IN KEYSTONE, COLORADO RIGHT NOW. These past few days have been insane. I didn't bring my camera because I didn't want to break/lose 2000 dollars worth of photo gear, but I DID get a couple of photos and videos on my iPhone.

For those of you who don't know (which is probably all of you), 100k is an event that Zumiez sends its top-selling employees on as a reward for selling over $100,000 in merchandise. The more you sell, the more you get back, and the…

The good news? I got a shiny new laptop for extra fast photo editing and site updating.
The bad news? I HAVE NO MUSIC!

The process of migrating information from my old laptop to this one would take about ten hours, and at this point I am not sure I can make that sort of time commitment to transferring a few files. Instead, I am just transferring my applications and starting off on iTunes fresh.

GIVE ME SUGGESTIONS. I WILL DOWNLOAD ANYTHING. Colleen, I am expecting some input from you on this one!

Sometimes I wish I could post blogs and articles anonymously, because the things I post are mostly self-incriminating and probably make people wish someone would take away my ability to post things on public domains. Seeing as this is not possible, all embarrassing blogs posted on raincityambience.com will probably be from yours truly. And maybe Colleen once in a while (cough, CafeWorld, cough).

And so it begins:

Lady Gaga. There's really nothing that amps me up quite like lyrics that make absolutely no sense. "Rah rah ah ah ah roma ro ma ma gaga ooh la la," opens Lady Gaga's…

During this economically challenging holiday season, there's nothing more calming then a turkey simmering, friends all around, and chesnuts roasting on an open fire. Well, there's no chestnuts here, but there is turkey. Lots of it.

Kelly posted a blog about her undying love and dedication for Farmville... or Farm Town. Well, here's my confession... I too have a virtual escape. Yes. I, Colleen E. Gilfoy, play CafeWorld. I have been certainly quick to make fun of these... virtual world players, especially FarmVille. Well, I am now a believer. I believe in the power of CafeWorld.

…

I thought I could resist. I thought wrong. Now I spend my days on FarmVille instead of studying for my classes, and my only real friends are 64-bit characters that pace around a 24 by 24 plot of land. Oh yeah, and the horses. They're the only ones who understand me.


Proof that I'm not crazy. LOOKS LIKE SOMEBODY NEEDS TO BE MILKED!

*sigh*

Let's be serious for a minute. We're all just trying to make an honest living. With the recession in full-swing, people are resorting to any means possible to make a quick buck, and it…

Personally, I've only actively used Last.fm. I found this website on my own and it's grown from there. Basically, you download Last.fm player to your hard drive, it takes all your music (and it's plays) on your computer, loads it into this database, complies the data, and stores it. It then creates a radio station to what you already have on your computer. You can then tune into other radio stations related to artist or genres. If you're not on your main computer, you can go on your Last.fm site and listen to YOUR RADIO STATION that automatically loads.

Plus,…

Sorry for the lack of updates for a few days, everyone. This weekend was Halloween + 14 hours of working, and now I am not feeling so hot.

Anyone have the swine flu yet? I don't think I have it, but I live in a house with nine other people so it is definitely possible that I picked it up from one of them. Yuck.

We have lots of things coming your way, so don't give up on us now. :D

Oh yeah and my 21st birthday is in 9 days. Scary.

As I sit here in my condemned hole-of-a-room, nuzzled in my nest/bed full of warmth, I was rudely reminded this morning that midterms are upon me yet again. You may ask, "Colleen, such a studious scholar such as yourself should have no problem passing your English Education classes. You love English." Yes, I love English. All three of my English courses in my 17 credit schedule are my favorite. Not to mention, I have some of the best professors at my college. BUT, as I think about my major of Adolescent Education (w/ concentration of English & Writing), I wonder...…

After 2 years of school down in Florida and 2 diplomas later, this time and chapter in my life has come to an end. A lot has changed since I left, some for the good and some for the bad but one thing that I have always looked forward to is coming home. It is time to start a new chapter back in Seattle and even pick up where I left on in some respects. Thanks for something or thanks for nothing. See you all in a few weeks.

My contract is up. Which phone should I get?!

Should I be like everyone, or should I be like everyone else?
 

Help a sista out.

THIS JUST IN.... the Postal Service of AMERICA hates Paramore!







Ok, I'm pretty sure I JUST LIED, but I'd like to inform the WORLD (you) that I JUST RECEIVED my copy of Paramore's new album Brand New Eyes today in the mail. When did I order it? September 17, 2009. I was so close to calling the Fueled By Ramen HC to find out where my beloved package went to. My little package went all the way to Albany, NY!!!! Sure, I'm only 20 minutes outside of New York City these days... and Albany isn't TOO FAR OFF... but WHAT…

I think this city is out to get me. While I was in Europe my mother informed me of how awesome the weather was, and now everything has turned to.. you know what. What is this sunny-but-still-raining crap? I walked to class thinking there was a chance of nice weather, and then it started raining. *sigh* Seattle is welcoming me home.

On that note, school started on Wednesday, and I am back to being on my computer for hours upon hours every day. I should probably be writing my personal statement right now, but this is a lot less difficult.…

It's 12:02 AM on Thursday night/Friday morning, and I am fighting 9 hour jet lag to post and let you all know that I survived my trip to Europe. It feels so good to be home! My soundtrack for this post is Paramore's Brand New Eyes, which came out on Tuesday, but I haven't been able to listen to it until now. So far I give it two thumbs up.

I was hoping to have more blog time in Europe, but every time I had the time to settle down and write anything out I realized that I was in…

I must apologize for my lack of exciting blogging. Rather, for my lack of blogging in general. I've been working, helping with the editing of my video, creating a new Myspace layout for Me Vs. Myself, and trying to make time for my recently purchased guitar. (If you go back a few blog posts you can see my broken guitar and the sadness in my words for it's demise. So welcoming the arrival of this new love is a big deal!)

Any who... Nothing new in the land o' Jastinky. School starts in a week. Holy shit I just…

I have to keep this short, because I am using Simon's laptop and this is the first time we have had internet since we have been in Europe and I'm sure he's itching to get back on here.

Paris was amazing! I took so many pictures that I will be posting once I get back home. We went to Versailles and climbed the Eiffel Tower, and avoided being pickpocketted on the Metro system (hooray for us). Right now we are on a train going 156 MPH, and apparently 1st class is 40 Euros cheaper than 2nd class if you are…

Well, ladies and gentlemen, you will not be seeing me around here for a while, as I will be departing Seattle for Europe in approximately 14 hours and have decided not to bring my laptop. Backpacking with a lappy doesn't sound like such a fun time, and there are internet cafes everywhere in Europe, so I think I will survive! I'm going with my boo, Simon, and the tentative plan is to just bring a notebook and attempt to handwrite entries and then type them out at various cafes... buutttt I have no idea if that is going to work…

We have a tragedy in our hands: The death of my trusty guitar. We've been in an on and off relationship for almost 2 years. Not that long, but not that short either. It was my longest relationship... (Haha...)



The story is simply that I treated it badly this last week. It's been tossed around during my video shoot (literally, in the air and down to the ground.) And today the lack of any tuning ability left in it aggravated me to the point of needing to throw it up in the air in my garage, allowing it…

Hi all. I've had a very long weekend shooting my music video for "Lover At Best." It sounds way official saying that, but in no means am I trying to be official sounding.



The video is being directed by Ryan Kam and it should be incredible. Way better than Hunters music even deserves. But it's a good time for us both. There will be some surprise faces in the video in which you're all probably familiar with. A friend of mine agreed to "co-star" in it and I thank him dearly for doing so.

Check out…

As my hometown went to Warped Tour 2009 @ the Gorge, I spent my August 15, 2009, at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey. This show was unlike any competition I've been to . This show was The Battle of the Bands, New Jersey edition.

The top 8 bands from all over New Jersey competed in this finale of the battle. My friend and I endured a long trek to Sayreville... a long traffic'd Garden State Parkway. If you know me, you know that one thing I hate with passion of 3 firey suns is traffic. Why? I can't…

I ended up not going to Warped Tour this year due to poor planning and various other reasons. My friend Chris sent me a picture of the sunset at the Gorge and I wanted to kill babies out of A) Furiousity and B) Sunsets make me want to kill babies on occasion, don't judge me though. I heard it was a good time and I'm jealous of everybody who got to go. However, I'm not upset that I missed whoever the hell "The Millionaires" are, I hear they are awful.

Anyway, Hunters had band practice Saturday and Ryan Kam and…

I just want it to be known that I am not in any way shape or form a fan or member of the Insane Clown Posse.

Anyway, I don't want to sound like a d-bag by saying this but, I have a few guestlist spots for Warped Tour, but I have no way of getting there. The Gorge is tomorrow so I realize it's a bit late for that, but anyone living in Portland, I might catch a ride there Saturday and if you want to go to Warped Tour at the Washington County Fairgrounds, let me know! I can…

I have to leave for work in six minutes, but I haven't posted anything for a few days so I thought I'd check in.

Jessie and I had a little mini photoshoot a few days ago, and after we took some serious photos we went a little crazy with the black eyeliner. This was the result:



Incidentally, this is the only photo I have edited so far because I have been working nonstop since I got back from LA, but it made me lololol so I thought I would share.

Sorry, Jessie.

Real update later!

Finally done with summer quarter. Even though school hasn't really been holding me back on updating RCA or going to shows, think of how it's going to be now!

Last night, a friend of mine from Demon Hunter was in town to play a show for their mini-tour titled "Huntour." I've never seen the band live and rarely have listened to their music, but my mind was blown away last night and I've yet to find it. Seriously, if DH is ever in your city and you have the chance to go see them, I highly recommended it. The…

I was bound to eventually write this article. Best food in Seattle (and the surrounding areas): The Kelly Mason edition. I felt obligated to post this as soon as possible after Jessie's intro, so feel free to contribute if you know of any hidden gems that you would like to share with RCA.

Now, I wouldn't call myself a food connoisseur, but if there is a delicious (and cheap!) place to eat in Seattle, you can bet your sweet patootie that I have eaten there. Well, aside from Mama's Mexican Kitchen, which I hear is phenomenal, but I don't usually…

Here at RCA, we appreciate the finer things in life. One of them being delicious dining. We love our food, yes we do. We love it so much that I felt it necessary to post a blog about it. We accept all sorts of food. Home made, vegan, organic, etc. I myself prefer sushi, so if you're a sushi chef, email me and we can discuss you giving me your sushi and me reviewing your sushi here on RCA. Please no cow tongues or other strange delicacies you may be accustomed to. We enjoy your everyday meats, grains, and dairies.…

Well folks, this is where my nerdy side comes out of the closet. I just played Halo for three hours when I should have been updating the site, so I figured I had to come clean.

Here are some video games that have influenced me throughout my life (meaning I have spent way too much time playing them):

Halo 2 and 3, collectively. I didn't buy an Xbox until 2 came out, but if I had one before you can bet your sweet ass that I would have played the first version as well. Anyway, I don't really want to…

In all honesty, when On The Last Day parted ways with Geoff, I was quite skeptical of their new find. Carson Allen is the current singer of On The Last Day and has a completely different sound than the old On The Last Day, but definitely good. The addition of Carson was a glorious thing. Secretly in my head, I've always thought Carson would sound awesome on top of something a little more poppy and 90's. He started a side project a while ago with Frank (also of OTLD) and Jaron (may be seen drumming for Forgive Durden.) I've been…

I am finally up to date on the worlds techbological craze known as the "smart phone." All I can say is this shit is bananas. Matter of fact I am in my biology class right now posting a damn blog entry to rca. How sweet is that? Anyway its lab time, but I plan on writing more on the current world of technology in a matter of days. Much love.

I don't understand how I can sleep for 3 hours a night, wake up, and not be able to sleep at all after that. It saddens me, it really does. Hopefully this will change soon! But at least it gives me plenty of spare time to post about it on here, right? Because I know you all are so interested in my sleep patterns, har har har.

Side note: Twilight sucks, anyone who slightly enjoys it should be ashamed. >=D

Anyway, I'm taking a class this summer, meaning no vacations, meaning I need to make a nice list of…

I didn't realize how easy it is to forget that I have a computer when I work full-time and the sun is always out. It's almost a chore to get on here and update sometimes, but blogging is easier than writing articles and my brain is too fried to come up with something even slightly intellectual anyway.

Anyway, I have a confession to make. Actually, there are two things that I need to get off my chest: one is that even though I have talked about how much I hate the new Alexisonfire songs that they posted on their

Read | Posted by Kelly Mason | Jun 11th 2009, 10:25^pm | Personal