“Everything’s Right” – Matt Wertz
Category Archives: Music
Music Spotlight: The Olive Grove

Browsing the tweets from my tweeps, I became informed of a new artist called The Olive Grove thanks to KATU’er Anita Kissée. I took some time to browse over The Olive Grove’s music offerings on their August-release album Here’s a Letter. I must say I have not purchased the $9.99 album yet, but feel very inclined to indulge. The Olive Grove’s music is relatively similar to that of Norah Jones, yet with a more colorful, not-so-classical taste with a snap of electronic synthetic variety.
The only factor holding me back from adding the album to my cart is not the composition of the artist or the album, but rather my simple taste of genres. I am more of an electronic, alternative, pop sort of guy with a few exceptions for pieces by Lights, Adele, Norah Jones, or Sarah McLachlan. However, I will definitely go back over to that iTunes Store and re-preview the tracks again and maybe hand-select one, two, or more. Of the thirty-second snippet previews, my favorites are Simple, Landslide, and The Other Summerwind.
I can really see The Olive Grove making it to the featured front of iTunes – and I hope such an artist finds the success its music proves deserving.
The Olive Grove > Here’s a Letter
Perfection
Music is everything I need. In the best and worse times, the only thing that makes the moment perfect is the presence of music. It’s much more than entertainment – it’s a dire essential to life.
Music Spotlight: Swimming With Dolphins

Today I was browsing iTunes looking for some new music. In the Genius Just For You section of the store, I happened to come across an artist called Swimming With Dolphins. Their only album out is an EP called Ambient Blue. The last music spotlight I blogged about featured Owl City – Ocean Eyes. I’ve listened that that album so much I’m now starting to get burnt out of it. Swimming With Dolphins is strikingly similar to Owl City – it has the same sort of vocals and effects. However, of the five tracks relased back in September of 2008, I considering only purchasing two of them – and those being Sunset, 1989 and Everything’s a Miracle. I’ll probably listen to the preview a couple more times, YouTube it to catch the whole thing, and then make my mind up. I just thought I would share another upcoming great artist with you…
Out.
Music Spotlight: Owl City
Browsing the iTunes fan page on Facebook, I discovered iTunes’ free single of the week called “Fireflies”. The artist is Owl City, and the album is “Ocean Eyes” – and I really like what I hear. Their album artwork also accentuates my desire to purchase the entire album (cue this post). I’m torn between pre-ordering Imogen Heap’s new album set to release in August or getting instant satisfaction with this purchase. Check it out and let me know what you think…
Scribble23: A Thoroughly Blended Update… Enjoy!
Hey devoted visitors and blog stumblers… Thought I’d give a blog update on life and summer happenings.
Let’s see… Still looking for housing with my roommate for this coming fall. We are pretty much in regular text messaging contact, regardless of the fact that we are a couple of states away. We have some ideas and very draft plans, but it’s looking a bit better than originally forcasted.
Working at Tualatin Haggen Food & Pharmacy Service Deli is going well. I’m pretty much used to it, with a few quirky times now and then I have to deal with – haven’t had to directly deal with food orders yet – especially over the phone (most difficult thing ever for me). Let’s hope that time doesn’t come quickly. Yesterday I just felt so out of it the last two hours. I had just gotten back from my lunch break and all I had eaten prior to that was a donut in the morning. Ugh! I think a lot of blood rushed to my stomach to process the food I had eaten. All day I was feeling a bit achy, but after lunch I thought I would be better… But it wasn’t. The rest of the shift I just felt so sunken in my mind – like I was on autopilot. I wasn’t bubbly like I usually am – I would snap out of it from time to time and realize how drone-like I was. It was all really strange.
Traveling has been on my mind (cue this post). I need to figure out if/when I can swing on down to San Francisco this summer – needing an escape from this enjoyable but monotonous routine and scenery. It is kind of important to get my Request Time Off (RTO) form in ASAP. Also, I still have aspirations to travel the world some day. Really, if I were to win the lottery, the first thing I’d do probably would not be to purchase some disposable item like a new car or some tech device – it would be a classy itinerary for places I’d be experiencing around this globe… Back in real life, I must note that each day seems to fizzle by faster and faster. Today I looked at the clock to expect it to read probably around 2 or 3pm… 6:15! Wow. What is going on?… Anyway, just got back from Busch Garden (a Japanese restaurant (nothing like Sushi Groove in SF)) just down the road. They have pretty good sushi and various other Japanese entrees compared to other locations in Tualatin (by the way… never get Washington Square shopping mall sushi or pre-packaged sushi sold in marketplaces… bleh!).
I’m working tomorrow morning again – all day 11am to 6pm!… But my schedule is really twisted this week. I then get Monday off, but work Tuesday. After that, I have Wednesday off, then work (although just the shorter closing shift) Thursday and Friday, but get Saturday off. Seriously… A household member providing for a whole family could probably not deal with it. But I like what I do, and don’t really mind the schedule fluctuating so much – I kinda think it’s fun.
Hmmm… Anything else?… I’m thinking…
56 days until Hawaii – that’s something to look forward to – really looking forward to doing some fantastic photography. I’m bringing my tripod, remote shutter release, and all that jazz – I’m stoked. Most likely (hopefully!) my roommate and I have a place to call home by then. Then, my parents and I return from the islands, I pack up, move in to the new place in Corvallis, and get ready for school. I think I’m pretty excited for this next school year – really looking forward to all the new things it can offer with new people. Sometimes I wonder how come other people are so successful with the formation of best friends – I’m talking about the kiddos that you see on Facebook, and although are wealthy, invite their friend on vacation with them, and party and forget boundaries. My emphasis is not on the money part, but rather on the idea that this extremely strong friendship can almost make you like family, and you couldnt really imagine living without this buddy anymore – and despite perhaps attending school apart, the quality and duration of that connection never fades. I never grew up like that. What/who do I blame?… My parents for sheltering me?… No one because we relocated from San Jose, California to Lake Oswego, Oregon and then to Tualatin, Oregon, or myself because I failed to take a chance outside the bubble created by my loving family? I mean… I had pretty good friends in Lake Oswego – two of my besties moved away, but there were still others. I sometimes stop and think what’d it be like if I never left. It seems that the longer you’ve known your best friend (especially from birth or a very young age like before double-digit years) the more exclusive, personal, and established the bond is. I recently found several elementary school friends from Lake O. on Facebook – all grown up they are! I even found my #1 bestie – he’s one of those jock types now (*jealous). But now that I look at the past, I see that if we still lived in the same town and still were the greatest friends, today we would be one of those permanent best friends – the never-ending #1′s. LOL… Then suddenly he stopped talking to me on the social networking site within a day of becoming friends. He never replied to my wall post, and even thereafter I asked him a simple question about one of our shared besties – no answer. Screw him… But I miss those times. We were exclusive best friends – something that hasn’t existed in the past 10 years. It’s a bummer.
On a lighter note… I really want to see Bruno in theatres. It looks hilarious – who can deny that?!
Going to try not to splurge on things to buy for the next school year. I had way too much stuff in the dorm this last freshman year. I think I’m going to be packing light, and adding as I need it. Although, I am considering an LCD TV – don’t know what yet or even if. I don’t know if I really need it – it all depends on if I can get a stupid DTV signal in Benton County. On the official DTV map for Oregon, the northwest portion of the state is covered very well… all the way until Benton County. Then it just stops. Sad day! I could not get a signal in the dorms, but my roommate could receive channels loud and clear – perhaps it’s his TV’s built in tuner. I really don’t know. Could it have to do with him being on the opposite side of the brick and concrete building as me? Clueless…
Just bought Battlefield 1943 – an Xbox 360 Arcade game – I really like it so far, but have to get used to the controls a bit. At first glance, I’ll just say it’s superb for an arcade game, which are usually dinky little puzzle-like games or strategy stuff. I think I’ll go play now.
That is all for the dialy dose…
Out.
Proofread and edited on my iPhone 3G.
