December Playlist

I was very fortunate to see a lot of great live music in 2013. I got off to a hot start in January with Muse and ended strong with Stevie Wonder in December. For my final playlist of 2013, each track represents an artist I got to see live this year (in chronological order). Enjoy and Happy New Year!

1. Knights of Cydonia – Muse
2. The Funeral – Band of Horses
3. What’s Golden – Jurassic 5
4. Sleep – Allen Stone
5. Two Weeks – Grizzly Bear
6. Entertainment – Phoenix
7. Retrograde – James Blake
8. Holiday – Vampire Weekend
9. Snow (Hey Oh) – Red Hot Chili Pepper
10. She Don’t Have To Know – John Legend
11. Cryin’ – Aerosmith
12. Tom Ford – Jay Z
13. Take Back The Night – Justin Timberlake
14. Wake Me Up – Avicci & Aloe Blacc
15. I’m On A Boat – The Lonely Island
16. Wonderboy – Tenacious D
17. Backseat Freestyle – Kendrick Lamar
18. Bound 2 – Kanye West
19. Sally’s Song – Danny Elfman (as performed by Fiona Apple)
20. Violence – Blink 182
21. As – Stevie Wonder

November Playlist: Holiday Season

November’s playlist is one that you can play the entire month of December. Happy Holidays!

1. Santa’s Lost His Mojo – Jeremy Lister
2. Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town – Bruce Springsteen
3. Wonderful Christmastime – Paul McCartney
4. Christmas Is All Around – Billy Mack
5. Christmas/Sarajevo – Trans-Siberian Orchestra
6. The Nutcracker Suite – The Brian Setzer Orchestra
7. I Want A Hippopotamus for Christmas – Gayla Peevey
8. The Chipmunk Song – Alvin & The Chipmunks
9. Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy – Bing Crosby & David Bowie
10. Christmas Lights – Coldplay
11. Happy Christmas (War Is Over) – John Lennon
12. We Wish You A Merry Christmas – Weezer
13. Goyim Friends – The LeeVees

October Playlist: Halloween Time

This month’s playlist is dedicated to setting the mood for Halloween time. All of these songs have a spooky, creepy, eerie feeling to them. Perfect leading up to Halloween.

1. Intro – The xx
2. Welcome to the Machine – Pink Floyd
3. The Beginning Is The End Is The Beginning – Smashing Pumpkins
4. Lucky – Radiohead
5. People Are Strange – The Doors
6. Coldest Winter – Kanye West
7. The 2nd Law (Unsustainable) – Muse
8. Helena – My Chemical Romance
9. Revolution 9 – The Beatles
10. Bike – Pink Floyd
11. Thriller – Michael Jackson (ft. one of the most influential music videos of all time)
12. I Put A Spell On You – Screamin’ Jay Hawkins
13. Halloween Spooks – Lambert, Hendricks & Ross

Happy Halloween, everyone!

September Playlist: Summer’s Most Played

This month’s playlist includes the songs that I have listened to the most over the summer (according to iTunes “Plays” filter). The only qualification is that the song had to have been released from March – August 2013. There are some songs that are repeats from previous playlists.

1. Holy Grail – Jay Z (ft Justin Timberlake)
2. Blurred Lines – Robin Thicke (ft T.I. & Pharrell)
3. Get Lucky – Daft Punk (ft Pharrell)
4. Who Did That To You? – John Legend
5. Tom Ford – Jay Z
6. Jolene – The White Stripes
7. Back To Black – Beyonce & Andre 3000
8. Somewhere In America – Jay Z
9. BBC – Jay Z (ft Nas, Pharrell, & Timbaland)
10. Black Skinhead – Kanye West
11. Walk – Foo Fighters
12. Vehicle – Ides of March
13. Bound 2 – Kanye West (ft Charlie Wilson)
14. Hopeless Wanderer – Mumford & Sons (w/ The Best Music Video Of All Time)

August Playlist: Mash-Ups

Tired of the same old song? Looking to listen to something new? That’s what mash-ups are for.

1. Ignition (1901 Remix) – R. Kelly & Phoenix
2. Sloop John Bonham – The Beach Boys & Led Zeppelin
3. Drake & Diane – Drake & John Mellencamp
4. Crazy Little Thing Called Rehab – Amy Winehouse & Queen
5. Hello Brooklyn – Jay Z & Marvin Gaye
6. Cry Me A Superman – Eminem & Justin Timberlake
7. Gettin’ Lucky Wit It – Daft Punk & Will Smith
8. Red Hot Chilipop – Red Hot Chili Peppers & Lil Wayne
9. 7 Nation Teen Spirit – The White Stripes & Nirvana
10. Juicy In The USA  – The Notorious B.I.G & Miley Cyrus
11. Dirt Off Your Shoulder – Jay Z & The Verve
12. Fat Bottom Girls Come Together – Queen & The Beatles
13. Troublemaker, You Drive Me Crazy – Olly Murs & Britney Spears
14. Suit & Treasure – Justin Timberlake & Bruno Mars
15. I Wanna Blur Some Lines – Whitney Houston & Robin Thicke
16. Stayin’ Hot – The Bee Gees & Nelly

Alex’s All-Childhood Team

For one day in 2013, 90s baseball was alive and well. Ken Griffey Jr was honored in Seattle, while Hideo Nomo, Eric Karros, and Tommy Lasorda shared a laugh pre-game in Los Angeles. All this got me thinking, what would my All-Childhood Team roster look like? Of course, it’d be a bit biased towards Dodgers. But besides that, who would it be? So here we go. This is strictly based on how I will remember baseball during my childhood, who I followed, and players who, to this day, stand out in my memory. 25 man roster.

Catcher – Mike Piazza

1st Base – Eric Karros

2nd Base – Craig Biggio

Shortstop – Derek Jeter

3rd Base – Chipper Jones

Outfield – Ken Griffey Jr, Tim Salmon, Shawn Green

Starting Pitching – Greg Maddux, Randy Johnson, Hideo Nomo, Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz

Relief Pitching – Mariano Rivera, Trevor Hoffman, Eric Gagne, Troy Percival

Bench – Cal Ripkin Jr, Tony Gwynn, Todd Helton, Jeff Bagwell, Edgar Martinez, Raul Mondesi, Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez, Nomar Garciaparra

Manager – Tommy Lasorda

These players couldn’t make the 25 man roster, but they deserve a shout-out.

Honorable Mention: Eric Young, Chan Ho Park, Tim Wakefield, David Wells, Mark McGwire, Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada, Larry Walker, Tom Glavine, Mark Grace

Not mentioned above, but worth mentioning just because 13 year old Alex thought they were awesome…these guys:

July Playlist: Summer Mix

We’re in the dog days of summer, so this month’s playlist is a collection of songs you can listen to while you take a drive or relax by the pool/beach (or imagine you are). These songs are either about summer or just remind me of summer.

1. Saturday In The Park – Chicago
2. Hot Fun In the Summertime – Sly & The Family Stone
3. Waterslide – The Bonedaddys
4. Heaven – Los Lonely Boys
5. I Get Around – The Beach Boys
6. Through with You – Maroon 5
7. Absolutely (Story of a Girl) – Nine Days
8. In the Summertime – Mungo Jerry
9. Summer Girls – LFO
10. Corona and Lime – Shwayze
11. Flake – Jack Johnson
12. Summertime – DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince
13. Make Some Noise – Beastie Boys (BONUS: Great song. Better video)
14. Summer Love – Justin Timberlake
15. Summer In the City – The Lovin’ Spoonful
16. Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker) – The Rolling Stones
17. Stay With Me – Rod Stewart & The Faces
18. The Song Remains The Same – Led Zeppelin
19. Hot Summer Night – Grace Potter & The Nocturnals 
20. Life In The Fast Lane – The Eagles

June Playlist: Covers

This month’s playlist is dedicated to cover songs. I tried to pick covers that you may not have heard before, but also threw in some classic favorites. Enjoy!

1. God Put a Smile On Your Face – Mark Ronson (Coldplay Cover)
2. Jesus Is Just Alright (ft Eric Clapton) – Robert Randolph & The Family Band (The Art Reynolds Singers/Doobie Brothers cover)
3. Come On Eileen – Save Ferris (Dexys Midnight Runners cover)
4. War Pigs – Cake (Black Sabbath cover)
5. Everywhere – Yellowcard (Michelle Branch cover)
6. Jolene – The White Stripes (Dolly Parton cover)
7. Your Love – The Rescues (The Outfield cover)
8. I’m Looking Through You – The Wallflowers (The Beatles cover)
9. The Way You Look Tonight  – Maroon 5 (Fred Astaire/Frank Sinatra cover)
10. Beautiful Boy – Ben Harper (John Lennon cover)
11. Jumper – Bedlight For Blue Eyes (Third Eye Blind cover)
12. Hurt – Johnny Cash (Nine Inch Nails cover)
13. A Case of You – James Blake (Joni Mitchell cover)
14. I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing – Pomplamoose (Aerosmith cover)
15. White Rabbit – Grace Potter & The Nocturnals (Jefferson Airplane cover)
16. Sally’s Song – Fiona Apple (originally from “The Nightmare Before Christmas”)
17. I Wanna Love You – The Maine (Akon cover)
18. Sleazy – Ben Folds (Ke$ha cover)
19. Take Me Home, Country Roads – Toots & The Maytals (John Denver cover)
20. Wake Up (ft The Roots) – John Legend (Arcade Fire cover)

Happy Wednesday!

Dear Class of _____

Dear Class of  _____,
On June 18, 2012, the Class of 2012 walked in the graduation ceremony at the University of Oregon with great pomp and circumstance. It was a (typical) cloudy/rainy day in Eugene. We were surrounded by our friends and family. We had our education behind us and the world in front of us. Today, you all joined the us, and the many before us, as alumni of the University of Oregon. Many congratulations are in order.

When I put on my cap and gown that day, I knew that I was not really graduating. I was going to finish school in December. Celebrating the fact that I was almost there seemed weird to me. It was important to me to go through the ceremony and have the experience, the pictures, the memories. However, as I saw the pictures and postings by the Class of 2013 on various social media sites from their graduation one year later, I couldn’t help to feel a bit of regret. I didn’t have time to really celebrate, as I was starting my job the next morning at 6am. I didn’t want to go take a picture in front of a cool University of Oregon sign because I wasn’t going anywhere. You can look back on my post from the week before my graduation ceremony. I didn’t appreciate the day. I didn’t soak it all in. It felt like a charade to me, and I shouldn’t have let it. Don’t get me wrong. I had a big smile on my face and I felt very accomplished. But when you start summer courses exactly one week after you “graduated,” it feels a bit strange. In retrospect, I should have soaked in the day a bit more. I should have thrown the idea that I wasn’t really done out the window and appreciated the day for what it meant.

I am writing you this (open) letter so you can take the time to reflect on everything today. I am writing this letter so that you, the Class of ____, can take the time to stop, look around, and soak in the accomplishment that you have achieved. The ceremony. The day. the caps. The gowns. The sound of your name being called as you walk across the stage and into the next phase of your life. Let it all soak in. Have fun. Celebrate. So what if you have a little extra time to go. It doesn’t matter if you are actually graduating today or in a few months. Today, you are graduating. That’s all that matters!

Congratulations to the Class of ____! This day belongs to you!

Alex Horwitch
University of Oregon
School of Journalism and Communication – Public Relations
Class of 2012