hello!

It's the last week of August and Labor Day is around the bend. It's time to put away your whites, your nautical stripes, your teeny weeny polka dot bikini, and take out your scarves, your houndstooth prints, and your newly opened school supplies. The days of Fall are drawing nigh, but that's no excuse to send the Summer off without a proper farewell. Hopefully my playlist can get you out of the end-of-summer blues and into the anticipation of September swing.

Exactly how it feels, huh?

1. The Last Day of Summer - The Cure
   Who better to write a perfect lament over the end of this glorious season and wallow in your dismay with?
2. August is Over - We the Kings
   
   It's a bittersweet song. It's got that happy make-you-dance pop/punk feel, but you can't deny that you'll miss the summer and all the trouble you got into. More importantly, who you got in trouble with. *mischief*
   
3. Summer Skin - Death Cab for Cutie
   Miss that summer fling? Feel your heart wrenching when you think of them? Was he/she the one that got away? Ben Gibbard & Co. help you remember them in a good light and feel your heartbreak for you. 
4. Ocean Avenue - Yellowcard
   Don't you wish that summer never had to end? Yellowcard and their tubthumping electric violin take that same summer love longing and make a song that I KNOW you want to belt along with when you're all by yourself. Go ahead, you're on the computer by yourself. No one's watching. "Let your waves crash down on me and take me awayy-yay!!!" 
5. Indian Summer - Beat Happening
   The Seattle twee-pop pioneers utilize their simplistic drum beat and cutesy twingy guitar riffs to remind us that the best part about summer is that it always returns. 
6. All Summer Long - The Beach Boys
   Who defines summer sound better than The Beach Boys? Let their dreamy vocals sway you into a more optimistic mood about the impending end.
7. The Boys of Summer - The Eagles
   We all know The Ataris version, it was suggested to me so many times! But have you guys heard this version by The Eagles? I almost prefer their chill nostalgic feel. Can't you just imagine sitting in your beach lounger in the backyard salvaging and savoring those last rays of sunlight? 
8. Summer Hair = Forever Young - The Academy Is...
   "I'll never let you go/Won't ever forget/Tell me you'll remember/Forever young" The Beckett sums up the coveted infinite feeling unique to summer as a last salute to the season. He's right, you know. Suddenly, we're all running out of time.
   
9. We're Going to Be Friends - The White Stripes
   After some end of summer closure, it's time to get excited for the possibilities of the new school year. Have you met my friend Jack? He can totally help you out with that. 
10. September - Earth, Wind & Fire
    JUST because the summer's gone, doesn't mean that you can't have fun come September. Welcome Autumn in with a PARTY-YEAH! DANCING IN SEPTEMBER!

Found on Pitchfork, felt like commenting. So let's do this...

I've already expressed my incredible frustration with the dreaded plaid print, but what good is complaining without seeking a remedy?

I enlisted the help of online fashion community Polyvore in order to put together sets of viable pattern alternatives bound to be loads more interesting and less annoying to my eyes than stacked duotone squares.

Feeling worldly? Meet the Aztec:

Plaid, GTFO 1 by xxrccola featuring Alexander Wang tops

Love Tetris? Try something Geometric:

GTFO Plaid 2 by xxrccola featuring Emilio Pucci accessories

Plaid, GTFO 3 by xxrccola featuring Forever21

 Plaid can get a bit manly, take a break with floral print mixed with boyfriend pieces. A perfect balance of cute and comfy.

 

So what do you think? Would you help me accelerate the plaid fad fade out and pick up on one of these? Or do you have some ideas of your own?

As I have been shopping around in order to refine my style before I leave for college, I reached this conclusion:

Dear Plaid Print,
GTFO.

Kthxbye,
Rosalie

I was okay with plaid, I own a shirt and a scarf, but as Fall collections have been filing in this year I have been inundated by this fabric print and it has officially worked its way up to annoying. My distaste for it mainly stems from frustration with the fact that since I have decided I don't like it, a good 75% of the selection in all major clothing retailers has been eliminated.

But Rosalie, you're moving to SEATTLE. You do realize that's like, the flannel capital of the WORLD! Actually, Cedar Springs, Michigan is the official Flannel Capital of the World, home of the lumberjack shirt. Even though Kurt Cobain and his band of Merry Men erupted out of the Northwest creating the fashion statement that would become grunge, fade out, and then resurrect during the alt-rock reunion phase of the new millenium, there's a probably good reason (though unknown to me) why it fell out of fashion in the first place.

That being said, I will accept it when utilized as flannel bedding and flannel pajamas, as well as any other type of cold weather wear.

Sorry, just had to get that out of my system.

When I'm really convinced that something is great, I fangirl about it like crazy and immediately need to devour as much information as possible remotely related to the object of my fanaticsm. The unconventional boy-meets-girl story of (500) Days of Summer reached its widespread theater release this month to a fanfare of positive reviews. The first feature length on the resume of music video director Marc Webb, general audiences found themselves endeared by the performances of indie film sweethearts Joseph Gordon-Leavitt and Zooey Deschanel. I loved every moment from beginning to end and the movie has fallen prey to my fangirl habits. Need more!

The VMAs are coming! The VMAs are coming! As of today, the MTV Video Music Awards nominees have been announced! Tune-in to MTV, live on Sunday, September 13 at 9PM EST and see who walks away with a moon man this year, in the meanwhile you can go to MTV.com to flex your vote to affect each category! Which is great, but I think Buzznet is better than MTV, so I want to start a little research activity.

This toy moon man is almost cooler than the real thing.

Being a part of the Buzznet community in the greater general music fan community feels a lot like being a part of a really really cool secret society where we get to make fun of the greater population on the outside and laugh at our own stupid jokes...okay, so it feels like being in a high school clique.

I just wanted to mention high school so that I could put a Mean Girls macro in. ^_^

Many fan bases get a certain bad rap around here, whether it's Twi-hards, JoBro teenies, FBR fangirls, Bill Kaulitz stalkers (yeaaaah, bet you forgot about that guy eh? It's okay though, we traded him for RPattz.) etc. etc. etc. but there are also certain bands/genres/people that are generally liked and loved around here (like the ones that make good music and send good messages). Despite the negativity, above all, we here at Buzznet love opinions. Whether it's defending your band with a bad rap, proclaiming a band the WORST ever, or simply proclaiming a newfound musical love, we dig it.

I think there are a lot of very intelligent people on Buzznet, intelligent people with great opinions. So I want you all to weigh-in on the VMA nominees. In a series of polls that should be done within the next week or so, I want you guys to vote for the videos that you think should win. Not the videos that you think are going to win, but the ones that in your opinion deserve the award. That's right, we're going to do our own mock-vma voting. We'll see who wins for us and compare it to who actually wins.

So keep a weather eye out for each poll as I make them. There are 15 categories and 5 weeks until D-Day. That's at least 3 polls per week, but I may overachieve and surprise you. :D

Will Buzznet's winners align with the masses?