I first found out about Ben Folds and his group, Ben Folds Five when I heard the riveting "One Angry Dwarf and Two Hundred Solemn Faces" on my car radio while driving to work sometime in '98. I think it was the piano-rocking that grabbed my attention -- I never heard anything like it before! Listen for yourself:



Needless to say I became a fan. So I bought "Whatever and Ever, Amen" and mostly everything else he came out with. And then I added him on Myspace where I received the update that his next solo album following the 2005 solo release "Songs For Silverman" titled "Way to Normal" is coming out in September 30 of this year. Huzzah!

A tour is also in the horizon - click the link below to purchase tickets and see the tour dates & venues:
Ben Folds Tickets


To sate our curiosity meanwhile, the video for its first single "Hiroshima" was premiered just a few hours ago:



Some of my favorite Ben Folds' tracks:


Like what you're hearing so far? Why don't you complete your Ben Folds Audio CD collection -



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We have more pop culture graphic tees @ PoptasticTees.com

As some of you may already know, I'm a Weezer nut (if you have no idea why I think they're the bees knees, I urge you to try listening to some of their albums). Here's some exciting news from their Myspace:

WEEZER ANNOUNCES NORTH AMERICAN TOUR-

Tour in support of latest album Weezer featuring number 1 song Pork And Beans!

Weezer announced today a North American tour in support of their top ten album Weezer (referred to as the Red Album). Starting September 23 at the Tsongas Center in Boston, the band will embark on a five week tour including dates in New York City at Madison Square Garden and Los Angeles' Great Western Forum. This is the band's first tour in three years. Drummer Pat Wilson announced, "if you want to rock, you know where to find us!"

(Read more here).

And if you want to know where they'll be performing, watch this (ingenious and hilarious!) video and make sure to pay attention to the music.



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So here are some tees you can wear in anticipation of the tour -

Our very own "Pork & Benz" tee:

Pork & Benz Ringer Tee
If you like pork. And German cars.
See this design on other t-shirt colors and styles HERE)

Officially licensed Weezer tees -






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Complete your Weezer album collection -


Related link:
- Poptastic's Pork & Benz for Weezer's Pork & Beans


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We have more pop culture graphic tees @ PoptasticTees.com

I'm still halfway through reading the much-awaited 4th book of the Twilight saga, Breaking Dawn so that should explain the slight silence on this blog, LOL. In the meantime, Stephenie Meyer already posted a playlist to listen along to while reading the book. I've compiled the MP3s here so you can preview the tracks in one easy sweep.

Book I (Bella)
* Beach Boys — Wouldn't It Be Nice
* Billy Idol — White Wedding
* (INXS — Never Tear Us Apart)
* (Muse — Can't Take My Eyes Off of You)*
* Blue October — Congratulations
* Plain White T's — Take Me Away
* Jack's Mannequin — Dark Blue
* Coldplay — No More Keeping My Feet on the Ground*
* Fuel — Hemorrhage


Preview the songs from Breaking Dawn Book 1 Playlist (except those marked with an asterisk*)

Book II (Jacob)
* Nine Inch Nails — Down In It*
* Aerosmith — What it Takes
* Incubus — Earth to Bella (part 1)
* Interpol — No I in Threesome*
* Korn — Twisted Transistor
* TV on the Radio — Wolf Like Me
* My Chemical Romance — The Sharpest Lives
* Motion City Soundtrack — Point of Extinction
* R.E.M. — Accelerate
* Blue October — My Never (song not released until March 2009)*
* Jimmy Gnecco — Someone to Die For*


Preview the songs from Stephenie's Breaking Dawn Book 2 Playlist (except those marked with an asterisk*)

Book III (Bella)
* Smashing Pumpkins — Today
* Right Said Fred — I'm Too Sexy
* (Jimmy Eat World — Chase this Light)
* (Jackie Wilson — Your Love is Lifting Me Higher)
* Linkin Park — Pts. Of Athrty
* 3 Doors Down — Duck and Run
* Simon and Garfunkel — Hazy Shade of Winter
* Death Cab for Cutie — I Will Follow You Into the Dark
* Muse — Intro [Absolution]
* Muse — Take A Bow
* Muse — Assassin
* Ok Go — Invincible
* Travis — Safe
* Arcade Fire — No Cars Go


Preview the songs from Stephenie's Breaking Dawn Book 2 Playlist (except those marked with an asterisk*)

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And because we are first and foremost a t-shirt blog, here are officially licensed band tees you can wear while rocking out to the music. (They actually look like shirts Bella Swan would wear, don't you think?)
















Related links:
- Twilight tees @ Poptastic
- A Breaking Dawn Spoiler + a Licensed Twilight Tee


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We have more pop culture graphic tees @ PoptasticTees.com

Weezer is definitely one of my favorite bands of all time so it was but natural for me to listen to the streaming audio of the catchy first single Pork and Beans on their site every single day until the Red Album'srelease over a month ago.



The video of Pork and Beans is a delight to watch as well - it features a decade's worth of popular internet memes & various "famous" YouTube personalities, most if not all of us net-nerds will readily recognize. In true Weezer fashion, the new album is chock-full of their brand of tongue-in-cheek power pop that fans have grown to love over the years.

So anyway, I guess listening to the song over & over for more than a month led me to come up with the following design -


Pork & Benz: You don't even have to be a Weezer fan to appreciate it. It's for everyone who likes pork. And German cars. You can see the other t-shirt styles and colors the design is available in by clicking the image/link above, or by clicking HERE.

Related link:
- TAG: Pop Culture Parody shirts on Poptastic