Boys Like Girls

so our first 12 hours in the UK have been…interesting. packed with press, etc., but mostly we have been looking out for our boy poolie. on the flight he was complaining of an overwhelming pain in his lower back and a bump. we got him off to the doctor when we landed, and it ended up being a pretty nasty infection. they put him under, cut him open, drained it out, and now paul has officially packed his bags and moved into painkillersville, population: 1. he will be back in action in the AM, bandaged with gauze, and ready to hit it on the radio 1 live lounge.

after invading pauls deathbead, andy and i hit up a nice little pub for some fish and chips. he says hi: 

go eat an avocado. 

landed safe in london. i want to be on this show. mostly just so i can wear that sweet outfit. sign me up.

just boarded american airlines 108. next stop london, heathrow. cheers, mate.

old photo update #3.

brent/martin in the drive knights of columbus circuit ‘03. check up on brent as a baldface no beard. mulligan you look like a wimp. mountain man forever.

can one of my friends please suck up their masculinity for 2 hours and go see spring awakening on broadway with me before it closes? thanks.

culture shock.

no tv. (not just no HD, no 2000 channels with on demand, but no TV at all), 2 hours of backroads to get here, the only access to internet is through the internet card i bought last week that is roaming and barley crawling fast enough to post. no 3G up in this bitch. a few more precious hours of isolation and then its off to london for a brief visit to radio 1 and back to NYC to continue working on the new record. how’d the whole no internet thing work out? you cheated huh? it’s snowing like crazy outside. i’m gonna go put on some boots and take a walk.

i have always been turned off by anything vampire related. i think every vampire besides count chocula is a hoax and a waste of space. so this week, all i have been hearing about is this stupid new movie and whether i’ve seen it yet. tonight i got all excited to make a post saying that i was boycotting “twilight” and that i didn’t care what anybody thought, and there was no way that i was ever going to believe the hype. then i figured it might be a good idea to do 30 seconds of research and at least watch the trailer once before making such a bold statement on the internet. now i’m pissed off and confused cause it actually looks pretty damn good and i want to see it. sheeeeeit.

remember, no computer tomorrow. this will be the last post until after thanksgiving. go play poker, charades, uno, pictionary, take a hike, call a friend you haven’t talked to in a while, learn how to knit, eat, run in one of those 10k races they probably have in your town, watch our new dvd, organize your closet, buy a man-ring, make a scrapbook, shave your eyebrows, do anything but go online.

gobble gobble, bitches.

coming xmas ‘08, per request.

just got to the docs crib in good old andover, massachusetts suburbia after a 4 1/2 hour drive. its 7:53 in the morning and i have officially been up for 34+ hours. party. for the sake of good karma, and mostly so this kid will stop emailing me, will you please add him on myspace?

www.myspace.com/hoodrichjesse

www.stickam.com/hoodrichjesse

i don’t know who the hell this kid thinks he is, but a month or so ago he hacked the BLG myspace and posted bulletins, etc., hacked my personal email, hacked my personal screen name…we basically had to call in the sony legal department to get him to stop. then a few days ago he has the nerve to IM and email me to “say hi.” the entire hoopla was all over getting more people to watch his stickam and add him as a myspace friend. i don’t even know what fucking stickam is. it seems to me that if you are intelligent enough to hack 90 internet accounts with really complicated passwords that change weekly, you should be more worried about getting a job for the government or at least some really sweet illegal secretive hacker regime in some old ladies basement like in the movies rather than spending your time caring about people watching you eat cereal on live streaming video. please add this lunatic so he will leave me alone. and while your add it, help him get a real job so he stops wasting his time and his brainpower.

remember, no internet tomorrow. (this includes you hoodrichjesse) start brainstorming some good old fashioned alternatives or i will steal your turkey and dave katz will pee in your gravy.

i think i’m gonna start doing this. maybe once a week, maybe more, maybe less. who knows. feel free to submit stuff you’d think i’d dig in the comments. 

the best music video i’ve seen in a while:

BUTCH WALKER: THE WEIGHT OF HER

the second best music video i’ve seen in a while:

I AM SHAMELESS.

the hardest i have laughed in a while:

SCREAMING AT CATS.?

ok, so check it out. within the last few years, a new genre has trickled it’s way into the music scene. we are slowly watching guitars being replaced by apple laptops. techno beats and autotuned vocals have become hipper than double bass patterns and screaming at rock shows. suddenly every band has replaced there black on black wardrobe for brightly colored t-shirts that make their promo pics look like a bag of jelly beans. is this a bad thing? no. it’s musical progression. will our new record follow the trend? no. probably the opposite. however, do i find myself alone at 5am dancing around my apartment to my new favorite discmo bands? yes. and yes, discmo. disco/emo. now it’s got a name. get involved. but the big question at hand is who is doing discmo best?

here are my current favorites:

RUNNER RUNNER

THE FRIDAY NIGHT BOYS

STEREO SKYLINE

CASH CASH

dave katz: “my pants blew up.”

why am i hanging out on a beach with this dude?

Boys Like Girls' "Heels Over Head" music video is now up at MTV.com! Click here to watch!

The video features footage from the band's new DVD, Read Between The Lines, which is available both in stores and on iTunes!

Read Between The Lines:
iTunes
Amazon

so i get off my flight this morning and hit the public bathroom by baggage claim. i see this dude in a suit that looks exactly like akon so i thought it would be funny to take a picture with him. so i ask for a pic and i go “how often do people tell you that you look like akon?” he goes “every day man” and smiles. then out of the stall comes this HUGE intimidating guy carrying a bunch of luggage…obviously a security guard, and as he stands there waiting and i realize it IS akon. he ended up being a really nice dude. we had a good laugh.

@ the vancouver airport about to hop on a redeye. NYC ill see you in the morning. <3. what you guys up to for thanksgiving? i’m headed up to maine with the doc and cookin’ up a storm. maybe i’ll get in a little early season skiing if we get some snow up there. do me (and yourself) a favor. this thanksgiving, try not to go on the computer for the whole day. your family misses you. martinsays.com will be taking the day off too.

thunder: rob’s basement, summer ‘05.

this is the first time i’ve heard robs voice in a long time. i remember that summer of ‘05 like it was yesterday…right before beef, bryan and i met paul and became boys like girls, hanging in his basement, not a care in the world, all my high school friends and i singing along to silly cover songs as if there was a campfire in the middle of the room. when he took his own life that fall, i had a really hard time playing this song for a while. he always asked me to play it and would sing along every time in his deep distinctive baritone. to this day, every time i play it i hear his voice resonating my head, still singing along with me. i will never forget the people that were in this room. my friend josh sent me this video a few days ago and i hesitated to post it, but i want everyone to hear a voice that should still be with us. life is too short to hesitate. and in some cases…life is much too short. 

martin

edit: josh sent me a color treated version of the video, the original is a bit dark. you can view it here.

Head over to martinsays.com to check out a clip of Boys Like Girls' new music video for "Heels Over Head"! The music video features clips from BLG's new DVD, Read Between The Lines, which is in stores now.

The full music video will be available this Monday, November 24th.

featuring clips from our full length dvd “read between the lines” in stores now. whole video goes up monday on mtv.com. yes, that pizza tasted good.

i just saw this commercial on television and i’m still laughing. the snuggie. what the fuck is this world coming to.

bringing back the dirty little secret. get involved. let’s hear/see some good ones.

taking a quick trip back across the water with our boys in metro station.

bring your sexy accents.

1-24-09 Glasgow @ Garage (http://www.seetickets.com Box office number : 0871 230 7131)

1-25-09 Manchester @ Club Academy (http://www.gigsandtours.com/?a=boys+…oyslikegir ls)

1-26-09 Birmingham @ Academy 2 (http://www.gigsandtours.com/?a=boys+…oyslikegir ls)

1-27-09 Leeds @ Cockpit (0113 245 5570 / www.lunatickets.co.uk)

1-29-09 London @ Astoria 2 (http://www.gigsandtours.com/?a=boys+…oyslikegir ls)

1-30-09 Oxford @ Academy (Phone Tix: 0844 477 2000 Web Tix: www.tctmusic.co.uk)

1-31-09 Portsmouth @ Wedgewood Rooms (B/O 023 9286 3911 www.seetickets.com)

needed a change of pace and some fresh air so i flew to vancouver, bc for a few days. i promise to come back with some new songs written and sexy windburned cheeks. who’s going christmas caroling with me this year? i’m already prepping my game. g e t i n v o l v e d.

Boys Like Girls is heading back to the UK with special guests Metro Station! Check below for dates and ticket links!

1-24-09 Glasgow @ Garage (http://www.seetickets.com Box office number : 0871 230 7131)

1-25-09 Manchester @ Club Academy (http://www.gigsandtours.com/?a=boys+like+girls&site=boyslikegirls)
 
1-26-09 Birmingham @ Academy 2  (http://www.gigsandtours.com/?a=boys+like+girls&site=boyslikegirls)
 
1-27-09 Leeds @ Cockpit  (0113 245 5570 / www.lunatickets.co.uk)

1-29-09 London @ Astoria 2 (http://www.gigsandtours.com/?a=boys+like+girls&site=boyslikegirls)
 
1-30-09 Oxford @ Academy (Phone Tix: 0844 477 2000 Web Tix: www.tctmusic.co.uk)

1-31-09 Portsmouth @ Wedgewood Rooms (B/O  023 9286 3911 www.seetickets.com)

although nip/tuck and i have shared many a fine moment together, i have always been slightly terrified of plastic surgery. especially ever since one of my high school teachers was on that really eerie makeover show a few years back called “extreme makeover,” where they basically tear your face off and build you a new one. today was my first experience at the plastic surgeons, but hey, at least it wasn’t for something superficial.

the story. so last night as i stepped off the WTK bus my index finger didn’t quite make it in time and was slammed in the door so hard that it was still able to latch shut. this fractured my finger, instantly swelling it up to the size of a baseball. blood spewing everywhere. 

so of course i thought wrapping it in a paper towel and ignoring it would do the trick. not the case. this morning i wake up to my entire body throbbing and look down and my entire finger is black.

sooo…i had to go in to the dreaded plastic surgeon, get the whole thing stitched back together, all the extra blood drained out of my finger…the whole easy queezy 9 yards. i’ll spare you the gory pictures in case you just ate. 

should be fun playing guitar without my index finger for the next few weeks.

postscript:

ps this was hard to type.

<3M

dr. j circa 1970. butt chin ahoy. i’ve embraced my destiny. bill and trav took me on a bogus journey tonight. it brought me back a specific memory.

playing some knights of columbus with the kings in mcallen texas on our second “headlining” tour 2 years ago in front of exactly 183 people…a huge achievement at the time. no stage. no expectations. no bald dudes on blackberries in the back. no monitors. no stage managers. no sound guys. no light guys. no guitar techs. no drum techs. no tour busses. no backstage. no vip section. no security. i would fly down to mcallen texas right this second to relive that memory.

ps care bears on fire will eat you.

that was some good begging.

thats right beef, i rocked the cowboy hat long before you, sucka. 4th grade. merrimack jr theatre. tumbleweeds. get involved. more later.

early 2004.

so i recently befriended one of those mac genius dudes from the mac store. if you are as technically challenged as i am, i suggest you sharpen up your people skills and do the same asap. a few days ago he pulled all the info off the hard drive of my old powerbook…four years ago i left it on the roof of my car and it took quite the tumble, and i thought i had lost all my old pictures and mp3s forever. ill be sharing a few of the old pictures from time to time. my favorites are the ones of our old apartment. but you’ll have to beg for those. roll call TAI, WTK tomorrow at roseland. lets party.

boys like girls: taking it to the streets guerilla style

whoever made this is my new hero. welcome to my top 8. unfortunately for me, every day i watch my chin slowly age into a butt chin. no wonder dr. j refuses to shave. i would tell you to get involved, but i don’t think anyone who reads this site should to aspire to grow a butt chin. regardless, hope you have a wonderful morning.

edit: let’s see a martin’s froglegs myspace poppin’ pronto.

another great american past time will be put to rest tonight. i remember being 13 years old and coming home from school every day to watch carson daily announce whether korn or limp bizkit had beaten out the backstreet boys or nsync for the top slot. i remember wondering what jesse camp would be wearing, dreaming some day i’d see the inside of that studio as more than a passer by in times square staring up at the logo covered glass with dreamy eyes. i remember our first time on the show, meeting damien, taking photos in the famous photobooth, the tiny little set that looks enormous on tv, literally shaking from being so nervous on camera, the air conditioning that’s always cranked so high that it makes you shiver, the cheap fog machine that makes it hard to breathe. i remember the day on warped tour when our video hit #1…my first time using video chat, from backstage where we lost internet 5 minutes before we were going live on webcam to announce the video. i remember when people cared about music videos. they didn’t care what type of shoes heidi montag was wearing this week, or about watching the next internet celebrity pick out a boyfriend just because he can eat a cow tongue faster than the next guy. i remember counting backwards from ten to one every afternoon at 3:30pm.

rip trl 11/16/08.

metro station: “seventeen forever” video trailer.

disco-esque ferris wheels and motorcycles are jumping over them. this is a big deal. get involved.

get involved 11/15 part 2.

cough. midnight. exclusive preview of an amazing music video from some friends of mine. cough.

get involved 11/15.

ps surprise coming tonight at midnight. stay tuned.

this whole girls in high waisted jean fad needs to end. you all look like my 7th grade english teacher in her ‘91 levis that she pulled all the way up to below her boobs. the only girl they look good on is katy perry. bring back the low rise! on a non-superficial note, this is crazy.

champion. 

the smell of scented candles usually gives me a headache, but the yankee candle midsummer’s night one ain’t that bad. go buy one. speaking of scents, vanilla perfume is gross. i like vanilla ice cream not vanilla chicks. got some new sneaks today. they look like the napoleon dynamite moon boots. i’m celebrating that by hanging up some xmas lights.

i got mine first, suckas. surprise on track 6.

beef and brent just called me from the ac/dc show and they’re sitting next to gene simmons. hating them right now. and i want pinkberry with some fucking cap’n crunch and raspberries rather than this gross piece of trident splash gum. sorry but you can’t rip off gushers and not let me swallow it. go buy the new butch walker cd.

who’s hungry?

mitchy from hannah montana challenged me to a freestyle rap battle at the studio. i put him in my pipe and smoked him.

i am a wombat.

today as i was walking to the elevator, my new neighbor bursts out of her apartment screaming as if she had just seen michael moore naked. turns out she saw a rat run across her kitchen floor. once she calmed down, we became friends. she takes pictures of toilets. she’s gonna frame one for me to hang in my bathroom. love that.

so today is 11/11. thing is, every night at 11:11 i make a wish. so tonight…with the quad 11 timewarp 60 second mecca of possible luck, there’s a lot of pressure on picking the right wish.

wish with me. pick a good one. let me know how it works out for you.

Veteran’s Day

Daniel Johnson
to Martin

show details  7:35 PM (5 hours ago)

Hey, just home from work…. and thinking.  Tomorrow is Veteran’s Day, a national holiday.  I usually don’t give it much thought.  I was a CO, a conscientious objector, in the Vietnam War, 1969.  Peace, love, dope, you know.  And although I served my 2 years of alternative duty in the U.S. in lieu of military service (I worked in a hospital in Brooklyn for those 2 years), I’ve always felt a bit guilty on Veteran’s Day.  I was just smart enough, and just fortunate enough, to write a good enough essay back in 1969 to get a CO status and avoid going to war.  So as a parent, I have always been grateful that our country no longer has a draft….the thought that my son could get drafted, go to war, and be in harm’s way, has always been so frightful to me.  So now, as more and more Veteran’s Days come and go, I feel greater respect for those parents who did let their sons go to war.  Many of those boys died.  Tomorrow is Veteran’s Day.  I feel for those parents.  For whatever reason they let their sons go…they, and their sons who served, I now think, should be honored tomorrow.

Check this site out.

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/veteransday1.html

love,
Dad

Boys Like Girls' brand new DVD, Read Between The Lines, is now available for purchase on iTunes!

"Read Between The Lines" is a 100 minute film celebrating the past two-and-a-half years of the band's ever-evolving story. This film intermixes more than 45 minutes of live performances from the "Soundtrack of Your Summer Tour" with behind-the-scenes action from the road and in-depth interviews.

Click here to purchase now

studio update 1: checking in.

to this date i haven’t really commented much on politics or our new president elect. tonight i felt the need to even out the pictures of boxes of count chocula with some food for thought, and express how i feel.

i am someone who has always believed, as obama does, in the power of positive thinking, and his credo, “yes we can” has really resonated with people of my generation.  i am excited to see change on the horizon. i’m optimistic for the promises to end the war and reverse the economic slump. hopefully, we will be living in a better america and world within the next four years. but like he said in his acceptance speech in chicago on tuesday, he realizes that change does not happen overnight…it will take time, maybe more than a single term, for real change to take place. i like that he is calling on my generation to help and to work hard to create a unified america.

as a songwriter, my personal life is 100% focused around words and passion and i truly admire president elect obama’s speeches and enthusiasm. let’s hope those words are turned into actions.

i just bought a record player, red towels, a humidifier and some salt and vinegar potato chips. currently listening to old finch and it reminds me of driving up to maine with dan the douche in my old white ‘99 jeep cherokee sport doing 120 with a speedometer that only went to 100, hitting the governor on back roads scattered with moose and black ice. stay in school and remind me to stop using so much hairspray. aquanet was cool in the 50’s. not anymore.

i want to get a little fat black pug that snorts and name him baron von albert.  

i tried twitter today. then i jumped off a bridge. only good thing i got out of the experience was remembering this book that i read in third grade. i remember we had to write fan letters to our favorite authors and i wrote one to roald dahl. when my teacher told me he was dead i cried in front of the whole class. get involved.

go buy a polaroid camera off of ebay. let’s unravel the digital chokehold of the new millennium one step at a time. then you can call me a hypocrite as i make that statement while sitting here blogging rather than writing a book. cheers.

go eat some. or at least go buy this costume…

straight from taunton massachusetts onto mtv

from up in andover down to nyc

speakin of the guest list, did somebody call wheezy?

yo blg premiering a dvd

from the worcester palladium to the foxboro stadium 

everywhere we be slayin em through the thick and the thin of it

seein all my people thinkin its about time

to let you motherfuckers read between the lines.

go buy it.

im not scared of bugs

im not scared of spiders 

im not scared of snakes….

the only thing im scared of is our country getting nuked

and jack bauer not being there to save the day.

“

welcome to martinsays.com.

from wikipedia.org:
“Simon says is a game for three or more players (most often children). One of the people is “it” – i.e., Simon. The others must do what Simon tells them to do when asked with a phrase beginning with “Simon says”. If Simon says “Simon says jump”, the players must jump (players that do not jump are out). However, if Simon says simply “jump”, without first saying “Simon says”, players do not jump; those that do jump are out. In general, it is the spirit of the command, not the actions that matters; if Simon says “Simon says touch your toes”, players only have to show that they are trying to touch their toes. It is the ability to distinguish between valid and invalid commands, rather than physical ability, that matters here.

It is Simon’s task to try to get everyone out as quickly as possible, and it is every one else’s job to stay “in” for as long as possible. The last of Simon’s followers to stay in wins (although the game is not always played all the way through).

It is considered cheating to give impossible commands (“Simon says ‘lift your left leg’. Simon says ‘lift your right leg’. Simon did not say ‘put your left leg down’!”) or phrase the commands in such a way that the other player has no option but to ‘go out’ (“Simon says ‘jump up’. Come down.”). However, at least in some versions, it is allowed for Simon to eliminate players by asking them to do something seemingly unrelated to the game (example: “Anyone remaining join me up here.”)

A recent psychological study found that the game can be a healthy way to help children to improve self-control and restraint of impulsive behavior. [1]

The name of the game also inspired a classic 1980s electronic toy named Simon by computer games inventor Ralph H. Baer.[2] It is a circular electronic game featuring four colored quadrants. The game will flash quadrants in turn and expect you to repeat the sequence. If you get the sequence correct, the game will respond with a longer sequence. There is also a classic Simon Says-like mode called Tricky Mickey in the 1989 Milton Bradley game of physical skill Mickey Says, which features Mickey Mouse as its host.”

…time to get involved, bitches. get off your cell phones, stop texting and start jumping.
martin says check this site every day and your life will improve 18.7%.

”

- Barack Obama

Hey friends!

We have a high quality video of Pete Wentz from Fall Out Boy joining us on stage for "The Great Escape" in London up on our Friends Or Enemies profile - check it out and let us know what you think!

<3BLG

Hey everyone,

So as some of you may know, today is the day that our brand new DVD, Read Between The Lines, hits stores; we are extremely proud of it and can't wait to hear what you think!

The DVD is available in stores everywhere, and for those of you who wish to purchase it online, it's available on Amazon.com

Head over to Alloy.com to check out another clip from the DVD!

Write us back and let us know what you think of Read Between The Lines :)

<3BLG