Taylor on VH1 Storytellers and AMAs

VH1 storytellers

Taylor Swift held a contest recently calling colleges to vote competing for a private concert. Harvey Mudd College in California won and Taylor performed a small concert, which was recorded by VH1 and premiered as an episode of VH1 Storytellers. 

She opened with You Belong With Me.
"I recently wrote an album called Red and I am holding a guitar that is also red. The song that I wrote was about this relationship that I had that was the worst thing ever and the best thing ever at the same time. I was writing this song and I was thinking about correlating the colors to different feelings I was going through...emotions like daring, passion, love, affection, and the other side: jealousy and anger and frustration and 'You didn't call me back and I need space.' What I ended up doing was writing a song that I hope you want to hear right now called 'Red.'"

 

Next, she performed Ours. That song was one of Taylor's best moments. It was just her and her guitar. Her voice is so pure and controlled. The anecdote beforehand made it even better. She said when two people are in love, it's theirs and no one else's, even though everyone wants to judge. She talked about a critic that really didn't like her and she wrote Mean, which she performed next. She then told a funny story about writing a song accidentally in the studio with two co writers. A friend of an ex came in and said I heard you're getting back together.
We are Never Ever Getting Back Together was performed next. 

She said the next song she wrote for her high school talent show about a nice guy she was dating at the time. The crowd loved it. She told her record label she wanted it on album and they told her that she can't base decisions on your friends. It was her first number one so she said I guess you can.  
She played Our Song. 
 

 

Taylor said you never know what's going to happen to a song when it's released. When she was 17, she liked a guy who was bad news and her parents were right about him. She got mad at them one day and stormed off, slammed the door, and wrote a song comparing them to Romeo and Juliet. 
She played Love Story, her first number one worldwide hit. 

Note: This is based on the VH1 Storytellers show, not the actual performance. They didn't air every song she performed. She actually performed You Belong With Me, Red, Ours, Eyes Open, Mean, Begin Again, Our Song, Love Story, and closed with We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together, lasting about an hour and a half for about 3,000 students.

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American Music Awards 

Taylor won Favorite Female Country Artist  
and performed on the AMAs this year. 

 

She performed I Knew You Were Trouble (debut). She appeared in a long white gown.  Midway through the song, she disappeared in a mob of her dancers. A few seconds later, they dispersed revealing her in a red and black corset with a black skirt with gold embellishments and details. 

 
 
 
 

Click here for a video of her performance. 
I thought it was awesome.

 In 2010, she performed Back to December and won Fav Female Country Artist. In 2011, she didn't perform but she sweeped the awards, winning Fav Female Country Artist, Fav Country Album, AND Entertainer of the Year (the highest award). 
 
 

Berry Eagles and Looming Football

Update: the eggs have hatched! Berry has BABY bald eagles! (1/29/13)

Update: there are eggs in the nest!! (1/5/13).

Update: Berry installed a live eagle cam to arch the nest! (12/17/12).

Update: the female could lay eggs any day now! (11/28/2012).

Back during all the debates on campus about adding football, two bald eagles nested on campus right where the stadium was to be built. Officials and bird experts and such even comments on how odd it was for the eagles to nest so far from water.

How about that? I think it's hilarious in a karma kind of way.
The birds that are protected by federal LAW (can't touch them, can't move them, 100K fine) build a nest in the EXACT spot where the stadium is planned. 

Hm. Hehehe. 

This is just incredible!

 Stadium plans were halted. Berry had to apply to some forestry association to get permission to build in the planned spot. Recently, Berry was granted permission to build as planned.

September 7, 2013

This is the date of the first Berry football game.. 

The first ever Berry football coach. 

Tony Kunczewski from La Grange College.

*sigh* 

I am so glad that I will be long gone from Berry when football fever sets in. 

Protein Crystals

These are the proteins (lysozyme) we crystallized in biochem lab last week.

I think that's SO COOL!

Ticket Fiasco

So Taylor announced her Red tour, which kicks off in March and goes through September so far. Tickets went on sale November 16 at 10am. I was worried. 

I couldn't get tickets for the Speak Now tour because it sold out in three days. I was worried about the Red tour since her career has skyrocketed so much. I knew tickets would go fast and I wanted to be ready. But I had a test that day at 10am when they went on sale. This only caused more worrying and panic. 

On November 11th, I received an email with a secret code to be able to purchase tickets as part of the presale the next day at 1pm. WHAT? I was surprised and so so soooooo happy that I would be able to try to get tickets without messing up my test! So at 12:50pm on that Sunday, I was ready. I had my code and my laptop and Ticketmaster already loaded. As SOON as they became available, I entered my code and searched for the 'best available.' No luck. I tried again. Nothing. I must have searched 15 different times and it couldn't find tickets. Finally, it found two tickets, but the were in the back, third level, $200. I gave them up and searched over and over for almost an hour. I finally gave up. 

Later that day, I found out 14 stadium and arena shows were sold out within MINUTES, including the one I was shooting for. Taylor sold out three stadiums and several arenas: 
Toronto’s Rogers Centre stadium (sold out in 5 minutes)
Detroit’s Ford Field stadium (sold out in 10 minutes)
Chicago’s Soldier Field stadium (sold out in 25 minutes)
Los Angeles (2 shows in 1 minute)
Washington DC (2 shows in 5 minutes)
Atlanta (2 shows in 5 minutes)
Miami, Tampa, Columbus, San Diego and Sacramento.

In response to the strong demand for tickets, the following shows have been added to the previously announced RED Tour dates:

June 14 - Toronto

July 26 - Foxborough, MA

August 23/24 - Los Angeles   

Taylor Swift’s The RED Tour will now include 11 stadium stops,

 for a total of 62 shows in 45 cities in 29 states and 3 provinces in 2013.  

I have another city in mind that I will try to get tickets 
 for as soon as they go on sale.

It's Official!

I'm a Georgia voter! 

I mailed in my absentee ballot this morning. 

This is my first election to be old enough to vote. 

In November 2008, I had only been 17 a few months.

 

Red Hot

I love Taylor's new album!! 

It's very different and I like the songs, some more than others, but I think the three new songs released with the deluxe edition from Target are superior to most of the others she released, because they are more ...real and exposed, like her other songs. 

 

 State of Grace

Taylor described this one as a "song that sounds like the feeling of falling in love in an epic way." This one is about Jake Gyllenhaal. I really like it and the music is awesome. I absolutely love the way she says 'you're my Achilles heel.'

 Red

This one is pretty much my favorite song (as a whole) from the album. 

It's also about Gyllenhaal.

 Treacherous

This one is most likely referring to John Mayer. 
This one is just okay. The line 'this slope is treacherous' just feels weird to me. 
It's almost like it feels more like twangy country, which I don't like.  
Initially, I wasn't crazy about this song. But after listening to it a few more times all the way through, I absolutely love the second half of this song. I think it's my favorite part of the whole album. 

 "Two headlights shine through the sleepless night And I will get you, get you alone. Your name has echoed through my mind and I just think you should, think you should know,that nothing safe is worth the drive and I will follow you, follow you home... I'll follow you, follow you home"

 I Knew You Were Trouble

When this song was released, I initially thought it was weird. The more I listened to it, though, the more I liked it. It's such a different vibe from her, but now I think I love it. It's so catchy!! This one is about Harry Styles from One Direction. Taylor had one date with him, then he went gallivanting off to Australia and 'found some trouble' with another girl.

All Too Well

This song is sweet. It's your classic Taylor. It just screams Jake Gyllenhaal.

22
Whoa. What? I love the tone of her voice for the verses of this one! This is such a fun song. It refers to her friends Ashley Avignone, Dianna Agron, Claire Callaway, and Selena Gomez.

I Almost Do

I really like the chorus in this one. I was unaware that Taylor dated Adam Young from Owl City. This song is clearly about him. (Side note: "Enchanted" was also about this guy.) A convincing argument could also be made for John Mayer.

We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together

I LOVE this song. It's this album's equivalent to "Picture To Burn." Some say Gyllenhaal again, but it could also be Will Anderson.. from the band Parachute? I have never heard of him. Or that band. 

Stay Stay Stay

I love love love the music for this one. It's so happy and peppy and you just want to bounce along to it. It's a cute song. This one is more about her THEN current boyfriend, Conor Kenedy. The album dropped Monday. Today is Friday and there's talk flying that they are no longer together, due to Taylor's busy schedule and long distance.

The Last Time

Gary Lightbody joins Taylor on this song. Never heard of him before. He sounds so much like Michael Buble to me. When the tempo picks up, it sounds like a Lady Antebellum song. This one refers to Gyllenhaal again. Geez, they must have had a whirlwind on/off relationship because like half of these songs seem to be about him! The harmonies of this song are gorgeous and effortless. The voices of Gary Lightbody and Taylor Swift mesh so well together. "You open your eyes into mine."

Holy Ground

So upbeat!! But I like it. I love the way she says 'was holy ground.'
This one follows “Forever and Always,” “Last Kiss,” and “Better Than Revenge.” Yep. Joe Jonas. But “Holy Ground” seems to say she's finally at peace with this now. 

Sad Beautiful Tragic

Again, classic Taylor. This one is a toss up. It could be about Mayer or Gyllenhaal. 

The best bet? Her parents' recent divorce.

 

The Lucky One
I love the chorus for this one!! I just want to sway along with it. This song was close to being another one of my favorites until I heard it had a bad word in it. C'mon Taylor. She hasn't used a bad since that first album. That section of the song is really weird to me because of the bad word. That's not Taylor. I don't really wanna listen to this one anymmore now. This song could be about Joni Mitchell, who is one of Taylor's idols and songwriting inspirations. Taylor is going to play her in a secret, biopic. Another option could be Shania Twain. It could also be referring to the hard life of being famous.

Everything Has Changed

This song features Ed Sheeran, who I had also never heard of. I like this one too. The harmonies aren't as pretty and smooth as 'The Last Time.' This one basically screams Conor Kennedy. It sucks though that she bought a $4.5 million home down the street from him, and now they are reportedly split...

Starlight

This one is obviously about Bobby and Ethel Kennedy, Conor's grandparents, written from her (Ethel's) perspective as an ode to young love. 
I really like this one. It's sweet.

Begin Again

This one could refer to Will Anderson, but most likely it's about Conor Kennedy, referring back to Gyllenhaal in the beginning. I really like this one too. 

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BONUS SONGS (deluxe edition) 
I love the bonus songs!!! These are so classic Taylor and I keep them on repeat. 

The Moment I Knew

This one is blatantly about Gyllenhaal. He didn't show up for Taylor's 21st birthday party. She knew it was over. This one is so sad. I adore the chorus.

 

Come Back... Be Here

This one is probably about Gyllenhaal too.
Love it.

Girl at Home

Perhaps Styles or Jonas. Very catchy and I really like it.  

Red (original demo recording)
Eh. I like the album version better. 

State of Grace (acoustic) 
 Oh goodness, I am obsessed with this one. 

Treacherous (original demo recording)
Eh. It's not much different from the album version.

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My favorites?
Red is probably my favorite favorite.
State of Grace

State of Grace (acoustic)
 I Knew You Were Trouble 
We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
Begin Again 
Come Back..Be Here
Girl At Home. 
The Moment I Knew 
Treacherous 

Least favorites?

Sad Beautiful Tragic. It's pretty but just so slow and sad.

The Lucky One. I don't cuss. I thought Taylor didn't either. 

Berry's Demise

Berry College is going to get a football team. I am not happy, by any means. Martha Berry is probably rolling in her grave. She did NOT want a football team! 

What are they thinking adding one!? Geez. 

So the decision to add football apparently was a longtime coming. We have to keep up with Shorter, who added football a couple years ago. The tornado that ripped through campus in April 2011 knocked down many trees. It gave them the perfect excuse to chop down more, some that had been standing since Martha was alive, in order to make room to build a stadium. Once the 'official' decision to add football had been approved, detailed plans for the stadium. its location, a new tennis court area, and a moved gatehouse came out within days. Oh yes, this has been in the works, for a very long time. 

Football is absolutely going to ruin Berry. I love Berry but right now, all I can think of is how glad I am that I will be gone by the time this mess gets started!! I'll be graduating Spring 2013 and it's supposed to start that fall. Yikes. 

The worst part? They're naming the stadium 'Valhalla.' In order to do that, they are going to RENAME Valhalla in Krannert. I am so mad. It's bad enough to add football and ruin the pretty campus and the college's reputation. But to change things that already exist, just so they can be given to football? 

That's outrageous. And stupid. 

They want to take this

 

and this 

 and turn it into this.