The Unemployment Pages

..:.:.:.:..

2007-02-21T14:56:00.000-08:00

A Dozen Albums For A Dozen Months

2006-12-24T16:15:00.000-08:00

I've just finished my classes for this semester so you might think that I'd finally have time to post something interesting here. The truth is that between getting family members off to the airport, shopping for Christmas, helping out with a post-op father and trying to catch up on some much needed sleep, my time today is being spent getting things together for a trip of my own.

Maggie and I are heading to Kansas City (For the last time, it's the one in Missouri) to spend Christmas and New Years with family and friends. While it should be a good time with a lot of laughter, I really can't wait to get to the part of the holiday season where we get to relax and do nothing.

Since my time is short, here's a quick list of the 12 albums that have been in heavy rotation this year (you can do the research yourselves).

12. Mogwai - Mr. Beast

11. Sparklehorse - Dreamt For Light Years In The Belly Of A Mountain

10. The Black Angels - Passover

9. Jeremy Enigk - World Waits

8. Sean Lennon - Friendly Fire

7. The Appleseed Cast - Peregrine

6. The Black Heart Procession - The Spell

5. The Can't See - Coma Comma No More

4. Richard Ashcroft - Keys To The World

3. The Brother Kite - Waiting For The Time To Be Right

2. The Long Winters - Putting The Days To Bed

1. Silversun Pickups - Carnavas

Booksmart Devil

2006-09-17T10:27:00.000-07:00

I've been really busy lately with school, so I haven't had any time to post anything. I've been wanting to write a long post about Silversun Pickups but instead I'll give you the Reader's Digest version.

Since Silversun Pickups released "Carnavas" I have not gone a single day without wanting to hear it. You should check it out.

In related news, I have not been able to go a day without listening to the Long Winters album "Putting The Days To Bed".

It's also worth noting that before "Carnavas" came out, I could not stop listening to the Silversun Pickups album "Pikul" (check that one out too).

Maggie and I are going to see Silversun Pickups for my birthday in about two weeks (I can't wait...it's nice to be excited about a band again). See you there.

Anyway, gotta get back to the studying.

Song Of The Day:
Booksmart Devil - Silversun Pickups

Can You Dig it?

2006-08-01T12:35:00.000-07:00

This is one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time. Thanks to the son of God for making me aware of this.

Talk About Hardcore

2006-07-28T13:43:00.000-07:00

I was under the impression that the band Lifetime was straight-edge. Now, I could be wrong, especially since I hadn't even heard of them until last week.

Straight-edge or not, I do not think that possessing human remains is acceptable.

4th Of July Tag Party

2006-07-02T17:21:00.000-07:00

(Via Sour Times & Busy, Busy, Busy)

Instructions:
1. Go to Wikipedia.
2. In the search box, type your birth month and day (but not year).
3. List three important events that happened on your birthday.
4. List two interesting birthdays and one interesting death.
5. List one holiday or observance (if none, make one up).
______________________________________________________________________________________
Three Important Events:
*1905 - Albert Einstein publishes the paper "Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?" in Annalen der physikThis paper revealed the relationship between energy and mass.

*1928 - The Republic of China is recognized by the United States.

*1964 - The Warren Commission releases its report, concluding that Lee Harvey Oswald, acting alone, assassinated President John F. Kennedy.

Bonus: The Internet
1998 - Google is first established.

______________________________________________________________________________________

Two Birthdays:
*1722 - Samuel Adams, American revolutionary leader (d. 1803)
*1934 - Wilford Brimley, American actor

Bonus: Musicians
1943 - Randy Bachman
1947 - Meat Loaf
1958 - Shaun Cassidy
1982 - Lil Wayne
1984 - Avril Lavigne

______________________________________________________________________________________
One Death:
*1967 - Prince Felix Yussupov, Russian assassin of Rasputin (b. 1887)

Bonus: Musicians
1921 - Engelbert Humperdinck
1986 - Cliff Burton

______________________________________________________________________________________
One Holiday:
*Belgium - French Community Day

The Pot Calling The Kettle Black

2006-06-28T15:05:00.000-07:00

"The Flaming Lips have accused Richard Ashcroft of being "a pompous dick," in a blistering attack on the former Verve star."

Let the battle of the egos begin!

Girls Gone Wild

2006-06-28T10:19:00.000-07:00

While I enjoy the music of both Bjork and Tori Amos and think they are both extremely tallented musicians, I am not a die-hard fan of either. Even though I don't plan on checking out either one of these releases, I can see why they would be big deals.

And since when did Rhino start kicking so much ass?

Bjork - Surrounded (7 CD, DualDisc Box Set)(Rhino)

Tori Amos - A Piano (5 CD, Rarities Box Set)(Rhino)

Girls Gone Mild
Sleater-Kinney are calling it quits after their summer tour dates.
(Is there anything more punk than picking an ending date for your band? Yes, there is)

For The Children

2006-06-22T10:30:00.000-07:00

Apparently....Richard Ashcroft Loves Kids

"Richard Ashcroft (former Verve singer) was arrested this week after apparently bursting into a youth club and drunkenly demanding he be allowed to work with the children."

Why do I get the feeling that Richard Ashcroft is the new Arthur?

Songs Of The Day:
Richard Ashcroft - Buy It In Bottles.mp3
Richard Ashcroft - Break The Night With Colour.mp3
Richard Ashcroft & U.N.K.L.E. - Lonely Souls.mp3

Check These Out

2006-06-21T13:37:00.000-07:00

For anyone who's ever been in a long-distance relationship, this video is for you. Easily the saddest video I have ever seen.

Death Cab For Cutie - A Movie Script Ending

And now, the most entertaining video I have seen in quite some time.

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Dani California

Enjoy!

Born In Chicago

2006-06-14T14:03:00.000-07:00

I wish I was going to be in Chicago for this one. Two and a half days of Touch & Go/Quarterstick bands for super cheap. Like $35 cheap (the first 10 3-day passes sold will be $10 each and the first 250 3-day passes sold will be $25 each).

And did I mention all of the money goes to charity? Go here to check out all of the details.

Here's the lineup so far (more to be announced soon):

!!!
The Black Heart Procession
Calexico
CocoRosie
Didjits (all original members)
Enon
The Ex
Girls Against Boys (all original members)
Killdozer (all original members)
Ted Leo + Pharmacists
Man... Or Astroman? (all original members)
Negative Approach (featuring John Brannon and OP Moore)
The New Year
Pegboy
Pinback
Quasi
Scratch Acid (all original members)
Seam
Shellac
The Shipping News
Supersystem
Three Mile Pilot
Uzeda

Thank God For Mental Illness

2006-06-09T10:35:00.000-07:00

Maggie and I watched the Brian Jonestown Massacre/Dandy Warhols documentary DiG! this weekend. I highly recommend it. Never before has mental illness been so entertaining, frightening and sad at the same time.

Back in 1995, I picked up the Brian Jonestown Massacre album Methodrone and thought it was awesome, one of my favorites that year. Soon after I heard the Dandy Warhols and forgot all about the BJM. It's quite a shame really.

While watching Dig!, I was really impressed with the music of Anton Newcombe and the speed and ease at which the songs seemed to pour out of him. I am now celebrating the entire back catalog of the BJM and have them in heavy rotation.

Sure, I still love the early recordings of the Dandy Warhols but they haven't impressed me in years. Time for something new/old.

Highly recommended songs include:
The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Super-Sonic.mp3
The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Evergreen.mp3
The Brian Jonestown Massacre - That Girl Suicide.mp3
The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Wisdom.mp3

Head over to Dead Bees Records to download these songs (if the links are down) and lots more BJM mp3s for free.

Also, head over to the BJM website to download all of their albums (free in ogg format) for your listening pleasure.

Winging It

2006-06-01T11:00:00.000-07:00

While browsing the internet today, I stumbled across the shittiest mixtape contest. While looking over the entries I came across a track by Wing. Now, I don’t know much about her other than she’s killing me. I can’t stop laughing! What's better, she's totally serious about all of this.

Wikipedia has written about her and has much to say, including this of her songs: “all of them (are) unencumbered by typical musical conventions like harmony, pitch and rhythm”.

Good stuff.

Check her out here and here.
Download her cover of AC/DC’s Back In Black here.

Six Pence For The Sauces EP

2006-05-31T10:29:00.000-07:00

Britt Daniel, singer/guitarist for Spoon, released a cd, a cassette and a 7” EP under the name Drake Tungsten back in the mid to late ‘90’s. While these are definitely not spoon recordings, they capture Britt’s great songwriting abilities. Two of these tracks would later be re-recorded and released as spoon; Chicago At Night on Girls Can Tell and I could Be Underground on the 30-Gallon Tank single. What more can I say? Download and enjoy.

Drake Tungsten – Six Pence For The Sauces EP (Peek-A-Boo Records)

Do The Manta Ray (No mp3) Cool It You Need (mp3) Chicago @ Night (mp3) He Was Soon To Undergo An Experience For Which His Long Training As An Aristocrat, A Gentleman, And An Officer Had Scarcely Prepared Him (mp3) I Could Be Underground (mp3)

Tip A Venti To My Homie

2006-05-31T08:03:00.000-07:00

Juan Valdez to retire.
You will be missed, my friend.

Song Of The Day:
"One More Cup Of Coffee" - Bob Dylan

Let's Make A Deal

2006-05-28T12:20:00.000-07:00

I've got more useless crap on sale on eBay. Help me out and buy something already.

A Most Successful Formula

2006-05-12T01:35:00.000-07:00

I have just received word that Negativland will be performing at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco on Saturday, June 10th.

I've been thinking of how to describe Negativland to those who may not have heard them before and I can't really say it any better than their bio. Here's part of what they say:

"Negativland definitely isn't a "band," though they may look like one when you see their CDs for sale in your local shopping mall. They're more like some sort of goofy yet serious European-style artist/activist collective - an unhealthy mix of John Cage, Lenny Bruce, Pink Floyd, Bruce Connor, Firesign Theatre, Abbie Hoffman, Robert Rauschenberg, 1970's German electronic music, old school punk rock attitude, surrealist performance art, your high school science teacher…and lot's more.
Over the years Negativland's "illegal" collage and appropriation based audio and visual works have touched on many things - pranks, media hoaxes, media literacy, the evolving art of collage, creative anti-corporate activism in a media saturated multi-national world, the bizarre banality of suburban existence, file sharing, intellectual property issues, wacky surrealism, evolving notions of art and ownership and law in a digital age, artistic and humorous critiques of mass media and culture, and, of course, so-called "culture jamming" (a term now thoroughly and somewhat distastefully commodified by ADBUSTERS magazine)."

Download: Negativland - "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (Radio Edit).mp3"

Now, go to their website and see what else they've been up to.

I (Heart) Elliott Smith

2006-05-08T18:04:00.000-07:00

I love Elliott Smith's music. I love Portland, Oregon.

You can guess how excited I was to hear that there would be an Elliott Smith tribute album all performed by Portland artists.

However, I do not love To:Elliott From:Portland.

In my opinion there are only two really excellent covers on this album. They should be tracked down and enjoyed:

Satellite - The Helio Sequence
&
The Biggest Lie - Dolorean

You've let me down, Portland

The Quasi New Pornographers

2006-05-05T10:29:00.000-07:00

I’m usually not that interested in “pop” music but I have to admit I have a new obsession; Mates Of State.

A few months ago I downloaded the track “Fraud In The 80’s” from Barsuk’s website. At first I didn’t think much of the band other than they were trying to cash in on the popularity of bands such as the New Pornographers and Quasi. They have male and female vocals not unlike the New Pornographers Neko Case and A.C. Newman and not only the sound of mid-era Quasi but the reverse band setup of Quasi; the guy sings and plays drums while the girl plays keyboards and sings. Not to mention, they play up the “We’re so in love and aren’t we just so cute” angle. Now add in a heaping helping of pop sensibilities and you have Mates Of State. This is usually not my sort of thing.

Last week I cashed in on eMusic’s 50 free downloads at which time I downloaded the Mates Of State All Day EP. I burned it to a cd and went for a drive. The sun was out, the temperature was warm and I was immediately sucked into the music on my stereo. All at once it hit me; this is perfect music for spring and summer. It’s constantly up-tempo, happy, has lots of melody and full of sing-along lyrics with plenty of harmony.

For the last few days now I’ve been trying to find and download as many free songs by them as I can find. I find myself singing the songs in my head all day and I want to hear the music all the time. It’s definitely crack for the over 30 crowd. Let’s see if the high lasts or if it's a quick come down.

Song Of The Day:
Mates Of State - Fraud In The 80’s.mp3
(Link Is Down - Click Here To Download From Barsuk)

Alphabet Town

2006-04-01T11:06:00.000-08:00

Maggie and I are heading up to Portland in a few weeks for vacation. Maggie as never been and I'm quite excited to show her around. Of course, it's been about six years since I lived there....there's no telling what it will be like now. Even if it's changed a lot up there, it'll be great to get out of here for a while, spend some quality time with Maggie, see some new sights and get to visit my old home away from home.

Oh yeah, look for a full report on this place when we get back from vacation.

Song Of The Day:
"Memory Lane" - Elliott Smith

Print Edition

2006-02-15T09:16:00.000-08:00

For one of my classes at SRJC I had to create a newsletter. Since I haven't had time to write anything of any importance lately, I'll just post that newsletter.

Who Wants False Teeth?

After having a lot of tooth pain last month, I went to the dentist to see what was going on. It turns out that I need to have a root canal. Having a root canal doesn’t really scare me; the part that scares me is that I have no way to pay for it. I’m a student and I am unemployed. This makes it very hard to have either medical or dental insurance. And really, who could come up with $1,500 at the drop of a hat?

I figured that someone would be able to set up some sort of payment plan for me where I could pay off the procedure over a few months. It turns out that the dentists who do root canals expect payment in full at the time of service.

After weeks of calling dentists, looking for someone who could help, I finally called my parent’s dentist. They said they’d be able to set me up with a payment plan since they knew my family. The only bad part is that the dentist in the office that does molar root canals just went on vacation for three weeks. So, maybe I’ll get this tooth taken care of next month.

Mo’ Money

I finally received some money for school. After a long wait, I received some Pell Grant money and was able to buy books and supplies for school. That’s really good news because it’s hard to go to school without supplies. In related news, I should be hearing about my federal student loans later this week. Wish me luck.

In Heavy Rotation

The Jealous Sound
“Kill Them With Kindness”
(www.betterlookingrecords.com)

The Jealous Sound is better that the sum of its parts. Featuring ex-members of Knapsack, Morphine, Shudder To Think, Sunday’s Best, Neither Trumpets Nor Drums and Pulley. Referred to as “The rock you must have” by Spin magazine, this album sound like equal parts Catherine Wheel, the Anniversary and Jimmy Eat World. Standout tracks include “Hope For Us”, “Anxious Arms” and “The Fold Out”. If you’re a fan of any of the bands listed above, this cd is well worth your time and money.

Let Them Eat War

On March 18, 2006, the third anniversary of the “Shock and Awe” invasion of Iraq, there will be anti-war protests worldwide. Come to the rally in San Francisco and show the government what you think of their war on Iraq.

Saturday, March 18 @ 11a.m. in San Francisco
Civic Center, at Grove and Larkin Streets (near Civic Center BART)
(www.answercoalition.org)

Another One Lost

2006-01-26T23:14:00.000-08:00

There was a concert last night that I wish I had been able to go to. It was at the Independent in San Francisco and for $10 I could have seen Lake Trout, Benzos, Send For Help and Viva K. I really wanted to see Lake Trout and Send For Help. Oh well, I'm sure they'll play in town again sometime soon.

The first song I heard by Lake Trout was "Throw Me The Whip". It's this funky little instrumental number with a great bassline over really solid drumming; a great song for driving. Not to mention, it's got one of the best jazz flute leads in recent music. I heard this song and was blown away; I rushed out and bought the "Another One Lost" album. On the version of the cd I bought, there was a free mp3 for a live track called "Lakelive @ XM Studios" clocking in at 31:06. This song was also a fantastic instrumental and I thought these guys could do no wrong. But, upon listening to the actual cd for "Another One Lost" I was disappointed to find that they weren't an instrumental band at all. They sounded more like some weird cross between Coldplay, Blur and Grotus; not quite what I was hoping for. But I have heard that they put on a great live show.

Send for help are a newish band from San Francisco I recently ran across. I frequently visit their myspace page to listen and I can't seem to get enough. Reccomended if you like bands such as Pinback, The Rum Diary or Built To Spill.

The following songs are highly recommend, please check them out.

Lake Trout - Lakelive@XM Studios (mp3)

Lake Trout - Throw Me The Whip (mp3)

Send For Help - Burmese Tiger Pit (mp3)

Indie English Class

2006-01-25T22:57:00.000-08:00

This one's for Maggie.

Ok people, let's try and get these words straight. You can't just throw words around all willy-nilly.

Slander (slndr) n.

Oral communication of false statements injurious to a person's reputation.
A false and malicious statement or report about someone.

Opinion (-pnyn) n.

A belief or conclusion held with confidence but not substantiated by positive knowledge or proof: “The world is not run by thought, nor by imagination, but by opinion” (Elizabeth Drew).
A judgment based on special knowledge and given by an expert: a medical opinion.
A judgment or estimation of the merit of a person or thing: has a low opinion of braggarts.
The prevailing view: public opinion.
formal statement by a court or other adjudicative body of the legal reasons and principles for the conclusions of the court.

Anticipation

2006-01-21T12:30:00.000-08:00

I went to the dentist on Friday in an extreme amount of pain. My teeth had been killing me for three days and I wasn't able to sleep anymore. Even though I was feeling horrible, it still took some work to get me to go to the dentist.

Once I was there the assistant began grilling me about flossing, brushing and anything else slightly related to the mouth. She then began filling my mouth with cardboard slabs for the x-rays. Then the dentist came in and looked at my teeth. Right away he knew what was going on. He told me that I either have a very bad cavity that needs some serious filling or I've waited to long getting this cavity taken care of and will have to have a root canal.

I 'll be heading in on Tuesday, which means I will have to miss some of my classes, but I can't wait to be done with all this pain. Wish me luck.

Spoon - Anticipation 7"
(Mag Wheel Records)

Anticipation (mp3)
Headz (mp3)

Update

2006-01-19T22:59:00.000-08:00

All of the file hosting problems have been fixed and the recent mp3 links have been updated. Thanks to Fulsome from Well Rounded Nerds for letting me know about the problem.

Download at will....

The Helio Sequence - Accelerated Slow-Motion Cinema (EP)
Track Star - Removable Parts / The View From Space 7"
Destroyer - The Temple / Loves Of A Gnostic 7"

Transistor Radio

2006-01-15T12:50:00.000-08:00

I missed, what I would guess was, a really fun show last night. The Helio Sequence, The Can't See and Black Fiction played at the Rickshaw Stop in San Francisco.

I've been a fan of the Helio Sequence since I first picked up a copy of their demo cd "Accelerated Slow-Motion Cinema (EP)" back in 99. It blew me away that two eighteen year olds could write and record such a solid album all by themselves. And what was more impressive was that it sounded like a mix of eaqual parts the Beatles and the Beta Band. Two of the songs ended up on their Cavity Search Records debut but were re-recorded. I prefer the sound of the demos as they are a little more raw and exciting. Be sure and check out their other two albums released on Sub Pop Records.

The Can't See are somewhat new to me, but I'm excited to hear a full length release since I was such a fan of 764-Hero and Hush Harbor.

Anyways, here's the Helio Sequence for your listening pleasure:

The Helio Sequence - Accelerated Slow-Motion Cinema (EP)
(Self Released Demo)

Just Mary Jane (Calypso) (mp3)
106 / Accelerated Slow-Motion Cinema (mp3)
Transistor Radio (mp3)
The Birth (mp3)

Removable Parts

2006-01-11T10:30:00.000-08:00

I attended a funeral yesterday. I had never been to a funeral before and I didn't even know the person who had died. Heck, I didn't even know anyone in the family of the man who died. I was there to support Maggie, who works with the mother of the man who died.

Anyway, it was not a good time. It all seemed pretty sad. Not just sad because this man died; sad because it seemed like people were having a hard time coming up with nice things to say about him. Sad because this man was 40 and didn't really do anything with his life. There was no mention of a significant other, no close friends and no co-workers. I guess it was especially sad to me because I could see my funeral being a lot like this one was. I can see how my life could look like I haven't done anything either. All I can really hope for is that when asked to use a single word to describe me at my funeral, no one comes up with "Miles per hour", like I witnessed yesterday.

While thinking about all of this yesterday, I started thinking about this song by Track Star called "The View From Space". The line that kept running through my mind was "Sometimes I think about my funeral and who's gonna be there". Excellent single by a great San Francisco band. I first heard them when they opened up for Sunny Day Real Estate and 764-Hero and have been a fan ever since. On a side note, the Track Star album "Lion Destroyed The Whole World" is, in my opinion, one of the best break up albums of all time.

Track Star - Removable Parts / The View From Space 7"
(Suicide Squeeze Records)

Removable Parts (mp3)
The View From Space (mp3)

New And Improved

2006-01-10T10:54:00.000-08:00

I have decided that it is time for me to give something back to the blogging community. I'm going to start posting mp3s every chance I get. I'll start by putting out some of the harder to find tracks that I have on the computer. Since a lot of the tracks I want to put on here are only on vinyl, I'll be sure to get them up as soon as I get my record player up and running again.

Years ago, before everyone was going nuts over the New Pornographers, Daniel Bejar was hard at work releasing albums under the name Destroyer. Destroyer's "The Temple" 7", Released back in 1999, was the first recording I heard by Destroyer and remains one my favorite Destroyer/New Pornographer related releases to this day. If you've already heard Destroyer's "Thief" album you'll be familiar with the track "The Temple" but the version on the single is a little different and a little better (I think). The B-side is a different version of the track "Loves Of A Gnostic" originally released on Destroyer's "City Of Daughters" album.

Anyway, give it a listen. If you like what you hear, support the artist, track down the 7" and buy it.

Destroyer - The Temple 7" (Endearing Records)

Destroyer - The Temple (Single Version)(mp3)Destroyer - Loves Of A Gnostic (Band Mix)(mp3)

Rock Over London, Rock On Cotati

2006-01-03T23:24:00.000-08:00

The Rum Diary will be celebrating the release of their new cd "We're Afraid Of Heights Tonight" at the Tradewinds in Cotati on February 10, 2006 @ 9PM. It's a free show which means I can actually afford to go. It should be a good time.

Check out some new Rum Diary songs here.
Check out some old Rum Diary songs here.

Song Of The Day:
"Assasins In Mocasins" - The Rum Diary

Just Snobby Enough

2005-12-27T11:25:00.000-08:00

The Teenage Mix-Tape

Your snobbery rating (from -39 to 36) is: 12

Not bad. Worth listening to in places. The potential is there. Those at the upper end of this scale are like those tapes which include the occasional Third Eye Foundation or Feelies track in amongst the Coldplay and Travis.

How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 86% on snob-ness

Link: The Music Snobbery Test written by josefk on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

Substance Over Style

2005-12-20T11:08:00.000-08:00

A few days ago I ran across this article about the White Stripes. I've always been annoyed by Jack White, but this really got to me. Here's what bothered me so much:

"Jack White has been complaining that too many bands have copied his colour schemes. The White Stripes are well known for their red, white and black clothes and covers but now it seems other bands such as Green Day and My Chemical Romance have started 'stealing' his ideas.

White added: "Recently so many bands have adopted the red, white and black colour scheme that it's harder for us to stand out.""

I didn't think it was about how you looked; I thought it was all about the music. Bands should stand out by writing good songs but the White Stripes play half-assed, recycled/thrown away MC5 riffs and act as if they are changing the face music. They are not original in sound or style.

The two-piece band has been around for years just as their sound has. Below are two of my favorite two-pieces that do/did something original without sounding totally derivative and without acting like total jack-asses.

764-HERO was a two piece out of Seattle featuring John Atkins (Hush Harbor, Magic Magicians) on vocals, guitar and keyboards and Polly Johnson on drums. Unlike Meg White, Polly could actually play the drums. Also, Check out John's new band the Can't See.

764-HERO - Sunburnt (mp3)
764-HERO - Without Fire (mp3)

Quasi is a two piece out of Portland featuring Sam Coomes (Heatmiser) on vocals, keyboard and guitar and Janet Weiss (Sleater-Kinney) on drums and vocals. Not only do they have the same setup as the White Stripes, they were doing the "ex-husband/wife in a band together thing" years earlier.

Quasi - All The Same (mp3)

And finally, as far as the White Stripes being known for their red, black and white color scheme....I can't really think of any other rock stars that have done that before.

100% Pure G

2005-12-13T12:59:00.000-08:00

I know what I'm getting everyone for Christmas this year. Word.

Turn It Up

2005-12-06T11:21:00.000-08:00

Once again, I've been pretty poor all year and haven't had a lot of money to spend on music. I was able to pick up a few essentials and non-essentials though.

Even though I feel totally out of touch with what's really happening in music, I've decided to go ahead and make an end-of-the-year favorite-list-thing. I'm going to be very original by making two top 9 lists and two top 2 lists. I know, I'm crazy. As usual, all lists are in alphabetical order

If you'd like to make your own end of the year list, you can find the official rules here.

Top 9 Favorite Albums Of 2005:

Beck - Guero
Coheed & Cambria - Live At The Starland Ballroom
Coldplay - X&Y
Death Cab For Cutie - Plans
Girlyman - Little Star
Hot Hot Heat - Elevator
Nada Surf - The Weight Is A Gift
Sigur Ros - Takk
Spoon - Gimmie Fiction

Top 2 Albums Of 2005 I Should Really Try Harder To Listen To:

Foo Fighters - In Your Honor
John Vanderslice - Pixel Revolt

Top 2 Most Disappointing Albums Of 2005:

Bettie Serveert - Attagirl
Coheed & Cambria - Good Apollo I'm Burning Star IV

Top 9 Bands Of 2005 I wish People Would Shut Up About Already:

The Arcade Fire
Bloc Party
Broken Social Scene
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
The Decemberists
Deerhoof
Sufjan Stevens
The White Stripes
Wolf Parade

People Are Strange

2005-11-29T10:49:00.000-08:00

This is one of the most disturbing articles I've ever read:

"You and I can sit here and judge these people and say they were blooming idiots. But they aren't trained to use common sense. They are trained to say and think,`Can I help you?'"

You can also watch a short video of the story from ABC's Primetime.

The Birds

2005-11-28T23:28:00.000-08:00

Jive Turkey

2005-11-23T23:30:00.000-08:00

While looking at thanksgiving photos I ran across this:

In case you can't read it, here's what is says:

Eny trky kan tango (Any turkey can tango)
Eny trky kan dans (Any turkey can dance)
Eny trky kan tango (Any turkey can tango)
If hy had a chans (If he had a chance)

I'm not really sure what this means but I like it. Not to mention, it beats the hell out of just posting some lame turkey picture.

Happy Thanksgiving!

My New Job

2005-11-20T16:31:00.000-08:00

This has been a tough week for me. Let me see if I can put into words exactly what went down.

Actually, it started last week. I got a call from an employer I had sent a resume to. We talked on the phone for about a half of an hour. I guess I was impressive on the phone and was invited in for an interview and was asked to bring a list of three references.

I showed up for the interview and was given a test to determine if I could handle the tasks that would be given to me in this position. I finished all the tasks without any errors. We then sat down and had another long interview where I answered all the questions correctly.

By the end of the interview, I was being told how impressive my resume was, how perfect I would be for the job and how it seemed I could do anything. I was even told "I only have one more interview to do and unless they totally blow my socks off, you're in. And let me say, it'll be hard to top you".

I was very excited because this job was exactly what I was looking for. Part-time so I could go back to school, good pay, flexible hours, benefits, vacation and of course, it was a very interesting job.

I got a call the next day and was told that they wanted to hire me but for legal reasons they had to contact my references first. All three references were called on Thursday. By Monday, two had called back and put in a good word for me. The third one was taking too long so I gave her another reference to call. I gave them two days and called back to see if the last reference had called back yet.

Here's where it gets really good.

I was told that they gave the job to someone else. Because my references were taking so long, someone had a chance to send in another resume and interview for the position. I was told this person had a little more accounting experience than me and had a more "stable work history". Not to mention, her references all called right back. I was also told "If your references had all called back on Monday you would have had this job. Next time you should check on your references and let them know they'll be getting calls".

After I was told that I was the wrong person for this job because of something my references didn't do, I was again smothered in praise. I was told how great I was and how well I interviewed. I was told how many skills I had, how personable I was, how nice I was, how great my resume looked and how I should have no problem getting another job.

Bullshit! I have been trying to get a decent job like this one for years now.

I guess I'll just have to keep looking. Wish me luck.

Song Of The Day:
"Pull The Curtains" - Grandaddy

This Just In

2005-11-17T12:13:00.000-08:00

In case you were wondering:

Death Cab For Cutie still puts on a very enjoyable show.

John Vanderslice is a very talented person. Music, photography and audio engineering. Now you can see and hear all of them at the same time. Check out the awesome video for "Exodus Damage" which features John's music, production and photography.

I think scenesters/hipsters are ridiculous.

Live! Tonight! Sold Out!

2005-11-13T16:12:00.000-08:00

See Ya There.

Song Of The Day:
"Wait" - Death Cab For Cutie

Professional Hot Dog

2005-10-25T20:49:00.000-07:00

Deion Sanders' Hot Dog Express

"When I took that first initial bite there was a great big pop and a burst of juices rushed into my mouth and it was delicious"

I promise, I am not making this up.

10:15:11:00

I Can Do Anything I Want. And So Can You.

2005-10-24T20:55:00.000-07:00

11:15:04:30

Jungle Boogie

2005-09-26T12:03:00.000-07:00

Bragging Rights

2005-09-12T22:39:00.000-07:00

Maggie and I just bought third row tickets to see Sigur Ros.

Song Of The Day:
"Svefn-G-Englar" - Sigur Ros

Holy Shit!!

2005-09-02T12:36:00.000-07:00

"In our judgment, we view this storm as a temporary disruption"
-George W. Bush

Eary Friday morning, an explosion at a chemical depot rocked a wide area of New Orleans and jolted residents awake, lighting up the dark sky and sending a pillar of acrid gray smoke over a ruined city awash in corpses and under siege from looters.

I think it's safe to say it's more than just a "temporary disruption".

Remember....

2005-08-31T14:58:00.000-07:00

Pumpin' On Your Stereo

2005-08-28T18:29:00.000-07:00

Lately, I've hardly had any time to listen to music and even less time to do any posts. Even though I've been busy, I have had a chance to download a few songs that I've been listening to and am very excited about. Here's a list for you all:

*Dandy Warhols - "All The Money Or The Simple Life Of Honey"
*Death Cab For Cutie - "Soul Meets Body"
*Death Cab For Cutie - "Your Heart Is An Empty Room"
*Franz Ferdinand - "Do You Want To?"
*Grandaddy - "Pull The Curtains"
*Kinski - "The Wives Of Artie Shaw"
*Nada Surf - "Do It Again"
*New Pornographers - "Twin Cinema"
*New Pornographers - "Use It"
*Sigur Ros - "Glosoli"
*John Vanderslice - "Exodus Damage"
*Youth Group - "Skeleton Jar"

All of the above songs can be downloaded free of charge from the following sites:

Barsuk Records
45RPM
Insound
Largehearted Boy
Pitchfork Media
Scenestars
Sub Pop Records

Enjoy...

A Quick Note

2005-08-12T12:05:00.000-07:00

I don't have much time to write right now but I wanted to make everyone aware of the following items:

Death Cab For Cutie - Plans (180 gram double vinyl with bonus track)

Death Cab For Cutie - Drive Well, Sleep Carefully (Tour diary DVD)
(Be sure to check out the clips of the dvd while you're at Barsuk)

Now you know.

Song Of The Day:
"The Employment Pages" - Death Cab For Cutie

Forget...Remember When

2005-07-03T12:00:00.000-07:00

Lately, I've been listening to some of the recordings I've done over the years in (and for) various bands. It struck me that it's been about ten years since I was first exposed to a four-track. It's also been ten years since I was in my first "real" band (by real I mean we actually wrote our songs and didn't rely on performing covers). Then I remembered that the first demo I recorded was reviewed on Jim Santo's Demo Universe and I thought I'd track it down for old times sake.

Turns out it was reviewed ten years ago today.

I got a kick out of it...It really took me back. Check it out if you like.....

Sleep Deprivation - "Sleep Deprivation"

Song Of The Day:
"Shoebox Greetings" - Sleep Deprivation

The New Way

2005-06-22T09:57:00.000-07:00

I never went to summer camp as a kid but now it sounds like a lot of fun. I really, really want to got to (Indie Rock) Summer Camp this year. It's taking place on Saturday, August 6th but tickets go on sale this Saturday, June 25th. Get your tickets here while you can.

Song Of The Day:
"Higher And Higher" - From The Wet Hot American Summer Soundtrack

Positive/Negative

2005-06-15T12:53:00.000-07:00

The Good News:

After a long and rather trying wait, Maggie and I have been offered a position as live-in apartment managers. It mainly consists of keeping the apartment complex clean and fixing any minor things that come up. In exchange for the cleaning and such, we'll be getting a two-bedroom apartment for free. That may not sound too exciting but in this area a two bedroom apartment would start at about $1,200 a month.

Maggie has her full time job and I'll be able to work a part time job in addition to the apartment stuff so we should be in good shape here shortly.

I wonder if this counts as a job since I'm not getting paid. I may have to start posting on the Employment Pages.

The Bad News:

Yesterday, I woke up to find that someone had broken into my car. It was the weirdest thing. They took our digital camera, about $4 in change, a tin of mints and two packs of cigarettes. The weird part is that they left about fifty cds just sitting in the car (twenty of them were underneath the cigarettes in the glove compartment) as well as my cd player and my jacket. I'm happy that they didn't take the stereo or the cds, I would have been pissed off for sure. This just seems very strange and sorta funny.

I talked to our neighbors last night and it turns out that their car was broken into as well. The only thing missing out of their car was the ashtray. I would guess the ashtray was full of change because otherwise, that just doesn't make any sense. Then again, maybe they needed a place to put all of the butts and ash from the cigarettes they stole from me.

Song Of The Day:
"Strange" – Built To Spill

My Newest Obsession

2005-06-14T11:14:00.000-07:00

You should be watching Lost. I can't seem to get enough of it. The dvd comes out September 6th; you can guess who's going to be heading to the store bright and early that day.

Stop The Presses!

2005-06-10T11:34:00.000-07:00

I've just uncovered what could very well be the story of the day. Apparently, Alanis Morissette has "gotten over her anger". She says she's "no longer the angry young woman" she was in the 90's.

It's about time too, we've all gotten really tired of trying to tiptoe around her; you were never sure when she was going to blow up at you.

In related news, Alanis just released an acoustic version of the Jagged Little Pill album. If she's over her anger now, why is she revisiting her old "angry" songs? Could it be someone ran out of new song ideas?

Money....That's What I Want

2005-04-30T01:24:00.000-07:00

It's amazing how being broke and unemployed really makes you lose all interest in things that don't involve making money. Things like this blog for example.

Lately, I feel like all I've been doing is looking at the want ads, sending out resumes, applying to any job that I might be partially qualified for, selling my stuff on eBay, looking into new career goals and even interviewing with temp agencies. The whole while trying to make my unemployment checks stretch to cover gas, smokes, coffee, faxes, clothes and everything else a person may need while looking for work and trying to survive.

I've sent out close to 90 resumes and I've only gotten three rejection letters. I've had two interviews and got a "Maybe later" and a "We don't have anything for you right now". It's really frustrating.

I guess the point to all of this is that it sucks being unemployed but it sucks more looking for work.

I really can't wait to be working again.

Music Quiz

2005-04-12T18:22:00.000-07:00

This was sent to me by Jason.

1.) What is the total amount of music files on your computer?

There are 3,131 MP3s (About 14 GB) on the computer right now....I'm sure by next week there'll be a lot more.

2.) The CD you last bought was:

I traded in a bunch of old music at Amoeba last week and I picked these up while we were there:

Helio Sequence - "Love And Distance"
Hot Hot Heat - Elevator
Out Hud - "Let Us Never Speak Of It Again"
The Rum Diary - "Noise Prints"
The Rum Diary / Kilowathours - "Split CD"
Sigur Ros - "( )"

3.) What is the song you last listened to before reading this message?

"Over The Pond" - Album Leaf & Sigur Ros

4.) Write down five songs you often listen to or that mean a lot to you:

These five songs are in heavy rotation right now:

"Ghosts For Hire" - The Standard
"I Feel So" - Boxcar Racer
"Monte Carlo" - The Verve"
"Never Did No Wanderin'" - The New Main Street Singers"
"You Owe Me An IOU" - Hot Hot Heat

5.) To whom (three people) are you going to pass this stick? And why?

I'm not passing this to anyone. Everyone that I know with a blog has already done this.

One Man's Trash....

2005-04-08T21:47:00.000-07:00

So, I'm still unemployed and have no job leads. I've been sending out resumes to just about everyone who runs a business.

The money is gone, except for the small unemployment checks that come twice a month, and they barely cover gasoline and cigarettes.

I'm selling things on eBay again, trying to make a little extra money. Take a look (here) and see what I've got for sale....I may have something you want.

Or, you can just send me cash because you want to be nice to me.

How Can You Mend A Broken Career?

2005-04-04T12:12:00.000-07:00

The Cure is my favorite band, I used to really love the Smashing Pumpkins and the Bee Gees can write some damn fine songs. Why is it then that this sounds like it will be horrible?

"Billy Corgan has announced that his solo debut album will feature a duet with The Cure's Robert Smith. The track will be a cover of the Bee Gees' To Love Somebody."

And how come Robert Smith will record a duet with anyone who's check clears?

Jedi Mind Trick

2005-04-03T01:40:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago Maggie and I were shopping at a certain discount store and we noticed a sign near the door. It was an advertisement that said the store would be having a Star Wars Episode III event on April 2nd and 3rd. Needless to say, we were very excited about having our pictures taken with Darth Vader, Storm Troopers, and Yoda. I was even hoping for a millennium Falcon to be parked in the parking lot when we came back.

Today we headed back to the store, armed with our camera, hoping to see some crazy Star Wars stuff. When we got there we saw a shelf of new action figures and the new Episode III book, nothing major. We walked around the whole store and didn't see anything else. Finally I asked an employee about the event and they directed me to the camera department. We were skeptical but headed back there anyway.

When we got to the camera department this is what we saw, this was the big Star Wars event:

The advertised event was no more than a cardboard cutout of Darth Vader. There was a whole in the back of the cutout that you could talk into it and it would make your voice sound like Vader. There was also a camera set up in case you wanted to get your picture taken.

Not quite what I'd call an event.

I'm just glad that we didn't have kids that were really looking forward to this. Could you imagine if your kids thought they were going to be meeting their favorite Star Wars characters in person and they ended up meeting a cardboard cutout? I wonder how many kids cried over this today.

It's nice to see a major corporation giving back to the community like this.

This Just In...

2005-03-30T12:41:00.000-08:00

Morrissey has finally reached the "Fat Elvis" stage of his career.

Song Of The Day:
"Disappointed" - Morrissey

What A Wookie

2005-03-29T19:48:00.000-08:00

Johnnie Cochran, the originator of the Chewbacca Defense, has died. Never fear though, his sound bites will live on.

Song Of The Day:
"Chewbacca" - Supernova

All That Fine, Fine Music

2005-03-22T01:07:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I forget that not everyone is as into music as I am. Here's what I'm talking about:

Maggie and I were walking through the mall the other day and stopped to look at some vendor booth set up in the middle of the walkway. The employee, who must have been in his late teens or early twenties, took a long hard look at the Velvet Underground t-shirt I was wearing.

"Velvet Underground....hmmmm....I know Velvet Revolver....does it have something to do with them?"

I don't know why, but I have a hard time understanding how someone could never even have heard of the Velvet Underground. What are they teaching kids in school these days?

Song Of The Day:
"Oh, Sweet Nuthin'" – Velvet Underground

Good Morning Captain

2005-03-14T23:29:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've posted last. Here's what I've been up to:

*I've been sick with some sort of virus. It acts a lot like strep throat but there is nothing you can do to cure it. The only advice the doctor could give me was to drink a lot of water and take it easy. Because of this virus, my tonsils have been swollen up to the size of golf balls for over a week now. I've had one hell of a time eating, drinking, breathing and even sleeping. However, I am heading to the doctor on Wednesday to see about getting those damn things taken out.

*I've been busy looking for work. Let me tell you, I've sent out about fifty resumes and have yet to hear back from anyone. It's depressing.

*Maggie and I went to see Slint on Friday. It rocked! One thing I will say about Slint is that they don't move when they play. It was like being at an indie rock wax museum. Kinda spooky.

*We've been watching the first season of SCTV on DVD and I've gotta tell you....it's a hoot.

Enough for now. I'll have more later.

Song Of The Day:
"Virus" - KMFDM

Great New Look...Same Crappy Content

2005-03-08T22:02:00.000-08:00

Ok, I have finally found a template that wants to work with me. It may not be the best looking thing around but it will do for now.

I'll be posting something worth reading in the near future.

Standby.....

2005-02-27T23:55:00.000-08:00

I am experiencing technical difficulties.

Things should return to normal soon.

Song Of The Day:
"Bill Gates Must Die" - John Vanderslice

A Sort Of Homecoming

2005-02-22T21:44:00.000-08:00

Update:

I'm back in Santa Rosa and all seems to be going pretty well so far.

My back hasn't been hurting me nearly as much as before, to tell the truth, I don't really notice the pain anymore. Surprisingly enough, the long hours of driving on the way out here didn't hurt my back either.

I've traded my disability checks for unemployment checks. I've even started looking for work which means I may be employed here pretty soon.

I'm close to unpacking all of our stuff and making our room livable.

I've been able to see my family and friends which I haven't seen in over a year. It's been pretty nice.

I miss VH1 Classics and MTV2. I haven't seen a music video, good or bad, in weeks.

I am having a hard time getting used to using a dial-up internet connection after having a cable connection for so long. It takes about a half an hour just to check your e-mail.

Song Of The Day:
"A Sort Of Homecoming" - U2

Hang On...

2005-02-13T11:41:00.000-08:00

We've made it! We are now in California. I'm too tired to do a post but I'll put up the links to the pictures we have up so far.

Enjoy!

Pretty Pictures (Volume 1)

Pretty Pictures (Volume 2)

Song Of The Day:

"Pictures Of You" - The Cure

(and no, we do not have an HP camera)

The Wild Wild Midwest

2005-02-03T23:37:00.000-08:00

This is my last post from Kansas. The next time I post I'll most likely be in California. Keep checking back in the next week or so for photos of our trip. Of course, we'll see if we can upload these pictures at any of the internet cafes we're going to. Wish us luck.

Pretty pictures of the southwest.

Song Of The Day:
"Wild Wild Midwest" - The Busy Signals

It's Getting Closer

2005-02-01T09:53:00.000-08:00

Three more days and Maggie and I will be on the road heading to California. We're at the point now where we are making sure we have all we need for the trip. Snacks, a first-aid kit, soda pop, water, spare tire, chains, maps and all of the other important items. Of course, what could be more important than music on a road trip? (maybe gas...maybe). Not only do we have to decide what music we want to hear on the road, we need to decide what we want to listen to once we get there. The cds we don't pick will be in a moving truck somewhere for a while.

What to do?

Yes, make mix-cds. That's a brilliant idea. Well, guess what. For some reason, none of the cd burning programs on the computer want to work anymore. I can burn all of the data cds I want; but no music. It's not the end of the world but I have been looking forward to making some road trip cds.

What's really weird is that when I moved out to Kansas, my computer at home decided it wouldn't make me cds anymore either. It must be some sort of computer conspiracy to make my long drives a little more uncomfortable. Who knows.

P.S. Anyone know of a good, free cd burning/ripping program? Let me know if you do.

Song Of The Day:
"Why Does It Always Rain On Me?" - Travis

Rumor Has It...

2005-01-30T12:28:00.000-08:00

This week I heard that David Fincher is trying to put together a movie based on the Zodiac Killer. I also heard that he was speaking with Frank Black about playing the part of the Zodiac.

I'm pretty damn excited. Here's why:

Serial killers fascinate me. Not that I'm thinking of becoming one, they're just interesting to me. Why are serial killers the way they are and what makes them do what they do?

My dad was a deputy sheriff just north of San Francisco while the Zodiac was active. Some of the victims were even taken from or dropped off in our hometown. I found out about all of this when I was younger and I just had to know more.

I really got into the Zodiac case when I was in my early teens. I read that book over and over, trying to piece it all together. I even did a book report or two on this while I was in school. I guess I thought I'd be the one to solve the case.

I grew up in the San Francisco area long after the Zodiac had quieted but there was still the occasional Zodiac scare. Every once in a while some fool would claim to be the Zodiac and threaten to take action and everyone would be on edge for a while. These scares made sure that no one forgot the Zodiac if nothing else.

I used to listen to the Pixies and think that Frank Black was psychotic. He had something seriously wrong with him and could easily have turned out to be a serial killer. I don’t think it would be much of a stretch for him to play the part.

Song Of The Day:
“Wave Of Mutilation” – The Pixies

It's About Damn Time

2005-01-23T23:40:00.000-08:00

Journey Gets Star On Walk Of Fame

Song Of The Day:
"Separate Ways" - Journey

How Are You Today?

2005-01-20T23:11:00.000-08:00

I tell ya, if it's not one thing it's another.

So, Maggie and I are moving out to California in about two weeks. As with any sort of road trip, I thought it would be a good idea to have my car checked out; see if it would make the trip.

Turns out, my car is really fucked up! I thought maybe a spark plug here, a belt there, some air in the tires and it would be good to go.

I get a call from the mechanic tonight telling me there is so much wrong with my car that it wouldn't make the trip. What's worse, It'll cost me about $1,000 to get it ready. They just don't make 1991 Stanzas like they used to.

So, I had to break down and call my parents for help...again. I hate not being able to support myself. Ok, so, I have been disabled and unemployed and all that for the last year, but I want to be able to do things without feeling like a child anymore. I just turned thirty this year and I still can't take care of myself. How pathetic is that?

Yes, I know, it's been a hard year on me and I should be thankful for all the help everyone's been giving me. Especially my parents who hand out the money anytime I need help. And yes, I'm very, very thankful. It just makes me feel bad. Really bad. Horribly worthless to be exact.

I can't wait to move and get a job and start being a real person again.

So, how was your day?

I Must Be A Communist

2005-01-07T15:01:00.000-08:00

I used to get a lot of promotional cds while I was working at record stores and most of them were horrible. I would take them down to Amoeba Records and trade them in. I'd usually end up getting close to $200 in store credit and could go nuts trying out all of the new albums I'd read about in The Big Takeover. I'd buy an album, get familiar with the songs, make mix tapes of the best ones and then take the cds down to trade in towards something new when I got a new batch of promos for trading. It was great, I got to find out about so many bands I would never have had a chance to hear otherwise. The problem is that I guess I thought it would go on forever and I never thought to keep most of the cds I really liked.

Now, several years later, I want to hear some of those songs again; all of those mix tapes have either broken or have melted.

I used to be able to use the peer-to-peer networks to track down these songs but for some reason they all seem to crash my computer now. So, I'm spending hours and hours searching websites for MP3s. It's great that a lot of indie labels have free downloads (I've always thought it would help sell records, not ruin record sales. If you hear a song you like, you'll end up buying the album) and there are a lot of cool MP3 blogs now too; the problem is that despite the growing number of free downloads, I still can't find the songs I want. I am even having a hard time finding the albums with the songs I want for sale anywhere. I should have just kept the cds.

I guess it's time to just give up and move on.

Songs (That I Can't Seem To Find) Of The Day:
"Boston Strong Girl" - Lithium X-mas
"Ugly" - Pretty Mighty Mighty

Survival Horror

2005-01-03T11:27:00.000-08:00

I watched Resident Evil: Apocalypse last night and I really wish I hadn’t. I’m a big fan of the Resident Evil video game series but I hate what they’ve done with the movies.

I remember when the first Resident Evil movie came out; I was so excited I ran out on opening day to see it. I was so thoroughly disappointed that I told myself I’d never watch this, or any other, Resident Evil movie again.

Two years later Resident Evil: Apocalypse was released. I saw the preview and thought I might like to see it but I kept telling myself it would be terrible. All of the reviews I read said it was a pointless waste of time so I decided to not see it. For some unknown reason, I saw the movie in the video store and decided that I had to see it. I mean, how bad could it be, it’s based on my most favorite video game of all time.

Let me tell you, it’s a bad movie. If you’re a R.E. fan because of the games, you won’t like it because they change the story quite a bit. They add in characters that have nothing to do with the plot (not that the movies have much of a plot to begin with) and they take out the suspense and replace it with action. And not the cool sort of action either, it’s the sort of action that’s put into a movie because they have the technology to do it, not because it helps the story along.

If you’re not a fan of the games, why would you even consider seeing this movie? Like I said, there’s not much of a plot. The plot of Apocalypse was basically: A team of bad-asses rescue a young girl from zombies. The acting, if you want to call it that, was bad and the character development was horrible. If I hadn’t played the games, I wouldn’t know who these people were or why they were there. And the action scenes were either boring or had too much action movie style action to them.

It was really bad.

Now, if you’re looking for a movie that is more like Resident Evil than the Resident Evil movies are, here are a few to get you started:

28 Days Later
Dawn Of The Dead (2004)
Dawn Of The Dead (1978)
Day Of The Dead
Night Of The Living Dead
Zombies

Or, you could just play these games:

Resident Evil
Resident Evil 2
Resident Evil Rebirth
Resident Evil Zero
Resident Evil: Code Veronica
Resident Evil: Nemesis

And I’m looking forward to playing Resident Evil 4 soon after the January 11, 2005 release date.

Here's To Another Goddamn New Year

2004-12-31T08:50:00.000-08:00

It’s the end of the year and I’m happy to see it go. While it’s had a lot of great and enjoyable moments for me, 2004 has mostly been filled with too much physical pain and stress. Needles in my back, hospital stays, M.R.I.s, insurance, unemployment and disability issues, lots of medication and reoccurring strep throat; I can’t take another year like this.

I’m looking forward to 2005 for a lot of reasons but here are the big ones:

Maggie and I are moving to California in February and we’ll be able to spend time with my family and friends.

My doctor has told me that I won’t need back surgery. As soon as I can get my muscles up to speed I can start working again.

This also means that Maggie and I can now start working on getting a place of our own and living a more “normal” life.

Anyway, I know 2005 will be a much better year for me than 2004 was, and for once, I’m excited about the New Year. If you’re reading this, I’m wishing you a happy New Year too.

Song Of The Day:
“The Ice Of Boston” – The Dismemberment Plan.

End Of The Year Lists

2004-12-25T08:50:00.000-08:00

Since I’ve been unemployed and poor this year I haven’t had a chance to hear or purchase as much music as usual. I used to spend so much time in record stores, either working or shopping, that I heard or was aware of tons of albums released every year. I used to make a top twenty list with mix-tapes for my friends for Christmas, but alas, I wasn’t on top of the new releases all year. So, here you have it, very limited lists of the music that I was aware of this year (all are in alphabetical order).

Top Ten (And Only) Albums I've Purchased This Year:

The Cure - The Cure
Death Cab For Cutie - Studio X Sessions
Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand
Green Day - American Idiot
Jimmy Eat World - Futures
Modest Mouse - Good News For People Who Love Bad News
Elliott Smith - From A Basement On The Hill
Systems Officer - Systems Officer
John Vanderslice - Cellar Door
Various Artists - Future Soundtrack For America

Top Ten Albums I Wanted To Buy This Year:

Bettie Serveert - Attagirl
The Cure - Three Imaginary Boys (Deluxe Edition)
Ex-Models - Other Mathematics
The Faint - Wet From Birth
Herman Jolly - Thanasphere
Pinback - Summer In Abaddon
The Rum Diary - Poisons That Save Lives
Spoon - The Way We Get By
Sunset Valley - Goldbank 78 Stack
U2 - How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb

Top Fifteen Albums I Wanted To Hear This Year:

The Album Leaf - In A Safe Place
Aqueduct - Pistols At Dawn EP
Beastie Boys - To The 5 Boroughs
Charmparticles - Sit Down For Staying EP
Earlimart - Treble & Tremble
Explosions In The Sky - Friday Night Lights (Soundtrack)
Jonny Greenwood - Bodysong (Soundtrack)
The Helio Sequence - Love And Distance
Helmet - Size Matters
A.C. Newman - Slow Wonder
Nirvana - With The Lights Out
Tiara - The Summer Of The Lion, The Summer Of The Lamb
Trans Am - Liberation
The Verve - This Is Music: The Singles
Various Artists - Discovered, Covered: The Late, Great Daniel Johnston

Most Disappointing Album Of The Year:

Ministry - Houses Of The Mole

White Noise

2004-12-18T23:35:00.000-08:00

I seriously can not wait to see this movie.

I started watching horror movies when I was just a kid and I've seen quite a few since. It's safe to say that most scary movies hardly phase me. When I saw the preview for White Noise I got really creeped out and tense. Just the preview was scaring me.

I have a feeling I may be let down when it comes out but it's nice to be looking forward to a scary movie again.

It Just Figures

2004-12-16T07:42:00.000-08:00

I had a physical therapy appointment today. Physical therapy is basically the last step in this whole back fiasco. This is where I’ll learn how to do things without hurting myself again and where they’ll get all of my muscles back in shape. This could take some time since my muscles haven’t gotten much use since this all started. I’m very excited about the therapy because it means that all of this is almost done; I’ll be set free into the real world again.

So, I got to the office and filled out all of the paperwork and waited for my therapist to show up. After a short wait I was called back and we started talking about what’s been bothering me and how we would work to fix it all. All pretty routine.

All of a sudden there was a knock on the office door. It was some lady from the front office. She told me that she called my insurance company and they told her my policy expired back in October. If I wanted to have any more therapy I’d have to pay out of my pocket. Being unemployed, this was a big problem. They told me that when I got my insurance straightened out I could come back. So, I got up, grabbed my coat and left.

Now, here’s the problem with all of this. I’ve spent eight months, with a six month insurance policy, going from doctor to doctor trying to get this all taken care of. I’ve done everything they’ve told me to do and now that I’m feeling mostly better, they won’t let me do one of the most important parts of the healing. You may ask, “Why don’t you just renew your insurance?” I wish it were that easy. I do make enough on disability to pay for insurance but my insurance company won’t cover me anymore. I had temporary insurance and once it expires the only way to get more coverage is to prove that you are totally disabled. I don’t think any of my doctors are going to sign off on that paperwork.

“Why not get insurance through someone else then?” Any insurance company I go to will consider my back a pre-existing condition. No one will cover a pre-existing condition, that I know of. So, it appears that there is no way for me to get insurance to cover this.

The only way to get my physical therapy now is to pay cash. I was prescribed 2-3 appointments a week for 6 weeks. That’s a total of 18 appointments. Each appointment is about $150 except the first one, which is $200. Yeah, I’m sure I can come up with $2,750 in the next six weeks. Did I mention that I’m moving to California in about six weeks? I think I have that kind of extra money sitting around the house somewhere.

For right now, I have no idea what I can or will do about this all. Wish me luck.

Song Of The Day:
“Stupidity Tries” – Elliott Smith

Don't Spit On Strangers

2004-12-14T00:05:00.000-08:00

Today I found out that I would not need to have back surgery. I had sort of guessed that since I have been feeling so much better lately, but it’s good to hear it from a doctor. I have to go for physical therapy now to get my muscles back in working condition and to hopefully be able to use my left foot again. I’ll have to go 2-3 times a week for about 6 weeks, that’s a good deal of therapy, I don’t think I even had that much after either one of my surgeries. Hooray for modern medicine.

This week has started out well but let me tell you about last week. Last week was a rough one.

I received a call from my mom about two weeks ago informing me that my dad might be very sick and is having some tests done to find out what’s going on. Although my dad and I haven’t had the best relationship in the past, I was seriously worried. I stressed a lot and lost some sleep. Well, I got a call from my mom last week telling me that my dad was in the hospital due to an unrelated illness. I was seriously scared at this point. It seemed pretty grim for a while there but as usual, my dad got through it all like a champ. Now all I have to worry about are the test results from the first part of the story, we won’t know anything for a few more weeks.

Maggie and I have been on a diet to try and improve our health. It’s a crazy “no anything” diet. We can have meat and vegetables and that’s about all. It started out pretty hard but it’s getting a lot easier; we’ve both lost a lot of weight and are feeling pretty good too. But let me tell you something, you really take food for granted when you can eat whatever you want. I never realized how much I like bread, cheese and soda pop; not to mention, I have moments now where I would kill to have a pepperoni pizza.

I went to see Tribulation Christmas this weekend with Maggie and her family. That is one twisted play. If you haven’t seen the trailer for it you really should, just to get an idea of what I’m talking about. It had everything! Explosions, fireworks, missiles, Satan, cheerleaders, Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings, just to name a few. And, of course, the highlight of the show was Jesus Christ flying in to save the day wielding a flaming sword. You can’t make this sort of story up although I think they may have. One question though: If Jesus is so powerful that he can fly, why did I see him lighting his sword with a Bic lighter? I mean, is making fire harder than flying?

Now for the bad part of the show: someone spit on me for no reason. Can you believe it? I was just sitting there, enjoying the show when all of a sudden a big wad of spit landed on my arm from above. Someone must have spit over the edge of the balcony and it hit me. Now I’ve been to some shady, questionable rock shows in my day but I’ve never been spit on. Of all the places to be spit on, I get spit on in church. Maybe they could tell that I was just there to laugh at them all. Maybe they could tell I’m an agnostic and I’m going to hell. No matter the reason, I was spit on and it made the rest of the show quite tense for me. I didn’t know if it was going to happen again so I couldn’t really concentrate on the show. Anyway, good show, bad church.

I am lucky enough to be going to see Slint in San Francisco during their reunion tour . Thank you Maggie.

This Is Great

2004-12-09T23:10:00.000-08:00

Wow. I just read this article and I don't like it one bit.

So, if my brain has aged 10-20 years for every year of back pain I've had, I could have the brain of a 90 year old. This may explain why I feel so stupid sometimes and why I have such a hard time concentrating on and remembering some things.

I wonder how many years my body has already aged after two back surgeries. If I go by the same numbers as this brain study, I could have the body of a 70 year old.

I really am old.

This Just In...

2004-12-04T00:08:00.000-08:00

Audio Engineers are ruining our music.

I think that any musician, audio engineer, producer or audiophile has known about Auto-Tune, or similar products, for years. So why is this making the news seven years after the fact?

Some people think that if you're going to record you have got to record to analog tape. Many people disagree. I personally prefer Pro Tools over analog recording. Some of the things I like that are that you can change pitch, replace sounds and have most of your studio in your computer. There are so many things to like about digital recording.

Anyway, I'm not trying to change anyone's mind or sell anything, I just wanted to say this one thing: If you can't sing or play your instrument, Auto-Tune will not help you. If you are too out of tune, Auto-Tune will make you sound worse. I mean, I guess there are ways to make it fix every note in a song; but what engineer is going to do that? Who has the time? Auto-Tune is mostly used when a singer is slightly off key. It's not that they can't sing, it's just that sometimes we all make mistakes.

Next thing you know we'll see this headline in the news:

REVERB; the not so silent killer.
Reverb makes you sound like you're in a big room or a cave when you really aren't.
And it's ruining our music.

White Man Discovers Food

2004-11-26T09:54:00.000-08:00

On the news last night they were asking kids what Thanksgiving was all about. Here's what one of them said:

Q: Why do we celebrate Thanksgiving?

A: We celebrate Thanksgiving because that's when the Pilgrims taught the Indians how to plant crops and cook.

Wow, I'm sure those Indians would have starved to death if not for those Pilgrims. Looks like we got there just in time.

And I thought public schools were bad when I was a kid.

I'm Afraid

2004-11-23T23:29:00.000-08:00

I seriously DO NOT want to know what this is all about.

Songs Of The Day:
"I Disappear" - The Faint
"Kill" - Jimmy Eat World

Can I Get A Please?

2004-11-22T12:11:00.000-08:00

I can't go anywhere anymore without seeing these damn "support our troops" magnets. I ask you, why can't they be polite and ask "please support our troops"? I can't wait for these to go away. I have nothing against our troops but I can't stand all of these SUVs out there with all of these magnets and stickers letting me know they love America more than I do. Or at least they spend more money on worthless crap (not even made in America I'm sure) than I do.

How Am I Funny?

2004-11-22T01:06:00.000-08:00

This weekend was “Mafia Movie Weekend” in our house. We decided we’d rent a bunch of mob movies and sit around eating pasta and cannolis (since none of us know how to make cannolis we had to settle for strawberry cake).

We rented Casino, Goodfellas, The Godfather and The Godfather II. Can anyone tell me why mob movies have to be so damn long? I mean, they are good movies but they are all about three hours apiece. The Godfather I & II have got to be about ten hours long total. Anyway, I’d never seen Casino and although it was excellent, I wonder why the cast was almost exactly the same as Goodfellas.

So, yeah, we’ve been watching movies for two days and are just about done with all of our movies; only about two hours of the Godfather II left.

If I’ve learned anything from all of these movies so far it’s this: I don’t know Italian.

A few other things I’ve learned:

Being in the mob for a summer job would be great but I’d pass on the full time, permanent position.
Mobsters don’t mind violence.
Don’t act like too much of a fool when you’re in Las Vegas.
You have to act like you have a bigger dick than everyone else at all times.
Mobsters aren’t good at being faithful to their wives.
Drugs are bad.

I highly recommend that everyone see these movies, especially if you are considering signing up with your local “family”. I also highly recommend Buca Di Beppo for Itallian food.

Song Of The Day:
“King Mob” – Damage Manual

PBS Rocks!

2004-11-16T16:44:00.000-08:00

Be sure to catch these episodes of Austin City Limits on your local PBS station:

December 11, 2004 - Spoon & Ben Kweller

December 18, 2004 - The Flaming Lips & The Shins

January 29, 2005 - The Pixies

February 12, 2005 - Damien Rice

April 30, 2005 - Jason Mraz & Fountains Of Wayne

May 7, 2005 - Guster

They Grow Up So Fast

2004-11-16T09:52:00.000-08:00

Death Cab For Cutie sign to Atlantic Records.

My boys are all grown up now (I promised myself I wouldn't cry). I know it’s time for them to try new things but it's sad to see them go. At least they haven't forgotten where they come from; Barsuk will still own the rights to future Death Cab For Cutie vinyl releases, an upcoming live EP and all of the Death Cab For Cutie back catalog.

Song Of The Day:
"Hindsight" - Death Cab For Cutie

Video Of The Day:
"A Movie Script Ending" - Death Cab For Cutie

Am I Crazy?

2004-11-14T17:00:00.000-08:00

The Eagles.

Why is it that every time I turn on the radio some station is playing the Eagles? It’s become sort of an inside joke around here. But I feel as though the Eagles are trying to take over the world.

The Eagles were/are based in California but during the 27 years I lived there I hardly ever heard them on the radio. Sure, I’d hear Hotel California or Life In The Fast Lane every once in a while, but that was about it.

For some reason, the people of the Midwest are nuts about this band. They play all of their songs. Sure, I’ve come to appreciate them but I’m not ready to throw out all of my other cds yet. And it’s not limited to just the Eagles as a group. The members are unstoppable too.

How can you escape? Why not watch some TV. Wrong. It won’t take long before you catch Don Henley on VH1 or hear Glenn Frey on Miami Vice. And if you’re really lucky you may even catch Robocop: The Series (music by Joe Walsh).

Damn!

You may be thinking, “I know, I’ll just listen to the “Alternative Rock” radio stations then”. You aren’t safe there either. It won’t take long before you hear the Ataris covering Henley’s “The Boys Of Summer”

I’m sure that there is an Eagles song on the radio at any given moment somewhere in the world. And I’d guess there is either an Eagles video or Eagles related video on TV at least every 30 minutes.

There is no escape. You cannot hide. You must accept the genius of The Eagles. Go buy their albums.

Song Of The Day:
"Peaceful, Easy Feeling" - The Eagles

John Kerry Concedes

2004-11-03T09:22:00.000-08:00

Song Of The Day:
"Oh, Goddamnit" - Hot Hot Heat

Can You Tell Me How To Get….

2004-11-01T23:40:00.000-08:00

Here’s a recap of my weekend:

Friday:
Started out the weekend by going out to Carlos O’Kelleys with Maggie, Whitney and Jason for some Mexican food. Have I mentioned they have awesome nachos? We then went to Miracle Video where we rented Trekkies, a great documentary about Star Trek fans. If you haven’t see in you really should. I’ve seen it three times now, and while that’s a bit much, there are parts that still kill me. It’s worth the cost of the rental just to see Bones the cat.

Saturday:
Maggie and I went to Science City to see the Sesame Street exhibit. We were both super excited about going and couldn’t wait to see some of the sets and some of the puppets. Well, it wasn’t all that exciting. We felt that if we had been about twenty years younger it would have been the coolest thing on earth. But since we were older, there wasn’t much for us to do. They had the exhibit set up poorly too. One of the first things on the tour is a video kiosk where you can watch the Sesame Street episode where Big Bird Finds out that Mr. Hooper is dead and isn’t ever coming back. Not the cheeriest way to start off a day.

While at Science City we decided to spend some time checking out the entire place. There were many neat and informative things but once again, we were too old for most of it. It would have been awesome if we were kids. And here’s how old I am; most of the time we were there, I just kept thinking of how messy and dirty kids can be and wondering how many people have to stay up all night disinfecting that place. We wondered if maybe they just pump disinfectant in through the fire sprinkler system. Makes sense to me.

After Science City we went down to the Plaza to find some lunch. We decided to go to the Cheesecake Factory. They have really good food. I was impressed with the meal but the service was far from good. Our waitress went off duty right after we ordered and it was about fifteen minutes before anyone ever came to check on us. Even though it is the Cheesecake Factory we didn’t have any cheesecake. We did see some of the slices of cheesecake being brought out and let me tell you; they’re about the size of a football. It was way too much cheesecake. I guess it would be pretty pathetic if their cheesecake slices were tiny…after all, they are the Cheesecake Factory.

After a bit of window-shopping we headed home to chill on the couch. We watched the Magdalene Sisters, a depressing movie about Irish women in a Catholic asylum. I can’t really say much about it, it wasn’t bad but it wasn’t my favorite movie. I will say that it was very shocking to find out that these asylums were only recently shut down.

Sunday:
Since it was Halloween, I thought it would be fun to rent some scary movies and just wait around for the kiddies to show up. I went out and rented A Nightmare On Elm Street, Friday The 13th and In The Mouth Of Madness. I remembered really liking these movies a youngster. I guess I am getting old because I really didn’t care for them anymore. I guess it all seems scarier when you’re ten years old.

And Guess what. All of those kiddies that were supposed to come by and get candy never came. We only had to answer the door four times. We saw about ten costumes in all. I guess our street isn’t the coolest street in town or maybe kids just aren’t into Halloween like they used to be. The cool part is that we have candy for weeks now.

That’s about it. Good times were had by all.

So Much Things To Say

2004-10-27T23:26:00.000-07:00

Today I had two transforaminal epidural steroid injections in my back. This is the second time I’ve gone through this procedure, which will hopefully rid me of my back and leg pain. You may remember a while ago I had caudal steroid injections and you may ask, “What’s the difference between these procedures?” well, I’ll tell you.

A transforaminal epidural steroid injection is where a very small, curved needle is inserted into your back to apply steroids to the exact disc that is causing the pain. During this procedure, the doctors use some sort of x-ray machine to see, in real-time, where the needle is in your back. Once they have maneuvered the needle around the spine, spinal cord and nerve sack and are next to the injured disc, the steroids are injected and the needle is pulled out. Easy enough. Although it may sound painful, it really isn’t too bad. The worst part is when they pull the needle out of you in one quick tug; it’s about the same as getting a shot from an unskilled nurse. Of course, the doctors do give you an amnesic, which helps you to not care about, or remember, most of what’s going on. . Since they did the procedure on both sides of my back this time, both of my legs are very weak and tired but I will live. The last time I went through this procedure my pain lessened so I can hope for the same this time; I just need to take it easy and not push myself this time

For a description of a caudal steroid injection, read my 5/31/04 post.

Maggie and I watched “The Hurricane” tonight. I was an excellent movie and I can’t believe I waited this long to see it. When it first came out I thought it was a movie about boxing so I passed on seeing it. Well, it is a movie about boxing, sort of. It’s based on the life of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, a boxer in the 60’s who is imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit. It really is fantastic and worth your time. Go watch it.

Have you noticed that you have to like country music to be “patriotic” these days? These patriotic country songs make “new country” sound worse than it already was. Now, for all of us who aren’t into sticking boots in anyone’s ass, who don’t want to light up anyone’s world like the 4th of July and who do know the difference between Iraq and Iran there is a country song for us. A group of songwriters, studio musicians and producers decided it was time to put out a patriotic country song that shows you can love this country and still not agree with what’s going on. The Honky Tonkers For Truth….they have their song available for free download so check it out.

Songs Of The Day:
“Hurricane” – Bob Dylan
“Takin’ My Country Back” – Honky Tonkers For Truth

It Is Time

2004-10-22T09:02:00.000-07:00

I love autumn.

Napster Is For Sucks

2004-10-20T23:58:00.000-07:00

Tuesday was a big new release day at the local record store for me. But I must admit, I didn’t go to the local record store, as I would have liked to. Instead, I went to Best Buy. I know, I should support local businesses but I can’t afford to. I’m fairly poor these days so I have to go with whatever is cheapest. Anyway, I was able to pick up the new cds by Elliott Smith (From A Basement On The Hill) and Jimmy Eat World (Futures).

I’m super excited to finally get the new Elliott Smith album and so far I’m really liking it. It’s not my favorite album he’s released but it’s growing on me. I’m sure I’ll write more about it later.

The Jimmy Eat World album is rockin’ as would be expected from these guys. It’s a bit harder sounding than the last album (I mean that in a good way). I’m sure I’ll have more of an opinion later on this one too. Since I was shopping at Best Buy, I was able to afford the “Deluxe Edition” of the cd and I’m glad I did. The Deluxe Edition comes with a bonus second disc that has the same track listing as the album but in demo format. Since I’ve recorded quite a few demo versions of songs in my day I’m curious to hear what these songs sound like. In addition to the bonus disc, since this cd was purchased at Best Buy I got a Napster code to download an exclusive Jimmy Eat World song for free. You really can’t go wrong with the Deluxe Edition if you’re looking for a big Jimmy Eat World fix.

Now for the part of my post where I complain.

I haven’t been to Napster since it was shut down a few years ago. Now that you have to pay for all of the music you download it’s not nearly as good. It’s overly corporate. I don’t even think they have chat rooms anymore, which was one of my favorite things about Napster. I used to be able to talk music to a bunch of dorks while I waited for my songs to download. I will say that the software that is included with Napster for burning discs is a good idea. So, I had the coupon for my free song and I entered the code and began my download. The download time was very short and I was impressed. Here’s the part that really pissed me off. The song only comes in wma format. In addition to not being able to successfully burn that file type to a cd ever, Winamp (our main mp3/cd player) will not play wma files. If I want to hear this song now I have to open Windows Media Player and wait ten minutes for the player to open (we have a lack of memory on our computer). I don’t want to hear the song in ten minutes; I want to hear it now. It’s just a hassle. Why couldn’t the song be in mp3 format for all of those people who don’t like Windows Media? What about people with Macintosh computers?

Song Of The Day:
“Bill Gates Must Die” – John Vanderslice

Correction

2004-10-15T09:07:00.000-07:00

Last night Maggie and I went down to buy our tickets to see Death Cab For Cutie. We waited to buy them until the night before the show for several reasons:

I remember, back in the day, when Death Cab tickets were $5 and hardly anyone showed up because hardly anyone knew about them.
Since I hadn't received a disability check in over a month, money was tight and we were waiting to get my check before we bought the tickets.
I got my check on Monday but we both forgot about getting tickets until last night.

So, guess what happened. When we got down to Ticketmaster, the show was sold out. Well, it was a nice idea. Maybe next time we'll make it to the show. On the bright side, we can now use the money we would have spent on the tickets to go out for an evening on the town.

Song Of The Day:
"You Can't Always Get What You Want" - The Rolling Stones

Happiness

2004-10-14T13:57:00.000-07:00

I've been taking a break from my blog lately to spend time with needy children. Actually, I’ve just felt like I have nothing worth talking about lately. I guess you could say I’m a bit depressed.

It’s not easy being unemployed and in constant pain. I mean, if I was just unemployed I could at least keep myself busy by looking for work, preparing resumes and all of that fun stuff. If I was working and in pain, I’d at least be able to earn some money as well as having something to keep me busy so I could forget about the pain a bit. But not being able to work and being in pain is ridiculous. I feel like all I ever do is go to see doctors anymore. I have tons of medical bills coming in and hardly any money to pay them with. And the doctors seem to think that I’d just end up hurting myself more if I were to go and get a job.

Don’t get me wrong, I do get out and do things that don’t involve my doctors, but no matter how much fun I’m having, I’m still in pain. What most people would think of as just a day out ends up being more like a weeklong event for me.

For my birthday, Maggie and I went to the Kansas City Zoo and just last weekend we went to Maryville to see Michael Moore speak. Sounds like a fun day out, huh? Well, we had a great time, the problem is that even just walking around the zoo or sitting in the bleachers at a football field throw all of my muscles out of whack. It’s been five days since I sat in those bleachers and my back and legs are still aching from it. You get used to hurting, I guess, but it wears on you a little bit everyday.

I’m sure there are some people who see me not working and think it would be nice to have an extended paid vacation like me. I know before all of this happened, I’d even thought about how nice it would be to take a break from working. Be careful what you wish for.

Let me tell you, I can’t wait to be pain free and/or working again.

To offset the depressing bit above, here are some of the fun things I’ve been doing lately:

Went to see Michael Moore speak in Maryville (nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there).

Went to a fundraising event for the blind where they were selling thousands of records for $1 a piece (we got some good stuff!).

Went to the Kansas City Zoo (even got to see the lion having his way with several of the lionesses).

Finally got to see Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (I thought it was great).

Maggie and I got some travel guides from AAA and are planning the move to California.

Bought a digital camera for our drive out to California (I always get a kick out of electronics).

Various trips to various thrift stores (everyone knows I love cheap junk and bargains).

Maggie and I are going to see Death Cab For Cutie tomorrow night.

I think that’s enough to balance out the depressing stuff for now.

Song Of The Day:
“Happiness” – Elliott Smith

The Telepathic War Will Not Be Televised

2004-10-06T11:36:00.000-07:00

I was searching for information on the new Helmet album and I came across this.

This site gives you all the information you'll need to make a helmet that will keep all of those nasty aliens from abducting you. You'll also be able to read about how it works as well as testimonials.

Apparently, aliens are afraid of leather hats with tape on them. I know if I saw someone wearing a hat like this I'd be afraid too.

Song Of The Day:
"Ironhead" - Helmet

Good Lord!!!

2004-10-04T09:41:00.004-07:00

Devin told me about this a while back but I had a hard time believing him.

That's right, it's a Jesus hot air balloon. I guess this is one way to get closer to god...Literally.

Song Of The Day:
"Float On" - Modest Mouse

The Service Gap

2004-09-28T17:15:00.000-07:00

Documents Reveal Gaps In Bush's Service As President

(I couldn't stand having a picture of George W. on my blog anymore so follow this link to the story)

We Want Your Heart

2004-09-20T17:57:00.000-07:00

Take the quiz: "What Kind of Soul Do You Retain?"

Tortured
You aren't sure how to feel, and this leaves you constantly in distress about what you do and who you are. You are tortured in the fact you can't run OR hide.

Be sure to check out Mac's blog for more cool stuff.

Write Me

2004-09-19T00:18:00.000-07:00

Ok, I finally figured it out, now anybody can leave comments and feedback for me. If you have something to say to me, say it. Or don't, it's totally up to you.

From A Basement On The Hill

2004-09-18T23:06:00.000-07:00

I really cannot wait for this album to be released. It seems like forever since I've been this excited about a new album by anyone. It's been far too long since there's been any new Elliott Smith material and unfortunately, I don't think there will be much more after this. Of course, his family could try to pull some sort of Jimi Hendrix/2Pac magic and keep releasing new material for years to come.

On a side note, tell me that wouldn't be one hell of a collaboration; Jimi Hendrix, 2Pac and Elliott Smith. Talk about a train wreck.

Song Of The Day:
"Twilight" - Elliott Smith

Rock 'N' Roll Radio

2004-09-16T07:38:00.000-07:00

I've liked the Ramones for a long time and I feel like this should really affect me, but it doesn't, not really. The Ramones didn’t change my life; they really weren’t even that good as musicians.

But now, three of the original four Ramones are gone and I feel like we’re slowly losing something. It’s not we’ve all been looking forward to a new album by them (because we know it would sound just like all of their other albums) they didn’t stray too far from what worked for them. I think that it’s just that their music was familiar to most, if you knew one song by the Ramones; you’d know most of them. If you liked the three chords they used in this song, just wait, they’ll use them again in this next song.

It’s hard to sort through all of the crappy music that’s on the radio these days and even harder to find something worth listening to. But it’s nice to always have the Ramones to fall back on. It’s just fun, pointless music.

Song Of The Day:
"I Wanna Be Sedated" - The Ramones