Who do it?

I did a little something up for my friend over a JEWS DO IT. With my love of both subject matters I just couldn't resist.

The land of Krang

If your brain does not cramp half way through this then you're not paying attention.
In other news, things look different.

EEK

Wow.

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Ski ball FTW

This is worth a post. Enjoy.

I was here first

I was at work this morning at 6:30. Granted some people do that every day but not me man, not me. I was here so early in fact that I was here before the door was open and I had to sit in the hall and pull from the wireless connection behind my desk. Granted this wouldn't have been so bad if I had just gone to bed earlier but I couldn't because I was working of course.

The point of this though is that as everyone else started to come in for the day I had an overwhelming urge to tell them that I had been there well before them. I wanted to yell at them about how amazing it was that I managed to get out of bed at 5:30 and walk around in the dark and not kill myself on a dresser corner or a cat. I wanted to let them know that I was first. Why? I mean it's not like I'm not consistently the last person in every morning, hey I'm a "designer" I'm expected to be late and wear dirty t-shirts, sue me. So was that it? I was in first and I wanted to brag? I wanted them to know how I suffered for the client? For something that by next week will mean nothing to no one? I don't know but I do know that I feel like I'm ten and just got done running the mile in grade school and all I want to do now is go home and watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and go to sleep.

On the up and up though LOST is back on and I don't think I could be more happy about that.

I'm thinking of redoing the site entirely though I'm sure that won't happen for another six months at the earliest.

Moving in two weeks, crazy to think I've been in that little place for two years...

Oh J.J.

12:01 showing. Cloverfield is brilliant.

Happy birthday chicken.

OMG!

So I'm sitting at the airport and this nice little lady comes up to me and she's all like, "Hey would you like some reading material while you wait?". And I was all like, "Totally nice little lady." And then i thought the ancient god fearing dudes in the watchtower should know what each other were thinking, so I enlightened them.

I finally got around to seeing There will be Blood. All I have to say is,
"I drink your milkshake!!!"

OMG!
Originally uploaded by thomasgilner

There goes my soul

It looks like I'm down to like a post a month or so. I'm sorry but I actually shouldn't be, cause the less posting I do the more it seems like I have a life, so thats something.

Speaking of me having a life. I know people, no for real I do. And some of those people are cool and creative and junk. One of those people is Bill Wadman. Bill started a ridiculously ambitious project at the beginning of this year, the 365portraits site is pretty much exactly what you would think. Bill takes a portrait everyday of someone different and posts it. Everyday. For a year. The real amazing thing is that he has gotten better as the days have gone by and when talking to him it seems that he's becoming more excited about it as the days go. Last week Bill was gracious enough to ask me to be a part of it and by gracious I mean he was annoyed enough by me constantly asking him. So the result was something kind of awesome. The shot was taken as I was standing on the ledge of a ten story building. Take a look around the site, try not to look at every single photo I defy you. And is it just me or is the chick the day after me super hot? I should ask Bill for her number...

Things that are cool on the internet are this, if you're a nerd. This seems like it should be a skit from Reno 911. I love the way the reporter plays it totally straight the whole time. As great as Kanye's new album is the video's have been just as great. This is a really awesome concept.

1. Cutting room floor



.

The bird lands

From New York to Chicago to Kansas City to Dallas to Austin back to New York in six days. Good to see everyone, glad you got to see me, see you again soon I'm sure.

The music hasn't been updated in a while. So here you go.


The National - The Geese of Beverly Road - I've been on The National like crazy lately, they're just default on the iPhone right now. Good stuff, if you don't have it get it.

Kanye West with Chris Martin - Homecoming - Graduation Drops in ten days. Get it. The whole thing is good after one listen.

The New Amsterdams - Hover Near Fame - On the recent trip I was killin some New Ams, forgot how good they are.

The Weakerthans - Night Windows - This record drops on the 25th. Just solid work from these guys. If you like them you'll love this.

Yellowcard - Light Up the Sky - YC's latest came out in July to not much fan fare that I saw, though I am out of the loop so it could have. But this might be their best record through and through. Get it.

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And pants to match

This past weekend was dedicated to watching News Radio, an excellent and oft-forgotten show from the nineties featuring the brilliant work of Phil Hartman, Dave Foley and Stephen Root. How was I able to watch this show you might ask. Bit torrents? Tv Links? Actually buying a DVD? No, I watched it on Joost. I recommend you get Joost too, the cool kids are doing it. Don't you want to be cool?

Speaking of cool, this is if you're a Simpsons fan, and if you're not then you aren't cool anyway so don't bother. This is really fascinating. The two richest guys on the planet are both on that list, which is straight comedy no matter which side you are on. And in the world of the internets this is pretty fantastic. Also if you have ever wondered what it is like working at an ad agency, this is pretty much spot on. Oh and if you were wondering, yes, the new job goes well.

Cool new things I have include the Asian import Mita Nike dunk high free trainer hybrids. Amazing mish mash of materials and super comfy. And also on the Asian tip. Uniqlo is a great little Japanese brand that does really cool stuff. Like this Pantone shirt. Packaging is important kids. Stay in school.




.

Just imagine three popsicles

So I finally feel like a have a chance to slow down today. The last few weeks have been pretty hectic with travel and company. It was all well worth it though as good times were had by all. A brief recap includes: My good friend Kim surprising me and showing up in the city while visiting from Denver. We mostly talked about the good ol days but also this kid who is a good friend of Kim's cause shes all cool and into the skate scene like she invented it. And speaking of skateboarding, damn. My Mom then payed a quick weekend visit after which we both headed back to Kansas for some good ol family reunion time. It was my Moms family but it was oddly held in my Dad's hometown. It's not interesting enough to explain but don't worry they're not cousins. We went to my Dad's child hood home, at least what is left of it, and went to the old barn out back where I snapped this snazy photo.



I got some good quality time with the immediate fam excluding my brother who is in South Carolina right now, good timing bro. When I got back to the city I was greeted by both Shane and Kraig who decided to visit while I was out of town, good timing bros. Kraig bounced the next day but Shane was my roommate for about a week. He took out the trash once so I'd say the trip was well worth it.

Also I quit my job this week. I have a new job and I'm stoked on it.

Cool things on the internet today include this and this.

Also it has been quite a long time since I posted an out of context quote. So I'll amend it right now.

It's kinda like having two popsicles when you only want one.

- Adam Gloo

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This is how people on TV talk

My Mother was just out this past weekend and we toured around the city and hit some good ol touristy hot spots. We flew back Tuesday and now I'm in the KS for a week or so. Seeing family and golfing. Nice. My good friend Shane decided he needed some ink and he asked me to come up with something for him, finally got to see it in person. Don't ask what it is or what it means, he won't tell you.

1. Ink
2. Big flashlight
3. Park
4. Mom vs Liberty
5. Dad vs the Caddie








If you don't believe in post modernism then this video will make you. I've sung the praises of Mr. Galifianakis before, but dude just took it to another level with this one. And speaking of post modernism, Damien Hirst took it to another level too.

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But what was with the frogs?

Are you an angry man? Are you envious? Do you get envious?
I have a competition in me. I want no one else to succeed. I hate most people. There are times when I, I look at people and I see nothing worth liking. I’ve built up my hatreds over the years little by little and, I see the worst in people. I don’t need to look past seeing them to get all I need. I want to earn enough money I can, get away from everyone. I can’t keep doing this on my own… with these… people.

Paul Thomas Anderson's new film There Will Be Blood. Anticipated by me.

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iPhone therefore I am?

Apologies to my fantastic parents. I made them wait in lines at two different AT&T stores in Kansas thinking they would have a better shot of getting one then I had here in New York. The results? They both missed out by a few spots in line while I walked into the 5th Ave. Apple store at about 11:45pm and walked out ten minutes later with phone in hand. Thanks to Dave for giving me the heads up that 5th Ave. was still stocked.

In a word? The thing is "awetastimazing". It really is everything that it has been made out to be. I don't think I can say anything else that hasn't been said or photographed on the internets so far. So I won't. But I will say one of the best things about having one is knowing that Kraig doesn't. It's such a rare occasion that I get to out geek or out tech him. Sucks to be you Kraig.

This is the coolest thing on the internet right now and you have no idea why.

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Band geeks and beer

Alright so yesterday was Tim's last day at work. Another one bites the dust to say the least. I could say a lot about Tim and thank him many times for everything he's done in the time we've worked together but instead I'll just do this;

1. Yum.



Last night Danny and Kristen and I went to a Weakerthans show. On a boat. It was weird. The show was good no doubt, but the boat was weird. For starters it was a boat and it was moving so everyone was unnaturally swaying back and forth and the views outside the boat were quite cool as well, so it was a bit distracting. Great show though.

2. Boating.



Now for new and fun music for your ears and face.

Colour Revolt - This is a great little band that reminds me a lot of cursive but they tend to be more mellow. I love the way this track opens.

Peter, Bjorn & John - Young Folks - I'm not gunna lie, I slept on this track in 06 and didn't know about it until Kanye decided to spit on top of it for a bit. But damn do I love it.

The National - Slow Show - " You know I dreamed about you for twenty-nine years before I saw you"

The Phoenix Foundation - Blue Summer - Trippy little tune I found via this film.

Jenny Owen Youngs - Long time readers will remember that I actually proposed to Miss Youngs last year only to be completely rejected. It's ok though, I still dig her and this song is a good reason why.

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The what is what

I just finished up a book I have been reading every morning and every evening on the subway for the past month or so. The book is the third in a row I have read by one Mr. Dave Eggers. I don't know which is more astounding, the fact that I have read three books in such a short period of time or that they were all written by the same dude. Anyway the book, What is the What, was quite simply amazing. It might be my favorite of the three. It was easily the most moving and it left me with an all together different perspective on many things. This is rare I think. I suggest you read it. If you have then I'll point you to this for further enjoyment.

Not much else is going on really. That's actually not true, a lot is going on, though none of it feels necessary to talk about. I've noticed that the summer is not for blogging, I don't know why, but it isn't. Perhaps if I was given a topic I could expound upon it, though I doubt it. It's worth a shot though.

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Where exactly have you been?

So I guess I could just say I've been mad busy and that's why there hasn't been a post up here in like over a month, but that would be boring right? Right, so instead I'll tell you the truth. I was attacked by ninjas. No for real, totally jumped by ninjas man, apparently I was nominated for GNAT you know Greatest Ninja of All Time. And when you get the nomination every ninja in the world tries to kill you. So the fact that I'm typing this out now should tell you something...

But for real for real people were actually like mad that I hadn't posted in so long. And I know some of you are thinking, "Whatever dude, just 'cause I said something he's saying a bunch of people were mad." But truthishly lots of people bugged me about it so here you go jerks.

This is an awesome site. It's awesome to see comedians out of their element and speaking on their craft. This is boredom personified. I love Nike and so do you, and these are a few reasons why. My dad will think this is really cool and that means you will too. If you don't laugh at this then you are dead. This is really cool. But this is much cooler, but will anyone care? If you haven't experienced Google map's street view then go do it now, but don't look at my apartment weirdo. And lastly for the links, ever wonder what it would be like if Satan and Jebus were in the same room together? I'll leave it up to you as to who is who.

The musak is changed. You will enjoy it.

CRS (Lupe Fiasco, Kanye West & Pharrell) - Us Placers - I honestly haven't listened to anything else since this dropped last weekend. If you don't have it get it, if you don't know how then you're too old.

Midlake - Bandits - Midlake is cool.

I know I have had the Manchester Orchestra up for like ever but I have to tell you I'm not sorry about it at all and you should all love them by now. I was fortunate enough to catch them live with Kraig last week when I was in the Kansas for the work stuff. I know it's not believable but they were ten times better live than recorded. When they finished the venue was dead quiet in awe and then someone cued the 8O's slow clap and cheer effect. Amazing. Oh and I'm putting another track in the player.

The Manchester Orchestra - Now That You're Here - Honestly though go see them.

1. Awesome.



Final thing.

Give it another month, cheers.

.

Where 15 year old girls can vote

This week marks a sad occasion for me. My good friend and co worker Danny has decided to bail. It's best for him and I wish him all the best. But the fact of most significance is that I'm the last left. Chad left and then Scoot left and now Danny. Working with those guys (or not working) will be hard to recreate no matter where I go in my career. Thanks guys. Thanks for leaving. Jerks.

1. Kriss Kross will make you



In other news the show Rescue Me decided to block up my block this week and make a fake fire. So that was a bit weird. No I didn't see Dennis Leary.

Also I snagged some new Nike + enabled shox so that some lady can record and tell me how slow I'm running. Or as I found out last night Lance Armstrong will congratulate me on running my best mile time. Hurray. Yesterday I picked up a pair of Stussy colab Nike dunk trainer free hybrids made with ostrich and European leathers. They're quite dope. And finally I got my Tom's shoes. Again I recommend you all grab a pair of these, helping out kids is good and stuff.

2. oooooh fire
3. That's high
4. +
5. Stussy
6. Tom's






Oh one last thing. I heard this the other day. Awesome...
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I confide in wolves

I'm going to do something a bit different with this post. Maybe call it a feature, maybe not. The player as you now might be hearing is filled with three tracks from one band. See, a bit different. I feel it's warranted though. I was given the album on Tuesday of this week and I haven't stopped listening to it since. The best way that I have come to describe it is if Death Cab, Saves the Day, Jimmy Eat World and Bright Eyes were to all get in a fight,The Manchester Orchestra would be the band that was left over at the end. Trust me it's true. Go get this album. The three tracks I put up are tracks three though five. I feel like they give a span of the album, the eb and flow if you will. More reading and some free tracks can be found here and here and here.

Also this is awesome and this is awesome and this is awesome. The last one mostly because Shaq just got swept from the playoffs today. Hurray!

Last thing, I just recently finished You Shall Know Our Velocity by Dave Eggers. It is the second book I've read by the dude responsible for Mcsweeney's. And who is also responsible for two of my favorite stores of all time, the Pirate Store and the Brooklyn Super Hero Supply Co. You Shall Know Our Velocity might be the best book I've ever read.There is a tonal shift in the book that you never see coming and it's just handled so well. Good stuff.

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What's with you and bees?

So I'm busy. Real busy. Somehow though I still manage to find time for you dear reader. It's rough but somehow I manage. Two things that are cool on the internet follow. I love this dude. I don't want to see his new movie at all but I'm happy it's doing well. Can't wait for the summer flick though. And this is just adorable. I get to go see the flick a bit earlier thanks to a media hook up (love you Jess!) so that's fun.

Now music.

30 Seconds to Mars - From - Yesterday - Oh that Jared Leto sure has come a long way hasn't he? I don't think I'd like this song nearly as much if it wasn't for the insanely esoteric video that goes along with it.

Sufjan Stevens - To Be Alone With You - Sufjan was my jam during the recent vaca.

Charlotte Gainsbourg - The Songs That We Sing - I don't know, but I like it.

Nick Drake - Place to Be - This guy is really good, to bad he's dead and stuff.

The Weakerthans - Plea From A Cat Named Virtue - Ok, so this song is actually written from the point of view of his cat. Awesome.

Ludo - Part IV: Morning in May - May is almost here.

Oh and there is a Futurama marathon on Adult Swim tonight. Any bets as to what I'll be doing tonight? That's right, feeding the homeless and saving the earth through recycling.

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"Right near da beach!"

Beach + iPod + Sleep = Bahamavention

Michael Vick was standing next to me in the immigration line at the airport. Yeah that Michael Vick.

Kurt Vonnegut left last Friday so that sucks.

"Those who believe in telekinetics, raise my hand."
- Kurt Vonnegut

I'll leave you with this.

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Don't tell Jonathan Swift

Congratulations are due to my lovely sister and my man Joe!
Two lovely people will now be three lovely people.

1. And she will




The Bean has a long way to go to trump Gators though.

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Noticed no ring on your finger

1. White out + delirium = smiley finger man


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Good enough to die on

It seems as though I am offended by sleep. My deprivation is your gain dear reader. The music needs updating you say? Done I say.

Say Anything - I Want to Know Your Plans - I saw these guys with DBC a while back at Radio City and I wasn't blown away but I didn't hate it either. The other guys I was with did. To be honest this is one of maybe four songs I like. I like it a lot though.

LCD Soundsystem - New York I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down - This dude is rad. Story over.

Bright Eyes - Lime Tree - New album, this dude is a monolith.

Menomena - This album hasn't been stopped since I got it. Last week they led off the play list this week they sneak in the middle and you're lucky they're here.

The Weakerthans - Without Mythologies - Danny's latest entry's title made me listen to these guys again tonight. Every time I hear them it is the first time. "If I could I would make you a raging river, with angry rapids, supplied with rain, so you could always meander and forever be able to run away"

Say Anything - A Walk Through Hell - This is another song I dig by these dudes, bit of an upbeat ending to the list. It reminds me a bit of this.

1. Flips



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I had something in my teeth

Honestly, welcome to not sleeping for four days. My flight to Chicago was delayed for like an hour or so due to lack of visibility. I checked with Kraig when I arrived due to his pilot-ie-ness and he confirmed that in fact you do need more than an eighth of a mile visibility to land so the delay was use full in the way of me not dying. Speaking of which there was a four car wreck two car lengths in front of me on my way into the city. The cabbie felt this deserved "two dollars off" my fair. I tipped him large for keeping me alive and for getting to see a tire explode. The trip all came about because this dude Kraig, Jazz nor I had seen since like eighth grade got at us and said we should meet up in Chi. This dude was Jacob and he left to go play soccer in England and was like way cooler than all of us then. He still is. Good seeing you man. 300 wasn't as good the second time through but I think that had a lot to do with me being more interested in the KU score updates Tanisha was texting me during the flick, there is always next year, but the movie is still solid. TMNT this coming weekend = stoked. We had "official" Chicago style pizza, I wanted to hate it, I liked it. I sat right in front of Michael Jeffery Jordan's name stenciled in gold on the wall. Odds? Good it would seem. Possible best part of the trip: going to the science and industry museum to see the "bodies" exhibit only to find out that it was sold out and then finding out that the science and industry museum was the lamest place on earth. What the hell Chicago? What the hell? For real even if I was like seven and on a class trip I would have thought it sucked. It was hilarious though. I had a decent breakfast of french toast and luke warm bacon. Life lesson, eat the bacon first. It was great to see Jazz, Nico and Kraig even if only for the weekend. At O'Hare aka the worst airport ever to navigate I saw a giant print ad that the very next day I would be turning into an online media ad. Sometimes it's easy to forget things exist outside of my desk. I sat next to a girl from San Francisco on the plane. She was eating McDonald's which made me feel much better about my dinner of Doritos and bottled water. I tried to sleep and I think I might have. When the plane landed two men had an altercation about one not moving his seat up quick enough. The man who didn't move his seat up had a curly mullet, the man who felt he didn't move it quick enough was losing his hair and to teach it a lesson by keeping the hair he did have shaved. The man who didn't move his chair fast enough claimed the other lacked manners. The man who was keeping his hair in check claimed the other was an "ass". I silently agreed with both of them. I found myself behind the man who didn't move his seat up quick enough with his mullet and his son and his son's como baseball cap in line for the taxi. They were both smoking. The relativity of "manners" is a funny thing. I got in late and passed out in my shirt that smelled of Pez.

Work decided to be insane the last two days. Thanks work, you're awesome, I don't like sleeping anyway, or having a life.

I'm now eating peach ring candy which I just found in my bag.
Traveling is fun. More to come this weekend.

*Shout out to Celeste who was out here last week with Rob Famous as well but somehow a mention got lost in the shuffle and I'm ridiculously sorry for that. Forgiven?

.

Dead like Captain America

The one and only Rob Famous was here last week. He dragged along his girlfriend who threw wasabi at me. Real mature.

My awesome IDs arrived this week. They're super dope.

1. Super dope.
2. Nice touch.






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Giggles has shifty eyes

Caught 300 this weekend. Awesome.

KU won the Big XII in overtime. Awesome. Got a number one seed. Awesome.

Hear that? It's new music. Just for you. You're welcome.

Menomena - Wet And Rusting - This is the best song I've heard all year.

Lily Allen - Naive (live lounge cover of The Kooks) - She's just so hip right now isn't she? This is one of two songs I have by her and it's the one I like and it's not even her song...I like it though. How annoying is the DJ at the end though?

Wreckless Eric - Whole Wide World - You might recognize this from Stranger Than Fiction. I had it before that. But it reminded me I had it.

The Afghan Whigs - Crazy - This song is just mad chill. Dig it.

The Arcade Fire - Ocean Of Noise - I think this is my favorite track of the new record. Maybe second, the last track is really good too. Neon Bible, good stuff.

José González - Heartbeats - This song makes me think vividly of the best day of my life. It was used wonderfully in this commercial as well. Which also makes me think of that day.

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That stupid ache

Brilliance defined by Mr. Galifianakis.
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San Franciscan duty

My lovely and dear friend Michelle was kind enough to invite me to a very cool event last week at Nike's 255 ID Studio. I decided to ID some AF25s with premium off white leathers, very choice. After which I rolled to dinner at some cool Asian spot with some peoples from work. I rolled late so they recommended "the rock" which was some raw meat that you cooked yourself on a small insanely hot rock. Seemed to work out. Afterwards I had to take like three trains to get home. On the way I remembered I lived in New York. Lived here for over a year now. Weird. I cut through grand central and I deftly avoided times square. I hate times square. Pictures = proof.

I like my current play list enough to keep it up (lazy) for a little longer so for your music entertainment I give you Fabchannel. Danny put me on to it this week, dope stuff, I recommend the Bright Eyes 05 set as well as the Spoon 02 set.

1. 255
2. Wall
3. Michelle
4. The Rock
5. Grand Central
6. Not Times Square








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Dped

So this is interesting. Kinda goes back to something I was talking about a while back though it's a bit more bleak. Still interesting though. This is just dope and I want one. Senator Ted Stevens is at it again. I hate old people.

Tim and I went out to L.A. Thursday night and after the six hour flight we had another hour wait to get a car and by the time we got to the hotel the only thing that was open was a Denny's, sweet. We stayed at the W which was basically a night club filled with hot chicks and dudes who didn't speak English. The bed was like sleeping inside of a marshmallow though so that helped with the techno music blaring from a few floors below. The script we read was pretty awesome and there is a rather large hint of what it was courtesy of a super awesome ninja phone picture I took on the Fox lot below. And to think my Mom didn't let me watch that show when I was a kid, thanks Mom. While on the lot I had a star sitting, kinda, Kevin Weisman otherwise known as the hobit lover from Clerks 2. Tim swears the blond chick he was talking to was someone too so I saw some famous blond chick as well. After the studio we hit up the area near our hotel because Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash was right there. Awe-freakin-some. On the flight back I managed two movies. The first was Mike Judge's latest film Idiocracy. Office Space it wasn't. The second was Man Of The Year and wow was it bad, so bad Christopher Walken couldn't save it. Stupid movies.

A good movie on the other hand was Reno 911. I caught that last night and it was pretty awesome. They only reused like one gag from the show which was impressive. Funny stuff.

1. Fox
2. Window
3. JaSB'sSS*
4. Wing
5. Bed
6. Wing redux







*This was a door in the back of Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash. The drawing on the door is done by the god of comic illustrators Jim Lee. Also on the left there are a pair of the angel wings Ben Affleck wore in Dogma.

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I am Red Robot

Imagine that you are of Iranian decent, Arabic is your first language and you speak fragmented English at best even though you were born and raised in the united states. Now imagine that you want to fly from point a to point b within the united states. This would probably be a bit of a hassle given the state of the world and the perceptions within it yes? Now imagine you have tourettes with a high penchant to exhibit coprolalia. These are the things I think about.

Diesel Sweeties, one of my favorite daily reads has been syndicated recently, making the jump from the internets to print, it is very very good and very very funny in a very very inside nerdy kind of way. Speaking of awesome, Christopher Walken is my hero and this is to good not to pass along. "Not eighty, how 'bout four?" I've said before that I like Justin Timberlake and I'm not ashamed of it 'cause dude is cool, even if he did cry when he was "punked", and this video is great just for its scope and its "scarlettjohanssoness" isn't bad either.

And now for music that doesn't suck so much.

Radiohead - How I Made My Millions - Amazing song that was recorded in Thom's Kitchen apparently. Brilliance.

Nightmare Of You - Why Am I Always Right - I like this song because I wonder that everyday. This is the former lead singer of The Movielife's new band in case you were into them.

Malcolm Middleton - Four Cigarettes - Stumbled upon this guy I don't know when or how but I dig him.

For Those Who Know - Competition - Same story here, don't know how I came about them but I like them. Good walking around music.

Coco Rosie - Ohio (Damien Jurado Cover) - Coco Rosie is weird and fun, check them out if you like weird and fun. Who dosen't like weird and fun? No one I want to know that's who.

John K. Samson - Sunday Afternoon - John K. is the lead singer of the o so loved Weakerthans. This track is off his own ep. Good stuff as always.

Nick Drake - Fly - I was watching The Royal Tenenbaums a few weeks back and this song is from the scene when Richie Tenenbaum, after he has attempted suicide, climbs into his bedroom window to see Margot Tenenbaum who is sitting in Richie's tent.

.

Like Lil Penny and Tyra

The savvy of you will notice an all new home page image, good job savvy kid! I think I'm going to keep this one up for a while so get used to it. Also as far as changes go, I switched out the first track in the player 'cause it was bugging me. I threw in the Brand New track Me Vs. Maradona Vs. Elvis because it seems to go with the "theme" a bit better and is just an awesome song. If you don't know what this song is about then you have a soul, congrats on that.

The Boston bomb scare has officially gone to far. It's just to ridiculous for words. In happy news, technology is amazing. And in happier cool designy news Helvetica is awesome in case you didn't know.

I came up on a dope pick up recently that has been a long time coming. When Penny Hardaway had game and when Tyra wasn't crazy the Foamposite dropped way back in ninety seven and was way ahead of it's time. A seamless foam composite upper in a garish royal blue. For some unknown reason Nike destroyed the original mold way back when. They've tried to bring them back a few times in different incarnations but never true to form. Last month they dropped them in a limited number exactly like the originals.


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The goggles do nothing

Well that was weird. The super bowl was actually better than the super bowl commercials. Well the first half at least. I did like the one with the dudes making out for the snickers and this one was fun.

It's fashion week again which means that Bryant Park is getting messed up. I'd really like someone to explain the effectiveness of "promo girls" to me. I mean do the people who actually respond and talk to these girls ever interact with the brand they are "representing" outside of that? And if they do are these idiotic people the ones you want? Especially during "fashion week", don't promo girls just cheapen your brand? I don't get it but the next pitch I go into, promo girls, nothing but promo girls. It is however very fun to see all these girls and sometimes dudes freeze to death all in the name of fashion. I bet they wish tights weren't just so cool right now, I know I don't.

I was reminded of a lot of music I was listening to a few years ago recently and this couples with the newest release of one of those bands. A lot of these bands would be considered "emo" so for some of you who read this on the regular you can consider this a somewhat revisit to my previous attempt at an "emo" play list. The band with the new release? Fallout Boy. I think it comes out this week, maybe the sixth? Dave gave it to me a couple weeks ago and after I listened to the first few tracks I told Dave that a new Fallout Boy album was like the first day of spring. Yeah they're totally pop top forty now and Pete is a little crazy but their name is a fun bit of Simpsons trivia and damn it they make a fun record you really can't help but get into. The first track lets you know what you're in for with an intro from none other than J Hova, dare I say that's gangster? Anyway if you're into that sort of thing, pick it up.

Amon Tobin - At The End Of The Day - This is one of two songs that doesn't fall into the "emo" theme. I just think this is a great atmospheric song and a cool start off track.

Loudon Wainwright III - Natural Disaster - Tim gave me this song this week. It's amazing just amazing.

Armor For Sleep - Phantoms Now - Ala Romeo and Juliet this track is about two star crossed lovers who commit suicide together. Sweet huh?

Bayside - Just Enough To Love You - " Somewhere someones finding happiness, While I'm still here so hung up on you". So emo.

The Movielife - If Only Duct Tape Could Fix Everything - This song is about a dude who's chick leaves him and then because he doesn't go after her or wait around for her to come back he has somehow let her down. Brilliant.

My Chemical Romance - The Ghost Of You - This song is about some girl dying or it's a metaphorical break up song. If you watch the video it's about a kid dying at war. Either way it doesn't get much more emo than MCR does it?

Senses Fail - Bloody Romance - Well the title is emo but man do I have some good stories about these guys that I can't type out.

Fallout Boy - I've Got All This Ringing In My Ears And None On My Fingers - FOB manages to wax poetic in this the last track of their new album. "The truth hurts worse than anything I could bring myself to do to you". This is often times the case in life I think, the truth of a matter is usually much worse than anything we could come up with ourselves. Sometimes it's better than we could imagine as well though.

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Meatwad gets the honeys see

So Boston is stupid huh? There is really just so much wrapped up in this story that I find relevant and interesting that I can't even begin. Tim ( a fantastic copy writer I work with) and I have been pretty obsessed with the story all week. Instead of expounding on my thoughts I figure I'll just direct you to some I think are fun. This is the official article and this is the funny zebro video and these are Harry Knowels thoughts on it and this is what the whole stunt was (effectively so) supposed to promote. Boston, go figure, and just after The Departed gave me such a good impression of the officials there.

I really do have a new play list coming soon, it's done I just need to take the time to put it up. Until then this will keep you entertained and so will this. Try and get all of them to orbit around one circle. I did. Oh and this looks hilarious.

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Because men can't have babies

Hey, wow it's been like two weeks or something huh? Either I've been busy or I've had nothing to say at all, take your pick.

I managed to catch two pretty awesome movies this weekend, Children of Men and The Departed. Got a media hookup for a copy of The Departed (thanks T), which I wanted to see while it was in theaters but never got around to it. I gotta say I liked every part of it, not one complaint. Children of Men was stellar even if some people think the title doesn't make sense. The long cuts were insane, there might have been like three breakaways the entire film, highly recommended. Also a few weeks ago I caught Hard Candy, amazing character study film and even more amazing was the acting of Ellen Page.

I'll have a new play list up soon. Maybe.

Oh and I'm over the iPhone, I now want one of these. While I was writing this Dave sent me a link to this video which like most videos Dave sends me I've seen already but maybe some of you less cool people havn't seen it.

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Pillow vs. Pillow = Awesome

Just got finished watching Demetri Martin's latest stand up show on Comedy Central, it was expectedly awesome. If you didn't watch it you're not cool. Sorry that's just the way it is. Maybe you can catch a rerun and be like one third cool or something. Good luck un cool kid.

If you want to make up some cool points check out Danny's best of oh six photos over at Werlew.

You may have noticed the new illustration. Good for you.

Also in the news is a new play list filled with new hotness for your ears. They're also very new in the sense that all artist featured have never been featured before except for one, so kudos to me.


Sparta - The Most Vicious Crime - Sparta's latest release slipped by me this past October and boy was I missing out. I'm glad I righted the ship. Three's is amazing.

Destroyer - Painter in Your Pocket - I'd heard of Destroyer before but never heard them. This song makes me think I would like more by them.

Sunset Rubdown - Shut Up I Am Dreaming of Places Where Lovers Have Wings - Believe it or not this isn't the best titled song on this play list, good tune though, killer tune.

Apostle of Hustle - My Sword Hand's Anger - Love the beginning and build up in this song.

Viva Voce - We Do Not Fuck Around - Best chorus...ever. Ever ever.

Joshua Radin - The Fear You Won't Fall - The lone repeat artist and well deserved. Zach Braff seems to have cursed the world by making everyone's mom think they discovered The Shins but I'm letting it slide because of Radin.

Dragonforce - Through The Fire And Flames - Greatest rock song ever...period. Thank you Scott.

Enjoy the noise kids.

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The world has turned and left me here

"Danny, the world changed while you were at lunch."




My friend Kwame was at the keynote address thus making him cooler than anyone I know, and possibly even cooler than me. June can't get here fast enough. All time before June will simply be refered to as "before I had the iPhone".

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Visual math

Images from the past weeks or so. Black + white = atmosphere!

1. Dad + scooter = christmas eve
2. Jazz + Kraig = secrets
3. me + go cart = my niece winning
4. mullet + overalls + bible factory = branson






Extra credit section-

Q: If I order two Nike ID Dunks one of which is a color combo previously only released in Japan and not available in my size thirteen and one of which is designed to my personal tastes, how happy will I be?




A: Very.

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Fourteen the easy way

I'm sure some of you have seen enough "best ofs" or "year in reviews" to hold you over at least until next year (is that a joke?) but I felt the need to give one a go. So some do best releases of the year or a general recap of things that have happened but I've decided just to do my favorite songs of the year. There was no criteria other than I had to listen to it a lot this year and really dig it. It didn't have to come out this year or even within the last fiscal year, I just had to listen to it and like it. They're in no order of importance nor did I take the time to make them flow in any sort of harmonious order. So enjoy or not, the point is, I did.

Brand New - Jesus Christ - I think I've made it quite clear my feelings on this band and this album. This is my favorite track from the release.

DeVotchka - Dearly Departed - Seeing this song live was awesome and it was in a tent so that's like awesome times two or something, I'm not good a circus math...or math.

The Weakerthans - Left and Leaving - Just and amazing song by an amazing band.

Cat Power - I Found A Reason - This song stole the show that was V For Vendetta and made me not hate Cat Power.

The Mountain Goats - This Year - Uh do I need to explain this?

The Decemberists - The Crane Wife Three - The whole album is fantastic start to finish and The Crane Wife One and Two should be here as well.

The Appleseed Cast - Peregrine - The Cast are from Lawrence, gangster.

Ladytron - Destroy Everything You Touch (Hot Chip Remix) - Put this on repeat while ridding the train and you're set.

Hot Chip - The Warning - Hot Chip will break your legs, snap off your head.

Sufjan Stevens - The Lord God Bird - Read and revel.

Taking Back Sunday - Up Against (Blackout) - This song got me through a many a middle two mile runs.

Ray LaMontagne - Half Alive - This is the track that got me hip to Ray.

Liam And Me - Fast As You Can - These guys do the eighties sound revive right and own it as far as I'm concerned.

The Format - At The Wake - Great song about death and what it leaves behind.


Well that's it kids. Oh-six was kind of a big year for me, the move, the job, the apartment, the time I locked myself out of the apartment, ok four times, the time I hit F4 on the vending machine when I meant to hit F3, the time I thought I saw a ghost but then realized It was just a coat hanger but then wondered where that coat hanger came from, but I'm more than happy to see it go. Onward and upward.

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If it moves shoot it

I filmed this out of a car window at six or so in the morning. It marks my first foray into video so bare with it.



The song is Parachutes by Coldplay and it was forty eight seconds long so it fit so I used it.

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I'll get the astronaut ice cream

Happy days of holi to you and yours. I got my fam a pair a piece of these for the holidays and I encourage you all to snag a pair as well. This wins for best holiday commercial only because they were smart enough to get Cat Power. And speaking of smart, Cartoon Network is having a Venture Bros marathon right now and I'm watching it. Smart.


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There's only one return

I don't care what you say, I like Justin Timberlake. Yeah, you wanna fight about it? Granted I don't think I have any of his music and I don't really want any of it but this* is awesome. I saw it last night and searched the web high and low for it today. You are welcome.

Now on to music I actually do like. This play list is a bit trimmed down and has two tracks of christmas filler in it. Why? Well mostly because all I've listened to since it came out is Brand New's new record. Can't stop. So I haven't had much time to get into anything else except for the random tune here and there. But I think this is a nice little list.

Clint Mansell - Stay With Me - This is from the fantastic movie that was The Fountain.

Kean - With Or Without You - It is always difficult to pull off a good cover, even more so when it's U2. I think these guys managed to do it some justice.

Brand New - Archers - This is my favorite rock out track of the album. Other tracks have highs and lows but this one just starts and goes until the end.

Coldplay - Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - Oh those Coldplay kids sure can make a lovely little tune can't they?

Death Cab For Cutie - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - Leave it to Ben Gibbard and crew to make christmas sad.

DeVotchka - Queen of the Surface Streets - Such a great great song. The lyrics to this song are just so sublime and convey themselves so clearly.

One last thing, TNT is the best channel ever. All three Lord Of The Rings today? Awesome. There is still only one trilogy* though.







*If you are my mom or offended easily don't click on this link.

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This, this, this and this

So the jerk I was stealing wireless from finally got wise and put a password on his connection. Which means I had to get cable this week. Having a good connection is nice but now having all these channels is just irritating. Yeah I'm getting some great basketball and more Scrubs but man do I hate the rest of TV.

Such an awesome navigation on this site. This is a really interesting interview. Great clean design here. This is why I steal music. This is why I hate people. This is nostalgia personified. This just looks better and better. Don't be that guy, check out who is behind this site, weird. This is the best unknown show on TV right now, check the listings to see if it's in your area, if it's not, cry. This guy has mad talent. If you're not excited about this then I hate you.

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Time of mind

The man the myth the legend that is my brother in law was in town most of last week on some super big too cool for you business-ie stuff. He was cool enough to hit up The Fountain with me. Wow. Visually it was breathtaking. The story and pacing was fine for me. There are two main ways I think you can interpret the story neither of which I will divulge but wonder if you come to the same conclusions. At it's essence though it is simply a love story. The movie is getting ripped up and down in reviews and I can't say that I don't understand why. It was easily the most ambitious film I've ever seen. I recommend it only if you have the time of mind.

Friday night was a good one. Scotty K came through again big time. His good friend's band DBC rolled through NYC again and he hooked us up. The kicker though? Brand New. Brand New was the opener. Yeah. I think I've made it clear how much I enjoy this band. I wasn't disappointed in the least. I came away, if possible, more impressed with them. And this might not even have been the best part. The venue my friends was a little place known simply as the worlds most famous arena, Madison Square Garden. The Garden. Now I've been to the Garden before to see the Knicks, the year right before they officially became the worst team in the league, but this was different. Why? Center court. No not court side, center court. Our seats were literally in the center of Madison Square Garden. If you don't understand why that's awesome then leave.

The the pics are from my phone so they aint pretty but you'll get over it I swear.

1. Brand New
2. The Garden
3. Dashboard

Dual hawks

So most of the cats I work with are a tad bit older than me and are constantly fascinated by the fact that stuff they're into was around well before I was born. This makes them feel old. This kind of led to a disscussion about "emo" one day and how back in the day its conception was meant to be an insult. The first time I was called emo was by one of my hardcore friends in highschool (dude rocked dual mohawks, that's hardcore). I'd never heard it before. This was before Dashboard made it cool to be emo. And now it's sort of a weird floating term that's attached to lots of things. So I tried to make an emo playlist. It didn't really work. It's more of an indie/emo playlist and I kind of lost interest in it half way through. It's still good music and I think it has a nice flow as a playlist, starts slow, builds a bit, then comes back down at the end.

Joshua Radin - Winter - I thought this song was appropriate since it was like crazy warm here lately but of course this weekend it dropped like twenty degrees and now it's supposed to snow tomorrow. It's still a good song though.

Sun Kill Moon - Exit Does Not Exist (Modest Mouse Cover) - Mark Kozelek is awesome, there I said it, it's official. How you take a Modest Mouse track and make it your own is beyond me. His own stuff is just as amazing.

The Appleseed Cast - Fight Song - This is my friend Kraig's favorite song by the cast and with good reason. They just manage to capture that feeling so well.

Brand New - Luca - Again with the Brand New? Yeah. Get this album. This song has such an amazing build, listen to it loud.

The Format - Dog Problems - The title track off the album that was released this summer and with good reason. The explosion in the middle of this song just says so much.

The Get Up Kids - Red Letter Day - I can't believe this is the first Get Up Kids track I've ever posted. It's a good one to start off with though.

The Scene Aesthetic - The Alamo Is No Place For Dancing - See, the emo kids agree, Texas sucks.

Acceptance - Take Cover (Acoustic) - The best thing about this song is that it was a myspace exclusive and this version was clearly recorded on a computer because you can here a file download prompt and it then being opened. Brilliant. Also this band is now broken up. Poetic? Appropriate? Emo.

Also I know I've never commented back to anyone in the comments section and I'm going to try and remedy that. So say something mean and we can get in a fight.

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Scotty Don't

Today was my good friend and coworker Scott's last day. To say that I learned a lot from Scott in the short time I worked with him would be under selling it by a lot. I would try to explain the awesomeness of the man who goes by many monickers such as Scooter, Scoots, Scoot, Scotty, Scotty too hottie, Scotty Don't and the most recent upon proposing to his lovely girlfriend, Scotty Do, I present you with a short clip that really just sums up the awesomeness.

Scott is going off to start a production company with Mr. Ed Burns and his wife. Well it doesn't really have anything to do with his wife but I wanted to link to her. You're welcome.

Scott, you will be missed and never forgotten. I'll see you next week at the concert.

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Jezy Chrizy

See any good movies this weekend? I did. Which one you might ask? Casino Royal I might answer. Not only was it the best Bond flick I've ever seen it was just a really good movie in it's own right. I'm totally even more amped to see The Fountain now.

Did anyone catch that game last night? What game you say? Kansas vs. Florida I say. The home town team had the game won against the number one ranked Gators in regulation but then decided to let it go into overtime so that I might have a few mild heart attacks. College basketball shouldn't be this good in November. Oh and speaking of November, it was like sixty degrees here today...damn you Al Gore.

Lastly did anyone pick up that new album that dropped last week? What album you're prone to inquire? Why Brand New's brand new album The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me is the answer to that fine question. The album is so good in fact that I threw up a track for you in the player (you should be hearing it's goodness now), but the album is so good it was really hard for me to decide which track, so I picked the one with my name in it because I'm conceited. Enjoy.

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Book report

So last week I borrowed this book, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius and I just finished it yesterday. This means I read a four hundred and thirty seven page book in a week. I think I would read more but then I fear I would become a nerd like my friend Danny and right now I'm quite happy just being a geek. I don't like reading but when I do I find that I enjoy it.

The book is in fact at times a heartbreaking work of staggering genius and at other times it's just a really self involved blatant example of what you would think a twenty something gen xer might be thinking about in the early nineties. I'd recommend it if you like books about things and stuff.

And now for some random goings on on the internets. I beat this whole thing in like half an hour, if you can't then you're not cool or you have better things to do. This is just too relatable to be funny. I love it when people are impressed with bygone civilizations such as Rome, "But they had a sophisticated water system and they had roads!", as if having those things makes them more advanced then modern man and his silly sewer systems and six lane highways. From now on when I get into this conversation with a hippie I think I'll just point to this thing to make my point. As I said before I am a geek and my excitement for this film proves it. This is a really interesting take on why we don't like music we once liked once it gets "popular" and just the state of the "hipster" mentality in general and how it might be bought and sold back to said hipsters. This is a cool idea here and I wouldn't be mad if any of you valued readers felt then need to get me one of these tees for Christmas. I'll get you something equally cool, promise.


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Title TBA

You may or may not have noticed the new image on the home page. The previous two are now in the portfolio if you find yourself having withdraws.

This play list seems to have no real thread. I was going to try for a few different themes but they just weren't happening so I just kinda mashed it all together with no conscience. So yeah I don't know I guess it's just some music I like, simple as that. Enjoy or not.

Explosions In The Sky - First Breath After A Coma - You gotta love these dudes. I like starting out with some ambient type jams for play lists 'cause it just eases you into it. Also really good background music while reading. Not that I ever read or anything.

Maritime - Someone Has To Die - Scotty got me hip to these dudes. They do some really chill out kinda stuff but I like the popieness to this track and how it doesn't quite fit with the context of the lyrics.

The Rosewood Thieves - Back Home To Harlem - Not gunna lie, I just heard this song for the first time today. But I like it, sounds a bit like a Beatles song no?

Joanna Newsom - Sadie - I really dig this chick in that Bjork kinda way, though I think she's a bit more relateable in a folky kinda way. She plays a giant harp and that's gangster.

The Decemberists - The Crane Wife 1 & 2 - I didn't want to put this song up because I have already put up The Crane Wife 3 and I would much rather expose you to tracks like O Valencia or When The War Came but I just dig this song to much and its more climatologically appropriate or something.

Kind Of Like Spitting - Passionate - "This was the first song written with Ben Gibbard on drums. We were really into Bjork and I’d been wanting to put a break-beat in a song. I didn’t finish the lyrics until the last minute. I remember sitting by the water in Seattle while Gibbard tracked his drums for the demos. It was a beautiful day and I just didn’t feel right bitching. And I definitely didn’t want the first song on the record to be a downer. Even though life was a pretty big downer at the time, I really made an attempt to get a positive notion in there. Whether I was successful or not is ultimately up to the listener." Yeah.

Fountains Of Wayne - Sink To The Bottom - Oh man am I on a nineties trip or what? This song was used on an episode of Scrubs I was watching a week or so ago. Awesome. It's to bad these guys will be better remembered for that Stacies mom song.

Mos Def & Talib Kweli - Thieves In The Night - Not a huge hip-hop fan but I like what I like and this IS easily my favorite album from said genre. I caught the flick Sixteen Blocks yesterday which Mos stars in, very good movie.

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Ill yay

So I had to go out to LA this week to read some scripts at some movie studios, rough life. Luckily neither script totally sucked and I got to meet some cool peoples. Got to chill with my man Kwame whom I haven't seen since he moved out there some six months ago, good times. It was also nice to get out of the city for a few days, especially to get away from the jerks I work with, kidding, but it's definitely good to be back home. Oh and check this true story of LAX out:

Tim: "Dude, it's Charo."

Me: "Word?" *looks up*

Charo: *seeing me looking at her* *waves* *smiles*

Me: *waves back* *smiles*

Me: "Dude, that was Charo!"

Tim: "Awesome."


Also I've got an out of context quote for you but it's actually so much better with context given.

"So when I woke up somebody had lit the trash dumpster on fire."
- Old man dressed like a clown at Venice Beach


1. six am
2. Paramount
3. Fox
4. global
5. warming
6. venice beach








*Yeah I don't know why but the little preview images aren't showing up but I'm sure you were smart enough to just click on the grey rectangles above right?

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Kiwi

"To die would be a great adventure."
.

It's funny for two reasons and I'll tell you why.

The Jazz in all of her awesomeness decided to grace me with a portrait. For real though it's about time, how Danny got one done before me I'll never know, it's not like she and I grew up together and have been like best friends forever or anything like that, but hey, whatever, all is forgiven. To prove it I added a song at the end of the player just for the good ole Chicagoan 'cause I know how much she just loooooooves Fallout Boy!

In other news. I don't know if this is a one time thing or if as encouraged will be a continuous thing done in different ways. So for the first, maybe last, maybe not, who knows, time I give you True Stories From.





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No words necessary

Three posts in three days. Either I'm to nice to you guys or I have no life, take your pick.*

A Silver Mount Zion - Tho You Are Gone I Still Often Walk With You - Sometimes lyrics are a hindrance to meaning. This is an example of surpassing that. The hip stoner cats dig these guys.

The Weakerthans -Pamphleteer - I'm pretty sure this is like the millionth track of theirs that I've thrown up. I <3 them and you should <3 them too.

Saosin - It's So Simple - It's amazing to see how far this band has come since their first demos. Fantastic album, Highly rocomended if you're into this sort of thing.

Silence At Sea - Dead Cowboy Town - If you don't picture this song being played over one of these then you had a horrible childhood and I feel sorry for you. What don't the British do well? Other than say being a relevant world power.

Soul Coughing - Super Bon Bon - Nineties at noon while in Adam's car brought this band back into my life. Who listens to the radio?

Saosin - Voices - Two tracks off this album to drive the point home. Just a great rock out album.

The Format - At The Wake - I'm a sucker for these guys and I'm a sucker for the piano. "Homer, quit calling everybody suckers."

Apparently Britney Spears filed for divorce. I take my headphones off for two seconds and this is what I hear? See, this is why I don't talk to anyone. Also for some reason the "blog" is looking all screwed up in Firefox right now, is this a problem for anyone else?


*It's the one about having no life.

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My side, your side.

"Your side hates my side because your side thinks my side thinks your side is stupid and my side hates your side because my side thinks your side is stupid."

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"Hey baby, I'm in the movies."

So I was greeted by tons of smashed Gatorade cups all over the streets upon my return home. Apparently there was like a marathon or something? Or the Gatorade headquarters exploded.

Anyone see Saddam go out all defiantly today? That was awkward to watch. You just gotta wonder what is going on in his mind right now, the bad guys never think what they're doing is evil you know. And we really still hang people? I mean if the point is to make it hurt I'm sure we can do worse but can we not at least be humane while being hypocritical?

Oh and so now maybe I'm not getting kicked out of my apartment but still maybe will be because I said it was ok?

1. Thomas smash!
2. My giant drawering
3. My boy Ben's giant drawering

Super bon bon

I'm never moving back to the Midwest because I can't breathe here. For real, can't breathe, felt like I've had a cold since I landed. Weird week. Got some golf in this weekend because there was some freakishly nice weather. My golf game was however not as freakishly nice as it was just freakish. But still it was good to get out there. Then it got all sorts of cold. I remember how much I hate Halloween. The left over candy though, that's good times. The NBA started off this week. Thank you lord baby jesus. Had like the best dentist appointment ever, apparently that's possible, who knew? I rediscovered the awesome band Soul Coughing, does anyone remember them? Well I do, well now I do at least. The big ole agency meeting I made the trip back for was weird. We made a video about our office which was kind of a parody on The Office and it also featured a short commercial that was a spoof on the Mac PC commercials. I was the Mac. Photo evidence of this may make it up at some point. Everyone seemed to think it was funny so that was cool. The other guy in the commercial who was the PC got promoted to the president of the agency at the end of the big meeting as well...so yeah. Oh and you have no idea what kind of a freak out it is to see yourself on a giant movie screen, or do you? Natalie Portman if you're reading this I love you. And man was yesterday like the captain of the weird ship that was this week. I found out I'm getting kicked out of my apartment, I'm going to L.A. in two weeks for something super coolness and I had this huge party to go to. The antisocial in me was just thrilled. It wasn't so bad though. It was awesome to chill with my man Rob. It's weird to think that a year ago we were both playing Nintendo on my futton and now we both play grownup on a daily basis. Got to watch KU's first game of the year last night as well. Kids look good. Animal crackers though not really crackers are easily the most addictive thing ever. Tonight I get to see my boyz (yes with a z) whom I haven't seen in forever. Mailboxes will be hit with baseball bats or hot chocolate will be sipped at Denny's, one or the other I'm sure.

Now I need to clear out some out of context quotes:

"It does feel glacier...like a glacier."

"I know some LL...and not Cool J."

"I tried to see if Debbi would eat the pill,
but we never got that far"

I hope to put up a new play list Sunday but it probably won't happen so maybe Tuesday.

Mein schreibtisch ihr schreibtisch

In case no one noticed (all of you I'm sure) the tunes were down this weekend due to the fact that they were killing my bandwidth. Dave Gaslin to the rescue. The songs are back up now because Dave was rad enough to host the files for me until the end of the month, so props to Dave.

Danny called me out as well as some other peeps so here is my response.




17in PowerBook G4 with 20in cinema display. Herman Miller (lumbar in tact). Epson 2480 Scanner. Air Jordan inspirational poster. Tons of random stock photo posters. Glow in the dark Munny. LeBron James Todd McFarlane figure. Original Boba Fett from 1979. Newest Boba Fett from 2004. Spring loaded foam ice cream cone. Nitrix: Advanced Vaso-Muscular Volumizer(stolen from Chad's desk). Sticky notes or out of context quotes (What you think I just remember all of those?). Cyclops action figure. The New tragedies concert poster. Also apparently there is a window into heaven above my desk, so that's weird. Oh and sometimes Scott's giant head hangs out by my desk.

In other news, the rents were in town this weekend, good times, thanks fam. Also I got some oh so butter smooth Creative Recreation Cesario lows. Great little known brand, my new favorite.

Mustachioed

Today I joined the ranks of such great Americans as Hulk Hogan, Tom Selleck, Mike Ditka and my third grade substitute teacher Miss Hunter. I grew a mustache. Oh yes my friends, a mustache. Soak that in for a minute...I'll wait...and no, there will not be any pics, you should thank me for that.

Other than that I got nothing. Honestly isn't that enough? I just needed this day to be noted in history and then hurriedly forgotten.

But since you made the trip I'll hit you up with two fun things. This little combo is brilliant and this commercial makes me happy every time I see it, enjoy!

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Slow down

So the weather took that final turn. It's cold and the fall has hit its stride. The leaves are almost at peak and everything just seems to have slowed down. The music slows down as well it seems, either by choice or maybe by causality but it defiantly does. This play list is a sample of my slowed down tastes as of late with one little pop tune as an exception, though it has a succinct correlation to another song on the list so it feels just.

Sufjan Stevens - Chicago - This guy is just good isn't he? Not much here to say, the song says it all so well.

Colin Meloy - The Ballad of El Goodo (Big Star Cover) - I love Mr. Meloy's slow jams so much that I had to put two on here. "But guns are meant to be stuck by."

Ben Gibbard - Joga (Bjork Cover) - Mr. Gibbard makes a triumphant return to the play list with this amazing cover. I just realized how entirely "emo" this whole play list is going to be. Sorry. Next time...Maiden,
lots and lots of Maiden.

The Decemberists - The Crane Wife 3 - Great track from the newly released album and the second song voiced by Mr. Meloy on this list. Amazing storyteller and lyricist this guy.

The Reindeer Section - Your Sweet Voice - From a side project for the lead singer of Snow Patrol. I found this song just last Thursday and am quite taken with it.

Ray LaMontagne - Trouble (Live) - We've discussed this before but let this serve as one more reminder, Ray is much cooler than you.

The Weakerthans - Slips and Tangles - This might as well be any Weakerthans track as I've just been listening to everything by them lately but I love the sense of isolation inflicted with "affection not embrace" and the way he seems to explain perfectly that he can't explain it. Also it feels like a waltz no?

Snow Patrol - Hands Open - All right here is my guilty little sin of a song. I was a fan of Snow Patrol back before the god-awful Greys Anatomy show turned them into the nu Coldplay so I get a pass on that. The main reason this song is here is because at the one forty minute mark they reference the first track in this play list and that is a might bit gangster.

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Friends with a room

Danny was kind enough to let me tag along to the Cooper-Hewitt this afternoon. It was pretty awesome. Two quotes from the day.

I had no idea silverware could be cool.

- Danny

I want to be friends with this room.

- Me

Of the three current exhibits we started out with the smallest which was fittingly the scale staircases. They were interesting. The best part were the architectural renderings of the stairs and even better still were the signatures on them, no one writes like that anymore. Next up was the design of the tools of the table exhibit. In other words; spoons, forks, knives. Weird right? But ultimately very cool. Did you know that people used to take silverware with them because it wasn't provided, or that they were viewed as a status symbol? I didn't either. There were some amazing pieces on display but my favorite was the little section on airplane utensils, you'd have to see it to get it I guess. Also did you know that Thomas Jefferson wrote the first American recipe for ice cream? Yeah I didn't know that either. The final exhibit was some featured works of Frederic Church, Winslow Homer, and Thomas Moran. Winslow Homer easily being the name of note out of the three. Dude was trumped easily by Thomas Moran though. Whether it was his oil work, water color or straight ink and paper he simply killed it. Absolutely brilliant work. There was one piece he did of Niagara Falls with a quill that I could have stared at for hours based on the lines alone, his control of thicks and thins were insane. The stand out moment though came from a room. Not what was in the room but the room itself. It was a small atrium that I won't even try to describe but it prompted me to say the words above.

A few quick things of interest. This is amazing and might go a long way in helping someone understand why I enjoy sneakers so much and why this man and Todd McFarlane are the only autographs I've ever felt the need to get. The art direction on the movie is great as well, watch all the way to the credits, the animations are sick. Mark Cuban, the lovable owner of the Dallas Mavericks gives his thoughts on the acquisition of Youtube by Google and in the process tells you how pretty much all media content on the web can be yours for free. I hate country music as much as the next sane person but this has Netflix written all over it.

Finally, tonight is Midnight Madness and the NBA starts up at the end of the month. Welcome to the excitement that is my life.

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Kind of like spitting on a stranger

The title of this post was supposed to be a joke to myself combining something referenced below with one of my all time favorite bands. But as I went to link to that bands myspace page I read that just two days ago Ben, the man behind the band announced the end of the band. Well that sucks. Rest assured they will be in the next play list. Hopefully Ben gets it together and starts up a new band.

My first year of school, college, not high school, I did a google image search for, I think, "nerdy girl" or something similar to that, possibly "cute girl with glasses", I don't really remember, though now that I think about it I wonder how I didn't just get a whole lot of porn as a result, anyway this sentence has now apparently become a test to see how many commas I can get away with in one sentence, ten it would seem, unless you count the two times I typed comma out and the one right before "unless" and the one coming up right here, then fourteen. So anyway I did the search for an image reference for an illustration for what I think was a band t-shirt and one of the image results was an image slice from a site called www.vacant.cc which had the very enticing title of "spitonastranger". Wow, all of what you just read was only two sentences. Sorry. There now it's four I feel a bit better about that. Also that's the last time I count how many times I do something in this post. So the site was actually a Blog by a girl named Leah. I believe at the time she was still in high school and lived in Texas. I knew what a blog was but had never read one and never understood the appeal. It was weird and voyeuristic. Now they're kind of everywhere and I even have one. I don't like to refer to this as a blog but I do publish it on blogger.com so it's a little difficult to subscribe to that reality. Since I first found her site I have kept up with it fairly well. I don't check it every week or every day as I do with some sites but I keep up with Leah and her little life. I've read about her trips and her boyfriends and what she thinks about various topics like the great Bill Cosby and making 'Zines, does anyone remember 'Zines? Since I stumbled across the site she has gone to college, gone through a few jobs, gone through a lot of haircuts and even gotten married. I even watched clips of the wedding on Youtube that were posted there by her father. And now she herself has been posting clips on Youtube. It has been quite weird watching someone I don't know at all go through life for the brief time I've been paying attention. It makes me wonder though who may be reading this and why. I know like five people who actually read it, though my traffic stats show it's more than that, well like seven, but still I wonder who they are and how or why they found my site. But this is all also drawing some kind of weird connect to the project I just finished for the UN. One of the things that was done was getting "celebrities" on Youtube to record their thoughts on the campaign. Which was recently commented on over at Adrants. More specifically the fictional Vlogger known as Lonelygirl15 was asked to do one. It's just a bizarre mishmash or reality. Huddled with Google's purchase of Youtube for one point sixty five billion it just seems to be this time of culmination of new media or even possibly just the beginning of it. It's just been wild to sit back and realize that I have or we all have seen it happen but it's all been so irreverent. Was this what it was like to see people go into space for the first time? People just lived through the build up and thought, "Sure, that's great, good job, whatever." We are literally seeing the concept of globalization become a tangent thing through the combination of technologies and peoples desire to communicate ideas and it's just wild to observe from the inside. Or maybe it's just me.

But speaking of spaceships and the like, check this out. I did a report on quantum teleportation in college and this is one of the things I'd like to see done before I die. Or world peace, but I'd prefer teleportation.

PBS struck again on Sunday night. This kept me up until I stumbled on to Gross Point Blank, the best John Cusack movie ever, which then kept me up until five or so. But it was really good for me as I might have a mild problem with the subject matter of the documentary. Think of an elephant seeing a mouse.

I have a friend name Christina and her father is from North Korea and her mother is from South Korea. I always thought that was funny and now I just think it's relevant.

To bring this to a close as best I can, I leave you with this.

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Tweak

The player was bothering me since I had added the splash page, so I changed it, and the layout is just a bit rearranged as a result. For some reason the blog wants to sit right justified and I don't know why, if it bothers you let me know, I may try and fix it.

Until then here are a few things I've been enjoying on the interweb tubes lately. This, this and this are my constants every morning. The sites are updated every weekday and the last is updated all the time. Some amazing points of design inspiration can be found here and here. The last guy is my hero if not only for his Bio page. Gangster. This guy is on a whole other level. I've been meaning to point to him for a while, watch the clips of him creating. Amazing.

On a sad note. Buck O'Neil died Friday night. I don't much like baseball but I loved listening to this guy on the radio when I was little. It's tragic that he isn't in the Hall.

And now to lighten the mood a bit. A joke:

Dentist- What seems to be the problem today sir?
Guy - I think I'm a moth.
Dentist- Well why did you come here? I'm a dentist.
Guy - The light was on.


One final thing. I'm moving to France.

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Stand up

It’s rare when you get to do something positive in the world of advertising. Between shilling burgers and smokes to fat kids it’s nice to do something that might have some meaning or a decent impact if only in a small way. So about a month or so back I jumped at the chance to work on a pro bono project for the UN. The premise is a little hokey but hopefully it creates some awareness. So yeah I designed the site for this campaign and all the online ads. Had to be real simple what with the international audience and all that so nothing too fancy.

They’ve done a decent job getting some people behind it. Dave Mathew’s Band did a ditty and the stars of Youtube contributed as well. Gotta love that lonelygirl15 even if she is a big fake. You broke my heart lg15! Also got some animation studios to do some stuff and some nifty celebs to talk about it as well. But yeah so if you aren’t doing anything on the fifteenth you should stand around and create some awareness and junk.

On an entirely different note. This is the funniest damn thing ever. It is the definition of an out of context quote. What the hell man? And for the internet inept, click on the play icon in the “Preview Console” to hear
the eloquence.

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Welcome to awesome

I stole that title from another blog, respects to Jake Appleman, but it is totally apt for this. Did you watch the Daily Show last night? I did. About twenty feet away from John Stewart. Yeah, yeah I did. Thanks to Caleb for the hook up and thanks to Mr. Stewart for the funny. You see I usually watch the show on my un-cable filled tv and it comes through all color inverted, blurry and trippy much like I understand the sixties to have been. It was an all-together different sort of trippy watching the show in the studio. John Stewart is awesome. Ask me about it sometime and maybe we will become friends. Probably not though.

The wonder that is Youtube makes it possible for you to see the
opening of the show. Every eighth laugh you hear is me.

The show had a pretty strict no cell policy. They actually took two people’s phones and neither was very happy. But since I’m a ninja I managed to smuggle out this pic. Gangster.




Oh and on the topic of funny. You may recognize this dude from the Daily Show but if you are cool like me you knew about him long before that. Though I think we have established previosly that you are not cool like me, so good luck with that.

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Some place

All right then, here’s the new look. Not new enough for you? Go to another site then jerk. I didn’t like throwing the “blog” at people when they first hit the site. Word. Feedback welcome.

And here is the massive new play list. As I said it has a theme. That theme? My past year wrapped up in a quasi-relative chronological type sort of way. It either fits into what I was listening to at the time or what was going on in some way. Or not at all and I just wanted it on here? Also I left some out because I’ve already put them up. Well I tried for a theme. Meh.

Motion City Soundtrack – Hold Me Down – Nice little slow jam from MCS to start this out. Hey what can I say, these guys were awesome a year ago. And still are.

The New Tragedies - Kansas City Misery - I worked with Aaraon for a brief time in, you guessed it, Kansas City. He and is wife Bev are cool peeps with a great sound. You can listen to and purchase the rest of the album here.

Brand New – Untitled 7 – I’ve often said if I could actually “be” a band, Brand New would be that band. When Dave hooked me up with the new demos they were like crack. This track is actually my ring tone. Though I always have my phone on silent it’s the thought that counts right?

Liam and Me – There’s a Difference – I’m not a huge fan of the reemergence of the eighties sound but Liam and Me manages to transcend it and just be awesome. Great live too if you get the chance.

The Appleseed Cast – Hanging Marionette - I saw a review in Vice that said Appleseed was America’s answer to Radiohead. Yeah they’re that good and they’re from Lawrence.

Taking Back Sunday - Up Against (Blackout) – I know the first five tracks of this album by heart because I run to them every night. The whole album is great. Try not to move while listening, I defy you.

The Streets – Dry Your Eyes – What can I say about the white British rapper that hasn’t been said already? If he were a planet he would be Mercury. Hey look at that, I bet no one’s ever said that huh?

Rogue Wave – Eyes – This song was insanely misused last week on the premier of the awful excuse of a show “Heroes”. But it was cool for them I’m sure. Hard to decide between this track and "California" but your in luck 'cause they have it on their myspace page along with "Bird on Wire" another awesome diddy.

Brand New – Am I Wrong – Little bit of an unknown track off a split ep here. Greatness.

Bound Stems – Crimes and Follies – Just got hip to these kids. Very cool stuff. This track stuck out. The sound they produce has been termed “Math Rock”. Geeky huh?

Little shout out to the lovely Amara. Thanks for lunch today, you were refulgent as always. And now for your pondering pleasure, two quotes. They don't belong in the out of context catagory but they're good and deserving of note and thought.

"What we think, or what we know, or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence. The only consequence is what we do."
- John Ruskin

"You have to understand something about art. It comes from
some place."
- Angelica Graynamore, Joe vs. the Volcano


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AM 90 360 + 3M V's

I mentioned a while back that my dude Bryan got a write up in the Denver mag Westword. It’s a fairly comprehensive look at B and his addiction. Comprehensive is my nice way of saying really really long. So because I’m nice I pulled my one quote from the article for you.

"You know who the guys are who are going to be there when it's not a fad anymore," says friend Thomas Gilner. "Bryan is going to be a sneakerhead the rest of his life."

The thing I’m wondering now is was that one line really worth getting belittled by an old lady in Barnes & Noble? Probably not. In honor of B though here are pics of my two latest pickups.

1. V’s
2. V’s 3M
3. AM 90 360

The world of tomorrow, today?

Rolled down to the Wired Nextfest this afternoon 'caaaaaauuuse I'm a big nerd and it was free and I'm a sucker for nerdy free things. Got to see some very cool things, a few of which can be viewed here. At the twenty nine second mark you get a glimpse of a game where you control the movement off a small ball with your thoughts or lack of thoughts as it were. The one thing I noticed is it seems that green is the new geek and with that in mind you should buy stock in corn, the world of tomorrow is very dependent on corn.

"Oh my god, that's so cute the way you just draw on stuff and think about yourself all the time." Take a look at Banksy's Barely Legal installation over on Supertouch. He's easily the most relevant thought provoking artist out there right now. No? Show me one better, honestly, I want links.

Danny took time out to reflect on our food delivery day last week. Check the mad photo skills by yours truly. Got it on the first try 'cause I'm gangster like that.

I plan on doing a little retooling on the site come Sunday. Minor tweak to the look and a new playlist. It was suggested by "Anonymous" that I "advance" the music thing so there will be a bit of a theme with this one.

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Wendy City

Getting up at four am is never a fun thing and getting up at four am is even less fun when it's because you are going to the airport, especially the Houston airport. Which awesomely enough is called the "Bush" airport and right near it is a giant Haliburton complex, irony?

We got into Chicago on Tuesday morning and went straight to the hotel which happened to cost half one months rent for a night, queer? Yes, but...well I got nothing, it was pretty cool.

Business went quick so I had the evening to get a nice little tour of the city thanks to the lovely and talented Jasmine.

Chicago = good times. Highly recommended.

When I got back in on Wednesday I found that I had a small piece of silica jammed in the power cord port of my Mac. I swear I must have looked like a monkey not understanding fire trying to get that thing out of there. Though the really confounding thing was no one knew what silica was.

Anyway I think I'm going to start narrating my life. *I said before uploading photos.*

1. Six am
2. The room
3. The view
4. The Jazz
5. The bean

Everything is bigger

I hate Texas. If not only for the reason that the butter on my breakfast this morning was actually placed on the plate from an ice cream scooper, I hate Texas.

The flight here wasn’t all that bad. I got a meal and a movie. I think it was the first time I’ve ever got a meal on a flight. It was actually quite good; if I told you what it was you wouldn’t believe me so I’ll just stick with saying it was good. The movie however? X-Men Three. *Ok I just wrote a whole nerdy rant about the film but I deleted it and put this in its place to spare you, you’re welcome* So the movie was bad.

For dinner tonight the client decided on sushi and wine…awesome. Lucky for me there was some tempura on the menu so I didn’t have to partake; unlucky for me everyone ate my tempura because as everyone else knows i.e. me, tempura is way better than raw fish caked in rice. But hey I managed to find a Taco Bell last night so you win some and you loose some. Though I think that may count for two loses no?

Anyway, up at four thirty for Chicago = Sucksville, population me.

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Stay gold Ponyboy

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leafs a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

-Robert Frost

Today marks the first day of Autumn, true story, no lie. If I said fall was my favorite season you would probably be thinking, "Oh my gawd, me too!", but who doesn't love the fall? So you can't really claim it 'cause it's kind of like declaring you enjoy air or you invented walking.

More notable to me is that today marks one year since I graduated from college. I don't really feel like recounting everything that has gone down since then until now but you always have to ask yourself what you would say to yourself a year prior if you had the chance. I'd probably just tell myself to make sure I pressed E4 on the vending machine this morning and not F4 because then I will end up with oatmeal raisin cookies instead of a Butterfinger.

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Foundation day

I spent the day walking around Soho delivering food. Every year the agency I work for sets one day aside as Foundation day, a day for the employees to give back to the community in a charitable way. Selected this year was an organization that provides meals for individuals who are afflicted with AIDS. There was the option of preparing food to be made, delivering food or making food for the next day. I chose delivering. Danny and three other coworker dudes selected it as well but due to work load the other three bailed and it was just Dano and I. It basically went like this, there was one building in which all the meals are prepared, then the meals are sent to base points throughout the city where they are then later picked up and delivered to the individual residents. The picking up and delivering is where Danny and I played our role. To be honest no part of me was looking forward to this at all. It was however one of the best days I have had in a long time. I don't know if it's that I'd rather not bore you with the details of the whole day or just keep them to myself but I will say that I got to meet six lovely people this afternoon and drop off a meal to each.

Then it was back to work. To hammer out final thoughts for a pitch tomorrow to hopefully do something really cool. Didn't leave until ten. Good times. Oh and they started airing reruns of Scrubs at twelve and twelve thirty. Scrubs = goodness.

So now I will leave you with four bits of awesomenessnessity. Wieden+Kennedy is kind of a rad agency I don't know if they were responsible for this but I am for certain they were behind this. I heart nike. Frank Miller, the guy who brought you Sin City, is now lending another beautiful story to the movie projectors of the world. Now for the greatest video on the interweb, no really, the greatest. If you don't get why it's the greatest video on the interweb then I just don't get you man.


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I deal drugs

I eat based on proximity and convenience. It really is just that simple. Within those parameters I try to eat well. I may dive into this more at a later date but to jump you up to speed I'll tell you that I eat at the same place every night of the week. Giovanni"s Italian restaurant and pizzeria. Proximity and convenience lead to repetition it seems. Given this it would stand to reason that the people who work there would come to know me and I to know them. Last night I went as I usually do after my run to pick up my salad. As I said, they know me, so when I walk in they say "hey" and they start to make my order, it's nice. Usually I get there between ten and ten thirty and there aren't that many other people in there. Friday night was an exception. There were three men sitting in the middle of the restaurant with a fourth who happened to be the owner Chris. I walked in and he said "hey". I sat and listened to them all talk about this and that. Laughing about the small towns upstate or saying that when you find your girl watching you sleep it's time to bounce. It was quite entertaining. They included me in the conversation a few times from which I learned I'm quiet and the type that needs to be watched out for. Whether true or not I took it as a compliment. Before I knew it my salad was ready and I rolled out. Not before telling the assembly to keep their noses clean and have a good night. Well tonight I was informed of a fun fact, one of the three men happened to be the biggest drug dealer in all of Harlem. Apparently he has very high connections and another fun fact, all the people who deal for him are women. He had on a very large watch of which I remember thinking looked fake that is apparently worth seventy five grand. All very important information. The most interesting thing I found out though? He gets the same meal every night from Geovonie's Italian restaurant and pizzeria.

This weekend TNT has decided to be cooler than cool and show Kill Bill then Kill Bill volume two and then both. Props to Ted Turner.

Seth Gunderson is a funny guy sometimes. Video evidence of this can be found here and here. Also if you're into funny things on the internet and are kind of a geek then you should check this out. And if you clicked on that and liked it then you may find this interesting especially if you like the Disney Channel show Even Stevens. I'm not ashamed to admit that I like that show so shut up.

Fashion week is finally over which means my walk to work just became easier but less attractive. There is a joke here about so many models to throw a stick at but they all being the size of sticks or something. I don't know I couldn't figure it out.

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Twenty < Eighty

Alright who else is obsessed with the new iTunes? Just me? The third view interface is just to nifty not to love. I'm pretty sure I'm going to have Dave pick me up the new eighty gig iPod all discount style. I'm tired of waiting on the touch screen I'll just get it as well whenever it finally drops. Baller son, baller. Anywho, in between scouring the net for album covers so I can shuffle through them at blazen speed, I managed to make a new playlist. I was going to try and do an ambient / melodic / listen to this on the subway type mix but it just turned out to be a mix with no real thread but hey whatever its my playlist so shut up.

Ladytron - Destroy everything you touch (Hot Chip remix) - I love this damn song. I have three different versions of it. I can't explain it.

The Album Leaf - Glisten - I'm a sucker for rain. It is my favorite thing in the world. Get into this band though, all the cool kids babysitters are.

The White Stripes - As Ugly As I Seem - I saw them do this live on the Charlie Rosen show a few weeks back, it was great. Charlie Rosen is a ninja, don't flex on him.

Sleep Station - Fallen - I love this band if only for their theme style albums. They tell a whole story but each song sits apart. Look them up, all the tracks are free and full on goodness.

Sufjan Stevens - For the Widows in Paradise, For the Fatherless in Ypsilanti - The full title nor the album title would fit in the player, gangster. This song is awesome and made even more awesome when seen here.

Better Than Ezra - This Time of Year - I think of this song at this time of year. Weird.

Ray LaMontagne - Burn - Ray LaMontagne is cooler than you. Accept it.

DeVotchka - Dearly Departed - All four members of DeVotchka are pretty much cooler than you as well but don't feel bad because you read what I write and that...well...that doesn't make you cool at all...just listen to the song.

Enjoy!


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Today

Five years ago today seems like a lifetime ago. Actually two lifetimes ago. I remember waking up that morning not being able to understand what I was seeing but knowing it was important and that I needed to tell my Dad about it. The whole day just sits with me in such a surreal way that I don't think any of us can explain but all understand.

Being here now, I don't want to say that I understand it anymore or that I have some new found perspective on it all. But I have talked with many people who were here that day. From watching it unfold on a roof top in Brooklyn to standing at the base of the towers when the first plane hit. I cannot imagine either.

I'd been to ground zero before and it had impact but not what I thought it would be. Once again it's difficult to explain or take in. But a few months ago some guys at work had a little get together at their new place in the financial district. For some reason when I hit fourteenth street I decided I could walk from there. It ended up being a lot more of a walk than I imagined but it was worth it. I walked straight down the road until I couldn't walk anymore. I came to the WTC. It was late on Saturday night, rainy and no one was there. I took up on the north side walk way and tried to take it in. I've never felt smaller in my life. For the longest time there seemed to be no sound at all. I stood there for about twenty minutes before I decided to keep going. I still don't have a grasp on that night.

Before the word Blog was a word I was reading something called The Links. It's a daily column about the NBA that "links" to and comments on articles around the net. Lang Whitaker is the man behind them and a resident New Yorker. Today he reposted what he wrote five years ago with some added commentary. It was the best thing I read or saw today so I wanted to share.

Ambitious vs. Able

Thursday night I took in the second of my first two NetFlix selections; Brick. Wow. Top ten if not top five of all time. It was extremely engrossing and never skipped a beat. Even when the film actually skipped a beat due to a call from my lovely sister (you're forgiven!). I actually watched the film again last night with the commentary track on because I thought it was that good and wanted to hear the rhyme and reason behind the smaller things. The dialogue may throw you a bit as it is steeped in film Noir, but it is entirely worth it. The juxtaposition of it being placed in a high school setting really pays of as well. Highly highly recommended.

Friday was un expected to say the least. Mid day Danny inquired if we were still on for the show that night. I having no idea what he was talking about aptly replied, "What show?". "DeVotchka.", was his reply, an immediate, "Yes", was my answer. The show was set for twelve am. That night, crazy right? The venue a traveling tent in the seaport, crazier right? So with like eight hours to kill til show time I headed downtown with Nick to Danny and his place to kill said time. We hung out on their roof deck for a time talking about the creative process and where we come from when designing. I haven't been party to a conversation like this in quite a while. We hit on obvious topics like "What is art?", and "How do you quantify the process?". But we also hit on ambition vs. ability and confidence in your work. You can have all the ambition in the world but the reality speaks for itself.

Eleven rolled around so Danny and I kicked it down to the seaport. I'd never been, cool place. As I said the venue was a traveling tent and no lie, it was a tent. It had these wild kind of wooden booths all the way around on the inside and then was just wide open in the center with a just big enough stage in the back center. I can't really describe how amazing DeVotchka was. They are one of those rare bands that sound just as good if not better live than recorded. To see four people make such a large sound was impressive to no end. The thing that set the show off though was the aerialist. Yeah, what's an aerialist? Well luckily for you and me I remembered that I had a decent camera phone and snapped a few pics. It was literally two strips of fabric and twelve feet of air that separated this girl from the ground. She was amazing. One draw back from a DeVotchka show that needs to be mentioned, hippy dancing. Stupid hippies. Also to the girl who felt it necessary to yell the name of the band every five minutes, thanks, we get it. All in all well worth the late start.

Since it was so late and since I live all the way up town and since I wanted to hit Soho the next morning, I crashed on Danny and Nicks couch. I passed out after watching the end of Troy which by the way, in case you never saw, the fight between Achilles and Hector is worth it alone. Remind me never to get in a sword fight with Brad Pitt. Woke up at like ten to roll to Soho and Danny rolled with. My goal was to grab two sneakers that were dropping that morning. I assumed it would be easy enough or really really difficult. I went one for two. Danny was patient enough while I dragged him from shop to shop so we stopped into the coolest place in Soho to grab lunch, the Balogia Cafe. Best french toast ever. As we sat my friend Amara walked by making it the second time we have randomly run into each other since she moved here about a month ago. For the people who think New York is large, it's not. It was lovely to see her again and now I have plans for next weekend making me ten percent less of a loser. Hurray.

Today I ran back down to Soho with Caleb to try and find some paper for a presentation he has coming up this week. We ended up just walking through china town wondering what that smell was. The propinquity of china town is nothing more than an exercise in patience.

I'm watching and rooting for Andy Roddick in the US Open finals right now. He basically has to play the best game of his life to compete with Roger Federer. The difficult thing here is that I have no idea how to keep track of the scoring. But check out Federer going And One mixtape last week. Sick.

Anyone else excited for Tuesday? No, just me? Apple is supposed to have some big unveil which will probably turn out to be nothing but an announcement of their movie store. It hasn't stopped nerds from speculating though. A Gizmodo reader notes that there were no iPods advertised this weekend. While Wired has compiled some nifty pics of what it could (but wont) be.

Fashion week has brought two giant ugly white tent structures to the lawn of Bryant park. Is that ironic or just annoying?

1. Aerialist
2. IV's
3. Fashion wet

An idealist without illusions

Yesterday I received my first two selections from my NetFlix queue. NetFlix is the latest weapon in my battle against cable. It however was quickly defeated by a far lesser foe; PBS. As I've said before I often find myself watching PBS over most of the other channels I somehow get but last night was meant to be different. I watched the first film of the two, Spike Lee's "joint" The Inside Man. It was good. It was a solid entertaining film. What struck me most was probably the music, similar to He Got Game, the music sometimes overpowered the scene. Now you may or may not believe me but I had the film pretty much wrapped up in the opening scene. This happens to me a lot. But I was still into it and still waiting for the "oh shit" moment the film promised. It never happened. Still I thought it was a good film. I was good with it. Mostly I was happy I didn't have to watch Seinfeld or Everybody loves Raymond. So then I went for a run and grabbed some dinner. I was then ready to settle in for the typical selection of talk shows and South Park reruns. But PBS stopped me in my tracks again. Due to my father being the history teacher that he is, I know a few things about JFK and the family he came from. But man, this guy and his family, amazing. I got trapped in this film aptly titled, The Kennedy's. I could go on for a while about how compelling the story was and the trials and tribulations of each one of the Kennedy sons but I'll just say two things and hope you happen to see the film yourself. I was left with such a question when the film was over, what if? What if John had never been killed? What if Robert had never been killed? What if Eddie had never wrecked that car? How different might the world be today? It's amazing then to think that these three men could have had such an impact on the world, these three brothers all in their own right. The other thing I was so amazed by was how impassioned they were. How morally upright they were, Robert the most of all. How they took a podium and filled you with the same passion they spoke with. I have not once felt this while listening to a Bush speech or a Clinton speech for that matter. What happened to this type of politician? President Kennedy gave a speech after the Cuban missile crisis in which he talked about the Communists, the "enemy" of the country at the time. His words resonate even more today than I think they may have then.

"Our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal."
-John F. Kennedy

Yeah I know. Boring. But I'm telling you. The real life story of this family was so much more compelling than any Spike Lee joint I've seen. Do you know? Do you Know? Do you know?

Now for some linky goodness. Pretty rad move here by Banksy but one has to wonder if it doesn't just give her more credit as a "false icon"? If you can read Spanish you can pick up the new Postal Service demo right here. Pretty cool concept behind the album but mostly I'm just happy to have new stuff. If you have twenty some odd minutes free give it up to watching this moving short film about a kid with down syndrome and his best friend who films his life. While you are watching things go watch the first seven minutes of this awesome thing.

Last but certainly not least. Happy birthday Jasmine!

Edit* The birthday girl just launched her new site! Enjoy the coolness.

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A predictable death

For the past few weeks now I have been trying to coordinate a phone conversation with a reporter (Joel) in Denver. He is doing an article on my good friend Bryan and his other worldly consumerism of shoes. Bryan gave my name as a character reference and as a fellow shoe geek. It proved to be rather difficult with the time difference and both of or schedules but this past Friday we finally made it happen. I was sitting in of all places a Barnes & Noble when I got his call. We started talking generalities for maybe five to six minutes when I noticed this elderly women meandering my way. I didn't pay her much attention other than to be aware of her but I did notice that she was looking right at me. I was in conversation but looked quizzically up at her. She started shaking her head, mouth agape, "I cannot believe you are using your phone.", she said. Without thinking I broke conversation and replied, "I'm sorry, I didn't realize." while she proceeded to repeat her previous statement and while Joel on the other end of the phone queried whether someone was upset about my conversation. As soon as she had repeated her self for a third time in full disgust an elderly man sitting behind me very abruptly turned and said. "Yes, please be quite, you are being very distracting!". I turned back to see the women walking away while shaking her head. I apologized again to both and left my seat. As I walked away Joel asked as I wondered the same, "Did that really just happen? It isn't a library.". I stated that I especially couldn't believe it happened in New York of all places as the idea of being rude just doesn't exist here. I understand the rules of social phone etiquette. This wasn't an elevator and it wasn't library, it was a store. A store in which many people were walking around in shopping and talking. I was being quiet while talking, taking those around me into consideration. Maybe it was an elderly thing? Maybe I cant control the volume of my voice the way I once thought was mastered? Either way I apologized and walked. The interview went quite well and then I proceeded to read a really good book. I still don't know if I was in the wrong here or if they were in the crazy. Thoughts?

Team USA lost Friday then won the bronze on Saturday. Dirk Nowitzki said they wouldn't have lost had Kobe been there, "He would have won it for the Americans single-handedly.". Hater.

A few cool things for the design kids in the audience. This interview with two awesome designers is pretty interesting. Its amazing how different these guys are but I'll let you draw your own conclusions. The always poignant Design Observer comes through with another cool post. I also threw up something new in the portfolio. I had a dream the other night that inspired it, wild, never done that.

On a sadly predictable note, the Crocodile Hunter was killed today. Not by a croc mind you but by a stingray barb through the heart. That's a pretty gangster way to go out though.

I'll leave you with an out of context quote;

"Because I wanted to know what it smelled like, that's why."

Back on the market

Sadly the lovely and talented Miss Owen Youngs declined my proposal last night. Lucky for me she was quite the light hearted individual and took the question with the intended humor. She did however invite me to her next show and encouraged me to ask again as she may be single at that point. After watching her show I was even more in love with her. The venue was intimate and had a great atmosphere of which Danny likened to a jazz club. She really put on a great show and was genuinely funny between songs. Before she went on we caught part of the act before her which was that of Scott Matthew. Dude had an amazing voice and really set the mood for the evening, which was very chill. And I also just caught on his myspace page that he created songs for the Cowboy Beebop movie. Awesomeness.

On an even more exciting note. Danny met Nelly last night. The rapper with the never healing face wound. Well he didn't so much as meet him as he went and stood in a crowd of people who were watching him get out of a car. But still. The best part of this was the fact that Nelly's car was parked in the middle of the street thus blocking traffic. People were not happy about this and expressed it in the form on honking. A lot. NYC has no patience for Nelly.

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Off the market

Well kids it has been a good run but as of today sometime before noon I fell in love with a girl named Jenny. I'm going to ask her to marry me today. No, we haven't met and I don't know if she likes marshmallow fluff on her pb&j (who doesn't though?) but it doesn't matter. I love her and she loves me. Well the last part of that sentence isn't true, but she might! Amazingly enough she has a show here tonight which I will now be attending, what are the odds? After the show I will bend to one knee. Wish me luck.

Until then you can get the awesome song that made me fall right here and you can stream even more awesome tunes right here. For real though, a chick singer I can totally listen to? I have to marry her don't I?

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Eight?

Am I good to you people or what? Eight songs. Eight.

I know I said seven yesterday but I just keep coming across music that I like to damn much. So yeah eight songs and two of them are actually by one band, one awesome band with one awesome name. So read on and listen on and enjoy.

Say Hi To Your Mom - Let's Talk About Spaceships - Honestly though, how great is that name? And now how great is the song? They come up again so enjoy and then get ready to enjoy again.

The Early November - I Want To Hear You Sad - I was actually reminded of this song recently by a DVD. I'll make a separate post about said DVD at some point.

Ben Gibbard - This Temporary Life - Who doesn't love Mr. Gibbard? This solo effort is just all to inspired and home hitting for any transition. Possibly my favorite song by him.

Faultline feat. Chris Martin - Where Is My Boy - Such a cool song. Cooler still to hear him backdropped by something a little different than the usual Coldplay sound.

Bright Eyes - Haligh, Haligh, a lie, Haligh - Every sixteen year old girl's favorite dreamy little coke head.

Hot Chip - Look After You - I found out about Hot Chip because they remixed this song by Ladytron (which I need to throw up sometime) that I totally dig, so who would have guessed they were awesome by themselves as well as being awesome at remixing.

Cat Power - I Found A Reason - Cat Power? Yeah I'm surprised too. But a good song is a good song. It was in V for Vendetta for all of fifteen seconds and it struck me. So here it is.

Say Hi To Your Mom - Unless The Laker Game Was On - Ok for real this has to be the best song ever based on content alone. Two awesome eighties movie references and for god sake people, unless the Laker game was on? Amazing.


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Simple equation

Rainy day + Sunday - a life = the portfolio is up.

Ta da! I know all that long wait for something so simple. But my intention from the beginning was to create something simple and effective. All content no context. So yeah, there it is. Feedback is always welcome.

Some of you (there are like what, four people who read this?) might have been expecting a new playlist today. It is actually done and boasts a new high of seven tracks but I just wanted to revel in the fact that I got the portfolio up and did all the coding by myself. So you'll have to wait one more day.

Starwars Episode II is on TV right now. Damn you Natalie Portman, leave me alone...no wait, come back.


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Why is that kid crying?

A few things of random interest from the last few days.

Apparently we have discovered a way to block digital cameras or video in a given area. This is cool and not cool all at once. It's cool just cause it can be done but it's super not cool because that means all the awesome sneak peek photos people take and put on the interweb could be harshed pretty quickly. The geek in me is impressed but the geek that likes to see geeky things early is afraid.

Sunday night is always a little rough. I have to make the transition from weekend to work week in a short period of time. I'm happy if I can muster three to four hours of sleep, usually I can't, so I constantly hope there is something on at three in the morning other than Star Trek or evangelicals. Lucky for me I have the local PBS and even luckier sometimes they show stuff that isn't lame. This past Sunday was one of those times. I stopped on the channel at the site of a teacher standing over a child who was sitting at his desk crying. I listened for a bit and could not figure out why the kid was crying as the teacher read. I assumed he was just yelled at or something and I missed it. Then the teacher called on a student to read, the camera panned to her and she was crying as well. She only got through a few lines before having to stop because she was crying so hard. The teacher told her it was "ok" and finished reading it for her. This fifth grade class was so invested in this story that they were crying. The Story? The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Amazing. What I was watching was the documentary: The Hobart Shakespeareans. It's the story of a fifth grade teacher who is basically awesome. He teaches disadvantaged Latino and Asian American kids in L.A. He teaches them Shakespeare mostly. Since basically half of my family works in the teaching profession, particularly my sister who teaches grade school, I found the whole thing really entertaining. So if you run across it at three or four in the morning, it's recommended.

I've had two different play lists on my site so far (which I plan on throwing up the third soon, maybe Sunday.) and both have featured tracks from the Mountain Goats. Their new album dropped this week and even though I don't buy music that doesn't mean you shouldn't. So here is the video for the first single. I think the visuals are cool but a little distracting from the rad lyrics so maybe watch it with your eyes closed the first time through.

I borrowed V for Vendetta the other night. It was a really great adaptation of the original book I thought. Natalie Portman ...Natalie...Portman.

And as an afterthought, an out of context quote:

"Dude, you're totally holding your Wolfman!"


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Chicks & Kicks

Things like this make me wish I got to do more print work. It's a simple concept but it has great impact. And honestly how hard is it to call a mag and inquire, "Hey, what's going to be on your cover next month? Monkeys? Sweet, we can use monkeys to sell lawn mowers." I'm sure the conversation is exactly like that.

Also a treat for you design kids. I stumbled across this article on Design Observer today. It's a great take on the wave of swirly over complicated design that's been oh so popular for the past couple of years now. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy it when done right, but when it's used to sell lawn mowers...oh wait.

In case you were wondering, I didn't buy it, it was given to me by the media team who had a visit from the Playboy rep last week. Swear.

Miami sucks

So last night I went running in Central Park with my good friend Caleb whom I went to high school with, small world. Not just to run mind you but to take in the Gnarls Barkley show in the park. According to Caleb and the trusty Gmap Pedometer we ran five point six miles. Which was a might bit more than my usual two a night and it's probably why my body wanted to kill me this morning. But the show was well worth it. They switched up the tempo of a few tracks and sounded really good. The capper for me was a slowed down version of "transformer". Cool stuff for a Thursday night. That and Joe making a trip out pretty much made up for getting bumped from the Miami focus groups. Though Scotty did inform me that Miami "sucked", but I'm pretty sure he was just being a jerk about it. Houston here we come! Boooo.

Today being a half day Friday (woo!) Danny and I decided to go check out "Little Miss Sunshine". I'm sure you've seen commercials and what not for the film and they've all said it's a "great movie" and all that. Well they're right. It was the happiest sad movie I've ever seen. I liked every second of the film and I rooted for every character in that little yellow van. Not to mention the entire score for the film was one song. DeVotchka's "How it ends". I had the song before the film so I could claim cool points but I only got it after seeing the trailer for "Evrything is Illumintated", which I still need to see. But since it was so good and it's such a good song I'm going to throw it into the player later tonight, so check back and listen up. (Update - It's now the second track in the player, enjoy.)

When I was back in the good 'ol wild wild mid-west Adam Kellog+g decided to whore out my sneaker knowledge to get himself some kicks. We ventured to the dreaded mall to find something "cool". After witnessing the most awkward battle of who could be more awkward between Adam and the teenaged shoe salesman, he decided on a pair of lux Macbeth's that I had pointed out. And now the cool people over at Uncrate are giving away a free pair of said shoes, can't blame a guy for trying. All while Adam just threw up a new splash page (slightly designed by me) which features said shoes. Craziness.

Final note. Thoughts go out to Tanisha and her sister whos in the hospital right now. Keep your head and your heart up T.

Chiddy

So yesterday was my good friend and co-worker Chad's last day in the NY office. So to mark the occasion I figured I'd throw up a little Homage to my hommie Chiddy Chad Green. We were walking to lunch one day and came across this oh so cool service truck so I took a quick shot with the 'ol cam phone (hence the shitty quality) and it became the thing of legends. I wish you the best of luck with your new roll in the KC office and I guess I'll forgive you for leaving me with this Xerox project.

Fighting evil design

I'm sitting behind a two way mirror right now listening to some lady translate some other lady's reaction to some ads I created. Fun.

I think I'm pretty much done with the site, except for the portfolio which is kind of the point of the site isn't it? I hope to have time to throw it together this weekend but who knows.

I thought this was cool and worth noting. Love the simplicity of her site as well.

Also this guys stuff is amazing. The play with white on white is sublime.

1. Work

New sound

Due to Saturdays time spent I was compelled to switch up the tracks about two weeks earlier than anticipated. I've kept The Weakerthans and The Mountain Goats as the bookends though I switched up the pace of each. But the meaty center of the music sandwich is all new. Enjoy.

1. The Weakerthans - Left and Leaving - Just love these guys and I'm still kicking myself for not rolling with Dano to the show.

2. Dashboard Confessional - For Justin - Didn't see it live and maybe that's why I threw it up. You gotta love this song simply because it's not about breaking up as you would expect from DC.

3. Tariko - Tristian and Iseult - Colin Meloy's band before The Decemberists offers up this nice little story.

4. Kind Of Like Spitting - Something in the Air - Can't really say how awesome these guys are. I constantly search for more by them. I think I'm just going to break down and buy everything they have ever done off of iTunes.

5. The Mountain Goats - This Year - Love this song.

Dano decided to type out his thoughts of the Saturday night out.

No chicks in Santa hats

Last night Scotty Don't threw Chad, Danny and I a bone and took us to his good friend Scott's concert. Scott is the bassist in Dashboard Confessional and they just happened to be playing the little venue of Radio City Music Hall. RCMH was probably the best place I have ever seen a concert, at least sound wise. It was incredible. Aside from being huge and lovely in all it's Art Deco-ie-ness the sound it created was just brilliant. I've seen Dashboard twice before and both times I came away more impressed with the opening act. As I said it was pretty awesome, not only was the place great but the band sounded great as well. The throngs of teenage girls were literally deafening at points in the show. Mr. Carrabba has come a long way with his stage presence since I first saw them as well and he was also a pretty nice dude. The highlight of the night however, or at least the PG highlight of the night, came when Danny decided to declare that he could take Scotty Don't in a wrestling match after having found out Scoot took third in state in high school. I threw my hat in Scoot's corner even though Danny has a good nine years on him. Sorry Dano, maybe you will settle it someday. Danny was a good sport about it though, even going as far as to having the live music guy in the bar dedicate a song to "Scooter the Wrestling Champion from Milwaukee!". Though I didn't make it home until four and didn't eat dinner except for a five dollar hot dog it was well worth it.

Thanks to Scott, John, and John for letting us crash your bus and for letting Danny eat your egg rolls.

Also of note Adult Swim is the coolest thing on the earth for showing their newest shows online before airing them on cable. Take that cable! One more reason I don't need you until collage basketball season.

Stale nachos and cheerios

None of this has anything to do with anything.

Last night a man on the street told me I was too tall. He just looked at me and said, "You're too tall.", I had my headphones on so I just kept walking. Either he was slightly crazy or I am too tall. He didn't look crazy.

Also last night, while I was running, some of the local hooligans decided to get in a little brawl. As I ran towards what I'd say was roughly seven to nine kids in a tight group, two of them decided to tackle one and then the melee broke out. They went into the ground off the paved path and dust flew up in there wake, kinda cool. As I ran past the pile I wondered if it was indifferent of me not to stop or practical. When I made my way back around and saw them "kicking it" as if nothing had happened it was clear which it was.

Later in my run one of the younger ones attempted to run with me. He gave up after about twenty five yards or so but it was nice to have the company.

On the train this morning at my second stop a gaggle of German tourists got on the train and of course sat right next to me. Normally not a problem except for the fact that five of them decided to try to fit in a space usually reserved for two. Of course the one closest to me was a plump little brown haired thing who had the distinct smell of a stale nacho chip and a baby eating cheerios. This was compounded by the fact that they all felt the need to talk quite loud and take as many pictures as they could with what seemed like matching Canon SLR digital cameras. As much as I don't like having my picture taken by people I know, I dislike even more having it taken by people I don't know, especially smelly touristy ones. So I now fear I'll be a permanent fixture in some German summer home on a mantle next to a picture of a dog. To top it all they got off at the stop right before my own preventing me from the satisfaction of leaving them.

Why don't girls like politics? Every girl I have ever known has said she either;
A. Doesn't care about them.
B. Doesn't understand them.
C. Will care later. (though we both know that's not true.)

I'm not even really into them but it seems like most just refuse to admit they exist. I don't get it.

While I was back in the good 'ol Midwest the topic of camping came up. Who the hell goes camping? Well let me tell you. Here is a list of whom it is acceptable to go camping;

1. Boy scouts.

That's it. Otherwise you're just a tool in a tent.

Hear that?

If you don't you are probably reading this from the feed. If you do hear it then you are on my site. But yeah so I added a player to the site. I just wanted a way to share what I was listening to and as well have a way to remember what I was listening to. I plan on changing five tracks out every month.

First five:

1. The Weakerthans - Aside - These guys are totally my new favorite band. They'll probably pop up next month too.

2. Thom Yorke - Black Swan - This dude is a mad scientist. I love the feeling of blatant truth in this track.

3. The Format - If Work Permits - Starts with crickets and swells to an epic sound. Great ending to a great album.

4. Gnarls Barkley - Just a Thought - I had to put some Gnarls on here so everyone knows I'm cool too.

5. The Mountain Goats - Get Lonely - I think this is the saddest song I've ever heard.

Hope you enjoy them like I often do.

Also My good good Friend Joseph A. Buhrer dropped me a line and suggested three additions to my Top 5 post.

7. QuickTrip
8. Mr. Goodcents
9. Spangles

As for QT, I was always a 7eleven guy myself. Though I don't think I could bring myself to walk into either these days. Mr. Goodcents I would have given you a year or so ago but I'm a Subway man now, everyday, no lie. Spangles now is a funny one. This Spangles place is one I've never been to but in my absence has become a family favorite. I'll be completely honest though, it scares the hell out of me. The commercials alone made me never want to go there.

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Yezzzir

So I rolled down to Bryant Park this morning and met up with the lovely Tanisha (sorry for running late yo!) and we took in some early morning hip-hop courtesy of the Collage Drop Out and Mr. Startrack. The thing that really amazed me was how much fun the two of them seemed to have on stage. Good times had by all at 7 am.

Hot

I get back in last night and it was hot. Mind you it was at least 100 every other day I was back. But it was entirely hot here. No AC and all that. But in my infinite wisdom I decided to go running on the hottest day of the year according to Con Ed. Stomach craps after the first mile, no lie. So that sucked.

Today at lunch I saw this kid who couldn't have been more than twelve using his phone to record he and his friends doing some gnarly skate tricks. Awesome. Just Awesome.

Top 5 revisited:

1. Space - highly underrated
2. Golf - see space
3. Sonic - staple
4. Nike outlet - even
5. Taco Bell - highly overrated

All in all, good trip. Highlights include; killing Scotty Don't in go-carts (start in front kids!), seeing Shane, going into work at 6:30 am. just like back in the day, Lunch with Adam Kellog+g and Rob at the Italian Mexican restaurant.

1. Space
2. Golf
3. Flight

Top 5.

Top five things to be excited about when venturing back to the Midwest in no particular order. (Family being a given.)

1. Taco Bell
2. Space
3. Sonic
4. New Nike outlet
5. Golf

So two fast food places, a retail store, an intangible idea and a sport which features the intangible idea as its highlight. That's apparently all the Midwest has to offer. Already knocked off numbers one and two from the list with the rest sure soon to follow. Then what? Well then I'll have the rest of the week to kill more thoroughly enjoying the intangible idea with the givens.

I can actually taste the air here in the good way. Number six.


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2 Quote.

I was prompted by a great quote this morning to do an out of context quote post. So what follows is both the great quote and the out of context.

"Adobe Illustrator is the hand of god...I love it."

- Arthur Jones of ByArthurJones.Com"

"Come on, I'll give you a sock."

- Danny Adrain

Baseball, Friends and Toast.

I had the pleasure of hosting some of my best friends this week. Thanks for the trip Kraig, Nicole and Jasmine. We braved the microwave like temp in my apt. for a day and night and then luckily the heat wave broke and it was quite an enjoyable time, other than all the rain, luckily Kraig bought an umbrella and it all stopped.

1. Yankee Stadium
2. Kraig, Nico, Jazz, in transit.
3. Best french toast ever.

"Pictures only prove you can't convince."

So with a new camera comes new pictures or in this case, first pictures.

1. Transit spearmint.
2. Redemption?
3. Scooter Don't and Fancy Boy Danny.

Purchased

Took a trip to B&H today. Crazy little place and by little I mean huge and full of camera stuff. It resulted in a purchase of this. I am now officially a professional photographer.

Out of context.

I'm fascinated with taking quotes out of context and isolating them. For some time now I have wanted to keep track of some that I come across. This will be my first. It actually doesn't really fit the criteria because it creates it's own context but it's an ironic way to start the collection.

"I solved your biggest life problem for you, and I don't even have pants on."

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The internet is tubes.

No really you didn't know it was tubes!?!

"I just the other day got, an internet was sent by my staff at 10 o'clock in the morning on Friday and I just got it yesterday. Why?"

- Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska)

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New

Work in progress. Simple. More to come but it will be simple. And easier for me to update. Which is pretty choice.

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