Bleacher Seat Snub

Despite my incredible performance as a pontential red carpet attendee, I was snubbed out of a bleacher seat. Yes, I received the letter from the Academy yesterday. They received several thousand requests and I was not choosen. Well, there's always next year and the years after that. However, perhaps I can get in to the actual ceremony in the years to come! What!? Who!? How!? Brock is going to school to be a director. So, there's always that chance he gets nominateed for one of his future masterpiece movies. He couldn't forget about his partner in Blog, could he? No, of course not. In fact, this fall I will be taking an acting class. If all goes well, maybe I'll be in a movie someday, even in one of Brock's! And with my best actor nomination . . . OK, I'm just crazy now.

Rumble in the Valley of the Sun

Actually, it's not done by the same creators...so it's kind of a rip off of the same concept, except with the small difference of Fidel Castro being the game's mascot.

The other day while I was reading silently I could have sworn the ground slightly rumbled. I think it was Gabe testing out his new back speakers.

Yes, Gabe and I have been discussing the idea behind this new blog idea, which is basically a story. The story is completely Gabe's idea, and I'm excited he's including me in this, because it's a cool concept that deals heavily with human behavior. I won't say too much, but it should be interesting to read...

Boomin'

Brock, that sounds like my kind of Island! Is that game a spinoff of The Sims?

I've installed all the speakers, minus the tweaters, in my car and I received the Sony CD player yesterday. I didn't realize that the receiver is one of those which the whole face flips down to insert/eject CDs. I'm fine with that but my wife started giving me a hard time about how it will be inconvenient. So I say "at least our stereo system will be boomin'." Yes, people, I'll be driving around soon in my boomin' system.

I've been discussing with Brock the premise for my Blog Story idea. It will most likely be a short Sci-Fi story.

El Presidente

Well here I am, waiting for my ride to pick me up. I just finished my psych mid-term and I have a little free time on my hands before I finally get out of here, so I thought I'd spend that time bloggin'. Gabe, that would be awesome if you got to see Jet Li at the Oscars! Here's to hoping for that coveted bleacher seat!

So lately I've been transfixed upon the game Tropico, a strategy based game in which you get to choose the persona of a dictator of your choice, and then use that dictator to rule the tiny island of Tropico. Crazy things can happen, and you can become either a dictator or a savior to your little society (which, can often grow into a very large society). Ironically, you get your choice to turn your government into a communist or capitalist nation, and all of the drawbacks and advantages that go with such political systems becomes your burden for the duration of the game.

Currently, I'm Lou Bega, the hot jazz lovin' dictator who womanizes and and encourages the frequent and irresonsible use of booze. Lemme tell you folks, Lou runs a very strange little island... In addition to having large and gawdy cathedrals scattered all over the place, Lou has more then one Cabaret. Nightclubs pervade the landscape and often are situated right next to hospitals and immigration services. The gigantic sports arena Lou has built allows for heavy drinking to take place and also carries the reputation of being rowdy during a friendly (but loosing) sports match. Because of all of the horrible, horrible vices that Lou leaves unchecked, Tropico is full of crime and social upheval. So to combat this I've built a tremendous, special Ops trained military force that relies solely upon the use of force to quiet down rebellion and illicit activities. It's a thriving economy baby!!

The icing on the cake however, is Lou's repeated ability to win election after election. He's been running Tropico for nearly 30 years, despite facing numerous opponents who question his ethical and intillectual capacity. How does he maintain such a firm grip upon his kingdom you ask? Simple! Assasination after assasination...if it can walk, talk and complain about El Presidente's standards, then it deserves to be taken down. My elite military force never questions my demands, and they always get the best results. Let's say that Fred Sanchez complains about my city's lack of a college or other higher learning institutes, what do I do? Let's just say that Mr. Sanchez isn't coming home for dinner tonight... And hey, if all else fails, I just capture and put away my political opponent on my forebodding off-shore prison, lock, stock and throw away the key. Besides, the prisoners never escape because they know my general will hunt them down like the dogs they are if they even attempt something like that.

Ok, back to reality...yeesh.

Hero

"Mock-up Billy Corgan!" Ha, that is hilarious! He looks kind of sick in that picture. I hope he isn't, or everyone will be hating Brock!

Brock and I happen to be fans of Jet Li. Our friend and Jet Li Fan Extraoridanaire, Alex, will no doubt be pleased to learn of his new movie Hero. It's currently nominated for Best Foreign Language Film. Unfortunatley, it may not come out here until November. It looks promising. By the way, I still haven't got a bleacher seat notice. I hope I really get one now, as Jet Li may be there.

The Jealous Sound-Mixing

Any normal band would have cracked under the pressure of tepid acoustics and bad sound mixing...but as Gabe aptly pointed out, The Fire Theft was no such group. I really liked hearing the songs they offered up on the internet, Sinatra, It's Over and Chain, but the new songs sounded really good too. I especially enjoyed the group's encore song, which was fast, catchy and very angry sounding. They put on a good show and it's clear that the SDRE fanbase is out in full force to support this new band. Most impressive though was that they that didn't suck...they could have pulled off a half-hearted effort and still touted around the Sunny Day history to reach their fame. They could have created a few good songs to back up a group of so-so other songs. But they didn't do anything of the kind, all of their songs rocked. They were everything I expected them to be, and more.

Maybe it's just me, but The Jealous Sound's lead singer looks kind of like a mock-up Billy Corgan...especially with the whole pale, bald headed thing he's got going on. A couple of their songs did sound all-right, I'll have to look into them one time. After I get off my Fire Theft bender.

Blazing Inferno

The Fire Theft performed last night in Tempe at the Bash On Ash. Brock and I attended with an Italian friend of ours, Marco. We came in a little after 8:00 p.m. to the music of The Jealous Sound. They warmed up the crowd with their blend of emo and punk with a tinge of pop. They were good but I'd have to listen to more of their music to know if they would join my CD collection.

First of all, I will warn you that there are some bad puns in the following sentences. I just couldn't resist. What began as a slow, but steady, burning fire - The Fire Theft culminated it into a blazing inferno. Despite some bad sound mixing and acoustics, as pointed out ferverently by our friend Marco, The Fire Theft turned out song after song of brilliant, musical craftmanship. It's difficult not to compare them with Sunny Day Real Estate, as the singer/guitarist and drummer came from the ashes of SDRE, but they are different enough not to be the same. Perhaps their name refers to the theft of the burning musical energy that originally came from SDRE. William Goldsmith provided some relentless, yet intricate drumming, while Jeremy Enigk belted out those haunting vocals and mesmerizing guitar parts. Jeremy and Will have played together for quite sometime, so it's not surprising to see them energetic and "in tune" with each other. The current guitarist and bassist seemed out of place and a bit distant. Perhaps they just need some time. Besides, I don't even know if The Fire Theft's bassist is a permanent fixture yet, since Nate Mendel rejoined them for recording and may (or already have) join them for a brief stint on tour. I'm much too excited for their album!!

Vibrantly Moody

Generally, my weekend went very, very well. The best thing about it was that I got to do things I wouldn't normally do on a weekend. But I did have the constant feeling that I must have appeared brooding and upset to people in general. I think I can count at least five instances off hand when someone walked up to me, even strangers clear out of the blue, and asked, "Are you ok? You look like you're in deep thought." Of course, that's not to say that I wasn't, and I most certainly had the thoughts and feelings at hand to create some truly brooding moments. One of which would be on Friday night, when Gabe and I went out with some friends to do something we wouldn't normally do: We went on the Phoenix Art Walk.

Phoenix believe it or not is the sixth largest city in the entire United States, and it grows in size every year. In fact, they say that within ten to fifteen years, it will be the largest city in the U.S. Yet for all of its size and the growing population, Phoenix severely lacks a downtown culture, nightlife if you will. Aside from a few neon signs, the Hard Rock cafe, and a Hooters parked right next to the American West Arena, Phoenix isn't very artistically diverse. But recently it's been taking great strides in trying to create and expand a vibrant downtown nightlife. Enter the Art Walk.

For most of Friday night we plodded around town, going from one gallery to the next, looking at pieces created by local artists. Personally, I think I saw some amazing work, and I took in a lot of interesting artistic statements and thoughts. Generally, the artistic works protested the impending war, and as a result they had some graphic and disturbing imagery, most of which involved a gruesome portrayal of gas masks and duct-tape covered plastic. However, I enjoyed myself quite a bit, and for the first time in my life, downtown Phoenix looked alive and interesting. People were rushing into galleries (many fashioned crudely out of the artist's apartment) and the Paisley Violin was packed to the brim. A fun time was had by all...

Thankfully, my dour and thoughtful mood was lifted today when I got back most of my major school papers. I did very well, and one paper in particular had me worried for no reason what so ever. So I'll probably spend the rest of the day today enjoying myself or watching a movie.
There was an upside to my mellow attitude...getting to listen to Matt Talbot's new band Centaur. Well, I suppose Centaur isn't exactly his new band, for all of you Hum purists out there, but In Streams is the new CD put out by Centaur. I didn't want to listen to Centaur to be honest, not one bit. I was afraid that the new CD would crush a major part of my history in listening to music, my interest in Hum. Back in the day, all I ever listened to was Weezer and Face to Face. I was just sort of bumping from one group to the next, trying to find and shape my taste in music. HUM helped me to create that taste, and these days a lot of what I like and listen to is based off that initial liking of HUM (which, Gabe happened to introduce me to). So naturally, I was a little unsure of In Streams and what it would do to my perception of HUM and its grand maestro, Matt Talbot. Thankfully, all of my fears were nothing more then preconceptions. In Streams is a good album, and it's very similar to Hum (regarding the guitar sound that is). But aside from the electric sound and spacey atmosphere, Centaur is a slower, moodier, mellower version of Hum, with an all-together darker feel. For the brooding, angst mindset, it was the perfect soundtrack.

Oh yes, and Love Liza was a horrid, horrid film...well, not horrid. It wasn't brilliant, and it wasn't very well written. It was a collection of sequences and scenes designed to be used within a movie, but not meant to carry an entire film. The gas huffing and depression portrayed fantastically by Hoffman was the saving grace of the film, but the director seemed to have a hard time figuring out where to take that depression. And so...nothing ever happened. Scene after scene of Hoffman and Bates acting in their prime...all they needed was a writer in their prime to transform their performance into a great film.

Later,

-Brock

Huffing

Brock and I went and saw Love Liza. I was a bit dissapointed. I felt like I was watching the same scenes over and over. It felt like it dragged even though it was only an hour and a half. However, Hoffman gave an excellent performance, as did Kathy Bates. I'd recommend it on the merit of the performances alone.

I found out that the seventh was the last day the Academy sent out it's notices for bleacher seats. So I should get it today or tomorrow. And here's my top albums of the week:

The Appleseed Cast - Mare Vitalis

Braid - Frame and Canvas