Stardate . . .

Brock? Where are you? Where's your California journal? Ah, take your time.

Solaris does not have any deleted scenes! Rebekah mentioned that there could be a Director's Cut. Nooo! Oh well, I'd probably snag that one too.

Solaris

Well, today I purchased Solaris on DVD. I haven't seen it since the day it came out. At that time I didn't know what to think about it, but it'll probably live among the classics like 2001. The more I thought about it, the more I liked it. It was so wierd, though, I didn't want to see it again for a long time. Now I'm ready. Plus, it has commentary from both Steve Soderbergh and James Cameron. Should prove to be insightful.

The Solaris message boards had discussions about an original, longer version. They were all hopeful that it would be on the DVD. It doesn't appear to be. The original screenplay is, however. Maybe if someone goes through it, they can find out what was cut.

I mean it

My trip diary by Friday, I promise. I've just been very busy since getting back from Cali. I've had to apply for school, pick out my classes, ensure that I've got financial aid, typical stuff.

Mr. Kotter

Welcome back, welcome back Mr. Brocker! I can't wait to here all about Brock's adventures! Weeee! I'm loopey. The workplace is crushing in my head, making me insane! Bwaa ha ha haa!

On a lighter note, I purchased a used, but fully functional, camera. It's the Canon AE-1 Program. Apparently a well respected camera. You can operate it manually so you can get all artistic, or it operates automatically too, for when you get lazy.

Return of the Californian

Hey hey ladies and gents, I’m back from my trip to California.
Look at poor Gabe! Bogged down by the prattling incessantness of work he’s delved into the sheer boredom of the American work force! I wish I had some stimulation of some kind for you Gabe, but I don’t. It’s good to be back here in Phoenix though. California is nice, but I missed the ravaging and oppressive heat that only our beloved hometown can provide.
I did see some cool stuff in Cali though, and I’ll be posting a travel journal of my experiences over the course of this week. Nothing big, but there is some funny and interesting stuff I wanted to share with you.

I guess that’s all for the moment. Oh, and one more thing: Big thanks to Gabe for keeping the blog alive and well while I was away. I really enjoyed reading your posts in the hotel lobby after a hard day of being a tourist. I think you’re right on with your thoughts regarding popular music. Let his post be a lesion to you guys out there! There’s plenty of good music to acquire beyond what the radio has to offer. Gabe, his wife and I experienced that first hand when we saw The Casket Lottery in L.A. You might as well take a chance too and download the awesome new Hey Mercedes MP3, Quality Revenge At Last.

Trust me, I’m promising you’ll feel better then better ever planned.

Office Space

Hating the monotony and boredom of work. Need . . . stimulation.

Down with the Masses

Today I'm just going to post an email I sent to a band list I'm on. We got into a discussion of popular music and independent music and such. It's just a small rant but I thought it said a lot so I'll share it.

Sure, like you said, not bad (writing formulaic, catchy songs) from a business standpoint. But, in my opinion, that’s exactly what makes it bad – from the independent, artistic point-of-view. There are a LOT of people that don't know there is more to music than what’s on the radio. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out if some people thought that’s where music comes from – the radio. And because the formulaic, cookie-cutter songs are so marketable and profitable, that stifles the artistic, independent songwriter that doesn’t get any air play. Those radio babies may never get the chance to hear something more. Granted most of them wouldn’t take to it because they’re too used to being spoon-fed the same thing for so long, but, there are those who would. And that small number can make quite a difference to the small, independent artist.

I don’t think N’Sync or Britney (or those that write their songs) are brilliant. I think they’re just greedy. I really don’t think it’s that difficult to write the catchy songs that bring in all the money. Then why don’t I do it and get rich? My heart’s not in it. And I think that’s what John was trying to say. There are “artists” that write songs for the sole intent and purpose of making money and getting famous. So, in that case they didn’t put any emotion, “heart and soul” into their songs, except for the “aspiration” to get rich and famous, which some people call “greed”. That’s their prerogative, though. They do it because they can. They have the huge market of those that so willingly wallow in the mirth of capitalism that is sprayed at them.

Then there are those that write music because it’s their way of expressing an emotion or emotions that are result of some experience or event in their lives and they had enough balls to share it with others. In other words, they write because they have to. Fame and riches don’t even enter their minds. I’m not saying some of wouldn’t ever want to get rich and famous, but it’s not part of their writing process.

Eggie

Ha, ha, a self-amusing inside joke about last night's Reggie and the Full Effect show. They had a back drop of Reggie in lights but the 'R' wasn't working.

The show was incredible. High energy, full of hilarity. They played a great variety, playing most of the songs from the first album. The whole band came out dressed like "Paco" - Bright red suits and ties, complete with fake hair and mustaches. Reggie may have been drunk-off-his-ass, but that didn't hinder his performance. They also had a guy in a bear suit that ran around, stage dove and pumped up the crowd. After Reggie played, Fluxation came out and played. (For those of you that don't know Reggie, he has a couple alter-egos). So, basically it was Reggie in a 1700s style British wig and jacket on roller skates. He did two Fluxation songs. He roller skated around the audience with a cordless mic on the first song, high-fiving people as he skated around. Then Common Demonitor came out - the whole band dressed in black with painted faces and gothic looking instruments. The "Finland" band played a couple of their hardcore hits. Hilarious stuff!! I hope they come again soon.

Dr. Octopus has been revealed.

Skywalking

Today we went up to the wine vineyards to see if we could get some free samples or something. It was very pretty country with some amazing mountain ranges, but very little vineyards seemed to be tourist friendly. Oh well, it was still a nice drive. There's some pretty country out there that you don't normally get to see in Arizona. After that I persuaded everyone to take a trip down to Marin County...home of Skywalker Rance and Industrial Light and Magic. Although they don't offer any tours, we did catch a glimpse of some interesting sights while driving down "Lucas Valley". (I can't believe he has a valley named after himself)
I caught a glimpse of what seemed to be ILM's offices off in the distance. Pretty neat.

I'm very dejected that HM didn't win the contest. Oh well...they'll get their video one way or another.

Revenge

I think it's very appropriate that Hey Mercedes posted their new mp3 that's titled Quality Revenge At Last after losing the MTV AMP contest. Will they get their quality revenge? I think so.

I really thought Taking Back Sunday would win but The Starting Line did. I hadn't heard of them as much. So yesterday I checked them out. Yikes! Just the same ol', same ol' teenie bop pop punk. Give me a break.

Little Dipper

Hum?! HUM?!!! *faints*

Happenings

Well, hellooo Brock!! Good to hear from you. Yes peoples, the blogs have been thin due to our extremely busy travel schedules. Unfortunately, for us, it's not a common occurence.

The Casket Lottery and Rocky Votolato show was awesome! It was in a house in the lovely area of Simi Valley. We were a bit late and missed some of Rocky's set. But the intimate setting proved very much enjoyable. I never heard The Casket Lottery sound so good, with the exception of a little hard to hear vocals. They're home and plan on recording, hopefully, their fourth full-length album. I really, really hope The Casket Lottery and Rocky gain momentum and noteriety in the industry. They're both very much underappreciated.

The Possiblies and Maybes CD is a great collection of Casket Lottery songs that were on 7"s, comps and unreleased material. I need to listen to Year of the Rabbit's CD more, or at a different time. I don't think I've been in the mood for it. If I was to give a first impression review on it, I'd say that it's OK, kind of boring. But, like I said, I'm most likely not in the mood for that music yet.

Hopefully Brock's reading this. Brock make sure your sitting down. Big news over the weekend is that Hum, yes Hum, the band that brought you "Stars" is getting together for a "one time reunion" to play at the Furnace Fest in Birmingham, Alabama. The worst part of this is that it's going to be nearly impossible for me to catch this show! It's next month and too far away. The thought is cool. There's also the chance that it doesn't happen. But let's hope that it does happen, and that it goes so well that they reunite for idefinitely!

Yup, Brock, you have the first out-of-town, out-of-state blog for our site here. Alcatraz was cool. I think the most unique aspect of it was, that it's so close to San Francisco. I mean, you can see the whole city from there, an excellent view even. It must've drove some prisoners mad that civilization was so close, yet so hard to escape to.

The Traveling Blogger

I'm in San Fran at this very moment, sitting in the hotel, blogging on their computer. Can you believe it? I think this sets a record: The first non-Phoenix post on Eyes Like Static. I'm not going to write long posts here or anything, but I just wanted to check in and say "hi" to let you know you're not forgotten. I'll post a tour journal or something when I get back. I saw Alcatraz yesterday, amd man, was that a freaky place! I also got to meet a former inmate, a very nice man who happened to be releasing a book on the infamous prision. How quaint. Ok, that's all for now! I'll see you soon!

Fun on a Bun

Wow, that’s an utter ton of DVD’s Gabe. You’ll have to tell me if any of those have cool special features. I’d imagine the Willy Wonka DVD is pretty cool. I think there was supposed to be a whole smattering of production reels and things like that. I bet the Abyss DVD is cool too. I think that was the first film to ever use computer-generated imagery to create special effects. There’s probably some cool stuff on that disc as well.

Speaking of DVD’s and Special Editions, did any of you happen to hear about the new Weezer news? Well, I guess they’re working on their 5th album and planning to release a DVD just in time for the holiday seasons. This last bit really caught me off guard though: they’re releasing a Blue Album special edition. Huh? I’m utterly shocked by this turn of events, and I have to admit I’m also a bit curious. To be honest, I’m not sure if this could turn out to be good or bad. The Blue Album was the starting point of my CD collection. In fact it was the first album I listened to from start to finish. You can slam the Green Album all you like, but the Blue Album “laid the foundation" so to speak. Would a special edition of the album override the original? I’d imagine that there are others out there who feel the same way I do.
But then again, it could be cool. I have a friend who is a big Weezer fan and he mentioned the possibility of the entire album being redone in acoustic, or with lengthened jam-out sessions. While the special edition may be nothing more then a fancy package and maybe a few enhanced features my friend’s suggestion did have me favoring the idea. We’ll have to see.

Well, tomorrow I leave for L.A. to see The Casket Lottery and Rocky with Gabe and his wife Rebekah. After that I’m going to be departing L.A. and penetrating the grimace of San Francisco and The Rock. I’m so excited, for both The Casket Lottery/Rocky show and my trip to San Fran. Years upon years of Jerry Bruckheimer films and Phil Hartman spoofs have built up my anticipation for Alcatraz. Will it be the grand poobah of all stony lonesome? Or will it be the maximum security equivalent of Universal Studios? Either way, it should be fun.

I guess the only downside to my subsequent trip is that I’ll probably be unable to post here. Of course, if I do find access to a computer (at a reasonable price) then I’ll be sure to post my chronicles. It’ll be like a daily adventure! You can hop on over to Blogger, read about my mishaps in California, and then turn on an Indiana Jones film to complement the excitement. I can just imagine what a fantastic “trip-diary” would be like with me at the helm…

12:30 P.M. The hotel room smells and some seagulls ate my lunch.

It’s almost too astonishing to read.

I guess I should cover some stuff with you folks before my trip. First and foremost, I’ll be sure to tell you how the show in L.A. goes. I’m betting Gabe will have something to say too. I’m really excited to pick up the new CD “Possiblies and Maybes” (I’ll have plenty to say about that when I get back). Likewise, I need to pick up Year of the Rabbit’s debut venture.
Speaking of new music, I think the months of September and October are going to be…well quite frankly…insane. Hey Mercedes’ follow-up to Everynight Fire Works, Looses Control, hits the streets in October and just weeks before that Modest Mouse and The Fire Theft both release their new albums. Now, if those highly anticipated releases weren’t enough, Small Brown Bike plans to release its third LP The River Bed that very month. It’s going to be fun on a bun. In fact, if you get time, you should check out Small Brown Bike’s new MP3 “Safe in Sound” on their website. It’s actually quite good and gives us a taste of what the new album will be like.

Ok then, that’s all she wrote, for now at least.

I’ll try and blog once while I’m in California, if I can. If not, then the same time next week, we’ll have words. Crabtree and Evelyn here I come…

-Brock

Lameness

Man, we've been lame on the quantity of posts! Especially me!

I signed my wife up for Columbia House DVD so we could build up the collection. We got: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (SE), Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (Widescreen SE), The Princess Bride (SE), The Abyss (SE), Meet the Parents (SE) and Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail (SE). Sweetness! I always get Widescreen but I had to mention it for Willy Wonka because, at first, they only released a Full Screen version. Shame on them! But thanks to the outcries of the well informed DVD ethusiasts, they released a Widescreen version!

Year of the Rabbit out today!! Review at 11.

Pirate Acting

Just a reminder to the friendly forces lying in wait: The Hey Mercedes AMP contest goes on for one more week. I say the Hey Mercedes AMP because truly, no other band on there is worthy of the honor. I guess you emo kids out there are going to go stark raving mad over Taking Back Sunday, but if you’re a fan of Bob Nanna and the gang, then please vote for Hey Mercedes. In fact, vote multiple times!

So I saw Pirates of the Caribbean last night. Marco and Parker joined up with me and we decided to go out and see a movie. Ironically, it was actually pretty good. I mean, yeah, it had a stupid plot and some predictable 2-Dimensional characters. However, there was one thing that defined this movie, one thing that elevated it beyond a cheesy summer blockbuster into a genuinely entertaining flick: Johnny Depp. In a similar vein of Jude Law’s performance as Gigolo Joe or Hugh Jackman’s performance as Wolverine, Depp’s portrayal of a roguish Pirate elevated this film. Like a vortex of charisma and genuine interest, his performance made all of the other mediocre actors and actresses (and the sub-par plot) truly miraculous. As a result Pirates was a fun movie. Not exactly the kind of film I’d normally salivate over, but we all need some mindless entertainment every now and then. Go and see it if only because Depp’s pirate performance usurps Dustin Hoffman’s pirate acting.

Pirate acting…I can’t believe that’s what it all boils down to.

(Remember, Pirates Vote too!)

Possiblies and Maybes? Definitely.

I've been a limited poster recently. By next week I should be less busy at work.

Yes, The Casket Lottery's Possiblies and Maybes CD will be for sale during this tour. Should be anyway. I'm very much looking forward to it as well as the show. We'll most definitely work something out for Radiohead tickets that weekend.

Burning my travels clean

Looks like you’ll have to settle with a late post from me today.

So now I’m extra bitter about the week of the Casket Lottery and Year of the Rabbit show. You see I’ve learned that the tickets for the Radiohead shows in California will ironically go on sale while I’m in California. It’s like some kind of ironic kick in the jimmies, or some such. Gabe and I are going to work out some kind of back-up plan though regarding the purchase of the tickets. We’ve got a friend or two who might be able to hang around and purchase the tickets for us while we’re gone. By the way Gabe, Alex said he might be able to do it depending upon when the tickets go on sale. We’ll figure something out, we’ll figure something out. That seems to have become my little mantra during this whole dealy.
I am glad to be going though; it’s not every day that I get an opportunity to see both The Casket Lottery and Rocky Votolato. I’m looking to purchase some Rocky CDs, so this will be a good opportunity. Likewise, maybe the new TCL CD, “Possiblies and Maybes”, will be on sale.

After that I’m blowing San Diego and heading on up to San Francisco for a trip I already had planned there. I’ll probably take some pictures of Alcatraz for your viewing enjoyment. Well, more for my own personal novelty anyway.

So I guess this means I need to purchase and pack a few things with the impending trip in mind:

• An iPod charger


• A new book to read


• A portable toothbrush (heh heh)

And some other junk…

Say Goodbye

I’m truly sorry for the lack of posts, especially since I said on Monday that’d I’d be back to post some more. But you know how things always go; you get wrapped up in other things, reading books, getting work done, writing, and just chilling (or if you prefer, relaxing). Of course, it also helps to have something interesting to talk about…

Speaking of interesting items, I was planning on going to see the Year of the Rabbit show in San Diego on the 18th. However, due to certain inequities (namely me being under 21) I’m afraid I’m going to have to skip out on that one. In fact, that’s kind of the blunt of what I wanted to gripe about today: Year of the Rabbit’s tour being geared towards 21+ venues. Now, I can perfectly understand the reasoning behind venues that are 21 and over, and I’m not going to contend with the concrete laws. What truly bothers me though is that they’re limiting themselves to venues like this and as a result, alienating myself and other underage fans. Not that big of a deal, but last time I checked, my particular age group commanded considerable influence upon the music industry. I know, I know, whine, whine, whine; it’s all I do. I’m not naive enough to believe that this will isolate Year of the Rabbit from MTV plateaus…MTV and the industry structure have already taken care of that isolation. Yet, one cannot deny that these venues will have a level of impact upon the band’s profit.
Take me for example: I’m a youngish person with some cash to burn. By no means am I well to do, but I’m willing to go the extra mile and buy stuff I find enjoyment in. If I’d been able to attend Year of the Rabbit in San Diego, you had better believe I would have folded faster at the Merch-Booth then Superman on Laundry Day. Ultimately, that wasn’t meant to be. Oh well, more money for The Casket Lottery show.

OoooK, enough grating for now, I need to get back to my busy schedule of nothingness. It’s nice to be doing nothing for the moment. Alex once told me that I’d value it some day, and low and behold, the bell has tolled for thee.

Over Worked

Yawn, indeed! You'd think we were on vacation or something. I've been too busy at work and then when I get home! I had to blog just so I wouldn't be on too long of a non-blogging streak. Hopefully I'll have more time soon.