Trail of Dead show was AWESOME!!!

Hey everyone, just got back from seeing "And You Will Know us by the Trail of Dead" at Popscene here in SF. Awesome show! Worth more than the $10 cover charge. They played their hearts out. I went backstage and saw Jason half dead on the steps he was so tired. Talked with Conrad and Kevin a bit too, very cool and humble guys. If you missed'em I'm sorry, they'll be back in 3 months at the Fillmore though! g'nite! Jon

I've been neglectful of Zeppelin lately

After taking so much time lately to get caught up with some of the GOOD music that's coming out nowadays I made the mistake of deserting my classic rock roots. Today I grabbed my Led Zeppelin "Physical Graffiti" CD, it's such an amazing album, Robert Plant is one of the greatest frontmen ever, Jimmy Page's guitar is awesome as usual and I'm totally lost in images of floating in the clouds and visiting far away castles. Won't you join me?

Create your own environment

A man visited a small country town. When he arrived he was immediately bitter towards the way these people lived, their culture, their way of life, the way they drove their cars and even the way they dressed. He walked from one side of the town to the other, walking the same long country rode, and just when he was about to leave he asked an old man sitting on his porch, "Are all the towns along this road just like this one?" The old man asked, "What'd you think of this town?" The man replied, "Ugh, I hated it, I'm never coming back here again." The old man then said, "Well then, I'd suggest you don't go any further 'cause you'll just find the same thing further down the road." Another man then came to the small country town. He was immediately enamored with the way the town worked, the peacefulness of it, the homely feel and the amity of the people. When he reached the old man's porch he asked him, "Are all the towns along this road just like this one?" The old man asked, "What'd you think of this town?" To which the man replied, "I loved it, I'm sure I'll be back to visit frequently" The old man then said, "Well then I'd suggest you keep walking 'cause you'll find the same thing further down the road." The point of the story is that you make the environment you live in. You can either try and deny it and live in fear and loathing while you're in it, or you can embrace it and love it while taking in the better experiences and making your time worthwhile.

Don't judge me by the food I eat. Judge me by how I kill it.

I got ...Trail of Dead's new album today! Gonna give it a listen later. As much as I hate the Virgin Megastore, I was attracted by the sale they were having today. Tons of CD's for only $10 each, not bad. But when CD's aren't on sale they're usually priced $10 too high, that's why I usually loath them. But I bit the bullet today after noticing that the Trail of Dead CD was cheaper there than Rasputin, plus Raspy's didn't have the special version with a DVD, so I had no choice. Walking back to work I was lost in thought, the kind of thought where you don't even remember anything, you don't remember walking, you don't remember the people you see, you just remember that you stopped by Subways, got some grub, then were suddenly back at the office. I'm pretty sure I ran into a light post at one point, but I was feeling so numb it didn't matter.

...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead!!!

Just saw them on Letterman, MAN I LOVE THIS BAND! I'm so excited about their new album comin' out, only 6 more dayyyyys!!

Check out the cover!

Back to ghetto ass CCSF

So classes start today, but my Intermediate Algebra doesn't start till tomorrow. I ordered my damn book like 2 weeks ago from Amazon and it's still not here, arrrrgh!! Oh well, you never really need the book the first day anyway. I'm sure it'll arrive by next Monday for the 2nd day of class. Mmmmm, Intermediate Algebra, the things I'll go through in order to go to SF State.

My Personal Top 10 Films of the Year

It is hard to make a top 10 out of this year, there were so many good films. Let me see if I can pull together a nice top 10 of my own with explanations why each film is in MY top 10:

1. Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou - beautiful, funny, poetic, dramatic, great story telling with a plethera of characters to enjoy and fall in love with. Possibly the most perfect film of the year.

2. Finding Neverland - the first film in a while that succeeded in bringing me to tears

3. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Charlie Kaufman's best script so far adapted by a great up and coming director, any film that makes you feel like you're in a dream always wins my heart.

4. The Aviator - Scorsese's best film since Raging Bull (why Raging Bull? Because it's similar as far as having a character arch and similar theme of a tortured soul). Beautiful cinematography, a great performance by Leo, a great story of one of the past century's most important icons and it was given to the perfect man, Scorsese. I hope he finally gets his Oscar.

5. Kill Bill Vol. 2 - Despite people's opinions about the controversial splitting of the movie into volumes for marketing reasons, both films can stand alone. Volume 2 being my favorite with all the extreme gore behind us and only her true enemies ahead of her. Quentin Tarantino has mastered his craft.

6. Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow - Highly underrated, did OK at the box office, a great first film from a young director who has worked mainly in effects. It's fun, adventuresome and nostalgiac.

7. Garden State - I connected with this film on a personal level, the main character is going through a lot of the same things I have or am going through. And if anybody calls it a GenX film, it's not, Reality Bites (10 years ago) was a GenX film.

8. A Very Long Engagement - Jean Pierre Jeunet has done it again, I've loved all his films thus far, and this one continues the streak. A WWI epic with a romance that is accomplished outside of cliches and mushy moments. Includes plenty of the Jeunet like characters, fantasy and surrealness.

9. Spiderman 2 - One of the best sequels to an action/adventure flick in a while. Plus some classic Raimi objects (i.e. the chainsaw), we know he's still got it! Could have done without the happy ending though, the middle movie always has to end with suspense and hope for a resolution in the 3rd. Oh well, I still enjoyed it thoroughly.

10. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - I don't read the books and don't care about where they strayed from the storyline. It was a great twist on the Potter series with better acting from the kids and a real director this time.

HONORABLE MENTION: Napoleon Dynamite - If you're well versed in Mormon Culture and understand how things are done and all the absurdities of the Midwest, then you'll appreciate this movie as I do.

FILMS I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO: "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" by Tim Burton, "Tideland" & "The Brothers Grimm" by Terry Gilliam

What the...how the...huh?

So there's this movie with Jennifer Garner opening up called "ELEKTRA", to be honest it looks like a comic booky, watered down, super natural, extremely crappy pants version of Kill Bill. Girl gets killed, comes back, kills all who killed her. Similar...yeah But that's not what my concern is. When it comes to sequels don't they usually make them based on the success of the first film? Wasn't DAREDEVIL one of the worst films ever? And is the DAREDEVIL or ELEKTRA following really strong enough to make profit at the box office? Oh well, the fact is the movie is here, and the only selling point is Jennifer Garner who is cute but honestly I found her hot only in the first episode of Alias when she colored her hair red.

I want a Narwhal for a pet...

It is officially my favorite sea creature :) that's all Jon

Reasons I Like Walking To and From Work

1. I get to see the same elderly Asian man walking up Nob Hill backwards.
2. I realized if I walk with my head up looking in the exact direction I'm going people will move out of my way.
3. I get to burn off the calories from my McD's
4. It's fun to see people turn onto a one way street against traffic.
5. I get to make people at sushi bars feel uncomfortable by staring at them as I walk by.
6. Get to see the occasional whore arguing with her pimp over the cell phone because he won't pick her up out in front of Cala Foods.
7. Saying "Hi" to the guy who works in the Newspaper Kiosk at the corner of California & Hyde
8. Always a chance that I'll witness some carnage being wheeled out of an ambulance in front of St. Francis Memorial Hospital.
9. Laughing at booted cars and thinking it would be a good idea to have a blow torch in the trunk of my own car.
10. Walking up California in between the Grace Cathedral and the Masonic Temple creeping myself out thinking about what might be goin' on inside those places.
11. The lady in front of the produce market in Chinatown yelling "BOK CHOY!"
12. I occasionally walk past the buildings Hitchcock used in his film "Vertigo"
13. At a cross walk I like to be the first person in a group of people who notices that there aren't anymore cars coming, so I cross even though the sign says "Don't Walk"
14. It's never a bad day if I see a white dove flying around.
15. All that fresh air just makes me feel good about myself and is a great stress reliever.

MUNI is fun

Today's big disappointment? The library was closed for "Mechanical Difficulties". What the hell does that mean? I guess I'll just ask somebody next time I go. What made it worth it? The ride home on the 19 bus. So I sit down between a smelly old guy and and another old guy who doesn't smell as much. Well, at least they got off at the next stop. OK, OK, here's the good part, some guy up in the front randomly starts talking and ranting to this man he doesn't even know about some guy named Randy "Speedo" Gonzales who was the fastest player on his basketball team when he played at Berkeley high. He continued to recount (at a volume that was highly unnecessary) to the man about how he was able to jump really high and had a great ability for blocking shots. Well, the man who was trying not to listen soon got up laughing and got off at the next stop. The crazy dude who was talkin' proceeded to speak with a loud booming voice until he made eye contact with someone, then proceeded to tell his little story about his glory days to that person. It was great, when the first man left he didn't skip a beat nor wonder why he was leavin', he just kept goin' without breaking onto a tangent. It was amazing. I just realized that Rufus Wainwright just recently came out with "Want Two", so I'm relistening to "Want One" so as to prepare myself.

You can't put a wide-angle lens on it

A couple months ago I bought a digital camera, a Canon SD10 Digital Elph 4 mp camera. The camera is awesome and really serves the purpose that I got it for. However, as I'm beginning to enjoy still images more and more I've realised that I would really like to get a camera with interchangeable lenses and the whole professional bit. This is more of a long-term goal, just thought I'd voice it now ;) Have a lovely day

I got a sweet deal...despite my pain and anguish

I know how in past bulletins and perhaps past blogs I've ranted and bitched about my job and how boring and numbing it can be. But I'll admit, I have it pretty good here. No bosses, supervisors and my co-workers don't care what I do. I could not show up for days and everyone would just shrug it off like it was nothing. The only motivation I have for coming into work is the fact that I have highspeed internet here. Other than that I pretty much do nothing and listen to music. I can't wait until school starts up again, then I'll have something more to do in my free time at work.

Rain sucks but only when you're outside in it

So it's been rainin' quite a bit here in SF. Kinda sucks when you're the type who likes to walk to work. Plus takin' the bus on a rainy day is hardly worth it since you're liable to be packed like a wet sardine inside the over populated transportation vessel. So I'd rather take my chances and walk thank you kindly.

Yeah, so rain isn't fun if you walk in it, although it might be fun if you dance and sing in it, haven't tried that yet (note to self).

I do enjoy looking at rain from indoors though, especially when I'm listening to something like Sigur Ros, Pink Floyd, Postal Service or any other kind of shoegazing or sweeping guitar with synthesizer music. Doesn't everybody?

Currently in a state of BLAH!

There's honestly nothing wrong with me, I don't really have any social issues or anything that would depress me or make me feel this way. It must be my biorhythms or something gettin' to me. In the meantime, so as to suite my mood, I'll be listening to Tom Waits