Yeah times 3

What an amazing show. Although I was quite unimpressed with the blood brothers (its the second time i’ve seen them and it was better at coachella) , I was still more than impressed with Yeah Yeah Yeah’s performance. Karen O was exciting to watch, not just by beauty alone but by energy and pure talent. She is an ultimate performer. I have been listening to “Show Your Bones” for about four months now, pretty steadily. I must credit Tiffany with getting me into it, burning me a cd and generally playing it when she was riding in my car (im sure it was the only thing next to fugazi “instrument” that she could choose from, my music selection is sparse at times). The show was overall the best all out rock show I have been to in awhile.

Here is what I disliked about the show:

They patted us down twice before letting us in, and they made me throw away a key chain (more like a climbing hook that I used as a key chain) because they said it could used as “brass knuckles”

There were at least six drunk old people who were not only pushy and tall but generally smug. I had to scream in some ears and throw out some elbows to make room for dancing with Tiffany.

I had about twenty different people sweat on me by the end of the night and felt like I needed five shower.

Other than those things it was fan-flipping-tastic! Go see them if you have the chance!

say hello to yourself

Read this article

then come back and read this:

I wrote an essay in college called “Can You Hear Me Now: Cell Phones and Social Interaction”. It was boring for the most part but had a few good tidbits about the metamorphosis of people into “cyborgs”; I stuck to what I had viewed at UCSB and referenced Donna Haraways Cyborg Manifesto to back-up my case studies. This article goes one step beyond, since MySpace and Facbook (and other copycats) have bulged to enormous sizes, quickly becoming hubs of social interaction. I could not have imagined this happening, but I did point out the key points of the article in my essay.

I would like to discuss this further with anyone who is interested in internet culture, or who slaves away daily staring at a computer screen like I do. What do you make of all this? Have you noticed change in yourself? In friends and family?

I worry about future generations. They do not have context to place this all in. I am only 24, and when I was 2 my family bought their first computer. However most of my younger years were spent playing outside in the dirt, going on bike rides around the neighborhood, and generally participating in activities that kids have been doing for many years. But kids nowadays have so many techno-gadgets that I feel they are losing their childhood and quickly immersing themselves in a “cyber-reality”. Im not sure if its this generation, or the next, but within three generations I see education moving away from books entirely. What will this do to the human psyche? the soul? Will we become hollow beings whose existence is centered around electronic devices? Are we already like this?

Not to seem worried or anxious or paranoid, just asking questions to spur debate. More to come on this in future days, and perhaps a bit of prose to go with this banter.

published.

i have just recieved word that my story entitled “She is His Story” will be published in an anthology put out by Another Sky Press called Falling From the Sky. I am very excited about this because it is my first piece of writing to ever be published anywhere. If you would like for me to email you a copy of the short (18pg) story, comment me and I’ll be sure to get you a copy.

In unrelated news, I got my home studio setup. By studio I mean two keyboards and mixer… although the MO-8 can hardly be called a keyboard, it is more like a digital synthesizer workstation. It is rather impressive and hopefully I’ll pay it off soon )

Stay tuned for music and more updates on Falling From the Sky.

Meanwhile check out web design from scratch – its so brilliant, yet so simple. Things all designers know but need to be reminded of from time to time.

decisions

sometimes you have to make tough decisions. and no, im not talking about deleting myspace. im talking about real tough decisions. ones that might make people angry at you, ones that might hurt others feelings; its inevitable that sometime in your life you will have to make one of these decisions.

and it might be the right one, it might be the wrong one. many times you can only rely on instinct with a dash of reasoning. how does it feel to be where you are? Is there something holding you back, are you holding something inside? never keep those feelings bottled up, they will ge tthe better of you.

i have made many rash decisions in my life, some of them good and some bad. I dont know how this one will turn out. but i do know that i am not doing it for anyone other than myself. that sounds conceited, but if you know me, you know i all too often am guided by the emotions and whims of other people. i act only if i think it is wanted or warranted. this time i am acting on my own behalf. i hope they will understand. its a line to be drawn, no matter how hard it is to even pick up the pen.

Real Food Guide

Tiffany and I have started a blog called Real Food Guide. basically it will be a journal of all the places we eat at, describing what we ate (with pictures), what was on the menu and what the environment was like. we really want to focus on the overall dining experience, not just say “food was good, service was lousy”. we will then post reviews on city search and other places linking to our blog for more information about certain places. we will also give reviews on different locations of the same resturaunt (the BJs in brea, compared to the one in cerritos for example) because we find that some locations are just better than others. it should be lots of fun, and since we go out to eat so much, this will make for a very well updated blog.

clean your plate

today i am set about the task of creating a flash video player. i’m not intuitive enough to just know how to do it, so i’ve pulled up a good tutorial that walks me through each step of the process. this way, i am learning how to fish instead of going to del taco for fish tacos.

i feel refreshed today, ready to take on the weekend, to spend time and relax with the people i love. i am having a bbq at my house tomorrow and anyone who knows where it’s at is invited. there will be lots of beer, food and smiles. feel free to bring your trunks and take a dip in the pool.

there’s a llama that loves me.

Discussion, Debate, Denial

so, i’ve been discussing with this fellow (you can check out his blog at Anarcho-Capitalism) on a forum for Another Sky Press and it seems we have very different opinions but perhaps the same goal. He is a business man, aggressive and determined to see the world changed for the better. He wants to evolve our system of capitalism into one of “moral reasoning” instead of “legal fear”. I could not agree with him more. I wish for a metamorphosis of our society into exactly what it promises; freedom and expression, a life without constraint. I still am hoping for a more compassionate society where art is transfered freely, where the only competition exist within the self to become a better individual than they were the day before. Focusing on production, marketing and distribution kills the spirit of the artist. It transforms them into a business man, turns compassion into aggression and understanding into moral indignation.

As I was writing this, I recieved another message from him. This is what he said:

“I’m going to reply to your reply on my anarcho-capitalism blog right now. Your thoughts are very common, but they’re also wrong.”

However, I was trying to make a point in the forum that competition did not have to stem from sales, that people can push each other (and themselves) to create and to better their art through other means. Through discussion, I inspired him to write, and he didnt have to sell me anything to get his point across or spur his own imagination. He proved my point for me. I also think its funny that he put anarcho-capitalism which is a prime example of an oxymoron. Maybe thats his point. I don’t get it.