Day 4 in LA

Today was a big day. It was my first job interview as a Californian. It was awesome. I've had people ask me how an interview can be awesome. Let me explain. I was comfortable and was able to answer all the questions well (I think I did well) and I was able to show my personality without being nervous. I think that's the best thing I can do. I have a lot of experience doing a lot of different things so I wasn't worried about that. Hopefully that means I'll be getting a call back soon, and if I don't I don't have to feel like I could have done better. That's how I had an awesome interview.

I also found a new comic shop to call my own. I'm going to the Comic Bug in Torrance, CA. The guys there are all friendly and I have to say awesome. I'm looking forward to picking up my comics tomorrow.

Day 3 in LA

Alright OK so I had a bit of a panic today. The day started out fine. I took my wife to work. Went to Barnes&Noble to spend some gift cards I got from my going away party. I even went for a drive along the beach and saw a movie crew from Paramount filming along the beach.

When I got home I did some unpacking and even watched a few shows online and then I started to worry about my interview tomorrow and what would happen if I didn't get the job. I was worrying about paying bills and all of that adult stuff that I don't enjoy thinking about, but I am the man of the house so it's my job to worry about this kind of stuff.

Thankfully my wife and a nap was all I needed to calm myself down.

I'll spend most of my post tomorrow on the interview. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Day 2 in LA

It was a great day. The weather was awesome and I woke up early and enjoyed seeing my wife next to me, after spending two months apart. Unfortunately we had to sleep on our air mattress as our real mattress was still wet from the drive but that didn't hamper our joy. I wore loafers to church today. I have to say I was never a loafers guy, but California has helped me appreciate the comfort of loafers.

We meet new people at our church everyone was friendly doing all they could to help us feel welcome. We were even invited over to eat lunch with a family. It was so nice to eat real food again after spending the day before eating only gas station food and McDonald's. I'm not complaining but no one wants to eat that stuff forever.

Spent the evening getting caught up on a few shows and I'm trying out the Beta NBC Video Rewind, so far not bad. Only complaint is that it claims you can watch shows offline (because you download them) but when I try to open the program it automatically sends me online to the show's website even after I've downloaded the episode I want to watch. I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt that it's just me.

I'm trying not to be nervous about my job interview this Tuesday. Part of this move to LA is about trying to adopt healthier habits and trains of thought. I don't want to worry about something I can't control, like I would in the past. I want to go in do my best and focus on the idea that if it's meant to happen it will. I can only show them who I am and if that isn't what they are looking for I wouldn't be happy there. It helps me to calm down and enjoy the moments.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow...

Day 1 in LA

We drove for 12 hrs straight the first 4 in rain. When we unloaded the boxes were warped, mattress was damp but we made it. We're tired hungry and soar. Went to find something to eat for tonight and tomorrow as well as a shower curtain.

What the Future Holds

I'm writing this while waiting to pick up my wife at the airport. I spent my last night in Utah with family, friends and co-workers. Tomorrow I start my first true adventure going to the 2nd largest city in America without friends or family with no job. All I take with me is a wife and my past. I would like to spend the next 30 days exploring the city and looking for a job as well as posting the days events. It will be an outsider looking in as well as a new native learning the ropes. Will I become the next plastic version of CA or will I become jaded to all the simple joys in life as I try to find the next great cool? Only time and my writing will reveal the final period.

Ever Been?

Have you ever been to California? It's a good question even if it seems everyone and their french mini poodle has been. Just got back there and I think I might go back soon. I never thought of myself as a California kind of guy but I think I could see myself living there for a few years. We shall see what the future holds.

The Latest In Action News

It's been awhile since the last update. I love the idea of blogging not because I like the idea of other people reading my entries as I know they don't. I like it because it's my modern day dear diary. I almost feel like a 12 year old girl writing in a diary about life's occurrences each and every day while wearing my fuzzy slippers.

The hard thing is that I cannot allow my blog to be my diary as we all know by now that you can be fired by the things you write. What power words hold (and the fact that HR has nothing better to do than to hunt for employee's musings online). For that reason I am not allowed to talk about everything that I think about. Which leads me to, at times when I'm in the greatest need to write, not to.

The economy has hit my family hard. My wife lost her job in December and as of right now still out of work. It's amazing how hard it is to get a job these days. She has applied to around 60 jobs and had several interviews and two very close calls. One problem is that with things so bad no one is in a hurry to offer a job to someone any time soon when they can save money by postponing as long as possible. We are in a hard place money wise. As for me job wise, things are good and bad, but due to the above acknowledgment I'm not going into details. I am the sole bread winner these days.

I am enjoying the fact that I have begun to write more lately than I have in a long time. I have a 1st draft novel and a poetry/art project I'm working on with a very talented rediscovered friend.

Oh, and I've also recently discovered I have IBS, which could be do to my daily stress, eating, or both. Let's just say things are better after a year of pain.

I've given up on having two specialty blogs on R.E.M. and Pearl Jam so I've combined my old posts to this blog. I did however keep one of the two blogs as I enjoy the title and don't want to give it up as of right now.

Let us hope that in the near future I can be a little more upfront with everything going on in my life.

I am learning to develop patience.

Shiny Happy People

Shiny Happy People
Out of Time, 1991
2nd Single
US Chart #10
UK Chart #6

Some say this song was an ironic attempt to publicizes the Tiananmen Square uprising. The title comes from a propaganda poster called 'Shiny Happy People'. This is all well and good but, I think they could have done a better job of portraying that idea in either the lyrics or video. Otherwise it seems to be something they thought up after words.

My own personal belief on the song is that it's a very happy shiny song, and at times I love the song, and at other times I would rather not listen to it. The video is an adrenaline rush of joy. I do have to say I love singing the "Do do do do do do dodo". I love Peter's expression throughout the video.

Kate Pierson from the B-52's has a great voice and I don't think anyone else could have helped Michael sing the song. I also have to mention that this song was turned into a Sesame Street song in 1999, called "Furry Happy Monsters".

Begin the Begin

From - Lifes Rich Pageant
Released in 1986
Track 1.

It is only proper that I begin at the beginning. The title of the song as many of you know is a play on words from the song written by Cole Porter, "Begin the Beguine", which was written in the 1930's. Personally I think it has a lot of the same energy of the big band songs of the 30's with a modern take.

The song starts out with a punch and continues to progress with a steady drum beat. The Chorus has an almost haunting echo to it. It ends like a car crash sudden with painful sours. I love watching Michael dance about the stage to this song; he seems to swing on a loose wooden gate.

What I love most about the song is the desire to start over. It is easy to see that we've screwed up and it's time to stop what we're doing and start over fresh. This is a common thread through out the album.

Some of the lines that stand out are, "The insurgency began and you missed it. I looked for it and I found it. Myles Standish proud, congratulate me." I love the fact that he seems to demand an answer to our inaction. The reference to Myles Standish, a famous solider during the Plymouth Colony only seems to give weight to the idea that we all must decide what we are willing to fight for. This also adds to the reference to Martin Luther, another man that was willing to try a new start and fight the most powerful organization to do it. "Silence means security silence means approval" this is a simple and yet great line. Even if we don't agree with what's going on, even if we are afraid, we have to do more we have to take action or our inaction is approval. "I can't think clear; you look to me for reason. It's not there, I can't even rhyme here in the begin." At last Michael makes sure to let us know he isn't the leader he is only one that stood up, and spoke making his voice heard, but it's up to us to do our part. Find our own way.

Corduroy

I have to start with this song. Its number seven on the list for most played songs live, with a total of 377 as of today. It's the most played song off the album Vitalogy, and one of my favorites from that album.

I have a strong memory attached to this song and really to the whole album. I use to listen to it a lot during a period in my life where I was working in a factor that made the "guts" to slot machines and vending machines. The job was alright, a little mind numbing, but alright. I'd go out to my car for lunch and listen to this album over and over again everyday and it would always cheer me up. I had just barely broken off a horrible relationship with my first love and I had a lot of built up aggression and this song is just great to scream along to. I still love going a little crazy in the car with this song.

Some of my favorite lines in the song are:
"I don’t want to be held in your debt...
And Ill pay it off in blood, let I be wed...
And I’m already cut up and half dead...
Ill end up alone like I began...

Everything has changed, absolutely nothings changed
Take my hand, not my picture, spilled my tincture

I don’t want to take what you can give...
I would rather starve than eat your breast...”

This is right in the middle of the song and it just demands to be song along to. I love hearing this song live just so you can scream it at the top of your voice with everyone else. It validates all the pain and crap you allow other people to put you through.

And for those of you who always thought the song was about the wonderful fabric know as corduroy please look up this website and give them your support.

Corduroy Club

Pearl Jam at Lollapalooza 2007

August 5th, 2007

Setlist:
Why Go, Corduroy, Save You, Do The Evolution, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Severed Hand, Education, Even Flow, Given To Fly, World Wide Suicide, Lukin, Not For You, Daughter/Another Brick In The Wall, State Of Love And Trust, Wasted Reprise, AliveEncore 1 Better Man/Save it for Later, Crazy Mary, Life Wasted, RearviewmirrorEncore 2 No More, Rockin' In The Free World

The energy before the show was high everyone waiting in a crowded mess of people for Pearl Jam to take the Main stage on the last night of Lollapalooza. If you stood still waiting you felt more like a stone in a river or oasis in the desert as a constant stream of people pressed past you trying to get just a few more feet closer to the stage. It all seemed futile, and I stopped moving once I made it to the left hand side of the sound board tent. Not my best seat ever but close enough to know the band would really be there and not just broadcasted on two large screens to either side of the stage.

The band was a few minutes late starting and the crowd began to grow restless, but once they took the stage Pearl Jam held it for the remainder of the night. They opened hard and stayed that way until they played Elderly Woman which Ed mentioned being for a young boy who use to ride the 'L' into Chicago to go to the record store. Later he would also mention the joy he has every time he plays in Chicago and the memories it brings. The set was basically a hits set with little in rarities but the highlights for me where, 'Education', 'No More'w/Ben Harper, and 'Rockin' in the Free World' w/Ben Harper on chorus as these were the only songs I haven't already heard live before. They also did a great little improv about BP oil that was fast and short (don't expect it on the next album).

All in all it was a fun show, but doesn't give the best representation of their regular tours. The crowd wasn't as willing to sing with the band as die-hard fans, but still it was a great show. The only thing that I didn't like about the show was the people constantly moving in and out and in front of you. I have to say I don't miss the old mosh pits of the 90's. I enjoy the current system of chairs on the floor and how they create a nice breaker between you and the other fans.

End note. See Pearl Jam on their own tour and not at a festival. They play longer have more rarities and the crowds are fun to be with. If you've only seen them at a festival go see them on their next tour you won't regret it.

Lollapalooza Recap site

Pearl Jam setlist site

Dickipedia

Are you a dick? One way to find out go to Dickipedia and find out. Two of my favorite people to read about are Joaquin Phoenix and Your Mom.

Enjoy

THE DARK KNIGHT

50,116

Two days left in the month and I'm done! My novel is written. I can take that off my list to do before I die. The plan is now to take the month off and begin working on the 1st Draft. I need to flesh out the story, fix the plot and add another 70,000-100,000 words to the story. I found that having a deadline is the best thing for my creative juices so I plan to have my 1st draft completed by March 31, 2009. Next is to have someone read my story and tell me were the story falls short creatively. Then I'll work two months on fixing those problems which will be the end of May, 2009. I'll then have someone edit my novel for grammatical errors which should take at least two months which will end around the 1st of Augusts. I'll start submitting the novel to agents and publishers and take two months off and start my next novel in November 2009.

I would recommend the program to anyone who's ever thought about writing a novel but never got around to finding the time to do it. Tell them they should do it, sign up for NaNoWriMo.org

D.Y.D.'s Dewey Decimal Section:

013 [Unassigned]


Class:
000 Computer Science, Information & General Works


Contains:
Encyclopedias, magazines, journals and books with quotations.



What it says about you:
You are very informative and up to date. You're working on living in the here and now, not the past. You go through a lot of changes. When you make a decision you can be very sure of yourself, maybe even stubborn, but your friends appreciate your honesty and resolve.

Find your Dewey Decimal Section at Spacefem.com

D.Y.D.'s Dewey Decimal Section:

697 Heating, ventilating & air-conditioning

D.Y.D.'s birthday: 7/21/1976 = 721+1976 = 2697


Class:
600 Technology


Contains:
Health, agriculture, management, public relations, buildings.



What it says about you:
You are creative and inspired to make the world a better place. You can work hard on something when it catches your interest. Your friends have unique interests in common with you.

Find your Dewey Decimal Section at Spacefem.com

D.Y.D.'s Dewey Decimal Section:

454 [Unassigned]

D.Y.D. = 454 = 454 = 454


Class:
400 Language


Contains:
Linguistics and language books.



What it says about you:
You value communication, even with people who are different from you. You like trying new things don't mind being exposed to unfamiliar territory. You get bored with routines that never change.

Find your Dewey Decimal Section at Spacefem.com

18,000

I didn't think I would do it. I'm great at starting goals but I always seem to get busy doing other things and fall short. I don't want to get cocky just yet but so far so good. I've been working hard at my NaNoWriMo.org and I made 18,000 even today. By the end of the week I'll be at or over the half way point. It is weird to think that if I keep it up I'll have a 50,000 word novel. Right now it's not the best work I've done, but I think that's been my problem in the past I don't like to move on in my writing until everything is perfect which means I have a great 20 page story but I can ever seem to move past that. With this goal I'm writing a crappy well not crappy but not great story that will be finish by the end of the month. All that will remain is going back over it and editing it to completion. I hope to be able to have a finished and edited novel by the end of next year that I can be submitting to agents and publishers.
I'm sorry if I'm neglecting my many readers but I'm trying to save all my writing juice for the book. I'll try and keep you posted on my progress through the month.

Lisa Hannigan at the E-Center in Salt Lake City UT

I was so excited to see Lisa. I have seen her once before in Idaho, when she performed with her first band. I had been waiting to hear from her now that she's on her own and out of the blue I heard she was going to open for Jason Mraz.

I was surprised she opened for Jason Mraz. His music is style different from hers, and the audience wasn't as appreciative of her as I had hoped. I wasn't too surprised people in Utah don't know good music. Most of the stupid bobbleheads didn't know who Lisa was and didn't give her the respect that she deserved.

Regardless, Lisa was amazing and played like a pro. She was engaging and entertaining. Her songs were amazing. The set was great. There was variety and each song was strong on its own. She had a great stage presence. She danced and enjoyed herself on stage. Her band was great and gave her their support. Highlight songs from the show: Lille, Sea Song, Teeth, I don't know, and Keep It All. Lisa also did an amazing cover of Iron&Wine.

I can't wait to see her on her own tour with a crowd that's all for her.

Set list

1.Lille
2.Sea song
3.Ocean and a rock
4.Pistachio
5.Teeth
6.Venn diagram
7.I don't know
8.Keep it all
9.Free Until They Cut Me Down(Iron&Wine Cover)

Go to her site and buy her album.

Can I Write A Novel In One Month?

I know I have it in me, a novel. Let's see if I can't get it out and onto a piece of paper. The idea is wonderful. Write 50,000 words in one month in a novel of sorts. The editor in me hates the idea. How can I write and write and write with no editing along the way? How will I be able to make the reader understand me? Well for one thing no one will be reading my first draft, except for maybe my wife, if she would like to attempt to edit the mess I make.

My only goal in doing this is not to have her vomit after she's done. As long as I don't make her vomit I'm success right?

Cheer me on and lets see what kind of mess I can make.

It's been a long long summer

I'm writing now rather then later. I meant to prepare a perfect post that would astonish the blogging world and instead I'm writing this.

The summer started strong with some great concerts. The summer climax was The Dark Knight. I saw it nine times and hope to break an even 10 before the end of the month. My wife and I also took an archery class which was awesome. There is a real moment of Zen in the draw back and aim, right before the release. I spent my 10 year anniversary in San Francisco, we enjoyed our time the second time around, it helps the enjoyment factor when you're not running from the law. The city was beautiful, we walked everywhere and loved it. The city has it's unique architecture and culture that invites you in. I'll admit there are areas that aren't as attractive, but overall I have to say I could live there.

I'm actually finding out the more I travel, I have a few things I really need in a city. Large Body of Water. Mild Weather (mainly it can't get really hot I can handle the cold). It has to rain. There has to be a wide assortment of trees. I prefer either a large city or a small town none of these half hearted cities with marginal populations.

Which means that from San Francisco to Seattle I'd be in heaven, Chicago, Savannah (for those of you who might say Savannah is a middle city which is true, but you have to agree it's a city that demands respect), and of course New York City (who wouldn't want to live there).

The fall is looking good as well. We have a Coldplay concert, David Sedaris reading, meditation class, and fencing class. We also bought season tickets to the local theater company. Things are good.

Pearl Jam West Palm Beach, FL 6/11/08

Pearl Jam in Florida a first for me. I've been to many shows with PJ and I have to say it's always worth the journey. We got front row seats to the show and had a great time watching Kings of Leon open the show. The crowd was in a great mood and ready to get the show going and the people loved the band. If you've never heard their music its simple rock n roll.

Pearl Jam came out prompt and ready to set their tour off right. Opening with Ten's Ocean. A song I have never heard live. Every song from there to the closer was a sonic dessert. The band was loving life and playing well. It's great to see them mature, the stress and worries of their early days are gone leaving them the joy they had to begin with playing loud and live. This was a free for all tour as it didn't support an album, which meant the band could play whatever they wanted. They seemed to have a nice selection from each of their albums and even pulled out a few rare songs. It was a fun show and I can't wait to see them yet again. Here's the setlist * for song's I hadn't heard live before.


Oceans*
Severed Hand
Save You
Gods' Dice
Given To Fly
Faithfull
Unemployable
Sad
Dissident
Who You Are*
Even Flow
Low Light
Gone
Grievance
Glorified G*
Do The Evolution
Why Go
Encore 1
Inside Job
Better Man
Comatose
Rearviewmirror
Encore 2
It Rains On Me*
No More*
Alive
Yellow Ledbetter

R.E.M. at the Hollywood Bowl 05/29/08 W/The National & Modest Mouse

The National came out first and played a good set. I’m not as familiar with this band as the other two but their live show was great. I can’t wait to give their music a more in-depth listen. Their set included

1. Star a War
2. Brainy
3. Slow Show
4. Able
5. ? In My Beloved Wife? (not sure of the title)
6. Apartment Story
7. Mistake for Strangers
8. Fake Empire
9. Baby We’ll be Fire
10. Mr. November



Modest Mouse came out quickly and planned a fast set that was great. It had a lot of energy and really got the crowd ready for the main act. I’ve seen them twice before and I’ve come to learn that every show is its own. You never know what to expect from this band. Tonight was good, I don’t own all of their stuff but what I have I love and this was a great set which included.

Air Raid
1. Satin in a Coffin
2. Dance Hall
3. Dashboard
4. Fire it Up
5. Trucker’s Atlas
6. King Rat
7. ? Dreamed of Hell and Heaven but I don’t believe in either? (Couldn’t find
this one and I’m not even sure if this is the exact line Isaac sang.)
8. Float On
9. Paper Thin Walls
10. The Good Times are Killing Me
11. The View



I can’t easily tell you how many times I’ve seen R.E.M., but I can say each show is an experience that I’ll always cherish. Every tour/album has its own feel and emotions and this one was no different. The band played a clean set, and I don’t know if it was the feel of this tour or if it was because this was an early show in the tour or the place (Los Angeles) but the band wasn’t as fun to watch and interactive with the audience as in past tours. Saying this doesn’t mean the show wasn’t great but out of all of the tours I’ve seen it was one of the less entertaining ones. There were however some great moments within the show that I will always remember. Among them Ignoreland, and Let Me In. I’ve hear Let Me In a few different times and each one is great, but this time it was amazing. The band gathered around the stand up piano and played the song acoustically. It was private and gave the feeling of being with them in a studio or rehearsal. A private moment they shared with all of us. Here’s the set list

PRETTY PERSUASION
LIVING WELL
KENNETH
SITTING STILL
IGNORELAND
MAN SIZED WREATH
CIRCUS ENVY
DRIVE
ACCELERATE
HOLLOW MAN
FALL ON ME
HOUSTON
ELECTROLITE
FINAL STRAW
I’VE BEEN HIGH
LET ME IN
LOSING MY RELIGION
HORSE TO WATER
BAD DAY
WALK UNAFRAID
I’M GONNA DJ
----------------------
SUPERNATURAL
ONE I LOVE
UNTIL THE DAY
MAN ON THE MOON

Over all I’ll never go back to LA to see a show any show, the crowds there suck rocks, but it was a night I would never trade back. I meet two great security guards. They were twin brothers from Indiana trying to make it big and keeping their hearts from the blood suckers.

Death Cab For Cutie at Thanksgiving Point With Tegan and Sara 05/26/08 SLC, UT

This was my first show at Thanksgiving point, and I have to say besides the staff being rude and unhelpful, the services overpriced and being an hour late opening the doors the venue was great. Rouge Wave was scheduled to open the show, but due to weather they were unable to. Tegan and Sara also had a short set. They came out and played very well. This was my second time seeing them as an opening band, and I have to say they put on a good show. They have always been in a great mood played tight songs and engaged the crowd. I would love to see them headline a show, but they only seem to come to town as a supporting band. Their set was a nice mixture of old and new songs.

1. Walking with a Ghost
2. The Con
3. Burn Your Life Down
4. Speak Slow
5. I Bet it Stung (Dedicated to DCFC)
6. So Jealous
7. Where does the Good go
8. Nineteen
9. Back in Your Head
10. Living Room








Death Cab came out quick do to the time shortage. They played fast and didn’t mess around in-between songs. They were always as personable and pleasant with the crowd and enjoyed themselves. This was my third time seeing them play and I have to say they put on a great show.

1. Bixby Canyon Bridge
2. The New Year
3. Why You’d Want to Live Here
4. Photobooth
5. Long Division
6. Grapevine Fires
7. A Movie Script Ending
8. Where Soul Meets Body (Ben mentioned he needed to practice before coming on stage before trying fancy guitar tricks)
9. Follow You into the Dark (Ben was alarmed by the lack of clothing people were wearing for the temperature outside)
10. I Will Possess Your Heart
11. Cath
12. No Sunlight (Ben said this story is kind of about today)
13. Company Calls
14. Crooked Teeth
15. Sound of Settling
16. Manhattan Marching Band (Once Ben said that this would be their last song the crowd got upset and he said Come on you know we’ll be right back out in a few minutes, which got everyone laughing and screaming)
Encore
17. Title and Registration (Ben jokingly mentioned they had to hurry up and finish by 10 or they’d turn into pumpkins(this was a reference to the curfew the venue has to close by 10pm (It’s outside and surrounded by houses)))
18. Your Bruise
19. Transatlanticism


All in all I loved the show and wished we hadn’t missed Rogue Wave and had more time with each of the bands. I don’t think I’ll go back to the venue by choice but if a band goes there that I like I’ll still go.
Only complaint was that Tegan and Sara didn’t sell any T-Shirts in XL size. What’s that about? Don’t they think fat dudes like their music? Well I do.

The Cure, Salt Lake City 05/24/08 E Center

I've been a fan of The Cure since, the single "Friday I'm in Love" came out. I loved the video of Robert playing on the stage. A year later I meet a friend that was a hardcore Cure fan that introduced me to their other work and I have to say I've been smitten ever since. Disintegration and Faith are my two personal favorite albums. Even though I've been a fan for years I've never be able to see the live, until now. I wasn't sure what to expect but being a fan I knew I wouldn't be disappointed.

The opening band was called 65 days of static, and I have to say the name fits the band. I've never seen an opening band that was purely instrumental. I loved the music but personally I would have liked them a lot more if they had a singer, but that's me. I did however like that they samples a line from the movie SINGLES.

Robert and the band came out at 8:30. The stage had a U shaped lighting rack and four screens in the back ground that played films during some of the songs (there are parentheses with a word to describe what I saw in front of the song titles for the songs that had a film). Robert was in a good mood and talked a little in between songs but his heavy accent made it hard to tell what he was saying, besides thank you. I have to say I didn't expect them to play as long as they did. Next to Pearl Jam this was one of the longest shows I've ever seen. They didn't leave until 11:30 which was a total of 3 hours and 3 encores. It was a lot of fun. I would recommend everyone that has ever been a fan to at least see them once if they haven't already.
Ok here's the set list. For the new songs I picked titles that seemed to fit the songs so do forgive me if they aren't right. There was one song that was new that I didn't title because I couldn't really pin point a good line to use as a title.

1. (Stars) Plainsong
2. (Neon Lights) Fascination Street
3. A Night Like This
4. (Fly) The Walk
5. (Stick Figure) End of the World
6. (Painted Face) Love Song
7. (Single Cover) Pictures of You
8. (Spider) Lullaby
9. Catch
10. Perfect World- New Song
11. (Sunset) From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea
12. Other Voices
13. Sleep When I’m Dead- new song
14. Push
15. (Spinning Hearts) Friday I’m in Love
16. In Between Days
17. Just Like Heaven
18. (floating face balls) Elsie
19. Shake Dog Shake
20. (pills) Never Enough
21. Hot Hot Hot
22. The Only One- new song
23. (mirror Sign) Wrong Number
24. (B&W violent images) One Hundred Years
25. Disintegration
Encore
26. At Night
27. (m) New Song
28. Play for Today
29. (trees) A Forest
Encore
30. Boy’s Don’t Cry
31. Jumping Someone Else’s Train
32. Grinding Halt
33. 10:15 Saturday Night
34. Killing an Arab
Encore
35 Why can’t I be you

It was a great set and I have to say it could have only been better if they had stuck in Fight, Untitled, or funeral song. I would love to see them play again.

Newest Batman Trailer

Follow the link and download your own copy of the newest Batman trailer. I've seen it several times online and twice before Iron Man. it's going to be great. I'm man enough to admit that after seeing it the first time I teared up.

WATCH IT.

I Believe in Harvey Dent

I once again helped out with a little viral campagin for the new Batman movie. I got a lot of cool stuff for doing it.

Writers Groups

This one goes out to my two faithful readers. I'm sorry it has taken me five months to post to my blog. I can come up with at least three lame reasons but instead I'll act as if this disgrace never happened.

One of the major things I seem to be missing in my non-college years is constructive feedback on my writing. I miss bouncing ideas off people and working through the stale sections in a work. Yet as I really think about it even in school I didn't get a lot of feedback everyone seemed to be in a hurry to get to their work, but still more then I am now receiving.

I need to form a writing group, but again I'm not planing on stick around here for too much longer. I'd hate to start something only to leave in a year or two. It might be good experience and a perfect excuse to bail if it doesn't work out. hmmm I'll think about it.

The ticket would be to find a small group that was willing to take on the work of not only reading your work but the work of five others and coming up with beneficial comments. I think the ideal number would be 4 to 6. That way if two people don't show up you still have as least 2 more people that did show up. The hard part is finding a group that would be willing to put the time into it. Students have too much in their life to handle more reading and meetings. Parents are also too busy so you need to find people that are either just out of college or past the parenting years.

The other question is how do you weed out the crazies? I've worked at a library long enough to know that there are a lot of people that write and a lot of them are not taking their needed medication. How do you keep them from coming to the meetings or even finding out about them. I don't want to promote the group in a public place so anyone can find it but I also want people to find it. Coffee houses are the first idea then there are places like a campus but then you get the busy college kids. I wounder if there is a site that acts as a message board for groups? I'll have to hunt. But then once again that doesn't help you find people you can meet locally unless they are aware of the site and that might rule out older people.

Last question, how often do you meet? I would like to say once a month to keep it simple for everyone, but is that enough? A serious writer might want feedback on a regular basis. I think the most you could hope for would be twice a month, but if you're too strict then people might stop coming if they haven't done the reading.

If anyone has ideas let me know otherwise I'll research this the old librarian way and let you know what I find.

The Joker Review

First off I got a copy of the Gotham Times that was awarded to people that sent in pictures of them dressed as the joker as part of a viral campaign.

The movie preview some say is a prolouge and others the first five minutes. Either way it shows a group of men robbing a bank in Gotham with clown masks on. Once one man gets his particular job completed another clown faced man kills him as ordered by the Joker so that the share of the money will be greater. We then find out that the Bank manager actually works for the local mob and starts to fight back and kills one of the joker's men. In the last few seconds we get to see Heath Ledger as the joker as he takes of with the money. I won't say how he gets away as it would spoil it for you.

All and all it will be an awesome movie, the new Joker looks awesome!

I can't wait till July 2008.

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Want to be a x-ray technician?