I am loving being done with Finals, but I still have many an errand to acheive before vacation time begins. I need to finish my packet, Get somebody to work for me saturday night, clean the house, get an oil change, sell my textbooks, finish registering, cancel the milk service for the rest of the month, and figure out what the heck I am going to do in California for 5 days while I wait for the rest of the family to get there. I am thinking of literally becoming a Hobo. Just to see what it feels like. Gonna sleep in the car with a loaf of bread and peanut butter and read a book and not shower or shave at all... That sounds pretty fun. Also I am sure I would enjoy just sightseeing a bit. Maybe I will go see a movie or something. I will try to spend Christmas day with some family down there though.
My sister had a cornet through High school that she does not play at all anymore, so they are supposedly bringing it to me at Christmas. That will be great. I can play just a little bit and with some practice can probably become decent. I just dont know how I am going to practice because the walls are just to thin in the condo. Maybe I will take it up to the institute building a few times a week. That should be something to keep me busy, aside from School, DAT study, and the guitar I want to get.
David's parents are in town for his graduation. The apartment is pretty messy, but they are staying at the Crystal Inn so probably wont be here too much. I think they leave Saturday night.
Oprah is claiming she has fallen off the Health Wagon again. I hate that Health Wagon. People are always falling out of it. But nobody more than Oprah it seems. Its like everytime she gets on, she is off again..so she gets some product that supposedly will fix the problem. Everytime she gets obese again, it seems she gets some new "sponsor" to help her get rid of the weight. I bet nobody knows more about the different weight loss plans than she does...she has tried about half of them. Speaking of Health Wagons, here is the world's fattest cat. Are people shoving food into these animals intravenously or something? Just give them less to eat!!!!
Here is a dang funny video from The Onion's website...probably my all time favorite fake report from then. I especially like the little kid with the candy. This was pretty clever.
So Sorry for the lag time between posts. I just figured I had to put my mind focused on Studying for Finals. Things went ok. Could've gone slightly better. I think I ended up with a B+ in Corp Finance, A- in Marketing, A in Physics, and an A- (crossing fingers) in Physiology. Man the Physiology final was brutal!!! So much information to know. He never goes easy on the tests it seems. I had an extremely late night studying for that one. I thought I pulled a better grade than I actually did, but thats the way of things sometimes. Needless to say I am extremely tired.
The other day I bought this great album off of Itunes. Its a bit weird, but its amazing, its called "The Sinking of the Titanic" and is a very long orchestral piece by Gavin Bryars. It is basically a repeat of the same melody over and over again with varying instruments and sounds of water. He basically wanted to simulate the sinking of the titanic, with the string quartet playing as the ship sinks into the ocean slowly. So year hear really strange sounds like screeching metal, water rushing, clanks, soft shreaks...all kind of breaking ship sounds. And then he mixes in very muffled accounts of the story by various survivors. It makes for a very interesting hour of music. Some people probably wouldn't care for this little experiment, but I think its a great idea. In fact, without exaggerating, I probably listened to that thing at least eight times this week so far. Mostly because it was excellent to study and try to memorize things to, but I would listen to it alone as well. And if you fall asleep to it you will have some crazy ship sinking dreams. I guess a while ago he recorded a version in a water tower and its hard to find...but its on vinyl. I think I will have to look for that one. He also does a similar thign with another song "Jesus Blood Never failed me Yet" and mixes in some Tom Waits vocals...which is never a bad thing.
I bought that album because I got a 25 dollar Itunes Card from the Village Inn Christmas party. I also go two others with it...a Howlin' Wolf compilation, and a "Best of Burl Ives" album. I know those may seem like some strange choices, but I am really getting excited about some of that older stuff these days. Howlin' Wolf does Blues like nobody ever does, and Burl Ives actually writes some great sad love songs. I think "Funny Way of Laughing" is like what an angry teenager today would write if he were clever enough to come up with the lyrics...just expressed differently. I always thought it was a little goofy when I was younger...but tastes and opinions change.
I like how Howlin' Wolf holds up that dollar up while he is looking so seriously at the audience. Such a weird captivating performance. And here is Burl...
There voices sound great together. I know some people might say it was a bit prideful to have his own show...but I think this would be the type of thing I'd like to watch today even. Instead you have to watch Pink sing on Saturday Night Live. I heard Elvis Costello has his own show on some channel, I should look into that.
Speaking of the Christmas Party, my group played for it, we did about a 50 minute set with a ton of originals and some covers too. Andrew a. played with us and I added some bells to the tunes. We actually plugged a friend's Minidisc recorder into the mixer and recorded the show, so we have a pretty good mix from the soundboard. I will get it uploaded for you to check out, but that probably won't come up until January. Some of it sounds pretty good...some of it sounds cringe-inducing. But it is what it is.... I also won 10 dollars to Hamiltons STeak House.
Tomorrow the goal is to finish off the Dental Packet and be done with that. So its not over yet. That will take some time. Friday Coltan is coming and I have to get ready to leave that night for California and the cruise. That is going to be awesome. I just have to figure out what I want to do during the few days I will be there all by myself. Maybe I can pick up one of these while I am down there.
Last weekend I did have the chance to watch the newest Herzog film. Its called Encounters at the Edge of the World and is about the people who work in Antartica. It was pretty interesting...its like only a certain type of person is willing to leave society and go that far into nowhere. They are like today's pioneers...they are looking at things very few other people see. It was pretty well done. Here is the trailer incase your interested in it.
I will try to post something funny tomorrow if I get time.
Things are busy. I am trying to put together my packet for the Dental Board at Utah State and it is not really all that fun. I am supposed to write an Autobiographal Statement. I now understand that it is important to do that once in a while to realize exactly how PATHETIC you are. I dont know if I have accomplished anything important in at least that last 3 years. Or maybe ever. Leastwise, thats the way it makes you feel. You are supposed to talk about all the awesome stuff you have done, but who has time for that when they are trying to work and go to school at the same time. Maybe Einstein. If I were Einstein I could write something like "I came up with the theory of Relativity in my spare time while working at a patent office." My mind doesnt work like that. The only comforting thing is that, no doubt, nobody I know is all that fascinating either. In fact, although I may be boring, there are people out there who's life is Wake, Eat, Work, Sleep. My Roomate David is a good example. He won't read this so I am safe writing this...if I went school to become disinteresting for 10 years and worked hard at it, and my mother was the most disinteresting person on the planet and my father was a zombie, I still would be more interesting than that. I am annoying myself now.....
Practiced last night for Sunday. It will be an interesting show. I borrowed some Bells from Andy to play for a few of the songs. He will be playing guitar with us this time around as Tyson T. will be in Wyoming. This afternoon I am going to go learn about Contraception from Andy Anderson's wife for my Physiology Lab. Should be a hoot. I will tell you all about it sometime. Speaking of Andy, I went to check out some questions on the last test and gave him a copy of the song "The Death of Elvis" which is a little rap I wrote inspired by one of his lectures...he was talking about the medical reasons for Elvis passing away. He enjoyed it I think, so I gave him the copy. He thought it was pretty funny.
I am listening to "A short history of nearly everything" on my ipod. It is alot more interesting I think now that I have taken classes that have gotten into the subject matter at a great depth. I understand what they are Bill Bryson is saying and recall the experiments and scientists he mentions.
Its infomercial Wednesday.
Yeah. If someone was wearing that when I walked in the house after school I would think that I was about to die. Could not they have gone to the trouble to make the mask look less like Jason's? Geez. I hope nobody bought that one. I'd rather have the Hula chair.
Man I am hungry right now. Subway is in order. But first I need to meet with my corp. Finance group and do some studying for finals. Sheesh. Its coming soon. My last one is on Wednesday, a week from tomorrow. I have alot to do before then, so today I will keep this short.
We are playing at the Village Inn Chirstmas Party on Sunday and have a pretty good setlist just about ready. WE just need more practice and it should be a good show. I am excited for the Hamiltons Catering. Their food is the bomb.
This news report makes me laugh. Its as if "Bubb Rubb" can't help but imitate the whistle everytime he talks about it. I like how he also says, "You supposed to be up cookin breakfast!" Its like an alarm clock!
So the weekend was nice. Did the whole rest and relax thing for the most part. I read quite a bit, went to Thanksgiving at the Cook's house, among other things. Really good food at the Cook's house, especially the candied yams. I cannot believe how tastebuds change. That stuff is amazing. Now it is time to buckle down and get to work. Finals are next week and I have alot of preperation to do before then. And then comes the cruise to Mexico and Christmas in California. This will be awesome.
I decided to do some cooking during the break. I made Frogeye salad as I said I would, and it went pretty well. I made a few mistakes, first when I bought pineapples, I accidentally bought crushed pineapple instead of the slices, and also one can of big slices. So that was a bit weird. And I added about twice the amount of pineapple juice as I should have. But it worked out alright. I had no idea how much it was going to make though, after weighing it on scale I discovered I had made 10.5 pounds of pasta salad. I also realized that nobody was very excited about it, and as much as I tried nobody wanted to eat it. I guess its not all that popular of a salad, they think it looks gross and most people dont like the consistency. I ended up eating a little over half of it over the past 3 days before I had to chuck it out. The effects it had on my digestive system were not pretty. In fact, it reminded me of this day in high school where I attempted to eat an entire watermelon over the course of the day. That night I had to attend a court of honor for boyscouts, and I remember having to run to the bathroom while I was standing in line waiting to get some merit badges. But now things are starting to normalize.
Last blog entry I mentioned some of my favorite Christmas Albums. Well, here is one to add to your list. Think of it as an early Christmas present from me. Free to download, the incredible Christmas LP was recorded in about four hours or so. 9 classic and not so classic Christmas tunes for your listening pleasure at www.myspace.com/nocouponnopizza. Just a little something to get you into the spirit of Christmas early. That is another thing I did during the break. Its called Nocouponnopizza saves Christmas. I like the Jingle Bells song.
Had to work last night and Saturday night. I hate sunday nights at Village Inn. If you ever go to resteraunts on a late sunday night, then shame on you. Especially if you dont think you need to tip. I got stiffed 3 times last night. I am definitely not cut out to be a waiter. That is for dang sure. I feel like Bruce Banner half the time...on the verge of explosion.
Real quick, I really don't care for that CSI Miami Show. This is the reason.
David Caruso may be the worst actor on T.V. Its as if he thinks his job consists of putting his sunglasses on and off and saying a one-liner. I like how he always pauses before he hits you hard with punchline.."Our accident.....is not an accident at all." Its as if he applies that formula to every line in the script. Then he walks away as fast as possible. A man on a mission.
If David Caruso was acting in a comedy, it would be a different story. Its as if he saw an over-the-top cop comedy, and thought that was how all cops really act. Its so bad that you would think he is playing a person who is supposed to be a horrible actor playing a cop in a comedy. Maybe he saw this clip from Seinfeld and based Horatio Caine's character off of it?
Its officially Thanksgiving Day. So now its time to break out the Christmas Music. It seems to be a clique thing for people to comment, "I hate people who try to bring Christmas music early!" They whine about how Christmas cannot officially begin until Thanksgiving Turkey has been given a few days to digest. They don't want any decorations, music, themes, shopping, ect. to begin until December rolls around. I don't mind telling you that I am one of the people that you lot hate. In fact, you may be really mad when I tell you that I think Thanksgiving is a snoozer anyways. You just eat alot of food and sleep through the rest of the day. Christmas lasts much longer then a few hours, and if I want to eat alot of food I can go to Royal Fork whenever I feel like it. So, don't be mad, but here are some of the albums I will be playing for the next 35 days or so....
Sufjan Stevens "Songs for Christmas" This is one of the best there is. Its pretty un-traditional sounding, with lots of Banjo and Wind instruments. It's a double disc, so it lasts a long while, and it also has a good mix of old favorites and original tunes from the genius who is in the process of writing an album about each one of the 50 states. 2 down, hes got 48 to go. The fact that he even had time to make this album blows my mind. You will have to just take my word on this one, it is a fantastic Christmas album.
Vince Guaraldi Trio "A Charlie Brown Christmas" Vince Guaraldi made an excellent soundtrack to the special. And it is about as Christmas can be felt. A great version of all these songs was released last year. Its great background Christmas tunes and brings back childhood memories. The recording quality on the album is great by the by. And who doesnt love this song?
James Brown "Funky Christmas" The king of soul had a special place for Christmas in his heart. In fact, he died on Christmas day. He also made an amazing Christmas album, but its not the kind that your parents will want to listen to. This is not sipping cocoa by the fire music. This is typical James Brown. Shreiking "Merry Christmas!" and "James Brown Loves YOU!" There are few traditional songs on this album, and those that are traditional are hardly recognizable as such. But I love James Brown. And he gets me closer to wanting to dance than any other performer. So if your having a Christmas party, and need some jamming tunes, this is your album. I have it in my car during all of December to wake up to. Just watch this clip of "Soulful Christmas". Is that the Funky Chicken dance I spot at 29 seconds? I think so.
Bing Crosby "White Christmas" I dont have to say anything about this hopefully. But here for your viewing pleasure is something you probably had no idea existed. A christmas duet with Bing and the one and only David Bowie. This is a match in made in heaven.
And no its not on the White Christmas album. Sorry.
James Taylor "A James Taylor Christmas" This maybe doesn't really merit the list, but its just that I like James Taylor so much. So I am a bit biased. His voice is pretty amazing and its as if he were meant eventually to make a Christmas Album. I really like his version of Aud Lang. But he could sing pretty much anything and I would probably like it. Here is a good clip that proves his voice is just as good live as in the studio.
Low "Christmas" There are only like 2 traditional Christmas songs on this album, and that is probably the reason I love it so much. Usually when people write their own songs they are a bit cheesy, but these guys managed to do it without destroying the feeling of the holiday. This is really pretty different from what you are probably used to, but I think you would enjoy it. Here is a music video with some of the song "Just like Christmas"
I have a few more I might post later, but those will give you some options to get into the spirit. But before I go, and I know I have posted lots of videos already, but this may be the best Christmas song ever. By Tom Waits of course.
Don't pretend you don't love it.
Let me know if you agree with any of my choices or think of something that I definitely missed. I'd be happy to spar with you.
Alright Ok. Thanksgiving break is finally here thank goodness and I am going to lounge like I never have lounged. I have some big plans. I am going to read a book. I am going to write some tunes. I am going to eat Turkey at Angies and make some frog-eyed salad. I have not looked forward to something this much in some time. Its going to be a great vacation. Last night I had kind of a quasi-Thanksgiving dinner with the ward and that was pretty good, lots of Turkey to go around. I also decided that Ginger Ale might be one of the best Thanksgiving drinks. Look at how delicious that salad looks Rita? You are such a commie. I just have one more class today and it is Marketing. That class is incredibly boring but rather that than difficult right? I will have to think of something fun to do tonight though because as of right now I will home doing jack squat. I read in the paper today that Paul Mcartney has decided recently to release a previously unknown Beatles track. It is supposedly pretty abstract, its called Carnival of Light, and is 14 minutes long. It was recorded during the time they were working on Abbey Road. I guess Paul just told them to run around the room and bang on things. I hope its at least slightly melodic. Anyways, I will be excited to hear that when it is finally released. Here is the 2003 World Champion Air Guitarist, C-diddy, doing the performance that won it all for him. It was the first time the U.S.A. had competed and he took home the gold. Its pretty amazing how seriously they take this stuff.
Pretty amazing eh? This looks like something I could actually do. Maybe USU should have an Air guitar championship. That would be an entertaining show to watch. I need to get that idea to the right people. Oh, by the way, the above clip is from the documentary called Air Guitar Nation, which chronicles the battle for the cup. Its a cool show, but near the ending, suddenly a guy decides to be completely naked while he is jamming at the competition. For some reason, the filmakers did not feel the need to censor this. The competitors are funny though, they act as if this is a legitimate art form, and sometimes, you partially believe them.
Also I am sure I would enjoy just sightseeing a bit. Maybe I will go see a movie or something. I will try to spend Christmas day with some family down there though. 
My sister had a cornet through High school that she does not play at all anymore, so they are supposedly bringing it to me at Christmas. That will be great. I can play just a little bit and with some practice can probably become decent. I just dont know how I am going to practice because the walls are just to thin in the condo. Maybe I will take it up to the institute building a few times a week. That should be something to keep me busy, aside from School, DAT study, and the guitar I want to get.
