Stuck inside the world

2011-11-09T16:04:00.000-05:00

http://jobview.monster.com/GRAPHIC-DESIGN-ASSISTANT-Job-Costa-Mesa-CA-US-99610995.aspx

http://jobview.monster.com/Marketing-Graphic-Design-Manager-Job-Parkersburg-WV-US-103293059.aspx

http://jobview.monster.com/Junior-Graphic-Artist-PPM40345-Job-TAMPA-FL-US-103749786.aspx

http://jobview.monster.com/Graphic-Designer-Job-SEATAC-WA-US-103748371.aspx

http://jobview.monster.com/Graphic-Designer-Fall-Internship-Job-New-York-NY-US-101333041.aspx

Donnie Darko

2011-11-06T19:35:00.001-05:00

[I didn't write any of this]

We first meet Donnie Darko (Gyllenhaal) at sunrise; he's asleep in the middle of a mountain road. He wakes up and looks out over the valley below, including his hometown, Middlesex, Va. We're told he is a sleepwalker and never knows where he'll wake up on any given morning.

We meet Donnie's family: his sisters Elizabeth (Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jake's real-life sister) and Samantha (Daveigh Chase), and his parents (Mary McDonnell and Holmes Osborne). An argument around the dinner table reveals that Donnie is on some kind of medication.

At midnight that evening, Donnie is called out of bed by a mysterious voice. He follows the voice to a local golf course, where a big talking rabbit named Frank tells him that the world will end in 28 days, 6 hours, 4 minutes and 12 seconds.

At home, Elizabeth has just returned from a night out -- her date honks his horn when she safely gets through the door -- when an explosion shakes the house. Donnie returns home the next morning to find his house surrounded by firetrucks and cops; while he was gone, a jet engine fell from the sky, landing directly in his bedroom. His family, relieved Donnie was spared, tells him that the FAA doesn't know where the engine came from.

The next day at school, Donnie's English teacher Ms. Pomeroy (Drew Barrymore) leads a discussion of Graham Greene's short story "The Destructors." She's interrupted by a new student, Gretchen Ross (Jena Malone), who asks where she should sit. "Sit next to the boy you think is the cutest," Ms. Pomeroy says, and Gretchen sits next to Donnie, as would we all.

Driving Donnie home from school, Donnie's father almost runs over Grandma Death, a 101-year-old woman who lives in their neighborhood. Actually named Roberta Sparrow, Grandma Death spends every day walking back and forth to her mailbox, checking for a letter that never seems to come. As Donnie helps her out of the road, she whispers in his ear.

After a fruitless therapy session with Dr. Thurman (Katharine Ross), Donnie meets Frank again that night. Frank sends him to break a water main in the basement of his school; Donnie also embeds a hatchet in the bronze head of the school's mascot. School is canceled the next day as a result of the flooding, and Donnie walks Gretchen home from her bus stop. During their conversation, Gretchen reveals that she has moved to town because her stepfather stabbed her mother. Donnie asks Gretchen to "go with" him; she accepts. "I'm really glad school was flooded today," Donnie says, because otherwise, "you and I would have never had this conversation."

While Donnie's parents attend a PTA meeting a few nights later, Donnie sees Frank again, this time in his bathroom. When he tries to touch Frank, some kind of barrier seems to separate them. Frank asks him, "Do you believe in time travel?"

The school's health teacher, Mrs. Farmer (Beth Grant), seems to be teaching a curriculum derived entirely from a series of cheesy self-help videos hosted by Jim Cunningham (Patrick Swayze). An attempt to get Donnie to play along causes him to erupt in class; he is suspended from after-school activities for six months.

A few days later, Donnie asks his science teacher, Dr. Monnitoff (Noah Wyle), if he knows anything about time travel. Monnitoff responds enthusiastically; for time travel to occur, you'd need some kind of metal vessel, he says, and a time-space wormhole. He lends Donnie a copy of "The Philosophy of Time Travel," a book written by none other than Grandma Death herself, back when she was a science teacher at Donnie's school.

In therapy, Donnie reveals what Grandma Death whispered to him: "Every living creature on earth dies alone." He confesses to Dr. Thurman how afraid he is of being alone, and of dying alone.

Watching a Redskins game soon afterward, Donnie is surprised to see, protruding from his father's stomach, a silvery, aqueous blob. The blob stretches out and precedes his father as he gets up to go to the fridge; it looks like a liquid snake and seems to be a visible manifestation of his father's future. Donnie sees his own future flowing out of his stomach; he follows the iridescent snake up the stairs to his parents' room, where he finds a handgun hidden in a closet.

While discussing a class project, Donnie and Gretchen come close to kissing, only to be interrupted when they notice a fat guy in a tracksuit smoking a cigarette and watching them.

Late at night, Donnie sees Frank in his bathroom again. Using a kitchen knife, he taps on the liquidy barrier between them; Frank's right eye flashes as the point of the knife hits the barrier.

Jim Cunningham brings his self-help shtick to a school assembly. Donnie acts up again, demanding to know how much Cunningham is being paid to visit the school and calling him the Antichrist. He is hustled out of the auditorium.

Donnie shows Gretchen "The Philosophy of Time Travel." "I've been seeing stuff," he says, and the book describes the visions he's been having. "It can't be a coincidence," he adds. Donnie and Gretchen try to visit Roberta Sparrow, but she doesn't answer her door. Donnie looks in her mailbox. It's empty.

Donnie finds Jim Cunningham's wallet on the sidewalk. "Now you know where he lives," we hear Frank's voice say.

Having kissed for the first time, Gretchen and Donnie go to a movie, Sam Raimi's "The Evil Dead." Gretchen falls asleep instantly and Donnie sees Frank sitting near them. Donnie asks Frank to take off his bunny suit; Frank removes his mask and reveals himself to be a normal-looking kid with a mutilated right eye. The movie on the screen is replaced by a picture of Jim Cunningham's house. "Burn it to the ground," Frank says.

Meanwhile, Donnie's family is at the school's talent show, where his little sister Samantha's dance troupe, Sparkle Motion (coached by Mrs. Farmer), is performing. They are watched by an enthusiastic crowd and a mysterious woman with a clipboard. (Donnie, having been banned from after-school activities, was not allowed to attend.) As Sparkle Motion performs, we see Donnie torch Jim Cunningham's house. Firefighters discover a kiddie porn dungeon in the ruins of Cunningham's mansion; he is arrested the next day.

A distraught Mrs. Farmer visits Donnie's mom. Sparkle Motion has been invited to perform on "Star Search '88," but Mrs. Farmer has to attend Cunningham's arraignment and cannot chaperone. Donnie's mother agrees to fly to Los Angeles with the girls for the taping.

We see Donnie holding a letter addressed to Roberta Sparrow.

Donnie visits Ms. Pomeroy, who has been fired. She has written the words "cellar door" on her blackboard and tells him that a "famous linguist" declared them the most beautiful words in the English language.

In therapy, a hypnotized Donnie sees Frank again. He freaks out. When he comes to, Dr. Thurman tells Donnie that his pills are placebos.

With both their parents out of town, Donnie and Elizabeth decide to throw a party. The house fills with costumed high-schoolers dancing to Joy Division. Gretchen appears at the door, crying; her mom has disappeared and she's afraid her stepfather has found them. Donnie and Gretchen go upstairs. Bow chicka bow chicka bow chicka bow. While they're doin' it, Donnie's mom calls and tells the answering machine that she and Samantha will be returning on the red-eye. Downstairs, Elizabeth asks a friend if they've seen Frank.

It's midnight. A title card tells us that "six hours remain."

Donnie and Gretchen return downstairs. Donnie sees the future blobs protruding from partygoers' stomachs; he follows his own to the kitchen, where written on the dry-erase board is "Frank was here Went to get BEER." Gretchen's future blob approaches Donnie; he falls to his knees, looks inside it and sees a tunnel of water racing through clouds. He and Gretchen leave the party and ride their bikes, "E.T."-style, to Roberta Sparrow's house.

Once there, they climb through Grandma Death's cellar door; two thugs from their school attack them and force them outside at knifepoint. As they struggle in Grandma Death's dusty front yard, we see approaching headlights in the distance. One of the thugs throws Gretchen to the ground. "Deus ex machina," Donnie says as the car approaches.

The red Trans Am's headlights illuminate Roberta Sparrow, who is standing in the middle of the road reading Donnie's letter. The car swerves to avoid her and runs over Gretchen, killing her. The thugs run away while Donnie races to Gretchen's side. Two guys step out of the car: a guy in a clown costume and Frank, dressed in his rabbit suit, his mask off. "Is she dead?" a terrified Frank asks. He seems to have never met Donnie before. Donnie shoots him through the right eye.

Roberta Sparrow approaches Donnie. "The storm is coming," she says. "You must hurry."

It's the early morning. Donnie carries Gretchen's body back to the house, loads her in the car and looks up at the eerie black cloud hovering over the house. He drives to the mountains where he began the film and sits on his car's hood. We hear Frank's voice say, "I'm going home." In the distance, a black funnel cloud hangs over Middlesex; a tiny plane flies toward the cloud. Donnie stares at the horizon.

We see Donnie's mom and sister on the plane; there is an explosion and the passengers begin to scream. The jet engine falls through a tunnel in the clouds. We hear Gretchen's voice repeating something she said earlier in the film: "What if you could go back in time and take those hours of pain and darkness and replace them with something better?" We see pixilated representations of the events of the past 28 days, running in reverse. Time flows backward while we hear Donnie's letter to Roberta Sparrow. "I can only hope the answers will come to me in my dreams," he says.

We see Donnie in his bedroom, laughing. It's Oct. 2 again, a little after midnight. Elizabeth comes through the front door and her date honks his horn outside. Donnie is lying in bed when the jet engine crashes through his room.

Dr. Thurman wakes up gasping. Ms. Pomeroy and Dr. Monnitoff are in bed together; he is awake, staring at the ceiling. Jim Cunningham weeps in his bed. Mrs. Farmer looks aghast. Amid drawings and models of rabbit masks, Frank stares moodily into space.

The next morning, Gretchen rides her bike past the Darko house. A truck carts off the smoking engine. She asks a neighborhood kid what happened and he tells her a boy named Donnie Darko died. Donnie's mother is standing in the front yard amid her weeping family, smoking a cigarette. Gretchen cautiously waves; Donnie's mom waves back. The boy waves too.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

What the hell just happened?

The vast majority of "Donnie Darko" takes place in a parallel universe. From the moment the clock in the Darko house strikes midnight, 10 minutes into the film, right up to Donnie's hysterical laughter in bed, the setting of the film is Tangent Middlesex, a parallel dimension, spontaneously created, which exists only during the 28 days that cover the majority of the film's action. The through-line of the film is Donnie Darko's quest to erase the Tangent Universe before it destroys the world.

To understand what actually occurs in "Donnie Darko," it helps to have read "The Philosophy of Time Travel," by Roberta Sparrow. This is difficult in that the book is an imaginary one, written by a fictional character. Luckily, much of the book's text is included on the film's Web site and DVD and is now incorporated into the director's cut.

"The Philosophy of Time Travel" explains that time, while usually stable, will occasionally become corrupted for reasons unknown to all. When this happens, a Tangent Universe is created -- an alternate reality parallel to the primary universe in which we all live. "If a Tangent Universe occurs," Sparrow writes, "it will be highly unstable, sustaining itself for no longer than several weeks. Eventually it will collapse upon itself, forming a black hole within the Primary Universe capable of destroying all existence." During that collapse, a time-space vortex will form that leads back to the birth of the Tangent Universe.

In a nutshell, this is precisely what the hell happens in "Donnie Darko." At midnight on Oct. 2, 1988, a Tangent Universe is spontaneously created, centered in Middlesex, Va. This Tangent Universe threatens the existence of life as we know it; it falls to one person to do whatever necessary to put the world back in order and keep the Tangent Universe from destroying the real world when it collapses in 28 days. That person -- that superhero -- is, of course, Donnie Darko: a 16-year-old with emotional problems, a history of arson, and bedroom eyes.

The Artifact

Hand in hand with the creation of a Tangent Universe, writes Roberta Sparrow, is the spontaneous appearance of an Artifact. Made out of metal, this artifact will inexplicably show up near the epicenter of the Tangent Universe; in order for disaster to be averted, the Artifact must be sent through the time vortex back to the Primary Universe -- back to before the split in dimensions occurred. The Artifact in Tangent Middlesex, of course, is a gigantic freaking jet engine that falls out of the sky.

The Living Receiver

That's Donnie, in the words of "The Philosophy of Time Travel": the Living Receiver. He's the chosen one, picked (seemingly at random) to return the Artifact to the Primary Universe in order to avert catastrophe. Being the Living Receiver has advantages and disadvantages: You get superpowers, like strength, telekinesis and the ability to see into the future, but you also get horrifying hallucinations and the people around you tend to fear and attack you.

The Manipulated

This refers to pretty much everyone else in the movie. "They are prone to irrational, bizarre and often violent behavior," writes Roberta Sparrow, because their entire raison d'être is to help the Chosen One fulfill his task. Which is to say that every other character in the movie has been set up like a piece on a chessboard, ready to behave in the exact perfect way necessary to push Donnie toward his eventual destiny -- returning that jet engine to its proper time and place in the Primary Universe. Nearly every event in the film, when viewed in this way, has a specific purpose; together the events create an inexorable chain of coincidence and consequence designed to make Donnie's fate inescapable.

All this mumbo-jumbo, of course, skirts the big question: Chosen by whom? Manipulated by whom? The movie leaves that ambiguous, but it seems clear from comments Kelly makes during the DVD commentary that the person in charge here is, basically, God. When the Middlesex Tangent Universe is spontaneously created, God arranges the people in that Tangent Universe around Donnie Darko in such a manner that their actions lead inevitably to Donnie's delivering the jet engine back through time.

Deep breath.

Questions?

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Yeah, how the hell am I supposed to know all this? Hardly any of that stuff was in the movie.

That's true. Many of my friends complain that to understand "Donnie Darko," a viewer needs to watch the movie and listen to the DVD commentary and crack the Web site. In an interview, Kelly has said that he created the pages from "The Philosophy of Time Travel" as an exercise in interpretation and that they are not intended to be read as canon; nonetheless, his inclusion of many book excerpts in his director's cut suggests that his feelings on the matter have changed and he intends them to be definitive. (Incidentally, this might be the first time that a director's cut includes large chunks of material lifted directly from the film's Web site.)

Couldn't you interpret this whole movie in another way, without any sci-fi stuff at all? As sort of a subjective rendition of Donnie's descent into paranoid schizophrenia?

Absolutely. A number of my friends read the film this way and feel it is a far more interesting interpretation of the events of "Donnie Darko" than the dominant sci-fi narrative. Certainly aspects of the film -- the flatness of affect in Donnie's meetings with Frank, Donnie's increasing menace and the way the mechanics of the plot revolve so explicitly around typical teenage sexual hang-ups -- support a reading of the film as Donnie's Descent, shown from inside his head. Even the careful tying-together of the plot doesn't necessarily negate this read; one trait of the budding schizophrenic is the creation of coherent, if unlikely, narratives tying together the hallucinations and paranoia often manifested as part of the illness.

That said, I'm not dealing too much with this read in these Cliffs Notes because it seems to me that through his supplementary materials and his director's cut, Richard Kelly is pushing viewers to accept the primary narrative -- the sci-fi, Tangent Universe narrative -- as the "proper" way to interpret the film. We can argue all day about whether Kelly's decision is clarifying or foolishly reductive. Many of my friends think that the film is far richer as an exploration of madness than as an "Escher thriller about freaking wormhole bullshit," as one friend so succinctly put it. Conversely, I myself am much more interested in watching a clever sci-fi flick with good '80s tunes than another inside-the-nutcase's-head movie, and so I'm perfectly happy to have Kelly attempt to clarify the intentions of his plot a bit. Kelly himself has spent years crowing about his film's careful ambiguity, so I'm interested in why he made the additions he did to the director's cut, additions that serve primarily to make the film far less ambiguous.

I still think that my interpretation is valid, man.

Of course it's valid. Don't take it personally. We're all relativists here.

What's with the 6-foot-tall rabbit?

Well, that's as good a place to start as any. Frank (played, in fur coat and out, by James Duval) is the boyfriend of Donnie's sister Elizabeth. (It's he who drops her off just before the jet engine fiasco.) Frank himself never meets Donnie until their fateful encounter on Halloween eve. The Frank who speaks to Donnie on the golf course and elsewhere is a kind of ghost Frank -- a remnant of Frank who, because Donnie shoots him in the eye within the Tangent Universe's 28 days, can move freely in time throughout the Tangent Universe. Frank's purpose -- for he's been chosen, as surely as Donnie has -- is to serve as Donnie's guide through the Tangent Universe, leading him toward clues and offering tasks that will smooth Donnie's way toward his goal.

According to Roberta Sparrow's book, Frank is an example of the Manipulated Dead. Apparently, those who die within the confines of the Tangent Universe are given some level of knowledge of the catastrophe to come and serve to some extent as the Chosen One's guide. There seems to be some variation in the level of understanding given to the Manipulated Dead; Gretchen, for example, the other Manipulated Dead, seems to have an inkling that something terrible is going to happen but clearly doesn't have the detailed comprehension Frank does. Nor does Gretchen's spirit appear to Donnie behind any kind of watery barrier. Nor does she dress up in a bunny suit.

Yeah, what's up with that bunny suit?

Donnie meets the real Frank -- not his Manipulated Dead specter -- for the first time on Halloween eve, with Frank in costume. But it's also an allusion to "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" -- just as the White Rabbit leads Alice down the hole into her great adventure, so does Frank lead Donnie into his own. Rabbit imagery abounds in "Donnie Darko," from a VW Rabbit driving down the streets of Middlesex to stuffed bunnies to a photograph of toddler Maggie Gyllenhaal next to a kid in a rabbit suit to (in the director's cut) an extended subplot revolving around Richard Adams' rabbits-in-peril novel "Watership Down."

OK, I still don't get it. How exactly does Donnie deliver the jet engine back through time? I get that there's a time portal or whatever above his house, and the jet engine falls through it, but it seems like it just falls off his mom's plane for no reason.

I couldn't figure this out at all, but, thank God, Kelly explains it on the DVD commentary. In addition to his super strength and super future-sight and super sulking power, Donnie has the power of telekinesis. He rips the engine off the plane himself.

Oh. I didn't get that.

I don't know anyone who did.

Why does he do that?

Well, he's basically railroaded into it. Previous events -- his conversations with Dr. Monnitoff, his reading of Roberta Sparrow's book -- have made it clear to Donnie what is going on, and he pretty much knows what he is supposed to do. But he's spurred on most directly by the events of the previous evening. Once he has killed a person and seen his girlfriend die before his eyes, he feels he has no choice but to send time backward -- to telekinetically rip off the engine, send it through the time vortex, and fulfill his destiny as the Living Receiver. (Sparrow's book refers to this as an Ensurance Trap, a snare created by the Manipulated Dead -- in this case, Frank and Gretchen -- to make absolutely sure that the Chosen One does his job.) Donnie believes that if he does what he's supposed to, this Tangent Universe he's in will disappear and it will be as if the past 28 days never happened -- Gretchen and Frank will still be alive.

But doesn't he know that if he sends the jet engine back in time, and it lands on his house, but he's back there on Oct. 2 in a regular universe with no Frank calling him out of bed, he'll get squashed like a bug?

Impaled, actually, as seen in a gruesome deleted scene on the DVD. It's hard to tell whether he knows this or not. His hysterical laughter at the end of the movie suggests he knows something's up. Sparrow's book notes that many of the Manipulated will see the events of the Tangent Universe in their dreams. So we can assume that at midnight on Oct. 2 in the Primary Universe, Donnie Darko wakes up from an exceptionally detailed dream in which he developed superpowers, got lucky, burned down a pervert's house, and discussed the sexual habits of Smurfs with his friends. Whether he understands the dream is uncertain; I think he does but chooses, due to all he's seen and his worries about repeating the mistakes of the Tangent Universe, to stay in bed and take a jet engine right in the kisser.

Interestingly, Kelly suggests in the DVD commentary that the car horn we hear as Elizabeth comes in the door is Frank's -- that he's honking not as a message to Elizabeth, but as one to Donnie. Perhaps Frank at that second realizes everything that happened in the Tangent Universe, and knows what is about to happen, and attempts to wake Donnie up and get him out of bed before the sky falls?

Also interestingly, this means that once again an extremely complicated film can be basically explained as being a representation of the dream a troubled character has just before death.

People remember the Tangent Universe in dreams? Is that why we saw everyone looking sad in bed?

Yeah. And Jim Cunningham is crying because he realized what a total perv he is. According to the film's Web site, he shoots himself 10 days later. The Web site has all kinds of fun tidbits: The FAA never figures out where the engine came from. Roberta Sparrow finally dies in December 1988. And Dr. Monnitoff marries Ms. Pomeroy; when he dies under suspicious circumstances in 1999, she sends his copy of "The Philosophy of Time Travel" to the Library of Congress with a cryptic note. Check it out, but be warned it's one of those annoying mysterious Web sites that take a week to figure out; look here for a step-by-step walkthrough.

The sexual habits of Smurfs?

Yeah! Apparently Smurfs lack genitalia. According to the DVD commentary, the estate of Peyo, creator of the Smurfs, allowed Kelly to keep this very funny scene in the movie because Donnie's description of Smurf sexuality is perfectly accurate.

So how are all the Manipulated manipulated?

The Manipulated do irrational or unexpected things with consequences that inevitably push Donnie toward his fate. Consider the film's climax, the deaths of Gretchen and Frank. It's fascinating to see all the choices by various Manipulated that get Donnie outside Grandma Death's house on that fateful night -- and cause him to be so devastated by the deaths of Frank and Gretchen that he is willing to destroy the universe in which he finds himself just to undo those deaths.

How does Donnie meet Gretchen? Well, on Gretchen's first day of school, Ms. Pomeroy behaves strangely, giving Gretchen that not-approved-by-the-Board-of-Ed directive to sit next to the boy she finds the cutest. And then Frank helps them become better acquainted by getting Donnie to break that water main. Remember? "I'm really glad school was flooded today," Donnie says, because otherwise, "you and I would have never had this conversation."

How does Donnie know to communicate with Roberta Sparrow? Dr. Monnitoff talks time travel with him and gives him a not-approved-by-the-Board-of-Ed book to read.

How does Donnie know to look in Grandma Death's cellar? Ms. Pomeroy's out-of-left-field invocation of the phrase "cellar door."

The two thugs' weird idea to rob Grandma Death sends Donnie and Gretchen into the road. Mrs. Sparrow -- who'd refused to answer the door when Donnie previously called on her -- is reading Donnie's letter when Frank's Trans Am swerves around her and runs over Gretchen.

Why does Donnie love Gretchen so much that he's willing to shoot Frank in retaliation, willing to erase the universe to bring her back to life? Well, because of their deep emotional connection, sure, but also because they just made love for the first time. And why do they make love? Gretchen's stepdad, we're led to believe, irrationally attacks Gretchen's mother, leading Gretchen tearfully to Donnie's door and into his arms.

And why is Frank there at all? Because he left a party where he could've been making out with Maggie Gyllenhaal in order to buy beer, even though the party already had a keg. The behavior of an 18-year-old guy doesn't get much more irrational than that.

What other irrational behavior do the Manipulated exhibit?

Well, Donnie gets driven to his misbehavior by Mrs. Farmer's moronic adherence to the cult of Swayze. Said misbehavior gets him suspended from after-school activities; that's why he can't attend the talent show and is instead free to torch Cunningham's house. Once Cunningham is exposed as a panderer, Mrs. Farmer can't go to L.A. with the Sparkle Motion girls, so Donnie's mom goes, so the house is devoid of parents, so the Gyllenhaals can throw a bitchin' party where Donnie gets laid. And since Donnie's mom had to go to L.A., she's on the plane when the engine comes off, and ... um ... actually, I still have no idea why she had to be on that particular plane. That makes no sense at all.

Oh, and of course, everyone thought Sam Raimi was crazy when he made "The Evil Dead," but he irrationally did it anyway, and that movie was Donnie's and Gretchen's only date.

Thanks, jackass. Who are the fat guy in the tracksuit and the mysterious woman with the clipboard?

He's one of the FAA employees we see near the beginning and end of the movie. Apparently the FAA is so freaked out by the jet engine weirdness that they've sent their tackiest agent to keep an eye on the Darko family.

She is a talent scout for Ed McMahon's "Star Search '88."

What does it mean that Donnie's medication is a placebo?

This scene, which appears in the director's cut, is another hint from Kelly that he doesn't think Donnie's crazy. Dr. Thurman doesn't fully understand what's going on, but like so many of the other characters, she recognizes that something momentous is in the air and that Donnie seems to be in the middle of it, whatever it is.

What's the story with "cellar door"?

Ms. Pomeroy's vague attribution of the quote to a "famous linguist" was, I assume, mandated by the legal department; it's hard to get a handle on who first claimed those two words to be the most beautiful in the English language. I've seen it attributed to Pound, Poe, Tolkien, Mencken and a Chinese student of Mencken's who knew no English.

What does that creepy thing Grandma Death whispers have to do with anything?

I think it's telling how scared Donnie seems when he discusses her notion that "every living creature on earth dies alone." As the Tangent Universe draws to a close, Kelly is careful to give Donnie moments of reconciliation with nearly everyone important to him: his mother (in a sweet scene up in his room), his father (in a director's cut scene in the backyard, one of the nicest additions to the new version) and Gretchen (during the Halloween party). A friend of mine pointed out that another way of interpreting Donnie's smile as he settles into bed, just before he gets engined, is that he is pleased about the circumstances of his onrushing death. He was afraid of dying alone, without a connection to God or anyone? Well, following "God's channel," he has known love for the first time and has been given a chance to sacrifice himself for the love of Gretchen and his family and everyone. He knows he is about to die, but he doesn't feel at all alone.

What's with those weird blobs leading out of everyone's stomachs?

They're a visual representation of the future, inspired, Kelly said, by watching John Madden operate the CBS Chalkboard Telestrator on NFL broadcasts. Included among Donnie's many superpowers is the power to see the future. Donnie and Dr. Monnitoff have a discussion in which Donnie asks whether this representation suggests there's no such thing as free will. Dr. Monnitoff says that just because you see your future doesn't mean you have to follow it, but Donnie seems to believe that the future blobs represent "God's channel."

The film comes down pretty firmly against the concept of free will, at least in Tangent Universes. But that leads to a daunting question...

Why all the rigmarole? If no one in this Tangent Universe has free will -- and if God or whoever can make them act irrationally and do whatever He wants -- why did this whole scheme to get the jet engine off the plane have to be so complicated? It seems like a stupid way to save the universe, in the sense that anything could have gone wrong at any step. Why couldn't Whoever was in charge just make Donnie sleepwalk into the hills on Oct. 30 and use his superpowers to knock the engine off the plane? In the whole scale of things, that doesn't seem more irrational than some of the other irrational things characters do throughout this movie.

That's the exact daunting question to which I referred. It all seems very baroque, doesn't it, reminiscent of the overcomplicated plans hatched by villains in potboilers since the beginning of time. (My wife asks: If Voldemort needs Harry's blood so bad, why do they have to rig the entire freaking Triwizard Tournament to get it? Why couldn't Fake Mad-Eye just, like, send Harry to the infirmary for a Magical Mumps blood test?)

There's no good answer to this question -- why does God or Whoever make saving the universe so complicated? -- other than the obvious one. If saving the universe was as easy as all that, what a boring movie that would make, right?

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Donnie: living receiver
Frank & Gretchen: Manipulated dead
Everyone else: manipulated living
Deus Ex Machina: Frank's car
Donnie mutters, "Deus Ex Machina, our saviour" as a car driven by Frank stops nearby, which startles his attackers and causes them to flee. The car acts as the deus ex machina; that is, the unexpected or unprobable device that is introduced to resolve a problem, thus it is Donnie's "saviour."

When a Tangent Universe occurs, those living
nearest to the Vortex will find themselves at the epi-
center of a dangerous new world.
....Artifacts provide the first sign that a Tangent
Universe has occurred.
....If an Artifact occurs, the Living will retrieve it with
great interest and curiosity. Artifacts are formed from
metal, such as an Arrowhead from an ancient Mayan
civilization, or a Metal Sword from Medieval Europe.
....Artifacts returned to the Primary Universe are often
linked to religious iconography; as their appearance on
Earth seems to defy logical explanation.
....Divine Intervention is deemed the only logical con-.
clusion for the appearance of the Artifact.

..The Fourth Dimension of Time is a stable construct,
though it is not impenetrable.
....Incidents when the fabric of the fourth dimension
becomes corrupted are incredibly rare.
....If a Tangent Universe occurs, it will be highly
unstable, sustaining itself for no longer than several
weeks.
....Eventually it will collapse upon itself, forming a
black hole within the Primary Universe capable of
destroying all existence.
The Living Receiver is chosen to guide the Artifact
into position for it's journey back to the Primary Universe.
....The Living Receiver is often (blessed) with a Fourth
Dimensional Power(s). These include increased strength,
telekinesis, mind control, and the ability to conjure
fire and water.
....The Living Receiver is often tormented by terrifying
dreams, visions and auditory hallucinations during his
time within the Tangent Universe.
....Those surrounding the Living Receiver, known as the
Manipulated, will fear him and try to destroy him.
.The Manipulated Living are often the close friends
and neighbors of the Living Receiver.

....They are prone to irrational, bizarre, and often
violent behavior. This is the unfortunate result of their
task, which is to assist the Living Receiver in returning
the Artifact to the Primary Universe.

....The Manipulated Living will do anything to save
themselves from Oblivion.

....The Manipulated Dead are more powerful than the
Living Receiver. If a person dies within the Tangent
Dimension, they are able to contact the Living
Receiver through the Fourth Dimensional Construct.
The Fourth Dimensional Construct is made of Water.
....The Manipulated Dead will manipulate the Living
Receiver using the Fourth Dimensional Construct (see
Appendix A and B).
....The Manipulated Dead will often set an Ensurance
Trap for the Living Receiver to ensure that the Artifact
is returned safely to the Primary Universe.
....If the Ensurance Trap is successful, the Living
Receiver is left with no choice but to use his Fourth
Dimensional Power to send the Artifact back in time
into the Primary Universe before the Black Hole
collapses upon itself.

....When the Manipulated awakens from their Journey
into the Tangent Universe, they are often haunted by
the experience in their dreams.
Many of them will not remember.
....Those who do remember the Journey are often over-
come with profound remorse for the regretful actions
buried within their Dreams, the only physical evidence
buried within the Artifact itself, all that remains from
the lost world.
....Ancient myth tells us of the Mayan Warrior killed
by an Arrowhead that had fallen from a cliff, where
there was no Army, no enemy to be found.

Richard Kelly states in the DVD commentary (with Jake Gyllenhaal) that (1) he felt the whole experience had been a dream, and was therefore laughing with relief that he had woken up from this, hence doesn't get out of bed, and (2) the journey through the Tangent Universe had solved Donnie's problem of dying alone through achieving enlightenment, and subsequently he knew he was going to "something better" (from his letter to Roberta Sparrow). He was therefore laughing through sheer joy and anticipation, and didn't want to get out of bed.
"I hope that when the world comes to an end,
I can breathe a sigh of relief, because there
will be so much to look forward to." - Donnie

"A storm is coming,"
Frank says,
"A storm that will swallow the children."
And I will deliver them from the kingdom of pain.
I will deliver the children back to
their doorsteps.
(I'll) send the monsters back to the underground.
I'll send them back to a place where
no one else can see them.
Except for me.
Because I am Donnie Darko.

crybby

2011-04-11T05:06:00.005-04:00

I hate time. I hate beer. I hate painting. I hate that so many kids at school use macs because "that's what designers use". No. And I'm not buying a stupid fucking macbook. I use windows and mac for the same shit and there is no difference. I don't want a career. I don't want to design lame ass billboards and brochures for money. I have no clue what I want to do as a designer or whatever. When I graduate I'm going to have "Designer & Illustrator" on my portfolio. I like doing layout because it's challenging and design in general and I like doing Illustration. I can not stand marketing and advertising. I will NOT do it. You know how fucking lame marketing is? The behind the scenes stuff, crafting products and advertisements for your target market and planning on where and when you're going to hit them with your ads. Ew. Also on the subject of jobs and stuff-- I am not going to market myself, I am not going to seek out jobs, I am not going to network. I am the complete opposite of outgoing and I like it. I don't want to meet new people. Ok, maybe sometimes. All I like to do is draw monsters. I don't hardly even fucking draw when I'm home anymore anyway, because I'd rather play guitar because I enjoy that more. I want to get paid for that. I want to record music and play shows and make money that way, and probably work some shitty job, preferably in the back of a warehouse stocking boxes or something laborious. I like work that involves labor. I don't want to work a cash register, deal with cooking/cleaning food, I don't want to deal with people too much. When I draw shit at home it always sucks dick. The only good drawings I do are in the library at school. I hate that (what seems like) every girl is obsessed with horror movies, modern metal music, and smokes cigarettes. I hate horror movies. Even the horror movies I like, which are very few, would be among the last shit I would want to watch. Occasionally I am in the mood to watch something scary. I like some modern horror movies and I like watching old shitty horror movies and stuff with a lot of suspense. I don't know, maybe I'm wrong. Anyway... I hate cigarette smoke. I don't even know what to say about the music, I guess I don't mind it, but that's all that everyone around here fucking listens to.. Asking Alexandria, We came as Romans, etc, etc. There are some post-hardcore bands I like, but I like a lot of god damn music. I have the whole Beatles catalog, and most of Slipknot's too. I have a stack of CDs with Jay-Z and Linkin Park's "collision course" sitting on top of the Cure's "three imaginary boys" on top of a THIS HEAT album, on top of R.E.M., Billy Childish, Billy Idol, Beach Boys, These new Puritans. Fuck. I'm not trying to sound cool or something. I know there are a lot of people that like a wide variety of music. I just don't know why metal and screamo or whatever you want to call it is so popular around here? I guess it could be worse. I'm so annoyed with everyone, myself included. I hate Charlie Sheen, that dude is a piece of shit. "winning" isn't fucking funny. Rebecca Black sucks, but she is not fucking funny. I absolutely hate my daily routine now. Without getting all gay and nostalgic and whatever but I miss being in highschool a lot. I miss getting up everyday of the week at the same time, going to school with pretty much every one of my friends, spending every day with them. I miss having 40min classes, as opposed to my 4hr or 2hr classes now. I miss all the goofy shit. I miss either hanging out with my friends directly after school, or coming home and being alone. I don't hardly ever record music here anymore, at my dad's / donna's house. Because I'm hardly here. I am usually at my moms for 3 days a week, where I have absolutely no privacy, and even less to fucking do than I do here. I have no comfy bed, and I can't even play guitar of music over there because it'd be way too loud in the living room and plus everyone is walking around, being noisy, etc. (again, no privacy). Friday - Sunday I'm typically at Chris' house. I understand that's more of a choice, but I'd rather go hangout and play video games, watch TV, and possibly go some where with another human-being or 2 once a-fucking-week, (which I think makes sense) than sit around more and try to record music alone. Like I said I'm hardly here anymore.. especially alone. I loved when I came home from highschool and my dad and donna were both at work and I had 4-6 hours by myself. I just don't like recording/practicing while there's people around, I hate people hearing my music while it's in work-in-progress stage, same for if I'm painting or drawing something, I don't want anyone to see that shit until it's done. I'm shy and that's how I am and I'm not going to MAN UP. Eff off. I'm not embarrassed to sing around people, my parents came to see me play live, and I told them they could come, so, it's not like that. I don't know where to go with this rant. Uh, I don't know why I posted it. I don't know. I don't like staying up this late. I just do it. I just don't want to go to sleep, I like sleeping, but I only like sleeping once I'm asleep and I need to get up. Well, this was stupid, huh.

2011-03-19T23:40:00.001-04:00

black horror tones

2011-02-03T03:34:00.003-05:00

Happy Holiday season from awesome town, and festival of lights...

2010-12-13T01:24:00.002-05:00

Crappy Halloween

2010-10-31T04:03:00.004-04:00

So, I'm not doing anything very fun over Halloween weekend. I have an English paper, and an ethics paper to write, as well as reading for both classes, and an illustration to do and scan and then add somethings to it digitally. I'm chipping away at that over these days. Listening to Halloween tunes. "The Brain that wouldn't die" just came on ThisTV, so that's cool. I'm doing my English paper now, well continuing after this post. I spent a little bit of time playing guitar and recording something today. Um... My grandma bought me a new coat, kind of a.. pea coat, I guess.I got that in the mail and I ordered a heavy duty hoodie for this winter as well. I cut my hair a little bit tonight. Fantasy football tomorrow, and the Halloween Steelers game. I like fantasy football, it makes Sundays not be sooo lame. I'm just saying random shit now, so I'll stop this here. Here's a drawing from a sketchbook I'm working on for Art house co-op.

fallfallfallfall

2010-10-17T18:00:00.004-04:00

Another boring Sunday. I'm home though, which is kinda nice since I've only been here one other time in the past 2 weeks. It's nice sleeping in my bed and not on a couch or chair. I'm also happy that I don't have any classes on Mondays. Not doing too good in fantasy football today, Gates and B.Lloyd are disappointing. Listening to the new Kings of Leon album right now, on track 12/13. Damn, it is good. This is how they should have sounded after BOTT. I really like it, and I'm really happy about it. Comes out next week, so I'm not gonna listen anymore til I get it. I need to make some food. I need to read and do other homework for next week. Fack. I'm just going to sit around and listen to music and put it all off, I don't care.

Only shades of gray

2010-09-28T23:07:00.003-04:00

I blog. lolololol. I'm listening to the Monkees, and drinking chocolate milk with a crazy straw. I chipped of a small piece of my front tooth the other day, um.. I think because I bite my lip too much, and sometimes I did it for hours and couldn't stop and my tooth would get sore. I thought this would happen. I can't really bite my lip anymore. Anyway, I don't think it's a big deal, maybe it is, who knows. I glad I'm not in school right now, or for the next week. I don't really care about school, I'm not looking forward to going back, especially for american literature. I've been sitting around by myself, doing nothing, wasting my time, playing dungeons and dragons online, playing guitar. I have 3, maybe decent 4 songs I need to record. That's it. I haven't been writing many good songs lately. There's nothing going on. I can't tell if I'm enjoying my time alone or bored out of my mind. lololololol.

Music #3

2010-09-25T04:11:00.001-04:00

music #2

2010-09-04T11:55:00.001-04:00

music

2010-08-12T21:03:00.003-04:00

2010-08-02T06:10:00.000-04:00

Neurosis - Poor ability to adapt to one's environment, an inability to change one's life patterns, and the inability to develop a richer, more complex, more satisfying personality.

Ambivalence - Uncertainty or fluctuation, especially when caused by inability to make a choice or by a simultaneous desire to say or do two opposite or conflicting things.

Anomie - Social instability resulting from a breakdown of standards and values; also : personal unrest, alienation, and uncertainty that comes from a lack of purpose or ideals.

Ennui - A feeling of utter weariness and discontent resulting from satiety or lack of interest; boredom.

Dispirited - Discouraged; dejected; disheartened; gloomy.

Go to bed fuckface.

2010-06-13T09:53:00.002-04:00

oh and @#$%!&

Mumford & Sons

2010-05-20T03:00:00.000-04:00

So damn good. Ridiculous.

Junk food + procrastination

2010-05-15T14:27:00.003-04:00

Hello. I need to call verizon, my modem at my dad's house is broken. I'm at Chris' house right now, listing to some oldies. I got some 15 Vol. Oldies collection, which is swell. Just spent an hour or so setting up a few CS5 programs. There's some cool new stuff. I have a ton of work for school next week. 4 concepts of a full color ad for Lowes (I don't know why I picked lowes), gotta be ready to start painting the circus/politics illustration, start and finish 3 food posters, plus shit for design marketing. Blah, no way that's all getting done. Nu wai. In addition to that. I wanted to do a piece for the student show at AIP this summer. Don't know what exactly yet though. And I ordered a sketchbook to participate in the Art house Co-op sketchbook project 2011. That is going to be sweet. Nightmare theme. And besides art stuff, I'm almost done with the Anomie album. I just gotta fix up the last song, then I need to do artwork it actually, and buy some cool packaging stuff I found. That might actually take a little time, and hopefully I can afford it. I might have to price the CDs at $5 or so, and I'll make a digital copy just be free. Not like anyone really cares anyway, but it's fun. Also, I think I might do a split CD with Underscore Adia, my cousin's boyfriend is in that band, and I did some artwork for them before. So, that should be interesting. Pizza & Halo weekend thus far. Spicy fries from Central pizza are bomb. Turner's tea is bomb. I need some Spongebob ice cream and hot fries. Bowling tonight?

fuhkit

2010-05-04T15:07:00.002-04:00

UH. HI. I feel very lethargic. It blows coxxx. Big ol coxxx. I keep going to sleep super early and waking up like 7 to 11 am. It blows coxxx. I have a night class in a bit, I can't wait! ..To miss the fucking fucking fucking hockey game. It blows coxxx. I watched two most recent episodes of the Office. They were good. Best thing all day. I've been up sine 7:30 and I've only eaten a few Doritos. Booooo. Help me, I'm hungry. I want some kind of rice or quesadilla with morning star chic'n strips. BUUUT I have a feeling I wont end up getting that, or eating at all until about 11:30 tonight. FUCKING YAY. I just read Nathan William's interview on pitchfork. New Wavves record august 3rd! AHHH, I'm pumped. Pumped for the one with Zach Hill, too. FUCK. Today is lame as balls. I just want to eat and hang out. Not starve and go to school. Not at fucking all.

mmmmm

2010-04-18T01:47:00.004-04:00

Got the new Harlem LP "Hippies". Shit is off the hook.

Also, the band on the cover isn't them.. it's a band called The Icky Girlfriends. They are pretty awesome as well. Mountain Dew Voltage is pretty cool as well, as well. And that new Crystal Castles stuff is tight. Really looking forward to that album, and the new wavves record. Yummy. Check it: http://www.somekindofawesome.com/journal/2010/4/16/stream-new-crystal-castles-celestica-x-mother-knows-best.html & http://www.somekindofawesome.com/journal/2010/4/18/stream-2-new-crystal-castles-tunes-pap-smear-x-suffocation.html

You have my eyes now

2010-04-12T05:31:00.001-04:00

Nothing happens until about 2:00 mins. in, but watch it for the build up. It's pretty cool.

Tim Heidecker in Clues - "You Have My Eyes Now"(dir. Matt Wells) - watch more funny videos

I've covered the halls, with glitter and awe

2010-04-02T17:06:00.003-04:00

It's so damn hot in my room. It sucks. I can't wait to roll out of here. Going to Goodwill, then trying to check out Clash of the Titans 3D. I don't care much for action movies, but I think it looks pretty cool. No, I haven't seen the old one, but I want to see it too. I f'ing love live action with clay animated monsters, there's not really anything better than that. Personally, I think the clay animated monsters in live action movies, look just as real or more real than the computer stuff now. Ugh. my coke won't even stay cold in here, it's ridiculous, and it's making me sleepy. Married with children is on. When the hell isn't that show on? Same with Scrubs. Fuck, I'd really rather watch MWC than Scrubs, though. I hate Scrubs.

Peg:
"Al, this is very, very important-- you know my boobs?"
...
"I need you to say over the phone that cute little nickname you have for them"
...
"Oh, c'mon Al, just say it..."

Here is some good music for you to listen at to with your ears dude bro man:

Al: "I'm gettin me some Nooner!"
Griff: "Nooner..."
Al: "Yeah, like lunch, want me to bring you back some?"
Griff: "Al, nooner is when you have sex in the middle of the day. You just agreed to have sex with your wife."
Audience: "Ewwwww!"

Pizza butt.

2010-03-30T19:33:00.002-04:00

I got some Pizza Hut, it's good. I'm watching Jeopardy. I'm on a week long break from school, which is oh so nice. Here are some cool youtube videos..

I made this

2010-03-20T20:21:00.001-04:00

Blank blogs

2010-03-16T19:05:00.001-04:00

you cried you cried the day it all died
you cried you cried the day it all died
you posted/threw it all away
the internet had died today

and your gone your gone your gone
they're all gone they're gone they're gone

blank blogs ...nothing ever last

Waiting for tomorrow

2010-03-14T22:13:00.003-04:00

Spring

2010-03-09T23:02:00.007-05:00

I set up a flickr account for my art. I don't have a ton up yet, but there are some new drawings on there, which I haven't posted elsewhere. Link. There is also a permanent link off to the right side of these posts. Last night I ordered some new records: Life is Sweet! Nice to Meet You by Lightspeed Champion; Judged by Twelve, Carried by Six by Blessure Grave; Witch Choir and a 7" by Fantastic Magic; Flowers 7" by FLIGHT, and the Summer Bummer, Get Laid, Get Wasted Mix Tape, which looks like it's gonna be awesome. Google it, buy one, there are only 300 copies. Oh, and Starfish by The Church.

Stop being cool

2010-03-08T21:28:00.001-05:00

Teenage wastebasket

2010-03-07T22:51:00.010-05:00

I just ate half a box of Girl scout thin mint cookies. Those aren't the ones with the recall, right? They can't be, they tasted too good. Here's what I did this weekend: Friday, I started doing some paintings. I like painting on illustration board, I like it better than canvas. Screw canvas. So, yeah I got a few 15 x 20 coldpress boards and I'm working on those. I'm going to sell them. I wanted to do some large ink work, so I'm going to order some Higgins ink and buy more illustration boards. I want to sculpt some stuff too, but I really have too much going on, so that's not gonna happen soon. I need to make some room on my tascam so I can record a few new songs, and put together the album I have been working on forever. Then I'm going to do art for it, and yeah.. Um. Saturday, went to Chris' house and Myers, Eric, and Luke all came over. I went to Denny's with Luke and Eric, and got an excellent Boca burger, fries, and coke. A perfect meal, indeed. We went to Wal-mart, since it's open 24hrs, so Eric could buy video games. I got paint and tea and gum. Then we went to Chris' and played what seemed to be the longest game of trivial pursuit ever, until 5:30 AM. Chris won. Sunday, Watched the Pens game with Eric and Chris and then played Eric on NHL 08 all day. Now it's late, and I don't have anything done for school tomorrow, of course. I have to drive to my mom's soon. I just want to go to bed.

It's Thursdae

2010-02-25T19:49:00.000-05:00

God, if I have to die, you will have to die

2010-02-23T20:22:00.002-05:00

Dude, screw February. Dude. Dude. Dude. I finally got listen to some of the new albums I bought last month. So much good stuff. Lightspeed Champion has a new album out now, and Blessure Grave, they both are going to be sweet. I gotta get those soon. I bought Rushmore and Coffee & cigarettes on DVD today for 8 dollars, at Hollywood video, because they're going out of business. Video stores can't compete anymore with redbox and netflix. Cry me a LIVER. My dad's birthday is today. Um. Um. That's all. Modest Mouse is fucking great...

Cowboy Dan's a major player in the cowboy scene
He goes to the reservation drinks and gets mean
He goes to the desert, fires his rifle in the sky
And says, "God, if I have to die, you will have to die"

iTUNES FUCKING SUCKS

2010-02-19T14:46:00.012-05:00

Okay so, A few years ago I bought an iPod. It's a 5th generation 30G classic. I probably started using itunes 6 or 7, I'm not sure, but it was all good. I really liked itunes. Things were all smooth until a little while ago when I downloaded the new version of itunes, itunes 9. Now, right after I downloaded it and ran it for the first time I got some bullshit message about missing drivers and itunes not being able to burn CDs anymore. That was true, I couldn't burn CDs with itunes anymore, but I could rip them on there still, and I could use media player to burn, and still play DVDs. Well, slowly over a week or two, less and less of those things worked, first I could no longer rip CDs onto itunes, then media player couldn't burn, and then no CD or DVD could even be recognized when I put it into my computer. itunes totally fucked it up. I was told to reinstall itunes, so I did, but that didn't work. After googling the problem and finding a ton of people with the same thing, I think I found the solution to the problem here.. http://forums.techguy.org/multimedia/780824-no-disc-recording-software-found.html But I haven't tried it, and i says its for itunes 8, so I don't know if i would fix 9.

Now I have another problem. I just got a laptop, and a new 64G itouch. I plugged my itouch into my desktop computer, which I still use for my old ipod. This is after I downloaded itunes 9.3.1 (or whatever the newest is now) since I'd need it for the new touch, BUT... itunes wouldn't recognize it. (Windows did, though) So I figured: Well, alright, I'll use my external hard drive to put all my music on my laptop, recreate my library there, and use the laptop for the itouch, and my desktop for my classic. I haven't done it yet, but I'm going to [try]. Anyway, the new problem is that I plugged my old ipod into my desktop and now itunes wont fucking recognize that! What. the. fuck. So I thought this might be because I download the newer itunes, so I un-installed it and installed itunes 8, again, which I still had the installer files for. I tried running 8 and it said it couldn't read my library because it was created by a later version of itunes, and it would not even open itunes. YES. FANTASTIC... now I have to waste 30 more fucking minutes un-installing itunes8, and re-downloading and installing the new one, just for the purpose of simply having my library available to listen to on my computer while I'm in my room, since apparently even my old ipod work on it now. If this this brand new itouch doesn't work on my brand new laptop using the brand new itunes I'm going to murder somebody. Maybe Justin long A.K.A "Mac". I'm not sure yet.

Anyway... bravo, Apple, itunes sucks dirty asshole.

UPDATE:
I reinstalled the newest version of itunes. Now it recognizes my classic, I haven't tried the touch. And here's that stupid message about the drivers...

Janurary

2010-01-30T17:01:00.003-05:00

My kitten died. Jay Reatard died. Conan is off TV for 7 months.

I'm eating Oreos right now. I have a bunch of homework, which I doubt I'll get much of done. Holiday cards, marketing research, Photography. I don't care really. I want to quit school. It's dumb. I do want to focus on art more. I want to maybe start doing large pen & ink drawings, as well as more painting and sculpture. I'm a fucking slacker though. I need to finish my CD. I want to make a zine or book or writings and drawings, too. I want to write a whole book one day. I want to make short films. My hair is long, I want to cut it. I want to shave one side of it.

mmm, melk. Oh, here's a sweet screenshot I took...

Tonight show

2010-01-22T18:59:00.004-05:00

Last episode tonight at 11:30 on NBC.

Jimmy Lee Lindsey Jr. A.K.A Jay Reatard

2010-01-15T04:30:00.011-05:00

1980 - 2010

Me and Harry were lucky enough to see Jay with the new band on Nov. 23, 2009. Lucky because my car wasn't broke, we found the place, we had money, and most of all because we were the first people there and we were (still are) 19, and it was a 21+ show. After realizing they let us in, we kinda convinced them to let us stay. We got right in the front of the crowd, right in front of Jay too. It was insanely fun. We both we're itching for him to come back to Pittsburgh right away. I kinda wish I'd taken some pictures, but then again, it's kind of special for that experience to just live in our memories. Anyway, no matter how Jay died, it's really shocking, and super depressing. And now, with everything happening in Haiti, I fell a bit selfish and guilty for being so bummed about one person, but music means a lot to me, and Jay was really one of the only people I think I'd actually care about if what happened happened. I can't help but think about all the great music he would have made in the future, and it really really sucks that that future is cut short. I'll definitely miss his insane twitter/facebook updates, the demos he'd post on his blog, the crazy band feuds, of course the music, and just.. everything. Jay put out a string of consistently incredible, unique, and emotional albums, and singles (personally I still have his huge back catalog to dive into). And at a time when music is so unoriginal and soulless, it takes a very hard blow in losing him. To warp this up, this sucks, I feel bad for his parents and family, and all the fans. Jay will be missed.

"The tragedy here is two-fold: Not only did we lose Jimmy Lee Lindsey and Jay Reatard, but we'll also never know his full potential as an artist, songwriter, and performer. Not nearly enough people will realize the void he left." - Mike Burr

"The flying V never looked more at home than in his hands" - Sky Larkin

"Jay was what few people have the capacity to be. He created an undeniably classic album that contained so much pain transferred to tape in such an explosive way that it made you feel different after hearing it. He was transgressive and honest. His flaws were something he focused on and overdubbed and distorted until they made you forget who he really was-- a person with feelings and a good heart. He loved music and worked hard from a young age to pursue it. He was a self-made and unmade man. I am truly sickened to see him go." - Bradford Cox of Deerhunter

Muzik

2010-01-05T16:33:00.002-05:00

Japandroids kicking ass on Fallon...

I finally got "alight of night" by Crystal stils, and modest mouse's "this is a long drive..." cool beanzzz

Thank god it's not Christmas... oh, wait, yeah it is.

2009-12-21T22:41:00.008-05:00

Alright, I pretty much can't stand the Christmas music on the
radio, so I made this kinda 2 part Christmas playlist today.
35 songs in total. Two parts because the songs were just sorta
different styles, but all good nevertheless. Here's a link to
download it -- DOWNLOAD -- and the track list is right here...

The Go! Team - Ice storm [instrumental]
Sonic Youth - Santa doesn't cop out on dope
The Raveonettes - The Christmas song
The Raveonettes - Come on Santa
Julian Casablancas - I wish it was Christmas today
AU - I'll be home for Christmas
Banjo or freakout - White Christmas
Saturday looks good to me - This time every year
Pas-Cal - Last Christmas
Parenthetical girls - Thank god it's not Christmas
Can - Silent night [instrumental]
Blitzen trapper - Christmas is coming soon
Belle & Sebastian - Are you coming over for Christmas?
Ringo Starr - I wanna be Santa Claus
The Beatles - Christmas time is here again
The Arcade fire - Jingle bell rock
SNL (Sanz/Fallon) - I wish it was Christmas today
Tiny Tim - I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus
Sloppy seconds - Hooray for Santy Claus
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Cheech & Chong - Santa Claus and his old lady
Sesame Street (Oscar) - I hate Christmas
The Ventures - Scrooge
Patsy Raye & the beatniks - Beatnik's wish
Saturday's children - Deck five
Flat duo jets - It's Christmas time
The Sonics - Don't believe in Christmas
Thee Headcoats - Santa Claus
The Ramones - Merry Christmas (I don't wanna fight tonight)
Decendents - Christmas vacation
Sparks - Thank god it's not Christmas
The White Stripes - Candy cane children
Black lips - Christmas in Baghdad
Rocket from the crypt - Cancel Christmas
The Dirtbombs - My last Christmas

Pic via: http://www.flickr.com/photos/linden_tea/

Rymdreglage - 8 bit trip

2009-12-04T16:10:00.001-05:00

Continuing with the trend of me just posting videos on here...

Jimmy Fallon

2009-11-27T23:37:00.001-05:00

So bored for stylophone

2009-11-22T19:12:00.004-05:00

I figured this out a couple months ago, I figured I'd post just post it up
here for the hell of it. It's So bored, by Wavves. Pretty sure its right,
just play it along with the song to figure out any problems.

Intro
4.5 - 8.5 - 7 - 4.5 - 7 - 7.5

Verses
4.5 - 7 - 7.5 - 4.5

4.5 - 7.5 - 7 - 7.5 - 8.5 - 7.5 - 8.5 - 7.5 - 4.5

Chorus
4.5 - 7 - 3 - 7.5 - 8.5(?)

Solo/Outro
6 - 7 - 6 - 7 - 6 - 7 - 6 - 7 - 8.5 - 7 (x3)

6 - 7 - 6 - 7 - 6 - 4.5

(repeat)

6 (x16) - 7 (x8) - 8.5

Avett Brothers late night TV

2009-11-20T13:10:00.001-05:00

A different city

2009-11-18T00:12:00.001-05:00

I want to live in a city with no friends or family
I'm going to look out the window of my color TV
I want to remember to remember to forget you forgot me
I'm going to look out the window of my color TV

Through the cracks in the wall
Slow motion for all
Dripped out of the bars
Someone smart said nothing at all
I'm watching TV
I guess that's a solution
They gave me a receipt that said I didn't buy nothing
So rust is a fire and our blood oxidizes
My eyes rolled around, all around on the carpet
Hit the deck, it's the decal man
Standing upside down and talking out of his pants

Favorite music videos. Part 1.

2009-11-08T18:55:00.010-05:00

Search activity

2009-11-07T02:55:00.006-05:00

Guess when I sleep...

How to fight loneliness

2009-11-05T20:45:00.010-05:00

Well, I ordered some boots; Vans chukka's -- the new ones, with the fur inside. $110.00, they better keep my feet fucking warm. I finally got my first issue of Interview, it's the 40th anniversary one, which is pretty cool. I just finished up my 5th week of the fall quarter at school, which means I've been there almost a year and a half. I'm probably not doing well now, because I'm a complete slacker, I just don't turn things in. I've been listening to "Sliver" by Nirvana, all day, and the weird thing is that my grandma actually took me home today. Crazy huh? Not really, I know. I pre-ordered the Third Man Records exclusive Carl Sagan/Stephen Hawking A glorious dawn 7". I really hope I got in the first 150, so I get the one with the engraving from Voyager [read more here].
I'm going to listen to some songs from Wilco's Summerteeth LP, and see if I should buy it -- Actually, I'm listening now, And I think I should. I've never really listened to Wilco, but their good I hear. I gotta go watch the office.

Gentlemen Broncos

2009-10-30T02:24:00.000-04:00

Looks promising.

Stuff & Flight

2009-10-28T16:17:00.003-04:00

I made a tumblr, but then I deleted it, because it was fucking confusing. I made a flickr, too, but then photobucket made their storage limit bigger again.. so, Im not using the flickr right now. maybe later. as for this.. I don't think anyone comes and reads it..I mean, there's not really anything on here, I post some videos I find on youtube, bitch about things, and I don't know what else. I think I'm going to turn this into a music blog. Like, A music blog focused on At-home-recordings, since I very much like lo-fi bedroom noise of all kinds, I figured it would be cool, plus I've never stumbled on a blog for that, so maybe someone would read this thing. Not that I really care either way, I just write/post on here out of sheer boredom, so yeah, whatever. I have homework to do, that I'm probably not going to finish anyway. Sweet.

In other news, I ordered FLIGHT's 10" about a week or so ago, and it came in the mail today. First of all, the cover is great, seriously one of my favorite album covers, ever. The first song, which is on the flight myspace page, "over my head", will probably tear your head off, and the other 3 songs are fucking killer too, which definitely makes this record worth picking up. You can get your own over at www.killshawman.com for $11.00. DO IT.

Best thing I've heard in a while.

Horrors - Scarlet fields

2009-10-25T19:53:00.000-04:00

As the summer fades away
You'll lead me to the garden
Passing the lovers
Swooning in the autumn

See yourself, your image in the eyes of someone else
See yourself, your fears as they appear to someone else

When the sun sets
On dark silhouettes
Collapse into dream

As summer fades away
Laugh at my reflection
Passed to a lover
Seeking your affection

Though I know you won't be here for long

The Teardrop Explodes

2009-10-24T06:51:00.002-04:00

I never heard them before today. I was missing out.

frankenfashion

2009-10-14T13:30:00.001-04:00

LIFE'S A GARDEN

2009-10-10T17:07:00.000-04:00

DIG IT.

DSPS

2009-09-30T03:34:00.000-04:00

Delayed sleep-phase syndrome (DSPS), also known as delayed sleep-phase disorder (DSPD) or delayed sleep-phase type (DSPT), is a circadian rhythm sleep disorder, a chronic disorder of the timing of sleep, peak period of alertness, core body temperature, hormonal and other daily rhythms relative to societal norms. People with DSPS tend to fall asleep some hours after midnight and have difficulty waking up in the morning.

Often, people with the disorder report that they cannot sleep until early morning, but fall asleep at about the same time every "night". Unless they have another sleep disorder such as sleep apnea in addition to DSPS, patients can sleep well and have a normal need for sleep. Therefore, they find it very difficult to wake up in time for a typical school or work day. If, however, they are allowed to follow their own schedules, e.g. sleeping from 4 a.m. to noon, they sleep soundly, awaken spontaneously, and do not experience excessive daytime sleepiness.

more like 9am - 6pm

Stupid

2009-09-29T05:10:00.002-04:00

What am I doing up this late? Why am I always up this late? The late night TV shows are over, and I don't get hardly any channels anymore, so there's nothing really to watch. No one else is up, well the people at my house are, but.. that's not what I mean. Anyway, there is never anything to do. No where to go. I am by myself, I am always by myself. Blahhhhhhhhhhhhh. I don't know what I am getting at with this post. I just wish my life wasn't so goddamn boring, and lonely, and ..fuck, I don't know.

Internet trash

2009-09-22T07:13:00.003-04:00

Haven't had the Internet for a while, it leaves one feeling disconnected with the world. Sometimes it's nice. But I rather enjoy the Internet, sometimes though, I feel like I have to many sites and passwords and emails, and shit, because I do. I have a freewebs page, a blog, twitter, a myspace, THREE music myspace pages that I make music for, a beatles bootleg music page, and a couple more, umm.. I'm a member of 2 forums, and I have an xanga page (but haven't used it for years), a Last FM page, a Facebook, Photobucket, and a Youtube account, plus more shit that I haven't used in a long time. It's ridiculous. I mean I could just use say.. myspace. I mean, you can have a blog on there, upload videos, post updates, but I don't know. I just use that for music, and for talking to cool kids around the globe, facebook is more personal, freewebs thing is just for me as a homepage, youtube I use for videos, This I use to rant and rave and post things that I find that I think are cool, and whatever, um twitter is just for fun and to let people know what Im up to, although I don't think anyone REALLY gives a shit (why would you?), photobucket I use--erhm--USED to store all of the picture I take, 1) as a personal backup, and 2) so my friends (and anyone) can easily access them. I might get a flikr because fucking photobucket sucks now, and lowered their limit, which I was already well over before, but they used to have sooo much room?! why lower it. Fuck them. Fucking.. why did I type this? No, nevermind, Im glad I did, it made me feel better or at least okay with the fact that I have so much SHIT on the Internet.

Goodnight, and good luck
<3 SG

Beatles Rockband Abbey road spot.

2009-09-02T17:05:00.002-04:00

This commercial is just amazing, besides George looking a little odd, and John's beard looking different as well. From wikipedia: "On 28 August 2009, a video advertisement for the game featuring the song "Come Together" premiered.[56] The spot blends archival footage of The Beatles, computer-created imagery, and live actors to recreate the iconic Abbey Road album cover. After The Beatles cross the road, a crowd of people follow, some of whom are carrying the game's controllers."

whats in my bag..

2009-08-19T20:42:00.001-04:00

FYI

2009-08-16T01:35:00.000-04:00

IM FUGGIN BORED

6AM

2009-08-07T05:53:00.005-04:00

So, it's the early morning, and I'm in my room, sitting around alone, still up since 8am yesterday, hardly feeling tired. Listening to the Beatles, looking at old pictures. It makes me sad. I'm to sentimental, or something. No, I am tired.

Square roots: The story of Spongebob SquarePants

2009-07-31T20:56:00.004-04:00

If you're here, bored, or just need to kill 40 minutes...

VH1 TV Shows | Music Videos | Celebrity Photos | News & Gossip

Did you know...

2009-07-24T05:34:00.005-04:00

Redheads feel less pain. This is because when people feel pain the brain releases endorphins to lessen the pain, but since pain is necessary to life it also releases another chemical to kill some endorphins and keep some pain. In redheaded people or animals (at least mice anyway..) the brain lets more endorphins go and thus they feel less pain.

Scientists don't know why people yawn. Yawning is not a result of being fatigued, drowsy or bored. Yawning also isn't done to get more oxygen. Yawning is contagious. Whenever someone sees another person yawn, hears a yawn, reads or even thinks about yawning it causes that person to feel the experience of yawning and then it happens.

Credit: Science channel ;)

Nico Vega - Gravity

2009-07-15T20:10:00.001-04:00

In the works

2009-07-06T18:52:00.002-04:00

KIDS

2009-06-26T15:12:00.011-04:00

The playlist

clicky^

If you like music, real music, made with passion and genuine emotion, then this is for you. I wanted to do this for a while and never got around to it, but I finally did... obviously. I made this playlist called "kids". I suppose none of them are really "kids", but they're all young, and that's the idea here. This is real music, so do yourself a favor and give it a listen, feel free to share it with someone.<

Tom Chorba
Pittsburgh, PA
Folk / Country-ish rock
Local kid. Went to school with him. He was prom king this year.
We still need to play together sometime. When I found his music
I was like "damn, he's better than me", then I tried harder.
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/tomchorba

DOC SH!T
Pittsburgh, PA
Drum & bass punk / experimental stuff
Has a split CD with the French band The Zombos. He's One of my best buddies, plays a bunch of instruments, and cranks out a lot of good shit. Check out Filter 4
& Sam witch, two other projects of his.
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/dogshytt

Guice Mann
Willowick, OH
Guaranteed to be some of the weirdest music you've ever heard.
Fun and insane, repetitive screaming or rap. Gotta love the Guice Mann. He makes dope shoes, crazy music, and crazy videos.
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/guicemann

Nonnsha
Victorville, CA
If Karen O went solo... she'd wish she was this good.
Extremely talented 16 year old girl who records songs in her room.
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/cerealinabowl

Orantilo
Victorville, CA
Strange & wonderful, kind of indescribable.
Core member is Nonnsha's brother.
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/orantilo

Submales
Saint Louis, MO
Um, If Nirvana was an eerie, post-punk, psychedelic, no wave band.
Latest group from Flea Mcgruff. If you dig it, then check out Mouth Forest, and Chemicable.
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/submalesmusic

Fairy boy
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Folk-punk
He is a really passionate dude from canada.
Saw him live once, and it was really inspiring.
He comes through PGH all the time, so go see him.
You can download his music in the "sounds like" section of his myspace. Also check out Mogli and Faceplant
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/fairyboyfairyboy

Story.
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Folk
A girl, also from Halifax, who plays accordion, and sings. Saw her live, she's really good. Usually tours around with Fairy boy and other Halifax kids.
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/storysong

Jack Carter
Atlanta, GA
Folk
He now resides in the ATL, but he used to live in Winston-Salem, NC.
Was in a band called The Scurvies, they are long-gone. He sent me lots of the old stuff they did. Pretty big inspiration when I started recording my own music. He is making great folk music now, with various people in Atlanta. Checkout the Subterranean bums, and Trip Costas
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/jackgunnn

The Coffee & TV wreck
Southeast UK
Acoustic, kind of poppish
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/thecoffeeandtvwreck

Kathryn Brawley
Memphis, TN
Folk / soul / country
She definitely has one of the best voices ever.
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/kathrynbrawley

Tom Duch
Pittsburgh, PA
Acoustic Folk-punk
A local. I was at his first show.
Go see him play at someone's house if you can.
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/tomduch

Can't sing for shit
Lisboa, Portugal
Slightly punkish, acoustic tunes
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/cantsingforshit

The Black Elevators
Kent, Ohio
Psychedelic, gothic, punk... kind of like The Stooges meet Joy Division
They have some downloadable songs on their myspace.
Once told me that one of my songs was "brilliant" -- Huge compliment.
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/theblackelevators

The Systemaddicts
Adelaide, Australia
Garage & punk... like, Horrors meet the Mummies, but more punk sounding. Their top friends are the members, and other bands they are in.
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/thesystemaddictsadelaide

John Barrett's Bass Drum of Death
Oxford, MS
grimy, bluesy, garage noise
Was one-man band style, not sure if it is now or not.
Cats purring & Fat Possum put out his records.
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/johnbarrettmusic

Natural Numbers
Bedford, IN
Near hardcore.. no-wave, noise, and experimental.
Okay, Just recently this kid has ended this project, but I had to mention it. He's 13, and into bands like No age, Times new viking, and old stuff like My bloody valentine. He makes this shit himself, and it's pretty damn impressive.
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/nnnoises

RX-78-2

2009-06-22T03:42:00.001-04:00

They built a gundam...

2009-06-15T13:18:00.001-04:00

*Cough
*Cough

Coco

2009-06-04T23:17:00.002-04:00

VI. III. MMIX.

2009-06-03T21:23:00.003-04:00

The rain is off and on, and summer is creeping in, ya know. I spent today in my room trying to record a song, I didn't finish it. But after I do, I have two more I need to do, then I'll have like 9 songs for the CD I'm gonna put together. I've been thinking about how to do the art work. I could probably inquire about it at school, since they print shit there, but I'm not that kinda guy, so I'll jsut end up doing it myself somehow. The printing, I mean. I'd like to make a little booklet, but thats probably not going to happen. I was doing some drawings for it over the past few weeks. Um, I'm looking forward to shaving my face. ...playoff beard. Yeah. Um, I'm looking forward to this quarter of school being over. I absolutely detest school. I don't want to go to school any more. I'm so far behind on my work it's ridiculous, I don't know how I am going to get everything done for next week. It's gonna be hell. I'm thinking about taking my money out of the bank and buying a new car too. I don't know what kind really, as long as it's nice and has 4 doors, and a CD player or aux input. I'd like to go back to work, so that I could possibly rent this house from my uncle, and also just to have some money, since I am practically broke. I really miss being in High school again. Not school so much, but the time. If I had homework I didn't want to do, well, I just didn't do it. It really made no difference. I didn't mind going to school, and when I came home I was alone and had time to record songs all day, or I would walk around with my friends. No more. I hate this. I hate this.

2009-05-25T23:04:00.001-04:00

Primary Colours

2009-05-07T20:29:00.006-04:00

After two long years the Horrors have returned with their sophomore album, "Primary Colours". Every review you'll read says the same thing: the Horrors have reinvented themselves. That is quite true, the new album is much different from their debut record, Strange house (2006). I wouldn't say the change is good, or bad- it's just a change. I've listened to the album a few times now, I think it's really great, and I hope for their next release they go yet again in another direction. The singles have been excellent choices so far as well, my only beef is that the first single, "sea within a sea", was the album closer. It just seemed kind of an odd pick. Anyway, If you have any spare cash, I'd suggest going and picking up a copy for yourself. Check out thehorrors.co.uk for the video to the second single "Who can say".

For a better..review: GO HERE

LOL

2009-05-04T13:52:00.001-04:00

Lick my sock.

KOL

2009-04-24T18:22:00.005-04:00

Alright, saw Kings of Leon on Wednesday. They were so damn good. Like, I went there expecting them to have a difficult time pulling off all the sounds on the albums and, It was just so much better. I was quite surprised. The Opening band, by the way, were the Walkmen, they were good as well, I was happy they played "the rat", that song is killer. Anyway, Kings played for almost 2 hours (counting the encore). They had a good mix of songs from all 4 albums, which was cool. I still don't have "only by the night", so I didn't know a few of the new songs they played, besides the singles, which I don't like, but Sex on fire was better live, and Use somebody was actually great. But some highlights for me were:

+Four kicks & Charmer, back to back, I mean, that was just the fucking best.
+The crowd singing like every word to every song. I was surprise everyone knew most of the older stuff. This was especially great when we were singing the backing "Oh-Oh-Oh-OH-Ohhh-oh" to knocked up, during the encore. That song is seven minutes long, and they played it even longer, and it was just great.
+Black thumbnail, during the encore, when Caleb kicked the mic stand off the stage. It might sounds cheesy, but I always wanted to see a band do that for some reason, and so that was killer for me. hahaha.

I was hoping they'd play king of the rodeo, and ragoo, but there's always next time. It seemed like they had a good time, and I expect them to actually come back to Pittsburgh. Which is good. I'm glad people besides me like them here, so they'll come back. Lots of bands I see here, no one else seems very interested and they never come back through.

Photos: Andy Thompson.

buzz

2009-04-20T23:01:00.002-04:00

I've been surviving on Keebler's fudge stripes, and pretzels. I don't know how. We've been having a fire every weekend, and that's nice. The penguins are in the playoffs, those games are fun to watch. Tim & Eric season 4 is over, sadly. I don't have anything exciting to talk about on here, as usual. Adieu.

<3

2009-04-06T07:07:00.001-04:00

To the Dregs!

2009-03-30T18:19:00.003-04:00

I slept till 6pm today. Haha, I don't care mannnn, I don't care. Not like I have anything to do. Everyone is home on Mondays anyway, so I don't record shit on Mondays. I'm just watching the travel channel, and I'm gonna drain the main vain, and then I'm going to eat pretzels and drink cola all day. My car is still broke, haha. Screw it. I don't wanna go to school again. Party on Wayne. Party on Garth.

Giggle drops, mabye in a bowl or scumthin.

2009-03-26T23:59:00.003-04:00

Baaaaah. I'mmmmmm sooo Booored. I could've went for my sleeping record today. My record is 17 hours. Today I slept from 12:30am to 4pm. I woke up twice though, well three times, I got up-up the third time. Fuckin' the mail man doesn't know where my house is? he wrote that on the form in the mail box, so I don't have my new shoes that I should have. That's fuckin lame. He's probably some newfag. My wavves record should be here to. what the hell. I cut my hair a little bit, and i like it. I can't take sitting in my room much longer. I have one light bulb too, maybe thats why it's so bad. It's dim, I hate it. I need new light bulbs. Um Um, I was trying to sculpt this character of this creature I 'drew', named Swanson, that's going pretty slow. I'm on break. I need to record songs. I need to order kings of leon tickets. I want to go to totally wired fest. The Office was crazy tonight. Who watches The Office? ..you. you. you-ok yeah- then you guys know what I mean. Charles is a dick. Michael and Pam starting a new company?! Oh man, it's gonna be good. I need food. bye.

Oh wait, so there's this movie coming out october 16th, maybe you read the book? ... WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE. Gonna be the bes movie ever. The monsters are not CGI :]

pretzels

2009-03-15T23:16:00.002-04:00

I finally made a red baron pizza in my toaster oven without burning it. I'm pretty happy about that. I wanted to fucking see Blank Dogs today, but that did not work out, and I'm pretty disappointed about that. I've been living at Chris's house since Thursday. I bet resident evil 5 with eric and bowled two times. and went to the cheap theater twice. haha, there's not much to do around here. Im really glad my classes are about over, but not at the same time. I only get like a week off then I have like 5or 6 classes instead of 4, and I go 3 days instead of 2. Pretty lame, I'm gonna be miserable the whole time, I'm sure. I need aluminum foil. bye bye.

I need this!

2009-03-05T11:20:00.000-05:00

Thee end, my friend...

2009-02-20T09:10:00.005-05:00

Damn, Tonight is the last episode of late night (16 years/ 2725 shows) I'm going to be really sad about it. Sure Conan will be getting the tonight show, in June, but it won't be the same. I hope it is. Maybe it will be since Leno is staying on nbc @ the 10 o'clock spot, maybe his audience will follow him there. I read an interview from a few days ago with Conan and he said that he didn't plan on changing things very much, the show is a reflection of the host, and that he is just trying to do the funniest show he can do (source:http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29211223/). I hope that is all true. Late night has served my nocturnal-ass well over the years, providing laughs every night. I think Carson Daly should have got the late night spot, he's been doing last call for 5 years now. I know a lot of people don't like his show, but it's been getting better. If not him, then Jon Stewart, but not Jimmy Fallon. That's weak.

2009-02-15T21:42:00.001-05:00

A bunch of hair

2009-02-07T04:28:00.004-05:00

scaring me
me scaring me scaring me

crazy kids fake their deaths
and move away

for what for who and why and when
do they win or do they lose
I know I do I do I do I do

its stupid but Its the way it is
thats the way it was maybe
i wasn't alive, so im honestly not qualified to call the shots

punches or kicks
its just stupid
its stupid

Things have been good.

2008-12-07T17:54:00.002-05:00

School is somewhat retarded, I mean I don't mind it when I'm there, it's just the commute is annoying as fuck, and I hate homework so goddamn much. I don't like talking about school, so that's all I'm going to say about that.
I've been trying to write some new songs, for the next album I'm putting together. Well I'm actually working on 2 simultaneously, 'The Putrid Sound' & 'The Rise and Fall of VHS', they are 2 pretty different pieces. Besides the music being different, Putird is much more personal, VHS is sort of a concept album, the songs not having any real connection to me, it's more for fun, and experimenting. I think the will both be really cool when I finish them. I expect to be done with 'Putrid' in around June 2009, and VHS maybe a little later, but who knows.
I don't have to much else to talk about.

Later

2008-11-21T19:22:00.001-05:00

I forgot about this...
Until now...

2008-11-05T20:43:00.001-05:00

Stupid things

2008-10-20T19:17:00.003-04:00

-lost my phone
-got a phone
-been seeing them movies
-been going to that school
-drove my car around white oak
-sleepy

Me

2008-10-10T20:08:00.004-04:00

Back to school. I don't wanna talk about that though. My grandma made me rice crispy treats and they're boss. They go good with Dr.Pepper. I've been trying to record some new music today, but I didn't get anything done, because I suck. I've been up since 10:30 and ain't done shit. I ate veggie dogs, and shaved. That's it. God, I'm boring. I suck. My car isn't here so I can't really go anywhere either. Not that I even care to. It's like, I don't care about not doing anything, but I do, but then I don't. I suck. What am I doing? I don't know. I don't know what I want to do. I'm listening to the Smiths, that's what I'm doing. I was going to go to the homecoming game at EF, but I'm not, because Ryan's not going. I don't care, really. It would've been something to do. I could do homework, but that's just drawing 7 shapes in perspective, and that's not fun. It's like, If I'm not doing something fun, I don't want to do anything at all, and I'm currently not doing anything at all, which isn't fun, which makes me not want to do anything at all, including something fun. But that's not how life works, you can't just have fun all the time. I guess I'm not good at life then? Maybe I'll be good at death. Although, everyone probably is, because it's easy. Also, it's probably not fun. It's not anything, really. It's basically what I do almost all the time. That's kinda sad isn't it? It's like, I'm dead, except I'm not. I'm like a zombie. I'm the living dead. I'm an oxymoron. Fuck.

The Universe...

2008-09-30T17:27:00.005-04:00

The First Ten Million Millennia or So
Don L. Anderson

n the "beginning," nothing
No time, no space, no matter.
No energy, no strings
nothing.
not even a point, not even a void
nothing

No laws of physics
no myths, no gods;
nothing, absolutely nothing

Then, a singularity ...
Call it a bang, call it a Big Bang, call it light, call it God.
Perhaps a thought.
In the beginning, the Laws of Logic begat the Laws of Physics.
The rules.
From Nothing, expansion,
false vacuums, phase changes, beginning of time, and space.
Potential for something, Everything.
Energy, potential.
Waves, strings;
vibrating strings
monopoles, sheets, threads
webs.

From the void, chaos
out of vacuum, Genesis...

Click here to view the whole thing.

---------------------

"It is almost irresistible for humans to believe that we have some special relation to the universe, that human life is not just a more-or-less farcical outcome of a chain of accidents reaching back to the first three minutes, but that we were somehow built in from the beginning. ... It is very hard to realize that [the earth] is just a tiny part of an overwhelmingly hostile universe. It is even harder to realize that this present universe has evolved from an unspeakably unfamiliar early condition, and faces a future extinction of endless cold or intolerable hear. The more the universe seems comprehensible, the more it also seems pointless. ... The effort to understand the universe is one of the very few things that lifts human life a little above the level of farce, and gives it some of the grace of tragedy."
--Steven Weinberg, The First Three Minutes

Die Kreuzen

2008-09-26T01:57:00.001-04:00

This band is pretty thrashy, kinda sloppy, but I've been watching the youtube videos a lot.

Weird scenes inside the gold mine

2008-09-24T03:25:00.010-04:00

The days go quick. I wake up, I sit, then it's dark, and everyone around me is playing dead, and I'm still sitting. I'm bored, and boring, and lonely, and alone. And that's just the way it is, and I'm afraid that's the way it's gonna go. I don't know what to do with my time. I could get a job, once I figure out a steady schedule for school. I've been on break from school by the way. I go back in early October. Still staying at home. I mean I'm so like confused on what I wanna do. I need to meet people. But I don't care to. It's just terrible... I hardly ever see my friends anymore, and it's terrible, I miss them all.

Autumn is here, officially. Down with the leaves, up with the Halloween decorations. Devil's night, TP'ed houses, candy, costumes, fun times, cool breezy weather. I enjoy the Fall. New TV show seasons start, back to school (well, not anymore, but that was something I liked about it), and of course, as I mentioned, Halloween. Well, August was one of the worst months ever, and September wasn't all that better. I don't know what the future holds, but I hope its better times.

I got a few albums the other day, and today; Santogold, Jay Reatard's 2 albums, and an CD of prison blues & songs recorded live at the mississippi & louisiana state penitentiaries. I love them all, the Santogold album is really great especially. I got new shoes too, they're pretty cool, white leather "jazz" shoes, hah.

As for my own music... I've been writing and recording bits here and there, and it's picking back up. I have a few really neat guitar bits, and some cool ideas for the next CD I make. I probably will be done with it by the summer next year. I might even have 2 CDs, because I want the songs to flow together well, and really feel like a real album. So if I have some good tunes that don't fit, I might put them towards their own thing. I dunno, maybe I'm taking it to seriously? I just like to be organized 'n shit. I wish I could get a band together. Oh well. I'm Listening to the Doors. And out of curiosity, does anyone read this?

Presents! -- here are some super-duper-exclusive song demos, for y'all:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/whpo2c
http://www.sendspace.com/file/nwkyib
http://www.sendspace.com/file/4ih7lo

Party on.

2008-09-08T01:43:00.001-04:00

Tough fuckin' shit.

2008-09-05T19:47:00.002-04:00

I was watching a show about meerkats. It felt life changing. I don't know why. It just did. Then I drank a Red bull, which I learned is made in Switzerland, or at least the can is, so I thought: If I kept the can, I'd have something from Switzerland, without even going. And the other day I had a dream I had a $20, instead of 20 $1's... it was convenient.

September

2008-09-02T20:57:00.002-04:00

Its all static in my attic
And the rest of the house is empty

I haven't been eating good, becasue I haven't been hungry
I'd eat pizza if it was around. Becasue I'd eat pizza forever.
I'm feeling Fox's right now, they got good shit.

I've gotten back to recording and stuff, which is nice
I'm really sick of being inside, but there's not really anything
for me to do outside. Still though, I'd rather sit out there and be bored
than in my room.

Uhg.
Strange.

Sup?

2008-08-28T18:52:00.005-04:00

Nothing much, just hating life.

Oh boy, oh boy.

2008-08-24T17:03:00.003-04:00

I started college last week. Orientation was Wed. Had class on Thurs. & Fri. I get up at like 6AM, go down to Mckeesport, catch the bus, get to school at quarter after 7, sit around in the lobby kinda area 'til like almost 8, Then I go to Fundamentals of Design, which runs from 8 - 12:20, then I have a 40 min. break, then I go to drawing from 1 - 5:20, then I catch the bus back to E-town, get home at like 6:30. Long fucking days. Um, I got my license on Saturday. That's cool, it's nice to be able to come and go as I please. I finally got With the lights out (A box set of Nirvana demos, and rare recordings). So, life's been alright...

Ramblin': 3

2008-08-15T00:05:00.003-04:00

Everything is stupid. Life is stupid. Nothing is exciting. I'm sick of these places around here; Boston, Olympia, Elizabeth, Buena Vista. Stupid fucking places. I'm sick of car dealerships, and fast food joints, and grocery stores. And I'm sick of every adult around here working to live, and living to work. Seriously if my life becomes that when I grow up, I hope I die. There's more to living than just surviving.

Ramblin': 2

2008-08-13T14:35:00.004-04:00

I went to the New American Music Union on the 8th & 9th. Good times were had. I took my drivers test the other day, I screwed up parallel parking, so I didn't pass. Im taking it again soon. I was bummed. I had weird dreams last night. I've drank a ton of iced tea in the last few days. College is getting closer. I'm not excited. It's terrible. I don't know if I'm staying there for the whole time, or for part of the time. I kinda want to rent this house my uncle is fixing up. I'm gonna need to get a job, so I can pay for car bills, shelter & utilities (depending), and loan payments. I wish I was going back to highschool. There's just a nostalgia about it I love, and it was fun, and easy anyway. Oh, well. Life goes on.

Red book.

2008-08-06T17:20:00.002-04:00

I got a new sketch book, it's big. I'm very happy about it.

Summa Bumma.

2008-08-01T23:18:00.002-04:00

July was kind of stupid.
I Hope August is better.

In the works.

2008-07-25T17:47:00.003-04:00

The Putrid sound

mentally snowed in
leave me alone
make a believer out of me
sleepy head
notebooks
in a box
black hole heart

"got a light"
"empty locket"
"I don't know"
"changes"
"I can't take it"

&Various covers

Ramblin': I

2008-06-27T23:26:00.003-04:00

I ain't really got anything important to say, just felt like typing on here. Just been chillin' with my homies, enjoying the summer. Had my grad party last week, that was pretty fun. I got a bunch of money. I'll probably buy some jeans and some records, save the rest. Well no, I gotta' get some new musical gear, but then I'll save the rest. It's been hard for me to fall asleep at night. For some reason I start thinking of too many things. And sometimes I'm jealous and I feel like I'm gonna puke, but I don't. Everything is fine. I'm going to see Modest mouse on the 30th. I gotta get back to the dentist soon, to get my filling fixed, that's gonna freakin' suck. I thought about going through with getting braces, it's just that, it's going to affect my voice, and it's gonna hurt. I dunno if wanna go through with it, but my teeth suck, it's probably worth it. I'm pretty full. Today is boring.

Wrap up & Music of the week: II

2008-06-15T00:30:00.004-04:00

Monday, my dad drove Harry and I to Columbus to see the Black lips and The Raconteurs. I had a good time, all the people there kinda sucked, no one really seemed to care about the Black lips, which was disappointing, The Racs' played too many of their new songs, which was also disappointing. Overall I enjoyed it though. Tuesday, I went to The Art Institute to take placement tests and talk about costs and aid and such. Wednesday, I went to Kennywood with Harry, Chris, Ryan, Luke, and Eric. It was pretty hot but, it was fun. Thursday, Chris & I went to see Lightspeed champion at the Warhol museum. Walked around town for a few hours and ate first. The concert was really nice, and really good, the opening band Sonji were good too. I must say that was one of my favorite concerts ever. Friday, Got up late, went to the movies with Ryan, Kirst, Alysha, & Luke. We saw The happening, it sucked. Then we hung out for a little while after that. Saturday, Ah, I chilled at my mom's house, watch movies, played with Kyley, went to the mall. And now it's Sunday... gonna go to the movies later and see the Hulk.

Music of the week: II

Band/Artist:Lightspeed Champion
Album:"Fever to tell" by Yeah yeah yeahs
Song:"500 channels" by Choking Victim
Video:"Reagan" by Whirlwind Heat

Music of the week: I

2008-06-08T15:01:00.004-04:00

Band / Artist:Black Tarantulas!
Album:"The Terrordactyls" by The Terrordactyls
Song:"Frustration" by Painted Ship
Video:"Magic Fly" by Space

(Click the links for more)

School's out, forever

2008-06-06T00:50:00.002-04:00

Today is the last day of school. I must admit, I'm not as thrilled as I thought I'd be. It's a little sad really, to me, to realize that I won't be going on any more field trips, or be attending stupid/hilarious pep assemblies, having funny lunch time antics, and all the other various things. And, yeah, theres been some bad times, and some embarrassing moments, and some up-and-downs with grades, and such, but the good times outnumber that shit, and were even better because of it. I feel weird about it ending. Sometimes it feels like I didn't make the most of it, because I probably didn't, but I suppose I shouldn't think about it that way. School has been an inspiration to many of the songs I write, is responsible for me meeting my best friends, a large amount of other relationships and/or socializing I've been part of, learning, changing, a million inside jokes, and much more. And now it's done, and I'm on my own, and it's strange, and kind of scary, and it's the rest of my life.