people always told me be careful what you do

Better things to do on the internet than read (or write) my blog:

Know Your States ~ Being a geography game, this one's kinda nerdy, but my brother turned it into a competition. I'm currently in the lead with a perfect score in 107 seconds.

Relationship Chart ~ Also on the nerdy side, but if you understand graphs better than you do relationships, you'll appreciate this.

The Cryptic Canvas ~ You have to look at the pictures and figure out what movie title they represent. It's supposed to be great movies of the last 20 years, but some of them probably wouldn't be considered great by anyone's standards.

50 Comedies ~ Similar to the last link, but only comedies. Also, a lot of them are very recent comedies that didn't do all that well, so I imagine this puzzle would be near impossible for someone trying it 10 years from now.

Circle the Cat - Looks pretty tough at first, but once you get the hang of it, it's not so bad. This was also from my brother Brodie.

And on a sad note, RIP Michael, Farrah, and Ed.

i like to rock and roll all night...and part of every day

So the last 3 years since college haven't been a particularly eventful time in my life, but this week I changed that by watching 12 movies in 8 days...including a full-on Terminator marathon. Blockbuster had a deal where you could get unlimited movies for a week for $10 and I felt obligated to take full advantage of it. Anyway, here's the results:

The Terminator ~ A- ~ Great movie for its time, but 25 years later, it seems a little dated. I like the more serious tone than the other movies and it does a good job of taking a pretty standard sci-fi movie and making it more interesting to the general public.

Terminator 2: Judgement Day ~ A ~ This is sort of the terminator movie that the other terminator movies get judged by. It's a good summer blockbuster that still has some dignity and credibility to it.

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines ~ B- ~ The difference between 3 and 2 is similar to the difference between 2 and 1, but more so and it ruins the movie. It has a decent premise and I liked the ending, but there's way too many dumb action scenes and stupid one-liners to keep this one respectable.

Terminator Salvation ~ A- ~ It got surprisingly bad reviews, but I liked it a lot. It had a good plot that keeps the terminator franchise worth watching, and several great actors giving intense performances. I'm sure I could find some problems with it on the second watch, but my first impression was very positive.

Taken ~ A ~ After seeing the previews, it looked like one of those generic action movies that would slip through the cracks and you'd never hear about again, but it was great. Liam Neeson should be Jason Bourne and Jack Bauer's dad. The movie actually plays out similar to a season of 24, so if you're a fan of the show, you should check it out.

Valkyrie ~ A- ~ I wanted to see this one in theaters and never got around to it, so I'm glad I finally rented it. It's less of an action movie than the previews made it out to be, and more of a political thriller. Even as someone who is incredibly bored by the mention of a historic fact, I enjoyed this one a lot.

Chaos Theory ~ B ~ I'll admit it...I have a man-crush on Ryan Reynolds, so I'll watch anything with him in it. He's entertaining and funny in this, but overall the movie isn't anything memorable.

Role Models ~ A ~ I also have a man-crush on Paul Rudd, but even without Paul Rudd, this is a good movie. It's not a family-friendly movie, but as far as recent vulgar comedies go, this might be my favorite.

Step-Brothers ~ F ~ Looked like it had potential from the cast and previews, but I turned it off halfway through. On the plus side, It contained the most unusual DVD special feature I've ever heard of: "Commentary with Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Adam McKay, special guest NBA star Baron Davis and Scored by Jon Brion".

Gran Torino ~ B+ ~ Even though I didn't have much interest in seeing this movie, I assumed it would be really amazing, but I actually didn't think it was anything that great. It was a decent story and Clint was good, but the other acting was pretty bad and the writing was sketchy in parts. And Clint, if you're trying to create a sentimental, heart-touching moment at the end of a movie, don't put in a song on the soundtrack where you're singing. It's just silly and kinda confusing.

In Bruges ~ B+ ~ Colin Farrell is always entertaining, especially when he's using his own accent, but this dark comedy could have been slightly less dark and slightly more comedy. I've already started liking it more though the more I think about it.

Funny Face ~ B ~ Audrey Hepburn's pretty cool, but this movie didn't really have much central conflict to keep the plot interesting. It was more just a showcase for singing and dancing. I watched it while laying on the grass in a cemetery though, so maybe I didn't catch everything.

pretend every slot machine is a robot amputee waving hello

Looks just like the real New York City...I assume the subway system looks like a giant roller coaster from far away.





There's something exciting about seeing the Statue of Liberty, a castle, and a palm tree all next to each other. Plus, if you spin in a circle, you'll also see the Eiffel Tower, a giant lion, and a pyramid.



Potential Difference on the set of Soul Cat with Jorge Garcia.


It's unfortunate how I can go weeks without anything interesting or blogworthy happening to me, and then all of a sudden, several things will happen in a short amount of time. The past week or so has been full of new experiences and little sleep. It started last Wednesday, when Potential Difference followed in the paths of crossover greats such as wil.i.am in X-Men Origins: Wolverine or Sugar Ray in Scooby-Doo 2 by stepping into the movie business. Through a friend of a friend, we were invited to play a band at a frat party in the movie Soul Cat starring Jorge Garcia (Hurley from LOST...or more importantly Hector from Becker.) It was a long night, and we spent the first 8 hours just standing around waiting, but it was fun. We filmed our scenes with Jorge around 1:30 am and got to talk to him a bit in between scenes. He seems like nice guy. We also played some basketball behind the frat and took pictures here and there. Eventually, we finished showcasing our poor acting abilities and packed up our stuff in time to go to sleep at 5am for a few hours before going to work the next day.

A couple days later, I packed my bags and drove to Las Vegas for the weekend. Growing up, Vegas was sort of a second home to me. I was baptised there, I spent many holidays there, and the majority of the Carroll side of my family lives there. However, I went against the usual trend, and stopped going to Vegas around the time I hit college. So after a few years of absence, I made my return with all of my immediate family to attend my cousin's wedding. It ended up being a lot of fun. This was one of the only trips where we stayed at a casino (New York New York) and got more of a balance between family time and the more traditional Vegas time. Although I'm still not all that into the "Vegas time" part, I can understand it a little better now. Staying in a hotel/casino is like having a party at your house where you can drink and stumble up to your room whenever you want without having to worry about cleaning up after the other guests. In the end though, I spent more money on donuts and pizza than drinks, and after several hours of gambling came up one dollar short, so you shouldn't rely on me too much for a proper analysis of Las Vegas.

PS - I bought the new Phoenix album after hearing them for the first time on SNL. It's pretty good. Check them out.

PPS - I watched the movie Kate & Leopold the other night. It's not an amazing movie or anything, but it does give further explanation on the history between Wolverine and Sabretooth.

i don't feel like titling today

I think a few big events have happened since the last post. For one, Potential Difference played another show, this time at Joe's Joint near Beverly Hills. Overall, it was a good experience. It started off as a pretty lazy Sunday which I spent sitting around the house in my pajamas re-watching some old TV shows. Eventually, I got dressed in the late afternoon and met up with the rest of the band to go to the club. It was a nice little place with a very friendly staff and not much pressure. Despite that, I still managed to make pretty major mistakes on just about every song, but most people didn't seem to notice much though since the sound wasn't too clear. We played a few new songs, took some pictures in the hidden lounge, and hung out with the headliner Funk the Band. I'll try to put up a few pictures when I get them.

In other news, I went to see the Wolverine movie with John Paul and Liiiz after several months of anticipation. When I first heard they were making a movie just about Wolverine, I didn't have much interest. What really drew me in was the extensive cast of supporting mutants, and in the end, they're what made the movie in my opinion. Wade Wilson and Gambit in particular (but also Agent Zero, Wraith, the Blob, Bolt, Emma Frost, young Cyclops, etc.) were really fun to watch and could have used a lot more screen time. That being said, I just heard they're moving forward with a Wolverine sequel and a Deadpool solo movie, so we'll see how those go.

As a celebration, I went to 7-11 and got a Gambit slurpee cup. If they made a Wade Wilson one, I'd buy several of them, but unfortunately, I don't think that's going to happen. Also, I'm a little disappointed that they're making Terminator slurpee cups with no John Connor. When I was a kid, I could never find those personalized license plates or toothbrushes with my name, so I was hoping this would be my opportunity to start buying a bunch of John Connor crap. I guess I'll have to wait a little longer.

the 6 o'clock alarm would never ring...

Happy Easter, ya'll. I used to be a fan of Easter when I was little, but it's become a little more tedious as I've gotten older. Of course, the spiritual implications are great, but as far as the holiday rituals go, it's not the best holiday. Basically, it's Thanksgiving (my least favorite major holiday) minus the time off of work. Plus, this year, my mom wanted to go to a sunrise church service, so it's been an extra long day. I made it through the morning with the breakfast of champions (a Pop Tart and a Red Bull), but I'm starting to wear down right about now. I'll probably end up crashing and taking a nap right when our company gets here for dinner, but I'm fine with that.

In other news, Potential Difference is returning to the stage two weeks from today, April 26th at 9pm. The show is at a little bar in West LA called Joe's Joint (formerly The Joint.) I've never been there before, but it should be a good show. If you want to go, just show up and tell them you're there to see Potential Difference. Admission is $7.

And speaking of P Diff, happy birthday to Kim tomorrow.

sweet, sweet hangin'

Nothing new to report... just thought I'd check in. Happy belated St. Patrick's Day, and thanks for all the birthday wishes. I didn't really do much this year since my family's saving up for a vacation, so we stopped doing the whole present thing. Instead, I ate a lot of excessive meals with people that week and ended of feeling pretty gross for a while. Other than that, I've been just been watching March Madness and seeing some movies here and there. Quick reviews:

Watchmen ~ B ~ I congratulate the movie on being able to take such a bizarre comic and turn it into a really captivating movie with a great deal of realism among the fantasy. The special effects were good enough to never take you out of the mindset, but a few plot points seemed a little weak and none of the characters were very likeable to me. My main criticism is that Zack Snyder seems to think slow motion is the answer to everything, and I disagree. The DVD's for this and 300 should include an option to play all scenes at normal speed.

I Love You, Man ~ B- ~ It had several good laughs and plenty of funny actors, but for the most part, it was kinda disappointing. I'll see anything with Paul Rudd at least once though.

In concert news, there's a lot of good stuff coming up. Let me know if any of you are going to any of these:

The Shins - Hollywood Palladium - May 10
Death Cab w/ the LA Phil - Hollywood Bowl - July 5
Coldplay - Home Depot Center - July 18
U2 - Rose Bowl - Oct 25

in my dreams, i'm off and running

I guess nothing blogworthy has happened to me since the leak of the U2 album. But that in itself is a good summary of how things are going right now. Not a lot of excitement these days aside from new music and movie releases. Tonight, for example, my parents went out partying with their friends while I stayed home and watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind again with Duffy. I haven't seen it in a few years, but it's still one of my favorite movies ever...and now more so since I realized Tobias from Arrested Development is in it.

Speaking of dreams (or movies about dreams, rather), I haven't had many interesting dreams to report lately. I did have another Terminator-related dream where I was being chased through DC alongside Sarah Connor, Cameron the robot, and Jim from the Office, but I don't remember enough details to get into that. What I do remember is that I don't like this whole time change business we went through last week. Every morning I wake up an hour earlier than I should be and take out my anger on my alarm clock. It's like the scene in 40-Year-Old Virgin where Steve Carrell's character cusses out the lady waxing his chest for no real reason. I know the alarm clock is only trying to help me...and I'm the one who gave it the order to wake me...yet I still hate it so much.

PS - Happy Pi Day

force quit, move to trash

First of all, happy belated Valentimes. I spent this Valentine's Day in a similar fashion to my New Year's Eve...with my dog and a Stuffed Crust pizza...except this time John Paul drove up too to watch the NBA All-Star events and play video games. All in all, I thought the 3-point contest and dunk contest were a little boring this year, but I did appreciate the silly drama and wardrobe changes involved. I think Howard did a fantastic job reviving the dunk contest over the past two years, but this year Robinson earned it.

In music news, U2's new album (due out in March) was leaked recently due to two different online music sites accidentally selling the album too early. I'm not sure how that happened and how many people were fired, but I'm grateful that I got to hear it. That being said, I'm also a little disappointed with this album. Like I said recently about the single, U2 should be making higher quality music at this stage of their career and with 4 years since the last album. The music is still decent as far as modern bands go and the production is very intricate, but as a whole I feel like the songwriting is a little weak on this one...most of the songs are very slow and sleepy with a similar vibe to the Passengers and Million Dollar Hotel albums. Hopefully, it will grow on me with more listens.

Finally, since the part of my brain that makes dreams is working a lot better than the part of my brain that writes songs, here are a couple more amusing dreams since the last post:

1. I went on a road trip with three Stephen Colbert's...one in the passenger seat and two in the back. We stopped at gas station and one of them got out to fill up the tank while the other two argued in the back. I watched and laughed as they presented their arguments over who had a better seat. One was sitting in a large child's seat while the other had torn out the bottom of my seat to add more legroom. The one with the leg room ended up conceding to other one because the child seat could play music. At that point the third Colbert came back from the pump and did his fake angry yell when he realized that we had locked him out.
2. Myself and a couple friends were back in high school and trying to sneak into some large gym where all the "cool" kids were hanging out. It started off Mission Impossible style where we were wearing black, skin-tight clothes and crawling through the vents until we dropped down into a courtyard area where other kids were eating. We then slipped into the gym where we were confronted by all the "cool" kids (skaters who drove big trucks and had spikey hair) and we were kicked out after getting into a big fight. At that point I woke up, but when I fell back asleep, I started back at the beginning and had a second chance at the dream. This time, I realized that all the hot girls were in that outside courtyard area, so I hung out with them instead. This dream probably says my subconscious feels that if I could go back to high school, I would stop trying to be cool and just enjoy the people around me...and go talk to the hot girls.

i could be a ghost

Franz Ferdinand playing a free 9-song set at Amoeba Records in Hollywood.

Three big music-related items to talk about today:

1. As you can see, I saw Franz Ferdinand at Amoeba last week. They played a free show of mostly new songs on Friday to follow up the album release. After getting rejected by everyone in town, I decided to just leave work early and go by myself. The traffic was painful, but I got there 2 and a half hours early to find a line of about 300 people wrapping around the block. I thought about leaving right then, but decided to stick around. I'm glad I did since I got a decent spot for a good show, plus an autographed poster.
2. The Grammy's are tomorrow night. This should be an exciting one with Coldplay, Radiohead, and Death Cab all nominated. I've heard rumors of Coldplay doing Lost+ with Jay-Z, and Radiohead doing something with the USC marching band, but we'll see what happens.
3. Finally, and most importantly, P-Diff has released the first new song in 9 months. It's called "I Could Be a Ghost" and it's a bit more mellow than some of our other ones, so we hope you like it. Please give us some feedback and become a fan on Facebook if you haven't already.

PS - A couple nights ago, I woke up standing in my room across from the bed holding my Independence Day poster in one hand and all the thumbtacks that were holding it up in the other. I don't remember what I was dreaming about that made me feel the need to take it down from the wall.

i live to dream again

"I hate listening to people's dreams. It's like flipping through a stack of photographs. If I'm not in any of them and nobody is having sex, I just don't care." - Dennis, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

I've been having more strange dreams lately, so despite the above sentiment, I feel the need to throw them out there.

1. I was driving home on the 405 and someone in a car in front of me called the radio station I was listening to in order to play some kind of trick on the car next to him. All of a sudden, one car crashed into the other and I crashed into the back of them, getting sent through the window. I went pretty far and had to walk back to my car in traffic, but then woke up when I got there.

2. I went to a Clipper game with my friend Mitch to find that the game had changed greatly since the last time I watched. For one, to add excitement, the Clippers' new mascot was Hellboy and there was now fountains of water shooting out of the backboard and the big TV above center court at all times. Also, the Clippers were playing a team called the Marvel Universe whose mascot was the Incredible Hulk. It was all very strange, but enjoyable.

3. I quit my job to start taking night classes at my old high school. My first class of the night was a jogging class taught by Danny Devito. I sat through about half an hour of introductory lecture, then I had to run a mile. Unfortunately, right when I finished, I woke up and felt extra tired for the rest of the morning.

4. This one is probably the most complex and existential. I woke up in the middle of the day in a house I'd never seen with people I didn't know. I walked around for a bit until I saw myself in a mirror and saw that I wasn't the person I'd known all my life. Then, when I saw the old Connor on TV, I came to the realization that the last 23 years had all just been an intricate dream of being some celebrity. Maybe there's some truth to that one.

when the red man can get ahead, man

Happy Inauguration Day, ya'll. Obama's in office and I'm already seeing change...I got a free donut at Krispy Kreme. I also decided to take the morning off to watch the coverage, so that was nice. It's funny how out of all the great speeches today (particularly Obama's), all the websites seem to be focusing on the minor slip-ups in the oath. I don't see why they have to make a big deal out of that. I think Justice Roberts was just doing a little old-fashioned inaugural hazing by changing the words Obama was supposed to repeat. I'm sure Justice Stevens has plans to teabag Biden at some point too.

Speaking of long-awaited world events, yesterday my favorite band U2 released the lead single off their first new album in 4 years: Get On Your Boots. I have to say I'm a little disappointed. It's not a bad song, and I would probably be really into it if it was from some new indie band, but I feel like it doesn't quite meet the standards of what U2 should be doing. After all the claims of exploring new musical territory, it sounds a bit like Bono spent the day listening to "That's Not My Name" and "Pump It Up" and Edge spent the day playing Guitar Hero, and then they got together and wrote this in 5 minutes. Now, that's not necessarily a bad thing, and I'll accept it for now, but I hope the rest of the album is better.

On the plus side, Coldplay have released a surprisingly good video for Life in Technicolor ii. Whoever made the puppet for Guy probably should have looked at a picture of Guy first though.

explain it to me in star wars...

I had a pretty long spell without any interesting dreams, but recently I've had a few good ones:

Sunday: My friend James Fortner was trying to help the musician Tom Waits make an album for his girlfriend's birthday, so Fortner asked Scott and me to help out. Tom wanted to record all the tracks live, and I didn't really know any of the songs or the chords I was supposed to play, but I managed to improvise pretty well. Also, we didn't have enough guitars, so Scott and I had to trade off during songs sometimes.

Tuesday: I worked a long day at the office, and then packed my things up and went downstairs. When I got to the elevator for the parking structure, there was a big line of people about 40 people long to use the elevator, so I just had to wait there and talk to the building staff guy for a while. Right about that point, I woke up from the dream and realized I was sleeping in my car, just about to start my actual day of work. Needless to say, that day at work felt very long.

Saturday: I was in an episode of 30 Rock. I don't know who my character was supposed to be, but I was walking down the street with Tracy Morgan and we ran into a strange homeless guy played by Dave Chappelle. Also, everything I said seemed surprisingly witty.

A couple weeks ago: I was about to eat a dead, dusty turtle with a fork and knife, and when I cut off the head, a spider ran out. One of the most disturbing dreams I've ever had, so I won't go into any more detail on that one.

Anyway, I just bought a new keyboard and a flat iron, so I'm gonna go be emo for a while and then watch 24 or the Golden Globes.

let's make believe that we are wealthy for just this once

First of all, merry Christmas. Mine was very hectic, but still fun. This year, we had the entire immediate family over, plus a couple friends, so it was spent watching the kids run around and get in trouble while eating tons of holiday-themed junk food.

Secondly, happy new year. I spent this New Year's Eve with my best friend and my true love (my dog Duffy and a stuffed crust pizza, respectively) watching Cloverfield. The movie was actually kinda cool. I think if they'd ditched the silly looking monster and bought the rights to Godzilla instead, it might have been better, but I liked the whole home video gimmick to it. If you haven't seen it, it's worth watching at least once. Looking back at my January 2008 entry, this New Year's Eve wasn't much different from the last one, so maybe I should continue with tradition and summarize the past year...

Work: Still working at the same place. Not the most exciting job, but I'm thankful I have one in this economy.

Friends: Same as last year, except now Sarah's moved away and Scott's always busy. At least I've got the Duffman and my brothers.

Family: No new sisters this year, but I got my first two nieces. I've met both of them now and they seem pretty cool. Hopefully they keep it up as they get older.

Love: Pass.

Hobbies: I think we only released one song in 2008, which is pretty pathetic, but we did play the Knitting Factory which had our largest audience for a ticketed show. 2009 should be a more productive year if we can get over the writer's block. I guess my other hobby is TV. I've been getting into Scrubs and 30 Rock mostly while continuing to follow The Office, Flight of the Conchords, and Terminator. I also had prime seats for Coldplay, the Killers, and Blind Pilot and decent seats for Death Cab this year.

Appearance: I'm somewhere in between Frenchman and caveman right now. Although I am crossing into girl now that I've been getting my hair cut at a salon and I just ordered a flat iron online.

Here's hoping 2009 has some drastic improvements.


Top 5 Albums of 2008:

1. Viva La Vida ~ Coldplay
2. Day & Age ~ The Killers
3. Narrow Stairs ~ Death Cab for Cutie
4. In Rainbows ~ Radiohead
5. 3 Rounds and a Sound ~ Blind Pilot

Honorable Mention: Tonight by Franz Ferdinand and No Line on the Horizon by U2 were both postponed to 2009, but I'm sure they would have been good.

live every week like it's shark week

I finally got some pictures back from P-Diff's show at the Knitting Factory, so here you go:









Hope you're all enjoying the start of the holiday season. I'm a little sick of Christmas in general. It was always my favorite holiday as a kid, and I liked going out and shopping for my family, but then our family kept getting bigger and bigger. A few years ago, we decided to switch over to a gift exchange...which for me, actually pushes Christmas into the negative fun category. I'm still happy though to get some time off work for sleeping, watching movies, and jumping on Brodie's new trampoline.

Anyway, the best KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas lineup I've ever seen is about to ensue in a few minutes (The Cure, The Killers, Death Cab, Franz Ferdinand, Snow Patrol, and Vampire Weekend all in one night.) I thought about going, but it didn't work out, so I'm just gonna kick back and watch the webcast from my bed.

Good luck to everyone in getting through the last few weeks winding down to Christmas and the new year. And if you can think of any amazing gifts for under $30 that anyone in a family gift exchange might want, let me know.

goodnight, travel well...

The Killers on Jimmy Kimmel Live (taken from my not-so-great camera phone):

This has been a very out-of-the-ordinary Thanksgiving week. It started off Monday when I got an email around noon saying I'd won tickets from Indie 103.1 to see a live taping of the Killers on Jimmy Kimmel's show the same day. I called up Scott and left work early to go pick up the tickets and get in line. The security team was pretty rude, but eventually we got inside the gates to the outdoor stage and grabbed positions about 10 feet or so from the stage between Brandon and Mark's spots. We had to stay crammed into this area with people all around us for about 2 hours before the Killers came out, but they made it worthwhile. They played Human and Spaceman for the taping, and then Losing Touch, Neon Tiger, Sweet Talk, When You Were Young, and All These Things That I've Done just for us. Despite all that excitement, the high point of the night may have been when a girl a couple people down from Scott in the crowd tapped him and said, "Are you in Potential Difference?" It turned out to be just another one of Kim's friends, but at least the girl behind us thought we were kinda famous.

Usually I'm not a fan of Thanksgiving (aside from the 2 days off) because I'm not a big fan of Thanksgiving food. Every year, my mom makes a big meal and invites family friends over, and I spend the whole day waiting around to watch people eat a bunch of food. This year, we decided to switch things up and drive down to Carlsbad to eat at my brother's restaurant, Bellefleur. I've praised this place several times on my blog before, and it was awesome once again. I had lamb, swordfish, waffles, bacon, sausage, prime rib, carrot cake, gummi bears, and mimosas, but I still wanted to go back for more.

All in all, it was a good holiday weekend, but this morning brought some bad news. About 12 years ago, my friend Steve bought a black lab and named him Brueggar. Brueggar practically grew up at my house since Steve was often travelling or busy with business dinners and things. I taught him how to swim in our pool and he became good friends with our old dog Whitney. A couple years ago, Brueggar started going blind and had trouble moving around Steve's apartment. He was still happy and was always excited to see me whenever I would house-sit for Steve, but he was always bumping into things and getting nervous about falling off ledges. This morning, he finally started to show he was in pain and Steve decided it was time to put him to sleep. Brueggar was always sort of a step-dog to me, so I'm really going to miss him, but I feel even worse for Steve. As a single guy in his 50's, Brueggar was like Steve's best friend and someone to come home to every night after work, or after long trips away. Brueggar had a good life and a good owner, but sometimes it would be nice if dogs could live forever.

RIP Brueggar

i saw the devil wrapping up his hands

Our first ever office 80's party...well...since the 80's I suppose...

For a guy that claims he never does anything, I've been pretty busy the last couple weekends. To make a long story short, they involved a UCLA game, a comedy club, several stuffed crust pizzas, Smash Bros, a sprained ankle, music recording, a cold, an 80's party, Mario Party, two leaked albums, and a lot of good ice cream.

If you're wondering, the two albums are The Killers' Day & Age and Coldplay's Prospekt's March EP. The Killers' album is one that kinda has to grow on you I think, partly cause it's more mellow and experimental than their previous albums. It comes on very strong in the first 3 songs, but after that it goes in different directions with the sleazy-sounding Joyride and the calypso-sounding I Can't Stay. I'll admit the back half of the album is not quite as memorable as past songs, but Losing Touch, Human, Spaceman, A Dustland Fairytale, and This is Your Life put the album as a whole on the same level with their others.

Coldplay's EP is pretty interesting. It doesn't quite have the catchy singles you'd expect to see on a real album, but all the songs here are very well-crafted and mature, which is probably why they were considered too good to be B-sides. In my opinion though, Lost+ and Lovers in Japan (Osaka Sun Mix) could have used more work to separate them from the original tracks.

Kanye's 808's and Heartbreak is online now too, but I haven't listened enough to give a good review.

Everyone have a good Thanksgiving weekend and let me know if you're in the SCV.

dreamin' of the obama sun

at night they would go walking...

About 75% of our LA office.


Orlando Bloom and Kim Jong Il...the battle we've all been waiting for.

Happy Halloween, everyone. This was a pretty good one overall. I wasn't expecting much participation from the office, but as you can see, it went very well. After work, I went to the West Hollywood Carnival, which wasn't much of a carnival, but it was still pretty crowded and crazy. My two favorite costumes of the night were a girl dressed as Chris Martin and a guy dressed as Tom Cruise in Vanilla Sky.

Go vote on Tuesday.

the lights here are softer than you'd think

The best part of any good hotel is the lazy river.


The Riverwalk area of San Antonio.

I think my travels for 2008 are officially over, but the trip to San Antonio was a lot of fun. I went for a work retreat, but that doesn't mean it was a big weekend of meetings and team-building exercise like everyone always assumes. The days were full of good food, pool hopping, and river cruises; the nights were full of good food, spa hopping, and a little too much drinking. Unfortunately, now we're all back in work mode and waiting for the Thanksgiving holiday.

In other news, the election is getting close. I've never been a super political person, but I feel like I've gotten more involved in this election than previous ones. However, I also feel more annoyed by politics than ever. Between some of my hyper-conservative family members and hyper-liberal friends, I feel like if this is a microcosm of America, then it's no wonder that we end up with politicians who have to hide their true opinions and play into the rash beliefs of stubborn people. With that being said, I'm not doing any good by sitting around and complaining about it, but I'd like to encourage anyone reading this to put some thought into anything you're voting for rather than following the commands "your" party gives you. (However, also keep in mind that about 99% of sources for political information are biased one way or the other.)

Anyway, have a good Halloween and election day.

Things to look forward to in November:

1. Day & Age - The Killers
2. Prospekt's March - Coldplay
3. Two days off for Thanksgiving
4. Quantum of Solace
5. Wall-E on DVD

Honorable Mention: the end of presidential campaigning, 808's & Heartbreak - Kanye West

had a dream you were two towns from me

Connor of Potential Difference and Israel of Blind Pilot

Since I don't have pictures from the P-Diff concert yet, I'll start with the best concert of last week. Friday night, Sarah, Myley, John Paul, and I headed over to Molly Malone's on Fairfax to see Blind Pilot. When we got there, it was a bit crowded for the band before them, but in between bands we were able to slip forward and grab a table in the front half, which we didn't really use since we ended up standing through the whole set. The band was fantastic live with a guitarist, drummer, upright bass player, banjo player, and xylophone player. They played 7 songs from the current album and a couple new ones that made the next album seem very promising. Their bike tour from Portland to Southern California is coming to an end, but you should try to catch them some time before they're famous.

Afterwards, John Paul and I went on a quest for Pizza Hut stuffed crust pizza which failed when we finally found one, but it was closed. Luckily, we fulfilled that quest the next night after helping Scott move stuff from one storage unit to another all day. The stuffed crust pizza played a close second to the Blind Pilot concert as the highlight of my weekend.

Anyway, the Potential Difference concert at the Knitting Factory went very well overall. Playing shows is always somewhat of a pain since they involve about 2 hours of moving gear around and only about half an hour of actual performance. As far as the performance goes though, we were pretty happy with it. It felt a lot better than previous shows we've done, and we had a very friendly audience of at least 60 people, probably more. Hopefully we can put a few more songs together and go out again next month. Pictures when I get them.


PS - I'm going to San Antonio. I'll be back Sunday.

will your system be alright when you dream of home tonight?

I'm sleepy and about to go to bed, but I thought I should say this one last time: Potential Difference is playing the Knitting Factory on Wednesday night. Call me if you want tickets.

In other music news, all my favorite bands are going nuts right now. The Killers played SNL this weekend with the lovely Anne Hathaway hosting. They did a couple songs off the new album and I'm getting pretty excited for that. (You can check out the videos via the Oct. 4th news section here.) Meanwhile, Coldplay announced they're releasing an 8 (9?) song EP next month. Originally, this was supposed to contain some worthwhile songs that weren't put on the last album, but now they've added some real major items such as Life in Technicolor II (the version with lyrics) and Lost+ (a remix of Lost! with Jay-Z on it.) U2 and Franz Ferdinand are also off working on their albums which should be released early next year right around the time the joy of new Coldplay and Killers music starts to fade.

Now time for sleep, work, and practice. Wish us luck.

i'll always love you though, new york

I couldn't decide which pictures from my New York trip to post here because I'm running low on space and I had like 50 to choose from...so I went with only the pop culture related ones. See if you can guess which movie/TV show each one is related to.

Answers:

Big - The FAO Schwartz where Tom Hanks and Robert Loggia danced on the piano.

The Office - Michael's favorite New York pizza joint.

Star Wars - Lego Chewbacca

Flight of the Conchords - Double points for doing the band pose in a bandshell.

Seinfeld - The outside of Monk's Cafe.

So I'm back from New York and it was a blast. This is the first vacation I've ever taken where I felt like I really got a solid understanding of my geography and felt independent enough to explore everything on my own. I was going to run through all the things I saw, but you might as well just go look at my Facebook photo album and you'll see most of it.

if i say i'm an oil man, you will agree

Duff and Scully...the famed crime-fighting doggy duo.


Where I spent another weekend.


Joe was pretty excited about his Peter Pan Halloween costume, so he's wearing it a month and a half early.


And Noelle is still just chillin'.

As you can see, I spent some of my weekend trying to learn how to use my camera. I'm pretty happy with it so far. I especially like that color accent mode that lets you isolate a color and switch everything else to black and white. It makes every picture look like a scene from the movie Sin City. I spent a lot of time following around Travis and Michelle's new dog Scully...named after the Dodgers' Vin Scully, not the female lead in the X-Files...don't worry, we've all pointed that connection out to Trav. Scully's pretty awesome. He's like an arctic Ewok.

The only other thing I did this weekend was watch There Will Be Blood. It was definitely a well-shot and edited movie, and I like the development of Daniel Day-Lewis' character (especially his rivalry with the preacher), but I don't know if I'd really recommend it to many people. It's been growing on me since I watched it though, so that's always a good thing.

Anyway, I'm off to New York this week.


Conversation halfway through There Will Be Blood:
Mom: I thought this movie was supposed to be about the Bloods and the Crips.
Dad: What, where did you get that idea?
Mom: I don't know, that's just what I'd heard about it.
Me: Even after I told you earlier today that it's about an oil baron in the early 1900's.
Mom: Well, I might have heard you say that, but I still thought it was going to lead into the gang wars between the Bloods and the Crips.

(If anyone remembers me telling you a story about my mom saying a similar thing about a different movie, please let me know. I've been trying to figure out what movie it was, but I can't think of it.)

PS - I've got the actual tickets now for the Potential Difference show at the Knitting Factory on October 8th. Please let me know if you want to buy some.

the word's on the street and it's on the news

I'm not one for making quick decisions or major commitments, but this week has been a series of major choices for me.

Thursday: On my drive into work in the morning, I got a call from the Secret Service (Brodie was working the phones this week) wanting me to book a flight to New York for the UN conference. I don't travel that often, and Brodie was kind enough to offer me a place to stay and a plane ticket, so I agreed. I don't really have any big plans, but I'd like to meet up with some friends and maybe see some of those famous NY touristy type things like Madison Square Garden, Central Park, and Times Square.

Friday: I realized that I'd probably be wanting to take some pictures in New York and my camera broke about 2 years ago. Usually, I'd just borrow my parents' camera, but they'll be in Italy, so I just went ahead and bought a new one. It's nothing fancy, but it's an upgrade from the last one I had.

Also Friday: After looking over multiple contracts and offers, Potential Difference decided to book a show at the Knitting Factory. Yep, you heard it here first (unless you've checked the MySpace today or talked to anyone else in the band), we'll be playing the front stage on October 8th. The show starts at 8pm (although we'll be on a little closer to 9pm) and tickets are $10 I think. We'll have the tickets soon, so please let one of us know if you're interested in going.

Today: This might not seem like big news or even blogworthy news to most of you, but I got a haircut. For me, it was an important event since I haven't got a professional haircut in about 6 years, making this my first trip to a haircutting-place since well before I started this blog. My hair was starting to turn into a giant mushroom helmet type object and I could no longer control it on my own. I went to an old friend who now works nearby, but I told her not to cut it too much. You probably wouldn't notice the difference if you saw me, but it definitely feels lighter to me.

Speaking of bizarre twists in my life...I'm reading a book...for fun! When Stephen Colbert first got his own show, I thought it was pretty lame since it was basically a rip-off of the show that made him popular to begin with (The Daily Show.) But recently, I've started to see the brilliance of it and now I've checked out his book from the library. I don't think he'd be too happy about that though since he's made a few mean remarks about those socialist, card-carrying library card carriers.

there's so many adjectives meant for a fugitive

The passport guy told me not to smile.

...so I killed him. On the plus side, the cops let me use my passport photo as the mug shot.



Aside from slowly turning into the guy who shot John Lennon, nothing much has been going on with me. I saw Tropic Thunder with Pat over the weekend. When I saw the previews for it, I put it in the renter category, but then I started getting really excited for it once I read all the amazing reviews over the past week. However, I'd have to say it was about as good as any other comedy. Some funny scenes, some great cameos, but all and all, pretty much what you'd expect to see. I will say that there is one advantage to seeing it in the theater, but I don't want to ruin anything.

I've also been having some strange dreams lately. Last night, I had a dream that I went to England. At the beginning of the dream, I was with my friends and we rented a convertible that could drive itself. This came in handy when we had to duck during multiple high speed shootouts between the cops and gangster cars around us. Somewhere along the way, my friends turned into my coworkers, and then eventually into my family. The rest of the dream was kinda frustrating because I really wanted to get out and see the city since we were only spending one day in England, but my family wanted to stay in and watch TV. Eventually, I got out a little bit and walked around an old run-down neighborhood where I found Colin Meloy of the Decemberists doing a little concert with Brad Pitt on guitar, Robert Downey, Jr. on bass, and a couple other celebrities on the other instruments who I can't remember now. The strangest thing is that Colin Meloy was also in my dream last week, where he was putting on a concert at the mall. I don't even really like the Decemberists. As long as I'm getting free dream concerts, why can't they be from bands I like?