EVIL BRAIN

2008-02-03T00:24:00.001-08:00

out with the old and in with the new.
sorry blogger.
this blog is now being killed off.

check out my new, more aesthetically pleasing site:

HERE

The Greatest Show On Earth!

2008-01-29T22:07:00.000-08:00

The Most Hated Family in America

2008-01-27T20:51:00.000-08:00

I just finished watching this documentary on the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas.
It was put together by the very likable Louis Theroux from the BBC.
I don't even know where to start with these people, really.
They recently lost of $15 million case for picketing a dead soldier's funeral.
And they're known as people with a very warped message, but watching this special was still quite shocking.
We as Americans talk about how dangerous and crazy Islamic extremists are.
But I also think we can benefit from educating ourselves on groups like this one as well.
I suggest watching this (it's about 45 min):

You're Golden Boy Has Returned

2008-01-19T00:28:00.000-08:00

I recently read this interview with Mars Hill pastor Rob Bell, and he talked about how he thinks blogs are kind of a waste of time.
So I'm feeling a little guilty about this, considering that guy is right about most things he says.
Regardless, I have to be loyal to you, my readers.
Because, according to my friend Sepehr, this blog is:

"Things the average 20 something male might be dealing with manifest via my friend Chase."

This Christmas break has been all in all probably the best I've ever.
I have done pretty much everything I wanted to do.
Here's a recap.

Movies watched:
Juno
Cloverfield
There Will Be Blood
Persepolis
3:10 To Yuma
Sunshine
P.S. I Love You (don't ask)
Rope
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
&
Big Love: Season 2
30 Rock: Season 1

Ate Chipotle*:
7 Times

*I didn't literally "eat" Chipotle.

Also:

Went to my first funeral.
Spoke at my first funeral.

Went to NYC.
Walked the Brooklyn Bridge.
Wandered through Central Park.
Went to the Museum of Natural History and Metropolitan Museum of Art
Road the subway A LOT.
Saw the bass player for Interpol.
Spotted Alia Shawkat (a.k.a. "Maeby Fünke").
Etc.

Had the most successful Elf Party of the year!
Injured my knee and suffered the worst rugburn of my life!
Played of lot of Super Mario Galaxy.

Is this getting kinda boring?
Sorry, I'll stop.

Note: NYC trip photo post coming soon.

I am Sky High!

2008-01-06T02:11:00.000-08:00

TRAMPOLINEVILLE!

So, my friends and I have recently discovered a new business in Folsom called Sky High.
The place is pretty obvious, you get to jump sky high there, on one of their numerous trampolines! It's trampolines everywhere! The floors, the walls, everywhere!
The price seems kinda steep ($9/hour), but an hour is plenty of time because, and I don't know if you've done this before, but jumping on a trampoline for an hour solid is exhausting, probably even more exhausting than listening to my ex-wife nagging me about wanting to go the mall (hey, women be shoppin', am I right fellas!?!). ANYWAYS, I recommend going to this place profusely, you will not be disappointed.

I Love the Lack of Homework

2007-12-29T23:32:00.000-08:00

I've been home for over a week now and it has been amazing.
I'm relatively busy though with concerts, movies, parties, Christmas and traveling.
My bed in the guest room at home is almost too comfortable.
I wake up in this cathartic, hypnotic state because of it.
It's like my body doesn't know how to gradually wake up, so I'm walking around the house like a zombie, even if I get 10 hours of sleep.

Christmas was good.
Matt Nantze and I hosted our annual Elf Party and it was legendary!
I should have kept a guest list or something.
There had to be around 50 people at one point, which is a lot considering most everyone stayed crammed in my kitchen.
Matt and I also rented elf costumes this year.
I'll post pictures eventually.

I'm in New Mexico right now.
But I'm home tomorrow for another week then I'm going to New York, which should be epic!
And freezing cold.
I'm just gonna remind myself that the yellow ones don't stop.

I've accomplished most everything I've wanted to do this year.
I did a lot of traveling this year.

Sacramento to Hamliton, ON, Canada
to Portland
back to Canada
then back to Portland
then Sacramento
then Seattle
then Vancouver, BC, Canada
then Sacramento
then San Luis Obispo
then Santa Barbara
& Los Angeles
& San Diego
then Sacramento
& New Mexico
and then back to Sactown again tomorrow.

I plan on traveling even more next year, don't know if that will happen though.

*On a side note, I love hotels with free wireless.

I've watched a lot of movies while being home and I now need to drastically alter my top 10 movies of the year list, and possibly my top 10 music picks. I still haven't gotten to see all the movies I wanted to because unfortunately many of them are still limited release.

I'm almost positive There Will Be Blood is going to be my favorite film of year, which i won't get to see until next year.
I also want to see:

Margot at the Wedding
The Savages
Into The Wild
Southland Tales
Away From Her
The Diving Bell and The Butterfly

Anybody seen any of these films yet?

Lastly, I wanted to give everyone a heads up that I am starting a website with the aid of Dylan and a few other friends. I have really big aspirations for it and a lot of exciting ideas. I'll let you know more about it as stuff formalizes.

Peace!

Time To Start Saving $$$!

2007-12-13T22:13:00.000-08:00

I really need to open an IRA account now.
So here is my potential retirement account if I opened up an IRA this year.
You guys should think about this too.

Here's an example:

Age: 21
Desired Retirement Age: 65
Initial IRA Investment: $5k
Monthly Savings To Invest into IRA Account: $100
IRA Annual Interest Growth: 10 %

Estimated Savings at Retirement: $1,227,139

I'm an idiot for not knowing about this stuff sooner.
The growth is amazing.
If had an initial investment of $5k and invested $200/month (only $100 more than the example above!), at 65 I would have a retirement package of $2,089,825!

That's amazing.
Ok everybody, invest now!
For your own good.

New Classes

2007-12-08T17:32:00.000-08:00

So I'm going to have a pretty decent time next semester.
I just picked my classes:

Spanish 2
Environmental Biology (the easy class for liberal arts students)
Journalism 2A
Eng 46B - British Literature
Drama 18 - Main Styles in Film

It's going to be nice.
The journalism class is for the school newspaper.
& drama class is basically just a study of American and Foreign Film.

+

I don't have class on Fridays.
It's my first time doing that & I couldn't be happier about it.

Revised Movie List & Predictions

2007-12-05T23:24:00.000-08:00

I finally saw Wes Anderson's latest film The Darjeeling Limited.
I loved it.
I loved lots of things about it.
Wes Anderson has yet to disappoint me.

So now that I've checked that film off my list, I feel that I can safely make a list of my favorite movies of the year.
Even though I haven't seen certain films on the list yet, I think I know myself well enough to know the correct order.
But who knows, maybe some films will surprise me.

Top 10 Movies of 2007*

1. The Darjeeling Limited
2. Sunshine
3. Juno
4. There Will Be Blood
5. No Country For Old Men
6. Superbad
7.
8.
9.
10.

*(I've actually yet to decide the rest now that I make this list.)

Does anyone have any suggestions?
What were your favorites?

Hi Parents

2007-12-05T02:01:00.000-08:00

I told my parents to check my blog all the time, but I'm pretty sure I never really post anything that interesting for them to read about my world, so this is my shout out to them.

Hi Mom!
Hi Dad!

Love you both!

Batman! Oh The Anticipation!

2007-12-05T01:59:00.001-08:00

Anybody else excited?

Because Who Doesn't Like Paying $10 To Sit For 2 Hours!

2007-12-03T23:03:00.001-08:00

I'm definitely planning on making a Top 10 Movies List for the year, but there are still several movies that I have yet to see that will surely make it onto my list. So I've made a few lists of for the different categories.

Tentative Top 10 Movies 2007:

No Country For Old Men
Reign Over Me
Superbad
Sunshine
The Bourne Ultimatum
Hot Fuzz
28 Weeks Later
Black Snake Moan

&

Movies I Need To See Still:

The Darjeeling Limited
Juno
There Will Be Blood
The Savages
Control
Into The Wild
Southland Tales
Rescue Dawn

Working at Blockbuster really turned me into a film nerd. Or maybe I've always been one.
Regardless there has been some pretty amazing stuff this year, but even more bad movies.
But I'm saving my Worst Movies of 2007 for anything time.

Death To Ticketmaster

2007-12-02T17:19:00.000-08:00

So, I was planning on going to see one of the greatest songwriters of our generation: Ryan Adams.
But once again, Ticketmaster has it's mighty grasp over concert ticket prices everywhere!

Here's what it would have cost me to go:

Regular Ticket Price: $43.00
Convenience Charge: $9.90
Building Facility Charge: $3.00

Total Cost: $55.90

It was a pretty hard decision not to go to this since I really wanted to see him perform.
But seriously, over $10 in additional fees!
It is just so aggravating that Ticketmaster makes so much money off artists and their fans.
Ehhhghhghh.

Addicted

2007-12-02T16:59:00.001-08:00

I've developed a pretty stable addiction to Diet Coke.
I've got a 2-3 a day habit.
Our rent is too expensive so we don't turn on the heat.
A heated house is my primary reason for anticipating Christmas break.
I need a warm fireplace desperately.
I also can't believe that I went all these years without the wonder that is the "Charlie Brown Christmas" record.
This year in particular I've been hearing lots of quality Christmas songs.
I'm still listening to the Sufjan Stevens "Songs For Christmas" quite a lot too.
I also plan on watching these essential Christmas time movies:

Home Alone 1 & 2
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
A Christmas Story
The Santa Clause 1 & 2
Elf (this one is a really high priority)

& that's all I got so far.

I'm also hosting the 2nd Annual Elf Party on Dec. 22nd.
Be prepared.

2007-11-30T02:06:00.000-08:00

A Couple Things

2007-11-29T22:18:00.000-08:00

No one has comments regarding my Top 10?
Ok...

I gots me a haircut from Dylan.
I'm very impressed with his skills.
I went grocery shopping a few days ago at Trader Joe's.
& gosh did I pick up some great stuff.
Mainly the spiced cider.
That's what really counts.
It is Christmas time.
Which reminds me, I highly recommend picking up the Sufjans Stevens Songs For Christmas box set.
It is amazing.

I also just finished watching this documentary on one of my very very very favorite bands: Thrice.
It was cool to hear the story of the band's conception and progression up to the almost present day.

A bunch of us went to see Relient K and Switchfoot.
It was soooo good.
RK played lots of stuff from their numerous records.
They also had a Christmas portion of their set with inlcuded:
Many inflatable Christmas themed lawn decorations, a snow machine shooting out over the crowd, Christmas songs, and Christmas cheer.
They also played a song they wrote about The Office and then proceeded to play The Office theme song.
Then Switchfoot came out and tore it up!
Soooooo good live.
They really know their stuff.
Highly recommend seeing them live.
On the way back to the car me and Dylan ran into the RK singer.
Super nice dude.
Can you tell I had a good time!?!

Also, most importantly:

I am very much looking forward to going home for Christmas break.
While I'm home, I will:
Rent roughly 10 movies.
Probably go to 5 movies.
NYC for a week to hangout with Emelia.
Play a lot of Guitar Hero & Super Mario Galaxay.
Attend the 4th Annual Hotel Party.
Co-Host the 2nd Annual Elf Party at my house.
Gain a couple pounds.

2007 Top Albums

2007-11-27T12:51:00.000-08:00

It's not even December yet, but let's face it...not much ever comes out then.

TOP 10

1. Kanye West - Graduation
2. Thrice - The Alchemy Index Vol. 1 & 2
3. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
4. Iron & Wine - The Shepherd's Dog
5. Radiohead - In Rainbows
6. As Cities Burn - Come Now Sleep
7. Angels & Airwaves - I-Empire
8. Every Time I Die - The Big Dirty
9. Jimmy Eat World - Chase The Light
10. Circa Survive - On Letting Go

TOP 10 (Honorable Mention)

1. M.I.A. - Kala
2. Dustin Kensrue - Please Come Home
3. The Receiving End of Sirens - The Earth Sings Mi Fa Mi
4. The White Stripes - Icky Thump
5. Kings of Leon - Because of the Times
6. Feist - The Reminder
7. Dashboard Confessional - The Shade of Poison Trees
8. The Shins - Wincing The Night Away
9. Maylene & the Sons of Disaster - II
10. Anberlin - Cities

At Home With...

2007-11-24T02:31:00.000-08:00

I just got This & That:

This

It's a live EP they did from their tour in Japan a while back.
The tracklist is pretty diverse for Weezer:

1. Dope Nose
2. Island In The Sun
3. Falling For You
4. Death and Destruction
5. El Scorcho
6. Holiday

This is something quite nice to have if your a fan of the band.
Plus they do a this cool, long American Football-ish intro before Dope Nose.

&

That

I just bought the special edition version of this record.
It comes as a digi-pack where each song basically has it's own postcard.
For each card, one side has a photograph and on the flip side is the lyrics and notes on the song from all four band members and their producer.
This special edition is a nice little treat, especially if like insight as to how bands come up with ideas for their music and the recording process.

&

I've been home since Tuesday.
It's so nice having nothing to do.
Good food, friends, family.
So far I've watched Ratatouille, Live Free Or Die Hard, and I'm gonna knock out Evan Almighty and Rescue Dawn tomorrow.
I don't normally watch this many movies, but then again I never go to the movies or rent anything.
So I movie binge.

I've been listening to:
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Arcade Fire- Neon Bible
Right Away, Great Captain - The Bitter End

I've also really been enjoying the Cursive song "Bitter Sects", even though the lyrics are blatantly about a homosexual preacher having a relationship with a younger boy, it is still a really pretty sounding song. Somehow. In fact, the record it is off of, "Happy Hollow" is pretty much all about Christianity, and the dogmatic attachments to it. Definitely go check it out if you like concept records. Or just go listen to Kidz Bop Volume 13, if you're a little freaked out by this stuff.

Advent

2007-11-21T02:16:00.000-08:00

My most anticipated.

Deathstar-O-Lantern

2007-11-19T22:55:00.000-08:00

I know Halloween was a while ago, but I just discovered this and I've gotta admit that it's pretty impressive.

P.S. Apparently, if I talk about World or Warcraft a lot, an add for it will show up on here. And if you see it on here, please please please click on it. (Every time you click on it, I get $15! So please, help a guy out.)

Current Activites

2007-11-18T16:46:00.000-08:00

2007-11-18T16:44:00.000-08:00

I still love technology...

2007-11-16T17:35:00.000-08:00

Posted from my Wii.
Eat that.

I like this one, too.

2007-11-12T21:39:00.001-08:00

SLEEVAGE:
I'm a huge fan of record album art.
It's one the main reasons why REFUSE to download & burn music.
If you feel the same, I definitely suggest checking out sleevage.
They've got a lot of great projects to look at.

Wooster Collective

2007-11-12T21:33:00.000-08:00

My new favorite website.

Consider The Thief

2007-11-09T01:30:00.000-08:00

Go check out my buddies in their new band: Consider The Thief

They used to be the band Heartshed, but they have since formed a new band.
Their music is excellent.
They describe themselves as "post-hardcore".
Definitely for fans of Underoath, Thrice, The Receiving End of Sirens, As Cities Burn.

You can go right here to download the new EP they just recorded.

Please go check them out if you like rock music.
These guys work really hard and pourtheir hearts into this.
& They've got real passion for what they do!

Heima

2007-11-08T15:09:00.000-08:00

Check this out.
Sigur Ros has reinvented the rock movie.
Nov. 20th.

Warm, Fuzzy Concert Nights

2007-11-06T21:12:00.000-08:00

I went to LA to see Brand New & Thrice play.
It was amazing.
Epic.
I wonder if no one reads this, maybe Meghan, but not really anybody else.
ANYWAYS, both bands played extremely well.
The lighting for Brand was incredible.
They had these lights that were scattered at random intervals that looked like raindrops.
& There was this one light that kinda looked like a giant fan/geometric flower design type of thing.
Plus they played with 4 or 5 guitarists and 2 drummers.
I'm a happy man.
It's always fun to see your favorite band.

Invisible Creature

2007-10-29T00:33:00.000-07:00

This is Don and Ryan Clark. They have a company called Invisible Creature. These two used to maintain Asterik Studio (responsible for many great album covers). They mostly do album artwork and tour posters. They've been my favorite graphic artists for years. And chances are that several records you own credit them as the art designers (especially if it's tooth & nail or solid state).

Jaws Theme Swimming

2007-10-28T23:59:00.000-07:00

"The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living"

This is a work of art done by English artist Damien Hirst. This is a 14 foot tiger shark was put in a formaldehyde tank to preserve it. Lots of his work feature animals cut up in pieces and preserved in these tanks. Strange.

Kanye Talk

2007-10-15T16:48:00.000-07:00

If you're a Kanye West fan, which by all means you probably already are, then you should go check out his blog. He updates it constantly with pictures, his favorite new sneakers, and youtube videos. Neat.

My Brother In Law Roy!

2007-10-15T16:42:00.000-07:00

Exceeding My Expectations Tremendously

2007-05-26T03:20:00.000-07:00

I've just listened to the new Circa Surive record entitled "On Letting Go". It is a record I have eagerly been anticipating for some time. I was going to hold out and wait until I could buy it to hear it, but the band posted the whole album on their myspace to stream. For someone who has been a longitme fan of all the music endeavors their singer Anthony Green has been a part or, let me just say this is by his most beatiful performance. I can't begin to describe the beauty and mystery captured within this record. The guitars are soaring, ambient, and completely captivating. The instrumentation on this record is quite similar to the last record "Juturana", but the lack of departure from that record's style do nothing to tarnish my interest in this band. If anything, they have taken the sound they were working towards and really centered it much better. I have not been enraptured by a record like this in a very long time. It reminded why I love music and how it has the ability to make me feel like I am connected to something bigger going on. "On Letting Go" is so intricate and couldn't have come at a better time. Go listen to this record right now.

I saw...

2007-05-08T01:08:00.000-07:00

Nickel Creek tonight. It was one of the best shows I've ever been to. They are kinda like modern day folk/bluegrass with a great appreciation for the history of the genre. Their songs would fit in perfectly on the soundtrack to O' Brother, Where Art Thou? I was happy to hear them do an outstanding cover of Radiohead's "Just", a Beatles song (don't know which one), and then they teased us by talking a lot about covering Britney Spears' "Toxic", but never actually playing it. It was a magical night. It left me completely overwhelmed by mandolin noises. I really don't need to listen to music for several days, there was just so much to take in. Twang. Plucking noises. Echoing vocals. Reverb. It was remarkable. Go listen to them. And I would tell you to go to their next tour, but their isn't going to be one. Although they had t-shirts for sale that said, "Nickel Creek's Final (for now) Tour", so maybe you can catch them later on.

Here I Go

2007-05-07T16:59:00.000-07:00

I read lots of record reviews and many times I feel cheated by a lot them. So i decided to start making my own posts. I'm going to be as honest as possible. I'm going to do my best to not be cynical either. Basically this is for all my friends back in Sacramento to read. You guys know me as the resident music freak (a title which I happily accept) and I just want to share what I'm listening to with all of you. Hopefully this will be a place for all of you to discover new music and get a little peek into what I'm enjoying. Thanks