top ten movies of 2007











edit: reign over me lost its spot to heima. sorry reign.

top ten of 2007


the cinematic orchestra: ma fleur
this album guides my drives and it guided my whole trip to europe. i kick myself for not going to see them at bimbos a few months ago.


animal collective: strawberry jam
the sequence of [For Reverend Green - Fireworks - #1 - Winter Wonderland] is so good.


the arcade fire: neon bible
one of my favorite bands sounding like one of my favorite singers.


cocorosie: the adventures of ghosthorse and stillborn
"I'ma shake you off though, get up on that horse and ride into the sunset, look back with no remorse"


andrew bird: armchair apocrypha
i physically rubbed shoulders with him


st. vincent: marry me
girls don't normally impress me as much as she does with this.


radiohead: in rainbows
i realized i listen to the song, nude, over 40 times


múm: go go smear the poison ivy
every year i need someone from iceland on this list


midlake: the trials of van occupanther
i was apprehensive at first, but it has totally redeemed itself marvelously


lcd soundsystem: sound of silver
everything in one. as cheesy as that sounds. it sounds so cheesy, but it is heartfelt

end of times

i forgot to update.
i was busy. or maybe i felt like not holding on to the comfort of a computer when i was away. i dont want to know. but i am.

the trip was great. ljubljana and bled in slovenia. budapest, hungary. london, hertfordshire and shropshire counties in england. and a sliver of wales.

here was my favorite moment.

the bridge in budapest. walking across from buda to pest around sunset, over the Danube. listening to "Into You" by the Cinematic Orchestra. it was at this point where i was thinking that if i kept stressing about my luggage i will not have fun. i want fun. the line from the song, "so much better here" lingering. i bridged my thoughts on the bridge. it was all metaphorical and beautiful. i took a deep breath at the end and said goodbye to comfort.

the wedding and reception was also pretty amazing. jon said everything. i cant add anything except my moment from above.

sj-sf-calgary-london-ljubljana

for about 20 hours we flew and bussed and walked and got yelled at by canadiens.
at one point my bag decided to be flown out on a different plane.
i still dont have it, nor do i know where it is at.
it snowed tonight in ljubljana, slovenija.
i liked it. we hiked at lake bled. we ate a traditional slovenijan dinner. we drank lasko beer. we had a great desert. i was given great birthday gifts.
ljubljana is great. like prague without the seediness. like amsterdam without the drugs and sex. the countryside is like switzerland without the cheese.
we saw the alps today with full snow and sassiness (no reason why i put that).
tomorrow we go to budapest. maybe ill get my bag. maybe ill wear the same clothes again.
all in all. i am happy. i want to move here to improve both the signage and the overall design of the city.

to

i always talk of the buildup. everything at once. the struggle for money. the stressful days of work. the paper that is due sooner than i had thought. all at once. i am pretty sure i have titled many blogs "culmination" or "all at once" many times. im in that one again. and as of right now i have not created a title for this.

but im excited:
to fly.
to listen to the cinematic orchestra and sigur ros everywhere. in every town.
to not work.
to see two great people get married to eachother.
to see the smiles of faces i havent seen in months.
to breathe in the brisk cold air.
to not sit in class.
to not worry about my car. or my money situation.
to be away from american culture.
to not be a stereotypical american to everyone.
to look inward and outward and not be blind.
to drink a good beer.

ill be back on the 25th.
ill try to post on here.

books with weight

in You Shall Know Our Velocity!, or the previously titled Sacrament, Will travels for a week with his friend Hand for one week. knowing that they will be on planes and some waiting time, Will brings with him the biography of Winston Churchill. the book is large so he rips out the pages that he had already read and he also takes out the last few 100 pages because that is stuff that is just weight that will not be fun to carry around. and he can read the remaining pages when he gets home.

i am trying to figure out my weight for my 11 day venture.
i will probably bring:
Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut
The Genesee Diary by Henri Nouwen
an issue or two of Good magazine
an issue or two of Believer magazine

does anyone have any books they reccomend for my travels.

two things

first:


second:
i have been at orchard valley for a bit. watching a few people take money out of the atm. its not a slow atm. if you put it in perspective with how long it takes one to get money from their account at a bank. you can stay in the coffeeshop moneyless and walk to the other wall, get money, and not have to take this trip to the bank. yes it is convenient. but these people. three in a row. are impatient. they all sighed when their money was not dispensed upon hitting the "fast cash $40" button. they looked around as if someone woule relate with their sorrows here. and no one did, and tha frustrated them. it is a fast machine. i hate that instantaneus speed is necessary for people. i think its going to continually mess up our lives. we will all become more dependant on that. as for me. i will appreciate the slow.

oktoberfest


what time is everyone going to this?

productivity

today i left santa cruz at 10:30 in the morning knowing i had to be at work at 12. around 10:45 i hit mild traffic. then i hit major traffic. it ended up taking me 2.5 hours to get home. to add to that my phone didnt work so i couldnt call in late for work. so i had to pull over and use some random dude's cell phone. and that was at 12:00 at the summit. (i actually went into that shop, i have always wanted to). but. during the 2mph drive home i cleaned out my car (glove compartment and under the seats and threw away leaves that were inside). gathered more ideas for my art show. made a nice mix on my ipod. read a chapter from mere christianity. read a chapter from the book about books that dani let me borrow. it was a nice drive.

this is what happened

top five albums


Arab Strap - The Red Thread
i still claim to be the only one ive ever known to like these guys, besides this guy jeff who i used to work with a long time ago at JDM Packing Supplies. he showed me this album when it came out (2000 i believe). i used to describe this as sexy scottish music. and i think that still holds true. this album is beautiful. listening to it again and again adds more depth and beauty to it. Screaming In The Trees is one of my favorite songs ever. perfect nighttime driving song. im excited if anyone wants to hear this.


Bjork - Homogenic
i remember i first heard this in Adrea's car when her and Hanniel were inside of Hanniels house getting ready for us to break into some hot tub somewhere. Joga killed me. it was the most powerful thing ive heard and i was floored by it. before that i thought bjork was just some weird girl. i never thought about the depth of her talent and how musical and poetic this is.


Jimmy Eat World - Clarity
my old band played a show many years ago and there was this band, Bendixon, playing on another stage. they played a song that made all the guys in the other bands excited and they ran over. and i listened thinking that the song was very good. afterwards i heard my friend josh tell them that he was glad they played that Jimmy Eat World song. it meant nothing to me until i bought clarity (to be like my cooler counterparts) and i realized Bendixon covered Lucky Denver Mint. this album has been an amazing counterpart to life. so fun to have a car full of people driving far away and singing this album from start to finish.


Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
because of the documentary this album lived with me. i felt like i was breathing Tweedys words. everything about this is so sincere. this is timeless for sure.


Broken Social Scene - You Forgot It In People
damien played this for me on the light rail on my way home from my first day of school at san jose state. there were so many layers and it was completely beautiful. i remember listening to Lover's Spit for the first time on this rainy day and the sun was just breaking through. and everything was cinematic with what was going on outside.

these could have made it:
Death Cab For Cutie - We Have The Facts And We're Voting Yes
Elliott Smith - Figure 8
M83 - Before The Dawn Heals Us
Pedro the Lion - Winners Never Quit

design for justice

is doing graphic design futile?

ill share my thoughts later, when i have more time. but think about it. in terms of helping the needy. i feel that every other major in college can use their knowledge for more than i can. science majors can help construct canals or better cohabitation with the world they live around. architectural designers can create sustainable living environments. businessmen can help management of small businesses.

i can make a poster.
i can teach kids color theory. which is futile as well.

great video

Division Day -Tigers

end of summer book update

i figured i would be the only one of these that does not have the road by cormac mccarthy on the top of my blog. thanks to everyone else, i plan on reading that at some point soon. here we go:


You Shall Know Our Velocity by Dave Eggers
i just finished it for the second time. this is because i have the crazy version thats missing key information, and i realized that the mcsweeneys website has this 49 page interjection, so i read it with the Sacrament part added to it. i felt many times that i was Will.


McSweeney's Quarterly #18 by many authors
like many collectives, the writing is all over the place. sometimes good. sometimes not for me. roddy doyle's story New Kid was one highlight. there was another great story and i cant remember the name or the author. i am sorry. it is the one regarding the girl who turns into a cloud when she falls in love.


The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
it was a first time read for me. and i loved it so much. the whole time i read this i assumed i was Holden


Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour an Introduction by J.D. Salinger
like jon i liked RHTRB,C more than SAI. it was a fun story and in such Salinger style, he keep time pretty real. you read it as if it is still the same time. no next week or jump ahead 6 hours. its a long scene.


Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
this is my first attempt at Vonneget. it was quick for me to engage into this, and slowly got away from that. but then back into it (i am not finished yet). i once again have taken on the feeling that i am becoming the main character Billy Pilgrim.


The Genesee Diary by Henri Nouwen
this will be the second Nouwen book ive read. and it is great. he lives in the Genesee Monastary in new york for a few months and journals about his experience with the fellow monks and he spends time arguing about his labor, or his purpose there, or if he should be focusing in on writing. monastic living from the perspective of someone who is hoping for change but yet somewhat stressed out about it.

i feel like thats all ive read in the last few weeks.

i also feel that everyone might hate me for this next line i will type: i actually enjoy the new linkin park songs ive heard. maybe im tracing it back to Mike's smile when they played on SNL.

it will be winter



we have to go to lake bled.

wouldn't mama be proud


i am so happy about everything about this album. i forgot everything about it i think.

i still love the rest. this is just the one that is more overpowering at this moment.

november 4

i know i had that list of all of those concerts that i wanted to go to. and then i realized i need to budget and not go to any of them. and i have grown okay with the fact that i am not going to them. but one came up and it is intensly important that we all go. its on sunday november 4th. so i am sorry to those who work on sundays. but here is the information:

Recently returning from her European Tour, Joanna Newsom, folk harpist, singer/songwriter, returns to her roots in Nevada County for a special appearance. She will be performing her newest album, Ys, (pronounced ‘ees’), orchestra arrangements by Van Dyke Parks, with an expanded Solisti Glitterati Ensemble


also.


Juno. a movie i am very excited about.

on wanting to rethink and deconstruct by the end our day

last night six friends and i met up with adam, mark and lisa from reimagine up in san francisco. we went to gain some structure, to answer our questions, to create more questions and to learn. i went with no expectations really. i didnt want an agenda. but all in all i compiled some notes and i figured i would attack each point for you all. [this may easily be my first theology-ish blog]

the romance period is over
thinking about our group, we have been friends for many years. we are not an awkward group. and we have been trying some sort of intentionality for about a year. i feel that the romance is over. we are this married group. we cant always be dating and then in love and romance surrounds. there is a point where you break that down and become real. and this is where life is found. [this idea also had my mind wandering around all of the romanticism paintings that were popping up in my head, and i had forgotten how much i love them]

dealing with shit vs. falseness
in order to understand someone, you will need to know the whole self. and if we want to be intentional in each other's lifes we have to not accept falseness but we should accept the hurt and the brokenness and the shit that makes up our inner self. this is what needs work. not the brushing of the surface, or simplified to not the surface.

give? vs. inward
we always come at everything with selfish motivation. really when meeting (or through everything) we should ask ourselves "what can i give to this group?"

experience God in different ways at different times
our group is very mixed. everyone in the world is mixed. it will be very hard to get all of us on the same path, so we are all expecting different things that would help each of us, but sometimes that does not work out. we need to learn where each of us are at and look for progress and, in turn, celebrate each of our next steps

dualistic worship: going into a holy moment vs. living it out
everything is spiritual. making toast. swimming. singing. driving. laying in bed sickly. it is all spiritual. we dont go from our "real life" into "spiritual time". it is all the same. it is all interrelated. so many levels of interrelatedness. why have i not thought about this very much

we've already cultivated that part of life, some people need it
if i feel that i am good with a certain discipline (probably silence and solitude) try to teach others that. someone might be very good with something that i lack (reading the bible and holding on to that)

worshippers with hands raised. encourage them because it will lead them
i have this cynicism at times. i feel that people who raise hands in worship dont know what worship is. but in reality my cynicism towards them is farther from worship. we are on different paths. we have different motivations. we have different ways of doing different things. if we stop looking down at them (from our mindset), and embrace it, then things could be more significant

what am i holding back that keeps me from loving?
i think thats self explanitory and self exploratory

how to work through sin. what led to it. how to adjust for better.
dont focus on the goods and the bads of life. but examine what makes the bads. see what really goes into sinful action. is lack of rest causing restlessness which leads to stress and causing selfishness to spur. this is another idea that i have never thought about. i thought just praying for the sin to stop would be the key. but there is so much depth and reason for sin's existence that we really have to focus in on that.

early christians. heaven hell god satan christian.
growing up in the church our whole lives we are fed the key words to look for when reading the bible. lump things into categories. but that is the huge reason for us all going through our crazy deconstructions that we are enduring. western culture decided it was easier to categorize everything. even jesus was lumped into categories

practice things in short times
our group has huge hopes: garden, intentionality, becoming more green, spiritual formation, budgeting, meals together, serving together, and it goes on. and there is nothing wrong with that. i feel that we have tried to find the perfect balance with all of that. and that is not a realistic response. they challenged us to attack things maybe in short periods like a week or two, and see if it is successful at all. i would love to work on these.

city of angels

i am perfectly ok if i never go down to the los angeles area again. just a conclusion i reached in my mind today.

as for santa barbara and san diego. i will continue the adventures.

future events

let me know if youre interested in these:

september 19: cat power @ the fillmore
october 3: teddybears @ the mezzanine
october 4: trentemøller @ the mezzanine
october 8: dave eggers & other writers @ the swedish american hall
october 26: felix da housecat @ ruby skye
november 1: battles @ great american music hall
november 9: jens lekman @ bimbos 365
december 12: david bazan @ bottom of the hill

ill probably only end up going to one of these. it will probably be dave eggers.

some videos that have captured me

grizzly bear: knife


menomena: evil bee


arcade fire: neon bible (performed in an elevator in france)


andrew bird: spare-ohs (performed on the streets of france)