Monday, September 28, 2009

The One I've been waiting for...

A few nights ago, I started having this dream and halfway through it I felt like I could control everything in my dream, I believe that is called Lucid Dreams. This is only the second time in my life that it's happened.

I remember being on a suspended mine cart track running through a field with some apartments about 50 feet from the track. The track itself was maybe about 30 feet off the ground. For some reason I needed to get off the track. (I think the track was ending.) At that moment I clearly remember feeling this control of myself and said screw it i'll fly outta here! Well I started floating and I slowly fell to the ground. But I wanted to try again and I was able to lift myself up a few feet and float around.

The next part was I remember wanting to run at super speeds and sure enough I accelerated and the world around me became blurry and I was leaving everything behind. It was amazing.

The next dream was that there was an olde time fair in scotts valley with a train that run through where Mt. Hermon would be. That's all I remember.

SEPT. 24th, 2009

Monday, August 24, 2009

#5

...A bunch of us walking into an underground ghost town, bright lights everywhere much like an archaeological dig I suppose. The best thing we did was play catch, all of us, while standing on rubble and crumbling houses...

Sunday, August 23, 2009

#4 - Planetary

A big group of us was at Disneyland for a new rollercoaster that was built around and into a big hill. It had a Buzz Lightyear, space kind of theme to it. It seemed like a typical medium-thrill roller coaster, going in and out of the mountain and what not, up until we get to the top. The end of the ride had a 90 degree drop through the center of the mountain, it was maybe 20-30 stories deep.

I then remember alex and joel opening a food stand at some Ivy league school, and for some reason we were talking about Earthbound. pretty cool. Then I woke up.

Friday, August 21, 2009

2 and 3 - Float On

I believe it was Wednesday when I had a dream that involved a more realistic Mario Kart, I mean with real people and real cars. I remember seeing Ben and Alex and myself in a garage with a lot of miniature size cars, real cars. I'd say about the size of those Smart Cars. Anyway the steering of these cars was absolutely terrible. I saw a screen of the actual race and it must have been in 16-bit. haha

Thurs.
I was inner tubing in a man made canal, almost like a bigger waterslide with Josh and these innertubes were ball shaped with a huge weight to stabilize it. The next moment I remember leaving the ground and starting to float, I kept going higher and higher. ( I LOVE flying dreams, this one almost felt lucid, I thought I could almost control myself and telling myself to go higher and higher).

Its hard to be real detailed in describing my dreams. Harder than I thought, but hey, its fun.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Dream Log - 1.5

Had another ridiculous dream but I forgot everything. Oh well, more soon.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Dream Log - 1

It was last year during the Catering class that I saw a classmate open up a big notebook filled with random writing. I asked him what it was and he said he writes down his dreams everytime he remembers them. I thought about it for a while and I feel now is a good time to write down some of my own because they often time raise the WTF flag.

August 13th - I remember playing guitar for The Cult except Bono was the lead vocals. LOL. I remember playing in front of a whole bunch of people but there was a table with a few asian ladies that couldn't get enough of my guitar playing. I remember playing She Sells Sanctuary (which in turn caused me to listen to that song multiple times that day.) We were rocking out pretty good, although at the end of the song, I played the acoustic outro to Time in Malta's "The Wayfarer" (one of my favorite songs of all time) in front of these ladies, thats all I remember.

Good times :D

Sunday, June 21, 2009

OMG

It has been wayyyyy too long since i've been here, perhaps this summer I can contribute some random idiocy and rants and what not, ya? I'll think of something

Thursday, June 4, 2009

E3 2009

E3 is back, very nearly. In terms of press conferences, this is the best E3 in quite a while. Sure, there was awkwardness in the pacing and talky bits, but the games were huge, one after another. Halo, Crackdown and Splinter Cell could have been an entire event other years, but this year they were slotted in with a huge roster of cool looking games. Nintendo really reversed their position from last year, giving us Mario, Mario, Mario, Mario and Metroid. There were so many leaks before Sony's conference this year that it was the only one near what I expected, and they still announced an exclusive Rockstar game and a new numbered Final Fantasy. I'm not going to do a full write up, but I did want to share with you the games I most want to play coming out of E3.



I just beat the most recent Metroid and wasn't expecting to get exited about a new one for a while, but that was pretty damn exiting seeing the Team Ninja cinematic connected to this one.



Trico is officially known now as The Last Guardian. This may have been mostly leaked a few weeks ago, but that doesn't make me want it any less. If you've ever played Ico or Shadow of the Colossus you know that this team is good, and now they're doing it in shiny new HD. Gah.

Of course there are Final Fantasies and Haloes that I will enjoy the hell out of when the time comes, but they didn't do that much for me this week.

Monday, June 1, 2009

J.J. Abrams, you are my hero

Co-creator of Alias, Lost and Fringe. Director of MI3, Cloverfield and Star Trek, and now keyboardist for Lonely Island

Monday, May 11, 2009

Musical Monkey

Put your mp3 on random and type the song that comes up. Answer the q's.
(I used my daily twitter playlist and random.org's sequence generator)

Song 1: Walking in the Dark - Goldfinger

How did you discover this song? On my ipod, when I put it there.
Is this a good dancing song? If by dancing you mean skanking, then hells yeah
Have you seen this band live? No, sadface.

Song 2: Chin Up - Catch 22

The hottest member of this band is? By default, the sax player. I don't even remember what he looks like.
Does this band have piano? No. Not even keyboards.
Is this your favorite band? Very possibly. Definitely top 3.

Song 3: Neon Rainbow - The Box Tops

anyone in this band have a beard? By now, probably
Do you like this song? Yeah, makes me think of 1960's Vegas
Are there any girls in this band? For the sake of their hair, I hope not.

Song 4: Good Vibrations - The Beach Boys

Has this band ever toured with fall out boy? ... HAHAHAHAHA
Does your best friend like this song? I just about guarantee it.
One memory with this song: The Drifters or Jan and Dean or somebody playin it at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk one Friday.

Song 5: My Eyes - Felicia Day & Neil Patrick Harris

Does this song make you cry? No, makes me sing
Do you have the cd this song is on? I don't know if they actually printed CDs of this album.
One memory with this song: Driving down Highway 9 during Indian Summer and singing Wayne's World tyle.

Song 6: Strawberry - Everclear

Does this song remind you of a boy? Art Alexakis
Have you ever heard this song live? No
What is the first line of this song? Never been here, never coming back, never want to think about the things that happened today.

Song 7: Holland, 1945 - Neutral Milk Hotel

"Now she's a little boy in Spain
Playing pianos filled with flames
On empty rings around the sun
All sing to say my dream has come"

Song 8: Heart it Races - Dr. Dog

Did you pirate this song? Technically, I haven't even downloaded it.
Who told you about this band? Brian Ibbot via Coverville.com
Is this a christian band? They could be, but I doubt it.

Song 9: Punk Rock Rulebook - 88 Fingers Louie

Does this band use synth? Not at all
What is you favorite line from this song? The punk band wagon's taken you where you don't wanna go
Does your mom like this band? :)

Song 10: Death Or Glory - The Clash

Have you ever written the lyrics to this anywhere? I've used the title before
Are all of the original members of this band still in it? ...the band is not playing anymore
Is this your favorite song? Not nearly. It's a great song though.

Song 11: Two Hearts in 3/4 Time - The Avalanches

What is your favorite song from this band? this song is second to Frontier Psychiatrist
Does this song swear? I don't think so. It could be in a background layer.
Have you heard this on the radio? only the internet radio

Song 12: Papa was a Rodeo - The Magnetic Fields

What is your favorite line? I see that kiss-me pucker forming, but maybe you should plug it with a beer
Does this song sing about stars? It sings (sic) about their kids, i imagine
Who is the singer? Stephin Merritt. him doing the Coraline play makes me want to visit London

Song 13: Tighten Up - Archie Bell and the Drells

Is there a number in this song? I think not
Is this song special to you for any reason? you look nice today
Is this song good for moshing? No, you would really have to try hard with this one.

Song 14: Aruarian Dance - Nujabes

How long have you liked this band? Maybe a month
Is this song about a girl? Instrumental. If it's not, it should be.
Have you told someone about this band? Don't think so.

Song 15: Death to Los Campesinos! - Los Campesinos!

Do you listen to this for a certain mood? Whenever I want to smile.
Does this remind you of any one? hmm... I've told people about this band, but got no response, so no. Kittens and Unicorns.
What is the last line of this song?
If you catch me with my hands in the till I promise, sugar, I wasn't trying to steal
I'm just swimming in copper to smell and pretend like a robot!

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Music!

I guess I have Twitter to thank for this in a weird way. Around the beginning of the year, I tried to write reviews for whatever music I was getting into at the time. I'd say I enjoyed it, even if it was a big time commitment. Well, with me being so busy being unemployed and all there was sure to be a conflict of interest with, say, looking for a job or sleeping all day. Also, the setup I have is rather uncomfortable for extended sessions of typing, so it's rather easier to not do it most of the time.

Sometime in January I noticed another person on twitter putting his playlist up on twitter. It was a track a day, often sprawling jazzy electronica which appeared to be his genre of choice. It was a cool idea, and I thought I could put my own spin on it. I could use my twitter account to let people hear some of my favorites, but at the same time use it to explore new stuff and introduce it to my friends, blah blah blah. It's been a bit more cathartic than I expected. It's strange- I dont have any way of knowing who listens to my playlist (if anyone at all) but I've become more introspective and self aware of my listening patterns.

Also, it forces me to listen to music more. For a long while I was one of the people you might hear disparaging new music. You could probably blame it on the re-branding of punk rock. Why, I thought, should I listen to (to pick a band at random) New Found Glory when there are decades of excellent music I haven't explored? I should be listening to The Dead Kennedys or Agnostic Front. I could be exploring the classics from The Clash, Cream, Nine Inch Nails, The Who. For that matter I could go back to the days before rock, discover Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald.

It was last year that I realized my taste in music had expanded to the point that I could find music out there that I liked, and happened to come from the last decade. Ten years ago, I never would have listened to Neutral Milk Hotel. Even The Decemberists were well beyond my tolerance so long ago.

I've gotten a little distracted. The point of this post is, the playlist experiment is working. Search for #ctfs on twitter and you'll find brand new music alongside groups like Archie Bell and the Drells and John Coltrane. I think, now that the honeymoon with this idea is over, I may post here on occasion when I feel I have more than a sentence or two to spout off on a particular song.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Death or Glory

This is still just a personal blog, right? I know no one's reading this, anyway. Well, how's this: Disclaimer: This probably isn't funny or interesting to anyone that doesn't know me personally, and maybe not even then. Consider yourself warned.


Ok, so last night I fucking exploded. Around 9:30 I found my back hurting, so I took some tylenol (generic, whatever), a shower, and a walk. This has been occurring for the last six months, and I've more or less figured out how to combat it. The problem is, It was getting worse, fast. By the time I was out of the shower, I didn't much feel like standing. I walked about a quarter-mile into town before I decided walking wasn't working, and that I'd be better off just curling up in the fetal position on the pavement and throwing up. I managed not to do that, managed to drag myself back home. By now I decided that, though my back certainly hurt it was not the origin of the problem. My ribs were sore as hell, as though I broke a couple on either side. I didn't want to breath. It seemed like some internal organ was ripping and tearing every time I moved, but staying still was worse. Lying on my back hurt, on my stomach even more so. Standing was out of my range of concentration, I ended up changing position every 30 seconds or so looking for something that didn't feel like I was making it, aggravated I guess.

By midnight I knew sleep wasn't going to come, no matter how tired I was. My mother decided what was wrong with me was my gallbladder. From a googled website, drhoffman.com (my bold):

In gallbladder disease, bile in the gallbladder becomes concentrated and thickens. Gallstones are born out of this sludge from cholesterol and bile salts. The end result of the disease process is inflammation (cholecystitis) or stones (cholelithiasis). A gallbladder attack occurs when the gallstone blocks the flow of bile from the gallbladder and is manifested as a pain in the right side (sometimes perceived in the right shoulder because of referred pain) as severe as the excruciating pain of a heart attack.
Fucking hell. Attacks last twelve to eighteen hours. I've never wanted to kill myself because of a physical pain before. By about 1:30 I had lost the energy to move around, and was lying wide awake on my bed. A couple times I passed out, only to be awakened shortly afterward by my own breathing, I assume. By about 4 I could tell the pain was receding. I could sit up without much consequence, though breathing, just existing, was still a pain. By seven I could walk to the sink to get some water without wanting to vomit. I was tired enough by 8:30 to fall asleep through the pain.

I awoke about 4 hours later feeling rested and much better. I was still sore as hell and unwilling to move, but sore is easy. Sore, in fact, feels good. Now I have to figure out how to deal with it recurring. Apparently it's mostly diet, and not a terribly hard one for me, all things considered. I should eat a few types of fruits, and stay away from eggs, pork, onions, poultry, milk and nuts. Onions and nuts (almonds) will be the hardest thing for me to quit, though thankfully there seem to be mixed reports as to benefits vs detriments regarding onions. Exercise is already part of my schedule these days. The first thing I'm supposed to do, though, is fast. Fast for three days, only drinking water. God, do I not want to do that. But I've been hungry before. Also I guess I need to avoid anything that looks like the superbowl for the next few months.

Of course, the key is moderation. I know enough not to worry about what I eat, as long It's not much. The only thing that seems to be stressed is eggs almost certainly bring pain. Well, wish me luck. I'll tell you how it goes.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Songs to play at open mic night

Chimbley Sweep
http://tinysong.com/2JSs
A more lively and interesting song than most that would be played there.

Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away) (Acoustic)
http://tinysong.com/2wE2
An awesome song, it just depends on the crowd weather to play it or not.

Signe
http://tinysong.com/ruk
Good song, boring choice. See also Hey Hey http://tinysong.com/2JSC

Handbook for the Sellout
http://tinysong.com/1MBv
I think you could totally translate the horns into a second guitar.

For silliness, see also Oh Canada
http://tinysong.com/a4n

They've got trees and mooses and sled dogs, lots of lumber and lumberjacks, and logs! We all think that it's kind of a drag that you have to go there to get milk in a bag.


Death from Below
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkoV0QsWyRY
It's hard to find anything by these guys. This is one of my favorite songs of theirs, and would be only moderately challenging to convert and play.



Since I've been somewhat fixated on the Decemberists lately, a few other songs of theirs that would work well:

Los Angeles I'm Yours http://tinysong.com/1YBK
Shanty for Arethusa http://tinysong.com/1qus -it would be shorter and need an accordion, but it would work
Billy Liar http://tinysong.com/29Ky
Red Right Ankle http://tinysong.com/2zyZ -way too obvious for a coffee shop
Summersong http://tinysong.com/1qoq -not necessary, but accordion would be good on this one too
Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then) http://tinysong.com/2vsV -also pretty obvious
Sons & Daughters http://tinysong.com/2JTM -only if you've got a chorus with you

Friday, January 9, 2009

A Dream parts one and two

There was a long, slowly curving road.


It was mostly empty, or at least the other cars didn't matter so much. Desert was mostly what you could see out the windows, though you could see a large body of water or a small city every now and then. Though the road continues on, our path stops in a large city. It is the largest city that's been seen so far, though there are cities as large or larger on this road. The dust that coats the first few blocks has taken the path we have to get here, dry desert city. The opposite half of the city meets the shore from where the salty sea breeze travels, rusty damp old city.

The story is longer than I know, but it used to be that two small towns sat here. The desert crossroad did well to trade with the small marine town and as they both grew, a large commercial district was put up between the two, joining them permanently. Nowadays you can't tell where one used to start or stop, it's so intertwined.

As you near the sea, towards the end of the city center, there is an office building. Except, it's really a casino. It doesn't look like a casino though, it looks like a slightly gilded office building. Sure, there are a few lights and ornaments inside, but if you didn't know it was there the most you might hear is a remark about the need for an office building to be embellished with gold.

A car was parked. Whether it was parked in the building's underground lot, or a nearby side street doesn't really matter. What matters is that about the same time, security cameras picked up some people entering a restricted stairwell of the casino/office building. The security cameras didn't recognize the people entering, but of course, they were just cameras. They don't recognize anything (excepting, of course, the cameras with heat or movement sensors attached. But those aren't cameras, are they? Just attached dongles that affect cameras). The people that watch these security cameras didn't recognize the people in the stairwell, either, and alerted their bosses.

The intruders navigated to a room on the thirty-first floor. It was a large open room, perhaps it took up a quarter of the entire floor. And the one above it.


...To Be Continued


So where was I? Oh, yeah. Thirty-first floor. In fact it probably wasn't exactly the thirty-first, just more than halfway up a fairly tall building. Our intruders have made it that far. That's where they discover that security is looking for them. Stealth is implemented; also a distraction. A man breaks off from the rest of the group. A chase begins.

The man, in fact, was probably just a boy. He's tall and lanky, and surely not a hair over eighteen. You'd think this kid would have trouble dealing with so much limb when he's got so little body, but he's fast. As he scurries off down a distant corridor, he does some sort of close quarters slash acrobatic trickery to cause a backup for the chasers.

The remaining team can now act. They make their way to the middle of the back wall, where a lift of sorts lies. It is small and rather expensive looking, as if to signal to regular folk, "just use the stairs." About three people can fit comfortably side-to-side in it, and that's how many took it up, cramming uncomfortably down to keep their whole bodies covered from any further attack. The two remaining members of the group ran back across the room to take cover and wait for the rest.

The lift reaches it's destination two floors, or perhaps twenty, above the lobby. The three jump out and flash along a slightly open room to a small corner office. Someone is leaning against the desk, waiting for them. Is he evil? Probably, though it doesn't really matter. There is a conversation, the kind you hear in movies. no one's moving. And then there was a call.

The team gets a call from the boy. It seems he did what they were here for, that this group upstairs was the real distraction. They run off back to the lift, which is already on it's way down. They jump down one by one, trying to fit inside, while not landing on each other in the process. Everyone meets back at the lobby, where the two left behind are having a firefight keeping security from retaking the room. And then they escape?


...To Be Continued ...again