Xander Zone

12:29am: This is such a trip
So I got this text message from Claire last Saturday night around 10:30 that says "whats up smut" and since I was out and about quickly forgot about it (pretty bad at responding if anyone hasn't noticed) it got lost in the back of my mind. Then someone commented on a prom photo of Claire and I, and when I went to read it I remembered and went to Claire's profile and saw Allison's comment with a link to a livejournal post from 2005... aaand so here I am.

I wonder if I still have any lj friends.

Since I could read Allison's journal, at least she'll probably read this.

Dear Allison,

Sorry I didn't respond to your text message (I thought maybe I did?) and sorry I didn't respond to the message about your Brother's band (tell them I'll book them a show in Ann Arbor or New York City or wherever I am next year but I'll only pay them in beer) but I really don't want you to take it personally. I've been pretty bad about communicating with anyone outside of a 3 block range of my house for a long time now. In fact, I only recently called Jon to wish him a belated birthday, talk to Borna only during breaks or rare aim logins, and I spoke with Tenglish for all of 3 minutes, telling him I'd rather catch up in person. When I hung out with Winkler at that gallery party in Alphabet City it was like seperate worlds colliding. But I digress... I don't mean to sound like I've lost touch because I don't care, I definitely do. I'd just rather hang out. Technology is a bummer.

Anyway when I started writing this I was going to do this really long post with pictures and a detailed timeline of my life since most of you last heard from me, but then I got tired of it before I finished the first paragraph. So, I'll see ya'll soon for Christmas (back on the East Coast from the 17th to the 2nd).

yours truly,
Lloyd H. Cargo

10:35am: My car was officially announced dead today. I'm going to take one of the tires tomorrow and maybe rip out the speakers before it get's picked up and out of my life forever.

The official cause of death: punctured oil pan.

I was driving through Detroit, around 8 mile and Woodward with my friends Cassie and Sam. We had tried to go to MOCAD (Museum of Contemporary Art in Detroit) but it was closed on Mondays, so we explored a few abandoned buildings and thrift stores instead. As I was making a right out of a neighborhood i drove a little over the curb. Twenty minutes later the engine seized up without much warning and I barely had enough momentum to carry me to a Rite Aid parking lot.

It was nearly 20 below zero on Monday. Public School in Ann Arbor was canceled due to coldness. Uncovered skin would develop frostbite in 16 minutes.

We walked into the Rite Aid and I bought a disposable camera to document the rest of our adventure. I didn't know then my car was dead, but It's come real close so many times that I was sort of expecting the worst, and I was oddly calm about the whole ordeal.

We proceeded to walk another half mile to the nearest gas station, where I called a tow truck and Theo to find the nearest Saab service station. We camped out in the adjoining Burger King while Ross Towing took their sweet time sending a truck over. In the hour that we were there Sam and Cassie were relentlessly hit on and pretended to be lesbians while I just sat there nervously laughing and trying to look as tough as possible - you know, spiking my mohawk as high as possible and generally acting very rooster-like.

We walked back to the car when Chris from the tow company called me. He loaded up the car. I gave him my credit card info and waved goodbye. I forgot to take out my bowling ball for Tuesday night bowling. While it was being towed a man who told me his name was On Star (apparently the government put chips in his body and thats where Cadillac got the idea for their navigation system) accosted me and asked if it was mine. I said yes, and he said he wanted me to believe in Saab. Why?

"I've fallen on hard times, but my Dad used to be real deep in Chrysler in the 60s, you know black power and shit. They didnt like that so they put some chips in my body to keep an eye on me, and one time I got to thinking about what Asians really like, you know for a car idea. So I got this phone that i can just hit buttons on and it gathers information and I found out what every Asian likes. You know what every Asian likes?"

no?

"Elephants. You ever look at them new Saabs? The 9's?"

yeah?

"The 9 looks like a trunk. The Saab Elephant. It's my most precious idea."

wow.

"I might need you one day man, don't give up on Saab and have a wonderful day."

He left. The Car got hooked up to the tow truck behind a smashed up Honda Civic. And that was that. I'll see it again tomorrow, but I've driven it for the last time. It's almost poetic that it died in Detroit, where the car industry has been slowly dying for so many years.

I had so many good times in that car - and a lot of bad ones too. I suppose thats par for the course when you put 50,000 miles on a car. I lost my virginity in that car. I had to remove a bum from the hood. I took it to New York. I took it to Philadelphia. I've driven between Ann Arbor and New Jersey with Theo three times. I've driven to DC with Andrew. I killed a deer. I got half a dozen flat tires. I got something like 8 tickets, one for going 128 MPH on 76 West on my way to a semi-secret rendezvous with Claire at E-Town on 4/20/04. I got pulled over in North Philly on my way back from a Radiohead concert with Lauren Mayes and a broken-legged Eric Lewis while we were looking for a Burger King (closed). I was given three tickets, a "don't ever come back here" and a flat tire I then had to change in the dark, by myself.


Me and that car, we didn't always totally get along. But I think I'll miss it anyway.

4:38pm: tom, please come home
i had a good visit. i mainly wanted to update to encourage tom to get his ticket and get his ass over here already! besides the word nardo with assistance from joanna this was my only contribution to erics shed:

10:45pm: artist: Allman Brothers
album: At Fillmore East
year: 1971
label: (two copies) Capricorn SD2802 & Capricorn 2CX0131
condition: VG/ EXC
price: one from Hugh Crowther, one from my Dad
value: $8 and $25 respectively
amg rating: 5
my rating: 5 stars

Between them my parents have given me maybe 40 records, the leftovers from whatever they couldn't, or didn't, sell whenever it was they stopped caring about music. This was one of the better records my Dad had left, both in quality and in condition. His copy is in really nice shape, he took good care of all his records. The copy Hugh Crowther (remember him Jon? think Catskills)gave me is a little beat up and I don't know why I've even kept it except that it's a different pressing. I think Hugh's might actually be the first pressing, but whatever. The album itself has to be one of the better live albums ever recorded. I don't tend to get way into "jammier" bands, but the Allman Brothers are on another level. Duane Allman's slide work is transcendant and Greg Allman's Hammond is so effortlessly complimentary that the 22 minutes of "Whipping Post" seem to fly by. I don't know why The Allman Brothers can take such long solos and never have it seem like noodling, but some bands can't play a six minute song without sounding like a Chinese Restuarant. I put this on suprisingly often, whereas I hardly ever touch any of my other Allman Brothers albums...

artist: Allman Brothers
album: Eat a Peach
year: 1972
label: Capricorn 2CP0102
condition: VG+
price: Dad
value: $7.50
amg rating: 5
my rating: 4.5 stars

I can just imagine my Dad in 1972, when he would've been 16, getting baked out of his mind and listening to this with his buddies while they stare at the artwork in the gatefold. My Dad looks back on those years of his life as his golden years, and I'm sure he'd be 16 all over again if he could. He's told me many many times that High School was the best time, how he'd hitchhike all over Michigan and go camping every weekend with his buddies, some weed and a case of beer. Now that I think about it 16 was the year his parents let him take the family car on a roadtrip (from Michigan) to Colorado. I remember hearing that story and being like ok so if that was one of the greatest memories of your life let me borrow the car and I'll be back in two weeks. Yeah right, apparently "times have changed;" what a cop out.

Times have certainly changed, but this album is still pretty damn good. The singles really stand out, but really all the material is strong. It's thrown together from a variety of sources, but it's still surprisingly coherent. One side is post Duane studio stuff, two sides are "Mountain Jam" (feat Duane) from the Fillmore East shows, and one side is Duane's last studio stuff. I tend to favor the third side, the one with Duane's last studio stuff, especially "Little Martha." "Little Martha" is an acoustic duet with just Duane and Dickey Betts and I dunno, everytime I listen to it it gets me thinking about all the talent Duane had that went to waste when he died so tragically. I was going to say the album would be better as one LP, just get rid of the live stuff, but it's that live setting where Duane really melts faces, so as a tribute to Duane it's fitting they left that in.

artist: Allman Brothers
album: Brothers and Sisters
year: 1973
label: Capricorn CP0111
condition: VG+
price: $1 @ VF Convention
value: $6
amg rating: 4
my rating: 3.5 stars

This is the only post-Duane album I can stand (I sold Win Lose or Draw and I didn't even think about buying any of the others)and while most of the line-up is the same, it has a completely different aura about it. Dickey Betts takes the lead, both vocally and songwriting-wise and comes up with two of the bands bigger hits ("Jessica" and "Ramblin' Man"). The sequencing on the album is chronological by recording date so midway through the album the loss of bassist Berry Oakley is shockingly apparent. I used to be a big Berry Oakley fan, I even wanted to buy the reissue Fender did of his burnt orange P-bass, but I had totally forgotten about him while listening to the other albums. He provided such a solid base for the groups improvisations that was dearly missed after his death. I think Dickey Betts was talented enough to carry this band, but two tragic deaths in two years certainly did the Allman's in. I don't think any band could've endured that and came out for the better. This album would've made a fine final statement, but I don't think anyone has minded the Allmans carrying on and touring since then, in this case I don't think its tarnished their legend at all.

10:17pm: last couple days
The last couple days were a lot of fun. I'd heard many tales of Borna's assholishness but if anything he was even nicer than usual. His and Reed's room at the gallery was pretty fuckin sweet. Here's some famous people hanging in there:


I also thought the Reed cigarette video was pretty sweet- but by far the most impressive shit was the Master Control Program stuff Reed played me. I haven't gotten too excited by any noise stuff recently, but I read this great interview/article on Brian Eno and it really got me thinking about ambience and whatnot. Anyway my point is that MCP's shit is good as hell and I look forward to seeing them live.

The rest of the night was good hangin' out until well-needed rest. Me and Jon left pretty early the next morning cause I needed to go get my haircut. And yes I know its ridiculous I felt the need to go all the way to Wayne, but I figured since I was going to Philadelphia anyway, whatever. It was nice to stop by Shady Dog too. I swear since I've left for school they've started to get the best vinyl. I picked up 4 dollar records there to go along with the 16 i bought at a rummage sale Friday morning.

So yeah, we got some Johns Village Market sandwiches and went back to Philadelphia so we could take naps. Eventually we woke up to head to Russian Futurists/Junior Boys/Caribou. First we had to pick up this girl, I think her name was Sam. Anyway on the way to the Troc I almost got her and Jon killed. But yeah, we got there unharmed and towards the end of the Junior Boys set. I don't particularly care for them so 3 songs was the perfect length. Caribou was fucking amazing. They played the new album almost in its entirety as well as the best cuts from Up in Flames. The songs with the dual drumming were the best, but really every song was amazing to watch. The video in the back was great too- it was just a great show. I also stood right next to *gasp* Sean Agnew, who I introduced myself to and asked if he wanted to go smoke some weed with us. He said yeah at first but then realized he had some stuff to take care or something. It was a pretty nice blow off at least, I expected more of a dick response. So anyway the three of us walked to Washington park and got really, really stoned. So stoned that instead of walking back north to Arch we walked South... all the way to South Street.

Finally turned in the right direction we arrived at the Troc just as SND was ending and Autechre was starting. Autechre was really killing it. I was expecting something more laid back, but it was fully bowel-quaking improvised dance jamz. I was really into it at first but as I got more and more tired I really started to fade. They eventually turned off all the lights which just about did me in. I probably wasn't as tired as Jon though, who literally couldn't stand any longer. We left at 1:30, but according to the sound dude's chart I glanced at on the way out they were going to stop playing at 1:20 anyway. I probably enjoyed Caribou more, but I'm glad I got to see Autechre since I know the dudes rarely tour. We headed back to Jons dorm to crash, and crash is what we did.

I got up this morning at 8 cause I thought I had to feed the meter, but I had totally forgotten it was Sunday. Ah well. I drove home, went back to sleep and I've been doing god knows what since then. So yeah...

artist: Mose Allison
album: Best of Mose Allison
year: 1970
label: Atlantic SD 1542
condition: exc
price: $1 @ VF Convention
value: $10
amg rating: 4.5
my rating: 4 stars

I haven't listened to this since I bought it, and to be totally honest I thought Mose Allison sounded completely different than this. The songs collected here from his 5 Atlantic LP's are pretty homogenous white-boy blues jams. For what they are, they're actually pretty good; Allison never strays from his strengths. His piano playing is solid for sure and his vocals never seem strained. Not shockingly the songs written by Willie Dixon and Muddy Waters are better than his originals, but if the covers weren't such familiar songs I'm not sure I'd be able to tell they were covers. That last sentence hardly makes sense- what I'm trying to say is that his originals and his covers all sort of take on the same style- and it's a style that suits him well. Mose Allison isn't an essential touchstone in Blues history, but this seems like the perfect record to throw on right after JJ Cale's Naturally.

11:05pm: so. i'm back from paris, it was good. i dont feel like writing all about it yet or posting pictures but i think ill get around to it eventually. probably not till after this weekend though. brooklyn, philly, hopefully etown here i come...

easing my boredom:

artist: Cannonball Adderly
album: Best of Cannonball Adderly
year: 1961?
label: Riverside 3038
condition: exc
price: $10 @ Shady Dog
value: $15
amg rating: couldn't find it
my rating: 3 stars

My earliest personal experience with jazz was listening to my Dad's copy of Blue Train (the only jazz cd he owns- or owned; i've totally liberated it) on the bus in like 8th grade. For some reason, and this is really weird that this is coming back to me, I specifically remember hearing "lazy bird" on the stretch of road right after Sarah Hexem's stop. Why I can remember a song and place so vividly, but not even the year it happened is beyond me. Anyway my point was it was quite awhile between that experience and the day I walked into Shady Dog and said something along the lines of "I think I'm ready to get into Jazz." That sounds like such a super pretentious statement, but I really imagined it as having to immerse myself in this difficult genre. Looking back, that's pretty silly- but Mike and Dave were glad to help. They pulled a bunch of records they thought would be a good starting point. I don't know why but I'm pretty sure this is the only one I walked away with that day. It wasn't the first jazz LP i bought on my own (that prize goes the thelonious monk greatest hits lp i bought for a jazz/rock history presentation for mrs dickenger, which I suppose would place this purchase sometime later in 9th grade), but it still holds a special place in my collection...

That having been said, jazz greatest hits collections bother me. Pulling a track from one session here and a track from another session there just doesn't do it for me. I know Jon feels the same way- for some reason Jazz has always been more of an album genre for us. There's great playing on here; personnel includes Art Blakey, Milt Jackson and Percy Heath among others, but it's hard to get a sense of Cannonball's full capacity with so many different line-ups. That seems counterintuitive- wouldn't you get a better feel for the range of his talents with so many different dates, his so-called recording peaks? No, instead you get a seemingly random sampling of choice cuts from sessions ranging from 59-61. The songs themselves are great, but I find myself focusing on who he's playing with rather than what he's playing. Wynton Kelly, Bobby Timmons, Bill Evans- they steal the show. The only common denominator is Cannonball's bluesy, mainly major alto sax. A lot of people don't like Cannonball for pretty much sticking to the blues his entire career, but at least he played them well. I think my favorite cut from this LP is his reading of Dizzy's "Groovin' High." Blakey absolutely lays it down while Jackons vibes and Kelly's keys provide a nice backdrop for Adderly's spirited blowing. It's just weird to find it sandwiched between sessions with different bands from different eras. You wouldn't have a Rolling Stones greatest hits where they went from Brian Jones era Stones to Mick Taylor era Stones to Ron Wood era Stones then back to Brian Jones era Stones, so why do it to Cannonball?

artist: Cannonball Adderly Sextet
album: Jazz Workshop Revisited
year: 1963
label: Riverside 444
condition: VG
price: $1 @ Shady Dog
value: $7.50
amg rating: 4 stars
my rating: 4.5 stars

When listening to this album I sort of drifted into the world of Jack Kerouac. More specifically I was thinking about the San Francisco jazz scene in On The Road. That would've been a few years before this '62 appearance, but many of the cats would've been the same. These were SF scene guys (for the most part) and the line-up here is absolutely incredible. You've got Cannoball, his brother Nat on cornet, Yusef Lateef on flute & tenor, Joe Zawinul on keys, Sam Jones on bass and Louis Hayes on drums. Every single player brings something to the table and the records varied sounds give the impression that this must have been one hell of a concert to attend. Sam Jones' gentle drumming carries his beatiful ballad "Lillie," a stark contrast to the previous cut, Nat Adderly's burnin'(and according to the cover, "hit single") "Jazz Samba." The playing is hot, but it's even hotter they left in Cannonball's stage banter. He sounds exactly how you think he would, and for that matter how he looks as well. Fat and jolly, his words are the verbal embodiment of his alto playing on Jazz Workshop Revisited. Besides Something Else, which might as well have been a Miles Davis album, this is my favorite of all the Cannonball stuff I've heard. I like his soul-jazz stuff he went on to record, but I wish he'd stuck with this line up just a little bit longer, if only to see where Yusef would've taken the group.

4:38am: paris
whewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww


drunk.

i'm never coming home.


p.s.

claire, jon meet me in front of the boulangerie.

10:49pm: artist: Adams, Ryan
album: Gold
year: 2001
label: Lost Highway 088170235
condition: nm
price: - @ KRC Convention
value: $20
amg rating: 3 stars
my rating: 3.5 stars

First of all, I don't remember doing it, but apparently I stole this record. There was a period of time where Jon, Eric, Greg and I would go to these record conventions out in Lancaster with Chris and maybe Dan Senn. Eventually I'd get bored of going through dollar bins so I'd steal records I couldn't afford- maybe 20 or 30 over the course of two years. I almost got caught a couple times as Jon can attest, and looking back it probably wasn't worth it. The records I ended up stealing somehow mean a lot less to me than the ones I acquired through other avenues. Well, sort of. I don't know, what I'm trying to say I guess is that I'm not that proud of it. I have no problem with shoplifting, but this is somehow different. Anyway...

...I have such a love/hate relationship with Ryan Adams. I love Heartbreaker, I hate pretty much everything else about him. Except this album, this album isn't hateworthy, it's just incredibly frustrating. It's undeniable that Ryan Adams is a talented songwriter, strike that, was a talented songwriter, but he could've really used a collaborator to reign him in a bit. Gold is a double lp and it really could've been cut down to one, and it'd be on par with Heartbreaker. As it stands its still a single cd, but it's way too long. Actually, even as a single lp I don't think it'd have the emotional impact of Heartbreaker. But still, less filler more killer always helps. I don't know what's with Adams' downhill slide, maybe it's a lack of quality control, or maybe he just burned himself out. More likely his douche complex got to him and now he's unable to let go of his giant ego when he picks up a pen and a guitar. All that having been said, Gold will always remind me of Ali, in a good way, so it'll always have a place in my record collection. I can't defend Ryan Adams past Gold, but I'm still looking forward to all the shit he's gonna release in the next couple years, if only for the chance to rip it apart.

5:20pm: ... it's been awhile
a lot has happened since the last time i updated. so yeah. the important stuff that happened between the last time you heard from me:

i recorded a couple songs libi & I wrote in the u of m recording studio. i think they turned out alright. i like the first one better than the second. neither are songs i'd be particularly into if i wasn't playing them, but im proud of them anyway. for the first one i wrote the guitar part, the trumpet part and the melody. for the second part i wrote the guitar parts and libi came up with a melody and helped me arrange the different sections. anyway if i havent sent them to you already here they are:

http://home.comcast.net/~cargoph/Progression.mp3
http://home.comcast.net/~cargoph/ReachForIt.mp3

so yeah im no brian salcido, jon carrelli, reed rosenberg or even mike winkler but i feel like this is a nice start to creating original music. hopefully i can develop past the admittedly weak crutch of having a girl write lyrics and sing, but hey it could be worse i guess.

speaking of original music, i'm way into the master control program stuff. i only have two of the tracks, if anyone has the rest i'd love for them to send it to me.

anyway libi and i performed in this concert last wednesday, and that went really well. i like playing live, i hope i get a chance to do it a lot more next year (or even this summer). i also had my malcolm x tribute concert i organized, and that went really well too. joey's quartet was amazing, and arp of the covenant (another local band i like a lot) were really great too. a big thanks goes out to jake, who designed an awesome flier.

( i really need to learn how to lj cut )

12:57am: how i feel trying to write this paper

12:19am: weekend update
( It took me two days to write this update, and it should take you about 10 minutes to read it )

10:54pm: RIP

8:41pm: do i look like my dad?
( well, do i? )

2:20am: only built 4 lj peepz
Another week, another update.

The last ya'll heard from me it was Monday- a lot has happened since then. Where do I even start?

Tuesday:
Err, as far as I can remember nothing happened on Tuesday.

Wednesday:
Err, Wednesday I cleaned up my room. I vacuumed, which hadn't been done in months, I took out the trash, returned all the cans that had piled up, washed my sheets and other laundry, and did other miscellaneous cleaning activities. This was of course in preparation for...

Thursday:
Ali's arrival! Sometime in the early afternoon Vernon drove me up to Howell, Michigan (notorious KKK territory) to pick up (one) Alessandra Russo. Ali called me up on St. Patricks Day and left a message saying she was in Richmond, Virginia but was soon coming to Michigan but I didn't wanna get too excited cause I dunno, I just didn't. But needless to say I was excited to see her when the day finally came. We got back sometime in the afternoon and hung out with Joey a bit before heading down to watch a Creative Arts Orchestra rehearsal. When we got down there they asked me to go get my guitar and play this thing I'd written before so they could jam along to it. It was really an honor, I can't really explain it on the type-type but it was nice to be included musically in this group I already felt like I was part of socially. Plus they totally made my song sound a million times better. After that I grabbed Ross' trumpet and blew in the switching instruments jam they ended the practice with. It was cool they had rehearsal on a day Ali was there because really CAO encompasses just about all my good friends at school.

After that we headed down to central for campus. Being in France and all Ali hadn't had a good burger in awhile so we just went to The Brown Jug and got some greasy bar food. It was a nice night so afterwards we just walked around a bunch and coincidentally ran into Ross, Joey and Matt driving back to North Campus. We declined the ride though in favor of more walking around. Eventually we got back to my room where we just kind of hung out till we fell asleep.

The next day we got up a little early to go get breakfast at Angelo's, this unbelievable restaurant. Here we are waiting outside:


Once inside I had the deep-fried french toast. This is supposed to be amazement, not disgust:


Breakfast was great, but unfortuneately I had to go to work for a couple hours. Ali went to hang out with her cousin for a bit while I worked. I got off early, we were supposed to go see a Pistons game, but the tickets fell through... Anyway, we just headed back up to Howell to go out to dinner with her family. We ended up going to Benihana (you know, the place where they cook in front of you) with her grandparents, dad, dad's girlfriend, aunt, uncle, sister and two cousins. It was quite the gathering, and the food was great too.

Me and Ali:


Sofie:


After dinner we parted ways and I headed back to Ann Arbor in time for Nadine (and family's) arrival.



Nadine is Joey's girfriend. Earlier in the year her sister came for an audition at the music school so I already knew her. Anyway the family was cool, we went to Pizza House for a late night meal, my second free meal of the day, and the first of a few her family would buy me over the next couple days.

So Saturday, yesterday, I slept in till work, which was fine. I guess this is the part of the entry where I talk about music. This week I picked up a couple great things. I'm more than a little bit late on this one, but I really dig this gem:


The title of this Ghost album, Hypnotic Underworld is just about the best way to describe this. As someone on Amazon put it, this sounds like The Notwist meets Sun Ra. Yeah, I can agree with that.

Also equally amazing is this album that I've been listening to non-stop for the last couple weeks (and as I write this) since Evan (music editor) burned it for me.


It's just classic solo Wu hip-hop. Some people would argue it's the best Wu solo disc, I might place it a close second behind Liquid Swords, but yeah- it's that good.

Another Saturday pick-up was the two-in-one CD of these two LA funk masterpieces:


You've all probably heard the song "Express Yourself," but this band is a lot deeper than that song. The bass work is amazing, not surprising since it's Ray Brown (who played with Charlie Parker amongst others). Don't get it twisted though, this is down and dirty funk, not to be confused with high and mighty jazz.

Another album I've been revisiting over the last couple days is this disc I got from Borna quite awhile ago:


I was listening to it so loud this afternoon that my autistic neighbor threw a shit-fit and called the RA on me. Nothing came of it though, my RA is a pretty cool dude.

Anyway after work Nadine's family (I wish I knew their last name) took me out to dinner again at this hip Chinese place. After a satisfying meal Tyler, Theo, Mike and Adam came over for White Russians and a good time.

Tyler and Theo (two of my housemates next year):


Tyler is one of the coolest guys I know, and one of the more interesting as well. Right now he's on this ridiculous work-out schedule where he alternates exercising with eating SIX MEALS A DAY. I'm lucky if I get two good meals, let alone SIX. Anyway during the drunken/high hysteria he related to me his pre-Michigan schooling.

I can really only tell this as Tyler, so here I (Tyler) go.

"I went to Pioneer (Ann Arbor) High school for a semester my freshman year and they had this really great take a community college class program. So I thought why only take one? Why not two? Three? I wasn't really down with the whole high school thing. I though why spend seven hours a day in one building when I could be out learning about stuff I actually cared about? I had my friends, I didn't really need that place. So my Mom forged this home schooling diploma and transcript for me. She typed up in Word the list of all the classes she taught me, and gave me an 'A' in each of them. Ha, I got inducted into the National Honor Society and everything. Anyway I went straight to Community College and now I've got an Associates Degree and 65 transfer credits to Michigan."

I never knew any of this about Tyler and I was blown away. He's our age and he's already been in college for four years! It's amazing and all, but I don't think I'd really wanna skip out on high school even if I could. Just thinking about all the stuff I would've missed out on almost makes me miss CHS (almost, but not quite). Tyler's got no regrets though, and a cool story to boot.

So anyway I slept in Sunday cause I didn't have work or anything else particularly important to do, all thanks to Easter.

I'd like to take this oppurtunity to say I hope ya'll had a happy easter.



So yeah, after I eventually woke up, showered, and finished my Malcolm X paper rough draft Nadine's parents took us all out to dinner again, this time at this place called Grizzly Peak. I had the ULTIMATE patty melt which was great, but slightly less than ultimate. Ultra maybe, but not ultimate. So yeah after that I had to go slip my paper under my Professors door and in doing so I remembered I told someone on BCO I'd go see them play at this show in East Quad. I couldn't even remember who it was I was supposed to go see but I got there in time to catch the end of Fred Thomas' (from Saturday Looks Good To Me)set. After him was Jason Anderson, this dude on K records. His performance was good enough or whatever but it got a little cheesy after awhile. He stood on this chair in the middle of the room with his acoustic guitar and had everyone sing along on the chorus of virtually every song. That was neat enough, seeing as there was 100% crowd participation, but he sort of lost me with his long drawn out life is great stories. I mean I didn't wanna hear life was awful, but I feel like he was trying so hard not to be depresso emo that he reached the complete other extreme. Whatever though I enjoyed myself and talked to a couple casual acquaintances.

After that I walked back to the bus-stop and gave Joanna a call. I hadn't talked to her in awhile and it was nice to catch up a little, even if it was only a brief conversation. We talked about how nice it was things are warming up, and it really is. 45 degrees doesn't normally seem warm, but after this Michigan winter it seems downright tropical. I'm really looking forward to the rest of Spring in Ann Arbor, I've heard it's gorgeous.

When I finally got back to my room I was greeted by Joey and Nadine along with Ice Cream and Bailey's. We ate all that while watching some of the Beatles Anthology- a combination that never ceases to satisfy. I also took this picture of Nadine, which I like a lot, for reasons I don't entirely understand.


They went to bed a couple hours ago, leaving me here to update, and after I hit "update journal" get down like this:

3:38am: the last coupla days
Today between my Musicology discussion and my Creative Muscianship Theory section I had some time to kill so I went to Encore (the best record store in Ann Arbor I don't work at) and I picked up the following:

M Ward- Transistor Radio LP. Now I burned this from WKDU a couple weeks ago so it wasn't really an essential purchase, but it was only 5 bucks so how could I pass it up? I really like this album by the way, it's one of those records that you just get lost in.



The other thing I picked up was a copy of Schoenberg's "Pierrot Lunaire." It's not my favorite Schoenberg thing, but it's still pretty fuckin cool. It's one of his less dissonant things and I like the fact you only need about 6 people to perform it.

After Encore it was off to Borders to pick the latest issue of Fader. Getting that out of the way I went to go get some Sushi and read my magazine like the good hipster I pretend to be. Flipping through I stumbled upon an article about Nomo, and that reminded me I needed to update about one of the best weekends I've had in awhile, before the drunken memories fade.

St. Patricks Day actually started off pretty shitty. I had an English paper due the next day and I couldn't skip any classes so I didn't even start drinking till 11 or so. Joey and I decided not to leave my room, so we just drank car bombs and other assorted drinks with Aaron and his girlfriend Kelly in my room. Evidence:


Oh by the way I don't think I told anyone what happened with my camera. I mean, you all know what happened to my old camera (it was put through the washer AND dryer). So anyway after an ethical debate I convinced my Mom to try and return it to Costco. She did and well, now I have a camera thats much nicer. Yeah, it's pretty sweet. Apparently they didn't even look at the camera, they just let her take an equivalent one, and since my camera technology has increased while prices have dropped, my new one is nearly twice as sweet. Anyway, thats where these pictures are coming from...

So yeah we got pretty wasted and good times were had.


So yeah that 7 page English Paper I had due the next day at 3 before I went to work? I didn't start it. So I got up at like 12 and got cranking on it. I got it done in time, but completely neglected the fantasy baseball draft for our newspaper league. And that hurts, a lot... cause now my team sucks. Oh yeah, you really care. Anyway I finished my paper about Mark Twain and Charles Chesnutt's use of vernacular in two of their short stories in time, in part becuase I took up way too many words analyzing Black Star's lyrics in ways that can only be vaguely considered relevant to the topic at hand. Bah, I'll probably get an A anyway, my last one was even more pure bullshit (Thoreau and Melville's attitudes toward "mental freedom").

Work was fine as usual. It was a little slow so I went digging through some of the crates underneath the shelves and I found a 3 dollar copy of this Gene Ammons record:



What makes the record significant (well other than the fact it has a killer line-up) is that it's Coltrane's first recorded session on alto sax (he played alto in Diz's big band from like '49-'51, but none of that ever got released). The only other record I can think of that his him playing alto on it is A Love Supreme, but it's very possible I'm missing some if ya'll can think of any.

Anyway after I got off work I had to go straight to the newspaper for summer elections. These elections are mandatory for everyone on staff at the paper, or else you don't get paid for the entire month. They're brutal though as everyone has to squeeze into the arts room for 12 hours of the most tedious, boring bullshit. Of course everyone gets wasted (it's college) but unfortuneately I was there long enough to get pretty drunk, and then completely sober up. I managed to take maybe one or two non-blurry drunken pictures, here they are:





That's Evan, technically my editor now, but more of a friend really.

It was real fun getting up the next day for work, but I somehow made it on time. Saturday means working with Will, which is always a pleasure. He burned me this album, which I've been listening to a lot:



It's real edgy, sparse post-punk that doesn't sound the least bit dated. You can hear the influence they've had on Interpol, as well as dozens of other watered-down wanna-be's.

At the end of the day I also picked up this masterpiece:



This collection of his ABC/ Backbeat sides absolutely slays. Produced by Willie Mitchell, (Al Green's producer) he's got that killer drum and organ sound that makes you feel like you're on Mclemore Avenue in Memphis. This guy is for sure one of the most over-looked soul greats. I wouldn't put him up there with Al, but a voice this gorgeous deserves more.

Speaking of Al Green, his appearance on the Daily Show was quite possibly one of the best interviews I've ever seen in my life. I would absolutely love to sit down and talk with Al Green. Oh man, how great would that be?

So ok, keep in mind that I haven't really gotten drunk since New Years Eve and now it's been two nights in a row of heavy drinking. Planning on taking the night pretty slow I skip out on one of Joey's music school performances and sit around and play video games with Aaron. Thinking I was just gonna sit around and go to bed early, I made myself a big mug of tea and sat down on the couch. But oh, it was not to be... Joey called me up and told me he was going to be sitting in with Nomo later and if I wanted to come I had to come down and meet him at the music school right then. So of course I got off my ass and went down there so I could get picked up by Dan Piccolo, the drummer for the group. Apparently Nomo got last-minute booked to play this after party for the Ann Arbor Film Festival at this hookah bar/club called Oz. It was a cool place that I normally wouldn't be able to get into, but since I was with the band I got to walk right around the ropes. Not only that, but free drinks all night! Shit, I was in heaven. Nomo put on their usual tight set, and Joey wailed his brains out. Literally, blood started gushing from his nose during one of his solo's- it was totally bad-ass. The band is super tight, and is best described as Fela Kuti-esque afrobeat. You really oughta check out their website - nomomusic.com and download some of the mp3's (but avoid "moving in circles," i won't vouch for that piece of shit).

After their set this european dj dude went up and did some cool shit while I put away white russian after white russian. To my surprise co-worker and all around good dude Forest was there:



Ugh ignore my general disheveled state. Yes I know I badly needed a shave and a kleenex, cut me some slack I didn't know I was going anywhere.

As for people who looked better than me, here are Ross and Andrea, two of my eldest friends:


Here's Andrea with Leena and Dan Piccolo:


oh, and Here's Joey and me enjoying our white russians:


So yeah it was pretty cool being able to walk up to the bar and just order a drink. I think I'm gonna go ahead and drop the hundred or so bucks it takes to get a good fake id, I have a feeling I won't regret it.

So after the dj, Dykehouse came on. I don't know if any of ya'll are familiar, but Dykehouse is a shoegazer-esque act on ghostly thats actually pretty cool. At this point I was pretty wasted though and everyone was leaving for this party at Elliot Bergman's house.

Now I know that name doesn't mean anything to you, but the dude's in Saturday Looks Good to Me, His Name is Alive and Nomo so I was pretty excited about getting to hang out at his house with like 15 other people. I mean, I wasn't all like hey can I get a picture with you, I'm not that lame Borna, but in my drunken state I was like ah, this is what I have to look forward to in Ann Arbor. It was a nice to feel sort of connected and in with things. Anyway I ended up getting even drunker, but luckily I caught a ride home with someone and passed out safely in my own bed.

Sunday I worked with Forest, who wasn't all that sympathetic to my lack of sleep. It was a good day anyway though, cause I got to pick up the new Prefuse 73, as well as the Hideyaface 12".



The 12" is pretty sweet; The El-P remix is almost better than the original, and Prefuse always sounds better on vinyl. The album itself is fantastic as well. I usually don't care, but for this one I avoided the leaked version thats been floating around for awhile. I highly reccomend going out and picking this up on Tuesday. Tuesdays a huge day for new releases, off the top of my head:
MIA, Prefuse, Decemberists, Yo La Tengo retrospective, Eno reissues, Dino Jr reissues, Bloc Party, Brendan Benson, etc...

I was gonna grab a copy of Arular on vinyl as well as the Sunshowers 12" but we were running low so I'll wait till we get some more in before I pick those up.

I think I can wait, I've been listening to lots of other new stuff recently.

Here's a record I think a lot of you might like:


This group, black moth super rainbow, reminds me a lot of Boards of Canada in that they have that real analog, tape-warble feel. They're even more organic though; it's just really hip stuff. I don't know how easily you'll be able to find it, so anyone that wants it I'd love to send it you via aim.

Tomorrow is looking to be another busy day. Besides classes, I have to figure out how I'm going to get out of this test Friday afternoon so I can go to Chicago to see Slint with this dude Andrew (my former music editor) and Evan (my current music editor). I also have to go see one of my teachers Mark Kirschenmann, and his group (indluding Prof. Gould, Glenn Kotche's drum teacher) play this show. Well, I suppose I don't have to go, but I'd like to.

If you got all the way through that, congratulations here's a reward:

http://turbine.slackworks.com/robots/Dave/springtimeinny.mp3

Seeing as it's starting to warm up, Jonathan Richman's "Springtime in New York" is becoming more and more appropriate. Guaranteed to put you in a good mood, resident of that fine city or not.

Lloyd out.

7:59pm: Since ya'll were so brilliant with the last picture I was hoping you could caption this one, or at least explain to me what the hell I was doing seeing as I have absolutely no recollection.

2:04am: why so many updates?
Dear Livejournal,

You are the only one that understands me. My life is oh so complicated, I wish I could ride a unicorn to a magical land where theres no drama and my adventures would be soundtracked solely by Belle & Sebastian.


syyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyke.

I've had a great last 48 hours, and I'm kinda bummed I only have a month of school left. Yesterday was a pretty ordinary day, except for at 9 I got to get together with Libi, that really cute girl in my creative musicianship class, to finish working out our song. It turned out real well, which I was very pleased with, but I was sad to learn that she was a senior, thus putting her firmly out of my league. Hopefully this will not be the last of our collaborations though; I'd love to record a couple songs with her (before I just wanted to play with her because i thought she was cute, now I actually think she's pretty good). Anyway after we worked on the song, she broke out the bong and her roommates and I all got super high and watched some of The Incredibles.

I left in the middle of the movie to go bowling with Ross, Joey and this kid Dave I just met. Dave seemed like an alright dude, but it was a little strange how he kept talking about how his Mom was gonna be upset he wasn't gonna be home till late- like Ross, he's already graduated... I really hope my life is never like that. Anyway bowling was super fun and despite my altered state I was able to roll a 175, which I'm pretty sure is better than that time Jon bowled a 35 or whatever ridiculous you couldn't try and bowl that bad score he had. Ugh, also I ate like 10 pounds of the greasiest cheese bread and cheese sticks and buffalo wings. Just thinking about it makes me wanna hurl.

Moving on, I got up this morning excited to play Libi and my song for the class. My excitement combined with the weather helped put me in a great mood, and after the performance i was on cloud nine. I dunno, the sky was blue, the sun was shining, it was warm, i was happy. I took the long way back from class, getting off the bus a couple stops early so I could walk on this trail that goes by this pond. I got back to my room, put on a Stevie Wonder album and just sat back and soaked in the sun while Joey and I swapped beer and talked about how great spring is gonna be. I really think Stevie Wonder is the perfect sunny day music, nothing puts me in a better mood (or in this case sustains my great mood) better. After that it was musicology and then back up to my room to get a start on this paper I had to write comparing and contrasting Mozart and Beethoven and how two specific works of theirs blah blah blah

I will now talk about music most of you probably care less about than jazz:

I've been really getting into a couple composers recently. I hadn't really given classical much of a chance until this year, but some of this stuff is really hip. Anyway, my current three favorites-

1. Schoenberg


Schoenberg was part of the 2nd Viennese school and pretty much came up with the 12-tone system. I guess it's fairly avant-garde but it's also really beautiful stuff. He was in the same crew as Alban Berg and Anton Webern, both of which are also pretty kick-ass.

2. Shostakovich


Shostakovich was a bad-ass too. He composed in Russia during the Soviet regime and he still managed to get this great, relevant music out there. It has an edge to it that makes it all the more fascinating.

3. Stravinsky


Stravinky's Rite of Spring is just a killer composition. The layering is unbelievable. If there was like a classical "scene" all the hipsters would be worshipping this dude. The Rite of Spring was super controversial when it came out, people were just kicking the shit out of each other at the premier.

There's others I've been getting into as well, but I wanna hear if any of you all have classical suggestions? And don't be like Leonard Bernstein or John Cage or some shit either, you know what I'm talking about.


That about does it I guess. Oh, Happy St. Patricks Day.

love,
Lloyd

ps, i was reading an article about Sonic Youth being the main band at UPenn's Spring Fling (which I think is pretty fucking cool) and the comments about it from Penn students were making me so angry until I came upon one left by Shazia Khan, then it all became clear to me. Le article:
http://www.dailypennsylvanian.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/03/16/4237e93f28fe2

2:26am: background check
( what's your background? )

10:29pm: my life, my pain
My Weekend

by Lloyd Cargo

My week back from Spring Break was pretty hectic, so it was a much-anticipated weekend. After getting off work Friday at seven or so I decided to skip the Nomo/His Name Is Alive concert I thought about going to and just head back to my room. Once there I found out one of Joey's high school friends was in town the night for an audition at the music school. They wanted to smoke so I headed over to Obi's to buy a quarter and thus my weekend of weed began. Before heading over there I finished off what I had left from before break, and then Doug drove me over to Obi's apartment. Once there I lost all concept of time as Obi and I reenacted what it was like to smoke with people who haven't smoked in a long time. I know this is hard to imagine without knowing Obi, but this dude is at least 6'5" and is absolutely RIPPED. I've never not seen him in a wife beater with every single one of his muscles well defined and bulging. If I didn't know better I'd assume he was in the NBA. Anyway he's also the quietest dude ever but once he gets laughing he doesn't stop. He was rolling around on the floor impersonating "a nigga so high he's catatonic." Holy shit it was funny.

Anyway weed in pocket I finally emerged. Doug, Joey and I rolled a couple joints and then I took them to the wave field. The wave field is this indescribable, but basically it's this field that I.M. Pei re-landscaped to make look like the ocean. exactly. It's a wonder to behold, and when stoned it provides hours of fun. Well okay not hours, but enough fun to make being outside in the freezing cold worthwhile. After that I think we got some food or something I don't really remember. There was most likely more weed, some video games, then me falling asleep on our very uncomfortable couch.

Saturday was more work, but work is fun- especially when I get to work with this dude Will. Anyway I let a couple douchey comments slip out, but I don't think any of the customers heard me. Well, except this one girl. She took exception to when I said "welcome to pseudo-indie" as she purchased the Garden State OST. I try to keep these thoughts to myself, but sometimes people have it coming. Also, did you know that ugly lookin dude in Le Tigre with a mustache is in fact NOT A DUDE. This is what I'm talking about:



How heinous is that?!

ps-
clearstars: i dont think i can grow a stache that sophisticated
clearstars: that is impressive!
clearstars: i dont think YOU could grow a stache like that

Anyway moving on- Saturday night started out with Ross calling and wanting to hang out. At first we thought bowling, but that's too expensive on Saturday nights. Then we decided to go play basketball, but Ross couldn't get into the gym cause his m-card is expired (he graduated last year). Then we decided to just smoke weed and play wall ball. Being the geniuses we are we didn't realize that the tennis court was covered in snow. Once we got there we decided to just throw the ball at each other, which was actually really fun until i just about got frostbite. After that we decided to go get some food and hotbox Ross' car, which is always a luxury when you don't own a car. After that I think we just watched Hard Day's Night and I ended up passing out on the couch again.

Sunday was more work in the afternoon, but this time with Forest, which is always a blast. I traded in a couple crappy cd's for the following:



This album gets panned by amg, but every time we play it in the store 5 or 6 people ask what it is. It's absolutely terrific. The best way to describe it is maybe to call it space-funk, but that doesn't really do it justice. It's just a great album and I can't believe it took me till now to realize we had it on vinyl.



This is another one I've been looking for on vinyl for awhile and hadn't noticed we've had a japanese pressing sitting there for awhile. It's really good, but you don't really care.



I mentioned this one in the last update, its good too.

So after those purchases I went home to listen to them and *gasp* smoke weed again. Actually I came home to find out Adam and Mike wanted to come over and check out the wave field. My previous suitemate Travis, who took the second semester off to go home to Detroit and be with his sick Dad was back so I asked him to join us. He proposed going to Obi's and realizing the potential hilarity, I decided to take Mike and Adam over there.

We get inside the door and the first thing I notice is a baseball sized lump with stitches across it right over Obi's right eye. I didn't say anything, but after we sit down he's like "i know you see my lump." Anyway it turns he got hit with a bottle, but its ok "cause that nigga got fucked up." Anyway this prompted a ton of stories from Travis about fights at parties in Detroit and let me tell you avoid "running your mouth" at all costs in front of Travis' friends. One dude was doing just that and he got thrown off a balcony, breaking his spine in two places. After talking about figthing the next logical topic was strip clubs. Ha, I can't even think about Travis' description of this one stripper without laughing. "She got a THUNDER booty, she wrap that shit round the pole and just shake the shit outta it. with her big ass booty. you can feel the fucking pole shake from across the room. she got a bomb booty." Anyway he invited me to a hip-hop video shoot in detroit in a couple weeks, which I CAN NOT wait to attend.

During this conversation we're watching Gladiator, and I couldn't help but notice that black people are way more rational than white people. Their observations on that movie were on point, but it was on the topic of extreme sports that Travis really nailed. "why are white people always doing dumb ass shit like climbing mountains?! shit don't make sense unless you got a deathwish." I gotta say, he's right.

After becoming fully retarded we got picked up by Joey, who was on the way back from the grocery store. He drove us over to the wave field, where we of course smoked again. After that it was off to McDonalds, then back to my room where I inevitably passed out on the couch.

This morning I woke up just as my first class was starting. Now normally i would've just gone back to bed, but I really like this class so I got my ass down there asap. After returning two hours later I decided to skip my afternoon class and give my room a well-needed cleaning. This part is much more exciting for me than you, because now i can see my floor. I went so far as to rearrange some of the furniture and as a result I now have more room with which to smoke weed in and fall asleep on. That's about it, I also wrote a paper and went to another class blah blah blah.

I thought that was going to be a lot more interesting than it was. I guess my weekend was actually pretty pathetic. I really gotta cut back on the weed.

10:10pm: In this update I will evaluate music most of you haven't heard in the hopes of influencing your opinions.


begin:

Spoon- Gimme Fiction

I got burned and advance copy of this the other day by my music editor. The good news is that it's a grower. The bad news is that it's not as good as the last couple, but hey it doesn't need to be a mind-blower to be very enjoyable. I've only listened to it 3 or 4 times all the way through, but my initial observation is more cohesive album, less great songs. By that I mean (most) of the songs by themselves aren't jaw-droppingly specatcular, but as a whole the album works real well. As usual with Spoon albums it starts strong, lags then ends stronger. I fully reccomend this for any Spoon fan, and for those unitiated- start with Series of Sneaks and work your way up chronologically.

Brendan Benson- Alternative to Love

I got mailed a copy of this by Indieworkshop to review and I want to love it so bad. It's a shame it's just not that good. It's actually a shrinker, I like it less every time I hear it. There are a couple real good songs, but the best one (the title track) is just a slightly altered version of a song from the Lapalco era. Other than that there's maybe one or two other songs even worthy of being on Lapalco. His mediocre power pop is still better than most everyone else's bullshit, but still did he really need to rip of Keane? Seriously, he steals an entire melody from Keane (I think it's them, but it could be some other equally crappy interchangeable band). This is worth downloading, but not worth purchasing. That having been said, I'm still really excited to see him when he comes to Ann Arbor. Maybe I'll get a chance to urge him to stay away from Jack White and get back together with Jason Falkner.

Fiona Apple- Extraordinary Machine

This I've only listened to twice, but I like a lot. It's been shelved indefinitely by her label for not being commercial enough; when will labels learn their lesson? You'd think that Yankee Hotel Foxtrot would've taught them that stylistic progress doesn't mean that it won't sell. I predict this album will be put out by someone, be critically acclaimed, and despite having no major radio hits sell to the same level as her last album.

Black Mountain- Black Mountain

I bought this the other day because I don't have enough hard rock in my life. Hard rock is a lame label cause it reminds me of like ac/dc or something like that, so maybe stoner rock is a better way to put it. This album isn't brilliant or anything like that, just full of killer riffs. Think Black Sabbath with more varied tempos and less busy bass lines.

oh, and check out the abomination that is the new Weezer album cover. Any single one of you could've done a better graphic design than this:

3:26am: boring shit no one cares about except maybe jon
( long update (with pictures!) almost entirely about music that will make me look pretentious )

for eric (more blasts from the past):
remember the night that began with this:


and ended with this?:


good times.

10:06pm: My break is pretty much over so I thought I'd give it a quick summing up.

Went to philly to hang out with jon. Got in on tuesday afternoon, met his awful suitemates and quickly left to get food then go do some record shopping. Picked up two Coltrane albums at Philly Record Exhcange (Mating Call & Stardust) then picked up Diplo- Favela On Blast Rio Baile Funk 04 at Spaceboy. Called up Hood, hung out at his place for awhile. Niall's doing well, but I dunno Jon and I left his place shaking our heads wondering how he ended up 36 and alone, with his best days clearly behind him (probably the fact he swears by the pretenders, abba, the smithereens & rush). It was still nice to see him, and he gave me a Wilco poster. After getting back to Jons it was soon time for the radio show i had been looking forward to so much. after nearly being locked out of the building we finally got inside only to realize the webstream was broken so none of yall could hear what i was playing. I'd love to post the playlist for you guys since i put so much effort into it but I just cleared my itunes library to reorganize it and it also deleted the playlist. oh well, I can tell you that i started with all night radio- all night radio and ended with gbv- as we go up, we go down and that everything in between was equally as glorious.

the next day jon had classes so i pretty much hung out the whole time trying to recover from being up all night. i walked over to penn and had a delicious dinner with matt (thanks a lot dude) and his cool friends. the rest of the night was spent hanging out in jons room, doing a whole lot of nothing.

thursday i left drexel for berwyn. i got in at 1 and claire wasnt due back till much later so i had some time to kill. i hung out at shady dog for a couple hours (picked up a great ken nordine record) and caught up with mike and dave. being in there is like a time warp back to high school so you think i wouldve gotten enough but no i got restless and went to conestoga to find jake. after being told i looked like shit by cam i finally found jake and shockingly allison berger appeared not too much later. i talked to z for a little while and caught mr smith as i was leaving, which was nice. at winter break i was sort of looking forward to going back to chs, but i'll be happy if i never go back there again- i felt kinda pathetic being there at all. anyway jake, allie and I went to bravo and sat down for a bit which was nice. unfortuneately i had to part ways with them cause jake was being sucked into the vortex, so i just spent the next couple hours sitting in the gryphon working on a couple reviews.

finally claire got home and i went over to her house. we decided to go out to dinner and then head over to the movie theater and see whatever. we ate a quick, but good, dinner at champps while some douche played crappy covers on the other side of the room. we walked over to the theater and bought tickets to hitch, which we watched about half an hour or so of. it was terrrrrrrrible so we left and watched what was presumably the good part of constantine. we really were there to see the boogeyman though so we left after a little bit of constantine and managed to walk by at least 3 theater employees to the screen on the complete opposite side of the hallway. it was well worth it though since we happened to be alone in the theater with a black couple and their third wheel reeking of weed as well as a gross couple making out loudly in the back corner. the movie pretty much sucked, but that was more than made up for by the black dudes comments. ha, i can't effectively convery their hilarity through livejournal but what he said had me laughing so i hard i thought i was gonna break a rib at one point. after the movie more hilarity ensueded when claire jumped off a snow bank onto a big sheet of ice and did the funniest fall ive seen in quite a while. amazingly she didnt break anything, but her butt did get all wet. we went to minellas for some green tea but didnt hang around all that long. the night ended with tv on the couch fading into some well-needed sleep.

fuuuuuuuuck i just went to go get my camera so i could upload some pictures but apparently my mom picked up my laundary off my floor and threw it all in the machine, with my camera still in the pile. needless to say, its completely ruined. fuuuuuuuck. fuckity fuck fuck fuck. she could at least be a little apologetic or sympathetic. i had some good pictures on there.

anyway friday i went to the mall with claire and her mom. helped her pick out a bathing suit, then got my hair cut. we ran some errands later and her mom gave me a mohawk. i stopped by and visited gretchen, then drove home. the end. fuck.

4:43pm: possibly my favorite picture ever
( Read more... )

6:01pm: So, I'm back in Jersey. Spring Break my ass, it snowed yesterday. I went skiing though with my family which was nice enough. I learned my brother is turned on by girls with disabilities and that my sister had a crush on a kid named Kurt VON MAUL.

Today I went to Princeton Record Exchange and spent an obscene amount of money on a handful of records:








and the gems, both exc first pressings





Speaking of music this album is currently rocking my world:

I burned a promo copy from the record store I work at in Michigan before I left and I haven't been able to stop listening to it since.

Thats about it I guess, if you're bored and in the tri-state area give me a call this week and we will hang out.

12:20am: R.I.P.