Listen.

Have you PEEPED this song yet??!!!!

It makes me dance like crazy!!!

Concrete Jungle

Whoops!

Sorry Gentle Viewers, I went and told you I was going to update more often and then I didn't. Sorry. Things have been busy. Here's some of the highlights:

* Finished our script! Hooray! Now we wait for magic to happen...

* Saw Of Montreal in concert!
- They were a blast in concert, as always, super-fun-happy dance time! Highlights were "Rapture Rapes The Muses" and "Oslo In The Summertime." For video clips from the show, see Kim's blog.
* Woodland Park Zoo day!
- We spent last Sunday at the zoo and had such a blast! I hadn't been to the zoo in years and it was really great to see all the animals again. This day was special because the animals were getting Valentine's Day treats! So we watched them get fed Blood-Sicles in the shape of a heart (there were meat chunks in there too). Or, in the lemur and red panda's case, a wicker heart covered in fruit. Here's some pics:

I finally got to see those damned elusive (but extremely cute) otters!

Kim feeds a bird in the aviary. For LeAnne, it would be a nightmare!

Everybody loves Penguins. They are the new monkey, after all.

Look at these cute fellas! They were a highlight of the trip!

Red Ruffed Lemurs love blood oranges. =)

Anybody who says we're not related to these guys is full of it. They were like weird, shriveled people.

Red Panda is the Asian raccoon. Cute as hell too.

The strangest animal in the zoo...

* Karaoke @ 0hana's
- I sang my heart out! Very good times. After the first one the waitress gave me a beer and said, "This one's on the house, you ROCK!" Kim caught pieces of it on video!

"I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself" by The White Stripes


I dedicated this one to my people in Texas!

So there's a look at some of the cool stuff I've been up to. The not so cool is being unemployed. But I managed to get a job at an accounting firm downtown. At first tho, they made me clean fridges and shit, and it was very demeaning and crappy. But now I've moved on to boredom tears-inducing paperwork. The life of an accountant. Yippee. So, in dedication to my new workdays, here's a song of the day! It's Danzig's "Tired of Being Alive." Enjoy!

Soundtrack of My Life (Random Remix)

So I decided to totally steal my sister's idea and try this for myself.

I have to say, it fills me with a bit of trepidation because I've found my iPod's randomization to be faulty in the past, so this might turn out hella strange. Let's see...

Opening Credits: "Letter to Memphis" by Pixies
This is a great instrumental. Full of pep. I can see me walking triumphantly on a shining moment, or maybe a montage of awesome moments, rife with high-fives. Or maybe I'm just in a basement in my socks and undies air guitaring. Anyway you slice it, FUN.

Waking Up: "Hip Hop" by Dead Prez
This is the social alarm clock everyone needs. It forces me to look past the music and realize...it's bigger. Or maybe it's for me to realize my vanilla-ass skin is the problem. "I'm all for running up on those crackers in they city hall." Maybe that's my goal for the day. A morning in the hood.

First Day at School: "Underwater Love" by Faith No More
Oh boy am I laughing. It's going to be a violent day, I can tell. So at my first day of school I fall in love with my teacher, but realize she's too old for me and it can never be, so I decide to drown her. But I still can't escape her stare, all authoritative and cold. What did you do on your first day of school?

Falling In Love: "Shores of Avalon" by Mullmuzzler
WOW. And here I thought it was going to be a violent day in the hood. It's just got Epically progged out with this solo track from the Dream Theater lead singer. After I drown my teacher I am sucked into a portal, perhaps as penance. I'm in a medieval world with a sword fighting evil, searching for a fair maiden. But she's hiding a Turkish dagger to stab me! Oh man are paybacks a bitch.

Fight Song: "Where the White Boys Dance" by The Killers
So that trip to never-never land was to get me understand the danger of violence. Back in the real world, I decide to resolve my problems through dancing. I have a problem with this guy, and we just cha-cha it out, in slow motion. Giving each other mean looks, but in a totally hetero slow-motion moment. Save the Last Dance ain't got shit on me boy.

Breaking Up: "Televators" by The Mars Volta
This is a really sad song. Especially since it's my breaking up song. The love I won through my manly show of dance now lies cold on the pavement. I am bereft and alone. How will I recover from this? What will I tell others? And most importantly, who will I take to prom now? Riddle me THAT! I guess I gotta stalk the ground for ladies...dance style.

Prom: "Sharpening Skills" by Elysian Fields
Just when I think I'm flying solo, in shadows of an alley I see a sultry older lady (do I have a thing for older women or what? ;) smoking a clove, humming to herself a deep, rich tone. I approach her in my tux, give her a flower to pin to her exquisite dress, and she gives me a swig of her scotch. We walk hand in hand inside, and slow dance to every track, no matter the speed, sharpening our "skills" for later that night...

Life: "This Book Is A Movie" by Spoon
You can't get any more post-modern than that. Living a life a action, violence, betrayal, and fantastic adventures beyond belief, I slow down long enough, to get my story out on a little recorder I talk into as I'm in the back seat of an old Lincoln as I drive through NYC at night. The tape gets put to paper, and I am a best-selling author for the impressive stories of my life. And now they want to make a movie out of it. But I thought there was already a movie going on...

Mental Breakdown: "Operation Rescue" by Bad Religion
"When need restoration now of our integrity" indeed. The celebrated life has driven me to madness. My mind spins at a break-neck pace. I try to do good, and people assure me, but it feels like this are spinning out a control too fast, I can't keep up. What compels them all? I need some rescue...

Driving: "Just A Man" by Faith No More
I'm always able to gain my focus when driving. The cool night air clears my head. Here I was thinking everything was of Godlike importance, and it was driving me mad. The sins of pride I tell you. Things become so much simpler when you realize one must look past his Icarus tendencies and realize, "but me, I am just a man." But I still dream about a cloudy sky. And any revelation I have should be accompanied by a gospel choir.

Flashback: "El Scorcho" by Weezer
When I let my mind clear and just wandered, I return to that first day of school. When I was busy looking to big fish to fry, I missed the best thing that was right in front of me. A cute little girl in my class who liked all the same things, and really liked swings. That one day we refused to stop swinging and come to class was magic. We wouldn't stop until our parents came after school and physically removed us from them. It was one best days of my life, and I never told her how I felt.

Wedding: "I Don't Like the Drugs" by Marilyn Manson
What can I say about this one? One simple drug experiment turned into something crazy. You go on a acid burn for a few days, and once they pry your sorry ass off the ceiling, give you some orange slices and a cup of coffee, you find you're married. Life's funny that way. But not funny haha. But hey, my life had a gospel choir again! Hooray!

Birth of a Child: "Static" by Beck
After coming down, sometimes you just want to lock yourself indoors, and if you do so with a wife, what do you expect will happen? A child. So we decided to have the child in the same place it was conceived, locked up in my house, quietly, without attention from anyone. It was peaceful, beautiful birth.

Final Battle: "Alone Jealous and Stoned" by The Secret Machines
So at some point, I lost the kid and wife. I never made it outdoors much in those days, took comfort in the drugs. I envied those who had a simple life that wasn't filled with murder, portals, drugged-out weddings and super-stardom books and movies. A sad battle of inner-struggle and yet catharsis. My greatest obstacle/opponent was me.

Death Scene: "Jimmy" by Tool
"Leaving me with the dead and hopeless" indeed. Waving goodbye. Heading home. Home to eternity, oblivion. As a last ditch effort to save my worthless life, I trek out into the woods, a candle as my only guide on a dark, misty night. Driven by something in my head, whether it be drug residue, a conscious, or some being across the astral plane. I attempt to open temporal gateway to reverse everything that's happened up until this point, but instead something evil comes out of the portal, a slithering, secret, evil. Before I know it, it scoops me up, flings me high into the air, cuts my thrown, and then I fall, earthbound, landing not where I started, but instead in Times Square, where thousands can look upon my once famous face and destruction all of it wrought. Dark Magicks are not to be toyed with. But I am finally at rest.

Funeral Song: "The Crane Wife 1 & 2" by The Decemberists
Everyone that knew me is relieved that it's all over. And they can look at all the positive things I did with my life that I wasn't able to cover here, and my ex-wife and child forgive me. All I ever wanted was for things to turn out right. Sometimes we lose our way. But all is not lost. Others can learn from our mistakes, and even in that small way, we make the world a better place. It's a small private funeral for just those closest to me through the years, though it is quite an extravaganza of people, like at the end of Big Fish. Everyone shares stories of me, and hugs and has a good happy cry.

End Credits: "Sleeping In" by The Postal Service
Ah, the reflection of a life that seemed so real, but was all a dream, a prophetic vision of things to come if I continue down my current road. I wake in a Bob Newhart -like state, and give my head a shake, laugh out loud Donnie Darko style before he got squished, and then just pull the covers over my head and go back to bed.

So I wish there would have been some Led Zeppelin, Ryan Adams, and Kool Keith, but it's random, what can ya do? Maybe I'll do a hand-picked one sometime.

So what do YOU think? Questions? Comments?

Just laugh and laugh and laugh

I saw this picture on somebody's signature on the The Comatorium and just sat at my desk laughing for a few minutes. I don't know why. There's something about it that's child-like, unrealistic, and just absurd that makes me love it. Enjoy!

Com Lag

And people lag too my Gentle Viewers.

Here's to bring you up to speed.

My external hard drive crashed. I lost all of my music and my films I made. I cried. Devastation. I mailed it to Chris who is kind enough to try to extract the stuff in data recovery. It's been almost 2 weeks and the package still hasn't made it to him. Music and hard drives and all is a very touchy subject with me.

I had my first Christmas away from home. Kim and I had a great time, and were treated to Nanette's hospitality and excellent cooking (made a stop by her Aunt's too). Got some cool stuff too. Here's the Christmas spirit:

That's Kim showing Clark some love and sporting the new shirt I got her.

A crown of lights. Am I Nordic? I'm wearing the new coat Kim got me. Deliciously warm.

So then some boring work and then New Year's Eve!! The Beard, Cass, and JB came over and we drank it up, danced, and then went downtown to the Lava Lounge. Thanks for the pitchers JB! Almost ate at the Hurricane Cafe, but decided fuck it after waiting 30 min. with not even water or coffee. All in all a great night. People said I looked like Robert Palmer. Fuck those guys. If anything, it's the Hives I was going for. Though I have been told I'm "Simply Irresistible." Sorry. Couldn't resist.

Shaking our groove thangs to "SexyBack."
You CANNOT resist the Justin Timberlake.

On our way downtown. Drinking Pabst in my Garth Brooks coozie!!
(Doesn't this look like an album cover?)


Completely Boofy Blitzed

There's been a ton crazy weather here lately. Ice and snow everywhere. No canceled work unfortunately. But it was cool to experience lots of snow. The dry kind that crunches under your feet and gives a crispness to the air that is exhilarating.

Beautiful sky in the kingdom of snow.
(What world was that in Mario 3?)

No time to play in the snow, I've got a job to go to.
But a quick trip through the park is a must.

So that brings you up to speed up until the last few days. I think I'm going to try to update more often. Even if it is just a few lines. Let you know what's up, what's on my mind. Maybe try to have a song of the day.

Still at my temp job. It's ok. It's a paycheck. But it's not my real job. I'm on the grind people. Great things lurk in the recesses of the mind. Won't you join me in unleashing them?

The Hills Are Alive (with the sound of kitch)

Over the river, through the mountains and snow we traveled yesterday to a small town named Leavenworth. It's styled after the old Bavarian villages. All of the store fronts and fonts on the signs and such. You could practically add "Ye Olde" to most signs and it would have been totally appropriate. But we weren't the only ones with this quaint little plan. This lil' burg was SWARMING with people!!

You wouldn't believe the cold. Well, with the mounds of snow and sledding, yes I guess you could. Seeing all of the snow on the sides of these roads and mountains thinking. If it all came down, that would be a bad way for a Texan to go out...

But here's an example of those "ye olde" signs.

But it was a cute little town filled with shops with items like Nutcrackers, beer steins and other old world goodies, and even a hat store, that was apparently quite the rage, stocking hats as diverse as old style conductor and bowler hats to big christmas trees for the top of your head! The insane thing about this store, however, was the line way out the door! Who knew stupid hats were so popular? Or these crazy cat figurines for that matter? (I hope I am actually very wrong)

As the sun set on this (faux) old town the wandering and cold had gotten to us, and we headed inside for very nice Italian dinner, opting out of the street vendor kielbasa and elk burgers for finer dining. But not before snapping this beautiful shot:
Now dark, we waddled back into the streets for some last minute shopping for loved ones before we headed out onto the dangerous now dark snowy mountain passes. Intermittently stopping for great photo ops, we drank coffee and harassed the tourists. All in good fun.



Trudging with icy bricks for fingers and toes we made our way back to the frozen car and began the long, dark journey back to Seattle and said Auf Weidersein to the little Bavarian village.


Happy Holidays Gentle Viewers!

The Weather Outside Is Frightening.

Yeah, nothing to do with that wretched song. Some holiday songs just get under my skin and make me want to throw up in my mouth. Sorry. I guess that's not the right spirit. Now if only it could be EGGNOG Flavored vomit! Then the holidays would I feel, inside and out.

But last night there was an insane wind storm. Like all of the trees were going apeshit, swirling around in some chaotic dance. I have rarely witnessed wind so threatening.

"Whatever Jarad, it's just wind. At least it's not that rain you whine about."

WRONG TOTO. Look at these pictures. Taken by me, right outside my friggin' apt.




Oh, I guess I'll chat a bit about what I've been up to. Unemployed. SIGH. Don't wanna talk about it. But I've kept busy. For more details on this, stop on over at Kim's blog and read up about Jesika's visit, a great Pogues tribute concert and other adventures.

Tomorrow should be a great day. Going to some small town in the mountains that's been pitched to me as Washington's Fredricksburg. And then that night going to see my favorite Aussie band (no, not who you think, though I am perpetually in love with "Thunderstruck") The Living End!! Yaaaah! Hopefully there will be photography afoot.

Oh, and monday I start a job programming fax machines. I AM the boring job monkey.

But hey, if film guys in Oahu are reading this, HIRE ME.

Until next time, Gentle Viewers...

Snow and Such

I thought I'd spare you more musings this time, and instead just show some pictures of the weather around here recently.

Enjoy my Gentle Viewers!






(This last one looks very ominous, don't you agree?)

There and Back Again...A Turkey Tale

So I have something to admit my Gentle Viewers...

I'm sometimes lazy, and the blog things, well they don't write themselves. But enough with the excuses, and more with the update.

Two holidays have came and went since we last spoke. Halloween was fairly uneventful, but I did walk around that day wearing a hockey mask and got a lot of great stares from people. As I walked about like a Voorhees, I went and picked up the new Deftones album, Saturday Night Wrist. I have to say, I'm very impressed with it. Definitely a return to form, and much better than the self-titled release of 2003. The songs for the most part can be described as violently beautiful, and has probably gotten more spins than most albums for me lately. I'm completely re-infatuated with the Deftones. I agree with whatever review it is that I read that said something to the effect of, "if you don't have any heavy albums in your collection this should be the first." I would recommend it to new and old fans alike.

I've also been to 3 shows since last we shared:

Electric Six - This was such a fun show. Dick Valentine (which is the coolest stage name imo) has great stage presence, a great sense of humor and rapport with the audience and the band were tight. I danced the night away listened to them non-stop afterwards. This is a band that is more than the "Danger! High Voltage" song. I have a feeling they'll be making fun, danceable music for years to come.

(As a side note in a similar vein, check out the new Rapture album Pieces of the People We Love. Brilliant stuff, and makes me do a happy jig.

Beirut - Wow. That's all I can say. I've never been to a show like this before. It was at the intimate Crocodile Cafe and it was the perfect setting for the band. The 10 or so members squished together on stage, blaring out the best gypsy music this side of the Balkans. The main guy crooned and played trumpet, and the band flowed through song after song of beautiful, exotic music, at times even encouraging the audience to get into the act by wandering around the crowd with tamborines and trumpets. It felt more like a house party than a formal concert. Plus, openers A Hawk and A Hacksaw (main guy was the drummer of Neutral Milk Hotel) were fantastic, definitely setting the mood for the the music to come.

Because of this concert I have really been into Eastern European music, and in specific, the music of the Balkans and Gypsies. I've grabbed discs where I can and have been trying to absorb it all. It just takes me to a far away place in my mind, most of the time back to wander the small cobblestone streets of Stare Mesto, Praha. I feel this passion and pull towards the area. I feel as if I'm destined to return there someday. Hopefully to stay for a while, teach English, live. Even though I value stability, and I like having nice things. I just can't see me as a "company man" who keeps the same job for 20 years with a new plaque every few years on his desk. More heart yearns for more, and my mind wants to absorb everything this world has to offer. It's just that right now this is the forefront in appealing. Egypt is somwhere on that list too. As is Turkey, Thailand, and Antarctica.

Kool Keith - Hey thanked the "Seattle Organization." A LOT. He asked ladies to put on thongs over their clothes while he played "Girl Let Me Touch You There." Even after most of the crowd was gone he was still ranting about "sniffing the artwork" and "No more camera phones." It was a crazy show, and fun as hell. He did hits, he did more obscure tracks, new ones, and even flowed a couple of times. It was a show to be remembered. I'll forgive how long it took him to get out onto the friggin' stage because he was so spot-on. The weirdest thing was when he was playing a song called "The G Spot" and some trashed looking girl with a mohawk stumbled onstage and started dancing provocatively and after the song he ramble about it being "so exotic" and like "being in the Navy. I'm on the water for 2 minutes, I'm in the navy." Whatever that means. She proceeded to stay on stage and bump into the DJ, who got PISSED OFF and had her removed from the stage. Haha. A night of hip hop to remember.

I got a job for a while working at the UW Medical Center in the Materials Mgmt Dept. I did inventory in all sort of creepy places and put speculums in a bag! It was boring and sucked. I never saw my boss, and people were always telling me different things to do. Plus there was NO formal training, so it was basically sink or swim. So eventually they decided that even though they didn't see me hardly at all, but somebody always had something for me to do, which someone else thought was wrong, I decided I "wasn't working out." But I guess you figured that from my use of past tense from the very beginning. Good on ya. Have an interview at the Mac Store tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes. Maybe I can be a sales monkey...again.

So, on to more recent things like Thanksgiving holiday! I arrived home last Tuesday night, after missing my original flight that morning. I was angry, but it was no big deal. We had a great Italian dinner, and afterwards I hung out with the Suttons, Fer Fer, Robert and his wife, and Blunck! We talked, drank, etc. It was so great to see everyone. I was so freakin' happy about it, especially to see Blunck, who I haven't seen in around a year. I really missed that fool. Every night I got to see more and more familiar faces, including my awesome sister LeAnne, Mark, Crab, Mike Jones, Pookie, mi hermano Marshall, Robert, Jennifer "Ruth" German (!!!) and many more. Drank, smoked, talked, laughed, video gamed, and I loved every minute of it. (Even the inevitable shopping where I found the monkey slipper below)

On a different note, I got to spend quality time with my Grandmother, who turned the big 8-0 this past Saturday. We had a huge gathering at our house with relatives, food, champagne, and even a vocal performance from my mostly MIA cousin. It made her so happy, and it was great to see her get all of that attention and care. She needs and deserves it. She lives in a nursing home, and I won't even get into how awful I think that is.

The last day of my trip home my mom and I went to the Houston Museum of Natural Science. We saw an IMAX film on Greece that has inspired me to make it a goal to sail around the Greek islands. We wandered through the exhibit halls, seeing dinosaur bones, African wildlife, shells, precious gemstones, and much more. It was fun and educational day, and good bonding thing to do with my mom. She really enjoyed it, which shows me that my parents can do fun and interesting things, they just need a push to think outside the box of movie theater and mall.

So now I'm back in Seattle. It's colder than witch's teat here. In the 20s. Snow still on the ground and rooftops. All I have is a stupid radiator, which I don't think is very effective, so I'm wrapped up in a blanket. I think I'll go make some hot chocolate and take a shower. Think warm thoughts for me. Oh, and while we're thinking about it, think high-paying job thoughts for me too.

Cheers.