The Rhythm of One

RNC Hipocracy

2008-09-05T12:52:00.000-05:00

Oh yeah! I have a blog!

2008-08-30T00:02:00.003-05:00

Okay kiddies. This blog is being shut down. Not forever, but for now. I've got better things to do. Plus, it's just so much easier to pass links straight to people via my "share on Facebook" bookmark. I used to use this blog as a way to procrastinate homework, but now I have a real job and bosses don't like it when you blog during work. And anyway, I wanna put out some music (which I'll post here too) and generally be more social, which is hard to do when you are sitting at a computer more than you should be.

It's been a good run, and I hope you all had as much fun as I did.

So I bid you all farewell, and I will hopefully see you somewhere other than the internets. A toast to you guys!

Don't worry, I will still post more than my friend Nimit

Twitter and Colbert

2008-08-07T22:55:00.004-05:00

I'm not sure how many of you know about Twitter (I'm AndyDrum). Imagine Facebook statuses, only that's it. Yes, the idea is stupid, but it's actually really cool. It's like a cross between an instant message and an away message. And plenty of celebrities are on it. I happen to be following Stephen Colbert and I noticed something. He follows more tech crap and democrats than republicans. I see multiple tech blogs and John Edwards. Not to mention OBAMA. To be fair, he IS following Candi. I just found that a little silly (yes, the whole idea behind Twitter IS silly). And no, it's not the actor Colbert; it's very much the character. Take a read for yourself.

It's so pretty!

2008-08-02T15:06:00.001-05:00

I finally got Pro Tools! I'm excited to finally start recording AND
mixing.

Again and Again! (Using a Mac!)

2008-08-01T15:26:00.002-05:00

I just got the newest The Bird and the Bee album, and so far I like it. The video above is of my favorite song on the album. Very catchy! And it doesn't hurt that its made using a Mac.

Bush OR Batman!

2008-07-24T23:55:00.000-05:00

2008-07-18T22:38:00.000-05:00

The Dark Knight was fantastic! Dark, but utterly awesome. Got see it
and look for Humanze "shout out". ;)

Sent from my iPhone

Sooooo excited

2008-07-17T13:54:00.000-05:00

I am way too excited for The Dark Knight. Tonight I'm watching Batman
Begins and tomorrow I'm buying tickets early. It's going to be awesome.

In a completely unrelated topic, I have a new phone wallpaper. :P

Testing out my new server

2008-07-12T12:28:00.000-05:00

There should be a cat and a guitar in the above picture. :)

I love this cover!

2008-07-11T19:55:00.001-05:00

Facial Prosthesis - Holy SH*T

2008-07-08T18:42:00.001-05:00

I have never seen anything like this in my life! It's a little creepy, but so cool! The world we live in is amazing.

My first Indian 4th of July

2008-07-05T19:15:00.001-05:00

"If cake happens, it happens."
-John

Sent from my iPhone

2008-07-04T17:11:00.000-05:00

"ooooo! Look at that boy! Shit!"
- gay guy in boystown while doing a double-take at John

Sent from my iPhone

23 is old....

2008-06-30T12:29:00.003-05:00

Hey everyone! It's been a while! I feel like I haven't posted a legitimate post in a month, which is probably true. So here goes (hope I'm not rusty).

This weekend was ridiculous! Friday we moved a pool table into my house. And by moved it, I mean I watched because my brothers are stronger than me. They did all the work. After that Ian and I watched the Twins game and went to bed (it was a long week). Saturday (my birthday!) I was up at 9AM, which is early for me on the weekends. I hit up IKEA with a few friends, then Noodle for lunch, and a few stores trying to find netting to use as pool pockets (no luck). I also stopped by Home Depot to get a part so I could fix our toilet. Then I headed west to hit up Sarah's engagement party. There I found out that not only was Jim in town, but Nimit too! It was great to see my college roommates in one place again. I left Sarah's early to go get a haircut (they were closed) and buy booze. Turns out, Ian was at the liquor store already, so we got stuff together. Then he went to get more ice/cups and I went in search of a tap. My older brother had a keg left over from a party, but no tap. Free keg! So I went on a small adventure. The first store didn't have kegs, the second wouldn't give me a tap without a keg. On the way I passed a billiards store (closed). Finally 30 minutes later I found a store that would rent me a tap. So I headed home to do a kick clean up of the house and relax!

The party was awesome! I think I new every single person who walked into our house except two, both of which I had heard a lot about already. We had Ian's friends from high school, his girlfriend's friends, my high school buds, college buds and co-workers. I had so much fun running back and forth between conversations, the keg, Rock Band, and Shitage (pronounced like shittage). I only wish I could have spent more time with everyone. We had a large 7 person Shitage game where over half of the people had never played. It was very confusing, but a lot of fun. At some point in the night I got a handful of cake in my face, a shot was taken (hello hangover!) and my finger blistered from playing Rock Band. Finally, around 5AM, I made it to bed to find that my now ex-friend Pat had stolen everything off my bed. All that was left was a sheet. The kicker is that he took both of my pillows! I managed to find a blanket, and a lumpy pillow but I had to use a t shirt for a pillow case.

All in all, it was a great weekend. And next weekend I'm headed to Chicago! I'm already excited.

I absolutely LOVE the last two Cloud Cult albums. They are my new favorite band.

2008-06-24T13:16:00.001-05:00

he said "do unto yourself as you do unto your neighbour
it's not an eye for an eye it's a favour for a favour
and it's okay if this world had a billion saviours
'cause there's so many things to be saved"

The Story of The Grandson of Jesus by Cloud Cult

Where the Hell is Matt?

2008-06-22T21:13:00.001-05:00

Freakin' Sweet! Props to you Matt!

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

"14 months in the making, 42 countries, and a cast of thousands. Thanks to everyone who danced with me."
- Matthew Harding

Seriously guys, our generation's music sucks pretty hard

2008-06-20T16:09:00.003-05:00

Courtesy of XKCD, one of the greatest webcomics ever.
.

How NOT to save money (publically at least)

2008-06-17T15:56:00.004-05:00

It seems that the editors at Cosmo magazine aren't very tech savy. I'm hoping they don't get the same verbal/lawyer-full beating that just about everybody else gets from the RIAA these days, but I'm sure they will for simply suggesting this practice is shameless.

I want the 3G iPhone, but I don't really.

2008-06-12T14:46:00.003-05:00

"...Without Facebook, I am lost."

- John

My apologies for not posting lately. I just moved into a house and we don't have internet or cable yet. Sounds like we wont have it until a week from today (ugh). And I've been busy painting my new room (it was baby pink), so I couldn't get to the library to blog.

"Let's try redefining beautiful"

2008-06-06T15:46:00.003-05:00

Recently I've been listening a bunch of songs that I "liberated" from iTunes DRM (don't tell anyone). I put them all on an MP3 CD and I've been listening to them in my new car. It's amazing how you can forget how much you love a band. I've been listening to a ton of Motion City Soundtrack lately. Their latest CD came out 8 months ago and I still love it. Not only that, but it's gotten me to listen to more of their older stuff too. I'm seeing the band for how amazing they are, AGAIN!

I've noticed this with a few other bands too like Mae, Motion City Soundtrack, Death Cab for Cutie and Jimmy Eat World. Not only do I like one of their albums but all of them.

Have you guys ever experienced that? What bands?

Wanted

2008-06-04T08:34:00.001-05:00

At first I thought this movie looked stupid/cliche, but after watching this trailer, I think it could be pretty cool.

Narrow Stairs

2008-05-29T20:06:00.004-05:00

Artist: Death Cab for Cutie
Release Date: May 13, 2008
Favorite Lyric(s): "You can do better than me but I can’t do better than you"

Thoughts: In my opinion, Death Cab has so many albums that its hard for them to deviate from their "sound" and still be original anymore. Yet, they manage it. The first thing I noticed when I listened to this album was that there was a kick to it. It's less pop than Plans, but more edgy than Transatlanticism. The record truly is diverse. From the driving Long Division to a slower Talking Bird, each song is different from the last. Listen for the stand out tympani in You Can Do Better Than Me and the talba in Pity and Fear.

I also noticed that more of the songs build to a climax. Obviously the first single I will Possess Your Heart is no exception. Clocking in at just over eight and a half minutes, it is the longest song on the album. The iTunes version also has the radio edit version, for those of you who don't like to wait through a four and a half minute intro. The digital version also comes with two videos, which are worth a watch for hardcore Ben Gibbard fans (video link).

Overall, I like it. A few of the songs sound a little familiar, but the contrast of the rest of the album keeps it fresh. My favorite part is the exit of You Can Do Better Than Me into the beginning of Grapevine Fires. That last daunting chorus fading triplets on the hi-hat, it just makes me smile.

Bottom Line: 88 / 100

Band Website | Purevolume | Myspace
.

Versa anyone?

2008-05-29T19:54:00.000-05:00

Oh yeah. I forgot to tell you guys. I bought car a few weeks back. Its
awesome.

"At least they have the stars tonight" - Kid Dakota

2008-05-27T15:58:00.007-05:00

So I saw the Iron Man movie this weekend. Fantastic. It was exactly what I expected. Lots of action and some amazing gadgets. I thought Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark was perfect. He had exactly the right arrogance and wit that made the movie as funny as it was eye-popping. If you do go, look for the 10 second clip after the credits as well as the standard Stan Lee cameo. I guess in the comics Iron Man has a super-friend named Warhammer. The post-credits clip shows who will play Warhammer in the next Iron Man movie. Really? Are you surprised who it is? He's in everything!

Things I found out this weekend:

♫ Facebook is going Open Source
♫ A 16-year-old found a way to decompose plastics bags at a rate 4,000 times faster than nature
♫ An 11-year-old girl was banned from playing Basketball with the boys. Maybe that's because some parents didn't like seeing their sons getting schooled. She hopes to someday make the NBA. [VIDEO!]
♫ Fidler's first child will most likely look like this:

Lastly, I read an article about a child with Asperger's syndrome (high-functioning autism) that was actually voted out of the classroom by his kindergarden class. After getting sent to the principle's office for acting out, the poor kid returned to find out he was voted out of class 14-2.

What the hell?! First off this kid is in KINDERGARDEN! No child should ever be humiliated by their own teacher, especially one that young with a mental disability! For those of you who don't know, my twin brother is mentally disabled. Now, I'm not what you would call athletic, but I've been inches from decking someone twice my size who made fun of my brother. The intolerance in this country appalls me.

Memorial Weekend

2008-05-26T17:26:00.004-05:00

I thought I would take a page out of John's book and write about my weekend/life.

This past weekend was awesome. On Friday night John made me dinner and we listened to music at his house. Then the next morning we headed to Uptown to roller blade around lake Calhoun. It was great weather for being outside. this week we tried a new path and found ourselves passing under the bus-bridge (Hennepin) in the center of Uptown. Afterward I felt great. My calves still hurt a little, but I can't complain about that.

Saturday night John had his party. It was a fairly quiet party. I guess most of John's friends were out of town for Memorial weekend, and none of our Chicago friends made it either. Of course, there was always John's friend John (I'll call him J for simplicity). I've met J once before at our party Sophomore year at ISU, but I didn't know much about him then. Luckily John filled me in a little before the party, because J had no problems talking about how he got a DWI the week before for smoking pot while driving. Or how the cop found a straw in his glove compartment, which tested negative for coke. But he hasn't had cocaine in 3 years (he was very proud of that). I just could not believe that a guy who graduated from Gustavus in 3.5 years (spent a semester in rehab) would be unemployed, and more or less useless. Otherwise, John's party was low key, but fun.

Pandora - Internet Radio

2008-05-25T22:25:00.004-05:00

A year ago I was introduced to a music website called Pandora. I didn't think much of it at the time, but I've heard great things about it over the last few months. So I finally tried it, and I was pleasantly surprised.

At it's core Pandora is free internet radio. The great part is that it automatically changes depending on which songs you "thumb up" (like it) or "thumb down" (don't like it). How does this work? It's actually brilliant. Each song has a few of the 400 attributes Pandora uses, and when you thumb up a song, it looks for more songs that have those same attributes. So the more you listen and vote, the better the station.

The part that I like about Pandora the most is that each station is like a dynamic playlist of hundreds of songs. I find myself skipping songs much less when I'm listening to Pandora then when I listen to my iPod. When I want to listen to songs that have electronic influences, Pandora plays Frou Frou, PlayRadioPlay! and The Postal Service. When I want alt. rock with electric guitar, Pandora plays Mae, Anberlin and Jimmy Eat World. This means I just tell it when I am in the mood for, and Pandora takes care of the rest. I get to hear some of the songs I know and love, as well as a bunch that I didn't know, but are similar to bands I already listen to.

Pork & Beans - Weezer

2008-05-23T17:13:00.003-05:00

This video is awesome! Go Weezer! The album comes out on June 3rd! (the day after I move out of my parent's house btw).

Sorry about all the videos everyone. I've been busy doing, well... nothing. I plan on posting a real post sometime this weekend.

Narrow Stairs

2008-05-17T21:59:00.004-05:00

How the hell was the new Death Cab for Cutie album been out for five days before I knew about it?!

You gotta spend some time, love. You gotta spend some time with me,
and I know that you'll find love, I will possess your heart.

I Will Posses Your Heart by Death Cab for Cutie

Baby Fighting!

2008-05-15T22:28:00.000-05:00

Don't Pirate MacLovin's Movies!

2008-05-12T18:35:00.001-05:00

How John Mayer Makes Music (Hilarious!)

2008-05-08T23:02:00.001-05:00

Troop of the One Hundred

2008-05-04T16:40:00.003-05:00

What would you do if a hundred people suddenly started chasing you? This is a clip from a Japanese TV show where they do just that. The people's reactions are pretty funny.

By the way, here is what they yell in each clip (From YouTube description):

- For the 1st and 2nd guys, they shout: "Here come the tsunami!!" (tsunami da!)
- For the 3rd guy they shout: "it's that guy!!" (aitsu da!)
- Nothing for the 4th guy
- Last scene: "Heads up! (danger)" (abunai!)

A special thanks to my little bro Winfield for this video

Video Chatting

2008-04-30T18:14:00.004-05:00

Last night I took part in a video chat. It's been a while and I forgot how much fun it is. See, since I moved home my computer hasn't had a good enough connection to stream video. But now that I have Leopard, I can video chat for some reason. And I've missed it. So last night Nimit and Josh and I all chatted on our Macs. And right now I'm talking to my friend Ashley while she fixes her scooter.

I would recommend buying a web cam to anyone (better if it's a Mac). Then come and talk to me!

Pictures of Walls

2008-04-25T21:49:00.005-05:00

I found this cool website of graffiti. But not normal graffiti. Silly street art is a good word for it. Take a look, over at Pictures of Walls.

2008-04-25T12:11:00.001-05:00

I think I agree with Mark Hoppus when I say that this is quite possibly the most ridiculous instrument I have ever seen.

2008-04-19T17:46:00.001-05:00

"Gah! Just eat meat!"
- John

Sent from my iPhone

Oh No!

2008-04-18T21:03:00.002-05:00

"You! Rub these waffle fries on my chest!"
- Mr. Fidler

Sent from my iPhone

Greetings from the concert

2008-04-18T18:47:00.001-05:00

So we are waiting for the concert to start. It's hot, crowded, and I feel way old. Every person here has to be under 18 and five foot two. We had to scalp a ticket for John and I felt creepy walking up to teeny-bopper fake emo girls.

Also, we were watching Juno on my iPhone to pass the time and I got a text from John in the back of the venue - "They have pizza". We all cracked up. :) Thanks John.

Sent from my iPhone

Finally! A concert!

2008-04-18T18:41:00.001-05:00

I haven't been to a concert since Ludo in December, so I'm really excited to go see Paramore and Jimmy Eat World tonight. They are co-headlining, which I think is crap. Jimmy is a much better band and yet the are second fiddle to a little pop-punk band. Don't get me wrong, I like Paramore too, but JEW are the seasoned veterans! They shouldn't be subjected to that. I mean these guys are old enough to be my parents. They have paid their dues.

Testing...

2008-04-13T13:21:00.000-05:00

I just signed up for a Blogger service that allows me to post blogs
via email. I thought I would test it out by sharing this photo I took
with my iPhone.

It is the widget in a can of Guiness beer. Its smaller than a ping-
pong ball but with thicker walls. I always wondered what they looked
like.

Brett Dennen - Desert Sunrise

2008-04-03T21:02:00.006-05:00

Okay, I know very little about this kid. But this song is AMAZING! Everyone should download it for free at this website. It's great. I'm learning it on guitar right now.

And I've been waiting all this life
In the company of one
And I know I am young
But I don't want to be alone
If you could only just
Consider the two of us
And I know darling
I could be so good to you

Brett Dennen Desert Sunrise

Office Prank Gone Wrong

2008-04-03T18:57:00.001-05:00

2008-04-01T22:41:00.000-05:00

2008-04-01T21:10:00.001-05:00

"You know Andrew, you're a good guy....April Fools! I HATE YOU!"

♫ Ian

doubleTwist!

2008-03-30T22:37:00.004-05:00

Don't you hate it when you get a ton of new music from a friend only to find that you can't play it because it has digital rights management?! It's happened to me many times. I've also tried to share music with friends only to find that they can't play the songs either. But not anymore!

Enter doubleTwist. Although this nifty program has a ton of features, I really only use it for one thing: removing DRM from iTunes songs. And it works great! Just install it on your Windows PC (Mac version on the way), sync it with iTunes, and tell it to "liberate" your songs. It took just under 5 minutes a song on my computer, but I'm running XP on OSX, so that might really skew my results. Either way, that's worth it if you really want a song. I did notice 2 bad things about doubleTwist though: you must have iTunes, and the songs must be authorized to play on YOUR iTunes. That means that you can't strip the DRM off of a friends songs.

Bottom Line: If you hate DRM, doubleTwist can save your music.

Splenda sucks balls

2008-03-20T23:00:00.003-05:00

The Sad Truth About Relationships

In other news, Splenda/Nutri-Sweet are gross. Companies need to stop putting them in everything and my parents need to stop buying products that contain these crappy sweeteners. They take all the fun out of the yummy juice I am drinking. I'm convinced that if I was to develop cancer of the mouth, this is what it would taste like.

New Death Cab

2008-03-19T21:27:00.003-05:00

There is a new single on iTunes from Death Cab for Cutie. Should I be excited, or are they losing it?

Life is (mostly) good.

2008-03-18T21:52:00.004-05:00

A lot of people think of blogs as virtual soapboxes, where bloggers complain about the world and life. I'll admit that I fall into that category sometimes. But today I would just like to say that life is good. I don't mean to brag or boast, but I wanted to make sure that I blog about the good things in life too.

My life lately has been great. Every weekend I've got something to do, and I get to see my friends all the time. It's not like my last semester at ISU. I've got a good job, and I'm no longer broke. My iPhone is awesome. LAst Saturday I got to be a delegate and vote on DFL stuff, plus run for Ashwin Madia. Though I live at home right now, I can play my drums anytime I want and I get free meals on a regular basis. I get to wear what I want to work. I will be buying a new car before summer starts (thank God). It's getting warm out again.

This past weekend my friend Ian and I went condo shopping and found two great ones in Uptown. If we get the one we want, we'll be only 4 blocks from Lake Calhoun and 5 blocks from the center of Uptown. That's definitely within stumbling distance. ;) I'm super excited!

Despite all that, I still feel like something is missing. I'm a hopeless romantic, so I really feel vaguely lonely all the time. At least I don't have no one, but all the girl(s) I want to date aren't even in the state. I'm looking to remedy this soon.

So there. I've done my part to show that the world doesn't suck.

Andrew

P.S. I wanna know what you guys are excited about these days. Comment people!

♫ Current Track - Red Hair by the Weasel King

What is your favorite curse word?

2008-03-17T19:50:00.002-05:00

I found this video today, and it made me smile. The BBC asked a bunch of celebrities what their favorite curse word was. Mine, in case you were wondering, happens to be cunt (sometimes cunt-monkey).

I also found Natalie Portman's fav.

What is YOUR favorite?

2008-03-17T19:08:00.001-05:00

Radiohead remix

Another great song brought to you by thesixtyone.

Props to you, Dancing Walrus

2008-03-17T18:55:00.000-05:00

Mmmmmmm....?

2008-03-10T11:42:00.002-05:00

I think I may have found something that only John would enjoy...

Thank You (Say Shhhh...)

2008-03-08T15:03:00.006-06:00

I was thinking the other day. I was at work listening to some new music, in a good mood because I was flying through the the project I was working on. Then my iPhone started playing Always Coming Back Home to You by Atmosphere. I had never heard it before and I loved it. It's about being proud of where you are from, specifically Minneapolis. What a great song/place.

This got me thinking about Atmosphere and how I heard about them from my friend Emilia. She also got me into Tegan & Sarah. Beside those two bands, most of the new albums I've purchased lately were recommended by friends.

Meg & Dia, Ludo, Mae, Mat Kearney, Flight of the Concords, Damien Rice, Iron & Wine, The Weasel King, Jimmy Eat World, Paramore, PlayRadioPlay!, Motion City Soundtrack, just to name a few ;).

I take pride in finding new bands, but the one thing better than that is sharing music with my friends. I love going to a concert with friends or hearing about the newest album of band we both enjoy.

A few weeks ago I gave one of my friends a CD wallet of some of my favorite albums. I just talked to him yesterday, and he said he's enjoying a bunch of them. He's doing his best to give each one a good listen. That makes me happy.

Way To Go NIN

2008-03-04T12:28:00.001-06:00

“now that we’re no longer constrained by a record label, we’ve decided to personally upload Ghosts I, the first of the four volumes, to various torrent sites, because we believe BitTorrent is a revolutionary digital distribution method, and we believe in finding ways to utilize new technologies instead of fighting them.”

♫ Nine Inch Nails

2008-03-01T18:42:00.001-06:00

Gnarls Barkley on Theremin

2008-02-27T20:00:00.001-06:00

NEW LUDO TOMORROW!

2008-02-25T20:19:00.004-06:00

One of my favorite bands, Ludo, has hit it big! Since I was introduced to them a few years ago, they have signed a record deal with Island Records and toured non-stop. I've seen them twice now, and they only get better.

Their newest album You're Awful, I Love You drops TOMORROW and everyone should go out and buy it. I suspect it will be better than their other two, though Broken Bride is fantastic. Here is what they had to say about the new album:

Ludo's new album "You're Awful, I Love You" came out better than any of us could have hoped for. As a record, it combines the pop sensibilities of our first album with the darkness and adventurous storytelling of Broken Bride, and takes the combination thereof far beyond the scope of either, into a veritable uber-world of extremorock, where time is naught and babies burp themselves. When people hear this album for the first time, they will most likely be so moved that they defecate out a perfect, sentient, life-size clone of themselves, feel compelled to murder it, hide the body, and then never speak of it again. So watch out.

How can you argue with that?! :)

Also, if you check the links below you can get two songs off their new album.

Band Website | Island Records - Ludo | Wikipedia | Purevolume | Myspace
.

It's almost better with the sound off

2008-02-15T12:50:00.002-06:00

This new trailer makes me really excited, even though I've never thought they were that amazing. the newest installment could convert me; :)

Happy S.A.D. (Singles Awareness Day) Everybody!

2008-02-14T11:53:00.003-06:00

Courtesy of Dinosaur Comics, which is a fantastic and witty webcomic.

Sorry about all the posts of other people's content lately. I've been too busy to write legitimate articles, what with the Rock Band and SNES and whatnot. ;)

Man dumped from wheelchair

2008-02-13T20:26:00.003-06:00

Cop Dumps Handicapped Person on Floor - Watch more free videos

I've been listening to news radio (91.1FM) on the way to work every morning since I started, and I love it. Except when I heard horrible things. This is a video of a man who was dumped out of his wheelchair because the cop didn't believe he was a quadriplegic. How thick do you have to be?! I noticed that he had a handicap the first time I saw him move his arm. Now, since I have a handicapped brother I do notice these things more, but still! the kicker is that he broke two ribs during the fall.

Seriously, I hope he sues. This is not okay.

It Had to Be You - Motion City Soundtrack

2008-02-13T20:20:00.003-06:00

I have always loved Motion City Soundtrack, and their newest album is no exception. I like this video. It is creative.

Love Me Dead!

2008-02-12T13:10:00.000-06:00

Ludo's Website | Myspace
.

You REALLY shouldn't have

2008-02-10T21:42:00.000-06:00

My friend John was gracious enough to give me this:

It's only $6,000,000

2008-02-07T22:37:00.001-06:00

I want this home theatre more than you could possibly imagine. Forget the screen, just think of the sound you could get out of these speakers!

I hope some of my friends never have kids...

2008-02-06T21:48:00.000-06:00

I found a bunch of these photos about how to care for a baby. I think they are hilarious. Click on the link for 20 more.

It's true

2008-02-06T21:32:00.000-06:00

P.S. Caucuses take waaaaay too long. A whole 9 people showed up to the DFL caucus from my little "town" of over 400 (I think). I was pretty much the youngest person in the room and my friend Ian, who is 16 days older than me, knew more than all but two people in that room. I'm tired of stupid people choosing stupider people to run our country.

P.P.S. I'm not 100% sure yet, but I think I'm voting for Obama. The issues that I really care about are basically the same between him and Clinton, so I'm picking the candidate that has a better chance. Plus, the guy gives amazing speeches.

Obama - Yes, We Can

2008-02-04T19:54:00.000-06:00

Now, I'm still not 100% sure I'm voting for tomorrow in the MN caucus, but no matter who you support you have to respect Obama's speaking abilities. This video is based on a great one he gave.

CO - part 3

2008-02-03T20:21:00.000-06:00

Holy Cow what a weekend! Yesterday I got locked in Sarah's house, because the dead-bolt on their doors has a key slot on both sides (I wonder what Frued would think of that last sentence). Allyson locked me in, since the door doesn't stay shut by itself. So I tried to remove a few screens, but wasn't able to get out of the house without breaking something. So I missed the first show, but made it to the second show of The Perks of Being a Wallflower. It was fantastic! Even after seeing the dress-rehearsal I still enjoyed it a lot. Actually, I liked it more because I wasn't worried about taking photos too (I took over 300 mostly crappy photos). They also tightened it up and added more emotion. Fantastic. Later we went out to the cast party, which wasn't as great as Sarah had described them. No one "got awesome", although there was a ton of making out and hookah-ing (its CC, duh). I enjoyed myself anyway.

What I didn't enjoy was my flight back. Yes it was direct and shorter and got in earlier, but I had to shell out $350 for a new ticket! It turns out that in my desperate attempt to get a better price by switching around the days I ended up booking my return flight for a month from today on accident. So I had to buy a new ticket to get back, which cost me almost as much as my original round-trip flights. That sure was an expensive mistake.

So in summary, CC is pretty freakin' sweet. I had a great time, though getting there and back sucked ass. Sarah and her friends really made me feel at home. And a lot of them are really attractive, which never hurts. It's too bad I waited this long to visit, because I would enjoy going back.

♫ Currently listening to Suddenly Everything Has Changed by The Postal Service

CO - part 2

2008-02-02T15:24:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was crazy. It turns out that when I got to Denver Airport, I didn't have a seat on the plane. They offered me a round-trip voucher if no seats opened up, and then I could have taken a bus. Turns out there was a seat but I was, yet again, the last person on the plane. Oh yeah, they changed the gate to my first flight without announcing it, yet there was another flight to Denver from the old gate. I was so confused.

So after I finally made it to Sarah's, she called me and I met her on campus for 2 different rehearsals. I took pictures for the latter (Perks) but they didn't come out very well. I had no idea how to use her camera, so the exposure was way too long due to the lack of light on stage. I think the camera was trying to compensate, but it just made most of the pictures blurry. Too bad Jim didn't make it out for that. I think they will be up on Facebook soon, most likely on Sarah's profile.

Then last night after a late dinner we headed out to a party. It was pretty cool and everyone was so nice. I also found out they have a couple of really good beers in Springs, which was good because Sarah was trying to get me drunk. After that we left to go to a rave. It was sweet. They did a good job with lighting and such. I met a few more people that I've known about for years but never met in person. Oh yeah! And I saw Sarah's friend Sarah, who lives in IA. Turns out she got hit by a van a few weeks after I met her! I still cannot believe it. She walking around with a cane (at a rave?!) but seems to be in really high spirits. We left the party pretty early and took the safe ride home (four whole whole blocks).

♫ Red Dress by Motion City Soundtrack

CO - part 1

2008-02-01T07:38:00.000-06:00

This morning I got out of bed at quarter after five, so my father could drive me to the airport before going to work. That's way too damned early for anyone to be getting up.

We made a quick stop at a walmart (my parents are looking for a Wii) and arrived at the airport around half past six. I somehow managed to make it all the way through the line to security before realizing I was in the employee only line. They were nice enough to let me through but I still held up the line. As always, I forgot something in my bag (liquids). I had breakfast for the first time in months. Now I have over an hour wait for my flight. At least I'm headed west because it looks like there is a huge storm in Chi-town. I just picked up a copy of I Am Legend, and so far its pretty good.

Sorry I'm not writing more; its hard to type on this tiny phone.

Yet again...

2008-01-31T19:49:00.000-06:00

Most of you know that I love music, and I hate to lose it. It takes a really, really bad song to make me delete it from my hard drive (say She Bangs by Ricky Martin). So I have multiple copies of just about every song I own.

Apparently I owe the RIAA a ton of money, or at least they hope to make it so. The RIAA is pushing to make copyright laws more strict. So strict that if you were to back up an album by burning it to a blank CD, that would be against the law. If it was just a 10 song album, you would owe $1.5 million.

Anyone else think that is insane?!
[via The Daily Irrelevant]

2008-01-30T15:29:00.001-06:00

You gotta fall in love with whoever you can.

♫ Same Kooks By The Hold Steady

Worthless phone!

2008-01-29T21:35:00.000-06:00

For those of you who don't know, I bought an iPhone. Yes, it was expensive, but it's so cool. I did manage to find something annoying/strange about it though. I got a picture message from a friend today, and it wouldn't display on my phone. Instead I got a text from AT&T telling me to go to a certain web site and put in to put in the name/password they gave me. Why can't my iPhone display it?! It's the coolest phone ever, yet I have to find a computer every time some sends me a picture message. Lame.

Anyway, here is the photo Gym sent me. For no reason. :)

In other news, I am headed to CO this weekend to see a play based on one of my favorite books, The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I'm pretty excited, since I know half the cast and I haven't been to CO since high school.

Current Tunes: Safety In Speed (heavy Metal) by P.O.S. featuring Craig Finn from The Hold Steady

Puppies + cleaning

2008-01-28T20:25:00.001-06:00

I'm not sure about you guys, but my computer screen gets dirty after a few weeks. I found this handy Screen Cleaner online that will clean it for you! with a little puppy!

Grad emails?

2008-01-25T12:30:00.000-06:00

I got these emails from a rep at ISU a few months ago, asking about my job status etc. to add to the ISU statistics. I was really tired of being asked about my job/salary, so I politely let her know (and that my first name was not David either). Here's what she said in response:

I’m sorry you feel that way. We use the placement information for various things that not only benefits your peers, but incoming students. If you would just answer the questions, then you wouldn’t get bombarded with emails. I am guessing with the attitude that you have, that you haven’t done the necessary things to be gainfully employed – thus the negativity. This type of attitude won’t serve you well in life.

Good luck with your future endeavors.

[her name]

Well, I was not in a good mood when I received this, so I responded.

Implying that I'm not employed (and bitter about it) is not going to make me want to hand over information. I feel that my salary etc. doesn't need to be shared with everyone. Just because you feel the need to boost ISU's scores doesn't mean that you get to be impolite about my wish to keep MY information private. That wont serve you well in life.

Was I too mean? Did anyone else receive these emails upon graduation, or am I the only one?

Where has the time gone?

2008-01-24T08:48:00.000-06:00

So, I've been ignoring my "blogging responsibilities" lately. I've had at least 2 of my friends ask about it, so I guess I'll post while I have time. So here's what I've been up to.

Three weeks ago I started my new job at a large engineering company. So far it's been pretty good. The first few days I job shadowed with everyone on my team, and installed software. I'm still working on getting my computer all set up so I can do all the things the other software guy on the team does. This week we are in a class about Java web Development, to help us with the internal website we maintain. Luckily it hasn't been hard, although they did eventually find something legitimate for me to do.

In other news, I went to Ames last weekend with John, and I had a great time. We had a small (15 people) party the first night, and basically passed out at 10PM the second night. No, not from booze. I ended up sleeping around 6 hours Friday night because Nimit woke up at 8AM and decided to watch TV in the room we were sleeping in. Combine that with an exciting Cyclone bball game, playing our own game of basketball, and a huge dinner, and we were really tired. Either way, it was great to see everyone and I look forward to our next trip down.

A few days ago I got an iPhone. I LOVE it. I'm still getting used to all the fun stuff it can do, and I think I really like it. I've found that nothing has gotten done in the past few days because I pull up FB (or similar) for a second and then find that an hour has passed. Hopefully it will lose some of it's cool factor soon.

Also, next weekend I'm flying to CO to see my friend's senior show. I'm really excited to see her, the show and especially her friends, who I really enjoy.

Oop, class is starting again. Ttyl!

Hello everyone!

2008-01-06T22:11:00.000-06:00

As you may have noticed, I've been out of touch for the past 3 weeks. I just graduated college, and I start my new job. In case you are wondering, I'll be writing software for a large computer hardware company. If you know computers at all, you know them, so I won't mention their name. Plus, I don't wanna get fired (I've heard the blogger horror stories).

As for this blog, I haven't decided what to do about it. Over the past year and a half I have enjoyed watching my (little) readership grow. I've learned a lot through this blog and I've loved writing for it. The problem is that I usually didn't write over breaks because I used writing as procrastination tool. Now I will have an 8 to 5, and wont be able to blog at work. I hope I can keep it up, but I'm really not sure.

I've been trying to stay away from the internet of late, because I spent so much time by myself in my room this last semester. Granted, I had a lot of homework to not do. But blogging wont keep me away from the interwebs. I also plan on buying better recording equipment and finally making that EP I've been talking about forever. So maybe I will blog about that more. Maybe I'll just blog once a week like my friend John.

We'll see.

♫ Andrew

Another Year Gone By.

2007-12-25T01:30:00.000-06:00

Yep, I stole this from my friend's blog.

1. What did you do in 2007 that you'd never done before?
Graduated college. Go a real job. Recorded something that didn't suck.

2. Did you keep your New Years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I never remember what mine are for longer than a week, so let's assume I didn't. I wont be making more.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Nope.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Yes, my grandpa Don and my grandma Anne. It's been a tough few months for my family.

5. What countries did you visit?
USA. Iowa.

6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?
As always, some sort of girlfriend thingy. I'm not picky, just something! (ugh)

7. What date from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Etched? December 15th, the day I graduated, didn't go to the ceremony, broke into an apartment and drove home, but still had to wait 4 days to see if I really did graduate.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Getting a real job.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Not getting out and doing more things.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Last winter I messed up my wrist something awful while snowboarding. I fear that it will always hurt when I lift weights, and hopefully it wont hurt when I play guitar/drums when I get older.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
My Mac computer.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
I think many of my friends did something worth praise.
John - Although I didn't see him a ton, I couldn't believe how well he took the bomb that was dropped on him this fall. Also, Emilia - I know very few people who could pick up and move like that.
Anay - Found himself a good women. I never thought it would happen.
My Mom - for finally thinking that my brother could move out, even if it fell through.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Sarah. Her behavior seems to effect me more than it should.

14. Where did most of your money go?
TUITION. My Mac. My car finally got fixed. I finally started drinking at bars more.

15. What did you get really, really excited about?
The final book and the 5th movie. The MoM album release, as well as Motion City Soundtrack, Bloc Party, Anberlin, Jimmy Eat World, Angles & Airwaves, Paramore, Mae, Snow Patrol, +44.

16. What song will always remind you of 2007?
I have no idea.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? I'm not sure. I feel like a better person in some ways, but not in others. One sad reality is sinking in, as well as the friends that I have lost in the past few months. But I feel as though I'm headed in a good direction.
ii. thinner or fatter? Thinner actually. It's not good.
iii. richer or poorer? Well, poorer, but very shortly I'll be much much richer.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
gone out while it was still warm out. Laughed more. Seen my friends more, even the ones out of state.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Sat in my dorm alone. missed the bus. Bitched at my friends for things that I should have seen coming.

20. How will you be spending Christmas?
With Family, at home. Hopefully I'll see a few more friends too.

22. Did you fall in love in 2007?
Sadly, no.

23. How many one-night stands?
None this year.

24. What was your favorite TV program?
Ha! Beauty and the Geek. Or How I Met Your Mother. (Oh Swarley!)

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I am now able to see people's faults, which is both good and bad.

26. What was the best book you read?
I think I only read 10 or so books this year. Most of them were HP. I'd have to say Deathly Hallows, or The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

27. What was your greatest musical (re)discovery?
Jimmy Eat World. Teagan and Sarah. the Album Leaf. Damien Rice. MoM. the Hold Steady. Imogen Heap. Quietdrive. Radiohead. Sherwood. Snow Patrol. +44.

28. What did you want and get?
A degree. A job/financial security.

29. What did you want and not get?
Oh, you know.

30. What was your favorite film of this year?
I have no idea. EDIT: JUNO!

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Drank with the Cerner interns. 22

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
See #29, #22.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?
Blue Shoes. Sport coats over hoodies. I finally feel comfortable in a suit.

34. What kept you sane?
My drums/guitar. Knowing that I am a good person, even if others think otherwise.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Haha. Emma Watson. Ellen Page

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
I'm SO tired of the presidential race (already). The Environment/alternate fuels.

37. Who did you miss?
Nimit actually. Koo. My grandparents.

38. Who was the best new person you met?
Luke from MoM was pretty cool. So is Allie. I miss my Cerner Interns. Oh! Allyson! but I already kinda knew her.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007:
When I convince myself that something must happen, and that it will, it does.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
The entire song Ordinary by the Alternate Routes.

Guess the song (You'll get it about half way through)

2007-12-20T01:12:00.000-06:00

Google Checkout will be my end.

2007-12-12T16:32:00.000-06:00

So I signed up for Google Checkout on Buy.com a few weeks ago so I could get $10 off a flash drive. Now I'm getting emails from Buy.com, and I juts haven't taken the time to stop them. I got one this morning talking about something I've wanted for a long time, one sale for $13. I usually delete the emails right away, but the title caught my eye. After reading a few reviews, and deciding that it wasn't much money anyway, I purchased the item in no less than 20 seconds!

That is a problem. Until I can make so much money that the item is payed off in the time that it takes me to buy it, I could be in trouble. It really is a good thing that I don't impulse buy a lot.

thesixtyone - a music adventure

2007-12-11T17:58:00.000-06:00

Have you ever heard of Digg.com? Thesixtyone is like a Digg for music. Users are able to "bump" songs, which is like voting. The more bumps a song gets, the higher it will be on the lists or even the front page. This sounds like a great website and I hope it does well. I am currently listening to thesixtyone radio, and so far I like what the users have chosen. It even allows you to listen to songs continuously while surfing the site.

The best thing about thesixtyone is that it works on a points system. Basically this keeps the voting system from being abused. Users need a certain amount of points to bump a song (don't worry, it's not a lot) and can only bump a song once. If other people bump that song, you get more points. This encourages users to promote good songs that other people will like. If you earn enough points you can more up a level, which allows you to bump a song more than once (more features to come!).

8 cities added to Google Maps' Steet View

2007-12-11T17:09:00.000-06:00

View Larger Map

Some of you might recognize this spot. I'll give you a hint, it's somewhere I enjoy hanging out. Yes that is right, "Street View" has been added to Google Maps for Minneapolis! If you are searching on Google Maps, zoom in close enough and click the street view button. Then simply place the little man (or double click on any blue lined road) and you will be able to view that road from 10 feet off the ground. It's great, and now its in my city! Props to you Google!

2007-12-11T13:09:00.001-06:00

Yep, more videos. But look on the bright side. My semester is almost over. And think of all the time you didn't waste on my blog. Unless your name is Anay, who I'm pretty sure visits this website 5 times a day whether I post or not.

2007-12-10T23:43:00.001-06:00

Oh no!

2007-12-06T18:25:00.000-06:00

Now my PC sounds like it has PC speakers. :(

The sub woofer on my PC speakers just died! I've had those poor things for 5 years now. They have been through numerous moves and many many loud guitar sessions. Oh well, I guess it's a sign that I buy a new pair. They only cost me $20 at Sams Club, and I'm surprised they've lasted this long. Maybe I can get my dad to give me his old stacks.

Deezer.com updates: For the better?

2007-12-05T20:57:00.001-06:00

I'm not happy. One of my favorite music streaming websites has "sold out". Deezer.com (formerly Blogmusik.net) made one very large change recently. My little brother asked me what was wrong with it, so I checked it out. I searched for the first band that came to mind, Fall Out Boy, because I decided not to buy their newest album after hearing how pop it was on Deezer. My search returned all the same songs, but the majority of them were grayed out (see pic). After a little searching on google, I found that Deezer has signed a deal with SonyBMG which allows for faster streaming, but closes some songs from the public.

I think this is ridiculous, although I'm surprised that Deezer wasn't shut down. I just hope that record companies are wising up to the internet and letting people have at least some free music. I've learned about a bunch of bands through the internet, downloaded one of the their songs, and bought more because of it.

[AppScout]

2007-12-05T00:28:00.001-06:00

Charlie Bit Me!

2007-12-05T00:22:00.000-06:00

Props to Scrubs

2007-12-01T18:06:00.000-06:00

A Few Thoughts Pre-Dead Week

2007-12-01T17:46:00.001-06:00

For those of you who don't know what Dead Week is, I will quickly explain. Dead Week is the second to last week of the semester, and it is the week that everyone crams for finals. It used to be that no one had class except to hold a review/study session, and homework/quizzes were out of the question. Every year I've been at ISU I find myself doing homework, taking quizzes and still LEARNING things that will be on the humongous test less than a week away. It drives me nuts. This year I have 2 HUGE projects due during dead week, each with corresponding presentations (neither are close to done). The following week I will have a huge test, and a small test. Not too bad, except for the fact that I wont sleep for the next few days. Which means, the worst, no blogging :(. So here are a few thoughts to tide everyone over:

♫ If it's going to be freezing cold, I want snow. None of this freeing rain stuff (see above pic). I heard it took Pizza Hut 2 hours to deliver a pizza today.
♫ Rock Band is awesome! The guitar is better than Guitar Hero, but the drums suck. They are on the right track and I'm glad there is some competition for my music-game-headed-monies. I'm going to buy them all.
♫ I'm tired of eating out of a microwave.
♫ Jimmy Eat World is a great band to code to. Their newest album gets better with every listen, which is awesome.
♫ It's been 3 weeks and I still only have 5 strings on my guitar. Wow I am lazy.

The definition of pillows

2007-11-28T09:34:00.000-06:00

Brought to you by Left-Handed Toons

"Where's Your Nature Valley? Tell us at wheresyours.com"

2007-11-27T10:22:00.000-06:00

My dad's video is on the homepage of youtube. Cool eh?

Thanksgiving may be over, but Xmas music is not okay yet!

2007-11-25T18:44:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone! I am back at college, and back to blogging. Kind of. It's only 3 weeks until I graduate, and I have a ton of stuff to do. So I might not be posting much. On the other hand, it seems that when I have stuff to do, I blog more. So we'll see.

Thanksgiving this year was just as crazy as last years. I got no homework done (as usual), read Deathly Hallows again, saw way too few of my friends (sorry guys), and had Thanks-Xmas at my house this year. I got a freakin' 12 string guitar! I was excited.

So, because the holiday season is about the spirit of giving, I thought I would do that same. Here are a few things that I found on the internets this week (a.k.a. I'm too lazy to write about each one):

I'm home! Plus Ludo's new vid

2007-11-19T20:54:00.000-06:00

Oh yeah. I have a blog. I almost forgot!

So I'm back in the Mini for a week of turkeys and laziness. On the drive up I managed to lock my keys in my car and spent 45 minutes trying to get them out. After spending $10 on a "kit", I ended up returning the used "kit" and getting a trucker/car trader to help me break into my car. It was cold out, and not fun at all. So I am having fun at home playing Mario Galaxy with my brothers, catching up with old friends, and playing my drums (yay). Speaking of, John - call me.

Anyhoo. My friends of the band Ludo made a call out to their fans a few weeks back. They wanted teeth brushing/singing videos. Don't ask me why. I thought one of my friends was going to send in a video, but I didn't see her in the video. Also, they have a new album out soon, although I'm not sure when.

Here it is - Love Me Dead:

Part 2

2007-11-15T12:23:00.000-06:00

My next door neighbor is making me mad. My only guess is that he is playing video games, really badly. I've been hearing noises like explosions and general low rumblings all morning. Every minute or so I also hear some sort of obscenity screamed at the top of his lungs followed by a pounding, which I can feel. It's getting really annoying. It's hard to do homework with someone shouting "Mother-f^@$3%, God d*mn it!" every few minutes. The worst part is that I've never met him, and I think I've only seen him once in the hallway. At this point, I don't even want to go over there and ask him to be quiet, for fear of being punched in the face. If I didn't need my computer for homework, I would head to campus.

I imagine that is what he would look like if my neighbor was either a banana or a baby.

♫

In other news, I found out that I have a test tomorrow, so I'm trying to study for that while doing the homework assignment I had left all day to do. On top of that I need to decide on a job today or tomorrow, and I was hoping to have another offer come in today. It's cutting it really close, so I'm getting more and more nervous by the hour.

2007-11-14T23:53:00.001-06:00

Internal Voices

2007-11-14T23:25:00.000-06:00

This was sent to me in an online message. I laughed really, really hard. It's hilarity content is definitely up there with Nimit's thoughts on Jim's sexuality.

"you know how we all think to ourselves in our heads and it's like talking to ourselves but it's internalized and so not as weird? My internal voice has become a British man. So I'm finding even myself hard to take seriously. What a conundrum."

New Bloc Party Single! - Flux

2007-11-14T11:30:00.001-06:00

Crazy (REAL) Birds

2007-11-12T16:36:00.000-06:00

Sorry about all the video lately. I've found so many I want to post, and haven't had time to post real written things. Enjoy this one though. It's from the series Planet Earth, which was amazing. I actually happened to flip to it when this part was on, and I thought it was fake. I thought it was like that Animal Planet show about the dinosaurs being real (as Josh says "lying to children"). The music at the end made me laugh really hard. :)

Oh Nimit...

2007-11-12T14:36:00.000-06:00

nimit: i wish i had food
me: then go get some
nimit: i'm far too nude to be in public