As a parting thought before I disappear to the lonely midwest, I’d like to share some music with all of you. A couple months ago I made a mixtape for my friend Marissa because I missed her and like sharing music with her, but as the weeks have gone on, this collection of songs has come to define this mood that I can’t shake. While the songs aren’t necessarily sad, they are definitely dark and somber in tone. Not the greatest sales pitch, I know, but these tunes won’t bring you down unless you let them. Track list and link after the jump. More »

I haven’t updated this blog in a while. For the first time in my history of blogging, I was actually distracted by something other than pure laziness. A lot has happened in the last six months:

A wedding or two, lots of flights for work, seeing good friends all over the state, many drunken (and often regrettable) nights, got a new president, lots of ridiculously good (and usually unhealthy, yet never regrettable) food, moved into a new house, began living life in HD, finally returned my Netflix, lots of driving for work, began listening to audiobooks (Jack Reacher ftw), got a Twitter (and still don’t know what it’s for), started playing WoW (I know, I know), watched a ton of hockey, got in multiple car accidents, saw some amazing concerts, commissioned a beautiful piece of art for the first time in my life… More »

…and some record by some band comes out today.

Follow this link to claim your free Dr. Pepper: http://www.drpepper.com/freeDrPepper/?icamp=hp_dpfree_coupon.

The offer is only good through the end of the day and DP is going based off of eastern time, apparently. What’s funny is the DP website doesn’t mention Guns ‘n’ Roses anywhere. It’s understandable though, I wouldn’t want to be associated with Chinese Democracy after listening to it either. I don’t even drink soda anymore, but I will definitely be toasting my free beverage to the worst album of the year.

If you have no idea what this post is about, earlier this year Dr. Pepper offered a soda to everyone in America if Guns ‘n’ Roses released their long-delayed new record. After well over a decade and well over ten million dollars, Axl Rose drops one of the worst albums I’ve ever heard. Get in on the fun/misery over at MySpace where you can stream Chinese Democracy for free: http://www.myspace.com/gunsnroses.

Cheers!

I obviously have quite a bit to write about, including my crazy adventures in Paso Robles last weekend as well as that election thingy, but in the meantime I’d like to share what came in the mail today. Andy (who doesn’t live here anymore) got a jury duty summons and I got soup from Max Tundra! Just in time for the recession (or just in time for lunch for any orthodox readers) comes a limited edition (250) Kosher Chicken Soup from Max Tundra Liquid Soup Products. Along with the nutritional facts printed on the label was a coupon code allowing me to download the new release from Ben Jacobs, “Parallax Error Beheads You,” which is out this month on Domino. I’m off to San Francisco for a week, so I will have plenty of time to write blog entries. Click through for some crazy new tunes to tide you over: More »

Dear America & California,

Please don’t fuck this up.

<3jp

Friday was a slow work day, so I cruised over to my brother’s office in Irvine (technically Irvine, but it’s just past the Great Park/El Toro on the border of Lake Forest) and completed my last few items while hanging out with him. As it turns out, we both had to request this upcoming Friday off as we each have a wedding to attend. I’m heading up to Paso Robles for Jennifer and Bobby’s wedding on Saturday, while Andy’s attending his friend Casey’s wedding in Vegas. Apparently Casey is a huge video game nerd and, since he’s getting married on Halloween, has requested that everyone come dressed as a video game character. Andy’s planning on going as Terry Bogard with the traditional red vest/hat/Chucks outfit, which should be awesome. Even though I’m going to be spending most of Halloween driving up north with Mike, I’m thinking of going as Ashley Todd. More »

I’ve had this website built and sitting around for a week or so, just waiting for me to post something. This evening, like those that preceded it, was destined to go post-less until I saw something on the way home that absolutely infuriated me and inspired me to write. I’m not an intrinsically angry person and I also won’t deny anyone their beliefs, whether I think they’re outrageous or not, but I will not stand for public demonstrations promoting intolerance. When I drove by at 5:30 P.M. today, a group of about 30 individuals were posted on three of the four corners at the intersection of Jeffrey and Walnut in Irvine. The were all holding “Yes on Prop. 8″ posters with blatant misinformation printed on them, trying to incite the passers-by to join their hateful cause. Normally I don’t feel so passionately about ballot issues, but this seems like obvious discrimination to me and I’ve yet to hear a logical argument to support a “yes” vote. More »