WooHoo! Well, you can forget about productivity for the next four weeks. The German institute downstairs at work is showing all the matches and throwing in free Bitburger beer and sausages so as you can imagine, the place is packed with Germans (complete with fog horns and whistles) and practically the entire security and building staff. Nothing like starting your day off with a little beer right?

I'm not the biggest soccer/football fan in the world but I do love the excitement and craziness of the World Cup.

Go USA!!

6-6-06

What would the day of the beast be without a little Slayer to darken your day? God, reminds me of my youth.....minus the hair of course.

road trippin

A bit late with this but on a recent road trip to California's central coast to spend a couple days camping out under the stars, there were the usual observations and revelations. Here's some of them as well as a recap:

- Monterey Bay aquarium is definitely a world class aquarium with world class prices. Of course it shows with all their high tech exhibits, with the Otters being the main attraction. Talk about a cash cow....cute=$$$$

- If you ever wanted to know - you will have to be totally loaded to afford a personal jellyfish tank....I asked for you

- Your cell phones will not work in Big Sur, however you can get wi-fi at some of the campsites. Dang those hippies are high tech!

- Note to fellow campers that blasted music from their pickup truck for 8hrs straight: You didn't have bad taste in music but this IS the wilderness and people do come out to enjoy some silence. Perhaps you were using the music to cover up any sounds from you shagging your gf, which may explain why you killed any liking of that Gnarls Barkley song by playing it over and over and over again. thanks

- Instant ramen noodles will take 10 minutes on direct flames to burn so take note next time you're hungry and in a bind, unless you want it sitting in you for an eternity

- Just two days in the wilderness and being back in the city feels so foreign. You see it with a different perspective and want to turn back around and head back.

Si Se Puede

What an amazing and inspiring day it was.....nothing like walking down Wilshire blvd with half a million strangers.

May 1st flickr page

Wassup Rockers

EC was nice enough to invite B and I to a screening of the latest Larry Clark (Kids, Bully)film called Wassup Rockers the other night and I swear the film was like a flashback to when we were 15. Going back to a method he used for Kids, Clark befriended a group of latino skateboarders from south central and more or less formed a film around their everyday life. Any one of those kids in the film could have been me or my friends at that age - spending time skating, running from cops, playing and listening to hardcore punk. The kids aren't the greatest of actors but I think part of the charm of the film is its amateur-ness and I think that's why I liked the film. Maybe I'm just feeling nostalgic because it was reminicent of the mid 80's punk and skate films I spent alot of time watching.

The audience was very skate friendly as well. Not only were the entire cast and director there, but also Pharell Williams' Ice Cream skate team, Obey artist Shepard Fairey, and Lil Jon (yes....the "Yeeeaaaaaah!" lil jon, who not only showed up in a crazy orange lamborghini but wore sunglasses throughout the film and is literally about 5'5 tall).

ps. and yes, that is Kid from Kid n' Play on the far right minus the 12inch high flat top hair. And for you kids that have no idea who i'm talking about, don't worry bout it. It was a weird era in hip hop......

Can anyone tell me why feelings of loneliness always seem to creep up after the midnight hour?

I'm not gonna lie to you when I say that its a really shitty feeling. Not only that but in an effort to self medicate yourself, you start making phone calls and writing emails you probably shouldn't be; all in a desperate, delirious state.

But you somehow make it through the night and when you wake the feeling more or less retreats deep back into the cave which it came and you realize how pathetic you were and vow to never let that happen again.

Which of course it does.

Its so easy to see how someone could easily let the loneliness get the better of them and just wallow in despair. Luckily, I'm very aware of this and know that if I just weather the storms and keep moving forward, everything will be just fine.

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MORNING UPDATE

An ipod can be an amazing friend.

Just when you're tired from the time change, feeling sick from your liquid breakfast, and there's a cloak of general "blahness" over you, it puts a one-two combination of songs into your ears that completely picks you up. This time it was a song from the 2046 soundtrack followed by Maze's slow and groovy "Happy Feelings" (i've been on an old school jams kick lately).

And just like that my mind is back on track, focusing on what it should....

let's all chant

What do the a hit song from the White Stripes and Italian soccer fans have in common?

Take a listen to this short radio story to find out how a bassline is taking European stadiums by storm. Funny and facinating...

The World: Global Hit