Christmas Wrappings

Today I go to pick up Lindsey for New Years and I'm pretty excited. Christmas was great. This year it was less about getting expensive gifts and more about giving some special surprises. My mom loved the original Beatles shirt (see previous post), Caitlin liked the custom apron that said "no, you do the dishes", Jess liked America: the book by Jon Stewart, and I think Lindsey will like her gifts as well. I'll be reviewing my best albums of 2006 in the next post. Happy Holidays!!

Too Much Egg Nog

Here's the "Too much Egg Nog" 2006 Christmas mix I promised last post. I don't know what it is, but no matter how crappy and "un-christmas" likemy day is, these songs seem to give me a tasar shock of christmas spirit. Hope it works for you as it does me.





1.Belle and Sebastian - Christmas Time is Here
2.Bright Eyes - Blue Christmas
3.Eels - Everything's gonna be cool this christmas
4.Sufjan Stevens - That Was The Worst Christmas Ever!
5.The Waitresses - Christmas Wrapping
6.Sufjan Stevens - Come On! Let's Boogey to the Elf Dance!
7.Weezer - The Christmas Song
8.Death Cab for Cutie - Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
9.Sujan Stevens - Lo How A Rose E’er Blooming
10.Brett Dennen - The Holidays Are Here (and we’re still at war)
11.Sufjan Stevens - What Child Is This Anyway?
12.Belle & Sebastian - O Come, O Come Emmanuel

Happy Christmas (War is Over...)

(...If you want it) -John Lennon

It has been quite a long time since my last post on here lots going on lots to mention. I would lie and say that its solely because I have been so busy (which I have), but in reality I lost interest for a while to keep this thing updated because I have no idea if anyone reads this or cares. So, its going to be a little haphazard with posts for a while. Lets see...I could go over my near-death experience involving a speeding truck...or I could go over the recent news that Southwest Air lost (and later recovered) my luggage, the first time I ever used baggage claim (note: never again). But I'll spare you.

Instead, I'll use this post in another way. There has been alot of good news recently.
First off, I passed all my classes at Ringling! (All B's and one C because I'm terrible at Art History) I'm really excited about the next semester too, all new teachers and classes and my Intermediate Figure Drawing class goes from 8:30 till 3 pm! I'm not sure how that works, but it will be interesting. I hope this next semester is just as amazing as the last.

In other news, I've really gotten into the "spirit of Christmas" you might call it. Before I left for Pennsylvania, Lindsey and I were listening to heavy doses of Christmas classics sung by modern artists. Anyone else's ears would be bleeding from the high level of x-mas music, but not us. I even made a great Christmas mix of songs called "Too Much Egg Nog" (more about it at the end). Lindsey and I even dressed up as a crazy old couple for some Christmas card magic. I do enjoy that sweater from Goodwill. We also made a high speed video of us putting up her fake tree in her apartment:

I was having the hardest time figuring out what to get my mom for Christmas until I found this item. Its an original shirt from the '60s featuring the Beatles' faces in lace. It cost an arm and a leg, but it was worth it. I got so many other cool gifts for my family and friends, that it gets me excited every time I think about it. I've come to the conclusion that Christmas may never be as magical as it was when I was little (for reasons I don't feel like discussing), but I'm going to make the most of it with the people I'm with.

I'll save my Christmas mix for another post. This one is long enough as is.

Thanksgiving Road Trips and Winter Blues

Last Wednesday, Lindsey and I went on a 10 hour (turned into a 12 hour, more on that later)road trip to see my relatives and family in North Carolina for Thanksgiving. The weekend prior, we had traveled to Jacksonville to visit her family. I must say that Lindsey is one of the easiest people to get along with on a terribly long and potentially boring ride. Somehow, we managed to not drive each other crazy the whole trip. Of course, it wouldn't be a road trip without getting lost at some point, which we did. During the last hour of the drive, after I had been driving for 7 hours straight, I nearly went crazy when the North Carolina signs and Mapquest sent me in the wrong direction. Took another hour to find our way back.

Thanksgiving dinner and seeing my folks was great. Overate of course and watched my family dance at a local family owned restaurant like only they know how. My uncle did the "Jerry," his patented dance move only he and my sister know how to maneuver. By the end of the night, we had the whole restaurant up and dancing. I think Lindsey got a real good understanding of how crazy my family can be sometimes.

Winter has been kinda tough around here (wait, let me explain before you say, "yeah, you life in Florida..."). The weather is great actually, its a little surreal I must say waking up to 80 degree weather...in December. I recently got my tuition payment information and realized my Art School dream could easily come to a screeching halt. I've come to the conclusion that money sucks...and that Art School is expensive. Its worth every penny, don't get me wrong, but I wish there was an easier way to pay for it than just huge loan after huge loan. I need to win the lottery or something...quick.

Here's a selection of pieces I completed recently:

3D Kinetic Sculpture showing movement



Zombie Bowler 3D Sculpture



Fabric Drawing for 2D, Facial Drawing for Figure Drawing

Happy Turkey Day!!

Today, Lindsey and I are going on a 10 hr road trip to North Carolina to meet my family at my relatives. Enjoy the break everyone! Don't overdose on Triptopan...


Here's a hilarous video I found of bunch of kids playing "LARP" or Live Action Role Playing. Words cn't express the sheer absurdity of this. "Lightning Bolt! Lightning Bolt!" (facebook readers click on original post)

The Grand Old Opera

Tonight, Mekayla, Jay, and I are going to see Mozart Festival Opera Don Giovani. I've never seen an Opera before, so this should be interesting. Monday, I get to see The Pink Floyd Experince, whatever that is. We're required to see 3 performances at this theatre for class. Hopefully I wont fall asleep.

In other news, I'm starting to come down with some throat illness that makes it hurt off and on, makes my voice raspy, and makes me cough alot. Hopefully my immune system is in a fighting spirit and I'll pull through really quick, because this weekend I'm traveling to Jacksonville with Lindsey to meet her family and see some sights around there. I don't want to be bed ridden.

Then, on wednesday, we're getting in the car and taking a 10 hour road trip to visit the family at my relatives in North Carolina for Thanksgiving. I think Lindsey is going to have a really fun time, and it will be great to see my family again.

On a related topic, Lindsey and I are going to celebrate 3 months soon (yayy!!). Its crazy that its coming up so quickly. I'm kinda worried, because none of m previous relationships have lasted past the 3 month mark. So far, we haven't had any major bumps in the road, so here's hoping I can write about the 4 month in the future...

It All Seems Different when You're Younger...

Last Saturday, Lindsey, Kayla, Jaime, Alice and I went to Disney World (for Free!! Kayla's uncle works there and was able to get us all in for free). This was very special for me because I had not been to Disney since the age of 10. My favorite rides back then were Space Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Haunted Mansion and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I remember vividly going on the Space Mountain ride at least 7 times. Now going back, I knew it would be a test seeing how these rides stack up to my more mature self. I was faced with some disappointments, from not having the euphoria I once felt as a kid riding these rides, but I was thoroughly entertained for the most part.
Some of the best rides I went on this last trip were The Great Movie Ride, The Tower Of Terror, The Haunted Mansion, Disney's Carousel of Progress, Star Tours. I seemed to enjoy watching the animatronics this time around, wondering how they made the robotic characters so life like.
Pirates of the Carribbean was a letdown mostly for the unnecessary recent inclusion of Johnny Depp's character and other movie likenesses that reminded you that this isn't what you remember from your childhood. The ending of the ride was lackluster and leaving you with a sense of "is that it?"

Star Tours was still awesome. Probably because I'm a star wars nerd at heart.
Overall it was a blast and Lindsey and I had a really great time. For free!

See more pics from the trip here

The Happiest Place On Earth

Tomorow, Lindsey, Kayla, Alice, and I are going to DisneyWorld!!!! (for free!!)

I can't wait!!!! (haveb't been there since I was 10!)

Dems Control Majority In House and Senate; But Is This Really A "New Direction?"

I was glued to Jordie's TV late Tuesday watching as CNN tallied the votes and declare the Democrats as the House majority. My mouth dropped to the floor. Apparently, this is the first time in 12 years that the Democrats were in control of the house. I had expected the Dems to give a hard fight, but to ultimately loose and go back to the "Republican Rule" congress.

For the past six years, the Democrats in congress have been twiddling their thumbs, unable to make any real change or progress in congress because the Republican controlled the House and Senate in Congress and owned the Executive branch. This one party rule created a system of self-serving, pocket-lining, 100% Bush backing deals. Over the past few years, with the war still going nowhere, congress being the laziest it has been in the last hundred years, and a president living in denial. At the polls Tuesday, the people decided that they want change.

Will there be any actual change or accountability in the new Congress environment? It will be hard to tell. Already the wheels are turning for good things (hopefully) ahead. The day after the results, another jaw-dropper: President Bush announced that the Secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld, was stepping down from office. This comes a shocker after only a week ago, Bush reassuerd that Rumsfeld was staying put. Although bush denies it has anything to do with the Mid-term results, it is way too coincidental. In truth, the results have created a shake up, that even the President realizes. After learning that the majority of the American people were not happy with the progress in Iraq, Bush suddenly receded from his "Stay the course" mantra; that his Iraq policy was "not working well enough, fast enough,"- he remarked after announcing that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was stepping down.

In related news, with Rep. Nanci Polosi becoming (the first woman) speaker of the House, former Speaker, Dennis Hastart (at left) stated that he will not fill in the shoes of Minority Speaker (sadly though he will still be in congress). This man in question has done more business in Congress for himself and his hometown than the nation and is as corrupt as they come. Read all about it in Rolling Stone's article on the 10 Worst Congressmen. Very insightful.

Read the full article here for a new understanding how little progress Congress has made in the last 6 years.

My concern with the new Democratic leadership is if they will actually bring about great change in Congress and end the corruption that has plagued Congress over the last 6 years as they have promised. All commitees will be led by the Dems, meaning that if they take the initiative, they can scrutinize and examine many facits of the war, on the Bush administration, on Halliburton, and so on. This can all go to shit if Democrats get lazy and sit on their asses much like the Republicans did before them. If the Dems can reach across the isle to make compromises and not alienate the Republican, then much progress can be made. And if Bush is all for working with a democratic majority and not vetoing everything to shit (which he has a longstanding history of never using his veto power) then we may be making steps in the right direction over the next 2 years.

Here's some great Daily Show/Colbert Report videos concerning the mid-term elections:
(facebook viewers go to "original post")

Ted Haggard -eating his words

If you haven't heard of Ted Haggard in the news recently, he is (was) the head pastor of an evangelical church who has recently stepped down because a gay male prostitute he had hired for sex and Meth recently came forward and explained what has been going on. Apparently, the guy was upset how Haggard was being a total hypocrite when he preached the word of God and was adamantly against gay marriage. Adding fuel to the fire is the fact that with Haggard's fame over the last couple years; he has been invited to the white house on many occasions and is a friend of Bush's. More on the story here
This is just another example of the religious right's hypocrisies and immorality in the Bush administration. Another recent example is where Mark Foley a republican rep. of Florida was caught sending sexual messages to underage congress pages. Mark my words, this is just the tip of the iceburg....
Here's a video I found from a few years ago where a reporter met with (ex) Pastor Haggard to talk about his congregation and things heat up. Priceless.

Flushed Away and Mr. Borat

Thursday night, Lindsey and I went to see Flushed Away because Dreamworks gave Ringling School an advanced free screening (So nice of them!!) I was expecting the movie to be kid orriented and boring but was hapily surprised. Flushed Away is a fresh, fun movie for the kids and for the adults. From the creaters of Shrek, and by the same guys who made Wallace and Gromit,the story rotates around this rat who lives the rich but lonely life until a sewer rat flushes him down the toilet and he accidently gets involved in a jewel heist. The story itself is not the movie's stong point, but the inside jokes and singing, screaming slugs and french kung fu frogs make it a laugh riot. For keeping the movie fresh for a mature audience while still being child appropriate, Flushed Away should get an award.
Flushed Away-4/5 stars

Saturday, Lindsey and I went to see the new film Borat which is fake documentary on the reportings of American life through Kazakhstanian reporter Borat (played by Sasha Baren Cohen). The film mixes real interviews with unsuspecting americans who believe they are really with a foriegn reporter who is not informed of american practices. There is a story arc involving Borat's fake home country asking him to travel to America and get a slice of "American life" to document and help his country progress. The film works well to showcase some of our darkest bigotries while giving us many memorable moments and laughs so hard that it hurts.
Borat-5/5

Superheroes, more zombies, and Alice in Wonderland

Last Tuesday was Halloween and, as everyone should already know, it's my favorite holiday of the year.
My usual celebrations included a huge elaborate display in front of my house, on my porch, and in my garage. This year, I am far away from home and had to get used to a new way of celebrating my favorite holiday. Lindsey and I decided to host another party at her place. The plans would include movie -Dead Alive: one of the best zombie movies ever made and directed by Peter Jackson, food, Halloween music, and of course...costumes were mandatory.

Here's some pics from the night's festivities:
Superheroes Assembleeee!!!

We convinced Mikaela to wear Lindsey's Alice In Wonderland costume and it was a match made in heaven...
Zombie Jordie and Zombie Kayla prepare to do battle as Tank Girl Alice looks on.
Lindsey is totally pumped to carve pumpkins as I prepare to do battle with her.
It was a great time, we baked a cake, carved pumpkins, built a Halloween ginger bread house, ate weineies, and everyone loved the movie. Although there were no tricks, we had alot of treats and a great night.

Tim Curry, The Undead, and Time Warp Enthusiasts

Went with Lindsey to see Saw III last Thursday. It surpassed my expectations of a "Saw" movie. Why?
Because:
A. it had Jigsaw (yeah, no big surprise there).
B. It had tons of gore and body parts being broken and mangled and
C. It had a "Surprise!" shock at the end that probably made M. Night Shyamalan cry.
Overall, this series has managed to impress me the most of the new horror movies released over the last 5 years. The ending as I mentioned earlier, was a shocker, but it seemed cheated because there was a lack of information at the beginning. I really enjoyed Saw III for the way it has still managed to stay fresh over the years as a series. If the guys behind it are smart, they'll figure out a way to keep the series going for years to come, most likely making tons of money along the way.
Saw III-4/5 stars


Saturday, Lindsey and I prepared for our zombie costumes. We spent at least 2 hours each on our makeup alone, using prosthetics, latex adhesive, toilet paper, among other things...

Here's 2 videos of the makeup process:



Finished Product:

more pics here

After terrorizing Ringling for a bit, we headed out with Alice and JP to see Rocky Horror in Tampa. After waiting for about an hour, we got in.

We watched the Rocky Horror movie while actors reenacted the scenes and audience members yelled out lines and threw props at specific moments of the film. It was awesome. Because Lindsey was a "virgin" to the whole experience, she had to go up on stage with Alice while male "virgins" ran a relay race involving spanking the female virgins in a line. Lindsey was quite sore and tired of wearing the costume by the end of the night. There was also a "costume contest" we almost won, but lost to some lame kid wearing a duct tape transformers costume he made. Damn popularity contests... Still it was a great experience overall and we were "dead tired" when we finally made it back. (lame pun...I know...)

Midweek update

Tonight, Lindsey, Jamie, and I are possibly seeing a midnight showing of Saw III. I'm pretty excited considering its pretty close to Halloween and I really liked the last 2 in the series. (!!!)

So yesterday, Lindsey and I celebrated 2 months together (wow!). Before that, we had to endure getting her car fixed...
after over an hour of waiting at Pep Boys, they told us that it would cost over 1000 dollars to fix everything. real bummer there considering her car is only worth 2 grand. Anyways, we went ahead a rented a Pontiac Vibe from the airport and got the car back because Lindsey's mom knew someone who would fix it for cheap.

After all that fiasco, we rented Art School Confidential (one of my favorites) and got chinese food.

We worked on our costumes by tearing them to shreds and stomping on them in the dirt. Now they'll look like authentic zombie prom clothes. This Friday, Lindsey is hosting a movie night and Saturday, we're getting on our zombie selfs and scaring all the Ringling kids and then its off to Rocky Horror for the midnight showing!

Here's a fun video to help get in the spirit of Halloween. Enjoy!

Oh Yeah!! More Zombie Action!!

Yesterday and today focused around the evil dead. Lindsey and I went to Goodwill yesterday with JP, Alice, and Alice's friend. Lindsey and I did really well and found all the clothes we need for our zombie prom dates. Lindsey got this frilley blue prom dress straight out of the eighties. I found the perfect peices for my zombie tux including a shirt, pants, jacket and bow tie. All for 20 bucks. Afterwards, we dropped off JP, Alice, and her friend, and went to the mall, the Party Store and to a sporting supply store. We found some great zombie effects for cheap and bought a ton of fake blood. The next day we worked on projects and went to Spirit, a great, although expensive, halloween store. We found fake scars, gashes, and giant zombie bite marks for our costumes. We did end up spending over 50 bucks altogether, but these costumes are gonna be awesome.

Here's a video I found for those who were always wondering, "who would win in a fight between a zombie and a shark?" This has the answer... The part at the very end grosses me out every time. :)

Say Anything Show at the State Theatre

Went with Lindsey, Jordie, and Jaime to see Say Anything Friday night. We got there maybe an hour before hand an found a spot at the far right of the stage. The good part was that we were 2 feet from the stage and could feel the sweat flying off Coby, the guitarist. The bad part was that we were right, smack dab, next to the giant speakers blarring into our eardrums and increasing our chances of wearing hearing aids at an early age. We were in for a crazy show regardless.

First up were the 3 opening bands: Days Away, Mewithoutyou, and Pieballed.

Days Away was first and they put on an incredible set. Overlaying rock riffs over Radiohead inspired autmospheric keyboards, they pulled off a very endearing live sound that was hip and heavy. The lead singer reminded me of Tom Yorke and even looked like him to an extent. Creating interest in an audience that didn't come to see you is a very challenging task and Days Away succeeded.

Next up was Mewithoutyou. Fronted by an extravagant, spazzing bearded lead singer; this band had all the makings of a memorable, inspiring, rocking performance. It was memorable, but for the wrong reasons. Because of the lead singer's stlye of talking real fast instead of actually singing and the fact that we were right next to the speakers, the songs were terrible. The whole act, he was incoherant and off key(except to those who had memorized the lyrics) and it was headache inducing. The only saying grace was that he was very animated and danced around like a madman, which was amusing.

PIebald then hit the stage. I must admit, I really didn't remember their performance at all. I think it has to the fact that I never heard of them before, the songs were so so, and their stage presence was ok. I really was just waiting impatiently for Say Anything to apear...


I have to admit, I wasn't sure how good of a live band Say Anything would be. I'm a recent fan of their album "...is a boy" and was hoping for a powerful live performance...and they delivered. The songs came loud and fast, belted out by lead singer, Max Bemis. After a few songs, him and the rest of the band were ozing sweat and still rocked though all the crowd favorites and some new ones. They came on for an encore and played through another 3 songs. By the end, both the band and we the audience, were spent. :)

The Zombie Infestation Begins...

Lindsey and I decided recently that for halloween, in addition to our superhero costumes, we'll be dressing up as zombie/undead prom dates. We'll most likely be wearing it to the Rocky Horror show thats playing around halloween.

I was searching online for some DIY zombie makeup tips and I found 2 great sites for doing your own costumes and haunted houses:


www.365halloween.com is a great site for anything and everything to do with halloween. They had a great tutorial on how to do your own makeup and zombie effects. Lots of costume ideas and haunted house reviews.



Zombiemaker.com is another great site for learning what "classification" of zombie you are and how to dress and act appropriately. Very fun stuff.

Jackasses, Zombies, and The Like...

Went back to PA for the weekend to see family and friends. Left Thursday to get on my first solo flight and missed my plane at 7. Called Southwest frantically and they were so helpful. They got me on the next fight anf I was in PA by 11.
Friday night, I went with Rachel, Jess, and Caitlin and saw Jackass 2. It was not my normal pick for a movie to see in theaters, but I figured that it would be a good movie for everyone to laugh and get grossed out together with. Having a good recollection of the tv show and the first movie, I began my viewing of the funniest, grossest (and I've seen alot of gross movies) movie I've seen in a long long time. Because the jackass crew aren't restricted by the guidelines of MTV, cable, or stupid kids trying to reenact the scenes, they hold nothing back for this time. I wont spoil some of the scenes for people that will potentially see it. But be warned, if you are nauseated by seeing shit, blood, vomit, or old woman tits...thi movie may not be for you. Otherwise, be prepared for an awesome, laugh out, gross out comedy....
Jackass 2- 5/5 stars

It was a good trip altogether, but I wish I had the chance to see Bonnie, Jess, and Caitlin longer. It wont be till x-mas break till I get another shot to see everyone again.

I ended up working all day and all night on a project during my vacation that wasn't due for a week when I thought it was due the day after I got back. My teacher changed the due date for 2 projects bc someone in my class whined about the due date during the class I wasn't at bc I was at the airport... I ended up pulling another all-nighter working on another project for the same class that was due the same day. If the teacher or a fellow student had e-mailed me or something, I would have been saved so much hassle...

Tonight, Lindsey and I are watching...

I've seen it a few times before and it has to be one of the funniest movies for all the wrong reasons. Here's why:

"Often considered the worst movie of all time, Plan 9 From Outer Space does boast tombstones that are made of cardboard and tip over during the movie, it does feature one shot of Bella Legosi that is reused over and over and over, it does show a cop scratching an itch on his head with his gun, and stars a Swedish wrestler as a California cop..."

I'd recomend it to anyone who loves cheessy sci-fi movies...

Friday, we get to see these guys in concert....

Can't wait...

Yeah Yeah Yeahs Myspace Secret Show

Saw the Yeah Yeah Yeahs last night, and....I was blown away. You can't get a better venue then State Theatre. The wait was ok, lots of great stores around the area, and the YYYs rocked out. I'll explain more in a bit...

Our journey to see the Yeah Yeah Yeah started at noon, when we traveled to St. Pete.

Along with Lindsey and I was: Jay and Mikaela

We got lost of course trying to find this one street that lead to the State Theatre...
After asking for directions we were back on track

We made it to the theatre around 1 and decided to go check out the local stores.

At this amazing vintage furnature and clothing store, as you can see, we met Karen O! Lead singer of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs!! It was freaking incredible. She was so nice and not your typical "rock star" persona at all. After the picture. we let her go back to shopping and we were just shopping alongside Karen O. Very surreal.

We went back to the theatre around 3 and got our wristbands.

After we got our wristbands we went on a mission to find braiinnnss...I mean "food"

Trying to kiss the lovely lady behind the glass...

Hey!!! Its Brian of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs!!!! Holy Shit! We almost passed by him without recognizing him until Jay went "hey! aren't you??..." He was a really great guy. He even waited for this lady to take a pic for all of us.

After pizza, we went back to the theatre and Mekayla and Jay waited while we went to a local art store to get supplies for Lindsey. We came back just as the line was starting to form.

While we were in line, we met these two really great guys. Geremy, or "Gery," and Ben. They had to be the best 2 people you could meet in line. They gave us free pizza pringles and entertained us with Ben selling 10 dollar vintage sunglasses at his "TV table" stand. We all chatted it up, Lindsey sketched, and I took weird pictures of her like this...


and this...

After Hours of Waiting (5-7) We went into the venue. There was only one small sign and a "Thank You Myspace for letting us be part of this free show" from Karen O to let you know that the event was sponsored by Myspace and Chillies, which was a nice surprise.

First on stage was the opening act, Imaad Wasif. He played a straight electric-acoustic set and was really talented. His music reminded me of a light version of a fusion between yound Dylan and Nick Drake. Very chill and plesant. The crowd was polite for the most part, only a few mean hecklers.

Then The Yeah Yeah Yeahs came out.

Because, as they said "Every day is Halloween for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs!" they had awesome halloween costumes. Brian was a rastafarian, Nick was a vampire, and Karen was an awesome mummy. They tore their way threw an awesome set list of songs from their "Fever to tell" album and their more recent "Show Your Bones" album. The whole crowd was on their feet and jumping around and dancing along with Karen O. She spewed fake blood, twirled, and screamed her way through everyone's favorites. There was even an acoustic version of "Maps," which was a nice touch. You could tell that Karen O was having just as much fun on stage as the audience was having. Overall, a magnificent show. As much as I cringe saying the words "myspace" along with music I like. I have to give them a hand for for putting on a great show.