5.29.07

Finally Back

   I'm finally done with all the traveling that I had to do. Unfortunately, I've got so much work that I haven't done I am going to be way too overworked for the end of the year. What is exciting is that my band Flawed Logic has an acoustic show tomorrow at the Red Rock Cafe, which should be great. It's an Amnesty International thing. Yay us! I have to do my work now.

5.22.07

Home For A Day

   I just got back from the Environmental Youth Conference yesterday! It was so much fun. We went hiking everyday and learned a lot about the forest and forest services. I discovered that I am more of a preservationist, unlike the forest rangers, who are conservationists. The difference is I want to leave the forests alone and keep people from messing with it, conservationists want to protect them yet still utilize them for industry and stuff like that. I think that's stupid, because it messes up the natural order and leads to more problems that they have to try and fix. Oh well, I got to meet a lot of cool people from all over the state. I'm leaving for New York tomorrow.

5.15.07

Random

    This is a random blog! I really don't have anything to say this week. So I'm going to fill it in with this. I'm excited for next week, I'm going to be going on a lot of trips. I'm going to New York for some weddings and I'm gonna see my extended family. And boy do I mean extended. Gatherings like these, there's always people that I never end up meeting, or who I don't even remember meeting because there's way too many of them. It's gonna be fun.

5.8.07

Experimental Unit

     I can't think of what do use for my concept for the expiremental unit. I've given up on my first idea, which was Native American culture and the loss of it in America. I couldn't think of something to do with that which would be both approved for and fun for me. So I'm thinking of the concept of "the unpredictability of the imagination." I think I'll do something with melted crayons. It makes really beautiful abstract art. But the thing is I'll be painting an subject of my own. Then I'll show my art to some people and ask them what they think it is. That could use a little more work though..

 

5.1.07

Chemistry AP

     Well AP tests are coming up and I'm basically dying. Chemistry is impossible. I really want to pass this test, so I'm kind of stressing out. A lot. I've decided that I have to crawl into a hole that consists soley of Chemistry and not come out until the 15th when the test is done. I've got to quit working for 1776 Studios because I don't have the time now. I hate standardized tests! Argh. Summer is never close enough.

4.19.07

Updates

     Sooo I've got a few updates.

• First, I have changed my heading concerning the date. From now one I shall use periods. No more slashes.
1. Second, I am proclaiming this project one website as dead. I have no time to finish fixing it, and the changes I've made so far aren't that great it the first place. Only the blog will remain active. I'm going to detach the blog from the template then make a new one, that's nicer, and it will be great. The project one page will remain up, but I won't link to it except from my projects page. For all intents and puposes, I've killed it

Third, my Documentary project is killing me. I have a lot of backlogged work and I fear that pretty soon I will be losing my hair because of it. Not good.

Fourth, I'm still sick after like a week.

Fifth, I've started reading H. P. Lovecraft stories. I gotta say, he's a really good writer. I've never really been into horror, but I definately make an exception here. It's good stuff.

Sixth, I'm almost done with the second song I recorded for BoB (Bears on Bus), which is my second band with my friend Chris. I've encoperated (sp?) banjo into it, which I am pretty proud of. I'm excited to finish it. I just need lyrics and mastering and some little bitty bits. But most of it is done!

That will be all.

4/6/07

Blog of blogs to end all blogs.

Last week my band played a show, and we were recorded by lots of television cameras. It actually wasn't really a show, because we were in a studio, but it will be a show in a couple of weeks when we appear on television. I wore my shirt with samurais on it. It was very fun. I didn't mess up on my solo during the really complicated song, and I was glad. Yeah. Hopefully we'll look really cool on tv. I am excited for it. These sentences are fragmented.

 

3/20/07

Boomchakalaka

    World War II is probably one of my favorite subjects in school. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that there was such a strong sense of being united that WWII gives off. It also probably has a lot to do with the fact that warfare hasn't quite been the same as WWII ever again, and especially on such a large scale.

     What I like learning most about is the crazy research that both the Axis and the Allies undertook in an effort to win the war. The Japanese actually were developing a "death ray"! And Germany spent a whole lot of money on a pair of giant speakers that barraged people with sound.

     What I've also just figured out is why I love WWII video games so much. It's not that I love violence and shooting people (although I do admit that part of the apeal of the games are the shooting and guns), but that those games are the closest I can get to actually being there. Just thinking about it creates a huge yearning for me to learn more, and get my hands on whatever I can related to WWII.

     Maybe I should be a historian.

3/15/07

Blogs

     I don't like doing these blogs. I have nothing substantial to say. It's boring. I only do it for credit. And it means that everytime I update this page I have to actually VISIT my own website, and I hate this website. It's just.....ugly. And not very pretty either.

     I plan on changing this. But I don't ever have time. There's always too much to do. So it stays like this. Now I'm just typing to fill up space. I doubt anyone but Mr. F reads this. La la laaaa. Ok that's it.

 

3/8/07

SAT Tests

     This Saturday I have to take the SAT test. I'm definitely not excited. At all.

     I don't really think that a large chunk of my chance of getting into college should depend so much on how well I did on this one test. I feel this way because partly I don't think it's fair to judge everyone's ability by the same test, because some people just don't work well with the whole standardized test thing, even though they may be incredibly smart. Also, I don't like just being a number. When they look at my test score, they will only see that score. I'm not talking just about colleges, because I know that they look at other aspects of your "portfolio" as well. I'm talking about the larger society as a whole. People who need to know my test scores won't know why I actually got those scores. Maybe I was having a hard time that week. Maybe I have cholostraphobia and can't handle being stuck in a test room for so long.

     I just don't like being "in the system either."

     Or maybe I just don't want to take this test.

3/1/07

Exhibition

    Today is the day of the exhibition. Oh boy. I spent over 5 hours finishing my project. Not so fun. At least it is over with and now I can go kill myself over the Documentary. That will be fun though. I get to walk around in landfills and take pictures (or so i hope).

 

2/15/07

Ski Break

     Sitting here, I really, really can't wait for ski break to come next week so I don't have to go to school and can just relax and sleep and do whatever. But, when I'm not being pummeled to death by schoolwork, I think ski week is stupid. Lots of other schools don't get this week off. Other kids still have to go to school. As far as I know, it's mostly just the Mountain View/Los Altos school district that has a "ski week." And really, just the name makes me mad. "Ski Week." I may just be a cynic, but to me it seems like this week was just created so that rich people can go off to their cabins in Tahoe or something and enjoy the snow. Never really going on vacations with my family, it could be easy for this feeling of hatred to be summed up to just envy. But I don't know. If they called it something like "Black History Vacation Week" or something, I wouldn't complain. Maybe it is just the name. They should change that. "Ski Week" is dumb.

     DUMB I SAY!!

2/8/07

Horror Movies

    So tomorrow I'm going to go see a "scary" movie with my friend, and I started to think about the quotes I always put around that word. The thing is scary movies aren't really scary anymore. Mostly they are just gore, gore, CGI monsters, gore, gore, more gore, bad music, and gore. Since when are scary movies supposed to be made up of only people getting chopped up? I mean sure, that's kinda scary, but it gets old really fast. For example, I saw Hostel with my friend after he raved about how intense it was, and sure it was disgusting and wrong, but walking out of the theater I wasn't scared. In fact, I found it easier to laugh at parts in the movie rather than be afraid.

    So what's up with that? How come scary movies aren't scary anymore? Where are the Exorcists of my generation? Where are the Poltergeists? All I get is the Saw trilogy. I mean, I've seen the old scary movies, and to me they weren't scary, but that's because I'm used to modern special effects and all that. But with all this technology and amazing capabilities that Hollywood has, how come there isn't a genuine scary movie?

    I want something that will make it hard for me to fall sleep at night. I want something that makes me turn on all the lights in the hallway at night. I want something that will make me fear any noise that I hear outside the house.

 

  Hollywood, I am disappointed......

1/25/07

Joe the State Senator

    We had a state senator come to Freestyle today. His name was Joe Simitian(sp?). He talked to us about privacy issues and shed some light on some interesting new technology. RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) was one of the main things he talked about. It's basically an identification card that holds your personal data and transfers it over radio frequencies to special card readers. It's nifty if you need to access restricted areas or something like that. But it has drawbacks. I mean, wherever there is a card reader, your location will be tracked. So "they" will know where you are. Also it's not hard for people to be able to steal your information and make copies, which creates all kinds of dangers.

    I never knew any of this stuff before, so I really enjoyed listening to our Senator. Also, from what I could tell, he seemed like a pretty cool guy. So he's got my approval for senatorshipness.

 

1/1/07

Sickness

    I've been really sick for the whole week. And when I say really sick, I mean really sick. Like 102.3 degree fever. It sucks because I miss a whole lot of work at school, which means I have to make it all up the next week, which means at least twice as much homework, which feels like a punishment, so basically I get punished for being really sick. All that I've really been able to do is sleep and watch TV, which doesn't sound that bad, but if your feeling like crap the whole time it's not that great.

    On a brighter note, today is my younger brother's birthday. Well, it's not that bright because he's really sick too. Actually, his birthday has a history of being really bad. This year he's sick, last year my family forgot, when he turned nine I broke my arm on his birthday and my mom was thrown off a horse and had to go to the hospital. But hey, at least he's 15 now.

 

12/21/06

Eels

    No, I'm not talking about the marine dwelling fishy things. I'm talking about the band, Eels. Fronted by Mr. E (who's actual name is Mark Everett), Eels has been since the early 90s. Their music is an amazing link of electric and acoustic instruments, and their lyrics are always powerful (at least when they aren't funny). Everett's the main man, and plays all sorts of instruments (piano, guitar, etc..), as well as sings.

    Their sound is easy to recognize. Aside from the unique recording sound (it always sounds somewhat dirty, as if it were an old vinyl record), Everett's hoarse, throaty voice is easy to recognize. I know that may sound like a turn off, but don't worry, it's not painful to listen to. In fact it makes the music even better.

    The creativity of Eels is undeniable. Just recently, Mr. E toured with (and composed) an orchestral accompaniment. This Live with Strings is simply awesome. It's just another token to Everett's creativity and talent as a musician.

    If I've somehow convinced you to check out their music, I advise you to start with their recent double album, Blinking Lights and Other Revelations. It's great music, especially if you aren't feeling too great. After that I'd recommend the album Beautiful Freak, which has the song My Beloved Monster, and if you've ever seen the movie Shrek (or Shrek 2), you'll recognize it.

 

12/15/06

Nerdcore Hip-Hop

    Ever heard of MC Frontalot? Probably not. But you should. He's the master of Nerdcore Hip-Hop. What is Nerdcore Hip-Hop? Basically nerds who decided to rap. It's hilarious. And whats even funnier is that some of his stuff is even good.

    Check him out at www.frontalot.com. All his stuff is free to download.

12/8/06

Review of the Pick of Destiny

    Many have heard of the band Tenacious D. You know, Jack Black's band? Yeah, the guys you thought disappeared a few months after the song "Tribute" came out. Well, they didn't disappear, and they made a movie to prove it. Tenacious D the Pick of Destiny chronicles the creation of the band and how they defeated Satan (thus leading to their hit song "Tribute"). Many people I've spoken with were unsure of the value of seeing the movie, because well, lets face it, it's Tenacious D. But because of that, I, my younger brother, and my cousins decided to go see this movie, and find out what kind of film it really is.

    Well, let me tell you, if was pretty much one of the funniest movies I've seen in a while.

    The entire soundtrack was of course written by Tenacious D, and syncs up perfectly with the film, kind of like Pink Floyd's The Wall but with more fart jokes, sexual references, and comedy. So really not like The Wall at all. But I have to say, Tenacious D and the POD was surprisingly good, and well worth seeing. This of course only applies to those who are fans of their music, because anyone else would be disgusted.

    So bottom line is, if you liked their CD, you'll love the movie.

 

11/27/06

The Days Following

    Well Thanksgiving has come and gone, and what a great day it was. I saw my family and my cousin who just got out of the army, which was awesome. The food was great and we all had a sweet time.

    There is one thing that really bothers me though. And that is Christmas. No the holiday itself, but the fact that radio stations were playing Christmas carols before Thanksgiving had even arrived. The fact that Christmas trees went on sale Thanksgiving day. The fact that Downtown Los Altos already had their festive lights and banners set up at the beginning of November. Christmas needs to slow down. Just because it comes last in the year doesn't mean anyone loves it any less. There's no need for it to overcompensate by showing off and appearing a month early.

    Christmas, just be yourself, wait your turn, and enjoy life. You'll feel better about yourself, I promise. Let November belong to Thanksgiving. It'll be better for everyone if you do.

11/22/06

Junk Food

    I know this subject has been beaten to death already, but I thought I'd talk about junk food and high school. Personally, I think that vending machines and soda machines should be taken out. That of course generates a lot of negative feedback from the majority of the student body. But seriously guys, think about it. Why do you think our nation is so fat? Why do you think kids are getting sick more?

    Durh, it's 'cause we are eating shit at school that is just plain unhealthy! Food corporations pump so much stuff into our junk food to make it taste good, we don't even realize the potential consequences. For example, people just now found out that some stuff in poptarts can cause cancer. They've also linked diet sodas to an increase in the number of cases of rickets. And you know high fructose corn syrup? The stuff used to sweeten everything? Well, that stuff tricks your body into thinking that it isn't full, and it makes you eat more food even though you don't need it. And people wonder why they gain weight...

     If the freaky stuff that gets put in our food doesn't turn you off from it, how about your appearance? Wanna stop from getting so many pimples? Maybe you shouldn't shove so much greasy pizza and soda down your throat. Wanna lose weight? Stop eating so much crap. Wanna be able to breath easier and run longer? STOP EATING SO MUCH JUNK!

    It's just common sense. Until we start taking responsibility for our bodies and what we eat, and actually think before we put this stuff into ourselves, we're still gonna have all these needless health issues, just because you'd rather eat Swiss Cake Rolls instead of making a roast beef sandwich.

11/14/06

Classic Television

    Let's all go back a decade or so. Times were good. People weren't living in fear. We didn't have as many problems as today. The economy was going well. And the cartoons on television weren't crap.

    Yes, back in the 90's cartoons were great. As a matter of fact, all the programing for children was excellent. They were funny, smart, and were generally fun to watch. I'll throw out a couple of examples:

        Pinky and the Brain
        The Angry Beavers
        Rugrats
        Peanuts
        Are You Afraid of the Dark
        You Can't Do That on Television
        Johnny Bravo
        Inspector Gadget
        The Adventures of Johnny Quest

    The list could go on and on...

    Now I know that every generation has their on nostalgia for the old programs they used to watch as children, but if you look at those programs and their content, and then at the programs on the air today, you'll definately see a degradation in quality.

    These old shows had dozens of references to pop culture and politics and whatever, which as kids we didn't really understand, but looking back on it later we could all laugh and be surprised that we didn't catch it before. Parents would even enjoy watching the cartoons. Shows today don't have half as much "smart" comedy as the old ones. I know "smart" comedy doesn't really fit in with the idea of a cartoon, but it was still present, or at least some manifestation of it. But no, programs today rely more on simple comic violence and fart jokes, or disgusting subjects that are supposed to be funny.
     Now, I'm not saying that the old shows didn't have their fair share of fart jokes and cartoon violence, but they also used a whole lot of dialogue to make the show funny. The plots were more in depth (which is saying a lot seeing as a plot to a 30 minute cartoon can't get that deep). If you don't believe me, check for yourself. Pick a cartoon or whatever that is on now, watch an episode of it, and then compare it to an episode of one of the shows listed above. You'll see a difference.

 

11/2/06

Thanksgiving

    November has begun! That means two things. Veteran's Day and Thanksgiving. Veteran's day doesnt get enough credit, because it's an important holiday. So when your running around that Friday because we don't have school, just take a minute to thank all those Veteran's for risking their lives for us. They deserve it.

    Now, onto Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is probably the best holiday ever. On this day all the best food gets laid out for us to eat. Stuffing, turkey, mashed potatoes, rolls, buns, potato salad, normal salad, cranberry sauce, pie, and anything else. It's all there. And with all of this food, families come together and have a nice, pleasant dinner together. It's really heartwarming...

    But the food's really the main reason Thanksgiving rules.

10/20/06

Blasting Music

    One thing that really, really annoys me are people who drive around with their music at full blast. There is never ANY reason to do that. I don't want to be walking down the street and hearing a *thump* *thump* *THUMP* *THUMP* 5 freakin minutes before some dude in an Escalade flys past me, his entire car shaking with each beat. Thank you for announcing your arrival and departure! I really wanted to know you were coming! I'm surprised the heartbeats of these people aren't screwed up from so much bass hitting them.

    Not everyone in the entire city wants to hear what you are listening to. And the same goes for people who listen to headphones with them so loud that even people across a busy train station would be able to understand the lyrics. What are people trying to prove? It doesn't make them seem any cooler. If anything it just pisses off those around them. Or maybe I'm just the only one who likes to listen to their own music, and everyone else enjoys having some other dude's stuff beaten into their skull.

    Maybe next time I pull up to one of these people I'll just fight fire with fire, and see who's eardrums burst first.

10/16/06

Zaireeka

    I dunno if any of you have heard of the band The Flaming Lips, but they are amazing. They've been around for over 20 years, so more people know them now than ever. They started out as a punk-indie band in the 80's, but by now they've evolved into a sort of psychedelic/alternative/electric band.

 

    It's sort of hard to describe.

 

    But anyways, I wanted to talk about this one album of theirs that is really a token to their creativity. It's pretty amazing. The album is called Zaireeka. The word Zaireeka is supposed to be a mix of the two works Zaire and Eureka. Its supposed to combine the idea of a desolate, chaotic place and the feeling of new discovery (or something along those lines).

    Now, the reason that this album is so creative isn't necessarily because of their songwriting or their musical talents (although they are extremely talented in those areas). No. The reason it's so creative is the fact that is spans 4 different discs. And in order to listen to the album fully, you must play all 4 of the discs at the same time, in different CD players. And the amazing thing is that it actually works. Only once have I gotten all the CDs in unison, and it was insane. Having a drum solo revolving around your room is just plain awesome. It's a real chore to get all the CD players synched up, too. The CD's have an easy pre-song synching exercise for you to do, but you really need 4 people with great coordination in order to get it done perfectly.

    Also, from listening to Zaireeka, I learned something interesting about CD players. They don't all play at the same speed. Some play faster, and by the end of a song, one has finished while the others still have 4 and 2 more seconds left, respectively. It's both interesting and annoying, but I found that once I embraced the disorder that it caused, you get a whole different experiance. Some songs sounded even better when they were out of synch like that. So yea, go buy Zaireeka and listen to it. You'll see what I mean.

 

 

I

The Trail Dog

     My friends, I have come upon a most wondrous invention. This food will change the world. It will shape nations, create emperors, forge alliances and even make God think "Hey, this stuff is pretty rad." Fellow consumers, I give you...

        THE TRAIL DOG

     YES! The trail dog! Truly a triumph of food experimentation if there ever was one. This goes beyond the same ole amateur food experiments that you are used to. Ketchup and rice? Pshaw. Potstickers and maple syrup? Double pshaw. The trail dog pretty much destroys everything you've ever tasted.

     But how do you make it?

     Its fairly simple, my little monkeys. First you take a hot dog (a sausage works perfectly fine as well, in fact, its better). Then, you take a handful of trail mix. It's gotta be the good kind. Take out any almonds that happen to be in there, they will only ruin this food. Sprinkle the trail mix upon the dog (which should be in a bun, you fools). Then, take some ketchup, and do what you normally do. After the ketchup, do the same with mayonnaise. Trust me. After that, you are done. Prepare to enjoy the most excellent food on the face of this planet, and remember that I invented it and will sue you.