We are very new, but we have already been getting some press. We have also gotten some publicity offers as well. It's all very weird and amusing at the same time. That's about all I can tell you right now, but I'll be happy to dish up the info when I can.

Even though this site is relatively new, I think I am already ready for a redesign. I think v3.1, if not something more drastic is in order. I'll keep you posted. If you want to see something I have been working on for class, go here. But be warned, you need Flash 5 for it to work properly.

Oh, I regretted to mention that I am falling in love with Wheatus and it kind of bothers me. "Teenage Dirtbag" is wonderful, but the rest is just. Still, I listen. I do not know why.

So I tried to post yesterday, but blogger would have none of that. So here I am, after the weekend.

This weekend I ran my first and last basement show--The Creature Comforts. Now the show itself was wonderful, but there was way too much stress involved in the whole process. I have been told this is not always true, but I don't know if I want to find out. I did have a good time though, because the guys in the band were so great. They are just about the nicest guys you could imagine. Then again everyone who is associated with Spire Booking is really nice. If they had a website up I would point you there, but they don't so I'll just list some bands--Ultimate Fakebook, Nada Surf, Samiam, Ashtray Babyhead, The Impossible, The Figgs, Sheila Divine. It's a great lineup.

So I am knee-deep in design and other work. I have two projects, a monthly report, and an abroad application all due thursday. Tomorrow is going to be extra fun. I am going to be doing a lot then. Now, I think I am going to do a little reading and then go to my bed.

I just noticed that after 9 new people see my site, I'll be at 1000 unique visitors. I am honored.

Thanks for reading my garble.

Have you ever noticed that when you're reading an assignment from a textbook and you come across a thing that says, "The [blank] empire was built on these three principles. First..." you start highlighting beginning on "first?" Instead of saying that, it could say, "Goats are funny for three reasons. First..." and you would still highlight even though the relationship of goats to the [blank] empire is minimal. Point being that highlighting is more or less automatic, I think. You highlight more because of phrasing than because of content. Obviously, this isn't always true, but pay attention next time you're highlighting.

Also, you should check out this page right here. I bet you're wondering what it is. Well, this man name Dave Eggers wrote a book called "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius," which is a brilliant book and renewed my love for reading. Anyway, his book was just released in paperback and the New York Times did an article on it, here (note: you'll have to register for free with NYT to read it, if you haven't already). After Dave read the interview he wrote a long rebuttal/correction at mcsweeneys.net, which is the home of the literary journal, McSweeney's, who Eggers is the editor of. The reason this article is so good is because he posted the entire email communication between he and the journalist leading up to the article. It is amazing to see the change in tones and attitudes of both parties. It really gives you an insight into the world of journalism. I recommend everyone read it.

Yes, the tickets for Cubs games are going on sale Friday at 8am. I will be calling bright and early trying to get a piece of opening day action. I love Cubs games. Who can argue with hot dogs, chicago fans, ivy, bleachers and the best baseball team ever. (I am aware that by conventional terms they suck, but conventional measurements don't include love).

I also got a new burner. My current one is dead. This is all well and good though b/c now I can burn a cd in 6 minutes. I love it.

That's it, time to go.

kara is looknig at my webpage right now. ooh.

Dimetapp Childrens Nighttime Flu Syrup is the perfect way to make your kid sleep all night with a cold. Drug him, and then leave him. The wonders of technology.

I just remembered something else. So I bought this jean jacket a couple days ago that I think is pretty great. It is a nice jacket and I got it at 70% off. Who could complain? Well, the problem is that my good friend’s boyfriend has a very similar coat made by the same company. He did not like this. Now, what do you think? I think that it is a jean jacket and many people have them. Also, there are not too many stores that sell them in madison, so what was I supposed to do? Was I in the wrong?

So I was just looking at my stats for this page, and I noticed someone got to my site by searching for A-ha's "Take me on" on Google's German site. So a German person came to my site in search of an 80s song. They must have been sorely disappointed.

I went to two kick-arse concerts in the last two days. The first one was Richard Buckner w/ Sally Timms at Cafe Montmartre. That was such an unbelievable concert. RB was in peak form, although it wouldn't have mattered because his voice is pure heaven in all states. And Sally Timms was great/funny/everything. She also had John Langford there as her backup, which made her set quite memorable. Last night I did the indie rock thing and saw Hot Rod Circuit with John Brown Battery. There is nothing to say as HRC and JBB make my heart flutter.

In fact, I am going to go cry now because they are so good.

Actually, I got home yesterday, but that does not stop me from being here. So here I am.

I have a couple pictures from my trip I am going to scan really soon. They are not of any skiing, but they are still good. Time for me to work on my website for class. I love classes like this.

We have gotten 20" of snow since I've been here. Powder up to my knees in some places. I LOVE it. I need to ski more. Maybe I'll move out west for a few months after college. Well, I don't think I need to worry yet. Things have been calm and good. Dad time is nice and skiing time is nice. All is nice. I don't have much else to say. Yalp.

I will be here until wednesday night. I am going to be skiing. It is going to be wonderful. So I am going to need to give you the whole spiel on the dinner party, but not for a little bit as I am exhausten right now. I will tell you one thing though: I have decided to grow my hair out a little bit. It has been short for too long and I need some poof. Oh, and I haven't had a steady girlfriend since I had long hair, so this couldn't hurt in that department. I'll keep you posted on the progress.

note: this post will be very long winded.

So I just got back from seeing Bamboozled, the latest Spike Lee Joint. I don't think I have been as deeply moved by a film in my life. To give you some background before I launch into my sermon, the movie is about a black writer who works for a major tv network who is in a place where he hates his job and wants to get fired. To do this he creates a show based off of minstrels that will be horribly offensive and likely get him fired, which is what he wants. The show is created, and is very offensive, and becomes a hit. The story continues on dealing with the emotions of the major players in the story. This is what you need to know.

Now what this film did for me is open my eyes for real. They showed me, reminded me, told me that race problems in the US are so far from over it is disturbing. Now I have known for a long time that there are problems and it has bothered me. But this film, in detail, shows that television shows, movies, songs, commercials, everything that exploits race is a 'millenium minstrel show,' as the film calls it. The movie's website gives good background on minstrels if you are not that familiar with them. A minstrel show uses a person's color as the reason for their inabilities. Granted, in minstrel shows it is incredibly blatant, but just because something is subtle or masked doesn't mean it isn't there. Since just about all entertainment preys on stereotypes for a common denominator and thus a wider demographic, it could be argued that it is impossible to move away from today's minstrels. Why should the networks/studios give up something that is profitable for something that is right? They're not going to, I know this much. It is the entertainment business. It will always be a business, so long as we live in the free market system that we do. This is troubling because I honestly feel that it will be a long time before we see a stop in the exploitation of culture and race. And I don't think it's any better if you are making fun of your own.

Although the use of stereotypes can lead to horrible things, I don't think that their use in general is bad. They are a common denominator. What needs to be changed is how we react to them. If all we do is watch Chris Tucker act like an imbicile and laugh our asses off, we are getting nowhere. Again, you can laugh, but just don't bust a gut. The problem with stereotype is that they help further an association with a certain type of person and a certain activity. So if Chris Tucker and other black actors act like idiots forever and ever, then we will start to make an association between idiots and black people. So the key is to know this going into the event. You must be knowledgable of the creator's intentions and careful of your responses to the event. You also must be conscious of how your response will affect the community, on any level. I can laugh at Chris Tucker because he acts stupid, but I have to know that he is doing it because he is studid, not because he is black and stupid.

Now you may think that I'm just blowing smoke up your ass, but I don't think that everyone understands this completely, and I don't think this little sermon is going to change it. But please remember this--when you are experiencing anything, you must be aware of the social stigmas attached to the event and respond accordingly. This may sound hyper-PC, but I think it is just the way an empathetic citizen has to act. You cannot not allow yourself to swallow what the media is feeding at all times. Know when to take a step back and think, know when to laugh with them and know when to laugh at them.

As to why this movie brought this out, it just has to do with Spike Lee's amazing abilities and how he brought the problem with modern entertainment to the forefront.
I'm sorry if this came off harsh at points, but I really wanted to spit this out and that is what a journal is for.

I haven't mentioned this here yet, but I think I should let you all know about the this sweet dinner party I am throwing with my friend kara. Invite only, sorry. Actually, we just can't fit any more people. I would tell you about the details, but it is going to be a surprise for the guests, so you'll know after tomorrow. It will be good though, don't you worry.

So I have been working with flash lately, check out what i've been up to.

At Sea

Intro to the personal site I am making for a class

This post is just because I felt like posting a second time.

I am eating right now: Half Baked by Ben&Jerry's.
Level of goodness: Off the charts.

So right now it is raining outside. I am at the library and I would really like to go home, but I don't think that is going to happen, unless I want to get soaked. So I think I will work on, oh I have nothing to work on here, since I forgot my zip disks. If I had remembered those then I would be fine, but I didn't, so here I am.

My teacher liked my design for the business card you see below. That is good since he will be grading it. I also really like it. He gave me a good idea though: to make to the 'o' in jacobs the same color as the circle. I think that idea is unstopular. I will be using it post haste. I now have to create letterhead and a resume. I think I'll crank those out tonight. I haven't done any normal homework lately, just stuff for my two design classes. I think it is because their homework is fun. I love fun homework.

So on Sunday morning I am leaving to go skiing with my dad in Park City, Utah. I'll be skiing at Deer Valley. I am excited because I have never taken this much time off of school, in college, at once. I am going to come back and be all disoriented, which is something to look forward to.

Well, I think the rain has subsided. Off I go.

So I just made a business card for my class, tell me what you think:

Nice?

There haave been a run of blogger outages that have made it difficult to post. Anyway, I have to run to class but I'm glad this is working.

I must say, that was a pretty kick ass Snowball. It was Snowball 2, if that means anything to you, and I couldn't have asked for much more. I just had fun hanging out with the staff and the participants. Everytime I do another one I feel so certain that I will be involved in high school education at some point. I just really like high school age kids. I think that they have a lot potenetial at this point in their lives. There is a big chance you can turn a misfortune around at this age. Anyway, I always have a great time and I am already excited to head back for another one.

So I am home now and just relaxing, doing a lot of nothing. I don't think I am going to do any work tonight even though I really should. Maybe I'll do just a little bit. I'll keep you posted. So I have been playing NHL 2001 on my PS2 nonstop lately. It is such a good game. I haven't had a good hockey game in a long time, so this is welcome addition to my reptoire of games. In fact, I am going to go practice I think. Yeah.

Ooh yes. Tonight was a lot of fun. I must say that everytime I go to a Push Stars show it is a pleasure. They are the nicest boys in the world. I mean that. Not to mention the fact that the show was just amazing. They were incredibly on this evening. Oh, and their new album is spectacular. It comes out on tuesday in record stores near you. They played a few songs at the show. My favorite new one is "waiting, watching, wishing," words can't describe. Oh, and you can get that song on their website. But the coolest part of the night, was when I got called up to sing the "Na na naaaa na na"s during "Minnesota." This is true. I went up and led the crowd and I got to sing into the mic with Chris. You know, when both our faces are right near the mic. I AM A ROCK STAR. But I digress.

So that was my entire night. This is probably my last post for a few days as I am going out of town on a Snowball. It is always a good time. Okay, time for me to pack. See ya doods.