Hella Lists

Records (No particular order)

The Orwells- Remember When
Boboso- Life's A Gas Mixtape
Hard Girls- Isn't It Worse
Mike Hugenor- Bardamu
The Walkmen- Heaven
Cloud Nothings- Attack on Memory
The Henry Clay People- Twenty Five for the Rest of Our Life
Japandroids- Celebration Rock
Joey Bada$$- 1999
Rademacher- Babyhawk III
Tim Barry- 40 Miler
Classics of Love- Self Titled
Matthew Teardrop- Drunk As Fuck
Cat Power- Sun


Movies
The Master
Safety Not Guaranteed
Bachelorette
Prometheus

Retired Explorer.

While I was in Portland this past weekend, my friend who I was staying with was on google maps and asked me where in India were my parents use to live. After a while we were google mapping every place I've ever lived at and she noticed something that never occurred to me...she noticed how I've always lived in coastal states near the ocean. Brief stay in India, couple places in Delaware, up and down California; along touching an ocean, the furthest away from Ocean I've been is a hour long bus ride.

If you look close enough, you can spot the Shark Tank.

Portland State University.

I'm not sure why I never realized this before and I wonder if growing up in coastal regions might be one of the reasons why I love the ocean so much. 

The Reasons

Portland Rules

Howard Melworm

I love Shinobu.



I miss Shinobu.




I'll build a castle and I'll make it out of plans:

I plan on dropping the lame analogies and quoting my favorite bands.

And in a wry aside I sigh about how unhappy I am that you couldn't trust me (and I don't really like myself that much either).

I'm not asking for the world, but, hell, it would be nice to think that I have power over something. Anything, really!!!!

[I am alive and I'm not sure I like it, but I'm sure that I'd miss it, and I'm sure that I've expressed this in less annoying terms before. Oh oh! I'm like a speck of sand on the beach. Oh my god, that is so deep! I am sooo deep!]

You should read my livejournal.

Oct 9, 2012

"We expected something, something better than before." 

Day One

I've been thinking lately...I'm getting older, starting to compromise or sacrifice to follow my delusional dreams but at what point is that compromise worth it. I mean I went to college, got a degree and was told "You'll have the jobs you want and go out and do it." but then we inherit a shit economy and we sit around wondering what to do about it.

My mom has this whole thing that you work an X number of hours at something and that's what you get out of it and that's whats going to make you successful at something, but I'm not sure if I agree or believe in that anymore. I think part of it has to do with being born in the right time and the right place. I mean I excelled in school, did what my parents told me to do and still...it;s a matter of time and place and coming of age in the right time and right place or wrong time and wrong place.

It's just a lot of dealing with the cognitive dissonance between what I thought I was capable of and fighting the reality of what I am likely going to get and have to deal with.

Maybe this is it, I just have to come to terms that it is the wrong time and wrong place for me and that as much as I want to believe it will get better, it won't. 

Sea Of Love

The fact that I don't go to school anymore and spend most of the day time working makes it really hard to update this when I do get free time. Though, working more than ever has given me the chance to see shows more often. Here are some pics:

Acoustic Set by the Henry Clay People at Silverlake Lounge on July 25. 

Bomb The Music Industry! at All Different Colors on August 24. 

Joyce Manor at FYF Fest

The Walkmen at the Observatory on September 15

The Henry Clay People at Fingerprints on September 6. 

Two Gallants at FYF Fest

The Henry Clay People at the Bootleg Theatre on August 18

Some people are just idiots.

Only in Orange County would you see a hot pink Bentley. 

The Goal is not be well off financially but be better off culturally. 

Dim Wit.

It's weird not being in school anymore...it feels like for the past 18 years going to school was the only thing I was good at. I miss it. I miss being in a classroom, meeting new people, the actual learning aspect tho can't say the same about about the long papers and most of all I miss debating and talking about different everyday issues.

Just few things I took for granted

Something about driving through American Wasteland intriges me, 

I went to Yosemite few weeks ago. Something about being in the neck of woods makes you feel good. 

I was wondering the other day, why is that we turn pop figures into idols? 

Keep Your Weekends Free

If this is a test to see
which one of us will leave
you can count on me
you can always count (on me)

Kicking Telivision

eh

Anders

Haven't posted much since I graduated. So I figured I would just add bunch of photos of some awesome stuff I've been up to.

Graduation Bounce House Party

Oakland A's vs. Texas Rangers....Jarrod Parker almost threw a no hitter

Japandroids at the echoplex. June 15, 2012. Best Show I've ever been to.

The Henry Clay People at the Casbah in SD on June 14, 2012

Somewhere on the Golden Coast. June 13, 2012

The Front Bottoms at the Casbah in SD. June 14, 2012

My entire body is sore from the Japandroids show last night. It's going to take a fucking week to come down from  last night. 

It Is What It Is

I graduated from SJSU yesterday. Not sure how I feel about it yet. 

College Years: Music Edition.

Every day in this month so far has felt like a ticking time bomb. It feels weird, at one point there is enjoyment and joy of being done with school; at another moment it's disbelief that I still need to go to graduate school one day to make proper use of my degree and at some moments, the feeling of uncertainty is overwhelming. That being said, I've been wanting to make a list to musicians/bands that I'll forever associate with my undergraduate years. A list and a reason set in stone.

In no particular order:

The Henry Clay People: The were the first band I saw in San Francisco, heck the first time I went to San Francisco was to see these guys. A trip made on a random wednesday with two people who have become my closest friends today. HCP became my gateway to the 'L.A  music scene' and due to them I discovered great bands such as Red Cortez, Le Switch and The Californian. HCP was the first band I saw was a 21 year old. I'll always love these guys, they are all rock n'roll and I'm willing to wrestle anyone to the ground over this. To me, they embody the best of the straight ahead, double guitar rock and they love what they do enough not to try it insecurely hide behind cynicism or irony or some hipster bullshit. Theirs is unabashed-love-of music and I can't get enough of it. 

The Gaslight Anthem: The very first band I saw in college. I went to Rise Against and TGA was the first supporting band and they blew me away. This was few months after the '59 Sound came out, and part of the reason I went to Florida last year for the Fest was because of them. The amount of music I've been introduced to over the years because of these guys is ridiculous. All of the bands I saw at the fest were in some sort of way connected to TGA to me. 

Lucero: The first band I went to see by myself, and one of the bands I was introduced to thanks to TGA. The first time I saw Lucero was when they played a 11:30am set at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco. I woke up at 7 in the morning so I could take the 90minute train to SF and after taking multiple buses in the city I had arrived at Golden Gate Park just in time to catch their set. There's also the time I took the bus down to Santa Cruz to see them play and then realizing that the show would end way after the last bus scheduled back to San Jose, so I ended up spending the night sitting on the beach alone and waited till it was 6 in the morning so I could take the bus back to San Jose.

Cat Power: I was not a particular fan of female singers/vocalists during the early heydays. I didn't mind them but I wouldn't go out of my way to listen to em. Besides occasionally listening to Nico during the night, I didn't listen to much female singers. Until I surfaced upon Cat Power...it was during the summer of 2010, I had just downloaded one of webinfront mixtapes, I'm not sure what song it was but I was hooked. I was in love with the smokey voice, the beautiful face. After listening to Cat Power's discography vigorously, I decided to give females singers more of a chance.  Laura Marling, Regina Spektor, Jenny Lewis...I listen to all of them today thanks to Cat Power.

Fake Problems: The only reason I include Fakey P's in the list is because of how awesome these guys are. I mean the music kicks ass but the way the members treat their fans is what makes them special. I met these guys when they opened up for RX Bandits, I only went to the show to see FP and was planning on leaving right after their set but decided to talk to the members and the next thing I know, I was told if I came back for the show tomorrow, they would get me in for free...I can go on and on about why I love these guys, some of my favorite nights in college was when I got to see them live and hangout after the show. I'm excited for what the future brings for this band, not only as a fan but also as a friend.

Jim Ward: I had no idea who he was until I saw him at the 2009 Revival Tour. Unlike many people I know, I did not listen to At the Drive In or Sparta so I had no idea who he was. I was just really impressed with his set and picked up his Sleepercar CD at the show and eventually I was told about his other 'big' bands. I checked it out, and I still prefer his solo/Sleepercar stuff compared to his loud stuff. The thing I like the most about Jim is the amount of pride he takes in El Paso, listening to his music you can tell he loves the city more than anyone. It's interesting because El Paso is portrayed as shit hole border town and here is Jim who helped construct a studio, a bar and a venue so the kids have something to do, so touring bands can have a spot to play instead of just driving through it. He is single handedly trying to make the city a better place. The reason why I admire this and his love for El Paso so much is as a kid growing up, I always despised the place I was staying at. It could be Dover, Irvine, Greenville the list goes on, when I was living in those places, I hated it but once I left, I came to appreciate them. So in a way Jim taught me to take pride in the place I call home and rather than disliking it and wishing to leave, I should be proud in what it has to offer.

Modest Mouse: I always heard Modest Mouse on the radio during high school and I liked what I heard but for some reason I never checked em out. When someone would recommend them to me, I would just brush of it and move along. It was during the Summer 2009 when I was taking few classes at Orange Coast College where I met a girl..my friends and I nicknamed her 'Famous', anyways every time I would hangout with her in her car, she would play Modest Mouse because that's the only Cds she had with her. Once summer ended and I moved back up to San Jose, I tried getting into them again but it didn't feel the same. So I waited till Summer 2010 and all of sudden, I loved em. So now Modest Mouse is my summer jam and I can't listen to during any other time of the year...and they will always remind me of 'Famous'

I could go on and on about this list and add Tim Barry, Nico, Shinobu etc. but I think I'm going to stop here. The six listed about will always hold a special meaning in my heart and I know that even though I will always associate them to my 'college days,' they will always be with me for long time to come.

24 days till Graduation. 

The Last Month

O boy, it's finally May. The last month of my College life.

You know how people make end of the year lists? Well I think I'm going to make end of college life list, kinda like the top 5 bands that I'll associate with my college years, top 5 movies in the same sense.

Not really sure what will end up on the list but I think it will be fun. We will see where it goes. 

Withering Heights

When I started my stay at San Jose State, I was a seventeen year old kid who had never been to Northern California who loved Metallica. Now that I'm 38 days away from graduation, I'm a twenty-one year old kid who loves Ryan Adams.

San Jose, what have you done to my younger self?

Since I have so little time left in my college career, I've been thinking a lot about the future. the uncertainty scares me. 

 April 16, 2012. Phillies at Giants. My first visit to AT&T Park.

Not knowing where I'll be come August is scary, school always provided me with a sense of security something that I feel like I took for granted.

San Jose, I'm thinking about leaving you. The last four years have been beyond amazing but I feel like you don't have anything to offer  anymore. I'm not sure where I'll be going but if you can show me that there is worth staying here, that you can still offer me something than I will change my mind.

Prove me wrong San Jose. 

The Moon is Down

There are times in my day, generally at night, where I ger really irritated and anxious. My fight or flight instincts kicks in, and most of the time I want to leave. SOmetimes I want to throw something. It's really hard sometimes to just relax and be calm. I'm like that around others. Smiles, laughter, jokes galore. Sometimes flirty, sometimes just relaxed and putting out goof vibes. Once you take away the setting, and replace it with a more solitary one, that;s when things start to get dark.

I just sometimes feel like saying "fuck it" to everything. Social network, micro-blogging, shitty job, people, family, friends, life itself. What the fuck is this all for anyways. We're all going to die anyways.

Black Betty.

There is approximately seven billion of us. Think about it for a second. I am one of seven billion. If there are so many people on this earth why do we act like what we do individually matters. Hell, why do I wake up everyday and think that what I do is going to matter. I am just a simple dot on this place so it's pointless for me to go around and do things like someone cares.
What is the point of all this? What is the point of me going to school for the next five weeks and get a degree when I know I won't be working in that field...maybe the point is to get drunk and get laid, maybe the point is to believe in some divine being and living a life in a specific way to please this being.

Eventually everything that you see
Will deteriorate and evaporate,
Everyone that you met will turn into dust,
You won't remember them, they won't remember you.

Tonight is one of those nights where I wish I lived close to the ocean.

.......none of this matters anyways, I'm just one of seven billion.

Scared of the Youth, Scared of What's Next!

As I sit here in the quiet house in San Jose all by myself with rain slightly pouring outside and spring training baseball on TV...it's kind of a bitter sweet feeling knowing that my last 'real' spring break is almost over...part of me feels like I should wait till Spring Break is over to write about it but eh.

I started my break off by seeing Mike Huguenor play a solo set at the Blank Club in San Jose. Mike plays in couple amazing bands such as Shinobu, Hard Girls and Classics of Love. He recently started a graduate program at Chicago so it had been a while since I saw him. After the show I got a chance to talk about what he is researching and look forward to talking to him again in future about his studies.

I also got to see Fake Problems open up for Say Anything. They had a 30 minute set which included six songs. Also got a chance to see the new guitarist.

The day later, I went up to Berkeley to see Yulia and Hard Girls play at 924 Gilman Street...Hard Girls played 'Masters of the Universe'...they never play that song.

I spent the rest of my break camping at Julia Pfiffer Burns State Park. Our campsite was right by the ocean which was awesome. I'm sure I've mentioned this before but I love the ocean, there is noting else in this world that is more soothing that just sitting and staring at the ocean. 

There is something about dangling off cliffs and looking down to a fifty feet drop into rocks and ocean. It's scary but also in a way a direct pure connection with the ocean. 

hmm that is all for now I guess....56 days till Graduation. 

Jack of All Trades.

Everything works in circles. Like sometimes you're doing something and a year later or in my case four years later, you're back at the same point. So currently I'm on circle one, and someday or in my case come august, I'll probably do circle two.

Two weeks ago, I went to Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco to see Cloud Nothings. I really enjoy their new album so it was cool to see those songs live..I had a weird feeling when I found out that the leader singer was younger than me..I guess I'm getting old.

 A whiskey bottle dating from 1870-1910...the other side of the bottle is completely cracked.

A shotgun shell. Dating from 1860-1900.

One of the cool things about studying Archaeology at a university level is that you get to work and do research on cool artifacts.  Currently I'm working on artifacts that were found in an excavated site at Mono Mills in California.

Spring Break is coming up so maybe I'll write more later. Midterms and Papers are keeping me busy at the moment.

"Music should sound like escape, not rent" -Tim Barry

Letters From Fresno, CA

This past weekend I went up to San Francisco with my friend Sim to see Archers of Loaf play as part of the Noise Pop 20th Anniversary Festival. Funny how things work, last year when they were doing the whole reunion tour I really wanted to see them but couldn't find anyone to go with. This year, knowing they were playing I didn't get tickets until Sim called me asking if I wanted to go. If he hadn't called, I probably wouldn't have gone.

The show was a killer, I hope I get to see then again but if this was their last time in SF I'm glad I got to sight of em.

After the show, Sim and I went to a bar to meet up with his friends since it was one of their birthday. It was my first time legally drinking in the city and first time going to a bar in the city so I was pretty excited to see what was up. He forgot to mention that the friends we would be meeting up would be four girls from the UK. A wonderful pleasant surprise for me. Overall, it was a really fun night.

My housemate and I burn wood in our backyards when it's cold and we are bored. It's a very unsafe habit.

Also I made a mix for a friend of mine titled 'Letter From Fresno, CA'
You can stream it on 8tracks here: http://8tracks.com/prufrock23/letter-from-fresno-ca

Rescue

I'm not sure if I believe in perfection anymore. Though I can honestly say that the closest thing I've ever come to having a perfect moment was when I was watching Explosions in the Sky outdoors during sunset at FYF Fest in 2011.

Speaking of sunsets, I consider myself to be very lucky to be living in California where the weather is really great and the sunsets are quite beautiful. Even though sometimes, you have stand on top of a car to take a truly beautiful picture.

About a week ago, I went to Oak Hill Memorial Park with three friends of mine. We were collecting data for our Gravestone Seriation Project. We ended up collecting data from about 200 gravestones, this was the only one I took a picture of. 

Uncorrected Proofs.

Here is a list. If I were to encounter my confused 16 year old self, I would give him this stack of records. It's not a greatest or essential list. (Not even the best album by some of the artists.) It's a list about establishing an attitude towards music that would have been useful; I wish these albums had been the bulk of my music listening when I was a teenage. (Only a few of them were.) I wish this had been my starting point.

1.   Siamese Dreams, Smashing Pumpkins
2.   Horses, Patti Smith
3.   Tennessee, Lucero
4.   Transformer, Lou Reed
5.   Icky Mettle, Archers of Loaf
6.   Left and Leaving, The Weakerthans
7.   Gold, Ryan Adams
8.   Being There, Wilco
9.   The Greatest, Cat Power
10. Let It Be, The Replacements
11. Vitalogy, Pearl Jam
12. Chelsea Girl, Nico
13. Lonsesome Crowded West, Modest Mouse
14. The Heart of Saturday Night, Tom Waits
15. Disintengration, The Cure
16. Different Class, Pulp
17. London Calling, The Clash
18. Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen
19. Out of Time, R.E.M,
20. People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, A Tribe Called Quest 

Help Rademacher

Want to do a good deed for 2012? Then help out one of my favorite bands reach SXSW. Rademacher are from Fresno, CA and are currently working on their second full length. If you have been around me, then you know how much I love their debut album 'Stunts.'

You can listen to them here
You can help them out here.

Seriously, please contribute. Your ears will be thank you. 

Little Motel.

San Jose is beautiful. 

It's about growing up low class in a working class setting. It is about wanting to get out of place for so long, not only a space on a map, but a space in your head- and then coming to an understanding that those years were somehow still some of the best of your life...and that space is home. 

Matthew Teardrop

Matthew Teardrop (frontman of Manhattan Murder Mystery) has a wonderful acoustic EP out for Pay What You Want I highly suggest you check it out and at least give it a try. 

Smokin'

Few things that I learned last night as I got back from seeing Wilco at the San Jose Civic:

1. I love seeing parents bring their kids to concerts...makes me feel like the future won't be too bad.

2. I love how I can still get blown away by seeing a band live even after going to hundred or so concerts so far. Wilco was unbelievable and their guitarist, Nels Cline is hands down the best musician I've seen live.

3. The amount of pride I have for living in San Jose is a lot more than I expected. Part of the reason why I was excited to see Wilco was because the show was in San Jose instead of San Francisco or Oakland, and the fact that it was sold out makes me excited for the future of music in this city.
I'm going to miss this place a lot.

I love how you can see Jeff's shadow on the side wall. 

Great way to start my 2012 concert year. 

Brian Pain

is technical term to what happens when you read. Today was my first last day as an undergrad at San Jose State. I had a total of four classes and the definition of Brian Pain is the only thing I remember today.

The first class I had was 'Native North American' an archaeology class that I wanted to end early but the professor decided to give us a 30 minute lecture on plagiarism, which I thought was completely useless. I'm not a big fan of Archaeology classes but this one seems kind of interesting, most of the class is focused on the diet of Native Americans and what it tells us about their culture.

The second class was 'Frontiers of Anthropology' a senior capstone class which I'm not sure how I feel about yet.

The third class is an elective that I choose to take called 'California in Historical Perspective' I'm looking forward to this class because I love the California History and learning more about it will just give me more places to visit in the Golden State

The last class of the day was 'Culture through Film' another class which I feel like I will enjoy a lot. I mean any professor who makes Wes Anderson and David Lynch references can't be that bad.

Only one class tomorrow, Historical Archaeology. Anyways, these are some pictures I took the last few days. 

Cloud Nothings 'Attack on Memory' is hands down the best/most impressive thing I have heard in months. 

How long?

This is how I feel right now : post

Except it hurts ten times more this time around cause we were so close.

also to the person from Russia who looked at this numerous times this past week...I hope you enjoyed what you read. 

Beginning of the End

It's a weird feeling being in San Jose, knowing that I only have four months left to call this place home.
The misanthropist doesn't want to share this news with many people and just go about doing my business when school starts and then quietly clock out when the time comes. The other part of me wants to share the news and spend as much time as I can with people since I only have few months left.

Few days ago, My friend and I made a trip down to Monterey. We had been talking about this trip for few weeks now so I had an idea on how the trip would go and as usual, the reality was nothing like the idea I had in my head. The first place we visited was Point Pinos Lighthouse. I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but, I have some sort of an obsession with lighthouses so I was excited to see my very first one in person. 

It was also nice that the day was nice. Every once in a while, you have those days where everything goes well, even if it is not how you imagined it to be, you are more than happy on how it ended up being. This was one of those days. 

Faces.

I recently made a mix for a friend that consisted 18 tracks, all of em with female vocalist.
Here is the track listing:

1. Romance by Wild Flag
2. Faces by the Happy Hollows
3. Oscar Wilde by Company of Thieves
4. Last Person by Jenny Owen Youngs
5. The Healthy One by Laura Stevenson and the Cans
6. Tears Dry on Their Own by Amy Winehouse
7. Smells Like Teen Spirit by Patti Smith
8. Back In Your Head by Tegan and Sara
9. Cliche by Audra Mae
10. Zebra by Beach House
11. India Ink by Correatown
12. Civilian by Wye Oak
13. Lounge Act by Jessica Lea Mayfield
14. The Words that Maketh Murder by PJ Harvey
15. Avalanche by Zola Jesus
16. The Greatest by Cat Power
17. These Days by Nico
18. On the Radio by Regina Spektor

It just dawned me that I added to cover songs and both of them are Nirvana covers....I'm not sure why I did that.

We love the sound,
The Sound is what found us
Sound is the blood between me and you.

Fly Free

I spent the last few weeks in Southern California...it was my first time being back there since FYF Fest and I have to say I had a pleasant time while I was down there.
It was nice to spend New Years Eve with the Henry Clay People and turning 21 and going out and ordering a drink with people you have known for few years now.

While I was bored on the flight back, I decided to do some work on the Southwest napkins since I can't really read while I'm inside a moving object and you can only spend so much time staring at the clouds.

 When you get bored in Irvine, you drink and play video games and then drink more...My last night in town.

 Also a trip to Southern California isn't complete with going to Taco Mesa and ordering some Stuffed Jalapeños.

I went to the Satellite for the very first time to see the Henry Clay People on New Years Eve...HCP hold a special place in my heart since they were the first band I saw in San Francisco and they are the only band I can say that has gotten better every year. They played 60min set of their own songs and after midnight they played a 60min set of covers, including Rancid, Bruce Springsteen, REM covers...I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend my first NYE as a 21 year old. 

Simply Livin'