What a World

What did we do before technology. I can't remember what life was like before we had instant access to the world. And everyday it becomes even more personal. We can now connect to the world from our pockets. Are the days of Star Trek that far off? We were watching Children of Men last night and I remember how it was considered in one review as the modern day Blade Runner. When I watched Blade Runner as a kid that future seemed so far off it was insane. Flying cars? But watching Children of Men, I could really place myself in that future and it didn't seem that far off from where life is today. I can see car with windshield notifications. I can almost see myself in the future that was set up in Minority Report. Can the year 2100 seem so different to us know than what 2000 looked like in the early 1900s. Technology seems to be increasing at a phoenominal rate and yet the future doesn't seem that strange. Or should it? Wil the terminator future happen and send us back to the dark ages?

Awake and Watching

Why not you? this was a question asked of me the other day. It's in reference to why I'm still at my crappy job instead of going for my dream career. I cannot answer this or would answer this only with excuses. My current job is in retail, and for anyone else in retail we know this is the time of year that sucks the most. It is currently my 11th holiday season. I have often dreamt of cashing it all in and try and break into the art world or better yet the comic book world. But, for some reason I'm still loyal to a company that treats me like crap. Often I semiseriously joke with other managers about how much "home office" hates us with their strange updates and changes. I can't do this for much longer or it will drive me to the looney bin. My problem is that I can't in all honesty look or apply for a job while I have one. For me there needs to be an end before I can focus on something new. This is where I fall apart. How can I afford my and my wife's LA lifestyle if I just walk of my current job to start looking for a new one. Where did this strange loyalty come from. Why does it feel like cheating when I'm looking a job postings and think that I could do that or be that, but don't offer my hat in the ring because I'm already with some company. It's not like the company I work for isn't already looking or training my replacement. Is it that I'm scared that I would get this new job and it would be great. Or is it a fear that it will ruin my love of art. Or worse off, is it that I'm too comfortable in my current job and payscale that anything else would be a leap of faith I don't know I can make. I know my wife would support me in any effort that I made. Why am I so afraid of change, or putting my self out there. Why not me?

Sweet Stuff

The video game awards are on tonite and as a fun little list I will be picking my faves of the year.

*Game of the year-Call of Duty 4:modern warfare
Runner up-Rainbow Six Vegas
*Sport game of the year - Skate
Runner up-MLB 08the show
*Action game of the year - Uncharted: Drake's fortune
Runner up-Ninja Gaiden Sigme
*Shooter of the year - Call of Duty 4
Runner up - Rainbow Six Vegas
*RPG of the year - Dot Hack G.U. vol 1-3
Runner up- Pokemon Diamond/Pearl
*Handheld game of the year - Pokemon Diamond/Pearl
Runner up - zelda phantom hourglass
*Racing game of the year - Burnout Dominator
Runner up-Dirt
*Best new ip - Uncharted:Drake's fortune
Runner up - Zach and Wiki
*Best overall ps3 game - Ratchet and Clank Future
Runner Up - Warhawk
*Best overall multi system game - Call of Duty 4
Runner up- Rainbow Six vegas
*Best overall ps2 game - God of War 2
Runner up- RedStar
*Best overall psp game - Ratchet and Clank: size matters
Runner up - silent hill origins
*Best overall wii game - Super Mario Galaxy
Runner up - Metroid Prime
*Best overall ds game - Pokemon Diamond/Pearl
Runner up-Zelda phantom hourglass
*Comeback of the year - Warhawk
Runner up- Power rangers Anniversary

well those are my choices for tonite, I'm sure that will totally change in the next week when I get my hands on unreal and half life or better yet remember some of the games I played at the beginning of the year.

(No)Food(Until Sunday)

I just found out today that one of my favorite record stores in Phoenix (Hoodlums) is closed until further notice because of a fire. This is sad as I know the owners and wonder how they will make their families christmas's. Also this was one of the few indy record stores that was still making it in the modern MP3 world. (Which is another thing that has made me sad, watching all these indy record stores close here in LA.) More troubling is they were just flooded out this past summer and were closed down for a few weeks to recover from that. It's like there is someone trying to tell them something or it's the work of Zia trying to sabatoge the biz. My heart goes out to the owners and all the hoodlum without work right now. If there is anything we can do let us know.
That wasn't the only thing to get me going today. One of my employees is driving me nuts. It's like he's just trying everthing in his power to get my goat. Normally I would let it go and move on but he seems to do it without trying. The more I try and get him on track the more he acts like a whipped puppy and ignores his duties which gets me more frustrated. Arrg. Maybe it's the holiday season. My 11th in retail and they seem to get worse ever year. People are more cranky, try to squeeze every discount and use/abuse any angle they can get. It's not ever customer that does this, just enough that it grinds on you. Also in the retail world there is always the one or two hot items that everyone wants and are never in stock. Endless phone calls and questions about why you are crushing their christmas because you didn't know to save them this item. My store gets over 100 calls a day for the hot item (thanks axe for the clicker). It just grinds on a person. Well atleast there is only 20 more shopping days until returns start rolling in. I need to ask santa for a new job for christmas.
And to finish the emotional roller coaster, my wife got to tour Dodger stadium as part of a christmas party with her friend. So jealous. I would love to have the chance to stand at home plate and look out at the "think blue" sign. It must be insane when the seats are filled. 50 thousand people looking down on you, how crazy must that be.

Bent Massive

Someone this week asked me where do I go to get things off my chest or to express myself. I really couldn't answer that question and have been thinking about it a lot. For the past couple of years I have fallen into a rut and have slowly become old. I no longer do as much art as I would like, or read, or go to shows, or even listen to music. These things seemed so important to me for over a decade, and the past few years they have slowly faded away. This was how I expressed myself for so many years. My art would drive me crazy, spending so many hours just thinking by myself that I would go thru a range of emotions sitting at my drawing table. Just lost in my head, sorting thru all the things I had stuffed away in my emotional jar. Listening to albums that would remind me of all the things that had happened to me. Going to shows and letting it all out in the crowd singing and dancing along to the music that I had some emotional tie to.
Well i decided that I needed to get in touch with those things that had once kept me sane. So after the seeing a man with an usb turntable, I busted out some records (yes the old school 12") and spent some time listening to some of the music from my teenage years that helped me through that part of my life. So this blog is the result of that need to go back and find where I fell off the path and find myself again. I named it after the last single i needed to fill my Click Click collection, that I found at the now defunct Rhino records in westwood when I first moved to the LA area. This single was a very important find as the Click Click collection has played a strong part in keeping in touch with my past and placing it with my new life.