Hombre Lobo: June 2, 2009

"I wrote a song a few years ago called 'I Want to Protect You' that was about wanting to protect someone from the wolves," E told Spinner. "Now I am the wolf."

-E (Mark Oliver Everett)

I Was Once A Loyal Lover

I got the new Death Cab EP from Vickie yesterday. I'm really impressed with it. All the new songs are really good and there is even  a demo of Talking Bird with a ukulele.

There is one song on the EP called 'I was Once a Loyal Lover'. There is a line in the beginning that reminded me of my life right now, "All my friends are forward thinking. Getting hitched a quitting drinking. . . " 

I don't have a lot of friends that drink, but I do have a lot that are getting married. The quitting drinking part is relevant too. I think it symbolizes growing up. Every thing is changing lately. It seems like everyone is growing up and moving away, getting on with their lives. 

I think that lyric is really fitting for my life right now. 

Where The Wild Things Are

Oct. 16, 2009

The Year of Music

2009 has been such a good year for music. With releases by Animal Collective, Grizzly Bear, Loney Dear, Vetiver, Peter Bjorn & John and lots of others the year has already been full of big new releases. I was thinking about making a list of my favorite albums thus far, but instead I'm going to make a list of some of my favorite discoveries. 

I've found so many good albums that weren't realeased this year. I love finding albums like this. I feel like I've finally been let in on some kept secret. Her are 10 of my favorites. 

• Department of Eagles- In Ear Park
  
• The Flaming Lips- Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
• Josh Ritter- The Animal Years
• Tom Gabel- Harsh Realms 
• Page France- Hello, Dear Wind
• Eric Bachman- To The Races
• The Boy Least Likely To- The Best Pary Ever
  
• The Smiths- The Queen is Dead
• Neko Case- Black Listed
• M. Ward- Duet of Guitars 

My Life According To Wayne Bass

This is an excerpt from a paper written by Wayne Bass for his Com. 111 class

Are we a lazy generation- Part I

(Editors note: This article is the first of a two-part series focusing on what causes certain employees to be so loyal in their chosen vocation in this age where loyalty is not what it used to be. The first part identifies my subject one Zachary Paul Gibson of Oklahoma and his work habits.  The second article will explore the advantages and the problems a company is faced with today in employee disloyalty.)     

Hey Zach, were going to go kick flaming tires down a spill way are you in? Most collage aged young men would jump on a chance to blow something up or go catch a tire doused in gasoline on fire and kick it down a hill.  Although, Zach Gibson has to work that night and he won’t be able to make it this particular man-date.  Not to say that Zach has missed out on life, because he hasn’t, the kid is a social butterfly that enjoys going to concerts, fantasy football, and just hanging out with friends and with a campus wide fan base his popularity only grows with each new semester.  He is like the Mormon version of Van Wilder… on crack!  But Zach’s loyalty to his employer has always come first when decision making events occur.   Zach has been a loyal employee at Little Creasers Pizza since his freshman year of collage back in 2005, and he works there still to this day.  This is uncommon in a world where the average 32 year old will have held approximately 8 jobs since the age of 18. Zach is 25 and has had two since the age of 18.  Is there something different about Zach Gibson then say the average 18 to 32 year old male?  Or, is it something else that has caused Zach’s loyalty ? 

          The first job Zach had was at Taco Bell which he only kept for a month.  When asked why only a month he said without any hesitation I HATED IT!  That summer when he was only 15 he was taking care of the grounds at a private resort off of Grand Lake at Monkey Island back in his home state of Oklahoma.  He recalled while laughing.   “The old man (A.T. Saunders) didn’t know I was only 15 but after about a month of working for him when he did find out through casual conversation he said with a shrug I guess I would have hired a dog to mow the lawns if he would have shown up every day.”  Zach worked at that same resort every summer through his entire high school career.  Zach said “If A.T. hadn’t of retired after that first year and Mike his replacement wasn’t so cool I probably would have done something else.”  Zach really enjoyed his new boss’s comradeship and after work at 5 o’clock they would sometimes hang out, Zach would sometimes eat even dinner with Mike and his wife and kids, and then go to play Playstation.

          After Zach had completed his mission in Lisbon Portugal he began his college career at Brigham Young University in Idaho, Zach realized that he needed some extra income, so he began to job hunt.  He was kind of worried about going back to the world of fast food because of the negative experience he had while in his youth at Taco Bell, but he had a friend working there who informed him that Little Creasers was looking and promised Zach that it is a pretty cool place to work.  So, the hesitant Zach Gibson though he would give it a try and went in anyways.  His new boss Jerald is a friendly guy who Zach liked from the start.  They have since become good friends and even though there are times when Zach really would rather go and do other things besides go to work he chooses to bite the bullet and go in. Zach knows that he would not have had a good time knowing that he left Jerald in a bind back at Little Caesars.  Zach says “I end up having a pretty good time anyways when I go in.  If the people I work with bug me at the time then I just turn my I-Pod on and make dough in the back.”

Zach has quit working at Little Caesars three times.  The first time was because he was going home to Oklahoma for the seven week break.  The second was during an off-track semester when he went with a friend of his to sell art in Jackson Hole Wyoming.  And, the third time was due to going home again for an off-track break.  All three times he has been welcomed back with no hesitation.  When his manager Jerald was asked why he keeps letting Zach come back he said that “he is a good worker, and it is hard to find loyal employees like Zach.”  Basically it’s not that Zach has really quit it’s more like a break until he returns back to Rexburg. 

His friends from school are recognized on occasion in Little Caesars as being “Zach’s friends.”  They will refer to the 5 dollar hot and ready pizza special as the Zach Gibson Special in hopes that the name will catch on.  They also hope that after his years of loyalty will pay off and the corporation will make a nationwide name change.  The friendly atmosphere that is at Little Caesars help encourage this joking spirit.  Zach told of a time when a small group of his friends showed up at Little Caesars dressed up like The Burger King, Ronald McDonald, and Colonel Sanders.  He said “I guess Wendy’s and Jack in the Box had asked them what they were doing and had asked them to turn off their video camera but Jerald thought it was hilarious and took pictures for a couple of employees who just happened to have their cameras with them.”  “It’s a relaxed atmosphere but we have a lot to do, we work hard in-fact most of the time it’s just go go go.  But, we usually have a good time doing it and I really like the people I work with and that makes all the difference in the world to me.”           

 

For All My Animal Loving Friends

Neko Case- 'People Got a Lotta Nerve

The Lost Art

Recently my good friend Quinn Patrick Fitzgerald Merrill moved to Tempe Arizona (Quinn, I hope all is well in the Grand Canyon State).

The day before Quinn left he was sitting in my living room playing on his computer. I was in the bathroom attempting to shave my neck. I've never shaved my own neck. My dad or Wayne Bass usually are the lucky ones that get to help me with this. Anyway I shaved my own neck. I thought I did a pretty good job, but still I needed assurance from someone else that I had shaved it strait and hadn't missed any spots, so naturally I went to ask Quinn. He assured me that I had done a good job. 

Then Quinn asked, "Hey man, could you shave my back? I'll shave yours if you shave mine." It sounded like a good idea to me. To make a long story short, Quinn shaved my back then I shaved his. 

The point to all of this is that: I would only do this for probably only five maybe six other guys. Quinn is one of those.

Sometimes We Go to A Bar. Sometimes We Sing Karaoke

Living Life

I found out tonight that the Eels are releasing a new album on June 9. This will be their first album in four years. When all is said and done, they are probably my favorite band. Needless to say I'm ecstatic. The album is called Hombre Lobo. 

This is one of my favorite songs by them called Living Life. It's on the album Useless Trinkets.

Hold me like a mother would

Like I've always known somebody should, yeah
Although tomorrow don't look that good
Well it just goes to show
Though people say we're an unlikely couple
I'm seeing double of you
Oh

This is life
And everything's all right
Living living living living living living living living life

Oh, hope for the hopeless
I'm learning to cope, with the emotionless mediocrity of day-to-day living
How can I help but be restless
When everything seems so tasteless
And all of the colours seem to have faded away.

Oh
This is life
And everything's all right
Living living living living living living living living life

Hold me like a mother would
Like I've always known somebody should, yeah
Although tomorrow don't look that good
Well it just goes to show
Though people say we're an unlikely couple
Doris Day, and Mott the Hoople

This is life
And everything's all right

Living living living living living living living living life 

The Best Facebook Status Ever

I will call this person Jane Doe to protect their identity.

Jane Doe "loves her husband... hates that his back hurts... hopes the chiropracter can fix what a car accident did to him 12 years ago."

(500) Days of Summer