Happy New Year!

Goodbye 2007, hello 2008!

Merry Christmas!

Wreck the Halls 2007 featuring Street Dogs @ The Roxy

Seth Adam @ The Draft tonight!

Far From Finished, The Men, and Wild Zero @ Great Scott tonight!

Castine @ Bill's Bar

Hackman @ Great Scott

Livintrust @ Bill's Bar

Televandals @ Emergenza!

Wild Zero with Goddess of My Religion, Red Invasion tonight

Radio Moscow / Baroness / Witchcraft tonight @ MidEast Downstairs!

Superpower @ Castlebar

Seth Adam - Johnny D's, Somerville - Tonight

Clutch tonight @ the Palladium!!

Televandals in NY Part II!

The Blakes @ Great Scott tonight!

Televandals @ Bill's Bar!

Who Am I? ..a riddle..

I am your constant companion. I am your greatest helper or heaviest burden. I will push you onward or drag you down to failure. I am completely at your command. Half the things I do you might just as well turn over to me and I will be able to do them quickly and correctly.

I am easily managed--you must merely be firm with me. Show me exactly how you want something done and after a few lessons I will do it automatically. I am the servant of all great individuals and, alas, of all failures, as well. Those who are great, I have made great. Those who are failures, I have made failures.

I am not a machine, though I work with all the precision of a machine plus the intelligence of a human. You may run me for a profit or run me for ruin--it makes no difference to me.

Take me, train me, be firm with me, and I will place the world at your feet. Be easy with me and I will destroy you.

Who am I?

Avenged Sevenfold tonight @ Lupo's

Enslaved tonight

Jimmy Eat World tonight @ the Orpheum

The Receiving End of Sirens tonight with NFG!

WTF

Today is a rather odd day. First I plan out my concerts to go buy tickets and find out that the CKY show in Worcester, as well as the rest of their dates, is canceled. Then, after already buying tickets day-of for Danzig, two hours later I find out they canceled the show! WTF!!!

Most peculiar is that I saw this girl walking down the street with her arm in a sling and she looked so sketchy with the bizarrely contented look on her face. She was definitely on something.

Looking on the bright side, however, I still have three more shows that I am going to (Avenged Sevenfold, Third Eye Blind and Clutch)! Hopefully they will not cancel.

Danzig in Worcester!! \m/

And the Lord said, "Go Sox!"

Game 1 of the World Series between the Boston Red Sox and the Colorado Rockies is tonight!

She Wants Revenge tonight @ Paradise

Blind Melon tonight

I might not go, but check them out if you can!

Televandals in NY

IAMX

Discovered new music today that I really, really liked. Check out IAMX.

On Kurt Cobain

"He was...someone who had no psychic defenses, who was unbearably vulnerable and sensitive to the pain of living...he felt these things much more acutely than normal people."

Pulp - Sunrise

Random Facts

To be considered a clock, it must chime the time and tick. Otherwise it is merely a timepiece.

For something to be considered an antique, it must be 100 years old or older.

The Devin Townsend Band - Slow Me Down

The Smiths - How Soon Is Now

Managing Your Time

Time is your most valuable possession. Use your time effectively. What's the work? record... Plan the work! prioritize and schedule... Work the plan! do it...

1. RECORD. If we do not make a record, we will not know what we need to do. Why? Our memory fills up. We forget. It slips our mind. So write it down!


2. PRIORITIZE. Imagine, you are mowing the lawn and it needs it. It is important. Then the telephone rings. That is urgent. When you answer it, you find out that the call is not important, but you chat for an hour.
   

Now what? You do not have enough time now to mow the lawn and the sun is going down. What was urgent overruled a more important matter.

Remember, urgent is calling for an immediate action or attention. Important is necessary, of great value, having significance.

Remember to Prioritize

• Spend time on important things before they become urgent.
• Do not be ruled by urgency. Never avoid important work because of merely urgent tasks.
• Do important things early. Waiting until they are urgent just increases your stress level.
• Right after school, check what you have for homework.
• Number your tasks (1,2,3) in order of importance. Complete them in that order.
  


3. SCHEDULE. All right, you have written the tasks down. You know what is important. Now what? Estimate how long it will take to complete each task. Then plan when you will do it. This way, you will always know when you have work and when you have time for other things you enjoy.
   
   Scheduling Tips:
   • Set up a schedule for yourself. It is much easier to motivate yourself to work and complete tasks when it is a habit.
   • Pick a time that works for you. Example: many runners prefer to run in the morning, while others prefer running in the evening. Choose what works for you.
   • When you have few chores or tasks, work ahead or prepare for upcoming bills and other work.
   • Spend more time on things that require improvement.
   • LONG-TERM PLANNING
     Big projects, like painting a room or moving, can seem threatening. They are large, difficult and they take a lot of work. Make it easier on yourself by breaking them up into smaller, more manageable steps. Then just do each step one at a time. Pretty soon, you will have finished the whole project.
     
     • Find out exactly what is expected.
     • Research, if needed (find out where you can get information).
     • Organize your project into smaller units and plan when you will do each.
     • Check yourself before you wreck yourself.
     • Seek help or a second opinion if you feel that you are offtrack.
       
   
   Make the Agenda Your Own:
   
   • Write down events that you need to remind yourself of, like birthdays, parties, trips, sporting events, club meetings and so on.
   • Include family-related activities.
   • Check ahead in your agenda for upcoming events. That way you avoid "double-booking" two events at once.
   • Plan for fitness and HEALTHY LIVING each month/week/day, right in your agenda.
     
   
   
4. DO IT!
   Avoiding Procrastination:
   
   • Just start! Once you get going, it is much easier to continue.
   • Find motivators or muses. Example: listening to music while you work.
     
   • Reward yourself with a treat (healthy snack, television, movie) for working on a project.
   • Work with others. Encourage them and let them encourage you.
   • Think about your goals. Where does this task fit in?
     


5. CHECK AND REVIEW.
   
Check if you missed anything:

• Check off all finished tasks.
• Transfer unfinished tasks to a future date.
  

FranklinCovey

Personal Goals

Generally, if you have a pulse, you have a desire to improve. You may want to be more physically fit or maybe you want to learn to play guitar. Whatever it is, setting goals can help you achieve it.

Once a week (e.g., Saturday or Monday), review your goals. What can you do this week to achieve them?

• I want to learn a new song on guitar.
• I want to run for a minimum of 15 minutes at least once this week.
• I want to find a place to live in Allston and pack a lot more of my stuff.

FranklinCovey

S.M.A.R.T.

S - Specific: specific goals state exactly at what you are aiming. They are not vague or confusing.

Example: My goal is to buy a bass guitar.

M - Measurable: measurable goals state what you want and when you want it.

Example: My goal is to buy a bass guitar by five months from today.

A - Action-oriented: action-oriented goals spell out exactly HOW you will achieve the goal. What will you do?

Example: To buy my bass guitar, I will save $50/month from my earnings.

R - Realistic: realistic goals are possible. They may be hard, but they are not just wild dreams.

Example: If I do not forget about this goal, it is very realistic.

T - Timely: timely goals give you enough time to achieve them, but not too much!

Example: Five months will give me $250, enough for a solid bass guitar.

FranklinCovey

Setting Your Goals

Why? .. How? .. Where?

Goals are simply tools. Like a hammer or a saw, they help you do the things that you want to do. Goals focus your efforts. They take dreams from the air, and plant them on the ground. Make your dreams come true. Set a goal.

FranklinCovey

If I Plan to Learn, I Must Learn to Plan.

What is important to you?

Why are you here?

What do you want to become?

It is important to take a few minutes to think. What does your life hold? Where would you like to be in five years? What kind of life do you want to live?...

What are some of the most important things in life for you?
Well, while I would like to consider other things first, the most important thing to me is myself and my well-being. In order to achieve health, I need to avoid stress or at the very least manage it well. This, above all others things, is quite important to me. I feel that all other things would fall into place if I had good health and peace of mind.

Music is also a very important thing to me. It helps express me in form other than words; it supplements the way I feel; it helps pass the time and makes me feel a little less lonely; and it is a sweet motivator. There is something in music that just cannot be found in other things and I love it for that reason. I do not know what I would do without rock & roll because I do not even want to imagine it. Even when I cannot listen, I still have it in me.

Name three of your dreams.
I want to change the world for the better and have an impact.
I want to see many far and away lands.
I want to be a musician/artist.

What jobs or careers are you interested in?
I am a behind-the-scenes person. I enjoy the fulfillment in creating something for an audience. This is a great way to make perfection in an otherwise imperfect world. In high school I really enjoyed stage crew and newspaper editing. Recently I have helped Televandals during setup for their shows. I like that. I also used to like doing production stuff @ IDL before I moved to support. Correcting and editing is clutch.

What education would you need?
Experience is what I have and would need.

Imagine: You are 25. Where you are? Boston! What are you doing? Living, learning, loving....rockin' out! Where are you going? Wherever the day takes me.....

FranklinCovey

Nickvitational 2007

Party for anyone interested...

Transformers

Transformers is an excellent action film. There is smooth acting, some fun dialog and even funnier pop culture references. The movie kept interesting and for the most part avoided serious cheesiness. Shia LaBeouf proves to be a solid up-and-coming, perhaps even at-the-cusp-of-excellence actor. He always impresses me. Megan Fox was just that, a fox! Perhaps another breakout star? Josh Duhamel is in there as well and he rocks. This film definitely covered its ground.

However, the product placement in the film was obscene. It went from, "All right, they are a sponsor." to "Wow, they must be the only car company alive." While it was bearable, still overloaded. The other product placements were relatively subtle. But if this is still the direction that the entertainment industry is taking, that it will succumb to the all-might advertising industry, then gag me with a spoon. I did find it hilarious, however, that the first good Transformer to show up was one of the product placement vehicles and the first bad Transformer to show up was a cop!

There were also some questionable links to patriotism, more specifically American patriotism. The fighting between good and evil was canvased with points of freedom and choice as well as the sacrifice for the greater good. While this may be all well and good, it seemed a little too obvious and hence despicable, in my opinion.

If you want to convey a sense of morality with respect to freedom of choice, do not lecture about it, just do it. There were a few lines in the movie where it was very explicit about humans having freedom and the opportunity to choose. It was somewhat lame.

Also, someone in the film that will receive an “aww, shucks” when people see he dies, but it is symbolic of the sacrifices that need to be made for the greater good. In this movie, the sacrifice came with respect to the fight for freedom in which the Transformers took arms. I took it as being strongly representative and linked to the fighting that we see everyday in our own world and I find it unfortunate that they did that. Do not package civic obligation and patriotism into the “action film of the summer” please!

Overall, however, the movie was very enjoyable and I highly recommend everyone to see it.

By Ten to One, Public Urges FCC to Protect Net Neutrality

America can return to the forefront of Internet services by restoring the fundamental principles of open and neutral networks, SavetheInternet.com members told the FCC in a filing submitted to the agency on Friday. Dear FCC: The Public Wants a Neutral...

[SaveTheInternet.com]

AT&T Moves to Take Over the Internet

AT&T is developing technology designed to detect and block "pirated" content. Problem is that this is not really about piracy. It is about AT&T being able to control video programming and discriminate against content on the Web.

[Must Read]

Crazy Dream

I woke up during the night last night for a drink of water. When I went back to bed, I passed right out. I immediately, or what seemed immediate, began a dream sequence. It felt like it lasted for hours, but when I came to, I had only been asleep for about 30 minutes. The dream was so freaky to me that I simply needed to wake myself up.

I then went online to google dream interpretations and ended up on dreammoods.com for research. What I do remember of my dream are mere instances of it, so I searched some words on the site and came up with some interesting information that appear to reflect my life at the moment. Interpretations below.

Store:
To dream of a grocery or convenience store, suggests that you are emotionally and mentally strained. Alternatively, you may be brainstorming for new ideas or looking for the various choices out there for you.

Family:
To see your own family in your dream, represents security, warmth and love. Consider also the significance of a particular family member or the relationship you have with them.

House:
To see a house in your dream represents your own soul and self. Specific rooms in the house indicate a specific aspect of your psyche. In general, the attic represents your intellect, the basement represents the unconscious, etc...If the house is shifting, then it suggests that you are going through some personal changes...

To see an old...house may symbolize your need to update your mode of thinking. If the house is new, then it indicates that you are entering into a new phase or new area in your life.

Scorpion:
A scorpion in your dream represents a situation in your waking life which may have been painful or hurtful. It is also indicative of destructive feelings, "stinging" remarks, bitter words and/or negative thoughts being expressed by or aimed against you. Your dream forewarns of a self-destructive and self-defeating path. The scorpion is also a symbol of death and rebirth. You need to get rid of the old and make room for something new. Alternatively, the scorpion may also represent a person who is born under the astrological sign for Scorpio.

Chair:
To see a chair in your dream symbolizes your need to sit down and take time out to contemplate a situation before proceeding.

Fear:
To dream that you feel fear, signifies that your achievements will not be as successful as you had anticipated. You are having anxieties in certain circumstances of your life.

From what I could recall, there were instances in my dream where I was at a store, in my living room at home as well as some new home attached to my living room. My parents were with me at the store and the living room, but when I walked through the door in the living room, I entered into a room that totally was never a part of my house and my parents were never in that room with me.

At one random point, I was in this new room/house and scorpions literally started to show up everywhere. A few at first and then a bunch of them. I went back into my living room with my parents where the scorpion-thing continued. I sat on a chair and held up my feet to keep as far from the ones on the ground as possible. That is basically how it ended because I really felt afraid, so much so that I woke myself up.

Weird, huh?

Bro Rape: A Newsline Investigative Report (funny)

Halfway Complete

I am now roughly halfway through my task of importing all of my music to my laptop. I now have 4,242 songs imported. I cannot imagine how much longer this will take, but it will be fun!

Check Your Credit

I came across this while looking into my credit information. It can be useful but you are wise simply to stay away from credit, loans and debt! At any rate, however, see what "they" have on you:

Linky

Music rocks!

This is a PrintScreen image of a milestone of sorts for my music imported on my new laptop. So far I have loaded 1111 songs, covering 3 days and 4 gigs. I have a long way to go, however. I am only through the "C" bands in my collection. Here comes the rest of the alphabet! I have an insatiable appetite for music. It is quite an addiction. I should keep track, seriously.

Jon Stewart Insight

Bill Moyers Journal | Guest: Jon Stewart
Uploaded by pbs_usa

The Story of the Monk and the Missionary

Once upon a time, there were two runners. The first runner liked to keep to himself, preferring to train alone. Whenever anyone asked him why he ran, he usually mumbled his answer so that no one could hear.

The second runner was more outgoing and would gladly answer anyone who asked why he ran (sometimes he would tell people even if they did not ask!).

He spoke of the mental and physical health benefits of running and how he could do it for the rest of his life. Soon, he had the whole village running and enjoying every step of it.

You can be a missionary, too, and help others improve their health and fitness.

Still alive...

For those of you wondering where I have been, I am well and still alive. Yes, I have been out of sight since returning from Florida. Yes, you will not really find me active online except for here. No, there is nothing wrong. I just returned from an emergency trip to North Carolina and it was an interesting experience. But I am back.

America: Freedom to Fascism

Joe Biden rocks

Opt Out of "Prescreened" Credit

You can choose to stop receiving prescreened offers of credit from companies by going to this link.

Interesting American Perspective

Check out more information from the linked myspace page. After doing some federal income tax information today, I will apparently "owe" the government $680, which is nearly half of what I have to my name. I heard about this guy, Ed Brown in NH, and researched him a bit. I entirely support his cause and you ought to consider it. As Americans, we should not be bullied by the very organization that gains its support from us: the United States government.

South Park Online

My buddy Chad from work told me about this website that has all South Park episodes to watch online. It rocks!

Linky

Brilliant plan by a little child...

Becky hates school

Dico Rules!!!

Go Joe!