This Awkward Life

Now I'm Shopping, I'm Not Stopping

2007-08-22T05:06:00.000-07:00

I'm going to really geek out for a minute and discuss selecting and purchasing a new computer, one of my favorite things in the world to do. I spent quite a bit of time mulling over the purchase. It came down to Dell or Apple. Specifically, a Mac mini equipped with extra ram for $700 or a souped up Dimension 9200 with a quad core processor for $650. The debate was between efficiency in size or efficiency in price.

I ended up going with price and I'm pretty happy I did so although I haven't had a chance to play with it because it is at home and I am still at college. When I start editing again, I'm going to be much better off with premiere with a quad core processor than with final cut with a much slower dual core processor. Also, there's plenty of room to expand in the Dell whereas one can not really expand at all with the Mac mini without a putty knife to open it up with. Steve got a nearly identical computer about a week before me so I had a chance to play with it and look inside and I must say that it seems like a very well put together piece of computer. Resembling some sort of hybrid of consumer price and professional quality. Also, after playing around with a few things, it's obvious the quad core processor ain't no slouch.

I Am Error

2007-08-13T11:23:00.000-07:00

My computer broke last night. Happy birthday to me.

It's Really Nothing New, It's Just A Thing We Like To Do

2007-08-11T21:20:00.000-07:00

I made this comic strip with Comic Life on Emily's Macbook. The pictures featured are from Emily's personal library of photos. The models are Meg and Mike.

Darjeeling Limited? More Like Creativity Limited!

2007-08-06T19:25:00.000-07:00

"Estranged family members share a bonding series during trying and bizarre events."

Which Wes Anderson movie did I just describe? I bet you can't answer that question!

Wes Anderson, I love you but the free ride is over!

I Dreamed That I Slept And I Actually Dreamed

2007-07-06T07:07:00.000-07:00

I've been putting off writing this, my first blog post from Eastern Michigan University so there's a lot of stuff I have to cover and I hope I don't forget any of it.

For one, Ypsilanti is certainly not BG. I don't know why but this hit me on Wednesday, July 4th, when I walked to Dairy Queen: a boring old non-Miles owned Dairy Queen. I knew that I wasn't in BG before this, but that's when it really sunk in, paying over 5 bucks for a burger and fries at DQ. Also, walking to Dairy Queen was a pain. There's a bunch of restaurants in the Student Center here, but they keep really short hours and the whole place is closed on Sundays and was closed on the 4th of July. There's a few places to eat off campus right near me, but I wanted to see what else was around. 45 minutes of walking later, I gave up and ate at the DQ Brazier. The other day, I described Ypsilanti to Emily as "the bastard son of a suburb and a ghetto," and I still stand behind this description. In fact there is a street that crosses Washtenaw Ave. that I believe to have pinpointed as where the suburban-ness gives in to the ghetto-ness of Ypsilanti. I don't remember this road but on the corner there's a liquor store.

This isn't to say that I'm not enjoying myself. I'm having trouble meeting people, but I knew that would happen. On the other hand, I have a lot of time to work on meditating, getting plenty of sleep, studying, writing, reading and anything else I want to do. I can't remember the last time I was so rested, relaxed and also very bored. Regardless of how I feel about this place, it's a lot better than a factory, for sure.

Turn The Cocks Brown

2007-06-29T17:55:00.000-07:00

This is a short post for those who demand it.

I have made a promise to myself today. I have to stop watching clocks. I would stand in front of my machine at the factory and will time to move forward as quickly as possible. I would watch the clock, hoping to see the minutes tick by faster and I realized recently that I do that too much. I sit in class and start looking at the clock after about 5 minutes, pleading with the hands to move faster instead of taking my time to learn something. I would sit in front of my computer thinking about things that need to get done and how I wasn't doing it and I would watch the day melt away. It's all such a waste and I need to live in a world without clocks. I mean, I'm not going to live without a schedule or anything but when I need to be somewhere for an hour, two hours, whatever, I need to just be in that moment and let the world go through me instead of past me. So that's my new semester resolution.

Here's My Secret: I'm Still Unsure Of Everything

2007-06-04T19:09:00.000-07:00

So, as I think everyone who would read this knows, I am not coming back to BG in the fall. I kept the knowledge of this fact to myself for a very long while. I mean, I wasn't exactly sure what was going to happen, but I knew I wasn't going to be in school. There was a chance I was going to force my parents to cut me off and let me get a full time job in BG trying to afford my rent until I could figure out what I was going to do. Fortunately, I'm not doing that. I wanted to really badly at one point, but that would have been stupid. After that, I thought I was going to go home and work while going to community college. That was a frightening thought, to say the least.

Finally, my parents and I decided that I would be best off living in the dorms at Eastern Michigan and going to school there. I'm still majoring in telecommunications but instead of political science, I'm minoring in journalism. All goes well, I'll be out in two years. All goes horribly, I'll be back at home for a long time. I comfort myself with the fact that BG is not too far away. The town is still like a home to me, possibly more so than my own. I feel uncomfortable and out of place oftentimes here in Lake County, a feeling I rarely ever have in BG. Still, privacy and relative solitude is going to do me good, I hope, and I see myself succeeding wonderfully at Eastern. I don't put a lot of stock in God or religion, but when visiting Eastern Michigan two weeks ago, I really felt like if there is some kind of deity, I am doing what his will by going there. It was a strange feeling and possibly just a selfish, self-satisfying one, but it made me feel better.

I don't really know what else to say, I just wanted to keep everyone up on my thoughts now that I feel free to share them. I just hope Eastern isn't as hostile towards me as it was my freshman year. There were times while I was there that I felt half the school was out to make my day awful but I bet that was just in my imagination.

I also need to drink less, which I am definitely not doing here in Lake County.

I would like to send out a few simple, public messages to friends who read this blog.

Steve- Video Bank is important and it's your chance to leave a mark at BG before you leave. I know that's what you want, I can see it in you. You've got the chops so just do it. I'll come help whenever I can.

Emily- No offense to Steve, but I couldn't imagine a better possible president for UFO. Regardless of how many people show up, make it mean something because it should. Hopefully, I'll have some product to send your way for the film festival.

Dustin- I am turning into you: an old weirdo, wandering the dormitory halls. Seriously, though, I hope we can get the apartment shit figured out because it'd be the greatest favor in the world if you could take that lease off my hands.

That's about it, some coherent thoughts, some slightly incoherent, random thoughts. Take what you will from them.

Some Change Could Make A Change

2007-06-03T07:38:00.000-07:00

I wrote this little piece the other day. I hope you enjoy it.

Outside on our little porch that leads to the parking lot of our apartment complex we keep an old Folger's coffee can out to dispose of our cigarette butts. We never empty it so it's filled to the brim with a large variety of pre-smoked tobacco products and various bits of trash that find their way there. The brands are like the rings of a tree that mark different times during the school year. Mostly, it's all Camel cigarettes but there's also a lot of Pall Mall's from when we were low on cash and needed to buy a cheaper brand and hand rolled from when I was just plain out of money. There are Marlboros because Grant stole cigarettes from his parents whenever he went home. Large and small cigar butts pepper the landscape from when we had more extravagant guests and nights. Celebrations for a job well done or a quiet night of drinking, watching TV and lighting up a stogie. The label on the can has burned off and the plastic cap attached to the bottom has melted and fused to the wood of the porch due to the numerous times it has caught fire. It sits out there as an altar. First to our own vice and addiction. All three of us have been known to smoke a pack a day on a good day and they're all laying in there, waiting for the day that we finally empty it out. It's second purpose is a reminder of the times we've had and how important they were to us. Drinks and dancing filled the receptacle as much as our dependency on tobacco and that's the paradox. That can sits as a reminder of two very different feelings. One of helplessness and weakness and the other of joy and celebration. It's confusing to me and I'll be glad to throw it away.

Right Now, All We Have Is Time, Time, Time

2007-05-18T05:31:00.000-07:00

So, I've recently come into a bunch of server space. This will make it much easier for me to post anything I want on here. For example, here's a link to the final project to one of my video classes this year.
BGImprov large
BGImprov small

We'll Keep The Pace

2007-05-09T16:27:00.000-07:00

Spike Father, Spike Son

2007-05-07T00:24:00.000-07:00

I wrote my opinion of a movie in paint. Read it, if you dare! I was not consistent with my use of capitalization. I'll have to brush up with my style book.

Lon Cheney Died For All Your Sins

2007-05-04T09:38:00.000-07:00

I drew a new picture this morning. I'm actually really happy with it, I think my skills in paint are improving.

There's No Free Drinks In Hell

2007-04-29T20:20:00.000-07:00

Today, I drew myself. It took me about 2 minutes. Once I was done, I added the accompanying phrase, which I stole from a Dillinger Four song. Dillinger Four is a wonderful band. You may be thinking, dear friends of mine, "Why does Corey draw such dumb pictures in paint?" You may not be asking that question, but I will answer anyway. I draw these dumb pictures because I enjoy using a mouse and I enjoy paint. I couldn't think of a witty comic, so I found myself doodling and a picture of myself kind of started to appear. I finished it, and now I'm posting it. I think the likeness is better than it should be, considering the tools used and the time spent. It was done as I see myself in a mirror, so you may think it's backwards because it is.

I'm A Hopeless Romantic, You're Just Hopeless

2007-04-28T16:55:00.000-07:00

I drew a real comic today, all in paint. Theresa said I should draw comics in my comments, so I got things rolling by drawing comic. It's a bit I used to do in my stand up act. The art is obviously abysmal, but I'm more concerned at getting my writing style figured out. I obviously copied the story-telling style used by www.fartparty.org.

Undercover Funny

2007-04-26T13:46:00.000-07:00

Playing with MS Paint has always been a hobby of mine. The last few days, I've drawn some pictures and played with some existing stuff to make something new. I feel like posting my favorite stuff here. I hope you enjoy it!

What I usually end up doing is drawing a picture and then writing in the first phrase that pops into my head when I finish.
This upcoming picture is probably the one I'm most proud of. I messed around with an Archie daily comic. You'll have to click on it to read it better.

Yo, Get Into It

2007-04-10T10:13:00.000-07:00

I was going to post a blog about the stuff I did over Easter weekend, but I decided that would be boring so instead I'm going to let the music portion of this blog expand by putting together a list of my favorite songwriters. This is a list I've been mulling about in my head for a while and I'd like to put it down in blog post form. I've divided the list into two categories: essential, established songwriters and up and coming songwriters/more unconventional choices. I'm leaving out huge names like Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel because they're already on enough lists (that doesn't mean I don't love them). Here it goes!

The Essentials
Blake Schwarzenbach - I'm starting the first list off with a kind of strange choice but I think he belongs here. Blake was the lead singer and guitarist for the bands Jawbreaker and Jets to Brazil and, in my opinion, is the great storyteller of punk music. He can weave a very intricate tale within the blistering speed and noise of a punk song. His ability to get to the essence of certain emotions within such a simple framework amazes me and his voice, which ranges from grating scream to intimate whisper is very impressive.
Selected recordings: Want, Kiss The Bottle, Fireman all by Jawbreaker

Paul Westerberg - Paul Westerberg is a true triumph for midwestern creativity and proof that the cold, harsh world of Minneapolis breeds true genius (see also: Prince). For those not in the know, Paul was (is?) the lead singer and main songwriter of the Replacements. He also has a prolific solo career under his own name and as his country/blues alter ego, Grandpaboy. His music hits the ranges of blisteringly fast and emotionally charged hardcore to acoustic ballads. He is the bastard love child of all-ages punk shows and top 40 radio. I really don't know what else to say.
Selected recordings: Color Me Impressed, Bastards of Young, Little Mascara all by The Replacements. Dyslexic Heart by Paul Westerberg

Guy Picciotto - Guy is best known as the man who invented emocore with the help of his band Rites of Spring and as the second principle songwriter of Fugazi. Between those two bands, which both earn Guy a place on this list on their own merits, Guy was in a lesser known band named One Last Wish. This band, in my opinion, is where Guy earned his chops. He was able to boil down the existential, sometimes psychedelic, sound of Rites of Spring into its most basic rock and roll form. This prepared him for the songwriting necessary to turn Fugazi into the legend that they are.
Selected recordings: End on End by Rites of Spring, My Better Half by One Last Wish, Full Disclosure by Fugazi.

Lifetime - I debated putting this band on the other list, but I think they're influential enough to be put on the essentials list. Lifetime, as a whole, embody the spirit of punk songwriting. Their ability to write as a collective and not just as individuals provides a sort of single mentality within their recordings that has been present since their breakout album, Hello Bastards. No one on this list, with the possible exception of Blake Schwarzenbach, is as influential in contemporary pop-rock as Lifetime. Go pick up their new album, I'm listening to it almost constantly.
Selected recordings: Their last three albums, Hello Bastards, Jersey's Best Dancers, and Lifetime.

David Bazan - The creative force behind Pedro the Lion, David Bazan is dark and brooding as he writes songs that are more like theses, statements that cover everything from personal issues, politics, faith and his critics. Part of the allure of David Bazan is that he writes songs like he's conducting train wrecks. They're heavy and can't be ignored. In fact, you'll have trouble looking away as he explores every idea that is in his head.
Selected recordings: Options by Pedro The Lion, Selling Advertising by David Bazan.

Craig Finn - The lead singer of Lifter Puller and now The Hold Steady, Craig Finn is the great songwriter to emerge onto the world stage last year with the album Boys and Girls in America. He juxtaposes his bands heavy, bar band rock aesthetic with lyrics written in paragraph form, filled with ponderous thoughts and detailed stories of teenage debauchery. His music is also very fun.
Selected recordings: Your Little Hoodrat Friend, You Can Make Him Like You, Stuck Between Stations all by The Hold Steady.

The Others
Paul Baribeau - Paul Baribeau is an unassuming man who hails from Grand Rapids, MI. He usually sports a large beard and writes songs that pierce your heart. On his self-titled debut full-length, which he recorded over the course of one night in his apartment, he is accompanied only by his acoustic guitar. The album comes off like a journal of his feelings and you feel bad for listening but you can't stop, it's like sitting in on his therapy. In the words of Chris Claven of Plan-It-X Records, "This album will destroy you, if you're human." I don't think there are many musicians who can do that.
Selected recordings: Strawberry, I Miss That Band, Never Get To Know

Alex Kern - The drummer and creative force behind the Buffalo, New York band Lemuria. Alex combines a college vocabulary with the sentiments and audio aesthetic of a working class romantic. I've never heard the word fuck used better than in Lemuria songs and it's no wonder Alex writes the word so much because the band's lead singer, Sheena Ozella, says the profanity like a great artist uses a brush. Alex Kern also runs the Art of The Underground Records, which has been nothing but a blessing for independent alternative music, releasing music by such artists as Kind of Like Spitting and Robert Sarazin Blake
Selected recordings: The Origamist, In A World of Ghosts..., Bristles and Whiskers

Ryan Eilbeck - This is probably the choice I debated the most, since Ryan's band, Delay, is really still a local band from Columbus but I'm just so into his songs right now. Delay, in true punk fashion, write their songs as a collective and I don't mean to bring down the efforts of bandmates Austin Eilbeck and Jesse Withers, but Ryan's lyrics embody the spirit of the college-age artist. His voice warbles across songs about house shows, girls, and growing up and it just drives me nuts in a good way. Their new album, Don't Laugh, encompasses the confusion found in the space between being a teenager and being an adult. I think any college student can find some sentiment to connect to on this album.
Selected recordings: Photo Album, Formula For Success, Married

Adam Goren - The man behind Atom and His Package and contributing songwriter of the band Armalite. I didn't really think too much of Adam when he was doing Atom and His Package. I liked it but it never blew my mind, but his abilities have really shown their true form within Armalite. He has a talent for combining high energy rock music with some of the catchiest guitar and synth hooks I've ever heard. Looking back on Atom and His Package, it was always there, I just didn't notice it. He can also put full, thought-out ideas into pop songs like no one I've ever heard.
Selected recordings: If You Own The Washington Redskins You're A Cock by Atom and His Package, I Am Pancreas (I Seek To Understand Me...) by Armalite.

Mike Erg - Lead singer and drummer of the Ergs! (the exclamation point is part of the name). Mike Erg's notable talent is his ability to become a sponge for any number of different influences and just layer them, one on top of the other, within songs that appear to be simple, straight ahead pop punk songs on first listen. Ergs songs will go from fast punk to country to free jazz without batting an eye. The Ergs!, I think, will end up being one of those bands that never makes it into the big time but become a principle influence for many bands who do catapult to a larger stage. I could be totally wrong though. Either way, check them out.
Selected recordings: August 19th, Rod Argent, It's Never Going To Be The Same Again

That's it.

I'll Never Share A Shopping Cart With Her

2007-04-08T16:58:00.000-07:00

So, a quick post based on a thought I had today. There's a guitar solo in the song Supermarket Fantasy by Screeching Weasel that pretty much encompasses everything I like about punk music. The song is pretty silly, it's about falling for a stranger at the supermarket instantly (a feeling I've experienced many times, although maybe not at a supermarket), but the guitar solo is amazing. It's very simple, but every feeling of loneliness and pining I've ever felt can be found in the notes played within it and that's what punk music is to me. It's simple and direct, but it lets me make a connection I've never found with any other kind of music. Also, the solo in the song directly following that one is technically impressive, so it's not that these bands don't have notable skills, the art comes from knowing when to use it and when to let simple ideas speak for themselves.

Books About Miles Davis

2007-04-05T10:28:00.000-07:00

This post is a little on the late side, but this weekend was the 48 Hour Film Festival, and who am I to not fill you in on the events that took place? So my group included myself, Dustin, Matt, Theresa, and Theresa's friend Rachel. I'm pretty sure we were the smallest group at 5 people, so that made things interesting. We got our genre, buddy film, at about 5 on Friday and went to Dustin's to brainstorm. We really didn't have an idea we could all get behind until about 9 and by the time we were all set up to do some shooting it was 11 and the kids on the street made it too loud to shoot. Shooting was postponed until Saturday morning but we knew what shots we needed to get, so we weren't worried about the time and it was a location shoot so we had no problems with transportation.

We got started at about 10 on Saturday with some big cups of coffee. We shot pretty much nonstop except when we went to Wal-Mart to get my glasses fixed after Matt stepped on them. we finished around 8 or 9 and ate chinese food before heading to my apartment to edit. I had some problems importing the footage but it was getting done, so we watched Accepted and called it a night.

I started editing at about 10 on Sunday pretty much on through til 6 pm. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, although we had major problems exporting that have reduced the quality of the image. That's how it goes with 48 hours, though.

On Tuesday, they were all screened, the group that got film noir took it seriously and therefore made a boring, cliche movie. The group that got sci-fi made a very funny movie and so did the group that got romance. Our movie got a pretty good reception and I'm pretty sure we came in third overall, out of four groups. In reality, we could have managed our time better, but I had a very good time and I'm happy with our product, so it was a successful weekend.

There's Something In The Air Today, Makes Your Worries All Just Melt Away

2007-03-25T14:35:00.000-07:00

Miami ended up being an awesome time. The team, Grant, Chris, Matt, Mat, Sarah and myself, left at around 4 with directions to the apartment of a few members of the Miami improv team, The Tower Players. I drove with Matt and after a few bad driving choices, we were on track to getting there by about 7:15. The show started at 7, so we needed to head straight to the theater, so we needed to figure out how to get there. We asked a few pedestrians and we made it there around 7:30. No problem since we were scheduled to go on at about 9. We got to relax, eat a few brownies and watch the Miami teams. They were all very entertaining and good at the art of improv.

We met a few team members outside, Ben and Angie, between shows. They were very friendly and very nice, I hoped that all the Tower Players would be so welcoming. We did our show and considering it was a new environment and a totally new crowd I think we did a solid job. It could have been better, specifically the edits could have been tighter, but we got a good response. After our show and another Tower Players team (they have a lot of members and a lot of teams) we met a few more people and they were all just as cool. This was a big relief as it seemed like everyone else we saw on campus was just the biggest stereotypical preppy college kid, sweaters around the neck, cargo shorts, etc.

After the whole thing was over, we headed back to the apartment where we would be partying and sleeping. I got a little nervous when it was just one guy, Matt, and a spinning light globe thingy, but me and Matt started listening to the Replacements and singing our lungs out. That was a blast. More and more people showed up and by the time I had a few drinks, the party was in full swing. I probably should have drank a little less, but it was a really great time.

I woke up on Saturday around noon with no one else in the room. They were all next door playing Nintendo games. We ate some breakfast made lovingly by another Matt (lots of Matts in this post!) and then I met up with my brother, Adam, and his girlfriend, Gina, to go visit my Great Aunt Martha and Uncle Phil. They are getting on in years but are both so friendly, caring, and very funny. They have so many great stories. Both me and Adam were not allowed to leave without taking bagfulls of Oreos. The reason they were in bags was because I refused to take the whole package. We stopped at the women's volleyball match to visit my second cousins, Darcy and Scott. Scott was announcing the game and Darcy was running the sound, so they couldn't visit long.

My brother dropped me off back at the apartments just as a game of Monopoly was starting up. What luck that I got there in time to play! First, because I love Monopoly and second, because it would have been a boring three and a half hours if I had to just watch. Grant and Sarah had headed home, so Me, Chris, one of the Miami Matts, Matt, Jacob, and Katie played. There was some serious wheeling and dealing and I was getting by pretty well just owning the railroads and getting good rolls, but Chris came out victorious. I don't play to win, though, I just play to pretend to be a shrewd business man (I'm not).

That night, some more improv was performed. More Tower Players (there's so many of them) and a team from Dayton University. It was another good night of shows. After the show, we said our goodbyes and were on the road by about 11:30. After getting a little lost and passing the same ridiculous frat house decorated for a cowboy/cowgirl party three times, we got some bad directions and ended up in Virginia. Fortunately. we managed to get back on track and after about three hours of telling stories and waxing philosophic with Matt, we made it back home. We were thinking of staying the night in Oxford, but I'm glad I got to sleep in my own bed.

The weekend really couldn't have gone better and I'd like to thank the Tower Players we met and befriended although they will probably never read this. So, Matt, Matt, Ben, Angie, Jacob, John, Katie, Jamie, Chris, Chris, and a whole bunch of others, thank you very much for making us feel like part of the gang.

If I Had My Way, I'd See You Everyday

2007-03-23T08:08:00.000-07:00

This is just gonna be a short post to mention this weekend. I am a member of the Bowling Green long form improv team, Bad Genetics, and this weekend we are going to perform at Miami University of Ohio in beautiful Oxford, OH. I am excited to be able to go out and do our thing for new audiences and I'm especially excited to go to Oxford because I have so much family there. At the same time, I only have so many more weekends with left with my friends here. It sucks to have to lose an entire weekend, but that's just how it goes. I'm a little bummed to be going, but I'd be pretty bummed if I wasn't going too. I'm kinda stuck. We'll just have to spend all our weeknights together this week!

Here's Something Fun!

2007-03-21T14:05:00.000-07:00

So, I started making a list of the bands I've been listening to lately and I realized a current trend in my current music choices: most of them are ideal to drink to. Therefore, instead of just listing a few bands, I put together my perfect drinking playlist which I will present here. This list is like my dream jukebox and it would only truly work if I was with a bunch of other people who knew all the words to the songs. So, without further ado, my ideal drinking playlist:

1. Fight To Live by The Bouncing Souls - I start it off with an upbeat punk song about having a good time. It's the perfect start!
2. Vampires & Failures by Grandpaboy - Grandpaboy is Paul Westerberg's solo country/blues project. This song is more rocking than most Grandpaboy selections, but it's also laid back. This playlist kind of goes back and forth between upbeat and laid back.
3. You May Be Right by Billy Joel - Just a good upbeat song about good times. Also, it has an awesome drum beat when the chorus kicks in. I should probably have Only The Good Die Young but for some reason it's not on my computer.
4. Before I Break by Uncle Tupelo - The first of a number of alt-ountry songs on this playlist. Good Southern alt-country songs are perfect to drink along to. Especially since most of them mention drinking specifically.
5. Quality of Armor by Guided By Voices - No drinking playlist would be complete without a GBV song, it's perfect bar rock/pop. I picked this song because I just really like it.
6. Me and Joe Drove Out to California by Drag The River - More alt-country about having a good time. It's perfect.
7. Sleeping Aides and Razorblades by The Exploding Hearts - This is just a really good pop-rock song to get the bar dancing.
8. Massive Nights by The Hold Steady - The Hold Steady are the epitome of drinking music and are probably what inspired me to make this playlist. This song is just fantastic.
9. Born To Run by Bruce Springsteen - This should be self-explanatory.
10. Doublewhiskeycokenoice - Just a straight up punk song about drinking. Craig Finn of The Hold Steady put this on a list of his favorite drinking songs and I agree with him.
11. I Can Get Us Out of Here Tonight by Lucero - Lucero is like a combination of the Replacements and Bruce Springsteen with a Memphis heart. I just found them and they are really fantastic.
12. We Didn't Come Here To Die by The Copyrights - A third punk song. It's kind of jarring after the southern vibe of Lucero, but there's nothing like singing along to this song.
13. Find Me Now by The Reigning Sound - This is a nice slow song as this playlist is only 15 songs long and is starting to wind down. I bought an album by The Reigning Sound at the beginning of this semester and it just recently clicked with me how awesome this band is (really awesome!).
14. Bastards of Young by The Replacements - The perfect drinking anthem, it will get a crowd of drunk Replacements fans screaming their lungs out.
15. I Miss That Band by Paul Baribeau - Wind it out with the most upbeat Paul Baribeau song. It's still very depressing, all his songs are. A solid way way to end the playlist, even though Paul has some depressing things to say about drinking in other songs.

Here's the cool treat in this post: I have posted this playlist through You Send It as an album called "Corey's Drinking Playlist." It's a zip file, so just unzip it somewhere on your hard drive and drag it into your music player, it will come up as the album "Corey's Drinking Playlist" (obviously). I have tested it in iTunes and it works, I think it will also work in other players. Some of the files come up as wierd letter combinations but they're tagged properly so they will look fine once they're in iTunes or whatever.

Here's the link: Corey's Drinking Playlist
To download it, you will have to register on the site. I know it sucks, but it's quick and I can't do anything about it. You may be able to use my name and password, although I'm not sure if it'll work. name: corey.close@gmail.com, password: lodhbk. Also, it will only be up for 7 days so act fast!

We All Kinda Fumbled Through The Jitterbug

2007-03-19T22:27:00.000-07:00

So, a solid weekend, I must say. All in all, I wish they could all be like that, but I would run out of money very quickly.

The weekend started on Thursday this week, as Dave came up and I was determined to show him a good time. He insisted that it would be a good time no matter what, as long as beer was involved. I'm sure he would have been right, but the night ended up pretty massive. We went to Brathaus just the two of us. Emily came out first, after me and Dave had about 2 in us a piece. Then once we were hitting 6 or 7 Marie, Matt, and Kyle showed up. We had one or two more and headed over to Nate and Wally's. We got a pitcher, finished about half of it and headed back to the apartment. Dave bought some Hawaiian pizza. It was gross so I only had two pieces and passed out.

The next morning was kinda rough, but after a few more hours of sleep along with water and aspirin I was good enough for a delicious lunch at Wafflehouse. Tasty for sure. I kind of vegged out for the rest of the day. That night, I went out to Steve's for a little get together. It was a relatively sober night but we had a rad time, dancing and talking with friends. I tire of the bars pretty quickly, but I'll never get tired of these kinds of parties.

Saturday was St. Patrick's day, so while I'm not really concerned with the 1/8th of me that's Irish (it gets kept down by the 6/8th of me that's English) I took the opportunity to drink all day. I was drinking the Brooklyn Brewery Black Chocolate Stout I mentioned in an earlier post along with Bell's Amber Ale and a Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine-Style Ale. The Black Chocolate Stout was fantastic and very high in alcohol content, definitely a steal at 7 dollars for a 6 pack. The barleywine was terrific as usual but I got pretty tired of the amber ale. Throughout the day, I was drunk three separate times and got two free meals (thanks to Meg for the meal plan money and Sarah for the free Chipolte). It was a good day that culminated with me and Grant sitting on the fire escape of Dustin's apartment that overlooks downtown. We just yelled at people as they passed, reveling in the impunity the fire escape allowed.

Nothing happened Sunday.

Today, I went to some class but spent a good portion of the day cleaning. We let our place get out of control and it just needed to end. I also cooked some crab cakes and rice (I'm so domestic) for me and my friend Sarah. Four of the six crab cakes turned out really well. It's a dish I can kick ass at making, I just need to work on my patience to avoid burning them. We drank the Quarryman beer I mentioned in earlier post because she came back from Texas talking about Shiner Bock so I wanted to introduce her to a real Ohio beer. I loved the whole meal and she said she enjoyed it as well. We ate ice cream and watched Jesus Camp. That movie is astonishing in the truths it presents in an objective way. All in all, it was a very nice night, a quiet way to cap out a great weekend.

In other news, I'm reading Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck. It's a real fantastic book, a better job than any biography or even autobiography could do at getting into Steinbeck's head. He's definately my favorite author, although I still haven't read many of his denser works (East of Eden, Grapes of Wrath, etc.). I plan to get to them, but right now it's more fun to read stories about drinking and fighting.

She's Got Nothing But All To Lose, Which Is Nothing At All To Lose.

2007-03-16T18:07:00.000-07:00

This weekend, I am going on a bender. It started last night. I'll post about it on Sunday or Monday. It's pretty rad so far.

I've Seen So Much Innovation That It Puts Me To Sleep

2007-03-11T17:46:00.000-07:00

So it was a break, nothing memorable, nothing going down in the history books. I'm glad I spent most of it at home. Here's the way things went.

Saturday #1- Went home with Joey and Steve. The cat's greeted me warmly, which is always nice. My mom made a Thanksgiving-esque dinner which is one of my favorite types of meals. I sat around the house for a bit, then went to Dave's. Dave, Kevin and I watched Beerfest. That movie was much, much funnier than I expected it to be. I think I'll rent it for Mike to see.

Sunday #1- Went to church, which is always nice. Didn't do much else.

Monday- I forget what I did Monday. Not much?

Tuesday- Also kind of up in the air. I helped my dad with some painting stuff, but he insisted it was mostly a "one man job" that day. I went to Half-Price Books, but there wasn't much I was interested in.

Wednesday- Put down painters tape for my dad then just hung out until 9. Dave, Sean and I went to the 1899 Pub and had a lot to drink and sat around bullshitting. It was very nice. Sean's brother Robby picked us up and we went to IHOP. I got an ice cream sundae and for some reason drank about 2 pots of coffee. It did not keep me awake when I got home, I passed out pretty much instantly.

Thursday- Mom and Dad were both home. We got the painting finished! Me and my mom went shopping for some threads after that. I got a few sweaters. They are nice. We also stopped at Half-Price Books where I got a copy of Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck. I am excited to read it. Went back to 1899, this time with Mike, Dave, Sean and Sean's girlfriend Megan. We talked about Lake Catholic High School teachers a lot. We had a lot of very ridiculous teachers. I only had 2 drinks, though, because I had to drive home.

Friday- We moved furniture back in place becaus the painting was done. It was less of a hassle than I expected it to be. I went to the St. Gabriel's fish fry and ate a lot of fish, it was very tasty. I found out that the volunteers who fry the fish get to drink beer all night while they fry. It made me want to volunteer as a fryer (frier?). After the fish fry, Kevin, Bryan, Jessie, and I went to the Grog Shop to see Vic Ruggierro. He was playing with Westbound Train, so all the openers were ska bands. Free Sample Tuesday were ok but boring, 80HD knocked it out of the park as usual and the Skatastrophes were god awful. Vic Ruggierro is the lead singer of the Slackers, but he also plays solo country/blues stuff. He's very goofy and eccentric and has a very thick Brooklyn accent. I was entertained. After that, we went to Guy's Pizza where slices are only a buck. I got 2 slices of pepperoni. They were very tasty, definitely worth a buck.

Saturday #2- I went to Lina's and picked up some beer: Brooklyn Brewery's Black Chocolate Stout and Saison Etrange from the now defunct Querryman Tavern and Brewery in Berea, Ohio. I'm especially excited to try the saison because I believe it has had time to age and it's a local brewery so I'll be able to keep Cleveland in my heart while I drink it. I also went to church on Saturday so I wouldn't have to wake up on Sunday. After church, I went over to Dave's to watch the Cav's game. It was a nail biter but we eked it out by 2 points. Plus, Ira Newble played and seeing him play is a rare occurrence. After the game, we went to my house with Kevin and listened to music and drank beer until about 3:30. It was a very nice night. Kevin and Dave are probably getting an apartment in Cleveland next school year. I am excited to go visit them there.

Sunday #2- I woke up and arranged a ride back with Joey. I packed my things, went to Taco Bell, and then waited for Joey to pick me up. We had a nice ride back as we talked about our breaks among other things.

That was my break. Nothing else really happened except I read the book Moneyball by Michael Lewis. It was a very enjoyable read. I suggest it and Michael Lewis' latest, The Blind-Side, to anybody looking for a sports book with more broad appeal, because they both have that in spades.

This Goes Out to Anyone Who Knows Where My Head Has Been These Last Few Days

2007-03-01T21:07:00.000-08:00

Earlier this semester, I really wasn't looking forward to spring break. I mean, I didn't mind, but I planned on spending a good portion of it at the apartment. For some reason, the past 2 weeks or so, I have become very excited to spend some time at home. I guess I've just been thinking about the things I want to do when I'm home. Here are the things I'm most looking forward to, in no particular order.

Going to Lina's
Lina's Wine and Beverage is probably one of the most bizarre places in the entire world. Judged just by appearances, it looks like every other seedy liquor store in the world, and on one hand it is. They have every thing a seedy liquor store should have: Porno mags, cheap liquor and beer, etc. On the other hand, they have the largest selection of microbrew and import beers in northeast Ohio. Drinking microbrewed beers has become a serious hobby of mine and I get so frustrated by the large holes in the selection here in northwest Ohio: holes my side of Ohio would most definitely have if it weren't for the existence of Lina's. I will be making at least one stop here while I'm home, specifically to pick up the insanely delicious Gumballhead wheat beer. It's like candy and I can't find it around here.

Hanging with my Cat's
My family has 2 cats: KC and Pippen. They are both rad. KC is getting so old and so affectionate, she's just a joy to have around. Pippen is much younger and has so much energy and if you pet her on the side of her face and move your hand away, she'll follow it until she nearly falls over. It's adorable! They will be getting some serious face time with me.

Going to 1899
I was talking to a friend the other day about the college bars. I've never been, but it's not because I don't like bars. I'm just afraid of the crowds I'm sure fill the college places. I have a favorite bar at home, and I love going there. It's called 1899, and it's a very rad place. Once again, their beer selection is very solid, so I get my fix on nice beer and at $2.75 a bottle, the price isn't obscene. They also have a very nice upstairs section with couches and encyclopedias if you need them (really!). I hope I get a chance to head over there.

Listening to Coast to Coast AM
One of the best pleasures of going out at night while I'm at home are the car rides back to my house after spending the night doing whatever. I just turn on WTAM 1100 and listen to Coast to Coast AM, which is a conspiracy theory radio show syndicated around the country. It may be on the radio around here but I've never looked for it. At home though, listening to crazy people talk about aliens and reptoids and all other sorts of nutty stuff is the best way to unwind after a night out. Also, while we're talking about radio...

Listening to Opie and Anthony
Opie and Anthony are unlike any "shock jocks" I've ever heard, mostly because they are ridiculously funny, but also because they don't take themselves at all seriously and don't worry about trying to find and work on the typical "hot button" issues that shock jocks always try to drive into the ground. It's the most genuinely entertaining radio show I have every heard and they make Howard Stern seem like uninspired garbage.

Going to Half Price Books
Grounds For Thought is a coffee shop/used book store around here but the selection is embarrassing. Last time I was there I couldn't even find a single book by John Steinbeck. Half Price Books is always busting at the seams with super cheap literature. I hope to pick up a copy of Tortilla Flats as well as some more books by Graham Greene while I am home. HPB also tends to carry a selection of interesting classic computer games, which are another passion of mine. They also have a rack of old games for like 2 dollars and I have made some awesome finds there (Syberia for 2 dollars and LucasArts' Afterlife most notably off the top of my head). I'm looking to find a new copy of Grim Fandango and possibly another LucasArts adventure game or two. I feel like a wiener going into such a nice bookstore and looking at the video games, but I am a collector and the chance to find a hidden treasure is irresistible.

There are more things I'm looking forward to like visiting friends, but these are the simple pleasures that make going home worth it.

In other news, I finished A Burnt-Out Case. The ending seemed hastily put together but I really dug it all the way through. It is a highly suggested read.

Drinking Whiskey at Midnight in a Room of My Own

2007-02-25T13:51:00.000-08:00

So, I have found myself very busy as of late. Still, I make sure I get some pleasure reading in a few times a week. It's a hold over from working at the factory. I would make sure to read every night, because I could feel my brain going numb standing in front of those machines. I needed intellectual stimulation and I received it from a parade of novels I would read, all summer. Now, back in school, I am intellectually stimulated every day, but independent growth through art is still an important part of college experience. So, I listen to as much music as I can, watch movies often and read whenever I can find the time (if someone tells you they don't have the time, they are lying. They just don't like reading).

So that brings me to the topic of this post, Graham Greene's A Burnt-Out Case. This summer, I read Green's Brighton Rock because it was came highly suggestion from within the pages of Frank Portman's novel King Dork. I enjoyed it, but found it a little too convoluted (I found out later that this is because I haven't read the book that preceded Rock yet. It's on my list). A Burnt-Out Case has opened my eyes to what Greene is capable of. The biggest reoccuring theme in Greene's novels is Catholicism and it is in full force in Burnt-Out Case. It is like a theology lesson wrapped in a prose fiction, but it never leaves a bad taste in my mouth. The plot of the book is very convoluted, as is Greene's style, but basically, a tormented, famous Architect and atheist, Querry, travels to an African leper colony to live out the rest of his days in seclusion. There's more to the story than that, but anything else would only ruin what develops, however slowly. That is one of my big gripes with the book. Events are unfolding slowly in and in almost out of order. I'm nearly done with the book and the love interest is just now being introduced as a fully realized character in relation to Querry. If you can go that far, Graham Green, you can probably figure out a way to leave her out of the plot entirely.

Still, the book is full of inspiring, thought provoking moments and I would say it has legitimately changed my outlook on life. One of the greatest aspects of the book is all the people who insist that Querry is a great man (a saint even). Querry meets this praise with anger and strikes out at these people verbally, he insists that he is a godless, horrible man. These people are shown by Greene as dullards and through most of the novel, I found myself agreeing with Querry, but I am slowly realizing that these people may, in fact, be right about Querry. It's quite a lesson about self-image, I think.

Formula For Success

2007-02-21T20:15:00.000-08:00

So, hey dudes. Let's talk Lent. I'm not really a practicing Catholic anymore but I am proud of my Catholic upbringing, it's probably the closest thing to an ethnicity I have and I hold on to it tight. So, in keeping with my heritage, I have decided what I'm doing for Lent: I'm going to go to bed later and wake up earlier.

Now when people hear this, they may think I'm trying to be more productive. My friend Candice said "Well, you'll get more done." That's not the point at all. The point is to have more fun by having more hours in the day to be awake. Since I spend pretty much none of my time moping or not enjoying myself, any extra time awake is going to be more good times. If I feel like I'm not having as much fun or even that I'm having an equal amount of fun to before, I'll probably stop doing it. Right now, in the words of Ohio's own Delay "I'm tired all day and I like it that way."

Therefore, if any of my friends would like to join me at any point in this adventure, I encourage it. Late night hang outs all week are welcome, just make sure if we're not at home you get me home. I'd like to get my 3 or 4 or 5 hours of sleep in my own bed.

Type type type, hack hack hack

2007-02-03T14:07:00.000-08:00

So yeah, I used to do a blog here about music that I like. I did that for a very short amount of time because a bunch of reasons I don't want to get into. These days, all my friends have blogs and I want in on that sweet action. This is gonna just be a personal blog, with my own experiences and opinions being featured. I don't really know where to begin or end here. If you don't know me, (what are the chances of some rando reading my blog?) my name is Corey, I'm a Junior Telecommunications major at a university in Ohio. I don't really know what to post right now. When interesting things happen or I have a day worth talking about, you'll be the first to know.

The Ergs!/mc chris show: a Corey Whompus diary post.

2005-10-13T14:19:00.000-07:00

I think that the events of yesterday are worthy of what I'm going to call a diary post. I will be taking my cues from Dave and Phil and just giving a run down of what happened yesterday, along with my own personal musings. It is almost entirely centered around music, though, so I don't think I'm breaking the boundaries of my blog topic.

The first interesting thing that happened during my day is that I missed two classes in order to follow the Apple press-coverage news. I'm the kind of nerd that allows nerdy things to get directly in the way of his day to day activities. It's a shame, but I probably know more about the new iPod than all you fuckers. It seems like a decent product, but it's missing too many essential features (divx/xvid playback, tv-out for video, etc) to make it a viable video player. Still, the screen, price, and amazing thinness make it a great buy but it's not a worht an upgrade.

After that, I sat around waiting for the big evening: The Ergs! and mc chris in MY town! There are approximately 0 good shows here per month so having one worth going to is a pretty big event for me. Especially since I was being accompanied by not only Dave, but also Mate and his sister, Kristina. Any and all visitors are welcome at the Coreyhaus, in case you were wondering when and if you should come see me. Just make sure you call first.

Anyway, Dave got a ride from the Ergs! because they have apparently been spending the past week in Columbus. That's cool for him, but it left me with Mate and Kristina to entertain all by my lonesome. Fortunately, it was no problem at all. Mate and Kristina are the most agreeable, friendly people around, that Croatian upbringing done did them good. I showed them the Dr. Glenn P. Tiede homepage and we watched a hilariously bad student film about the "hurdles" of college life. We had a good laugh and we were ready for rock and roll.

When we got to the club, I was worried that there would be a hassle with the 5 will call tickets I bought. Fortunately it went totally smoothly. I'm gonna assume the doormen were from Taking on Explosives and if so, I encourage anyone to see a show you're interested in that they are promoting. Unfortunately, the doormen were pretty much the peak in quality at Howard's Club H. That place blows big time for a number of reasons. For one, there are pool tables right in the back where it's very convenient to sit, and a LOT of people were playing pool. I was constantly getting in the way of people's pool games and they had no kind words for my inconveniencing them. Two, the crazy guy who couldn't ask people to do something. He could only vaguely gesture, and if that didn't work he would yell loudly. He yelled at Shelby and her friend, and it was just impolite on so many levels, I don't care if he worked there.

The show ended up starting late, but I spent some quality time with Mate and Dave which made me a happy guy. Mate brings out a more outgoing Corey that I wish I could see more of, and Dave is just a guy I can talk to for a very long time, even if he does have a tendency to make it clear when he has no interest in what someone is saying. They're both genuine times and I look forward to the next time I see them.

Somehow, an opener got put on the bill: Downtown Brown. I think they were something like funk-metal or something like that. They decided that they should play for over 50 minutes (longer than both of the touring openers played for) and it was a tragedy all around. Next up, though, was the Ergs! and nothing was gonna get me down. They did a great job, even if most of the crowd wasn't into it. Me, Mate, Dave, and Libby were belting out the dorkrockcorkrod hits. They played a lot of the stuff off the new, not yet available EP. It was good stuff, but I'd much rather sing along to the tunes I know than hear new songs, at a show.

After the Ergs!, Mate, Kristina, and Mike took off, so me and Dave skipped out on SNMNMNM in order to get some eats next door (thank god for a decent re-entry policy). We were joined by Ergs! roadie Nate Schmoe who seems like a good guy. Me and him talked about Attention Deficit a little bit. It's nice to meet someone who also digs Adventures in Laissez-Faire Economics big time and he definately knew a little bit more about the band. I've heard the story of what happened between John and Andrew, but I never realized what a betrayal it was until last night. It's wierd how two guys can get together with totally different tastes and make an album like they did. It's a shame that John did what he did and they broke up, but it was definately the best thing that could have happened to John because he is now touring as mc chris's DJ, selling out the shows. Still, I would have much rather been at an Ergs!/Attention Deficit show than an Ergs!/mc chris show last night.

Mc chris, for me, goes into the category known as the "I like him but don't appreciate the crowd he draws" grouping. He seems like such a smart, genuine, and funny guy, but he just attracts a crowd that I don't mesh well with. It's the same when I see the Queers. I watched a few of his songs, and I did get to hear Hijack, but Dave was feeling under the weather and spent most of his time outside in the fresh air. Since Mike and Mate had already left and Dustin was up in the front with the aforementioned crowd I don't appreciate, I really had no one to enjoy the show with, so I spent most of chris's set outside with Dave watching the kids go to Goth Night at some club. We had a pretty good time, overall.

It wasn't the best show I've been to by far, and I don't know if I'll ever choose to go to Howard's again, but seeing friends and seeing the Ergs! made it a night worth living.

My first Meta-Post

2005-09-26T16:11:00.000-07:00

A couple of things. One, I am working on a 3rd actual post, and this is just some stuff I want to say real fast. Also, thank you to all my friends who have told me who their own Randy Newman is. It's nice to know that someone besides Phil and Dave read this.

In the meantime, while you wait with baited breath for my new post, go listen to the band Lifetime or watch the movie "A Mighty Wind" because that's good music.

Corey Talks Tunes? He does when he creates a blog whilst being drunk.

2005-09-18T20:31:00.000-07:00

This is my new blog. For now, I'm just gonna talk about music. This might eventually be a "diary" as Mr. David Ensinger would say. For now, though, I'm just gonna talk about what I like and why I like it. I like a lot of random stuff, and I usually don't think about why I like it, but recently I've been thinking about what it is about the music I like that makes me like it. Lots of likes.

Usually I'm sure this blog will be much more articulate, but right now I'm drunk and I decided I wanted to write about why I love the Ergs!'s dorkrockcorkrod. I've owned this album for well over a year now, and it is still my go to album when I don't know what to listen to. Tonight, I figured it out, and I wanted to tell the world (AKA Dave and Phil... maybe Mate, I don't have his IM screen name to tell him about this). Anyway, the album is amazing because there is only one good way to listen to it, beginning to end. Even if you have to stop it for some reason, you can pick it up from the exact spot you stopped. It's amazing, nearly unbelievable when you think about it. It's like the greatest 35.3 minute song in the entire world. If you listen to single songs on the album, you rob yourself of the greatness of the thing as a whole. The only comparison I can make to it in the punk rock world is Dookie. Dookie is like this, but nowhere near as much as dorkrockcorkrod. There are tons of songs on here that could easily be amazing pop singes, but instead it' one cohesive, perfect album and I can't wait till the Ergs! make another one, because it's obvious that that is when they are at their best. Making albums instead of 7", splits, or EP's.

That's it for now, my next post will probably be about Randy Newman or my pop punk revelations from Columbus, and it will hopefully be much less drunken.