Upgrade

I need to start being more drastic when it comes to my shirt/tie collection + collaboration. If anyone has anything they want to donate similar to shown above, let me knowz. Or if you just want to go buy pocket squares some day, I hear that ebay is always having a great sale.

Winter Passing

Um, its Valentines day, so go pick up the new b-side from Taking Back Sunday and get over yourself?

Haute Hangerz

Want to know what someone would look like while wearing your clothes? Make a hanger out of their face! Meanwhile, while I start making all these hangers with Annie/@anniesdiary on them, you go read how its done over here at: OutsaPop.com

New Delta Spirit

Tomorrows Tulips

Tomorrows Tulips formed on August 15th when Alex Knost bought a piccalo snare drum at the thrift store and handed it to Christina. The two spent 3 nights at Mike McQ’s distillery studio organizing some sort of an idea on how to play together. While socializing with Mike and discussing what to call the group it became vaguely clear what to do. The duo consists of stripped down pop that often disregards professionalism in anyway shape and form. Absolute Fearlessness prevails in creating songs that revolve around subject matter that consists of flowers, happiness, love, haircuts, friends, and un-macho-ism. TT will continue to make songs on cassette tape and post them on the internet until the release of the full length album that will be recorded at the distillery in late September and released on vinyl, cassette and cd in October 2009. Then with a VW bug tour across America to follow.

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B.FLOW

I just thought that maybe you guys out there in the internetz should know what this all means, well, its awesome. Check. It is Black + White. Check. It has red as an accent color. Check. It has Brandon Flowers on it. Check. It has to do with the KILLERS. Check. It says my name on it. Check. It says STU's name on it. Check. That is why its on my blog. CHECK.

Missing In Action

I've been missing for the past week. Don't worry, I will be back soon. I just need to find myself, Jesus and more friends. Bare with me people.

I lub you all.

The Summers End

Its Labor Daybor. Well, its the night/ending of Labor Day. I sit here and realize that summer is over. So, I would like to take this time to recall how much has happened over the past 4 and a half months. In no particular order:

I had a birthday, I made new friends (in real life and on facebook), I lost some friends, two musical icons left us, watched Hema play shows, had an awesome Kool-Aid social to kick off the summer, had a tea party in the middle of the rain, had a BBQ with one of my new heroes, met Beardo, went to a show at the famous ROXY in downtown LA, got searched + questioned and still got out of Mexico with out a passport, watched Mason loose his money in Vegas, spent $10 on a hamburger, sold a text book for 50 bones, my brother got married, Sarah Morrison started following me on twtiter, discovered a lot of new music, found a new favorite pair of jeans, Chris came home from his mission, Joe started to mandrate, my best friend discovered a long lost brother, watched Mason buy home-made rap CDs from black dudes at Venice Beach, bought some TOMS/donated a pair of shoes to a child in need, I came to adore the Holladay Homegirls, got married on facebook, made black/white lifestyle tshirts, counted all the shirts I own, bought a new sailor necklace in Mexico, wrote/sang a song with Kelli and Hema and dedicated it to Mason, sat around a fire and ate popsicles, went swimming just about every day, visited over 5 American Apparels' in less than a week, saw Michael Jacksons star in Hollywood, bought a leather jacket, had more than one failed summer fling, watched TV seasons/series on DVD nightly, got more followers on twitter, created a new facebook group, became a proud owner of a domain, had the best road trip of my life, got caught up in some drama, attempted to clean my room multiple times, sat on the curb while Kelli sang a song that she wrote for me/about me, skated with Kyle, had dinner with a friend from high school, went camping, made an official business card, had some come to Jesus talks with Justin + Katie, saw a rival from high school and made amends, hung out with my favorite aunt Vangie, started wearing rosaries for some reason, talked with an intern at a record label for hours, made little Asian girls mad at a concert, failed my eye test to renew my license, started to wear fake Buddy Holly glasses for a half second, went to a lame dollar movie with Stu, tried to keep up on my blog, made fun of Cooper for buying his Baby Boo Camero, almost peed in a Dairy Queen cup with dried up ice cream in Masons car, made a list of all the reasons why me and Annie are friends, played a joke on Jodi, surfed across a swimming pool, played some hopscotch at an elementary school, got a parking ticket and made Cooper pay half of it, went to Paper Heart with Annie, saw Taking Back Sunday in concert, Norma cut my hair a couple of times, ate too many quesadillas, met Tony Potato, thought I met my soul mate, watched a kid poop his pants and laugh at himself, received a gift card for $40, wasted hrs at a time on video ichat, sat in sky chairs with Kelli, purchased some new Sperry sailor shoes, bought a new fedora, went to Idaho a couple of times, started some propaganda against Obamas Youth, spent $10 in late fees for a RedBox movie I got for free with a code, wore the same pair of jeans almost every day, witnessed a homeless guy get escorted out of a hotel pool, went and got free fries at Tonyburgers, convinced people that Ben was stuck in Mexico, drank a lot of blackberry lemonade, sat in my car for over 2 hours in a rain storm with Aliska, Joe invited us over to swim and have a BBQ at the lodge, had the best churros I've ever had, had Chili's for every meal for about a week, started mixing RedBull with Margarita mix for my new favorite drink, broke Annies blender, read Heath Ledgers boring bio, saw 500 Days of Summer with Kelli, walked around downtown Salt Lake with Hema + Stu one afternoon, rode public transportation for fun, went to one of the lamest dance parties ever, attended the SLCC Murder Mystery dinner, almost witnessed a break up of a solid relationship/couple, had a photo shoot with Annie for fun.... and I'm sure this list could go on, but summer is now over and alls I have to show for it is my fading tan and the memories.

Now, with the memories of summer out of the way, bring on whats next. Fall, you are my favorite time of year. FAVORITE. I don't quite understand why you are my favorite, but you are. I mean, I hate the responsibility that comes along with the Fall, like school and such. What a serious drag school is. Then you have Christmas, the happiest time of the year, minus the crappy weather. But you get to watch HOME ALONE for hours. I'm getting too far ahead of myself. First things first, lets do this, Fall, you have your work cut out for you, don't screw up under all the pressure from what summer has provided.

That is all I got for now, LUBS + a kick in the face.

New Delta Spirit Pictures

In an interview with National Public Radio’s Scott Simon, [Brandon] Young and [Matt] Vasquez recount how things came together for Delta Spirit. Young happened to hear Vasquez singing near the trolly tracks in downtown San Diego.They exchanged phone numbers and kept in touch.

Four years went by and Young’s band broke up. He called Vasquez and asked him if he was interested in putting something together. Vasquez told him that he would call back in 30 minutes. True to his word, Vasquez called saying he just fired his whole band and was ready to try something new.

Friend of the Summer

Yes, you've seen her before and you prolly know her. Her name is Annie Salmon and she gets the Friend of the Summer award, presented by yours truly. Alls I know is that the more this summer comes to an end, the more I come to realize that Annie and I have become better friends than we ever have. Whatever happened this summer, I swear that Annie and I were doing something together. But, I really didn't care what it was, because more times than not, we did nothing, but TOGETHER. Thats friendship at its finest. To all my amigos and amigas reading this who are not Annie, then please understand that maybe you didn't text/call me enough of hang out with me more than Annie did. So you can consider your self a close second. An honor none the less. So please, if you see Annie, make sure you tell her congrats on her Friend of the Summer award. She worked hard for it, and deserves all of what it entitles... For what its worth.

Mandrate

Mandrate Dictionary

Mandrate: / man-dr8 / 1 a: To drink a man drink; ex: mood altering drinks (beer, energy drinks, muscle enhancing) 2 b: To drink an old school soda; ex: soft drinks

Mandration: / man-dr8-shun / 1 a: The process of Mandrate;

ED: / e-d / 1 a: Energy Drink; Nuff said

STD: / s-t-d / 1 a: Sleepy Truck Driver; ex. sentence: " Would you like to mandrate with an ED so we don't become STD's? "

Hydrate: / hi-dr8 / 1 a: What losers do with water; 2 b: What jocks do with sports drinks

BFC: / b-f-c / 1 a: Big Freakin Can; 2 b: Single container of 24oz or more of Mandrate; ex sentence: " Man! That was a huge BFC. "

Overdrate: / over-dr8 / 1 a: The act of drinking too many ED's in a short period of time; This usually leads to comments; ex comments: " Dude! Can you hear my heartbeat?" or " My voice is so loud in my brain."

Check this out. My buddy, my homeboy, my long lost amigo that was never lost, has put his love for hydration online. MANDRATE.com Show some lub and lets us all MANDRATE! (except for the female gender, I mean who are we kidding, look at the name, it doesn't say 'everybodydrate' so please no complaints and sorry if it seems a little harsh.)

Time For Change

Isn't always time for change. I mean, think about how much has changed in the past month for you. You prolly made some new homies, some people that changed your life that you never thought you would have ever met. The past month has been straight cray cray. Well, maybe month in a half. But still. I mean, my road trip out of the blue for starters with Mason + Ben, then being on 'summer vacation' for the rest of the time after that. I mean I wake up and go to the pool EVERY DAY it seems. But now that its August and the heat is winding down, its time for another change. School starts in 2 weeks for most of us, and we will all part ways and meet up again at Christmas break, or if we were never that good of friends until next summer.

As for this picture dealing with change, how do you feel about Kat Von D's new hair? She is beautiful no matter what she does. But it took me a solid second to register who it was, but its still amazing.

I guess what we all now need to do is embrace the change we are all facing and run with it.

Everybody Else

This is probably going to be another post about something you've read about on here. Everybody Else. My main goal is to get these guys to come play a show at SLCC. I know you would come, just for the fact that if I like them, then by default they are awesome. It almost seems kind of weird I'm giving so much praise to 3 dudes in a band who kind of sing love songs, but, thats what all songs are about when it comes down to it. Right? Well, read this review and be amazed. Or check out their space on the internet. http://www.myspace.com/everybodyelse

An L.A.-based trio named for a Kinks B-side, Everybody Else, owe much to the harmonies and economical songwriting of the sixties, but they draw just as much on more modern music. Meat Market grooves like Outkast but has the screaming, bluesy vocals of Little Richard or the Animals. Say Goodbye combines an electroclash beat and new wave guitars with Elvis Costello-style lead vocals and a three part harmony reminiscent of the Beach Boys. The common thread is infuriatingly catchy songs and minimalist, Dancey arrangements that sound both retro and modern at the same time. The lyrics are full of concrete images, and are often more melancholy than the music they accompany. Over the fuzzed-out disco of In Memoriam are words about mourning the memories of lost love: I still see the blue, sunken barge/ down by the shore and I/ can taste the blackberry juice on our fingers/ But theres an echo of careless, callow footsteps/ that run by so quickly. Listeners are left in that magical place where we dont really know what we are feeling, but its giving us chills.

Their debut album, "Everybody Else," was produced Rick Parker (Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Howl) and captures the spirit of their electrifying live show, marked by an energy that always seems to teeter on the edge of chaos without ever falling apart. The album is out everywhere in the United States, and has just been released in Japan and Korea. An all-acoustic version of the record, entitled "1 1/2," was released in April 2008, and an outtake EP, "Gold Noise," was released in October, 2008. The band are currently in the studio, working on a new album.

A Gallon of Salt Water

As me and Mason arrive after our long, long drive from lovely Bountiful to our first stop at being Wendy’s in St. George, its beyond death with how hot it actually is outside. It was so hot I think I spent over 10 dollars for a Frosty. So worth it. Back on the road for the city of free love, or, sin. We have no idea of where we are going, or what to even expect of our hotel that was so easily found on PriceLine. But it gets worse, the heat is even hotter than St. George and we’re lost, and there’s construction everywhere. Luckily I learned how to use my BlackBerry and navigated our way there. This is something that came in handy so many times that I’m thinking I’m next to awesome using a GPS on my phone.

We decide to hit the strip and see what actually goes down in this city. We walk, walk some more, then we finally decide that its time for Mason to spend some money. So he decides to gamble. Long story short, He won nothing, and lost everything.
The next day we set out to do something that Las Vegas had to offer, but something that we didn’t know they had to offer. Waking up late leaves room for only one meal a day, so we decide that meal should be Café Rio. The one we decide to go ends up being more than a half hour away which only leads to more bonding time while driving. On our way back, we decide to hit every discount clothing store we see. Yes, we went shopping. And we did it a lot that day. We went into the same store at so many different locations that I swore to myself we wouldn’t go to that store while on this trip, but somehow we still ended up shopping there.

Now that the week is just about half over, what better way to spend the day then to drive all day? So we did just that, drove all day to our promised land, Los Angeles. I don’t really know what made that last hour so long, its either I had to go pee so bad and refused Masons offer to go into an old Dairy Queen cup, Or getting lost on all the freeways and getting on every one, except for the right one. None the less, we reached our goal and found our way.

Fast forward to some traveling time and now to our hotel in Redondo Beach. To just park at our hotel was 18 dollars a day, and wifi cost 10 dollars for every 24 hours. This leads to parking a mile away and trying to find a spot that isn’t scheduled for street cleaning for the next morning and going to starbucks and paying only 5 dollars for a starbucks card for their wifi and another 5 for a frapacino and a muffin for 2 hours to update our lives on the internet.

Wednesday night we end up driving to Hollywood and went to the ROXY on Sunset to see Beardo perform. Met Beardo, Tony Potato, the sexy dancer from Whitestarr, shook Mickey Avalons hand during the Beardo show. Got weird glares from all the Asain fans from Far East Movement, and couldn’t believe someone actually knew who this crazy guy was on stage, let alone I knew all his songs. Mason can testify to our unfortunate luck with the crowd.

For our next day to ourselves after a surreal night from before, we decide to head to Venice beach. A place that dreams come true, or at least a place where you can dream. Upon arriving, Mason gets handed a pair of headphones by a homie and ends up paying him for his crappy rap demo from Atlanta Georgia. I guess its karma put out there, for every horrible crap CD bought some one buys a solid album and the right person gets their lucky break (insert your love for HEMA here).

Driving to LAX we see a fire hydrant break and shoot into the sky and into the power lines. While we were outside in the city you can hear the power lines buzzing from all the water and electricity. We get back on to one of the many free ways and head to pick up Ben from the LAX and got lost walking all the terminals, so we just ended up telling him to meet us. To our defense of how stupid we are and how we did everything the hard way, look who your reading about. Mason, Me and Ben.

Drove from LAX to Redondo Beach using all back roads and tried to find somewhere to eat, so we ate at Fatburger where Mason got the XL and it was gnarly gross and heavy. To burn all this off we decided to walk to all the bars/clubs at the beach. Walked the boardwalk and found a bar to go inside. Im not joking when I say we walked 2 miles both ways in the middle of the night.

We woke up so early the next morning to move our car from our parking spot for the street sweepers, its beyond mentioning what we are actually wanting to do. We end up driving 2 and a half hours down the coast to San Diego and walked into MEXICO. Mason, the only on with the passport is set on supporting every family with his donations to their pancho and blanket products.

In Mexico Mason and I being white, have tourist written all over us. We never knew we had so many friends, “eh, amigos! I’ve been waiting for you all day, come in, come in” We ended up buying 2 for 1 drinks with each drink costing an arm and a leg. First rip off of the day. In this club we are having drinks at, the host keeps trying to tell us we gets free complementary shots. We keep telling him no. No. No. Then he tries to sell his prescription drugs that he can get us a great deal on, and to the best strip clubs in the city, or whatever we want, he has it for us. The music is so loud in this club and this guy is getting so annoying that I am a jerk to him the whole time and he still bugs Mason and doesn’t leave us alone.

We finally leave the club and go eat some real tacos, finally my favorite thing that Mexico has brought into this country, TACOS. Awesome tacos, and great host at this outdoor restaurant in the center of Tijuana makes these tacos taste amazing.
After spending our money on worthless items in every store with the same product, we go into American Apparel. That’s right, a real American Apparel in Mexico. Kind of weird to be honest. No great deals. Exact same prices as the US, but in the middle of the Tijuana you would think you would get some kind of deal.

On our way out, we got some of the best churos I’ve had to date. 1 dollar for a whole bag of them. Awesomenessss. Walking back over to America, I was stupid enough to take a picture in the customs building which lead to having me grab the attention of border patrol right from the start. After they search my camera for my deleted pictures, they ask for what I don’t have, a passport. Awesome, First I’m in trouble for taking pictures, now I don’t have a passport to get out of Mexico. But it gets better, on my way out, since I don’t have any bags, I get patted down and searched because of suspicious behavior. Oh gosh, but fun none the less.

Our homeboy Ben, a brown skinned Spanish speaking Guatemalan native, didn’t have his passport either. So our friend that gets mistaken for a Mexican while in Mexico doesn’t even have a passport to get across. But, somehow he made it out the door before it did. Do I really look that suspicious? Honestly?

Waking up the next day in our hotel, Ben reminds us that he forgot it was the 4th of July. As we head straight to Beverly Hills to pick up Bens cousin, we notice everyone is outside our hotel. Must be the 4th. No parking anywhere and people everywhere. We find Ms. Megan Mark. She leads us our way around and we drive downtown Hollywood. For the rest of the day we just end up going to the Hollywood sign on the hill and going to check out the view of downtown LA. We saw Michael Jackson’s star and that was a feeling all of its own.

After a long holiday we start driving back to our hotel and we see a few fireworks here and there. We hear most of them while trying to find parking a 100 miles away from our hotel and right as we get to the front of our hotel where everyone is, we see the last 5 seconds of the finale. Awesome. As we’re going up the elevator in the hotel, we were accompanied by 2 ladies who are speaking another language. Ben asks if the language they’re speaking is something that he thought he knew, no answer, awkward, then it gets worse, our room was next to theirs, all the way on the other side of the hotel, so we followed them the whole way there and I am pretty sure they thought we were following them. That night we decide to let traffic die down before we head back home. It was midnight when I looked at the time, and we were in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the freeway. OMG. Traffic owned our life for the first time.

Driving thru the night was ok until Las Vegas where I think the water from the Lemon-Aid Mason drank in Mexico or all the gallons of salt water finally got to him. Every rest stop he had to go. And he had to go so bad, that he wouldn’t go in the same old Dairy Queen cup he tried to make me pee in earlier. Made that last couple of hours longer than I even thought possible. And we were so close, yet so far and home all at the same time.

The End.

Matt Costa

Hermano.

My brother, literally, my bro, my blood, my older sibling, someone who I grew up with... Whatever you call want to call him. He has started his birthday. I say started his birthday because its more than a month away from the actual day when he was born. He was the oldest, therefore, he was the perfect child, the standard for what was expected from me. This is me wishing him a happy birthday. Oh, and that picture is a glory shot from high school. As you can tell, he is the epitome of cool.

Check out his announcement on ksl. Its a big deal.
http://www.ksl.com/public/announcement/view/410

Dr. MLK Jr.

Today is a great day. Starting the day off by sleeping in, then watching about 3 hrs of That 70s Show. But even better, the holiday is great for the fact that we don't go to school/work. But to trump all that, this day is in remembrance of what could be a pivotal part of the 60s. This day is known to be all about civil rights, the rights everyone has, no matter what. How great is the day that we can celebrate what our country has done, and name that day after someone who lead movements, who lead half this nation, who brought this nation together in the end. And, to top it off, the whole Obama thing is happening before we know it. Boom.

Just be grateful for what we are given today.

God Is Chicago

My homie from the hood, well Joe just claims he is just cause of his mission to Chicago, has made an eBook for everyone to enjoy. I suggest you throw the $1.99 at him and purchase the book. The book is only 31 pages long and takes less than a half hour to read and is everything I hoped for.

Basically the whole book is journal entries from his mission which leads you through his trials and everything else that you have while on a mission. Check out the web page for the book and see for yourself.

www.godischicago.com

Holla!
Oh and check out his blog, Put em' in a Body Bag, located in the link section of this blog. or not.

doin things

So, I bet you're sick of my blogging about random music, music you haven't heard of, or whatevs. Butttt, people, I know what I know. And today what I know is.... that Japanese Motors are all of a sudden in fast forward. I swear, even if they were no body's when I first heard of them, and you still think that they are still nothing to brag home about then, ok, do what you will. I will have you know this, the last time I told you about some one, or some people, or music, or, who cares, I just know that I threw up a post about Shwayze reality show in like December and now it's just starting to air and everyone is now knowing who he is when I was telling you how cool he was back in the da diz day. Along with you know, that girl who kissed a girl, and liked it, and Whoopi Goldberg kissed her to. (hahaha, YouTube it, it was from the morning talk show, "the view") ...Katy Perry.

So.... Japanese Motors, I'm telling you, Huge!! I hope, because the last half of what you just read you already knew, and I was just using what I wrote as proof I know what I know.

Here are just a few things that make me know that the Japanese Motors are doin things, doin work, and being most righteous bros... siiiiiick.!!


Beach Blanket Burnout -- Lead Singer/Front Man Alex Knost is an actor/director/surfer/musician. This film was shot in Australia and stars Alex Knost as Buster. Also check his appearance in the movie Tales From The Black Van.


Alex Knost and Chris Vail rockin' out on stage.


Al singin his skinny little emo/indie surf rock n' roll heart out.


Music Video shoot for the Japanese Motors first single, Single Fins & Safety Pins. How cool is this, they are rockin in the ocean. Can't deny that.

MUSIC-- June 17 2008

What has happened this week in music,...
First Katy Perry! holla! 'One of the Boys' was sold out at grey whale on 4500 south cause I was lucky enough to buy the last one, at 10:30 in the morning on the same day it came out, did I not say she would blow up? Right now her album on iTunes is number 4, while 'i kissed a girl' is the number one song download on iTunes.



Next, Viva La Vida by Coldplay... what can I say, It is awesome, I've listened to the whole album about 5 times today and have no plans to stop. It flows so well, his voice is amazing and for once I don't feel gay listening to Coldplay. It is just muey bueno. Number 1 album on iTunes right now as well.



VALIENT THORR - IMMORTALIZER!!! if I only knew how to put lightning bolts in my text-- thats how I would describe Valient Thorr itself, let alone the new album.... How these dudes recorded this thing and wrote all the tracks? I dunno, from the year 2004 to now, they have toured about 250 days out of the american year. With producer Jack Endino (Hot Hot Heat, Nirvana...) you just have to listen know its quality work. Be a THORRIOR and get the album.



Lil' Wayne, sold over a million copies of 'Tha Carter III' in the first week, he sold more that kanYe. kanYe only sold 956,000 in the first week.. Mad props to Lil' Wayne... How he some how did it, i dunno, but I do have respect for him. I am glad that he doesn't think he is head-hauncho like 50 cent, and all gang bang, but I really don't know how good his album really is... if you know, drop a comment.