Day 5

10.14.2010
We are in the process of finishing our basement. It's a long process, longer than I thought, but it's good to have it started. This is a shot of our family room, towards the back where you can see a framed door will be another bedroom. Overall the basement will have 3 bedrooms, 1 family room & 1 bathroom. Lucky for us, the bathroom is already finished. Framing, electrical, and heating & cooling are done. All we have left is sheet rock, paint, finish carpentry and carpet. Still sounds like a lot...
The mess in the middle is a little embarrassing to me (food storage, boxes and boxes of old stuff and empty boxes that we have yet to go through really) but we had to start condensing to make room for the being.

Day 4

10.13.2010

There will probably be many pictures of this guy until our baby comes. For those of you who don't know him, his name is Stanley. He likes to sleep in random places, including places where he could get stepped on. I found him sleeping here tonight.

Day 3

10.12.2010

Christmas of 2005 Shara gave me a year long subscription to Rolling Stone magazine, and has continued to every year since. It's definitely one of my favorite gifts she has given me. Ever since then I have kept every issue and keep a collection of them in our bookshelves. October of 2008 they changed their print format and produce a smaller magazine than what they once did. I found the older and bigger style of magazine more interesting to shoot because of the used look, staples and texture of the paper. I love that a new magazine shows up faithfully every 2 weeks, and gives me something to read in the bathroom.

Day 2

10.10.2010


Strangely I have 4 of these controllers that I have somehow collected over the years. In my opinion no other gaming console will ever be as cool as the original NES was. Sure gaming, controllers, and everything overall has become more advanced, and graphics are so much more superior than this little guy ever thought of. But in it's prime, I think the original NES had much more hype and attention than anything else since then.
(I am infatuated right now with super tight close-up shots. I love the blurring effect, and the textures you can see.)

A Picture a Day

Hello again! My, my, my it has been a while. It seems for the past year and half or so my posts have only been solely about music and a couple of cool stories my wife has done on KSL. A lot has happened over that time and rather than try to catch up, I've decided to just start from scratch again.... For starters, Shara is pregnant, which seemed like a perfect time to save up and purchase a semi-professional Digital SLR camera. We found a great deal on a Canon EOS Rebel XS with a bunch of different features including 2 lenses. I decided I need A TON of practice, and what better way to do that than to just start taking pictures and researching how to make them look cool/interesting/professional. Anyway, my friend Melanie Swanson does this "Picture a day" blog that I think is such a creative idea and a perfect way to capture every day moments that might otherwise go unnoticed. So I've decided to adopt the same philosophy. From here on out, I'm going to take at least 1 picture a day in hopes of increasing my photography skills, and also to eventually capture the moments our little baby will bring into our home. We are really excited and honestly I'm getting to the point where becoming a dad is all I'm thinking about during my days at work.

So, I bring to you another hobby that I hope to be somewhat good at, but mainly just want to copy and mimic some of the incredible photographers I have as friends that have inspired me to want to take photos myself. Please bear with me as I learn how to make my pictures the best they can be, and I would love any advice or tips you budding photographers have learned along the way. Enjoy!

Day 1. 10.10.2010

Sometimes I tackle a ton of laundry and run out of room to hang in our laundry room. Thus I need to find interesting places to air dry extra shirts that I don't like to put in the dryer. These are the majority of dress shirts I wear on a daily basis.

Cochlear implants allow baby to hear mother's voice for the first time

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

Tumor causes toddler to lose physical abilities overnight

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

Decade In Rock 2000-2009

In conjunction with this years "Year In Rock 2009" and "Decade In Rock 1990-1999", I have compiiled a list for this decade entitled "Decade In Rock 2000-2009". A list of what I consider to be the Top 50 albums of this decade. In the spirit of the "Year In Rock" I chose only one song from the album that was my favorite. There are numerous artists who released multiple albums throughout this decade, and although many of the albums they released would be a noble choice for this list, I elected to limit this list to the best album a particular artist released in the decade. So, there are 50 songs, from 50 albums, from 50 artists (if that makes any sense). This list has gone through countless revisions (as most of mine do) but I feel confident in saying this was the music that defined the 2000's for me.

This decade saw the death of the Compact Disc and the rise of the mp3. The death of the discman, and the rise of the iPod. It will be interesting to see what will have changed in ten years from now in music. As I said in my last post, I believe the idea and concept of the "album" will be a lost art, and new and interesting ways of distributing music will be the way we all listen to music.

If you would like your own copy of this music, contact me. I have numerous ways of getting it to you.

(Tip: listen to all of these songs with headphones, it changes EVERYTHING!)

Behold, the Decade In Rock, 2000-2009:

1. Radiohead - "Everything In Its Right Place" Kid A
2. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Maps" Fever To Tell
3. Jimmy Eat World - "23" Futures
4. Incubus - "Warning" Morning View
5. The Strokes - "Is This It?" Is This It?
6. Brand New - "Sowing Season (Yeah)" The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me
7. The White Stripes - "Ball & Biscuit" Elephant
8. Ben Folds - "Jesusland" Songs For Silverman
9. Weezer - "Death And Destruction" Maladroit
10. Dashboard Confessional - "Screaming Infidelities" The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most
11. Death Cab For Cutie - "The New Year" Transatlanticism
12. Muse - "Stockholm Syndrome" Absolution
13. Phantom Planet - "Raise The Dead" Raise The Dead
14. Wilco - "At Least That's What You Said" A Ghost is Born
15. Coldplay - "Warning Sign" A Rush Of Blood To The Head
16. Cold War Kids - "Hospital Beds" Robbers & Cowards
17. Vampire Weekend - "Mansard Roof" Vampire Weekend
18. MGMT - "Electric Feel" Oracular Spectacular
19. Saves The Day - "At Your Funeral" Stay What You Are
20. Foo Fighters - "Razor" In Your Honor (Disc 2)
21. Guster - "Diane" Keep It Together
22. Jack Johnson - 'Posters" Brushfire Fairytales
23. Thrice - "Stand And Feel Your Worth" Vheissu
24. AFI - "Bleed Black" Sing the Sorrow
25. The Postal Service - "We Will Become Silhouettes" Give Up
26. The Shins - "Phantom Limb" Wincing The Night Away
27. Silversun Pickups - "Rusted Wheel" Carnavas
28. The Killers - "All These Things That I've Done" Hot Fuss
29. Arcade Fire - "Rebellion (Lies)" Funeral
30. The Early November - "The Course Of Human Life" The Room's Too Cold
31. Something Corporate - "I Woke Up In A Car" Leaving Through The Window
32. Hey Mercedes - "Quality Revenge at Last" Loses Control
33. Coheed & Cambria - "A Favor House Atlantic" In Keeping Secrets Of Silent Earth: 3
34. Panic! At The Disco - "Time To Dance" A Fever You Can`t Sweat Out
35. Kings Of Leon - "Sex On Fire" Only By The Night
36. Minus The Bear - "I'm Totally Not Down With Rob's Alien" They Make Beer Commercials Like This
37. Phoenix - "1901" Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
38. Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Tell Me Baby" Stadium Arcadium
39. Queens Of The Stone Age - "No One Knows" Songs For The Deaf
40. The Used - "Maybe Memories" The Used
41. Bloc Party - "Banquet" Silent Alarm
42. Beck - "Orphans" Modern Guilt
43. Regina Spektor - "Samson" Begin To Hope
44. Rilo Kiley - "Dejalo" Under The Blacklight
45. Fall Out Boy - "Sugar We're Goin' Down" From Under The Cork Tree
46. Spoon - "Don't You Evah" Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
47. The Hives - "Walk Idiot Walk" Tyrannosaurus Hives
48. Modest Mouse - "The World At Large" Good News For People Who Love Bad News
49. The Flaming Lips - "Do You Realize??" Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
50. Band Of Horses - "The Funeral" Everything All The Time

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewIMix?id=348592811

Year In Rock 2009

The 11th installment of my annual “Year In Rock” is complete. Below you will find my list of what I consider to be the best music of the year. Much of the new music I heard this year came from listening to SiriusXM Radio, Slacker.com, Lala,.com, Pandora, KRCL, and occasionally X96 as well as countless recommendations from family, friends, Rolling Stone and co-workers.

As before I will be naming best new artist of the year, and best album as well as best album nominees. If you are new to this: I pick my top 20 albums, and then pick what I consider to be the best song on that album and compile into a list. When I initially started doing this I put 20 songs to a CD, which limited my song choices and space, and now I just keep the tradition going.

I've also decided this will be the last year that I name the best "album" that came out that year, and instead will be naming best artist of that year, as well as the best new artist. I believe that in 5-10 years the concept of the "album" will be minimal if not obsolete, and bands will have to find new and interesting ways to release collections of music to the masses. Sure, there might be collections of songs that may or may not constitute an album, but we live in a fast paced world of "NOW" and singles rule the charts. Our attention span with music is getting shorter and shorter, and our children will question what an "album" was. Radiohead and Smashing Pumpkins have already announced their plans to stop releasing albums and instead release singles and EP's. I believe they are trying to grasp the inevitable, and I think they are right.

My list for the Decade In Rock (2000-2009) will be released this week if you are interested as well.

If you would like a copy of this music, please e-mail me though FaceBook. I have a variety of ways you can get this...

The Year in Rock 2009 is finally here:

1. Discovery "Osaka Loop Mix" - LP (Best New Artist)
2. Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Dull Life" - It's Blitz! (Best Album Of The Year - Winner)
3. Phoenix "1901" - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (Album Of The Year Nominee)
4. Silversun Pickups "There's No Secrets This Year" - Swoon (Album Of The Year Nominee)
5. Animal Collective "My Girls" - Merriweather Post Pavilion (Album Of The Year Nominee)
6. Muse "United States Of Eurasia (+Collateral Damage)" - The Resistance (Album Of The Year Nominee)
7. Brand New "Bed" - Daisy
8. Dirty Projectors "Two Doves" - Bitte Orca
9. Weezer "Can't Stop Partying" - Raditude
10. The Whitest Boy Alive "1517" - Rules
11. Karen O and the Kids "All Is Love" - Where the Wild Things Are (Soundtrack)
12. Company Of Thieves "Oscar Wilde" - Ordinary Riches
13. Manchester Orchestra "I've Got Friends" - Mean Everything To Nothing
14. Passion Pit "The Reeling" - Manners
15. Regina Spektor "Laughing With" - Far
16. Incubus "Let's Go Crazy" - Monuments And Melodies
17. Iron & Wine "Communication Cups And Someone's Coat" - Around The Well
18. Wilco "Wilco (The Song)" - Wilco (The Album)
19. Franz Ferdinand "Ulysses" - Tonight: Franz Ferdinand
20. The Avett Brothers "I and Love and You" - I and Love and You

Honorable Mentions: As Tall As Lions - You Can't Take It With You, Arctic Monkeys - Humbug, Coconut Records - Davy, The Dead Weather - Horehound, The Flaming Lips - Embryonic, John Mayer - Battle Studies, Oren Lavie - The Opposite Side Of The Sea, Paramore - Brand New Eyes, Thrice - Beggars

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewIMix?id=347878806

Decade In Rock 1990-1999

In preparation for my annual list of the "Year In Rock" at the end of this year, including a special list this year for a look back at the "Decade In Rock 2000-2009"; I thought I would look back at the 90's. I decided to compile the "Decade In Rock 1990-1999". A list of what I consider to be the Top 50 albums of the 90's. In the spirit of the "Year In Rock" I chose only one song from the album that was my favorite. There are numerous artists who released multiple albums throughout the decade, and although many of the albums they released would be a noble choice for this list, I elected to limit this list to the best album a particular artist released in the decade. So, there are 50 songs, from 50 artists, from 50 albums (if that makes any sense, you'll get the idea soon enough). This list has gone through countless revisions (as most of mine do) but I feel confident in saying this was the music that defined the 90's for me. Many of these albums have stood the test of time, and have become instant classics. Some of these albums were listened to at parties, hanging out late at night with friends, and countless road trips and mix tapes. But all of this music takes me instantly back to a different time and reminds me of good times. I hope you enjoy.

If you would like your own copy of this music, contact me. I have numerous ways of getting it to you.

Behold, the Decade In Rock, 1990-1999:

1. Weezer - The Blue Album ("Only In Dreams") (1994)
2. Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream ("Hummer") (1993)
3. Radiohead - OK Computer ("Paranoid Android") (1997)
4. Sublime - 40 Oz. To Freedom ("Don't Push") (1992)
5. Ben Folds - The Unauthorized Biography Of Reinhold Messner ("Don't Change Your Plans") (1999)
6. Nirvana - Nevermind ("In Bloom") (1991)
7. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magic ("Under The Bridge") (1991)
8. Foo Fighters - The Colour And The Shape "Everlong" (1997)
9. Third Eye Blind - Third Eye Blind ("Motorcycle Drive By") (1997)
10. MxPx - Slowly Going The Way Of The Buffalo "For Always" (1998)
11. Beck - Odelay! ("Where It's At") (1996)
12. Goldfinger - Goldfinger ("Here In Your Bedroom") (1996)
13. Blink 182 - Dude Ranch ("New Hope") (1997)
14. Pearl Jam - Ten ("Black") (1991)
15. Collective Soul - Dosage ("No More No Less") (1999)
16. U2 - Achtung Baby! ("Zoo Station") (1991)
17. 311 - 311 ("Down") (1995)
18. The Refreshments - Fizzy, Fuzzy, Big & Buzzy ("Banditos") (1996)
19. Cake - Fashion Nugget ("The Distance") (1996)
20. No Doubt - Tragic Kingdom ("Sunday Morning") (1995)
21. Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine ("Darkness") (1992)
22. The Ataris - Blue Skies, Broken Hearts...Next 12 Exits ("San Dimas High School Football Rules") (1999)
23. Incubus - Make Yourself ("Stellar") (1999)
24. Jeff Buckley - Grace ("Last Goodbye") (1994)
25. Dave Matthews Band - Crash ("#41") (1996)
26. Bush - Sixteen Stone ("Alien") (1994)
27. Millencolin - For Monkeys ("Twenty Two") (1997)
28. Live - Throwing Copper ("Selling The Drama") (1994)
29. Counting Crows - August And Everything After ("Round Here") (1993)
30. R.E.M. - Automatic For The People ("Man On The Moon") (1992)
31. Better Than Ezra - Friction, Baby ("Desperately Wanting") (1996)
32. Reel Big Fish - Turn The Radio Off ("I'll Never Be") (1996)
33. Hum - You'd Prefer An Astronaut ("Stars") (1995)
34. Nada Surf - High Low ("Popular") (1996)
35. Soundgrarden - Super Unknown ("Black Hole Sun") (1994)
36. Blur - Blur ("Song 2") (1997)
37. Oasis - (What's The Story) Morning Glory ("Wonderwall") (1995)
38. NoFX - So Long And Thanks For All The Shoes ("All Outta Angst") (1997)
39. Green Day - Dookie ("She") (1994)
40. Unwritten Law - Unwritten Law ("Harmonic") (1998)
41. Tonic - Sugar ("You Wanted More") (1999)
42. Toad The Wet Sprocket - Coil ("Whatever I Fear") (1997)
43. Saves The Day - Through Being Cool ("Shoulder To The Wheel") (1999)
44. Silverchair - Frogstomp ("Tomorrow") (1995)
45. Superdrag - Regretfully Yours ("Sucked Out") (1996)
46. The Breeders - Last Splash ("Canonball") (1993)
47. Spacehog - Resident Alien ("In The Meantime") (1996)
48. The Offspring - Smash ("Gotta Get Away") (1994)
49. Face To Face - Face To Face ("I Won't Lie Down") (1996)
50. Crash Test Dummies - God Shuffled His Feet ("God Shuffled His Feet") (1993)