Tuesday, August 27, 2002 :::

Top Five Albums of the Year
Finch: What it is to Burn
The Used
Blindside: Silence
Mad at Gravity: Resonance
Thirty Seconds to Mars: Welcome to the Universe

Life is superb. SUperb! attitude truly is everything.

Sometimes, good fortune is sprung from misfortune. Picked up a new JVC stereo with my $100 best buy gift certificate last friday (courtesy of the wonderful staff at Gainesville Place), and the sound quality in my car is 10 times better than it ever was with my old AIWA. I'm extremely psyched about that... - and to add to it all, Drew bought the same stereo for his car. Great roomies think alike...

Dad and I saw Dream Theater, King's X and Joe Satriani at the House of Blues friday night - utterly amazing show. Dream Theater is absolutely incredible...possibly THE tightest, most talented band out right now. PERFECT live. For me, the best part of it all was just watching my dad's reactions during the show... - the jaw-dropping...the smiling...the shaking of his head out of utter disbelief... - it's really cool to finally be able to share a band or two with my dad. Before the show, I was lucky enough to meet the opening band, King's X, who i've been listening to for years. I was just hanging out by their bus, and Doug, the lead singer, came over to me to see what was up. He handed me some plastic cups, told me I was helping him, and brought me on the bus, so that was supremely kick-ass. Casual convo with the band while Doug prepared some pre-show vodka. rockstars, man...rockstars. awesome guys, though...nice enough to search their bus for a sharpee, since all i had was a pen. i just wish i hadn't had to flip through my cd booklet to remember the drummer's name before asking him for his autograph. dumbsmack...

Gainesville is really starting to feel like an official "home away from home, " and that makes everything so much more comfortable and relaxed. Classes seem pretty rad so far, especially psychology. It was nice to see that Rebecca, an old friend from Astronomy, was still alive, since Drew and I hadn't seen her online all summer and were almost convinced that she had died. Before psychology started yesterday, the professor put on "Human Beings" by Bjork, so instantly, I had a good feeling about the class. I'm confident that it will carry throughout the rest of the semester.

While on campus today, there was a Rock 104 booth with several people gathered around it, so i stopped by and picked up some free stuff. They were saying that cds would be given out to anyone who would do something crazy, so i asked "how crazy?" and they told me...so i accepted the mission, and when the first car stopped at the nearest crosswalk, i walked over to it and motioned for the driver to roll down the window. lucky (or unlucky) for me, she was pretty cute. after the window's decent, i asked, with an accent that surprised myself, "Pardon me, but do you have any Grey Poupon?" She smiled, and said no...and i returned to the Rock 104 booth, welcomed by cheers and applause...so that was pretty rad. picked up a cd, which i have yet to listen to... - a band called "Breaking Point." it was either that, or Offspring, other crap/stuff i had, or a shirt. the experience was enough for me, though... - i never do stuff like that. i'm so high on life lately, it's nuts...

oh, made a new friend today - her name's Nicole, and she's in my Italian class, so i'm sure that this will prove useful during the semester. she seems nice... - first year at UF.

Roberson has an AWESOME girlfriend! she's real cute, smart, and has a truly amazing voice. better than most female vocalists on the radio, and probably the best singer i've ever met. can we say "duet?" rock on, Ashley...

Drew's gettin' over a little heartbreak, but i'm confident that he'll be fine by the end of the week. For those out of the loop, he met a girl over the summer, named Lauren...and she's pretty awesome, but she doesn't want drew right now...and he definitely wants her. She sees him as someone she could marry in like, 8 years...but she wants to meet other guys right now... - not ready for anything serious, which is totally understandable, but shitty for drew. that kid NEEDS a helping hand, if you know what i mean, and i'm sure you do...but in all seriousness, he's definitely ready for and deserving of a girl...as long as she's worthy of my approval.

should be able to post something about that all-important decision that i mentioned in my last post by this weekend...

ciao ciao...

-aj

::: posted by AJBrotz at 12:00 PM

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Sunday, August 25, 2002 :::

everything always falls back into place eventually...

school resumes tomorrow...i'm looking forward to it. something new. band camp was the perfect preamble to this...i'm more content with and proud of myself than i've ever been before...very secure. i feel taller.

Blindside is a great band...i recommend them whole-heartedly. start off with "Sleepwalking," and if you like that one, just...buy the cd. it's only 6.99 at best buy. great lyrics...an abundance of talent and originality...and one of the best stage shows i've EVER seen. All i have to say about their stage presence is this: CARTWHEELS WHILE PLAYING GUITAR. astounding.

so...there's a really, REALLY significant decision facing me right now... - probably THE most important decision i've ever been faced with...but i'm too tired to talk about it right now, so i'll leave you all in suspense. 'till next time...

-aj

::: posted by AJBrotz at 10:59 PM

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Monday, August 19, 2002 :::

Band Camp has been goin' on since Wednesday... - while practicing the previous night for auditions, Drew and Denny decided to pay me a surprise visit, which was freakin' awesome...but i wound up getting less than 2 hours of sleep. so...i didn't make snare, which was totally fine, cuz i know that my form isn't all that great - it never has been. next, i tried out for bass...but i didn't know any of the music, and hadn't played bass since 9th grade...and that was bullshit - technique, compliments of Mr. Parker...and they already had enough rockin' bass drum players, so i didn't make that audition. SO, that brought me to the cymbal line. now, before going into the audition, i'd told myself that if i didn't make snare or bass, i wasn't going to stay with FDL (Florida Drum Line)...but i spent the day with the cymbals, and it actually seemed halfway decent...so i decided to give it a shot for another day.
Each day has been better than the previous one, but it's pretty freakin' hard work. i AM totally out of shape, but seriously, playing cymbals is harder for me than snare or bass EVER was. with snare and bass, your shoulders/back get tired...but with cymbals, your hands, arms, and shoulders just DIE. of course, this is largely due to the fact that FDL is MUCH MORE HARDCORE than Winter Springs Band ever was...or will be, i'm sure. it's awesome...i'm loving it...and look forward to playing in front of thousands of people. GO DRUMS! errrr...cymbals? ...besides. Monkeys play cymbals.

so, on the other side of the coin...some asshole broke into my car and stole my stereo. he actually pried my window off of my car to get inside. i was absolutely shocked when i realized the window had been removed, and crushed when i saw that my beautiful blue cd/mp3 player had been "jacked." so...filed the police report, but that's not gonna do any good, cuz i don't have the serial number for the cd player, and i had duck taped the window back before going to the station, so they couldn't dust for prints (there were several conflicting circumstances...not just my stupidity.) anyway...no more tunes. bummer to the MAX.

i'm literally falling asleep...

::: posted by AJBrotz at 9:28 PM

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Tuesday, August 06, 2002 :::

maybe it's just me, but the worst way to say goodbye to someone when online is to simply type "bye." i loathe that. please...if you're reading this...never end an online conversation with me with that three-letter word.

poll: If I am to purchase one of the three next-generation video-gaming systems, which one should i get? Sony's Playstation 2, Microsoft's X-Box, or Nintendo's Game Cube? so far, I'm leaning towards X-Box...comments are strongly desired.

Signs is a FABULOUS movie. 5 stars. very possibly the best movie of the year, thus far.

if you'd like to laugh until you pee your pants, rent Kung Pow! Enter the Fist. it's a sure-fire winner if you enjoyed Mystery Science Theater and/or Ace Ventura.

fans of Memento/American Beauty/GOOD MOVIES should DEFINITELY check out Donnie Darko. I saw it last week, and already, it has made it into my top 10 movies of all time.

best cd of the year, in my opinion: Mad at Gravity: Resonance. still waiting on a few more releases, though...

anyone needing to see Austin Powers 3, or wanting to see Master of Disguise?

i leave for Gainesville this weekend. mixed feelings...mainly nervous about marching band auditions. so much music to memorize before the 14th. i wish they made pills for procrastinators.

meaningful tangent: I'm enjoying getting older. it's pretty awesome...i'm still learning, still maturing...and it seems that my capacity for knowledge, and my overall understanding of life is expanding. in general, it's really exciting...and that, just that, is the most comforting feeling i have right now. smiley.

::: posted by AJBrotz at 12:29 AM

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