Write for 10 minutes. Introduce a character, a conflict, and end the mini-story with one of the provided phrases. (I chose “And then she closed the window.”)

Victoria sat in her room, staring out into the cold, winter day. She was very sad, but it was a different sort of sadness. She wanted to feel sadness, absorb every facet of it, use herself as a prism through which to reflect all of it through, to see and know the entire spectrum of it. She sat in the bed for a short while, her eyes wandering around her room and back out the window. She took in all the immense, blank, sad emptiness contained in the thin skeleton of trees scattered on the sea of frigid, unwelcoming grains of ice. But she kept noticing the drops of melting ice incessantly dripping from a branch of a tree. And within each individual drop she saw that they, for a brief moment, held the warmth of sunlight — everything that contrasted the bleak world around their tiny, coldly opaque bodies. Each drop flew through the air, splashing and spilling out their brilliant glory on the white, powdery canvas stretched out below them. And then she closed the window….

Song of the Day:

Radiohead – “Fake Plastic Trees”

The “Best Job in the World” is a competition put on by Tourism Queensland in Australia. Winning means you get paid $150,000 to spend 6 months in a beachfront apartment on an island in Australia’s stunning Great Barrier Reef.

This “caretaker” will take pictures, video, and blog about all the cool aspects of the Great Barrier Reef islands. Food, housing, and utilities are all paid for of course.

As you can imagine, the applications flooded in. 34,000 of them, to be specific. And now it’s been whittled down to just 50. My brother is in that group.

Juweon Jonathan Kim. JJK. Double Just Kidding. (He’s a funny guy. Sort of. See for yourself at his blog.)

He’s currently sitting at 12th. Let’s get him in the top 10! The final cut is a group of 11 who will fly in for intensive up-close interviews from which only ONE will emerge to fulfill his/her duty as caretaker and winner of the “Best Job in the World.”

Please let it be my brother. For 3 (of many) reasons:

1. He’s more than qualified.

The man is a radio/tv news superstar in Korea. The Will Ferrell movie, Anchorman, was based on my brother’s charm, wit, humor, and poignant humanity.

He has all the tools necessary to communicate effectively to a global audience all the wonders and beauty of the world he will be surrounded by.

2. He’s paid his dues.

He’s a pastor’s kid. ‘Nuff said. He once got a Webster’s Dictionary for Christmas. (I got the Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary.)

3. He deserves it.

As much trash as I talk about him from time to time, the dude has worked his ass off ever since he could form words. Let alone the last 3 or so years, when he’s been a SLAVE to the monster known as the Korean professional work culture.

Please help give him the break he deserves.

If nothing else, help him do this again on a regular basis:

Please go to this link and vote for him as soon as you can!

Use any and all email addresses. Remember to confirm your votes by clicking on the link in the response email.

Thank you so much. My brother will give you all a high-five, high-ten, chest-bump, fist-tap, hand-shake, booty-bump, hug, or double-cheek kiss…your choice.

If you vote at least once every day for the next week, you get all of the above.

So…what the hell are you waiting for? Just do it.

Song of the Day:

Weezer – “Island in the Sun”

Man…being at yet another new school with yet another fresh start, I wanted to give this blog a fresh and thorough reboot.

I had plans to not only post at least a few times a week but also to expand my subject matter and go for more of the lengthy, in-depth posts that I used to write on here (e.g., Sigur Ros post, film reviews, posts on new and upcoming bands, ebook post, etc.).

But alas, I will be extremely busy this semester.

FORTUNATELY, it’ll be a different kind of busy from last semester at Berkeley (meaning: no coke addict roommates, no police, no safehouses, and no financial aid nightmares), but it’s the same sort of result for this poor blog.

I have 16 units of classes, a poetry workshop, AND I also just became a staff writer for 3 different sections of the Daily Trojan (school paper at USC…I plan on cutting down to only 1 or 2 sections.). Not to mention, I’m also pledging this semester for Gamma Epsilon Omega. (Basically the coolest fraternity ever invented in the history of the universe. Basically.)

On top of all that, I’m planning to hit on at least one USC Song Girl this semester.

Needless to say…I’ll be stretched to the MAX within the next few months. So I thought I’d give the 9 or so people subscribed to me in their Google feeds fair and advance warning…

I’ll try to drop by as much as possible. And Kristiane and Essaytch…I’m so sorry for being M.I.A. from your blogs…I PROMISE I’ll stop by more frequently, even if I won’t be updating much here.

Oh, and Albert, I don’t know which new Ting Tings song you were talking about, but I think this is their new single.

Song of the Day:

The Ting Tings – “That’s Not My Name”

After the monstrosity that was last year’s year-end top 28 albums list, I’ve found I don’t have the energy to ever do something like that again.

So I plan on taking the ranking out of it (everybody wins and everyone gets a participation ribbon) and just list 10 albums a day from 2008 that I enjoyed until I either run out of albums or get tired.

I’ll keep the same post and just pile each group of 10 on top and click “update.”

Third (and possibly final) batch of 10 great albums from 2008:
Okay, so I got tired. So I’m done. Sue me. (If you’re the RIAA, please ignore the last sentence.) Since this is probably the last installment, I crammed the rest of my “must-haves” all into one list of 10. I was trying to spread them all throughout the list, but whatever, like I said, I’m tired. This takes a lot more work then you would think. Really, it does!

I feel bad leaving out at least two more installments worth of albums, but that’s just how life is. Not fair. And not ideal. “It ain’t all sunshine and rainbows…..”

21. Sigur Ros – Með Suð Í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust (album link)

(an album cover equally cringe and smile inducing. Okay, maybe a bit more cringe.)

Track 4 – “Við Spilum Endalaust”

22. Conor Oberst – Conor Oberst (album link)

(I’m sorry, but this is just more evidence of how self-absorbed this guy is. Good musician though.)

Track 1 – “Cape Canaveral”

23. Girl Talk – Feed the Animals (album link – sold using the “name your own price” price scheme. Really. Go get it now. If you don’t, you’re dumb. Or…umm…stupid.)

Track 5 – “Set It Off” (Seriously, Jay-Z spliced over Radiohead’s “Paranoid Android”?? Doesn’t get any better. Well, until the very next track!)

24. Beck – Modern Guilt (album link)

Track 9 – “Profanity Prayers”

25. Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend (album link)

(It doesn’t seem as self-centered when these guys do it though)

Track 9 – “I Stand Corrected”

26. Death Cab for Cutie – Narrow Stairs (album link)

Track 2 – “I Will Possess Your Heart”

27. Nada Surf – Lucky (album link)

Track 3 – “Beautiful Beat”

28. The Mountain Goats – Heretic Pride (album link)

Track 4 – “Autoclave”

29. The Feeling – Join With Us (album link)

(Outside of the Polyphonic Spree, I can’t think of a happier band)

Track 11 – “Don’t Make Me Sad”

30. Elbow – The Seldom Seen Kid (album link)

Track 4 – “Grounds for Divorce”

_________________________________________

Second batch of 10 great albums from 2008:

11. The Levellers – Letters from the Underground (album link)

Track 8 – “A Life Less Ordinary”

12. Oasis – Dig Out Your Soul (album link)

Track 1 – “Bag it Up”

13. Okkervil River – The Stand Ins (album link)

Track 2 – “Lost Coastlines”

14. Phantom Planet – Raise the Dead (album link)

Track 2 – “Dropped”

15. Raconteurs – Consolers of the Lonely (album link)

Track 3 – “You Don’t Understand Me”

16. Thievery Corporation – Radio Retaliation (album link)

Track 9 – “Beautiful Drug”

17. Kanye West – 808’s and Heartbreak (album link)

Track 6 – “Paranoid”

18. The Verve – Forth (album link)

Track 2 – “Love is Noise”

19. Panic at the Disco – Pretty Odd (album link)

Track 5 – “That Green Gentleman”

20. Keane – Perfect Symmetry (album link)

Track 2 – “Lovers Are Losing”

…
…
________________________________________________

Here’s the first installment, coming at you completely at random:

1. The Ting Tings – We Started Nothing(album link)

Track 1 – “Great DJ”

2. Coldplay - Viva La Vida(album link)

Track 7 – “Viva La Vida”

3. The 88 – Not Only… But Also(album link)

Track 3 – “Coming Home”

4. The Fireman (aka Paul McCartney) - Electric Arguments(album link)

Track 6 – “Light from Your Lighthouse”

5. Chemical Brothers – Brotherhood (‘Best of’ compilation)(album link)

Track 1 – “Galvanize (ft. Q-Tip)”

6. Aqualung – 7 Keys(album link)

Track 1 – “7 Keys”

7. Estelle - Shine(album link)

Track 4 – “More than Friends”

8. Of Montreal – Skeletal Lamping(album link)

Track 1 – “Nonpareil of Favor”

9. Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova – Once (Soundtrack)(album link)

Track 13 – “Say It to Me”

10. Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue(album link)

Track 3 – “The Next Messiah”

So it’s that time of the year again. The family’s all back together, the chestnuts are roasting, the air is cooler, the heart is warmer…

Yes, that’s right, it is time for another volume of Bomb Diggity Jams!

(Note: I’d like to apologize for missing out on the Fall edition…things were just TOO crazy this semester and I didn’t have time to put it all together. But that just means next year’s Fall edition will kick that much more ass!)

Well, no time to talk much. I will say that Side A is for the more contemplative/reflective days of winter and Side B is for the more fun, reminiscing/memory-making days.

Here’s the tracklist, with a few selected songs available for download (just right-click and save-as). The whole thing is available for download at the link below (go to the page and download the .zip file).

Side A:

1. Josh Ritter – “Girl in the War”
2. The Postal Service – “We Will Become Silhouettes”
3. Aqualung – “Something to Believe in”
4. Bloc Party – “So Here We Are”
5. Pinback – “Loro”
6. John Mayer – “Kid A (Radiohead cover)”
7. Howie Day – “Ghost (Mix 6)”
8. Iron & Wine – “The Trapeze Swinger”
9. The National – “Fake Empire”
10. Sufjan Stevens – “Ring Them Bells (Bob Dylan cover)”
11. The Feeling – “Don’t Make Me Sad”
12. Franz Ferdinand – “All My Friends (LCD Soundsystem cover)”

Side B:

1. Quiet Company – “Our Sun is Always Rising”
2. Imogen Heap – “Goodnight and Go”
3. Fountains of Wayne – “Valley Winter Song”
4. Matt Costa – “Cold December”
5. Voxtrot – Warmest Part of the Winter”
6. The Notwist – “One With the Freaks”
7. Frou Frou – “Let Go”
8. The Bravery – “Tyrant”
9. Oasis – “The Turning”
10. Kate Nash – “Merry Happy”
11. Camera Obscura – “Roman Holiday”
12. Smashing Pumpkins – “1979″
BONUS TRACKS:
13. The Killers – “Read My Mind”
14. The Verve – “Bittersweet Symphony”
15. Andrew Bird – “Scythian Empires”

You can download the whole thing at this link. (Alternate link, if that one doesn’t work.)

Merry Christmas! And a happy new year! I hope your holidays are going swimmingly well… =)

Cheers!

One more BONUS song:

Sufjan Stevens – “Sister Winter”

All right, after my 2200-word post about the Spurs, I feel a need to write more about them. This one will be about my favorite player in the NBA, Manu Ginobili.

Tim Duncan may be the player I respect most on the team (and the league), and it feels like Tony Parker is my really talented kid brother or something (even though he’s older than me), but Manu…he’s the guy I look up to the most. I want him to succeed so badly because he wants to succeed more than anything else. Everything he does on the court is driven by a pure desire to win…for his team to win. I’d even say his drive is on par with the one and only Michael Jordan.

He has the drive, but he hasn’t been blessed with the genes. He doesn’t have the 6′8″ 274(!) lb frame of Lebron. He doesn’t have the 50-foot vertical of Vince Carter.

You know what? My friends over at PtR (they’re not really my friends) wrote an awesome post about this guy a few months ago, after the Spurs were eliminated by the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals. It was inspiring. It brought tears to my eyes. And I’ll quote from it right now:

6. Anyone who blames Manu or thinks less of him is a stupid fucktard.

Seriously, go root for another team. He’s done enough already. I don’t care whether he makes another shot. He’s got lifetime immunity. You hear me? LIFETIME IMMUNITY. I won’t ever be upset with him unless he molests my sister, and even then I’d ask her if she was wearing a teasing outfit at the time.

My sister is surprisingly attractive considering she’s related to me.

Where was I?

Oh right. Manu.

Look, Manu isn’t Jordan. He’s not Kobe. He’s not LeBron. Rooting for guys like that is unimaginative and frankly, boring. They won the genetic lottery. They’re bigger, stronger, faster. Wheee. Root for them and you might as well root for McDonalds and Nike (shockingly companies those guys endorse or have endorsed). You might as well cheer for Team USA in the Olympics against Team Argentina. I have no use at all for people like that.

Manu isn’t your favorite player because he’s perfect.

He’s your favorite because he’s not.

He’s Rocky. He gets knocked down. He loses. He fails. He occasionally does really stupid shit in really important games.

But he cares. You can see every second he really fucking cares. Even in the regular season when 99% of people affiliated with the NBA, including the fans, don’t care, he does.

And every time he gets knocked down, he gets back up. He tries again. He redeems himself. Manu has done more with less than just about any NBA star I can think of. Every season his athleticism diminishes from the year prior and every season he thinks up new ways to kick ass regardless….

…Ginobili has always been a winner and has always proven the doubters wrong. The day will come when he can no longer do this and he will retire. And we’ll still have our game tapes, Youtube, and our memories.

That, my friends, is why Emanuel Ginobili is my favorite player in the world. He has no business being this good. But he is.

Song of the Day:

Muse – “Hysteria”

And after some MAJOR speed bumps early on, the Spurs are looking pretty damn good right now.

=)

Awkwardness comes in many infinite shades,
like pretty faces.
Or homely ones.
Or senses of humor.
Or laughter.

And it’s merely a matter of finding a shade
that catches your eye.
Or mind.
Or taste.
Or touch.

Your awkwardness is what drew me in,
from your hidden corner, valiantly hoping against all hope
that no one will notice your very personal shade.

For now, this is all I need to find enjoyment.
I could see what other wonderful shades you have
later.

Songs of the Day:

Matt Nathanson – “I Saw”
Stars – “My Favourite Book”

City
lights
emulate
the night
sky, offering
up glowing
balls of
varying size arranged in systematic
constellations. Meteors with cone-shaped tails travel backwards
in long, predictable two-way paths. As the aeroplane soars higher
into the cold clouds of the night, I stare at civilization,
slowly but
surely, being
reduced to
empty
lights next
to dancing darkness.

Songs of the Day:
Teitur – “Poetry and Aeroplanes”
Elton John – “Rocket Man”

So I found a pretty funny picture on one of the featured blogs on the WordPress home page:

Before anyone gets all crazy, I know a bit about the complexity of the issue and have some understanding of the reasons for (and against) what was done. I just got a good chuckle out of this =)

Songs of the Day:

The Beatles – “You Never Give Me Your Money”
Radiohead – “Dollars and Cents”