ChristopherChandler.net

Hey folks, sorry I haven’t updated in a long time. I have been way over-stressed in the last couple months, well ever since the 1st of the year really. Last week I took it upon myself to take a week long solo spring-break vacation out to my favorite place, Wisconsin. (More on the actual trip in a post tomorrow.)

I have come back with a new outlook on life. My friends out there seem not to stress about anything. They are much happier people for it. Four of my friends who currently live together Dave, Jake, Jen, and Jolie live in Green Bay, Wisconsin and live life like they should, by working hard and having fun when the time is right. Another person who I got to know better is Alex, who has his stuff together at a very young age. Again he works hard, but knows how to take a load off when necessary.

My friends on a regular basis are involved in activities that I consider fun. After work, all four are involved in a volleyball league as well as a dart league. These are two things that I am alright at, but I would like to get better at as well. I plan on purchasing a volleyball net this summer for my outdoor barbecues, as well as getting an additional dart board for the porch out back.

I had two nice flights on the way home to ponder the way my friends in Wisconsin live, and how I operate on a daily basis. Currently when I get home from work I don’t really do anything. In fact I feel spent and tired. Well I am tired of that. I plan on being productive. Now, when I say productive, I am not talking about always doing more work. Working on a house project like the bathroom or working on eBay / Internet sales are definitely included in this, but there are other projects that I classify as being productive as well. Such as working on my darts and corn-hole skills, finish the conversion on my Spider-man arcade machine, and working on my Game Boy collection.

One thing I do that I am not proud of is spend way too much time at home on the computer. Usually it is just browsing video game forums, looking for any bit of information I can. There is no reason for this. Checking email or eBay sales is fine, but there are better things to do when I have a few free hours at night. Another one is staring at the TV. I watch about 5 different shows a week, taking about less than 4 hours total a week. That is reasonable. This Work -> Dinner -> Internet / TV mentality has to stop. It is making me lazy, and unproductive. Now this is not to say that I can’t have something on in the background while I am blogging, listing stuff on eBay, working on my Game Boy project, or grading, that is still being productive.

I also have started working out. Now I have had an elliptical in my home for over a year. A nice one, several thousand dollars poured into it. However I had not ever touched the thing, until about 5:50am this morning. 30 minutes this morning, I burned about 250 calories. I feel refreshed, full of energy, and I am looking forward to tomorrow’s workout.

In short, I haven’t been living life happily in the past few months, between work, teaching, holidays, and just overall being busy, somewhere along the line I have forgotten how to live life. I knew someone once that told me “Life was meant to be enjoyed, not to be worked all the time, or lazy all the time, but a happy medium.” This starts now. I am tired of being “booked” or having to “check the calendar” Screw it. I am going to be productive and have some fun at the same time. I am going to grab some healthy food for dinner on the way home from work, some Miller Lite, some DIF wallpaper remover, and clean up my bathroom & basement. I am living life to the fullest, and enjoying it. If anyone from Wisconsin is reading this, I want to thank you and encourage the others to read this. Not only for being good friends, but for reminding me that life can be fun, while still being productive. If you never thought you had ever changed anyone’s life, you can throw that out the window, because you just changed one. -C

If you watch one youtube video today, let it be this one.

-C

Yeah, every critic site has one of these posts, so I can too.  Let me tell you some of my favorite music albums that were released in 2008.  This year was a pretty good year for music overall, especially considering I got into a couple bands I haven’t heard of before.  I am getting exposed to artists I have never heard of before through friends like my good friends Bobby and Dave Weigel who are well versed in music culture.  I hope to continue my music education in 2009.  But that is for another post.  Lets dive into it.
 
R.E.M. – Accelerate

Let me start off by saying no other album on this list has gotten more play than this one.  R.E.M. was being panned by critics left and right for their previous release “Around The Sun” claiming the band was washed up, internal strife was within the band, and they were has-beens.  R.E.M. made a fool out of every critic on April 1st, 2008 when Accelerate was released in the United States.  An album with as much punch that hasn’t been seen since Monster, the band had truly come back to their quick-paced form seen in the 80’s and 90’s.  Just shy of 35 minutes, the album comes out in full force with the lead off song “Living Well is the best revenge” and closes with the live favorite “I’m Gonna DJ.”  This album is chock full of R.E.M.’s traditional hidden political overtones, which includes Hurricane Katrina, the Music Industry, President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, and more.  

Accelerate has sold over 312,000 copies in the U.S. since August 6th, already outpacing the total number of 240,000 copies of Around the Sun. It was on the Billboard 200 charts for 18 weeks, peaking at the number 2 spot. According to my iTunes, which has only installed in August when I got my Mac, has my favorite track “Man-Sized Wreath” played a whopping 17 times (Now 18 since this review started), which is incredible because I know I listened to that track much more when the album first came out.  I bought this the day it came out.  Top of the list.

The Killers – Day & Age  

Earlier in 2008 I heard that the Killers were coming out with a new album in the Fall.  This had me both excited and worried, because let’s face it, “Sam’s Town” wasn’t all that good.  I am going to chalk it up to the sophmore slump theory, and hoped that whatever they released on Day & Age better be good or they are done for.  Brandon Flowers knew this too, as he has written some of his best material to date.  I wasn’t completely sold on Day & Age after hearing “Human” but the selling point for me was hearing them on Saturday Night Live, performing both “Human” & “Spaceman” projecting the excitement that I once heard from the album “Hot Fuss”  Spaceman for me is the real single on this album, a catchy pop-rock song about alien abduction, that shows Flowers has both a sense of humor and can bellow out those notes.  The rest isn’t filler either.  Make sure you check out “Joy Ride”, “Neon Tiger”, and “A Dustland Fairytale”.  All excellent tracks that will keep you coming back for more.  In short, if you liked Hot Fuss, but were somewhat unimpressed in Sam’s Town, I highly recommend that you give Day & Age a chance,  you won’t be disappointed.  I received this for Christmas by my good friend Dave Kibler.

Kings of Leon – Only By the Night

Okay so if you just said to yourself “WTF? Who the heck is this?”  don’t worry, I did the same thing when I saw them on Saturday Night Live back in the Fall.  I honestly had no idea who these guys were, but apparently the whole band is related by blood in some way or another.  Let me just say if you took southern rock and infused pop into it, this is what you get.  The two singles “Sex on Fire” and “Use Somebody” are just simple pop songs that don’t sound like anything else on the radio today.  Caleb Followill is trading in his indie fan base for a more popular one with both simpler lyrics and catchy hooks despite criticism from it’s hardcore fans. (Doesn’t every artist go through this?”  Anyway, I like it.  The whole album is good, make sure you also check out “Manhattan” & “Cold Desert”.

Weezer – The Red Album

Alright, stick with me on this one.  Most people don’t like this album.  But I am not most people.  There is an issue with this album.  See, Rivers Cuomo and crew thought it would be a good idea to let the rest of the band sing their own tracks on the second half of the album.  Very nice of Rivers to do that, there is just one problem.  It doesn’t work very well.  Those tracks have to be some of the worst in Weezer history.  So why is this on my list?  It also has some of the best in Weezer history.  Let’s start with the flagship single Pork & Beans.  If you think this is just a goofy pop song, get this.  The reason this song was even written is because Geffen Records sat in on the Red Album studio sessions, and executives claimed there was not enough commercial material on the record.  Rivers Cuomo wrote this song as a big “screw you” to the music industry.  Just take a look at the lyrics:

I’mma do the things that I wanna do. I ain’t got a thing to prove to you.
I’ll eat my candy with the pork and beans. Excuse my manners if I make a scene.
I ain’t gonna wear the clothes that you like. I’m fine and dandy with the me inside.
One look in the mirror and I’m tickled pink. I don’t give a hoot about what you think

On top of that you the catchy “Troublemaker”, insightful “Heart Songs”, upbeat “Everybody Get Dangerous”, and the epic “Greatest Man Who Ever Lived” which combines every type of music imaginable. This album is a great purchase, if you just buy it for the first five songs, and just think of the rest as an “experiment.”  I purchased this on June 3rd, 2008, release day.

Beck – Modern Guilt

This kind of flew by my radar, and I am sad in retrospect that I didn’t acquire it sooner.  I am a huge fan of Beck, and love his last effort “The Information” which got much play by me.  Modern Guilt  was released on July 8, 2008.  I want to say I was away on vacation, or had no money, because I don’t understand what the real reason was for me not picking this up on release.  I did look for this at every used CD shop I came across, and struck out every time.  I finally heard this last weekend when my friend Bobby put his iPod on, and played through the whole album on my drive back to Delaware from the mountains.  Modern Guilt has been Grammy nominated for best Alternative Album and is produced by both Beck and Danger Mouse (of Gnarls Barkley fame). This one is sure not to miss, I’m just sorry I didn’t get to it sooner.

Best Reissue – R.E.M – Murmur (Deluxe 2-Disc Edition)

I don’t want to spend too much time on this one, but this reissue of Murmur is incredible.  Totally remastered, includes a second disc from a Live 1983 show in Toronto, and includes live versions of older tracks such as Harborcoat.  It is also the first time an official full R.E.M. concert has been released on CD.  Listening to Murmur again, I can hear all the sounds that were blurred or muffled from the original recording.  Some remasters I am not fond of because it sometimes makes the songs lose their original appeal, but this remaster is one of the best I have heard in awhile, and is long overdue.  Let’s be honest, the entire R.E.M. catalog could use a remastered overhaul.  I’d buy them all..  If you were a fan of R.E.M.  before, this is a must have, and if you have never heard this Alternative album, this is the best place to start for something as timeless as Murmur.

Honorable Mentions: Rivers Cuomo – Alone II, Mark Kozelek – The Finally LP, Sun Kil Moon – April, Coldplay – Viva La Vida, Bob Dylan - Tell Tale Signs: the Bootleg Series Vol. 8

Well there you go, there are my best music picks of 2008.  Make sure you check them out!  Also, let me know what you think of these selections and the list overall down in the comment section below. -C

Yes that is spelled correctly. My New Years resolutions are the typical of others.

• Put important finances first
• Work on my Game Boy collection/site/publication
• Eat better.  (Damn you French Fries. How I love you so.)

A Snow-covered Tree in my Front Yard

A Snowy Backyard

Woke up this morning, and look what I found to my surprise!  The first snowfall of 2008. Winter has been teasing us all this week with flurries almost every day, but we finally got hit!  It was in a good way though, because it was just enough snow to make things looks nice, but not to hazardous to drive in.  It didn’t cover the roads or sidewalks, just the cars and grass.  Take a look for yourself! These pics were taken with my MacBookPro ichat camera.  I had never used it before, works pretty good! -C

GrandAmChandler's Avatar

XBOX announced awhile back that they were going to be implementing avatars for XBOX Live users.  These avatars look strikingly similar to Nintendo’s “Mii” system that is used for characters on the Nintendo Wii.  Well after performing the update on my XBOX 360 last night they walk you through the process which is almost identical to making a Mii on your Nintendo Wii.  As you can see, that is what I came up with.  (Tell me that is not a Chandler shirt!) The cool thing is, they are promising to add more clothes, facial expressions, and accessories for your avatar in the future.  I hope so, because the only thing about the Miis that I found lacking, was the lack of options.  Overall the new dashboard is great, the new addition of being able to stream my Netflix movies via my Xbox 360 is amazing, and I hope Sony is taking notice, because this blows anything out of the water that they have to offer currently. -C

Garfield Christmas

After getting asked several times by friends and family, I had to update my Amazon Christmas wish lists.  I love these lists because not only is it helpful for people who wish to obtain gifts for me, but it also helps me keep track of what I don’t have when I am out to purchase something for myself. Once I obtain something, I delete it from the list.  Anyways I have two lists this year.  One is my Christmas Wish List for Friends which is generally lower dollar items like CDs and DVDs and another Christmas Wishlist for Parents & Family for the higher dollar items (videogames, etc.) Feel free to browse if you are curious! -C

Well I have been waiting for an accurate map of the electoral college, I apologize for the delay. So lets see how close I was! Here is the actual results on the left, and my predictions on the right:

Final Electoral Map Results

Looks like the only one I got wrong was Indiana!  Oh Indiana, how you surprised me, but it was close!  The other close races of North Carolina and Missouri I predicted correctly.  Now Nebraska apparently has one vote going to Obama, which I did not expect, but the state as a whole is still McCain for the majority.  Anyways, I hope to play this game next year!  This will probably be the last political post for awhile, lets get back to the fun stuff shall we? -C

Seriously. Everyone needs to vote. Here are the common things I hear about NOT voting:

-”My Vote Doesn’t Count”
-”Candidate X is going to win, so why bother.”
-”The elections are rigged, so what’s the point?”

You need to vote. It’s your American right. People in other countries would LOVE to have this right. I don’t care who you vote for, but I am endorsing voting in 2008. Let your voice be heard! If everyone didn’t vote, what would happen? If no one believed in the system then what? Monarchy? Anarchy? So go vote. Do it for yourself, so you can say “Yeah, I voted in 2008″ if not, do it for the good of your country. -C

Everyone has their own predictions, and kind of like a Fantasy Sports draft, I have created my own electoral map over at website for the LA Times.  The nice part about theirs is that you can embed it into your blog as you see below:

Now as hopeful I would like to be that Obama wins North Dakota, Montana, and Georgia for an upset in those states (Since it is currently a tight race.) I think this map is pretty accurate. I am going to also bite and say that Obama doesn’t win Indiana or Missouri, but takes other swing states like Florida, Colorado, Nevada, and Pennsylvania. I will make comparisons with my map and the actual map when the data is available. Take note that if Obama pulls out early wins in PA, OH, VA, & NC, I think he pretty much has this election in the bag. But as the 2000 and 2004 elections have proved, it ain’t over until it’s over. -C