The Repudiated Immortals

Current mood: cynical
Category: Fashion, Style, Shopping

I think I may be the only person on MySpace with a page devoted to a major sports team, have a separate blog for said team and have an Animal Collective song on my profile at the same time. I'm a strange boy. You would think I would have a Nickelback song or something. Life is full of strange happenings, mixes, and combinations. The dichotomy of Zach may be completely different from most. I've always believed that personal appearance and taste does not dictate deeper personal expressions. I believe I've been an example of this ideal for quite some time. Just a note, I know I often write about this subject, or similar subjects, however I like to write about it so I'm sticking my tongue out at you.

I subscribe to eMusic and I also have a subscription to MLB Extra Innings. Why is this special? I don't know, really. I do know that people that I know who would order and download music off of eMusic generally as a rule do not watch as much baseball as I do. I can think of maybe two exceptions to this rule off the top of my head. Likewise, most of my more sports oriented friends have copies of the new Daughtry album. Most of my people (who don't own that particular album) would scoff at the fact I spend time and energy on people that listen to "that type of music." Once again, what you like and identify with in pop culture does not dictate what type of qualities I find endearing in a friend.

Liking Lindsay Lohan may not garner you any points in my mind of you having any semblance of musical taste, however if you are a good and honest person with at least something in common with me, liking Ms. Blowhard will not get you shutout of Le Parte de Zach. I never took French. My fiancé is my best friend. She likes some music that is like nails on a chalkboard to me. Despite this we have a lot in common like our sense of humor (to a certain degree, I have a sick sensibility), attitude towards life, and we both like watching sports (also to a certain degree for her). So, just because she likes watching The Batchelor and The Notebook does not mean we cannot be compatible. She did love Hot Fuzz after all. She makes an effort to listen to some of my weirdo music (and likes a lot of it) and I try really hard not to complain when we listen to Hillary Duff. She's her own person and she doesn't care what you think. I respect that immensely.

Friday night Stephanie and I were on the hunt for a tuxedo t-shirt for her Dad's 50^th birthday party. This particular leg of the ongoing journey brought us to Hot Topic. Yes, that Hot Topic. I've been in that store exactly two times before Friday. Once was to see what the hell it was all about, and the second time was to buy a Nintendo t-shirt about 5 years ago. Needless to say in my Boston Red Sox shirt and hat I stuck out like a sore thumb. The amount of makeup on some of these kids would make Robert Smith jealous. I won't even go into the irony of trying to be non-conformist whilst in Hot Topic and being a consumer. The only differences between kids that shop and Hot Topic and Abercrombie & Fitch are taste and style. Well, and the smell. I hate walking by A & F stores. Who the fuck wants to smell like that?

I didn't come out of Hot Topic empty handed, oh no. I had a strong desire to purchase something that night. I bought a blue G.I. Joe Cobra t-shirt. I unveiled it at a show the other night where my friend's band was playing. The guy at the door and all three members of said band said my shirt was awesome. Then I told my friend it was from Hot Topic, he replied by walking away in disgust. Isn't it funny how a shirt can go from cool to stupid based on where it was purchased? I know he was partially kidding but there is a shred of truth to every joke intentional or not. Buying a shirt at Hot Topic does not define who I am. Nor should you shop at a store like that looking for an identity. Listening to the band Of Montreal (who I am listening to now) does not define me either. I'm going to see Animal Collective Sunday. I'm also going to see John Mayer with Stephanie in June. I'm ok with both, and you should be too. There is more to a person than pop culture preferences. Everyone says they are searching for a deeper meaning when it pertains to life, relationships, and etcetera.

Question: How many people talk the talk and don't walk the walk? Answer: A lot.

I love The Office, I felt the need to end this on a Dwight Schrute reference for some dumb reason.

Currently listening : Icons, Abstract Thee By Of Montreal Release date: By 08 May, 2007

8:14 PM - 4 Comments - 5 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

	Derek	COBRA!!! Posted by Derek on Monday, May 14, 2007 at 9:55 PM [Remove] [Reply to this]

	J.F. Whitaker	You are such a girl. There wasn't a shred of truth in my walking away in disgust...however, there were several ounces of good beer and cheap whiskey. Yummy! Besides, it wouldn't make much since for a guy wearing GAP jeans (and underwear), an Old Navy shirt, Wal-Mart socks and Foot Locker shoes to scoff at a guy for wearing a shirt purchased at Hot Topic, would it? You doubt my intelligence and you will be thouroughly punished. People who run around complaining/making fun of where people shop piss me off. If they would only acquire the ability to make there own clothes from scratch then I might give a shit what they think. I'll continue to shop with great convenience to my personal liking until then. Posted by J.F. Whitaker on Tuesday, May 15, 2007 at 2:40 PM [Remove] [Reply to this]

	J.F. Whitaker	I meant "their own clothes..." and not "there own clothes..." That's it. Posted by J.F. Whitaker on Tuesday, May 15, 2007 at 2:42 PM [Remove] [Reply to this]

Stephanie

Did you hear the news? According to Maxim Lindsay Lohan is the hottest person on earth. I saw it on CNN. So that means it's important. Damn Hot Topic and their snappy tshirts! "I heart, heart shirts" classic. Posted by Stephanie on Tuesday, May 15, 2007 at 7:35 PM [Remove] [Reply to this]

Small Droppings

Current mood: blank
Category: Writing and Poetry

Unlocking that door in your mind is something I have difficulty with some days, shit most days. It's a constipation of words. Searching for my bottle of Pepto-Bismol can get tricky. Some days I do find my container of chalky pink goodness. Everyone is born with a certain level of creativity and is generally shown through ones childhood. Some are able to lock on to it and develop, others let it go completely at adolescence. I sort of just kept an eye on it, and it kept its eye on me. Now I think I'm setting a trap for it, but right now I'm the equivalent of Elmer Fudd trying to catch Bugs Bunny.

When I write it's all very literal. The music is bad, the Red Sox are in first place, and my 7^th grade girlfriends were all older than me. I've always had it in me, I thought, to write creatively for something that is not entirely non-fictional. There has always been a part of me though that holds me back because it's stupid, or not creative enough. Most of you have either emailed or left nice compliments about my writing in my blog. First, thank you. Second, I'm not sure if I have a "gift" or not. Comments like that scare me. I don't know how to handle it because of the fear of someone who is better than me telling me my ability to write is shit and I should stop for the sake of intelligent humanity. I know I've practiced quite a bit at the introspective work. If you go back and read some of my original posts from when I got on MySpace (or did MySpace get on me?) they are short, incoherent, and poorly written. Now, I'm a little long in the keyboard for most people is the main complaint. I'm purposely trying. To. Shorten my. Sentences.

I wrote a story when I was 12 that contained no less than 120 pages of written manuscript on college rule notebook paper. It was about a young warrior coming of age that collected magical stones and could travel through time, even to the modern day. I tried to use it as a reflection of me starting middle school and my desire to travel back to when I was a kid finger painting and wanting to travel forward to see what I was like as an adult. I'm not kidding, I was quite the self aware little pre-pubescent child. I'm not sure what happened to it (the story, not the awareness). It was a cross between Quantum Leap, The Legend of Zelda, and Indiana Jones. It also sported illustrations that would make Napoleon Dynamite jealous.

I'm pretty sure my days of scribing choose your own adventure type books were completed with that story. Maybe the sunburn on the top of head is getting to me. Strange yet beautiful music has always inspired me to weird heights in my head. A friend told me music is very liberating at the risk of sounding like a hippy. I do my best to make all my friends feel dumber than I. Just kidding. It's just the ability to blah blah blah them all out onto a page. Or what Microsoft tells me is a page.

Anyway, I just wanted to make my adoring public aware of my creative impotence today.

But wait! There is more! For those who have faithfully subscribed to my blog, a reward is in order. You see, when I do manage to sqeeze out a sample or something fictional, you will be the only ones to read it! So, if you would like to not only read about my life, but my fictional musings you can subscribe to this blog and I will make you a PREFERRED reader!

Currently listening : Feels By Animal Collective Release date: By 18 October, 2005

3:28 PM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

MontERNa

I'm not ALREADY preferred? PSHA! Posted by MontERNa on Wednesday, May 09, 2007 at 6:13 PM [Remove] [Reply to this]

Evolver

Current mood: calm
Category: Music

Well, I'm back from Florida in one piece. For those of you that did not know, I spent the weekend in Sarasota/Long Boat Key, Florida. Hopefully Stephanie will have some photos up soon on her page. If you want feel free to check them out there when the time comes. I have something cooking regarding this weekend, however that will not be out until later this week.

Tonight, before I hit the hay, I would like to rap a bit on a certain band. This band is one that had a profound affect on a majority of my high school class at one point or another. Some even 10 years later proclaim they are the greatest band to walk the Earth. If you haven't figured it out from the title of my blog, that band is 311.

I was first introduced to the band by cousin Nick, who lives in 311's hometown of Omaha, Nebraska. I saw them live in the summer of 1994 and didn't think much of them. I reluctantly packed up two recorded tapes of "Music" and "Grassroots" Nick had recorded for me. I listened to them occasionally and didn't really share it among friends, thinking I would be made fun of for this strange music. The funny thing is most of my friends now would make fun of me for still listening to them. Well, good news. For the last couple three years I've fallen out of love with this band. Don't get me wrong, I've been following "good music" since I was in high school, but these guys were sort of a guilty pleasure. Even in the middle of a group of people that worshiped them.

For me, it was positive music in a time in my life that was anything but. It was almost an escape for me and crept into my daily routine. It was for so long as a matter of fact that I will no doubtedly purchase or download every subsequnt album until they stop putting out new music. Once again, I'm sure I'll get fun poked in my direction, but I've been getting made fun of for one thing or another all my life.

Listening to their music now is sort of an afterthought. If I do, I'm usually reminiscing about something from a particular period of time. Which is fine for me, I have no issues returning to a certain piece of music for the sake of remembering any number of life events. This time in my life after moving to Kansas City and being on the verge of marriage, I'm in no mood for memories from the past most days. I have no need to go back and I've found the reason I may have held on to this band is because I was not ready to give up certain aspects of my past. I can see now that with those ships sailing into the horizon, the music that played the soundtrack to those memories are on deck with them.

So, something now must be addressed in my opinion. What is the actual musical value and imprint 311 has left on the music landscape the past dozen or some odd years? They are sort of an odd mix when I ask myself this very question. They are too commerical and sacherine for the people that subscribe to eMusic, and they are too underground and non-mainstream for the people that pay for iTunes. To me, they are almost on some smaller scale the Greatful Dead of my generation. I what know you are thinking "Hey, what about Phish?" or "Come on, Dave Matthews is more like the Dead than 311." You may be right, however this is my entry, so you will listen to what I have to say. Now be quiet or I will pull this car over.

All bad analogies (2) aside, these three bands all have similar hardcore audiences. Not in scope of course. I can't possibly fathom 200,000 311 fans driving to Omaha to see them perform for the last time. Then again I think your average 311 fan may be smarter and inclined to do something other than partake in a pilgrimage to Nebraska than say your garden variety patchouli smelling, no good lay about, hippy Phish fan. So, the difference for me personally is that number one, Phish are no longer in existence and number two, seemingly in constant legal trouble. Whether it's former ginger kid Trey Anastasio repeatedly being pulled over for DUI's or speeding in Vermont, or some other guy in the band being busted for kiddie porn. It's hard to remain at the top of this heap when you are broken up and pleading the Pete Townshend defense. Most importantly, they tried too hard to be like the Dead. That makes them an immitatior, or, douchebags. That alone automatically disqualifies them in my world. You have to try to be different to be the "this generation's fill in the blank band." Tool sounds nothing like Pink Floyd, however the comparison is consistently made.

Dave Matthews is, in my humble opinion, for the VH1 crowd. Sure I've purchased a DMB album, but who hasn't? However, the majority of that crowd listens to Nickelback and Sheryl Crow, so, enough said. By the way Miss Crow, the next time I have to do No. 2 and only use one toilet paper square, I hope I get to meet you and shake your hand. Moving on...

...I'm wrapping this up because I'm nearly fully asleep now...

311 has obtained something of a level of respect that a good number of bands crave. Along with that is an international, rabid, faithful, hardcore fan base. Everyone knows they enjoyed some major success in the mid-90's, however that faded almost as quickly as they came out of no where to be a household name in the world of pop. Now, when they release an album they are assured to debut in the top 10 of the modern rock charts and really nothing more. So don't look for an MTV reality show having to do with them any time soon. When they tour, they pretty much sell out where ever they play and to much fanfare, which is what they aspired to do.

All in all, they seem to make a brand of music that pleases a certain segment of the population. I don't really see anything wrong with that. They've now become a niche band. There is nothing wrong with that either. It's just that I don't smoke enough (or none at all) pot anymore to connect with said group. So, if I want to remember what I was feeling like in high school, I'll queue up some 311 in my iPod and play away. I just don't anticipate this to happen on a daily basis any longer.

Currently listening : Grassroots By 311 Release date: By 12 July, 1994

9:44 PM - 2 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

	MontERNa	I am SOOOOOOOOOOO going to see them at Red Rocks in August. I still get in 311 moods and have all albums. The newer stuff is definitely more mainstream - "Music" will always be their best, in my opinion. Maybe "Grassroots," but I'm sticking with "Music" for now. Their contribution to the vast musical landscape is, I think, the fact that they were one of the first to successfully blend rap and rock. I still remember the first time I heard them (I was 14) and thought "They are going to be HUGE!" About a year later (less, I think), they were. How many bands do you remember hearing for the first time? I can't think of others, myself. Posted by MontERNa on Tuesday, May 08, 2007 at 12:12 AM [Remove] [Reply to this]

Big JC

I totally agree with everything you said about 311, I still have nothing but love for them but others seem to despise them. I don't know who decides what's good taste and what's not, but fuck them if they don't like 311 without listening first. I have never bought a DMB album, never downloaded one either, he annoys me for some reason, if I want adult contemporary, John Meyer fills the void. Tool is called our generation's Pink Floyd because of the way they make records, they would go platinum without a single. Nine Inch Nails may actually be a closer compairison Posted by Big JC on Tuesday, May 08, 2007 at 12:19 AM [Remove] [Reply to this]

Flying

Current mood: worried
Category: Travel and Places

I hate flying. Some people who have never flown in an airplane (yes "in" not "on." Think about that, who flies "on" a plane? Technically, you're in the plane.) claim that they are terrified of it. I'm not sure if that notion is completely unfounded, however if you've never done something how can you know for sure? That being said, I'm sure Russian Roulette is pretty damn scary even though I've never had the pleasure. Tomorrow at six in the AM I will be boarding a plane for Atlanta, Georgia then to Sarasota, Florida for a weekend vacation. I know I briefly mentioned this yesterday but I wanted to elaborate a little. So won't you have a seat and listen to my musings on flying?

I always loved to fly from when I was a little kid until after 9/11. I know we are supposed to be big, strong, and proud Americans and we are required to be overflowing with resolve in the face of adversity. That being said, that day may have damaged my opinion on flying forever. Do I think that Muslim Terrorists are going to hijack my flight from Kansas City to Atlanta? Not really, but it's not entirely based on the notion that I think crazy religious zealots are going to smash my flight into the Georgia Dome. It is more drenched in the fact that airplanes are not indestructible monuments to our creative technological advances. When I was a kid I didn't think that it could happen to me. Even after seeing that flight in 1989 crash land in Sioux City, Iowa. Big news in the Midwest back in the late 80's, maybe you missed it. Anyway, I've been on no less than a couple of dozen flights in my young life and up until a few years ago I didn't bat an eye at being 35,000 feet above the ground. I think movies like Fight Club and Castaway may have sent me over the edge also. I attempted to watch hours and hours of Delta Force thinking my own personal Chuck Norris would bail me out if shit got hot on a plane. Or even Sam Jackson, hell how about Wesley Snipes? Alas, these efforts did little to quell my new fear of flying.

Commercial airplanes are massive mechanical machines with tens of thousands of moving and operating parts. If any number of those fails and one of the plane's systems is rendered inoperable, then that equals a long fucking drop back to Earth. Like I said yesterday, it all comes down to control. Also, after flying enough the wonder of it all sort of goes away. Back to my control issues, if my car engine dies on the highway I can pull over, call AAA, and have my car towed and live to tell my friends about it. If both plane engines fail while flying I can't do much about it and I'm dead and I don't get to tell my friends about it. Much less enjoy a toll free call to a triple-A agent. To me that is scary. The crashing, not the AAA part.

I went to Puerto Vallarta two years ago. My flight left at around 7am and I drank heavily. It was on Frontier Airlines so they also had nifty satellite television with ESPN and pay per view. Ah, Sam Adams and SportsCenter. That was enough to save me that trip. Last summer Stephanie and I went to Las Vegas and a portable DVD player kept me occupied. This time, I'm bringing my iPod, Sony PSP, Nintendo DS, magazines, my day planner, and a book to keep me distracted. At least if I die I'll crash with some of my most prized material possessions. And Stephanie of course.

Of course, it's 99.9999% assured that I will get to Florida and back in tact and return to Kansas City on Monday evening. I'm a big believer in karma, and I will give you an example of why I believe in it.

My Mom, sister Alicia and I were leaving from Sioux Falls on a trip to see my grandparents in Mesa, Arizona over President's Day break while I was a senior in high school. First a little background. I was a surly child. I also talked a lot and like to play practical jokes on people. Sometimes I liked to play pranks on people whom I didn't even know. Second, do you remember what you were like at 17? Would you like getting up at 5am to get on a flight to go hang out with your grandparents on your birthday in the Mecca of blue hairs? If you answered yes, screw you, you're a liar. And your grandparents hate you. So by the time we got on the plane at 7am (remember this was pre-9/11 and you didn't have to arrive at the airport 7 ½ hours early) I was still tired and crabby. We were sitting by the wing and the lady in front of us kept going on and on and on and on and on (and on) about how scared she was to fly, and how something went wrong on every flight she'd ever been on. I decided I wanted to shut her up in my own special way. As we were taxiing (sp?) around the tarmac, I turned to my Mom and rather loudly said "geez, are those rivets on the wing supposed to be rattling around like that?" Needless to say the already on edge female in front of us went into a tailspin of bat shit crazy I had never seen the likes of and about had a seizure in front of the entire flight. The flight attendants had to come over and calm her down and the plane had to stop. She of course told the attendants some man behind her that claimed the wing was about to fall off. Then the pilots had to stop the plane, get a crew out to inspect the wing, and then the co-pilot had to tell me what a little fuckhead I had been up front. It was a little embarrassing and everyone on the plane hated me because I delayed a flight. Then again, how many of you can say you personally delayed a flight? My Mom didn't say a word to me. I think she was pretending that I wasn't her child, as she did on numerous occasions in her tenure raising me. I wasn't a bad child, just "fidgety" as my Grandmother phrased it.

This my friends, is called penance. What can I say, I am Catholic and I was born with a guilty conscience. They throw that in free with the original sin. How long is God going to punish me for this childish (yet still kind of funny) act? Probably until I don't think it's funny anymore. I don't laugh about it out loud when I think about it or tell the story, but there is a small part of me that still laughs on the inside.

Anyway, off to Florida I go tomorrow!

Currently listening : The Loon By Tapes 'n Tapes Release date: By 25 July, 2006

1:50 PM - 4 Comments - 5 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

	Derek	size=4>I've only flown maybe twice in my life, one of those times i dont remember because i was like 2 or 3, going to see my grandma in Cali, but when you're that young you dont think of stuff like crashes i guess. Anyways, im sure everything will be fine, and you will have a great time in Florida, but in the rare .000001% chance you go down, lol, then let me take this time to say we all love you very very much and that if anything happened you would be missed. And by the way i forgive you for being a little asshole when you were a kid. ha Posted by Derek on Thursday, May 03, 2007 at 6:30 PM [Remove] [Reply to this]

	Stephanie	Ha! I second Derek's comment. Posted by Stephanie on Thursday, May 03, 2007 at 6:54 PM [Remove] [Reply to this]

	Zach	Which part? Posted by Zach on Thursday, May 03, 2007 at 6:58 PM [Remove] [Reply to this]

Jami

From one "sulry" child to another I wish that I was on that plane with ya. I woulda laughed my ass off ! Have fun on vacation and dont stop the flight this time alright ? LOL Posted by Jami on Friday, May 04, 2007 at 8:44 PM [Remove] [Reply to this]

Today

Current mood: bitchy
Category: Jobs, Work, Careers

I'm stressed out today. I'm not sure what it is from and I can't put my finger on it. Currently, I'm sitting at my desk listening to reruns of Real Time with Bill Maher at my desk on my iPod. I put the throw away "iPod" comment to sound pretentious. I just finished listening to hours of The Replacements so you could say that I'm feeling a little bitter. My mouth is all cottony from eating sunflower seeds all day yesterday, so that's a little irritating.

People at work bother me, a lot. I know that it's a fishbowl in the middle of an ocean of annoying people and that most individuals irritate everyone, unless you're a hippy and listen to a lot of Jack Johnson. All joking aside, I wish that it wasn't like this. I hope someday that I'll get to work with people that don't suck. Alas, I know in my heart of hearts that will never happen because there is always someone that will drive you nothing short of insane. On the other hand, why do they have to outnumber the decent people here (where I work) in such massive numbers?

I'm not trying to make myself out as some sort of genius, but I just want more people to challenge me mentally, not just be mentally challenged. I want to get back in to school and obtain a new major in journalism so I can do what I love, not just what I though would make me money back in the day. I decided not to become a journalism major in my younger years because I didn't think it would make me enough money. Stupid. Now I'm 27 and applying to college and doing it all over again. Granted it won't take me that long to finish, I just never pictured myself doing this when I was optimistic and wide eyed and fresh out of high school. Then again, a lot of things changed that last year of school when I was in Sioux Falls so I should be used to it. Now I just want to get out of the financial world. Look at what I'm doing now, I'm blogging instead of working.

This weekend Stephanie and I are going to be on holiday to Sarasota, Florida. Should be a jolly good vacation, even though I hear we'll be spending time with lots of people that perpetrate the act of snobbery. I always like to meet new people. I also hate to fly. Something about being 35,000 feet in the air is troubling to me. Some people tell me it comes down to control, and be being a controlling person when I'm not in it I get nervous. Sure I'm out of my comfort zone and I don't have an issue admitting it, however unreasonable my fear of flying is.

Look, a short entry!!

Currently listening : Tim By The Replacements Release date: By 25 October, 1990

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Stephanie

and I read it all! looking forward to getting the hell out of this gloomy place for a while. I'm not even excited to go get a pedicure in this craptatic weather. But it's a must. Oh and evil walmart. Be thankful you aren't with me...who knows how long it will take. hehe. whatcha doin tonight? Posted by Stephanie on Wednesday, May 02, 2007 at 4:07 PM [Remove] [Reply to this]