The World of McIllwain

(M AE K – ih l – w ai n)

Artist of the Month – March ‘10

Mar 4

Posted by Josh in music | No Comments

In keeping with blog series that I never continue past the second or third entry, and since it is “Music Month” after all, I thought I would try something.  I’ve been trying to think of a way to express what music I’m currently into for awhile, and picking one artist a month seems like a good way to do that.  So without further ado, kicking off the very first Artist of the Month series is one of my new favorites.


I was introduced to the SILVERSUN PICKUPS roughly three years ago.  At the time, I was a pretty avid Pandora Radio user and had several different channels that I liked to experiment with.  There was one channel that I created, “Copeland Radio,” that was my personal favorite.  It included not only many great songs that I adored, but it quickly began introducing me to new ones that I had never heard of.  It didn’t take long before a song titled “Lazy Eye” made its way into the playlist.  It quickly earned a “thumbs up” and I also found it creeping into other channels that I had made.

That was the extent of my time with Silversun Pickups for about a year, until September 2008.  Rock Band 2 was released, and being the Harmonix fanboy that I am, picked it up on day one.  To my surprise, I had completely forgotten that “Lazy Eye” was included in the game.  My love affair with the song was renewed and I decided that I should check to see if the rest of their music is as good as this one song.

I was pleased to discover that their album, Carnavas, exceeded all of my expectations.  It’s a fantastic album that quickly rose to become one of my new favorites.  And while their vocal stylings may take a little time to become familiar with, once you do there is a wealth of musical complexity to discover.

I remember listening to them in my truck many times, trying to figure out the best way to describe the band to someone who has never heard them before.  After much deliberation, I finally settled on this:  If Smashing Pumpkins and Death Cab For Cutie had a baby, it would probably be called Silversun Pickups.  The harshness of Pickups singer Brian Aubert reminds me in a way of  Billy Corgan’s vocal style, while drummer Chris Guanlao uses many of the same snare and fill-heavy techniques that ex-Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlain is famous for.  And on the other side, Silversun Pickuups employ many different subtle layers of music, be it layered guitar tracks or intense bass fuzz, that I would expect from a musically-focused group like Death Cab or even Modest Mouse.

The band is currently touring with Muse, which is huge.  These guys are on the road to stardom, especially after winning a Grammy at the last awards show.  I’m excited to see where they go, especially since their follow-up to the Carnavas album, Swoon, turned out to be even better.  If you get a chance, I definitely recommend that you give them a shot.  It may be slightly off-putting at first, but once you become adjusted to their style, you won’t go back.

Recommended tracks:

- Lazy Eye
- Melatonin
- Well Thought Out Twinkles
- There’s No Secrets This Year
- The Royal We
- Panic Switch

Music March

Mar 3

Posted by Josh in music | No Comments

Since I like to experiment and do weird themes with my blog sometimes, I thought I would try something that I might be able to actually follow through with… Though I’m not making any promises!

This month, March is “music month” here.  I am going to dedicate all of my blog posts to music, and thus they shall all be musically inspired.  Basically, I was bored and thought this might help my creative juices flow a little easier.

Anyway, stay tuned for the goodness to come!

Life Lessons and Properly Managing Your Bank Account

Feb 25

Posted by Josh in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

This month has been a bit of a tight month. My paycheck at the beginning of February consisted of roughly 5 days of work I was able to squeeze in around the three-week-long winter break. Thankfully, taxes helped alleviate a little stress. Unfortunately, my spending habits have been slowly devolving and the good habits I had been practicing most of last year have gradually been deteriorating. This week saw the culmination of that.

I had tried to plan my last dollar of my checking account balance to ensure I had enough for gas, at least until I get paid tomorrow. I budgeted how much I would need to make sure I didn’t exceed a certain amount. The problem with allotting money as “non-essential” money is that it typically finds itself spent rather quickly. Last year, I had learned to be more frugal with my income and was despite some really rough economic situations, I was proud of myself for resisting temptations and making smart decisions in general. But as I said before, all of it was slowly collapsing and while I could see it happening, I guess I didn’t want to accept the inevitable.

So I had the last dollar I needed for gas planned aside, and everything seemed perfect. Earlier in the week, I was asked to go out to my favorite nearby Mexican restaurant for dinner. The place is super-cheap, but I knew in my gut that I shouldn’t. However, after trying to add up everything in my head, I was sure I would be able to swing it and be alright in the end.

Big mistake.

Turns out, I accidentally miscounted two small one-to-two dollar purchases I had made earlier in the week, and the measly $3.50 meal from Castillo’s registered as a double overdraft on my checking account. So now, that roughly four dollar meal just turned into a seventy dollar meal. Yes, that’s right. $70.  The loud thud you hear is my head repeatedly slamming against the wall.

So the moral of this story – Be smart with your money. Don’t try to spend every last cent in your checking account, because it’s probably going to burn you… Badly.

Life Lessons and Hair Clippers

Feb 22

Posted by Josh in funny, personal | 4 Comments

Today, I learned a very valuable life lesson.  It is one that I plan on tucking away and keeping with me the rest of my life.

Don’t ever attempt to buzz your head with hair clippers without fully charging them first.  Otherwise, you’re left with half of a shaved head and a lot of shame.

Thankfully, Nick Friesen was able to save the day with his clippers that he let me use.  Whew.  Disaster averted.

So let this be a valuable lesson to you all.

The Legend of Roger Ebert

Feb 19

Posted by Josh in movies | 6 Comments

I doubt many of you know, but Roger Ebert was a major influence in developing my love for cinema.  I always knew about his show “At The Movies” from my childhood, but I never really paid attention to the man until I read my first full Ebert review in 2003.  This is when my curiosity in film really began to explode and I felt the itch to submerge my mind further and further into the inner-workings of the industry and magic of film-making.  I quickly realized that the man was a complete genius and even when I disagreed with him heavily on certain films, I could always respect his side of the argument.  He knew how to put his love for cinema into words that I never dreamed possible.

Later that year, I was introduced to the movie “Dark City” by a friend of mine, and it quickly became one of my favorite science-fiction movies.  However, I noticed on the back of the DVD cover that there was a commentary for the film that featured Roger Ebert, whose opinion I had just began to respect in regards to movies.  If his brilliance hadn’t been conveyed to me before, it was laid before me in its full glory at this point.  Anyone who is intrigued about film-making and the passion that goes into great movies owes it to themselves to listen to it at least once.

I am saying all of this because a recent profile has been published on Roger Ebert’s recent years that chronicle his battle with cancer.  The pictures of him are slightly shocking and depressing, but you really get a sense of how amazing this individual is when you read it.  His bout with death has made him not only an inspiration for cinema lovers, but for people in general.  It’s sad that terrible things happen to great people sometimes, but it’s encouraging when your heroes take a stand against the odds and prove to the world why you ever admired them in the first place.

If you have the time, I highly recommend that you read it.  It’s uplifting, harrowing, funny, and somber all at once.  But it’s also a fitting portrayal of a man who simply loved movies so much, that it inspired numerous other people (like me) to discover the same.

http://www.esquire.com/features/roger-ebert-0310

Finally?

Feb 10

Posted by Josh in Internet, website | 2 Comments

After months of frustration, trying to get it to work properly… My blog-feeder finally worked today.  Huh.  I guess I should be happy!

But while it looks cool and accomplishes everything I wanted it to, it’s actually bittersweet.  I’ve been thinking lately about how most of my blogging friends are now ex-blogging friends.  I don’t see people updating as much as they used to (myself included) and now that my blogroll is alive and operational… Well, now the proof is there.  Only a small number of my friends have actually updated their blogs within the last month.  Many more are approaching a whole year.

I guess the surging popularity of Facebook and Twitter with their micro-blogging capabilities are really starting to kill off personal blog sites.  Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to find new friends with blogs to read!

Internet Entitlement

Feb 6

Posted by Josh in rant, technology | No Comments

I noticed something interesting these last few days…  If you’re unaware (or totally oblivious), Facebook has been rolling out changes yet again to their main site.  It seems they are notorious for doing this at least once a year, and sometimes the new changes haven’t been very intuitive.  However, this last round of updates to the user interface has been nothing short of fantastic.  Notifications, messages and events are all conveniently accessible from the side bar without having to even navigate away to a different page.  It’s very smart, and is a welcome change to the otherwise drab layout of the home page.

However, just like every time before, this hasn’t stopped throngs of people from raising their voices in protest, criticizing not only Facebook but the creators as well, and silly fan pages claiming that the site should be reverted back are popping up as well.  All of this made me realize… Why do people on the Internet feel like they are entitled to so much, especially to a free service?

I could possibly understand if people were paying a premium to have access to the site, and felt that their voices (and dollars) should count.  That’s a bit reasonable.  But for a free social networking site?  To be honest, I don’t know why people think their opinion on some layout change is that important.  I also don’t quite understand why people get so upset about it either.

For some reason, people don’t like change, especially to something they love and are familiar with.  Even if the changes are for the better, people become frustrated when they can’t immediately do the same action they used to have memorized before, instead of finding the new (and much simpler) way of doing things.  Are people that addicted to Facebook that one simple UI change can cause them so much frustration?  I know what will happen:  People will get used to the changes, just like they have before, and they’ll forget they were ever upset.  But still, the fact that people get so bothered in the first place makes me feel… weird.  It’s just a website, people.  If you’re that annoyed, then quit.

It’s not just Facebook that experiences this, but any popular site that has many regular visitors.  Whenever there is change, the first reaction is to panic.  Again, it’s silly, and I can’t help but wonder why people feel they are so entitled to having their favorite websites stay in the same layout and format for years and years?  If it were up to the common people, I’m sure Facebook would be stuck with the old, clunky UI from several years ago, simply because people wouldn’t want to alter what they are familiar with.  But people don’t realize that most changes aren’t simply cosmetic.  A lot happens under the hood, so to speak, and with each of these updates, our favorite websites are becoming more and more compliant with new web standards and features.  In return, that gives us access to cooler applications to tinker with, such as the beloved FarmVille and other games.  Without changes, we would have never seen applications that are now (sadly) being played by millions worldwide daily.

So next time your favorite social network, gossip central or message board gets an overhaul, take some time to really find out what has changed before you whip out your “Internet Entitlement” badge… Which, by the way, also makes you look like a spoiled 12 year old kid.

Until April Update!

Jan 30

Posted by Josh in Until April, music | 1 Comment

Folks… I didn’t think this day would ever come.  But I actually have news about Until April’s album that we’ve been recording (for over 2 years now… but who’s counting?)

Today, we received our very first mix of one of our songs, “Black Hearted Days.”  Now, for those unfamiliar with sound engineering, let me try to explain it to you real quick-like:

The very first step a band has to do is record their music.  When you hear the audio straight from the recordings, with no tampering done what-so-ever, you are listening to raw audio.  Usually it’s very rough and uneven in volume.  We finished editing our music awhile ago, which was the last step we completed.  That means we’ve taken the raw audio, and removed all of the unnecessary noise and instrument tracks that we didn’t need or want.  Then we tightened it all up to sound nice and syncopated, but the sound that you still hear is raw.  However, mixing is when the producer starts not only adjusting the volumes of each individual instrument or vocal track, but adds effects, layers and patches that changes how it sounds.  This is how you get the album-sound that every professional recording has.  Mixing is one of the very last steps to a completed product.

Well, we are in the middle of the mixing stage, and it’s incredible to be almost done.  And not only that, but I am so impressed with the results so far!  Our first mix sounds awesome, and it’s still not even finished yet!  It’s pretty close though and is a great representation of what the final track will sound like, outside of mastering of course (which is the last step, and involves encoding the tracks at a certain bitrate to drastically improve the clarity and volume of the song… essentially.)

If all goes well, we could be finished mixing by the end of March, which isn’t far.  This is exciting people!  We just want this album to be done, and I’m glad that many of you have been a part of the journey.  The wait won’t be too much longer!

Top Movies of the Decade!

Jan 21

Posted by Josh in movies | 1 Comment

Yes, here it is folks.  My 20 personal picks for my favorite films of this last decade.  Let me tell you… It was really hard to narrow this down.  There are plenty of movies that I wish could make the cut, but they were just not meant to be.  Movies like Garden State, Atonement, United 93, There Will Be Blood, The Wrestler and The Dark Knight are all fantastic movies, but I decided to cut it off at 20.  They’re amazing movies, but I just feel like these were slightly more impacting on me.

Anyway, here we go!  And again, they’re not ranked, just listed in order of year of release.

TOP 20 MOVIES of the DECADE

1.  Almost Famous (2000)
2.  Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
3.  The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
4.  Spirited Away (2001)
5.  Amélie (2001)
6.  Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
7.  City of God (2003)
8.  Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
9.  The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)
10.  The Incredibles (2004)
11.  Shaun of the Dead (2004)
12.  Stay (2005)
13.  The Prestige (2006)
14.  Children of Men (2006)
15.  Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
16.  The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)
17.  No Country For Old Men (2007)
18.  Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
19.  The Hurt Locker (2009)
20.  (500) Days of Summer (2009)

—————————————————————

All 20 of these movies are incredible for some particular reason.  However, my personal pick for the very best is an obvious choice if you know me well.  That movie is Almost Famous.  It’s not only my choice for the best of the decade, but my personal favorite movie of all-time.  I receive no greater satisfaction from any other movie than I do with this one.  And I’ve discussed my reasons why many times with many people, but if you want to know in greater detail why I feel the way I do about it, ask me sometime.

Anyway, what do you think?  Agree/disagree with this list?  Anything I should’ve added or removed?

Top 10 Movies of 2009

Jan 20

Posted by Josh in 2009, movies | 5 Comments

Here it is, after much procrastination, my “Best Movies of 2009!”

Enjoy.

TOP 10 MOVIES of 2009

10.  STAR TREK (J.J. Abrams)

9.  DISTRICT 9 (Neil Blomkamp)

8.  WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE (Spike Jonze)

7.  AVATAR (James Cameron)

6.  MOON (Duncan Jones)

5.  UP IN THE AIR (Jason Reitman)

4.  INGLORIOUS BASTERDS (Quentin Tarantino)

3.  UP (Pete Docter)

2.  THE HURT LOCKER (Kathryn Bigelow)

1.  (500) DAYS OF SUMMER (Marc Webb)

It’s been quite a fantastic year for movies, much improved over the last couple of years in fact.  Many great movies came out to close out the decade and I’m glad that I was able to experience almost all of them.  There are still a small handful of films that I haven’t seen, like Precious and A Serious Man.  But overall, I still feel confident in saying that this year was really great.

One of the biggest surprises came from the revitalization of the sci-fi genre that occurred.  Star Trek was a huge success, despite all of the many roadblocks and devastation it could’ve been.  It was able to please hardcore fans of the series while bringing in many new ones, a feat that is incredibly difficult to pull off for any series let alone Star Trek, the one that has the most notorious fan-base.  But things only got better with the releases of District 9, Moon, and Avatar.  These movies have shown that people will definitely eat up science-fiction, as long as isn’t hokey like most has been in the past.  District 9 put a whole new spin on the genre and it definitely reaped the rewards as people loved it, including myself.  Count on seeing a huge resurgence of sci-fi films in the next couple of years to capitalize on the success of Star Trek and Avatar.

Speaking of Avatar, I am so glad that it lived up to the intense hype.  I was pretty nervous that it wouldn’t.  And while it’s definitely isn’t the “best movie ever made” like I’ve heard others (read: nerds) exclaim it is, the movie is still an absolute blast.  And it seems the rest of the world agrees, since it is making an absurd amount of money.  It hurts my head to even think about it.

While we’re still on the sci-fi mindset, I want to quickly bring up Moon.  It’s such a sleeper hit, because literally no one heard of it.  Sony barely pushed it at release, and even snubbed its Oscar chances by not sending out screeners to Academy voters.  However, Sam Rockwell is absolutely astounding in it and is definitely deserving of “Best Actor.”  The movie is essentially a one-man show (minus the voice of Kevin Spacey) and it’s amazing to think of how he carried it all while keeping it engaging and gripping.  Moon is definitely one of the best thrillers to come out in awhile, and is one of the best sci-fi films to be released in a long time.

Where the Wild Things Are was great, though not what myself or most people expected.  It was a lot slower and more thoughtful than I anticipated.  However, the beautiful imagery, soundtrack and themes really connected with me and I was able to appreciate it for what it was.  I definitely understand that it’s not for everyone though.

Up, Up in the Air, and Inglorious Basterds are all amazing and completely wonderful films.  Especially Up.  Pixar can seemingly do no wrong, as they release one of their very best and the best animated film this year.  Though Fantastic Mr. Fox is close, but it didn’t quite crack the top 10.  It’s probably around 11 though.

I went back and forth on the number one spot this year.  Technically, The Hurt Locker is as close to a perfect film as it can get.  Everything about the movie is so technically solid and airtight that I’m really hoping (and it’s looking obvious) that it will win Best Picture at the Academy Awards this year.  Not a single second of film is wasted and we are treated to some of the most realistic, nerve-wracking and intense moments in any film, let alone within the overdone modern warfare genre.  The message is sobering and incredibly impacting as well.  I was thinking about the movie for days after because I couldn’t get it out of my head.  I rarely ever use this word because it’s used way too much in most circles, but The Hurt Locker deserves it; the movie is brilliant.

However, my personal favorite of 2009 was by first time director Marc Webb (who will now be directing the next Spider-Man movie of all things.)  (500) Days of Summer quickly became one of my new all-time favorites, especially after the third viewing.  The movie is full of subtleties that are easy to miss the first (or second) time around.  In fact, the movie is almost designed to be watched a second time to really get everything possible out of it, based purely on the opening of the movie alone.  Without the knowledge of what happens throughout the plot, the intro seems insignificant and not important.  However, the first few minutes almost tell more than the entire movie does.  It’s incredibly smart, and the movie itself is hilarious as well.  It’s funny, thoughtful, emotional, all wrapped up in a pretty package.  Also, it employs one of the most creative film techniques I’ve ever seen, and I’m really surprised it has taken so long for someone to think of it.  (I’m talking about the “Expectations/Reality” scene in particular if you’ve seen it.  Not only is it really cool, but that one scene summarizes every single part of the movie at once.  It’s mind-blowing.)

So there you go.  What are your picks?