Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Hick Johnson Space Cowboy

This is a movie my brothers started working on back in 1999. They finally finished it 10 years later. It was filmed in CA and Utah.

Part 1



Part 2

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Music review: Ugly Casanova

WOW. Just got this album that was released in 2002. Ugly Casanova is a side band that Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock formed on the side, they only released on album, "Sharpen your Teeth".

Isaac used to tell a story about a man (who went by the name Ugly Casanova) that would follow them around on tour and play these songs backstage while they were all hanging out. He would abruptly leave then show up on another tour. The last time they saw him, he left behind these songs, which Isaac said he recorded in hopes that Ugly Casanova would come back.

The story is not real, but in some ways it is. If you have not listened to Modest Mouse, you're missing out. Isaac Brock is a genius. It took them YEARS before they were considered popular (they started back in 1993 and didn't really get serious radio play until around 2004's "Good News for People who Love Bad News" album). I still think their better albums are the earlier works, however the newer stuff they put out is still great and you can definitely hear how much they mature from album to album without losing the rawness that made them famous.

Back to Ugly Casanova.

I had heard about this side band, but never thought to look for the music. The other day I was looking for Modest Mouse's new EP on itunes and I happened upon the Ugly Casanova album. Just from listening to some of the samples, I was blown away and PISSED that I had been missing out.

My favorite songs from this album are in order (going to put Youtube videos/songs with them; don't know how long they'll last, so listen now and I apologize in advanced for some of the lame videos some of these people made with these songs):

Hotcha Girls



Parasites



Barnacles



So Long to the Holidays



Cat Faces



Smoke Like Ribbons



Things I don't remember

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Kearns Gremlins

Football season is upon us. I love being around this game and coaching it. For a long time I had dreamed of making an honest career out of coaching, but I think at my age and with my responsibilities, I'm best suited for being around my son and coaching FB with him. I'm actually having a blast. We have a great team and I'm really looking forward to the season.

I'm currently coaching the defense for our 9 year old "A" team. The great thing about this is that these kids, as long as they live in the area, will grow up playing together on the same team every year through high school (that is, of course, unless they get recruited away). The coaching staff we have is very knowledgeable and our parental support is amazing.

Caiden BARELY made weight to be able to play a "skill" position. He actually barely made weight a year ago, so it's kind of funny to think he has only gained a couple of pounds in a year, but he's definitely grown taller. He'll be playing TE and DE (or outside linebacker). He's made great improvements from last year and is doing a very good job. I'm very proud of him.

Tuesday, August 04, 2009

I don't want to be "one of those guys"

Here I am, up at 5am. Consumed with work on my mind. I've never been this consumed in my life. I've been working at my job for 6 months now and I'm still not where I need to be as far as being organized and "in control" of my job. I know it sounds crazy, but there is so much work that goes into just getting organized. I have over 80 properties I manage and each one has it's own uniqueness. 16 of them are out of state, so they require me to manage them remotely without seeing them more than 3 times a year (I've seen them once in the past 6 months).

The most challenging and stressful part of my job is spending money. One would think that wouldn't be a problem, however there is a lot of pressure to spend our monthly budgeted money because if we don't spend it in that month, we lose it (we don't get to carry it over into the next month), so most of the time I feel like an accountant, trying to ensure I have jobs lined up for work to be performed to spend the money. Every month I have about $16k-$40k to figure out how to spend. If I don't spend it, I'm in serious trouble. There is the stress of ensuring the job gets done in that month and then making sure I have the invoice in my hand by the end of that month. The most frustrating part is that I can't spend this money on the most obvious needs for my property (carpet and furniture) because those expenses come out of a capital budget, which is always VERY thin. In fact, carpet is the lowest of priorities with regards to capital budgets, so those are seldom approved.

In addition to my monthly spending dillemas, I just went through our most stressful month (July) which is budgeting month. This is where I take my budget based on what I spent part of this year and what I have planned for the remaining year, and create a budget for EACH property with that money I have. It's extremely tedious and time consuming. I've been having dreams of being late with my budget or not having started it. I finally finished it on Sunday evening a few days ago and I was RELIEVED.

Don't get me wrong, I really do love my job, but the past 6 months have been a serious adjustment from working a previous job that was much more flexible and didn't have all the restraints on a budget that I have now. It's taken some adjusting, but I think I'm getting it. I never imagined a job in the same field taking 6 plus months to really get control over (and I'm really pushing a realistic goal now of 1 year to REALLY have control).

But here I am, the guy up at 5am and can't stop thinking about work. I woke up to go to the bathroom and I was DOG TIRED (still am), but I can't fall asleep, so I decide to blog. I could just go into work, but I have to take Caiden to his mom's and it's too early for that. So, I'll do my best not to be THAT guy (the one that gets to work by 6am and doesn't leave until 6 or 7pm). Being a hard worker is important, but time for my family and myself is even more important. I just wonder how long it will last.