Jared’s Blog

Louie did it so I had to do it too.

1. What do you think of me, iTunes?
Gainsville Rock City by Less Than Jake
–Well that’s good because I always liked to rock.

2. Will I have a happy life?
Closets by With Honor
–So thats where all my skeletons went.

3. What do my friends really think of me?
In A Sweet Dream by Strata
–Good to know people think of me even in my sleep.

4. Do people secretly lust after me?
Grind by Alice in Chains
–Maybe I should go to clubs more often

5. What does [insert significant other] think of me?
The End of Everything by Trivium
–Last time I checked I wasn’t bent on world destruction

6. How can I make myself happy?
Competition Song by Pennywise
–Ahh competition. Always a good time.

7. What should I do with my life?
Macully Culkin by Fall of Troy
–This disturbs me.

8. Why must life be so full of pain?
Terror and Hubris in the House of Frank Pollard by Lamb of God
–Fitting.

9. How can I maximize my pleasure during sex?
Me Inside by Slipknot
–Oh man, this is too good. Does it get any better than this?

10. Will I ever have children?
Tornado by Mindless Self Indulgence
–I’m going to take that to mean one or more of my offspring are going to be hyper. Makes sense, I was.

11. Will I die happy?
A Fire in Babylon by Shadows Fall
–Guess that means no.

12. Can you give me some good advice?
Done It Anyway by Nonpoint
–Is there something I should’ve done?

13. Do you know where your children are?
Rain by Trivium
–Apparently whereever they are, they are wet.

14. What do you think happiness is?
Noches Desesperados by At All Cost
–Spanish for Desparate Nights. I guess I’m only happy in my late night times of need.

I just sat down and watch A Dozen Furies’ new video for The Cycle. I can’t help but watch and know that the whole thing is fake. Actually being in a video a few years ago I got to see what it’s like. I know what’s going on behind the scenes and I can picture it in my head no matter what video I’m watching.

Videos almost always have some sort of band performance in them. Of course watching it you’re brain just assumes the sound is coming from the instruments on the screen. Entirely not true! If you look at most videos you’ll see there are no instrument cables and sometimes not even an amp. The only thing making music is the drum kit. That and there’s a big PA set up that just plays the song over loudspeakers. The entire band can pretty much play whatever they want and as long as it somewhat matches up with the audio.

I’m sure most people know this, but I can’t ever watch a video now knowing what I know. And now you’re screwed too! HA!

Over the weekend Rick was hanging out and got an email from Atlantic Records. They were willing to guestlist us for the Taproot and Chevelle show tonight. I was like, well I wouldn’t pay $23 for a ticket, but I’ll do a show review for it.

Tuesday rolls around and things are all confirmed that Rick is guestlisted and has a +1 for me. After work I walked down to the Quest and met up with Rick. Now let me explain something. Rick and I had been on the guest list before and gotten burned because someone dropped the ball. It was for an Atreyu and Unearth show back in March. We ended up paying. At the time Rick didn’t print out the confirmation he got back from the PR firm. I was a little miffed, but I’d be willing to blame the PR guy before I’d get on Rick.

So today I made sure Rick had a copy of the confirmation email with him. Sure enough we walk up to the guy at the club and tell him we are on the guest list only to find out we weren’t. This kind of thing is common. Now I don’t mean to sound like a righteous prick, but that is bullshit.

For me it’s no big deal. I was already downtown for work and I had to pay for parking anyway. Rick, on the other hand, had to drive 150 miles right after work. Pay for a meal on the road, gas, parking. Not to mention he pretty much wasted his night. We could’ve paid the $23 for a ticket, but neither of us were that stoked to see either of the bands. Even more we were asked to interview Taproot for Decoymusic. Neither of us could make it to the venue before 6 to do it so we had to decline. I wonder what would’ve happened had we shown up to do the interview?

Anyways, the guy at the front was willing to go find Taproot’s manager but he wouldn’t go til after their set and they wre going on within minutes of us arriving. So much for that. We headed to a bar, grabbed a beer and just shot the shit for a while. Bottom line, if you’re going to try and get some press for a band you represent, it’s usually not a good idea to forget to put them on the guest list.

Update: Rick’s entire expose has been posted on Decoy.

Please consider this email sent to me last week regarding vacation and holiday scheduling. Now I have edited it a bit for readability by those outside Target.

In order to support the business needs throughout the year, beginning in January 2006, we are changing the number of Vacations allowed around Holidays and Peak Season.

Ultimately, this will result in less administration work by the scheduling team, and clearer and easier Vacation planning for the Specialist, as you will now generally know beforehand if you will work particular Holidays, instead of waiting for the schedule to be created and updated based on a “Volunteer to work or not” email. The exception to this will be Company Holidays, as explained below in that section.

Normal allowed Vactions are as follows for weekend days (W/E) and midweek days (W/D):

W/E W/D

2 3 Day Tours (1 and 2)

1 2 Evening Tours (2.5 and 3)

1 1 Overnight Tour

Corporate Holidays (New Years Day, Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day) :

The number of Vacations allowed will be doubled.

This will guarantee more Vacations on the Holiday, as well as guarantee adequate staffing for the Holiday itself. Depending on specific staffing needs for the Holiday, we will ask for more volunteers to take the day off prior to the Holiday, or will send Specialists home early on the day of the Holiday if call volume warrants it.

Company Holidays (Easter, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day)
The number of Vacations allowed will be increased by 2x to 4x or more, depending on the staffing needs of the Tour.

These are no longer “guaranteed days off”. Please make sure to read this section carefully! A Skeleton crew of 1-2 Specialists per Tour will be picked from the Specialists who did not request Vacation, and the remainder will be given the day off. We will still ask for volunteers to work! Only if we do not receive the required coverage voluntarily may you be picked to work the holiday. The Skeleton crew will be determined by skills and Waitlist order, if applicable.

Peak Season

Sep 1-30, Nov 1-17:

The number of Vacations may be decreased slightly.

Oct 1-31:

Vacation will be blocked for the month

So let me give a little synopsis of this notice. Basically we are no longer guarenteed holidays off. Boooo! Although it does seem better because they are allowing more vactions at this time. Yet still, I know the truth. Employees will be given preference to contractors. I guess the Vikings aren’t the only ones getting screwed in MN. (Sorry, I had to.)

They’re falling one by one. My old roommate, Grew, got hitched last weekend up in Virginia. Target was nice enough to finally inform me last Monday they’d allow me to switch my days off so I could attend. Took em long enough! I shouldn’t complain though, at least I got the days off so I could make it.

With that said, I headed up Saturday morning. All was going well until I started thinking, “Hey, did I forget a belt?” Which then turned into “Did I grab my dress clothes?” Crap. Yep, I left them at home. I had a thought to turn around to go get them, but I figured by the time I made it all the way back and then drove all the way there again, it would be too late. I ended up making a quick trip to the mall to pick up pants and a shirt. In the end it worked out OK and I even got a few compliments on my shirt. Go me!

The wedding ceremony was really short. In fact I couldn’t even tell it started. The couples just started down the aisle. And 20 min later, it was over. My old pastor Frank did the ceremony and, as always, opted for the non-traditional route. He didn’t give a sermon so much as he just had a few words for the bridge and groom. His prop was a spoon. The message being that if you look at the bottom of the spoon, you see yourself upside down; a distorted view. Then if you look at the other side, you see yourself right side up. A cool message, I thought. Of course there was all the other religous mumbo-jumbo, but it was kept to a minimum. I was surprised to see Chris even got married in a church. He’s an athiest and has some pretty solid views on religion. I’m sure he just bit the bullet and went for it though.

On to the fun part, the reception. After a quick stop at the nearest bar (literally, it was a block from the church). The whole crew headed out to Giants Ridge for the rest of the night. I was actually pleased to find Jamie didn’t have a date since I didn’t either. We drank and danced the night away. I ended up horfing up some beer pretty early in the night and pretty much quit drinking after that. I also caught most of the Wild game at the bar. They lost. Again! I’m just hoping they aren’t a repeat of last season.

Sunday I stopped by the parents house to spend some time with them. Hannah was gone camping, so I didn’t get a chance to see her. As usual my mom couldn’t spend enough time talking to me. Though I have to say it is nice to talk to them even if they do parent me a little too much for my liking. I’m 24 and I’ve been an adult for quite a few years now. As painful as it is to watch me make mistakes, let me make them. It’s the only way I’m going to figure things out.

The Burns’ (and dog) caught a ride back to Minneapolis with me. It almost felt like going back to college. Packing all kinds of stuff into one car, the fall weather. It almost would have if they still lived next door. Anyway, I dropped them off at their house and was back to my place around 6.

Some words that ring true with me..

I’ll take this knife out of my back and stab it straight into the heart
Of a country that was built on lies and murder from the start
And if you read between the lines it’s not very hard to see
That our very own existence isn’t really ours to be
Death By Stereo - Beyond the Blinders