Post 69

Dude! Our show finally aired on Public Access, so I've decided to make The Evildoers site live. Click here! And I will return to this site -- sometime soon!

February 8, 2004 -- Austin, Texas

Post 68

Well, it's a new year, and I have been MIA. I've been pretty busy at work and practicing with The Evildoers. We were supposed to record a show for a public access show, but the guy wasn't ready, so we'll hopefully do it this next Sunday. Our sound is really coming together, so I'm looking forward to playing out. We should start getting some shows within the next month or so.

Other than that, not much else is going on right now. I'll update when I've got something to say.

-- Xander

December 28, 2003 -- Austin, Texas

Post 67

I watched Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl last night, and I was pretty disappointed. Almost everyone I've talked to about this movie has given it high praises, but I just didn't see it. The story was barely decent, and Gore Verbinski's direction was pretty pitiful. I had suspected as much from watching The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but this movie confirmed that Orlando Bloom is not a good actor. I think that the fact that he plays Legolas, a legendary character, in the former covers his lack of experience, but here, it's plain to see how bad he is. Johnny Depp was good, but certainly not great. He's been better in countless movies before this, and this is the performance he gets praised for? The only truly great moments came when Keira Knightley was on screen. She stole the show, and her interactions with both Geoffrey Rush and Johnny Depp were the high points of the film. All in all, though, I'd have to say that this was the biggest disappointment for me in terms of film for the entire year. And it's too bad, because I really wanted to like the movie.

Xander

December 25, 2003 -- Austin, Texas

Post 66

Merry Christmas, everybody! I say this knowing full well that I rarely have a merry one. This one, it turns out, wasn't really very different. I went to Joe and Laura's, and we had good food and drink, good company from the other guests, I got to take a pleasant walk, and we watched Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. Yet I went away feeling sad again. Another Christmas spent away from my family with too many thoughts hanging over my head concerning my future and my future prospects. It seems that The Evildoers may have hit their first big hitch. Renee has a job interview in Chicago on the second week of January, and I'm almost positive she's going to get it. She seems pretty determined to get out of Austin, so I suspect that we may be losing her soon. This isn't a huge problem in terms of songwriting, since Charlie and I write most of the songs. The problem will be finding another female keyboard player who can sing. It sounds easy, but I doubt it will be. There is a certain chemistry we have with Renee that I believe will be hard to replace. Oh well -- we'll have to push on no matter what.

My job has not been very fun lately, and since the rush period is about to hit, I think it's going to be even worse. I just have to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and hope that I can make it through. At least I'll be making a bit more money with all the overtime that one week. That doesn't seem to console me very much, though.

Bah humbug!

Xander

November 17, 2003 -- Austin, Texas

Post 65

I finally got an amp, so The Evildoers should begin their world domination soon. I've put together a website, but I'm not going to post it "live" until we've played shows. Our first show will be on Friday Night Videos on Austin public access -- it should be a lot of fun, but it's still a bit away.

Work has been a bit stressful lately, but things should be getting back to normal pretty soon. I hope. I've been seeing This Microwave World a lot lately, and they're fast becoming one of my favorite bands. If you haven't yet, pick up their two eps.

In other news, I've been meaning to post this for a long time, but I keep forgetting to do so. Nathan Beach has kindly posted the recordings from my Enitspar album (Flight, Op. 2), a bunch of very pretentious instrumental rock, on the Lowfashion site. Looking back, I'm fairly unhappy with most of my compositions, but there are a few high moments, especially tracks 2, 5, and 8, and the beginning of track 3. Go here to hear or download the tracks.

I guess that's it for now. Take care --

Xander

October 27, 2003 -- Austin, Texas

Post 64

Well, I've got a job. It's at the University Co-Op again, but this time it's in the art supplies/school supplies department. It's not the best job, but it pays well with eventual benefits, and the people I work with are really nice. The worst thing is that I don't really know very much about the art supplies, which makes me feel pretty stupid. Oh well. At least it's a job.

I've been practicing with my new band, The Evildoers. Charlie and Renee and I have put together some awesome songs. Time will tell if this venture works out. I'm trying to remain hopeful. I've also realized why Austin makes me so much happier than East Lansing. It's the music. There were so few opportunities to see music in EL, and because I thus used my time to do other things, I would forget about those occasional opportunities. Here in Austin, there's always a handful of great bands playing every night. Since I've been back, I've seen And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, Knife in the Water, Li'l Cap'n Travis, and This Microwave World, and I'm planning on seeing a band at least once a week every week. There are just so many more chances to see great live music here. I'm enjoying it.

I know I've been slacking on this site, but I've got some stuff that I should be able to add soon. We'll see. I'm trying to enjoy my life for the first time in a long-ass time. It's nice.