Yes, the picture is from kneeshorts.com (I think I swore once I'd never visit that website)

So I saw a girl on the subway today. She was very pretty and was dressed modestly. Very modestly in fact. I noticed her shorts came down all the way to the middle of her kneecaps. This is certainly not normal, I thought to myself. Perhaps in Provo, but not on the Subway in New York. This girl had to be Mormon. She had the look and mannerisms that would normally tip me off as to someones' membership in our often lame secret culture.

So I leaned forward and asked her if she was Mormon. She looked surprised and said, "no." I believe I stepped back into my standing space explaining, "Sorry, just thought you looked Mormon." She got a look on her face that kinda looked like she was offended. But on second thought it was probably just bewilderment. I guess it was the first time she'd been told she looks like a religion. She got off the express at 72nd St. And I continued riding it to 96th St. Which meant unless she got off at one of the 2 stops between, I'd board the same car right accross from me and we'd be in the same car again.

Sure enough, she was, and I said "hi" and explained that I didn't mean to offend her and assured her I meant it as a compliment to her modesty. She'd obviously had some time to recoup and explained that she was just caught off guard and hoped I wasn't offended that she looked offended. She naturally asked if I was Mormon and I told her I was. She got kind of red in the face, so I apologized for my forwardness in asking such a random question of a total stranger. Then we got to know each other a bit and then she offered, "I don't really know anything about Mormons. Is there a website?" Great huh? So I told her about Mormon.org and that we went to church on Sundays at 2:50pm in the building across from the Opera House with the big, gold angel on a spire. She said she knew the building and had always wondered what it was, but was to lazy to try and read the writing on the building. I got off the train and I felt like we were friends. It would be really awesome if she showed up at church.

Some things girls should know...

This post probably seems a little random. But Yancy and I were talking about President Packer's whole "Dating vs. Hanging Out" thing. We decided one reason guys are sometimes averted to traditional dating in the Mormon community is a series of small, misunderstandings between the sexes. By all means, I welcome a "Some Things Guys Should Know" response and I assure you I will be grateful for any insider secrets on the mysterious creatures we call "girls". The list is the collective thoughts of a handful of us men.

1. A date doesn't mean we want to marry you. Chill out and have fun. This is just a chance to get to know you. We might not like you once we do, so enjoy the attention whilst it lasts. The bottom line is, just relax and enjoy yourself. It's really not a big deal, so don't freak.

2. It's hard for many of us to ask girls out, especially when we find them attractive. It takes major confidence to pull it off, so cut us a little slack. I'm not saying, "Say yes" if you really don't want to go. But I am saying that if you'd like to but can't go (i.e. have a conflict in schedule) make sure you actually say you'd like to another time. If we don't hear that, we'll probably never ask you again. Our confidence can be pretty fragile.

3. Never give a guy the "Deer in the Headlights" look when he's asking you out. Even if it takes you off guard, have the decency to smile till his invitation is out. It makes us a little more comfortable in what can be a very uncomfortable situation. If a guy ever abandons ship in the middle of asking you out, you might want to think of how you were facially responding to his attempt. You might have scared him out of it.

The worlds best bbq and jazz in one weekend...

Who could ask for more? Really? Friday night we all went to a "drive in" movie (aka, sponsored by dodge) in Rockafeller Plaza. They showed "Kettle of Fish", a romantic comedy that did well at the Tribecca Film Festival. It made me think twice about the prestige I afforded the festival, cause said movie sucked. It started to rain so we all left. The director was there and most everybody left. At least he could comfort himself by claiming it was the rain and not his film. We went to eat at some random deli and one in our party was too accomodating to a drunk mexican with a guitar and got bit. That's why you don't get friendly with insane drunk people... you'll get a love bite. At midnight we went to the famous "Blue Note" jazz club in Greenwich Village. Not because we expected the best jazz in the world, but because it was only 8 bucks as opposed to the usual $25. The band was actually very good. Particularly the drummer, guitarist, and saxophonist. They were called the square egg and played a rock kind of feel to R&B vocals, all in a free-form jazz setting. They were very entertaining. And I had a good burger...don't ask what I paid for it.

On Saturday we slept in (on account of the late jazz). When Yancy and I got up, we went grocery shopping and then headed downtown for the Big Apple BBQ Block Party. Basically they roped off a park and a few blocks and invited the best BBQ places in the country to set up a trailer/tent and sell their wares. I had some ribs from a place in NY that were nothing special and an awesome pulled-pork sandwich from a place in Mississippi. Was there ever any doubt that the Southerners were gonna be better at it? We also got free hats with pig ears and wore them around the East Village for the rest of the day.

We were pretty pooped by the end of the day and passed on clubbing in favor of a movie. On Sunday I went to church, then we were intending to go to Harlem Meer for Jazz in Central Park, but discovered it wasn't happening and so I climed up a hill and slept for about an hour in a really nice, secluded spot. Central Park is really wonderful. Seth and I went to a cool dessert night in midtown with some girls he'd met at church. And finally, we headed up to the American Legion Post in Harlem for more free jazz (a hammond organ jam, actually). We quickly encountered a less-than friendly bar-tender who insisted we buy a drink or get out, so we left... I'd have been happy to buy a drink if it weren't Sunday. I was a little bummed I had to leave though cause the friend who invited me there was playing the organ and we left after one song. I figure I'll go next week sometime and explain it to him. Just so I don't seem rude. And now...pictures. (Courtesy of Yancy)

Flyin' Solo...

So I did my first session all by myself yestereday. Granted, it was just recording the exact same thing I'd done twice before with Anthony, but it was still cool. Just me, an analog tape machine, a big SSL9000 J-Series console, and a drummer. I felt pretty cool and important.

Anthony was feeling sick and asked if I minded running it alone? I was really surprised that he trusted me that much. But I told him it wouldn't be a problem. Then after not sleeping very well the night before for nerves' sake... I went to work and the session went off without a hitch. At least not any hitch I couldn't handle. I even fixed something that Anthony told me later had been bugging him and got big kudos. He bragged about my solo session today to the owner. It was cool.

Hell, I still love you New York.

Some pictures, taken at random times, yet unposted.

Even Old New York was once New Amsterdam...

I had a late night session last night recording the piano-man. It was cool. So today I had no work. I woke up late and then skulked around "Old New York" and Amsterdam. I wandered around the East Village, Seaport Village, Chinatown, Little Italy and Soho. It was fun. Here's some pictures.

I'm in a New York State of Mind.

And that's great cause Billy Joel's in the studio. I haven't seen him, I guess he likes to record in the middle of the night. I don't really care if I get to meet him, but man, would I ever love to meet his daughter.



Whew! So hot. That Christie Brinkley has good strong genes.

Oh, and here's some more pictures, I chilled in Central Park a bit today.





















































































And I know it's completely dorky, but I totally listened to Stawberry Fields Forever on my iPod while I took this.

Some New York Pics and First Day of "Work".

This is the building where I have my internship. Yes, there really is a five room world class studio in there.

The studio's in an area of West- Central Manhattan called Hell's Kitchen.







Our immediate neighbors are Sony Music...








...and Montel Williams. One day after work I might try to sit in the studio audience. Just for kicks.


Work was pretty cool actually. We set up a decca tree (above). To record some strings for the original cast recording of some musical called Grey Garden. And I saw my first famous person, but in an effort to not be an annoying stupid intern didn't go shake his hand or even talk to him. It was Ryan Adams...the hip indie country singer, not to be confused with Bryan Adams, the hack, Canadian pop singer (see below).

Ryan Adams

Bryan Adams

I finally have something I've wanted my entire life.

A fire escape.

In related news. I live in New York. Harlem actually. It's loads of fun so far. My internship is, as predicted, a very casual affair indeed. They're like, "Come in whenever you like." My first real day is tomorrow. I'll be sure to blog about it. Actually I can't promise that.

We live right on Riverside. The Hudson is really pretty beautiful when Tuna Trollers aren't reeking up the air. I accomplished exactly 3 things today. I went grocery shopping, I went to Barnes and Noble (that visit was most of my day) and the new Apple store on 5th Avenue. I should've done more, but I'm soaking in the city. Pictures soon maybe.

Go Go Gadget Gospel

I bought Gnarles Barkley Tuesday and I have to confess it's pretty awesome. Danger Mouse is my new hero, I want him to be my mysterious robed spiritual advisor. Cee-Lo is awesome as per usual, I want him to be my personal Santa. Good stuff I tell you.

And now I wonder how I was made...

This song has been in my head for weeks. I can't get over how cleverly the Pinnochio story was used as a setting for his self-doubt. I think you should all appreciate this so I'm doing "Scream Phoenix Forum" Style and posting the lyrics here. The song is "Driftwood" by Cursive on The Ugly Organ.

[Sample of an old pinnochio story record:]
"And I am what is left: a puppet!
Laughing at the look of amazment on the musician's face,
Pinocchio dove off the cliff and swam away
He swam steadily for most of the day.
Suddenly he found himself approaching an enormous floating cavern.
Could it be an island?
Pinocchio looked closer and he saw two huge rows of sharp,
yellow teeth and he realized his mistake."


So he would sulk and drink and mope
and cross his arms and hope to die.
And then a fairy came one night
to bring this sorry boy to life.
She pulled some strings
and spun him about.
That boy sprang up
and began to shout,
"My arms, my legs, my heart, my face they are alive!"
And she would cry, "Liar, liar!
What have I done?
You're no lover, and I'm no fighter."

(The story goes on)

So he would buy her things and kiss her hair
to show he was for real.
And she would take those gifts and kisses
though just stringing him along.
She knew about those wooden boys-
it's an empty love to fill the void.
"Pinocchio! Oh boy, how your nose has grown!"
So he would cry, "Liar, liar!
I'll prove it to you!"
But then it grew
He had grown tired of her
So it was true
He left her apartment
And he walked all night long
'til he was stopped by the shore of the ocean.
But still he walked on, amongst the whales
and the waves, and screamed
"Liar, liar!"
And his wooden body floated away.
He just drifed away.

And now I wonder how i was made...
And now I wonder how I was made...
my arms, my legs, my heart, my face,
my name is Driftwood.

Coachella 2006 And why Life is So Good.

Coachella was completely awesome. On Saturday I saw Head Automatica, The Walkmen, Wolfmother, Common, Imogen Heap, Sigur Ros, Franz Ferdinand, Atmosphere, and Depeche Mode. On Sunday I saw The Infadels, Murs, Mates of State, Jamie Lidell, Gnarls Barkley, Yeahs Yeah Yeahs, Massive Attack, and Tool. I also saw small chunks of many other bands' sets...some of which were great.

Highlights include:

Gnarls Barkley (Cee-Lo Green + Dangermouse) appearing to perform with a 15 piece band including strings. The band came on stage dressed as characters from the Wizard of Oz and struck up Breathe (the first musical cut from Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon) whereupon Cee-Lo and Dangermouse triumphantly entered dressed as the Cowardly Lion (see picture) and the Tin Man respectfully. What followed was 45 minutes of pure, unadulterated awesomeness.

Imogen Heap the singer/co-programmer of Frou Frou played a completely awesome set and called the soundguy a "lazy douche". And he was.

Atmosphere (w/Brother Ali) was really incredible...even better than last time. They were lined up next to the headliners (Depeche Mode), so it was a cozy little crowd. I got to go with a cute girl from Australia who worked at the festival (more on this to come) and had so much fun, I feel I could reasonably contest their assertion that you can't imagine how much fun we're having.

Murs performed a really awesome set in front of a pretty small crowd. Slug showed up for the last song and that just made it even better.

I got to sit in the sound booth for most of Tool and had a straight on view of the stage. I had been about 10 rows from the front in the push-and-shove for the first 4 songs or so. Then I deecided I would get out and watch from the back (I really am getting old). So I worked my way to the trough and was pulled out by security. I followed them toward the sound booth and asked where the exit was. They said there wasn't one and to sit down and watch the show. So I did. Tool was astoundingly good. I'd seen them once before in HIgh School, but this was way better. I sat down with Tool's soundguy and got to ask him questions about how he mic'd and mixed and stuff. I learned a lot.

All that... and I only had to pay around $300 for the whole trip and get a little sunburned. Good deal.

So on to why my life is so good now. I used to be rather good at social interactions with the opposite sex. It was easy for me to talk to girls, even ones I didn't know and ask girls out. Now many of you can attest I am arguably somwhat handicapped in that department, and most of you (Adam excepted perhaps if he even remembers me from Riviera days) have always known the retarded me. One lousy girl pretty much ruined me about 4 years ago. No joke. I fell harder than I've ever fallen for a girl who played me hard. The first of "the Melissas". Ever since that she-devil ripped my heart out of my chest I have been clumsily bumbling my way through the whole "girls" part of my life.

Not any more. I totally just snapped out of it. I was trying to sort out some ticketmaster issues with our camping tickets and was invited to sit down in the shade with the 3 people selling tickets while I waited on the bastard ticketmaster rep for an hour or two. There was an independantly wealthy ex-hippie who only worked at Coachella for fun (and belonged to the Amalgamated Order of Real-Bearded Santas http://www.aorbsantas.com/pages/1/index.htm ), a completely quiet "intern" from a nearby college and a super cute girl named Bre from Australia.

I just up and snapped out of it. Snapped out of my 3-4 year social impediment. Before I knew it I was the old me just talking to this girl. She was a big Atmosphere fan, and we really hit it off the first day, and went to Atmosphere together. Then we went dancing to Daft Punk afterwords and hit some shows together the next day. Then she came by my tent night before last and kissed me. And I kissed her back... a lot. It was awesome.

I want to clarify, I'm not in love with this girl. I'm not even anticipating ever seeing her again. I'm pretty confident IM will pretty much be our only future contact. It seemed understood between us that it was just this random thing. I'm typically not into "random things". I usually crush pretty horribly until it all dissolves around me. But I wonder if my only reason for this random thing was to pull me out of a slump. I told Yancy last night I felt like a could defeat a Yak in head-to-head combat. I really feel amazing. I'm moving out of Provo. I've got my old confident self back, and I'm really happy. So my life rules. I don't really understand it. I even forgot my happy pills this weekend. And yet here I am, more content with my life than I've been in years. Strange.

The unrequitable crush list.

Jen inspired me with a post subject. The following is a list of the women I will always have a little-boy crush on. My future wife will just have to accept that I will always love these women too.

Zooey Deschanel. Beautiful actress and singer/ukeleist in an old-time Hollywood bulesque act. What's not to like? She's hot, funny, has a lovely voice, and to my advantage has a thing for guitar players.



Kristen May. The hotty lead singer of Veda posessed of one of the most devastatingly powerful female voices I've ever had the pleasure of being assaulted by.



Jena Malone. The girl next door type crush. Another actress. Perhaps she'll play a character older than 17 this year, but probably not.



Julia Dufvenius. New young favorite of the best director ever (Ingmar Bergman). I'm not even sure she speaks English, but who cares? She's lovliness defined.



Oh, and she really plays cello.

It's about time.

So here's an update. Not that I have anything too specific to say or anything... I just thought perhaps it was about time for a new post. So I guess I'll do a sort of "State of the Mooney" address. Remember to only clap when the little light comes on and it's politically in your favor to do so.

New York is looming. While I love it with that half love-half loathe that has been described by others so well, it's a pretty intimidating city. There's kind of this, "If I flinch they'll kick my ass." fear about the place in general. It feels kind of exhilarating until, of course, I flinch. Let me clarify... I am decidedly going, but I've got nerves. I really hope I get hired. It would be very nice to have a paycheck to offset that cost of living a bit, and make me feel like a little bit less of a tourist.

You'd think at this point (moving across the country in just over a month) I would ease up a little about girls. I mean, really, are you gonna start a relationship at this point? Of course not. But of course I'm still crushing on her like a little boy... I'm pathetic. And she's soooo indie. My love of Bon Jovi spells disaster for me, I'm sure of it. I don't have a prayer to live on and I'm not even close to halfway there.

I've got this obsession with buying gear, but I need capital, and badly. Come on Kellen just give me the phone number already. Do you know how much money I could make on 8 Hammond Organs? Lots. More than enough to say... survive in New York without a paycheck for 3 months. Oh, analog project starts soon with Jason. That will be very fun. Oh how I love old school recording. I haven't gotten to really nerd-out in so long too. It's about time.

What else? Oh, work. I'm flat out sick of Velour. In the core of my soul. Al hasn't mixed in like 3 weeks and I'm losing my mind. I'm pretty sick of Heritage too, a warning to Jason. If I sell these organs I may just quit all my jobs at the end of April.

That seems like enough, especially since nearly all of it was complanatory. I don't even know if that's a word (I was thinking I could conjugate complain like explain). Perhaps Jen or Liz could fill me in on whether I was right or not.

Capote, Nachos, and Girls.

For your entertainment/consideration: 3 random musings of mine.

Capote was good. I liked the sound design a lot. Most sound designers like mostly action movies and such on account of the explosions and such, but I thought Capote and Walk the Line were the two best sound films I've seen this year. And did Phillip Seymore Hoffman desreve the Oscar. Damn straight he did. Joaquin Phoenix will get another shot, although I'm sure he cried.

I really feel like nachos... not even good nachos. 7-11 nachos. With not but cheese and tomatoes and lots of both. This is a 70% intensity craving. Really strange too.

My problem with girls is not so much not being able to ask them out. While the pre-phone call experience is arduous, maybe even tortuous for me, the actual call usually goes medium well to good. It's when they tell me they can't go because of whatever reason. I really have a hard time believing them. Not that I don't believe them, but after all the courage-mustering it takes. A "No." under any circumstance is a nearly fatal blow. It is so hard to ask her out again... or really any female to tell you the truth. If I ask a girl out a second time after an "I can't", no matter how legitimate that "I can't" might be, I'm probably crushing on her pretty hard and just can't give up hope until the 2nd, "I can't". A 3rd is pretty much unheard of. I admire Yancy's resolve with "S". I pretty much crawl under a rock to die after strike 2.

Ready for the official announcement?

I'm moving to New York City in late May for an internship and potential job at Avatar Studios in New York. It's one of the largest and most legitimate facilities on the East coast. With 5 world class studios and possibly the best large live room in the world, it... well, it rocks.

So everyone come visit me and have good times. I'm psyched and am anxious to prove myself a valuable asset to the staff. There's only a few problem as I can see. Problem number one: How do I avoid buying wonderful Pizza every day? Problem number two: How do I avoid falling for a beautiful Broadway hopeful? Problem number three: How do I remind myself that the above concerns are actually problems?

Just turn it sideways, Celloooh...

I'm gonna rent a cello and teach myself to play. I've wanted to do this for years and at last, it's time. I'm gonna be rocking the cello before you know it. Roommates, prepare to be annoyed.

100dB SPL.

I love ultra-compressed shimmeringly hi-fidelity music like that of say, Peter Gabriel who's 2-disc compliation "hit/miss" I bought today. I played it at full today in my car. Which I estimate was nearby the threshold of pain (100-120dB SPL). It was so delightfully loud and yet astonishingly clear, especially for a CD (which contarary to popular myth/advertising is not a high fidelity medium). My thanks to Adam for inspiring this purchase with his inclusion of "Games without Frontiers" on a spontaneous playlist yesterday afternoon. I'd almost forgotten how very much I like Peter Gabriel. I still love Phil Collins though and as far as I'm concerned, Genesis was just as good with both singers. That's just my humble opinion though. And yes, I'm a huge audio nerd.

Happy Dirty Indeed.

I had a pretty good birthday. A pretty good Salt Lake day (considering I'm out of practice), a good nap, and a good dinner with lots of people I haven't seen in way too long. And Katie Bug camre over and I actually got to have real talk with someone about this mess I call my life. I needed that, and in some ways that was the best birthday present. But the not snowing was right up there too. When it snowed last night I was sure today would be tragic at best. But it was better. It was really quite nice. With that all said:

Improvements to be made for next year...

1. A girlfriend? Well, a brother can hope right?
2. No singing in of "Happy Birthday" in French or any other language besides English. At least not by a mediocre baritone. Emily pays for that one.
3. More cake.
4. Some Rock & Roll. Perhaps of the Brobecks variety.

Your g-string is too loose.

I actually said this to a kid today. It was his first guitar lesson and instead of using technical terms like sharp and flat I start out with tight and loose. Trouble is his dad was sitting in and cracked up. While I didn't mean it like that, the humor wasn't lost on me and I too laughed. But then the kid looked perplexed and asked what was so funny. I deferred to the dad, who deferred to me and then I looked at him sternly and re-deferred. The dad said "Nothing". The kid halted inquiry but was clearly unsatisfied with that answer. He'll probably go ask his friends at school what's so funny about a loose G-string. Then he'll come back and tell me I'm an imature, sick minded individual. Which I am.

Just one of those moments in learning guitar that you never forget. Your first G-String joke.