Tony Cordova

I sit here at 1:00 AM on New Years Eve, trying to sleep, when I suddenly feel like saying something.  I wouldn’t say I get very lonely very often, but with my better half all the way across the country I suddenly feel it, or maybe I just really enjoy listening to Radiohead and I don’t want to stop.

So, I have a list of things that I want to change/do differently, not a new years resolution, just something interesting to think about.

In order of importance:

1. Read more. I honestly don’t think I have picked up and read an entire book in the past 2 years. My excuses include slow reading, time, and exhaustion(I get very tired when I read, even subtitles in movies make me sleepy).

2. Manage my time better.  I sometimes wonder if when I get to Heaven I’ll be able to look at a tally of how much time I have spent doing things.  How much time I spent watching TV, playing video games, sleeping, in class, sleeping in class, watching movies, being naked, pooping, on the internet, picking my nose, chewing, pretending to sleep, doing nothing, waiting in line, driving, drinking, talking on the phone, talking in person, chatting, stopped at red lights, looking at the stars, crying, smiling, holding hands.  I have wasted precious time just writing all of these things out.  I know for a fact that one thing I need to do less of is spend time on the internet.  Sure it’s nice to know every daily internet sensation out there, but it obviously doesn’t matter in the long run. Youtube ruins time management, and in the time that I am writing this very section of the blogpost I have read three web comics, this one is funny:

xkcd.com

3. Spend Less. This one is going to be difficult considering many things that I will not bore you with, but bills are high around the holiday season, and I’m not helping it.

4. Work Better.  I personally feel that I am a very good worker and I try my best to be efficient, but sometimes when I am working I will sacrifice quality for speed.  I would rather jury-rig something in 5 minutes than go through a dramatic sequence of steps and fix it properly in 4 hours. It’s not that I am lazy, I just want clients to see that I am efficient and I can get the job done quickly.  Also the longer I am with a client, the more money they are spending. I believe that in most cases there is a middle ground between 5 minutes and 4 hours that I can take advantage of and I need to do so.

5. Be mindful and attentive.  I HATE it when I am talking to someone and it seeps from their skin that they are not paying attention or have no interest in what I am saying, and the last thing I want to do is babble on to someone about something they don’t care about.  On the other had I also want to make sure that I don’t come off as un-interested in what someone else is talking about.  Maybe it comes down to how good of a conversationist(is this a real word?) I am.  I know people who can hold a decent conversation with someone about the most trivial and meaningless things and from an outside perspective you would think that it was a serious and healthy conversation(this sentence has 3(4) “ands.” Oh wow, I am a poor writer.)

I could also listen to less podcasts, eat healthier, ride my bike, get Melanie flowers, and drive safer.  Now I’m just talking crazy!

Ideal Tony is awesome.  Current Tony is…meh.

And now for something completely different:

I have been extremely low on hard drive space on my laptop so I thought it was finally time to archive some old music.  Some of the archived artists included:

311
AFI
Alien Ant Farm
Anti-Flag
Aphex Twin
Apocalyptica
Aqualung
Avenged Sevenfold
Bad Religion
Barenaked Ladies
Black Sabbath
Blind Guardian
Bon Jovi
Brian Eno
Bush
Cars
Chicago
Concrete Blonde
CCR

I think I’ll stop at “C” before I get to some really embarrassing artists.

In the same vein, I think I might list ten of my favorite bands of all time here in no particular order.
1. Radiohead
2. Sigur Ros
3. Super Furry Animals
4. Pink Floyd
5. The Beatles
6. Muse
7. Nine Inch Nails
8. Daft Punk
9. The Mars Volta
10. The New Pornographers

And some of my current faves:
1. Modest Mouse
2. Wilco
3. Neutral milk Hotel
4. Frightened Rabbit
5. M83
6. Hospital Ships
7. Crystal Castles
8. Matthew Dear
9. The Mountain Goats
10. Ratatat

All of these bands are worth checking out.

This is not the official video, but it is one of my all time favorite songs:

Wow, I just talked about myself a lot, well I guess it is my website, and it is called Tony Cordova, so what do you expect?! I wish I could be creative…

Oh, but there’s more.

Tonight I’ll be spending the evening without my beautiful girlfriend sitting next to me, which is kind of depressing, but she will be back soon and you won’t have to wade through posts like this(if you haven’t already forcibly drowned yourself.)

Also, a sequel to a post earlier this month:

Happy New Year.

Things that have been controlling my life lately:

Work:
I love my job.  Maybe my interest in fixing other people’s computer problems will wear off eventually, but for right now I am loving it.  Part of it must be that I have a great boss and I don’t have to deal with any of the corporate crap that I am somewhat used to.  It is nice to be free from the man.

Unfortunately the last few days have been kind of hectic with problems that are more difficult to fix.  Combine that with me being outrageously unprepared for these problems and you get unhappy clients with an even unhappier technician(me).  Luckily I have a bit of vacation ahead of me so I can cool off and relax.

Church:
Although it doesn’t take up a huge amount of my time, it is something I try to take very seriously.  The group of people I am involved with in making this church happen are some of the best people I have ever met, and I am very thankful for them.  If you live in the Fresno/Clovis area, let us wrap your Christmas gifts for free this Sunday.  You can learn more about the church at http://www.sequoiafresno.org.

Girlfriend:
You know how much I love you.

Russia:
In May 2009 Melanie and I will be going to Russia on a service trip for a month.  I know it is a long ways off but I need to prepare(considering I hardly know any Russian).  Plus I have been putting together the website.  See it at http://www.russianimpact.org.

Music:
Listening to music has been great lately, and I have been listening to a lot of great stuff.  From Classic Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Modest Mouse, Beatles, and Daft Punk, to newer interesting stuff like M83, Sigur Ros, The Mountain Goats, The Raconteurs, Hospital Ships, and MGMT, I am never bored.  Check out this AMAZING song from the newest Sigur Ros album:

For more of what I have been listening to, go to my last.fm page.

http://www.last.fm/user/injun42

Video Games:
I bought a Playstation 3 as a birthday present to myself and so far I am loving it.  I already played through Metal Gear Solid 4 and right now I am completely engrossed in Little Big Planet and Wipeout HD.  I had the pleasure of watching both Ratatouille and WALL-E on Blu Ray which was fantastic, I feel like I am finally getting the most out of my HDTV.

Podcasting:
A brand new episode of Fruit Snacks and Fanny Packs is now available.  We went on hiatus for a few months, but we’re back, stronger than never.  Check us out: http://www.fruitsnacksandfannypacks.com.  There is a special prize this week!

I hope everyone at least got through this blogpost, I almost didn’t.

Daft Punk – Aerodynamic

I haven’t seen this entire movie yet but I plan on it.  I think it’s called Interstella 5555.

Daft Punk’s Electroma is a film written and directed by the members of Daft Punk: Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. The movie follows the history of two robots, the members of Daft Punk, on their quest to become human. [IMDb]

Electroma starts off with two robots driving into a mid-western town inhabited by other robots.  In an effort to become more human-like, the main characters go to a high-tech facility where latex is poured over their heads and human features molded onto their faces. When they leave the facility the other inhabitants are shocked by their appearance and chase after them; at this point the latex is starting to melt off from the sun.  After discarding their masks, the duo starts a lengthy walk through the desert.

This movie contains no dialog. The emotions of the characters are evident despite the lack of speaking and the fact that we only see them in their robot helmets.  None of the music is by Daft Punk but the music that is there compliments the art and emotion of the movie.  The art direction and cinematography is outstanding and nearly every scene is memorable and beautiful.  Unfortunately several scenes are so drawn out, it is almost unbearable to watch.  The desert trek lasts for over 20 minutes with very little story development, sometimes no music, and seemingly endless walking.  You don’t have to like Daft Punk to like Electroma, and contrarily it will not be liked by all Daft Punk fans.

If you are into art film and can suffer through some long, dull sequences, you should check it out.  The story is easy to understand but also deep enough to find some underlying meanings. Altogether I believe the film is at least worth watching.