A Playlist to Kick Off September (Corrected)

I haven't posted a mixtape in quite a while. This one features some bands I've interviewed lately--Taking Back Sunday, Matt & Kim, Bellamy Brothers, Get Up Kids--as well as some new albums I've been reviewing. Enjoy.

Click here for the full-song version of the playlist

Mixtape-09.01.09

My Mind Just Blew Up...

...and is strewn all across the computer screen. New season of The Hills? September 29. New season of The City? Also September 29. Sell my old clothes, I'm off to fake reality TV heaven.

Traci's Best Dance Crew

There are things that Traci watches on TV that annoy me (what's that TLC show called? Whoops, I Had a Baby But Didn't Know I Was Pregnant?). But every once in a while she has favorites that just catch me off guard. America's Best Dance Crew? Curious. I think it's because she's still got the hots for AC Slater.

Not so handy

So I was up at 2 am, awakened by the sound of a dripping toilet.

I am the Fluid Master

Sure, it took me two hours to what was likely a 10 minute job for a professional. But I got it done. The toilet is fixed. (Paige even took it for a test drive after I finished. Her reaction--"Wow, what an awesome potty." Hear that? Awesome.)

Handy Manny

I am about to attempt to fix the toilet. It will likely not end well.

Legend of the Fall

The sun is nearly down and my heart is sinking a bit as well. I'm not ready for summer to end.

The Traci Manifesto?!

For ages, Traci has talked about having her own blog. She's already set up a domain, but has yet to actually post anything, believing that no one would be interested in reading it.

I would dare say that the biggest reason folks even bother to read this blog is in hopes that I'll mention something about Traci and the kiddos. So if you're ready for a Traci Manifesto, send some love to the comments box.

Stripping Down with Matt (& Kim)

Much Manifesto real estate has been dedicated to Matt & Kim. (Here's a link to all the back stories). So of course I was very excited to do a phone interview with Matt yesterday to promote their upcoming SLC show on Sept. 7.

As expected, Matt was completely friendly and cool. I haven't written the story up yet, but if you have a spare 18 minutes, you can listen to the entire interview here.

We chat about Bacardi commercials, anxiety attacks, and of course their naked romp through Times Square.

Matt & Kim interview was an hour and a half late, but worth the wait for sure.

Rock 'n Roll Updates

With all the producing hit singles about America's hat lately, I haven't had a chance to write about my recent celebrity interviews. I checked two more favorite bands off the list--Bad Religion and Bouncing Souls (details to follow)--and I'll be talking to Matt of Matt & Kim fame tomorrow. I should be able to get a David Bazan interview in November and then, if I can track down Millencolin somehow, I will have accomplished all of my journalistic dreams. Not bad for two years of writing for a little local paper.

I've got it all wrong

I've been writing to the wrong niche all along. Writing about my life, my kids, my love of beepy-boopy music is all wrong. I need to focus purely on hip hop.

My rage-inducing Eminem review has now topped 2,500 views. My blog post about Snoop Dogg had 200 views last week and my Vanilla Ice article consistently gets more hits than anything else on the Manifesto (save the Shauna Thomas story I wrote in 2006--still a search favorite).

So from here on out, the Manifesto is all hip hop, all the time.

Sutherland out.

Stupid Canada. I Hate You.

My long-time homie Rhett flew in from The OC and spent a few days with us. Other than a trip to a stirring nil-nil Real Salt Lake match and the injury-filled lunch at the Chuck, we spent all of our time writing and recording music. (Oh wait, we also watched a million episodes of Project Runway with Traci.)

I knew we would be recording a couple of Rhett's rock tunes and he said he was bringing some acoustic material as well. I was a bit surprised, though, by what came out of the guitar. Rather than a heartfelt ballad to his fiancee, we got this tribute to America Junior. (Rhett and I have opposing thoughts about our neighbors to the north.)

Beware: this will be stuck in your head for days.

Rhett McCaughey--Ahh Canada [MP3]

This was the only completed product, but we got down the skeletons of two more killer tracks. Keep your fingers crossed.

Chuck-Related Injury

I've been to Chuck-a-Rama twice in the past week. (I know. The best week ever.) But yesterday's visit wasn't awesome. Don't get me wrong, the food was great. But the second I walked in the door, I thumped my knee on a big wooden chair. I think it really affected my buffet-ing abilities and I'm still sore today. Oh Chuck, what have you done to me?

Oh, Paige Will Love This

Streetlight Manifesto just released this video for "Would You Be Impressed?" (The song's like two years old, but whatever.) From the very first second I knew this would be a Paige favorite. But with the murdering and all, I may have to keep this one to myself.

The Injured Reserve List

Traci's had a few injuries over the years. I remember the blackened fingernail that came from shutting her hand in the car door. There was the wounded tailbone from when she slipped on the stairs when she was pregnant with Curtis. But the current sore neck came from something completely surprising to me--gymnastics?!

We were jumping on a trampoline with our kids in St. George when Traci made an amazing announcement. She was going to do a flip. I've known Traci for a long time and she's never made mention of trampoline flips--and I even had a tramp in high school. I was even more shocked when she actually did it!

She landed on her back and now has a sore neck. I'm guessing the flips will go back into hiding. Bummer.

Redbox Reviews

I'd say Traci and I watch maybe one DVD a month. We make it to the movie theater about once a year. We nearly went into movie overload in Utah's Dixie.

Taken - I really liked it. Traci was thoroughly disturbed and hasn't stopped thinking about the teenage prostitution industry ever since. We both agreed that it was okay for the friend to die, because it was her fault for trusting a Frenchman in the first place.

Confessions of a Shopaholic - Don't get Traci started on the inconsistencies between the book and the movie. (She still enjoyed it.) I loved the cameo appearances by Detroit Pistons Bad Boy John Salley. I went out and bought myself a green scarf immediately after.

Knowing - Traci HATES Nicolas Cage. I only rented this one because I thought Traci's dad would like it. (It turns out he'd already seen it.) I knew I had made a bad choice when I was waiting for the DVD to vend and the couple behind me said sarcastically, "We could always get 'Knowing.'" I turned and asked if it was that bad. "We haven't seen it, but our friends said it was the worst movie they've ever seen. But you may like it." Turns out they had pretty smart friends.

I am Andre Agassi

The Pearson St. George adventure is all sports, all the time. Get up in the morning, play tennis. Then go swimming. Get showered up and then go golfing at 2 p.m. If all goes well, there's room for more tennis around 9 p.m.

Surprise, surprise, I'm very little sports, the majority of the time. But I made it a goal to get my tennis skillz together for this year's trip. So I talked my insurance buddies into helping me get into game shape. I practiced three or four times in anticipation.

All the practice paid off, as I had some serious game on the first night of St. George tennis. (I think the bats flying overhead really inspired me.) I held my own on day two as. By day three, unfortunately, all of my beginner's luck had worn off.

But it was a good start. Pearsons beware. Next year I will destroy you.

Carpet Swimming

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In the end, Curtis wasn't really a big fan of the swimming pool. He normally loves the water, but all of our trips to the pool just kept getting in the way of nap time. He did, however, love scooting around the bedroom in Paige's Winnie the Pooh float.

Vacation Thoughts: No Motivation

I always have all sorts of plans to accomplish amazing things on vacation--i.e. writing/recording a new song in the 45 minutes while I'm in the condo alone will Curtis sleeps. As usual, it didn't work out. I did, however, get some reading in and a bunch of movie watching (details).

I read Eminem's autobiography, "The Way I Am," from start to finish yesterday. My review is short. Meh. It was generally unenlightening, with very little ground covered that hasn't shown up on the lyric sheets or depicted on "8 Mile." No insight on family drama, not even any details about the writing or recording process. (It was kinda "Dre and I started recording. We thought we had a hit, and it turns out we did. The end.")

So, if this is the next book in your Salt Lake County Library queue, go ahead and cancel the hold and check "Bring It On Part Deux" or something instead.

Moon Phases

This is now the fourth year of St. George trips for Paige. It's been her best yet. She can't get enough of the pool, and when she's not in the water, she's planted firmly in front of the DVD player. What could be better?



Curtis, however, is in the I-want-to-touch-and-then-destroy-everything-in-my-path phase and is driving us a bit crazy. We got to hang out a 1 a.m., 6 a.m. and then 6:30 a.m. this morning. He liked our time together much more than I did.

Missing Britton Johnsen?

Wondering where University of Utah and MHS basketball star is these days? The Las Palmas resort in St. George. Apparently, he's playing basketball in Greece and still trying to get back into the NBA. I didn't see him on the basketball court, but if his sweet moves from the diving board are any indication, he's still got some serious game.

I didn't talk to him myself. I figured he'd recognize from somewhere, but I'm sure he wouldn't remember my name. Traci said, "Why didn't you say 'Hi, Britton, remember when you used to cheat off me in geometry?'" I should have. I'm pretty sure I'm the only reason that Britton and big brother Jeff passed that class. And what do I get for it? Nuthin. But in the end, it's all the same--we're all on vacation in St. George in August.

Vacation Thoughts: Day I

Today we head off for our annual Pearson family vacation to sunny St. George. (yes, right smack in the middle of the summer heat. That's what we do.) We just finished packing the car and I suddenly have a new understanding for my father, who was already irritated and angry by the start of every single vacation.

The time between waking up and actually get on the road is the worst, especially when your entire house has to come along. All the planning goes right out the window, everything that was ready now isn't, and everyone is nice and upset with each other.

St. George, here we come!

Sweet Dreams

We survived our first overnight trip to Grandpa's ranch since the advent of Curtis. We generally just make a day trip out of it, as to avoid all the extra packing and worry that comes with sleeping in a foreign locale. But we figured it was time to give it a go.

Paige had a great time looking at the stars and running around with glow sticks and her cousins. So hooray for nighttime.

The kids slept fine, which was a blessing. Traci and I, not so much, thanks to Curtis's incessant rustling in his Pack 'n Play. I knew sleep was entirely out of the question at about 4 a.m., when I could hear a rodent scratching at the baseboards beneath my bed. Knowing that I'm an open-mouth sleeper, the visions of a mouse crawling into my mouth repelled all visions of sleep.

Fortunately, come sunrise, my mouth was still mouse-free. Phew.

Concerned About the Decline of Western Civilization?

Curtis clearly is. Just look at that face.