Jan
31

Stone Gossard & Ken Wilber

Posted in integral at 6:03 pm with tags: • •

a 7 minute sample of the talk between Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard, presented by the new incarnation of my former employer: Integral Life

Popularity: 31% [?]

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Jan
14

my Pearl Jam history

Posted in life at 6:16 pm with tags: • • • •

stone gossard is on integral naked this week. sweet. got me trying to remember my full live history with the band….i think this covers everything but will have to sit down and check ticket stubs one day. michael franti and spearhead are the only other band I may have possibly seen this many times. that list will also have to be compiled sometime.

july ‘95 - Soldier Field. otis rush, bad religion, PJ
may ‘98 - united center. jason lange, joe imhoff, pete frank, me. frank blank opens
june ‘98 - alpine valley with seth & brad lewin
june ‘99 - Tibetin Freedom Concert, EV solo. pretty much everyone from highschool was here.
June ‘00 - Indianapolis with seth/pete frank, pete’s bro
October ‘00 - San Francisco, Halloween. supergrass opens. w/ liz, mark, and sian
October ‘01 - PJ Acoustic. Bridge School Benefit with Neil Young. sanders, waldstein, lozano, woodside, others?
April, ‘03 - Champaign, IL. who opened? with Erika
June, ‘03 - Irvine, CA. Idlewild opens. w/ matt, steph, daniel
July, ‘03 - New York, NY with mattie lozano.
October ‘03 - PJ Acoustic. Bridge School Benefit with Neil Young. katie/brian hoeber, matt, daniel, dan s, melinda, brett dennen, sirka wetzel, kevin hobson, stephanie, matt lozano, others??
May ‘04 - Santa Barbara Ca. special benefit half acoustic/half plugged in for 10c members. middle 4th or 5th row. Jack johnson, john frusciante, chris cornell…EPIC
October ‘04 - Rock for Change, St. Louis, MO with Lorne. death cab opens.
May ‘06 - Chicago, United Center with Kelly Veronico. My Morning Jacket.
May ‘06 - Chicago, United Center with Alan A. My Morning Jacket. my first Crown of Thorns live experience.
July ‘06 - Denver, CO - Pepsi center with Eric Graham. Split bill with Tom Petty
July ‘06 - Denver, CO - Pepsi center with Casey Capshaw. Split bill with Tom Petty
July ‘06 - San Francisco, CA - bill graham civic auditorium - with ryan driscol. GA. Moshing. Sonic Youth
December ‘06 - Honolulu, HA - Split bill with U2. closing of tour for both bands. rockin’ in free world duet. amazing
August, ‘07 - Chicago, IL - Lollapalooza. Pearl Jam closes, main stage 3rd day. hell no don’t go, BP amaco!

Popularity: 30% [?]

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Sep
21

Learn Why I’m a Pearl Jam fan

Posted in Uncategorized at 7:10 am with tags: • • • • •

If you’ve never heard anything other than Ten, think of ticketmaster when you hear the name, or laugh because they remind you of alternative rock in high school, now’s your chance to re-frame the band and learn why I’m such a big fan. Bummed there’s no screening in CO, but the DVD is on its way so I’ll just have to host one of my own…

Immagine was shot over 5 shows in Italy and includes live performances and behind the scenes. Rock On.

http://www.dandeentertainment.com/pearljam.html

Popularity: 25% [?]

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Aug
31

PJology - Tagging - Daughter/It’s OK

Posted in Uncategorized at 4:52 pm with tags: • • • •

Yup, another Pearl Jam post, this time about my favorite tags. ‘tagging’ is a bit of a PJ tradition for certain songs (namely daughter & betterman). They play the song……then keep going and ‘tag’ the song with another…..

There are some great ones, (betterman/sooner or later is quite good), but hands down the best one of all has to be Daughter/It’s OK.

Debuted in 2000 after PJ returned to the states after the tragedy at Rockslide when it had a particularly poignancy in that it involved crowd participation, they’ve played it here and there since(sadly I’ve never seen it live). Touring Band 2000 has it on the DVD, which is where I fell in love, and I gotta say, it nearly brings me to tears every time. It’s OK is by Dead Moon, a solid little punk band. The lyrics aren’t incredibly deep, but they are incredibly simple, incredibly insightful, and to me, incredibly true.

PJ doesn’t sing the whole song, just the last refrain, pasted here for your enjoyment.

It’s okay, we’ve all seen better days
It’s okay, you don’t have to run and hide away
It’s okay
It’s okay, yeah we love you anyway

This is my chance, this is my life
And my opening hour
This is my choice, this is my voice
There may be no tomorrow
This is my plea, this is my need
This is my time for standing free
This is my step, this is my depth
In a world demanding of me
But it’s okay…….

It’s okay………..

Popularity: 21% [?]

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Aug
9

AT&T Censors Pearl Jam

Posted in Uncategorized at 2:24 pm with tags: • • • •

Get the full details here.

AT&T and Apple are now closely linked…could Apple stand up to AT&T on this kind of shit? If not, looks like iPhones will have to be boycotted too.

Popularity: 19% [?]

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Aug
3

Lollapalooza

Posted in Uncategorized at 10:35 pm with tags: • • • •

day one was pretty mellow, saw Satellite Party (the 3rd gen Jane’s Addiction), and Daft Punk headlined, most impressive. Celebrate [one more time] mixed with some Cafe Del Mar and later Human Together, fuckin’ sweeeeeeeeet.

Wasn’t too hot, nice and tolerable today, had some kickin’ vegan ice cream and was quickly reminded how many scantily clad beautiful women tend to show up to music festivals.

tomorrow: I’m thinking Sound Tribe Sector 9, Regina Spektor, Snow Patrol, Spoon, and Muse.

Sunday: Amy Winehouse, Iggy & The Stooges, then though I’d like to go see Modest Mouse it’ll be straight over to AT&T for some My Morning Jacket (who i actually kinda dig) in order to get good seats for Pearl Jam, who’s playing Lolla for the first time in over a decade, and will likely be my only chance to see them live this year.

Popularity: 22% [?]

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Jun
10

Bring it

Posted in Uncategorized at 9:53 pm with tags: • • • •

just dropped a wad of cash on plane tickets for my 2 trips in august. wealth, i am wholeheartedly inviting you into my life at this time….bring it.

Popularity: 21% [?]

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May
7

Getting Old, Pearl Jam style

Posted in Uncategorized at 12:33 pm with tags: • • •

I’ve been thinking a lot about getting older as of late, and find myself more and more looking forward to the process. I’ve finally integrated some solid practices into my life, and already feel them softening me up a bit. Additionally, while life doesn’t seem to be getting any easier with age, dealing with it does seem to be. Things still hurt just as bad as they used to, but it feels like I’m able to let go of that pain just a little easier than before. It’s a shift of frame really, just holding things a bit more lightly, with just a bit less attachment. I think it might get easier with age because one has a lot more experiences to compare each moment to. It’s like when you’re a kid and one summer feels like an entire lifetime, whereas with age one summer feels like a blink of an eye. Relatively speaking, each summer has more context than the last so it doesn’t seem quite as epic as it used to. In film/video/editing terms, it’s liking zooming out on an editing time line, every clip or event still occupies the same amount of time, but takes up less space to make room for everything else.

Similarly, as I age I find that most pain I feel, whether emotional, spiritual, or physical, is one that I’ve experienced in some degree or another in the past, which makes it a lot easier to not make a big deal about it. Wounds just start taking up less space on the time line as the years go by.

I think the best way to make sense of my above incoherent ramblings might be for me to try to express them in another way, and one I know very well: Pearl Jam. So check it out, I think these two songs are very similar, and about very similar experiences. However, I think there’s one key difference between them that ends up making them so remarkably different. Call it wisdom, call it age, call it softness, call it non-attachment, call it whatever you want really. In any case, I’m looking forward to more of it. Cheers.

Pearl Jam - Ten - Black - 1991

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Pearl Jam - Pearl Jam - Come Back - 2006

Popularity: 22% [?]

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Apr
3

Lollapalooza

Posted in Uncategorized at 9:22 am with tags: •

August 3-5th, just bought tickets, they’re cheaper if you get them pre-sale. Why, you might be asking, have I already bought them when the full lineup hasn’t even been announced?

Simple:
It’s in Chicago, so it’s a good excuse to go home, and PEARL JAM is headlining day 3.

Nuff said. Get ready to mosh.

Popularity: 16% [?]

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Jul
26

45ft

Posted in Uncategorized at 5:43 pm with tags: • • •

Last night I walked home in the rain. It was awesome, I’d highly recommend doing it if you haven’t in a while.

Then I watched Jaws 3. Which is totally tied with Jaws 4: The Revenge for shittiest Jaws movie.

and Ooooops I did it again. Pearl Jam and U2, December 9th in Honolulu.

It’ll be the first time I see Matt Lasagna since England last year. My favorite band. His favorite band. Driscoll Country Jr. is coming too. I can’t…..fucking…….wait!!!

Ween/Flaming Lips this weekend, Spearhead at Boulder Theater next week (it will be the SHORTEST distance I’ve ever walked to a concert. 2 blocks babies). Power to the Peaceful in September. Music….its like a phenomenan.

Popularity: 22% [?]

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Jul
19

Walking in a Weekend Wonderland

Posted in Uncategorized at 7:10 pm with tags: • • •

tuesday night, i protected a highschool from zombie ghouls. they had someway of infecting people and would come everyday around 6 or 7. And I fought them off with a Kitana. At some point a bus showed up full of people I knew in high school. I had been holding it together and dealing with the zombie invasion until one of those high school friends told me her boyfriend had been killed. Then I cried.

I then had to go on some crazy secret mission down near the boiler room, and left some other dude with a kitana in charge. When I came back there was a massive war going on in the gym. Kitanas, guns, shovels, bats, all against zombie ghouls. Then I woke up and went to the gym. Best cinematic dream ever! Kick Ass!

Kick Ass in the same way that last weekend was. In the wee hours of the morning last friday I stuffed my duffel bag with some clothes and Snow Crash, and headed out to catch the bus to the airport. After a transfer at LAX, and nearly half of Snow Crash, I was suddenly landing at SFO.A few calls to and fro, and I BARTed over to Katie and Brian’s new place on mission near Balboa Park. After catching up, having some beers, and waiting for Dan, Melinda, and Lee, we took off to an Indian place over on 16th and mission. Daniel ‘the hammer’ Waldestein met up with us on the way, still groggy from his return from a year in Japan. As we ate, the infamous “Crotchathan” headed in our direction and tucked into a nearby bar.

After dinner we proceeded to join him. We were quickly joined by the adventurous Driscal County Jr., and the ever stunning Jen. After a few pints of fat tire, lots of catching up, and many many rants by yours truly about the incredible awesomeness that is Pearl Jam, we headed out to a nearby club.

Pretty sweet club, even if it was super packed. We got very lucky and managed to snag some seats on a very comfy couch. Jen and I had a lovely conversation at the bar during our 23 minute wait to order drinks. We waited so long, in fact, that I made sure to order doubles of everything so we wouldn’t have to go back later! After some ice tossing, and more amusing conversation on the couch, (I now realize how incredibly lucky I’ve been with housemates over the course of my life!) we headed upstairs to the roof. After some confusion about what door we went up through, Jen and I manged to find Dan and Melinda, who were chilling with some of dan’s fellow male nurses. We then headed home for the evening, as I needed by beauty sleep for the long wait the next day.

Dan and Melinda dropped me off in front of the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium around 10:30am. There was already a line of about 45-60 people, but I was fairly happy with my position. Over the next 8 hours or so, I discovered that the Public Library next door was the best place to use the bathroom, that I was only a shade of the fan some of those around me were, that I had been to 3 shows fellow fans around me had, that U2/Pearl Jam might play together this fall, and so so much more!

At 6:15 or so they let us 10 Clubbers in. I got a great spot, along with my pal Driscol. Eddie did a preopener of dead man walking, then Sonic Youth rocked the fucking house. Pearl Jam then came out and played one of the most intense, fast paced sets I’ve witnessed. The mosh pit was insaine! I was pissed at all the obnoxious drunks pushing their way forward at first, but then relaxed into the flow of the crowd, started throwing some elbows of my own, and had a rockalicious good time. It was definitely the first I’ve ever had to work to let go at a Pearl Jam show, but eventually letting go physically just accentuated my normal emotional release. By the end of the night I was deeply, deeply regretting that I wasn’t staying for the next to SF shows! but sadly money and life tend to always get in the way of such aspirations….

So thanks to everyone that came out to see me, it was a fantastic weekend! Special thanks to Dan & Melinda, who have have yet again proven their amazingness in going way beyond duty in helping me achieve yet another of my crazy fly to CA for music occasions.

Back here in Boulder, things are still busy and HOT! I’ve noticed my blog posts have fallen into a pattern of “I did this and that last week” which is probably getting a little boring. I’ll try to think of something cool & different for an upcoming post.

Also, things here at I-I are getting exciting, we’re on Cinematical! The next year could be very interesting!

more from the horses mouth!

Popularity: 19% [?]

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Jul
3

I love the Weekend

Posted in Uncategorized at 12:33 pm with tags: • •

Thursday night: Brutal man night, very agitating conversation about the future of the group. Then 10:15 showing of Superman.

Friday: Work, then over to Broomfield for Rob & Em’s Pool Party! Their apartment complex let them rent out the common room, complete with kitchen, pool table, tv, fireplace, and rocking music….all next to the big joyous pool. After BBQing, beer, pinatta’ing, Em & Ballard performing, and much more we ended up at Ghetto ass Waffle House in Longmont. A night I won’t soon forget!

Saturday afternoon, Casey’s sister and crew of lady friends were in town. Chilling on the town all afternoon, drinking, drinking, and more drinking. Casey’s brother is dating a girl that joined the Ten Club in 1995!!! His brother better marry her soon, A) otherwise I would B) that way they can keep the tickets ‘in the family’. After me foolishly buying rum and cokes and car bombs at the scumdown, I vaguely remember walking home in a very intoxicated state…

Sunday, chilled all morning, watched some shitty TV. Then had a quick bit to eat, an ‘energizing’ jamba juice and then Casey and I cruised off to Denver. Got into town pretty early…so we had a quick pint of Revered at Double Daughter, a bitching little bar not too far from the pepsi center. We then headed back to the arena, picked up my fan club tickets (section 128, row 10, seats 5&6), and then ran to the bar right next to the pepsi center for a quick corona. Met the marketing director for the Mountain, a local radio station, who was kind enough to invite Casey and I to come up to their private box during the show if we so desired. After a kick ass 90 minute power set, (i could have gone for a full length show to be honest) we popped up to the box for some meet and greets, and of course free cold water, beer, and food. Missing the energy of our excellent seats, we bid the ladies farewell and headed back down to our section for the rest of an amazing Tom Petty set, which of course was higlighted by Mr. Edward Vedder on vocals for “Waiting is the hardest part” and “American Girl”.

All in all, a fantastic weekend. And I’m going to the show AGAIN tonight. And tomorrow is the fourth of july. Sometimes, life is pretty sweet.

Popularity: 19% [?]

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May
17

Everything has changed, absolutely nothings changed

Posted in life at 12:23 pm with tags: • •

That’s not the line from “Corduroy”. But it should be. I went to my first of hopefully five Pearl Jam shows last night. Yup, you read that right, FIVE. A new record. Even for me. And it was with another Ten Club member at that. It couldn’t have been a better night. I love Pearl Jam. I really do. On so many levels. Why do I love Pearl Jam?

  • They’re sustainable
  • Everything they do is for their fans
  • They’ve never stopped growing (and me along with them)
  • They treat rock and roll as revolution
  • They’re a classic rock band, not just an alternative one

I actually don’t listen to Pearl Jam albums that much. During off season, months will usually pass in which I don’t put on a single record of theirs. In the back of my mind, I know how good they are and that they’ll always be there. So I start to take them for granted, and slowly start to forget.

Then, they’ll release an album. I love when they release albums, because its one of the few times in my life I can definitively say, ‘on this day my life will be changed forever’. Not changed in any major way, but in a measurable way. Now when I do listen to PJ, I can choose from X numbers of albums, one more than before!

Ten I bought at Best Buy, in 8th grade. Vitalogy I got for Xmas in 8th grade. VS. I got around Easter in 8th grade.

I got No Code when I was a sophomore. My mother and I went to the DMV to get my learners permit, and I stopped at Tower Records next door. I had been listening to “Who You Are” on repeat nearly the entire month before that.

Yield I got in ‘98, when I was a Junior. I was working at CompUSA at the time, which closed at 9. Thus to get it that first day, I had to have my mom pick it up before she got me from work.

Binaural was in 2000. I was in Southern California, that Urban wasteland of highways and roads. Jessica Wickum had to drive me to Best Buy to pick it up.

Riot Act was fall of 2002. I got it at Streetlight Records on Pacific Avenue in Santa Cruz, on my way to one of my very first staff meetings at the group home.

Pearl Jam [Self-Titled], I pre-ordered through the ten club. It technically arrived on April 29th, but I didn’t get it until the 30th when Mike Arens picked me up for the airport and we rolled back to Boulder.

Now, back to what really matters. No two shows are ever alike. No setlist is ever the same. Their catalogue is so huge there’s no way it could be. Songs are always played differently, the band always sounds differently, the energy of the room is always unique, my seats are always different, daughter/betterman usually have unique tags, and you never know who’ll they’ll cover or what famous rockstar will show up on stage with them.

Yet, every Pearl Jam show is also exactly the same. I know the structure of the show and what it will be like: eddie drinking a bottle of wine, length generally between 2-3 hours, 3 sets, last one always ends with a rocking cover, and then Yellow Ledbetter. And then me walking out in a daze. State experience indeed.

Everytime I go to a Pearl Jam show, I’m a completely different person. Years go by between Pearl Jam tours, and often months between shows. I’ve seen them at Soldier Field with Steve when I was hardly pubescent……..Madison Square Garden with Matt in New York……St. Louis with Lorne………Indianapolis with Seth…………….San Francisco on Halloween with liz, shawn, and mark……..Ed at the Tibetin Freedon concert……….acoustic with ben harper at the Bridge School Benefit……..Santa Barbara for the re-unification of Temple of the Dog after driving 6 hours straight with Matt, and of course, the United Center with Kelly.

Everytime I go to a show, I’m re-living those moments. I am those moments, I am inhabit all those selves at once:
I’m Jason at a Pearl Jam show, having the best time in my life.

But I’m also not. I’m different. I’ve grown. I’ve changed. I’ve deepened my awareness since, and hopefully cultivated myself into a better human being. I have new memories, new pains, new regrets, new stresses, new joys. I even look different physically.

Then suddenly, when those lights go down, that all falls away. I fall away. I’m living that same moment I’ve lived a thousand times before. It IS the same moment as all those times before. I simply Am. That’s the thing about Pearl Jam shows for me, when I’m there, I feel it, I get it. All those meditations and practices make sense. I just AM. I settle in I amness. The moment that lasts forever and never goes away……never changes……..the past, the present, and the future…….are ALL just one big pearl jam show.

Everything has changed, absolutely nothings changed. Impermanence and Permanence. Maybe you get it, maybe you don’t. either way, i hope you have something in your life that affects you in similar ways.

Popularity: 27% [?]

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May
17

Chacabuco Update (You can still help make a movie)

Posted in life at 1:09 am with tags: •

1st pearl jam show was incredible. Special thanks go out to kelly for being excellent PJ company and driving…. More details on that later…….but first:

The lastest update from Niles about his amazing Chacabuco documentary…

I’m leaving this coming monday, the 22nd for Chacabuco, to shoot the documentary and the project is really evolving! Here is a little update on what’s been happening:

Last week I interviewed two concentration camp survivors from Chacabuco. They had been in the camp for one year between 1973 and 1974. Both men are now in their 70s, one of them spent 2 years in 6 different concentration camps in Chile and was then exiled to Panamal until 1990. It was an incredible experience interviewing them- painful and awakening. Both men were so grateful to be interviewed, we spoke for about 3 hours all in all. And by the end of the interview they told me they wanted to come with Will (a friend who is coming with me) and I to Chacabuco. They are going to meet us there on May 24thand 25th and return to Chacabuco for the first time since their incarceration there! I was dumbfounded, and still am really.

“The men are going to pay for their own tickets since the amount of funding I’ve gotten so far is just enough to get the project on its feet. I have enough to film it and get there… so Will and I are going by bus, cutting costs… but we need to at least make the old budget goal of $1,400 to be able to reimburse the tickets for these two men, it is the least we can do for them!

Please visit the website
http://www.chacabuco.org/support.htm to support the project with whatever donation you can muster up (really, anything is appreciated even $5 or $10). All who donate will get a credit in the film (if you don’t have a problem with it of course, if you want to remain anonymous just let me know). Time is running out, less than a week left so hurry! AND THANK YOU!

Check out the article in the Santiago Times here:
http://www.tcgnews.com/santiagotimes/index.php?nav\u003dstory&story_id\u003d11248&topic_id\u003d1

And keep updated by checking out the blog which is updated 2 or 3 times a week. The men are going to pay for their own tickets since the amount of funding I’ve gotten so far is just enough to get the project on its feet. I have enough to film it and get there… so Will and I are going by bus, cutting costs… but we need to at least make the old budget goal of $1,400 to be able to reimburse the tickets for these two men, it is the least we can do for them!

Popularity: 19% [?]

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May
1

It’s that time again!

Posted in Uncategorized at 11:35 pm with tags: •

Last night ended up being pretty great in the end. Despite the super delayed flight, I arrived safely in Denver and was promptly picked up by my old bud Mike Arens, who was kind enough to have a 12 pack of heineken with him.

We got back to my house in boulder by 1 or so, and I was delighted to find that the new Pearl Jam album had arrived while I was gone. Needless to say, I went to bed a very happy man a few beers and a great album later. Less than 2 weeks to my first two pearl jam shows of the season, I can’t wait.

We got up relatively early for breakfast, and Mike’s visit was all the excuse I needed to finally check out the fabled Lucille’s for breakfast. Neither of us were able to finish our meals they were so large!

We then took a quick stroll down Pearl and then Mike was on his way! Great times.

I finally watched the Stephen Colbert White House Correspondance video today. And all I can say is he’s got balls of steel……check it out: http://thankyoustephencolbert.org/

Popularity: 14% [?]

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