TOY BOX

REUNITED

Collapse played its last show in April of 2010. It wasn't supposed to be our last show, but after we got back from Peru everyone just got busy and didn't really have the time, energy or the desire to keep going.

We have a whole bunch of stuff partially recorded—some of it we like and some of it we don't, some of it we changed after we did a rough pre-production track. There's probably 11 songs recorded altogether. Richard finished vocals for three of them, one we never finished writing a second guitar part and a bunch of instrumentals.

I dug them all out of my hard drive the other day because there's a good chance we're going to start playing again. Probably won't be much more than a show in December and hopefully get Richard to finish recording the vocals on the songs we still like. If the last part happens, we'll probably just put together a little EP and give it away via the Internet.

The ones that are actually finished (or very close to it) I put up on my SoundCloud page. If you're a fan of heavy, dark, fast hardcore, you'll probably be in to it. If you're not in to that stuff, you probably won't like it. But give it a shot. You might be surprised.

And I'll be sure to keep you posted about what we're doing. I'm having a hard time remembering how to play some of this stuff, so we'll see how that goes.

Tracks are embedded after the break to make the page load easier.

IMPORTANT THINGS - OCTOBER, 2011

Ladies and Gentelmen, welcome to trevorhale.com.

I've had this blog for a few years now, and while it was left neglected for most of the summer, I'm kind of back on the horse. 

This is my little corner of the Internet where I show you stuff I like, stuff I don't like, things I write, movies I want to see, bands I want to listen to and so on and so forth.

I've got a few other social networking sites and I try to keep content different for each one.

Instagram (@trevorhale) is for making my bullshit pictures look fancy and one of the reasons I was most excited for an iPhone. I know the user etiquette and won't flood your feed with pictures of my cats or things I'm eating. I promise.

Twitter (also @trevorhale) is for jokes and random thoughts contained to 140 characters or less. I think I'm hilarious and so do at least 3 other people.

Tumblr is for me to waste my time and reblog pictures that I like and keep up with the lives of people I'll never meet in real life. 

Join the party. Follow me here, there and anywhere else you might want to.

And don't be afraid to drop me a line and tell me what you think.

I'm here to help you kill time by telling you all the things you never knew you wanted to know.

"IT CAME WITH THE FRAME"

If anyone has a lead on a huge house, let me know. These all need to be framed and hung, but I've got no room.

KILLING YOURSELF TO LIVE

I should have learned my lesson by now, but I haven't. 

The lesson, of course, is to stop loaning out my favorite books because I never get them back.

I've purchased Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs four times and this is my third copy of Killing Yourself to Live. I keep loaning them out because I want people to appreciate them the way I do, but it never quite works out that way. It usually just ends up like this:

"How did you like that book?"

"What book?"

"*Insert book title here*? You asked if you could borrow it a while ago?"

"Ohhhh, yeah! I haven't gotten to it yet. I still have it though. I'm excited to read it."

Usually the phrase 'I still have it, though' is code for 'Oh shit. I lost that book like two days after you loaned it to me, forgot the title and haven't thought about it since.'

The bottom line is that I found this book for dirt cheap, so I didn't feel too bad shelling out a few more bucks to read again.

It's a road trip story in which Chuck Klosterman (a guy you'll either love like I do or wholeheartedly despise) drives cross country and visits the site where significant rock stars died. He then examines what it meant to their career, and in a lot of cases, them dying was probably the best thing to happen to their fame.

It starts at the Chelsea Hotel where Sid and Nancy died and ends in Seattle at the home of Kurt Cobain. And through the trip, all he has is time to reflect and over analyze hundreds of songs, their meanings and how they relate to his life.

It's a great read if you're a fan of music, rock stars, fame and the whole 'only the good die young' mantra.

Pick it up and hold on to it.

Definitely don't loan it out. You'll never see it again.

CITY TO CITY

This is my love letter to City to City. I'm not ashamed of it at all.

For those that don't know, City to City is a band from Salt Lake that I absolutely loved. Granted, I'm great friends with every single person in the band, but that doesn't change the way I feel about their music. It was a great mix of hardcore, post-hardcore, rock & roll and good old punk rock.

They were a great live band and people loved watching them, because they were one of the rare SLC bands that had great sing-a-long choruses. That's not to say that other bands didn't try to write those parts, it's just that none of them did it as well as City to City did.

I tagged along the weekend they recorded and took my video camera to try and make some sort of documentary out of it for my old blog, Grudge City Activities. I managed to get some really good footage and I was actually pretty happy with the way it turned out.

The EP they recorded that weekend ranks among one of my favorite SLCHC releases to date and if you haven't heard it, you should.

You can download the entire thing for free by clicking this link.

Also, if you're interested, there's a whole bunch of old SLCHC releases in the GCA Music Archive—all free.

But back to City to City.

One of the best bands to have around and I miss them. This is all the footage I shot during that weekend and made in to 4 separate videos.

*Edited to Add*

I put a break before the videos because the page was taking forever to load, and that's not a good thing. So hit the jump to see the rest of the post. It's worth it.

BEETEETH

My man Dan Christofferson—you may remember him from such posts as Terrible. Gentle. Man., The Bees Knees, and Top 5 Anythings - 2010‚—has another can't miss art show this weekend that requires your attendance.

He's been killing it lately with all kinds of different formats and this weekend at Cathedral Tattoo (249 East 400 South, SLC, UT) will be no different.

Lately, his work has focused a lot on images and impressions that our state—and the west in general—is known for, twisting and interpreting them to resemble his feelings.

Hints have been dropping all over his Instagram/Twitter feed (@robotwithwings), which if you're not following, you should be. There is also a little preview of what's to come hanging in the Trolley Square Whole Foods.

But make sure you come out this Friday night for what's likely to be the last Gallery Stroll where we'll have good, tolerable, walking-around-outside weather for the next five or six months. There are bound to be a few other good galleries (like Blonde Grizzly's Monster Show), but this is one you shouldn't miss.

See you there?

WELL DONE, RANGERS

No one watches baseball anymore. Everyone thinks it's too boring and wants no part of it.

Not me.

I still love game and it was one of my favorite parts of coming home from work after a long Sunday, when I could grab some food and watch a bit of the Sunday night game on TV.

And I really loved the last day of the season when there were four teams (two in the AL and two in the NL) fighting for that one playoff spot. I got to see Papelbon blow a lead that cost the Red Sox the season and watch Evan Longoria hit a ball that barely cleared the fence, sending the Rays to the playoffs.

The playoffs were pretty good and though I still have a tough time rooting for Texas-based teams, this summer has done a lot to sway me away from that.

First the Mavericks put on one of the most memorable runs I can remember and as much as I wanted to, I just couldn't bring myself to root against them.

Then, the Rangers just looked so damn good that they deserved every win they got (and hopefully get, since I don't much care for the Cardinals).

But one thing that stood out after the Rangers beat the Tigers in that last game—their on-field celebration. Every team that makes the World Series celebrates on the field, so that's no surprise, but still—the Rangers did it a little differently.

See that picture up top there? That's the Rangers dousing each other with Ginger Ale.

Not champagne.

I wrote about it last year, when they made the World Series for the first time in 50 years, but it's worth mentioning again. The on-field celebration with Ginger Ale has become their new thing as a way to include recovering addict, and one of the Rangers' most important assets, Josh Hamilton and their number 1 pitcher, C.J. Wilson, who is Straight Edge.

They still do the champagne and beer in the clubhouse later, with Hamilton and Wilson hanging out elsewhere, but it's awesome that the Rangers found a way—and cared enough—to make such a seemingly insignificant change to postseason tradition mean so much.

And I have to ask again—how am I supposed to hate Texas when they do stuff like that?

THE BECOMING (STILL)

Such a great band.

TEDDY ROOSEVELT WAS AWESOME

I love this story.

"October 14, 1912 -  

Minutes before giving a speech on a campaign stop in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Theodore Roosevelt is shot in an assassination attempt.  

The would-be assassin’s bullet is slowed down after travelling through a steel eyeglass case and the folded, fifty page speech he intended to give, stopping in his chest. Realizing that he wasn’t coughing up blood, Roosevelt figured he was well enough to go ahead and deliver his speech rather than rush to the hospital.  

He spoke for the next 90 minutes, opening with the words: 'Ladies and gentlemen, I don’t know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot; but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose.'  

Doctors deemed it too risky to remove the bullet, and Roosevelt carried it with him inside his body for the rest of his life."

WEEKENDERS

END OF THE LINE

You'll be missed, old friend.

YOU VANDAL

Wise words from the neighborhood vandal.

ONLY LIVING WITNESS

This is one of the songs that would be on the mix tape that only myself and Dan Fletcher would listen to.

WILD THING

This post was shamelessly stolen from my man Destin over at Steady Clappin'. Make sure you head over there at some point and check it out. He does good work and makes way better mix tapes than I could, which is why I never started. Well, that and not enough people want a mix tape full of Life of Agony, Into Another, Only Living Witness and Helmet. But I digress....

"Once a little boy sent me a charming card with a little drawing on it. I loved it. I answer all my children’s letters — sometimes very hastily — but this one I lingered over. I sent him a card and I drew a picture of a Wild Thing on it. I wrote, “Dear Jim: I loved your card.” Then I got a letter back from his mother and she said, “Jim loved your card so much he ate it.” That to me was one of the highest compliments I’ve ever received. He didn’t care that it was an original Maurice Sendak drawing or anything. He saw it, he loved it, he ate it."  —Maurice Sendak

WHAT HELMET LAWS ARE FOR

Antelope - 1
Mountain Bike Dork - 0

"SORRY GENTLEMEN, THE LAW IS THE LAW"

This has been floating around the Internet for years but I just came across it via Badass Digest. Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins were required to fill out a customs form declaring what they brought back to the U.S. after Apollo 11 touched down off the coast of Hawaii.

No, really. They actually did.

BREAKING BAD

This show just gets better and better. This is the first season I was able to keep up with as it aired and that's basically because I spend too much time on the Internet and didn't want anything spoiled for me.

That said, after watching the Season 4 finale this past Sunday, I can safely say that I haven't wanted been this excited for the next season in a long time—probably since the end of LOST season 3. (You know, the first flash forward episode.)

I spent the morning reading the show's creator, Vince Gilligan, break down this season episode by episode and the more I read, the more brilliant I think he is. Everything about this show is great, the writing, the casting, the direction, the music, and my God, the acting. Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul and especially Giancarlo Esposito are all fantastic.

I can't wait for it all to come crashing down next season. Too bad we have to wait until July 2012 for it to start again.

Two more things:

1) Don't click this link unless you're 100% caught up. But for the rest of you that are, this is "that shot." You know, the one (or at least one of them) that made us all go 'You've got to be fucking kidding me!' and then 'Holy shit!'

2) I haven't been able to stop listening to this song since Sunday night.

THRILLS AND CHILLS

For the past few weeks I've been hitting a bunch of haunted houses around the city for an article I was writing for City Weekly. I actually enjoyed myself a lot more than I expected. Once the article goes into the archives I'll have the whole thing up on here. But until then, head over to their site and check it out or grab this week's issue.

City Weekly -- You might think that if you’ve seen one haunted house, you’ve seen them all—but that’s not entirely true. Though there are common themes, no two haunts are exactly the same. Each has its own distinct vision of providing a good, old-fashioned scare.

Read the rest of the article by clicking the link.

Castle of Chaos

Nightmare on 13th

Strangling Brothers

Fear Factory

SICK OF MY FACE YET?

I like uploading pictures here way more than Flickr or Facebook. I don't really know why, but it'll probably continue. You're cool with that, right?

Flamingos. Always Flamingos.

@nomoregardner

Chief.

World Champions.

Art.

1/2 a happy couple. Just here though.

All of the lights.

Hangin' on the corner of 52nd and Broadway...

So close to smiling.

More art.

NEVERMIND

When I did my 2011 movie preview back in January, I had Spielberg's WAR HORSE on the list of things I wanted to see.

Well, scratch that.

The trailer hit earlier this week and now I have no desire at all to see it. Ever. It just looks incredibly boring and not at all what I hoped, but exactly what I expected, if that makes any sense.

See for yourself.

JESUS' WEEN

Halloween started off as something much different than what it's become, but it's still way too evil for some people.

And by some people, I mean Evangelical Christians.

The origins of the holiday aren't exact, with some people attributing it to Romans and others saying it evolved from an and old Celtic festival. Either way, it's become basically one day a year (that gets stretched out an entire month) for people to celebrate scary things, dress up in costumes and eat candy. No one uses it as an excuse to raise the dead or hold sacrifices.

But Christians are getting upset (like they always do) about the fact that it's a holiday that doesn't celebrate Jesus. So they're taking it back.

Not only that, they're giving it an awesome new name: Jesus' Ween.

Okay, I'll admit that I added the apostrophe at the end of Jesus, but that doesn't make it any less silly.

I think this means that Christians will be handing out bibles and facts about God on October 31, largely as a promotional stunt for the first two weeks in November which is some sort of festival called "Jesus Win!"

But still, JesusWeen? That's just ridiculous.

I have plenty of Christian friends and I like seeing them and talking to them. We just can't talk about Christianity or God. I can't listen to them talking about a man in the sky watching over us, or how God placed dinosaur bones on the earth to test our faith. I can't keep a straight face listening to that, so it's just better to avoid it.

And for what it's worth, I don't go out of my way to talk about NOT being Christian or anything like that. Fair is fair.

What are the chances of Jesus' Ween actually replacing Halloween? I bet the odds are pretty slim—mostly because of the name.

Jesus' Ween. They have a website and everything.

RHYMIN' AND STEALIN'

If you're a Jazz fan like I am, there are definitely a few players on the current roster you're just not sure about.

For every one fantastic game that Kirilenko played, he gave you five borderline terrible ones. Okur (prior to injury) was either 100% on or 100% off. Millsap, as much as I love him, completely disappears for like 20 minutes each game.

Then we have C.J. Miles. For years, (literally years) beat writers, bloggers, announcers, talk show hosts and everyone else keep reminding me of his potential, that he's still young and once it all clicks for him, the rest of the NBA better watch out.

The problem with that is that C.J. has been in the league for six years. If it hasn't clicked yet, I don't think it's going to. He's an effective player from time to time, but he's killed the Jazz far more times than he's saved them.

When we matched OKC's offer sheet to keep him around, I wasn't upset because it wasn't a lot of money. But it was a 4-year deal, which meant that I was going to have to suffer through his erratic play for another four seasons.

I don't really know how the lockout works, but I'm pretty sure the 11-12 season would be Miles' last under his current contract, but since it's becoming increasingly clear that there's not going to be an 11-12 NBA season, I kind of think we're through with him, which would be okay with me.

I'm sick of him. I don't trust him. I want to, but I don't. I want him to be the player that everyone has been telling me he'll be, but he's not and I don't want to keep waiting for him to become that player.

All of that was a super long-winded segue into the fact that thanks to my old boss Rachel Piper, I found out that C.J. Miles has some hip-hop tracks floating around.

I knew he rapped, because my friends in the band Reviver have been trying to get a guest spot from him on one of their new tracks for a year. They've exchanged Tweets, but I don't think anything ever came of it. But even if it did, Reviver/C.J. wouldn't have shit on Foekus and Cherem.

I don't know a lot about hip-hop, but I know that this isn't terrible. There are definitely far worse NBA star-turned rapper tracks out there (Kobe Bryant feat. Tyra Banks, anyone?) but at least he's spending the lockout doing something productive. God forbid he'd be working on his shooting.

Well congrats, C.J. you can finally be mentioned in the same sentence as Shaq, Allen Iverson, Jason Kidd, Chris Webber and Kobe.

It's just a shame it's not based on your playing skills.

"L.A.S.T."


"Loud Thoughts"


If you're on Tumblr, keep an eye on C.J.'s. He's bound to put up more tracks eventually.

WORLD GONE SOUR

I like Method Man, I love Sour Patch Kids and I like fun. This is all three of those things.