Super Mario 64

I have had an N64 for years, but no Super Mario 64. Most folks told me my collection was not complete, and having been a fan of other mario games, I agreed. I finally filled that void today. It came in the mail, and I played it for 15 minutes and earned my first Power Star by beating the big bomb dude on the hill. Cool! I'll be updating my progress on Super Mario 64 as I go.

James Read Hunter Sings: Planet Unicorn Theme Song (Acoustic)

This is from a long while ago. Just search "Planet Unicorn" if you are confused.

Weight loss progress, plus a shoutout to Nick Elward

Last week, I met my end of February goal of 234.9. My new goal is to be 229.9 by the end of March.

The hardest part of losing weight is not getting discouraged, but at the same time, reminding myself that I'm still fat and I still have a ways to go.

I want to make a shoutout to Nick Elward. Dude has been making some awesome music lately, and he has a Zappa-esque album near completion called Mother Leper. I need to make more music.

Check out Nick's stuff at Last.fm here:LINK
Search "James Read Hunter" on Last.fm and you can hear my music, too. Cool!

I get around

I really like this song.

I'm only posting this picture so I can upload it to another message board. Don't take offense.

Schedule, weight loss, etc.

Today is Wednesdays, and as it turns out, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, I don't have class until 10:40. It's 8:42 as I'm typing and I still have two hours left to enjoy morning.

Today is actually pretty busy. I have Theory, Astronomy, Alejandro (my last semester!!!!) and SCHOLA with barely any break for lunch.

Yesterday, I barely ate, and as a result, I lost four pounds. Now my effort is to keep that weight off.

I wake up to Fleet Foxes' "Sun It Rises", and I try to stop it before the "red squirrel" part ends and the actual song part begins. I have my alarm clock on the other side of the room from my bed so I have to get off the bed and walk to the alarm to stop it. If it were right next to the bed, I would just slap it, roll over and fall asleep again.

I need to practice guitar more.

I've gotten fat again.

When I got back to LSU last summer, I was lean and awesome. I've slacked off, and after an awesome Xmas break full of Reese's, I'm fat again. I need to lose weight. I woke up at 6 this morning. I was planning to go to the gym, but then I realized I didn't have any earbuds for my iPod. I practiced guitar instead.

I need music to keep me running. I need music to make me forget I'm running, because if I realize I'm running, I'll stop running because I hate running.

I got a Gibson SG standard, and it is really really really really really really awesome. It's a piece of work. I really think it's one of those perfect marriages of dude and guitar. It looks good, it feels good and it sounds good. Awesome!

My music has become less lyric-based. I've never been comfortable as a lyric writer, so after I write lyrics, I scratch out all the verses I don't like and just leave it at that.

"I'm gonna do something I've always wanted to do
I'm gonna do something awesome today"

simple and stupid.

LSU gets beat, JRH gets trashed

LSU lost 31-30 last night on a last-minute TD pass by Arkansas QB Casey Dick, not unlike the last-minute loss LSU suffered in 2002.

Last night, I went to the house of Sean Thompson, leader of the progressive rock band Gravel Undertone, whose stuff you can hear at the URL below.

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=7959438

Sean's been my friend for a while. I had plenty of vodka and I remember getting bodyslammed in a drunken sumo bout with Cedric. I got hella drunk and ended up sleeping on his couch.

While I was there, I played a few of my songs, but I had trouble remembering a lot of the words because I was drunk, but it was fun. I played "Taylor Morris" because Taylor was there.

Losing can't put you in a good mood to watch college football. I'm bummed out.

It's time for me to start working on music again. But what should I do?

Cameron's never available, but he's godly when he is. I don't want to be a solo coffeehouse guy. I want a big, loud, powerful sound, and I can't do that with just me and a computer. I can't take the fakeness of programmed drums, but I don't have a way to record real drums. I could just bring a floor tom and a snare to the apartment, but I don't have any room for them. I seem to only be inspired when I'm busy, and when I do have an opportunity, the ideas and motivation aren't there. It's so hard to find people who share your vision. It's so hard to find people who share your vision AND CAN PLAY AN INSTRUMENT.

Happy Black Friday/ Leftovers Day/ Game Day

I hope everyone has a fun time mobbing at the department stores.

I'll be sitting here in Peachtree City watching some LSU football. You're welcome to come over.

Today, a true freshman will start at QB for LSU, something that hasn't happened since 1995. Jordan Jefferson gets the start due to injuries to Andrew Hatch and Jarrett Lee.

The world spends on its Axl

So the eternal question- what will come first, the release of Guns n' Roses' Chinese Democracy or a democratic revolution in China- has been answered. Nowadays, the Guns of Guns n' Roses represents the hired guns Axl brings in to replace Slash, Duff, Izzy, etc, while the Roses part, of course, represents frontman and resident egomaniac/ musical genius Axl Rose. You'd think that the conflicts and the 17-year delay horrorstories that shade the album would foreshadow something like a musical 4o,000-car trainwreck. Well, actually, it's really good.

I mean, it's not something that screams "Timeless Masterpiece", but it is really good. The songs are good. They are catchy and well-written. The sound is vast and powerful. It sounds like something pieced together over 17 years, but it flows seamlessly. The rockers rock, the power ballads are pretty. When it wants to be poppy and catchy, it's poppy and catchy. There's nothing ironic or unintentional about this album's pleasures. This album is a great album. Period.

Fans who leave early are a disgrace to LSU

Seriously, if you left early, fuck you. That is all.

Study like a Rockstar

or at least studying while hopped on Rockstar. It is 5:49 AM. I have not gone to sleep. An essay is due tomorrow (or should I say today?) and I just got through Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant for the second time. Before I reread it, I didn't have any answers. Now that I have, I have too many answers, and I'm searching for the right one, the thesis that will give me the best grade.

I also have a German exam I haven't had time to study. Scheiße.

Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant is a really good book. It's not a style I particularly enjoy, but it has a theme of adaptation, people finding their own joy, their own happiness, their own little place where they belong. It's the kind of book you'd really want to read if it were about you. You start to notice little habits and tics you do, things you always noticed, but never really realized.

I like to think of myself as someone who is able to adapt when it's necessary. Like right now, where hectic days and hectic weeks are becoming more and more typical. I'm a lifelong procrastinator, but it seems I work best at the last minute. I'm adapting with Rockstars and reading. My head feels heavy and my arms are tired, but my brain is awake and buzzing. Now that I've made it through the night, I'm wondering how I'm going to make it through the day without falling asleep.