worthless wilbanks

coolest bandanas ever!

noreply@blogger.com (jared wilbanks) — Wed, 20 May 2009 04:32:00 +0000

our friend jon, whom you may or may not remember from a previous post, brought these back from sxsw for us. we can't wait to wear them while riding the vespa, where i'm sure we'll get some crazy looks.

iron & wine @ fingerprints

noreply@blogger.com (jared wilbanks) — Mon, 11 May 2009 05:47:00 +0000

on sunday afternoon, nikki, her brother clay, and I went to fingerprints to see iron & wine perform; it was SO good! this was our second time seeing him perform there as we were at the 2004 show. below are some pics of the autographed poster from yesterday's show and the one from 2004. i also had him sign his first record, the creek drank the cradle, which has the song "lion's mane" that nikki walked down the isle to at our wedding. unfortunately, he didn't perform it, but he did perform our favorite song off of that album, "upward over the mountain," which i recommend you give a listen to by clicking here.

i'm in! well, kinda' sorta'...

noreply@blogger.com (jared wilbanks) — Mon, 04 May 2009 23:28:00 +0000

i got my letter today saying that i've been accepted as an "alternate" to the sonography program. there were about 90 students who applied and, of that, 22 were "officially" accepted and around 14 were taken in as "alternates." basically, we alternates still take the RADT 60 class this summer with the rest of the accepted students and, as people drop out (either by student's or professor's decision), we move closer to officially being accepted. also, it's important to know that those who are officially accepted on paper are not technically in until they complete the hands-on class this summer and pass it with a C or better. and, from what the head of the department told us at orientation last week, in the past, ALL of the alternates have been given the opportunity to accept or decline the program, which is good news for me. it also means that A LOT of people do not make it in the summer class and that it's quite possible that i'll get in there and decide the program is not for me. only time will tell.

i'm definitely relieved to know that i'm not officially out, but I'm also kind of bummed that i'm not officially accepted (on paper), even with a 3.72 GPA. but, like I said, even if i had been accepted on paper, that still wouldn't mean i was technically accepted.

the journey continues...

you'll always be my boy, blue!

noreply@blogger.com (jared wilbanks) — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 05:46:00 +0000

today was a sad, sad day for ol' blue; this morning the plumbers came and took him away. you see, blue got to where he was "running" every 3 to 5 minutes, which was both a waste of water and really loud - as in, we had to close the door at night so we could get to sleep loud. i had made an attempt to find the parts to fix blue myself, only to find out that your local hardware store doesn't actually make parts for a toilet from the 60's anymore...surprise, surprise. so, we told the landlord about the problem and he had a plumber come out who said he'd have to special order the part for it. then, after the landlord talked the situation over with his wife and the contractor, it was decided that the whole toilet should be replaced.

now we have a boring old white toilet like everyone else. don't get me wrong, i'm glad we have a working toilet now, it's just that blue really tied our 1960s bathroom together.

we had some good times blue. you will be missed...

blue: 196? to 2009

toto: 2009 to ????

so, we didn't get quite as much as we had hoped...

noreply@blogger.com (jared wilbanks) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 23:41:00 +0000

but free money is free money, baby!

a few holga pics...

noreply@blogger.com (jared wilbanks) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 00:37:00 +0000

back in christmas of '04, nikki got me a holga camera. i used it quite a bit for a few months, but then kind of forgot about it for a few years. recently, i decided to pull it back out after inspiration from nikki's brother, who was given one this past christmas.

for those not familiar with the holga, it is a very cheaply made camera that has a plastic body and a plastic lens and takes medium format (120) film. medium format film is quite large (and not so cheap), allowing for a lot of detail, which is especially nice if you decide to have enlargements made. when i used to have them developed, i would get them back as 6x6 photos, but now the lab is doing 5x5, which is a bummer as it really messes up the flow of the album i have them in. ah well.

anyway, the below pics were taken using slide film, which was then developed as regular film, a process known as "cross-processing." i'm not exactly sure what makes developing slide film different from regular film, but what i do know is that it makes for some really bright and beautiful colors (and that it's too expensive of a process to have done on a regular basis). with that being said, i hope you enjoy these, as you probably won't see anymore of them anytime soon. oh, and to get the full detail of these pics, you'll need to actually click on them.

the bulldozer that enjoys ruining our lives at 7 am

the marina

whitney, tx. april 2009.

noreply@blogger.com (jared wilbanks) — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 23:33:00 +0000

a few pics from our trip...

turkeys: kinda' gross to look at, but oh so delicious to eat

noreply@blogger.com (jared wilbanks) — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 02:31:00 +0000

nikki and i spent the past week at my parents' house in texas. they live out in whitney, which is most definitely out in the country. with that being said, it's no surprise that they are often visited by various wildlife. some of the things i've seen on my visits are deer, a bobcat, roadrunners, a fox, armadillo, snakes (of course), and turkeys. Although we were only visited by three of the latter on this trip, i have seen as many as twenty at one time, the last time being around thanksgiving (safety in numbers i guess?).

the pics below were taken from my parents' den. the male came right up to the window and hung out long enough for me to snap these photos of him. obviously, he couldn't see me. i'm sure he was just checking out his own reflection, making certain he looked good for the two ladies pictured at the bottom.

we won! we won!

noreply@blogger.com (jared wilbanks) — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 01:09:00 +0000

it takes something like winning a contest to bring me out of my blogging hiatus. i can't tell you how excited we were to find these waiting on our doorstep when we got home from our week-long trip to texas. i entered to win these bad boys on the coraline web site as soon as we got home from seeing the movie on its opening night. the way i found out about the contest was by doing a google search to find out what was meant by the sentence, "for those in the know: jerkwad," which followed the movie's credits. basically, what i found out was, one just had to go onto the coraline web site, go into her bedroom, and poke around until you found the contest. you were asked a few questions about the movie to make sure that you saw it, and then it asked for the "word" at the end of the credits (jerkwad). i entered both my name and nikki's name in hopes of increasing our odds, which obviously worked. they are a size 10 and we will be putting them on ebay, where there is currently a pair going for $300 ($ for the new computer fund). i'll probably wait until the dvd release to put them up though.

the beach boys' monument

noreply@blogger.com (jared wilbanks) — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 23:10:00 +0000

lately, i've been reading the book smile in preparation for the ten page research paper that will soon be due in my english class. if you're not familiar with smile, it is the beach boys' album that was supposed to be released post pet sounds in 1967, but due to various reasons, which you can read about after i've written my paper, wasn't released until 2004 as brian wilson presents smile. the first part of the book gives a lot of background information on the beach boys, including the fact that they were from, and grew up in, hawthorne, ca. so, yesterday nikki informed me that she needed to drive to hawthorne this weekend so she could take a picture of an apartment building she had appraised earlier in the week and asked if i wanted to go with her. well, i had previously decided that someday i really wanted to see the house that the beach boys grew up in, and since nikki was already going to have to drive to hawthorne anyway, i said, "of course!" i then proceeded to look up the address of the house only to find out that it had been torn down years ago to make way for the 105 freeway. bummer. fortunately, there was a monument built where the house once stood, which i know is not nearly as exciting as an actual house, but it's better than nothing.

more halloween pics...

noreply@blogger.com (jared wilbanks) — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 20:32:00 +0000

here are the rest of the pics from the halloween party...

(click on the slideshow to view larger pics)

halloween 2008

noreply@blogger.com (jared wilbanks) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 06:28:00 +0000

i realized that it was probably going to be a while before i was able to get all of the halloween pics from our friends, so i decided to go ahead and post the few pics i did have. i also realized that, as we got further and further away from the event, it was very likely that i wouldn't feel motivated to put the pics up at all.

i went as javier bardem's character, anton chigurh, from the movie no country for old men. the idea came to me when i borrowed a co2 tank to blow out the jets on my scooter's carburetor from my friend josh. i pretty much already had the correct length hair, as well as a brown collared shirt, black slacks, and a western looking belt; i just needed the right jacket and pair of boots. well, after searching several thrift stores one weekend, nikki and i were able to find both. we were, however, a little concerned that my hair might not come out right, but with the help of a giant round brush, a blow dryer, and some black hair spray, it came out perfect. I even had several people ask me if i was wearing a wig!

in keeping with our past tradition of wearing costumes that go together, nikki went as a zombie who had died as a result of my air gun (if you've seen the movie, you know what i'm talking about). she did a fantastic job on her makeup! so fantastic, in fact, that she won most disturbing costume at the party we went to. way to go my dead...err...i mean beautiful, wife!

i, however, did not win a prize, though there were quite a few people who said i was robbed and should have won one. it's all good though, as i had a wonderful time with my friends at, what turned out to be, the best halloween party ever!

once i have my hands on the rest of the pics, i'll be sure to post them as a slide show.

costumes from halloweens past...

noreply@blogger.com (jared wilbanks) — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 07:08:00 +0000

ever since nikki and i first began dating, we've LOVED dressing up for halloween. so, while we're waiting for our friends to give us copies of the pics from this year, here's a look back on the last seven years. (take note that i'm not 100% sure on the exact years here. also, i used the slash costume at least twice, but the only pic i have is from last year.)

2001 (our first halloween) - hillbillys

2002 or 2003? - pirates!

2005 - seventies bank robbers

2006 - richie "the baumer" tenenbaum,
with our friends scott and ellie as chaz and margot tenenbaum. we hadn't originally planned on going out that night, and therefore couldn't get a tenenbaum costume together in time for nikki. i had worn mine to work that day.

2007 - slash with his new bride

2008 - coming soon...

garfield's halloween adventure

noreply@blogger.com (jared wilbanks) — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 04:39:00 +0000

did you catch it's the great pumpkin, charlie brown on abc last night? it is definitely one of my favorite holiday cartoons, second only to my all time favorite: garfield's halloween adventure.

oh, how i would so look forward to watching garfield and odie in their search for the perfect costume to wear on their trick-or-treating quest to aquire endless amounts of candy, candy candy! and oh how sad i was when they stopped airing it. i'm still not sure exactly why they stopped airing it. perhaps garfield just didn't age as well as the peanuts have?

well, for those of you who miss garfield's halloween adventure as much as i do, i present it to you here. enjoy!

*UPDATE: Google took the video down for copyright reasons. Not sure why as you can find the entire episode (in three parts) on YouTube. You can still download the episode here if you like.

cow eyeballs & sheep brains...

noreply@blogger.com (jared wilbanks) — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 05:36:00 +0000

are the things we are currently dissecting in biology. here are some pics, just in time for halloween:

this is the eyeball before i cut off the fat and muscle that was surrounding it.

here it is sliced in two. you wouldn't believe how much liquid (aqueous humor) poured out from inside. on the left, the eyeball is upside down and you're looking into it. on the right is the back wall of the eyeball. the iridescent looking material helps animals see at night. we humans don't have this in our eyes. the little white ball is the lens.

a zoomed out view. everything on the bottom is fat and muscle tissue.

the sheep brain! it closely resembles a human brain, just not in size of course.

Monsters vs. Aliens

noreply@blogger.com (jared wilbanks) — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 06:08:00 +0000

Today, Nikki and I went to the Block in Orange for an advanced screening of a new movie. We had been to advanced screenings before, but we always knew beforehand what movie we were going to see and they were movies that would be hitting theaters nationwide within the week. Well, this time we had no idea what movie we were going to see, only that it was from the makers of Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda. Now, seeing how Madagascar 2 is coming out in a couple of weeks, I thought for sure that's what we would be watching. Well, it turned out to be a movie neither of us had ever heard of: Monsters vs. Aliens - and it was AWESOME! I won't give away any of the plot but I will tell you that it had an all-star cast of character voices, including Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen, Will Arnett, Hugh Laurie, Rainn Wilson, and Stephen Colbert. Seth Rogen's character was by far our favorite.

We watched the entire film but didn't get to see the "final" version of it as it was only about 75% complete. The scenes that weren't finished had either really rough computer animation or no computer animation at all. The latter were replaced with storyboards. It was pretty cool seeing these "rough" scenes, as it gave you a good overall depiction of the steps involved in bringing these computer animated movies to life.

Nikki and I really enjoyed it and definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys these types of movies. Look for it in theaters March 27th.

Oh, one more thing. Nikki actually had to go back out to the car to put her phone up because it has a camera in it. You see, in order to reduce the risk of anyone doing any audio or video recording, nothing with a lens was allowed inside. Purses were searched thoroughly, we had to walk through metal detectors, and they had the "wand" on hand as well. Interestingly enough, I got through the metal detector with a pocket knife, a pen, keys, a belt, and...my iPhone. I actually showed the knife to the guy standing next to the metal detector when he asked if I had anything metal on me. He just told me not to shank anyone...

for rent

noreply@blogger.com (jared wilbanks) — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 03:08:00 +0000

if you run into oscar the grouch anytime soon, let him know i found a great place for him on the peninsula; no ocean view, but there is a skylight.

come again?

noreply@blogger.com (jared wilbanks) — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 15:25:00 +0000

i realize there's absolutely nothing creative about posting youtube videos on ones blog, but every now and then one comes my way that is so good, i have to share it with everyone. thanks to my brother jeff for sending me this one.

we're not trapped, we're not trapped!

noreply@blogger.com (jared wilbanks) — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 00:19:00 +0000

for those of you who have lived in the belmont shore / naples area for any of the past, i don't know, say 5 + years, you know that this sunday is the annual long beach marathon. you also know how awful it is to get practically anywhere, seeing as they close down 2nd street and studebaker, only two of the most important streets allowing you to leave and enter the shore. well, have i got some great news for you: the course has been re-routed to exclude 2nd street AND studebaker! that's right, we're no longer trapped in our homes (all morning long) on sunday!

for those of you who live west of livingston, i'm sorry to say that you will still be affected by the runners. so, to help you out a little, here is a pdf version of the course map to assist you in steering clear of the madness.

this is fantastic

noreply@blogger.com (jared wilbanks) — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 05:29:00 +0000

free slurpees!!!

noreply@blogger.com (jared wilbanks) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 00:01:00 +0000

just got my free 7.11 oz. slurpee from 7-11. thanks to my friend randy
(aka the captain) for the heads up.

i wonder if they do this every july 11th? i also wonder how many 7-11s
i can hit before midnight...

listening station

noreply@blogger.com (jared wilbanks) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 05:34:00 +0000

so i decided that, since i enjoy music so much, i should have a regular something on my blog that actually involves it. if you look over on the right column, you'll notice i've added a new list entitled, "last 5 albums i've bought." i originally planned on listing 10, but i want people to actually read it and, if you're attention span is anything like mine, 5 is probably still too much.

as i purchase new albums, three things will happen: 1st, the 5th album listed will be knocked out of the list (obviously); 2nd, i will post a pic of the album; and 3rd (this one's my favorite!), you will be able to stream the ENTIRE album, direct from the post. hooray!

sooo, without further delay...

the latest album i purchased is Elephant Shell by Tokyo Police Club. this is their 1st full-length and, if i'm not mistaken, 1st recording on Saddle Creek. "Tesselate" and "In a Cave" are the first two singles. so, if you don't have time to listen to the entire album (which is actually really short), you should at least check out those two tracks. enjoy!

well, i hope you enjoyed this 1st installment of "last 5 albums i've bought." please let me know if there is anything i've left out that you would like to see included in future posts.

oh, one more thing. if you click on any of the bands/albums in the column on the right, you will be sent to that band's web page. how convenient!

the dark knight

noreply@blogger.com (jared wilbanks) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 06:16:00 +0000

in preparation for the highly anticipated blockbuster movie event of the summer, i have decided to let my inner geek shine in all it's glory by adding a dark knight countdown timer to my page. and in case you haven't seen the most recent trailer, i've included it right here in this very post. however, if you have a high-speed connection, i recommend you check out the better quality version on the apple movie trailers site. enjoy!

noreply@blogger.com (jared wilbanks) — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 07:33:00 +0000

You know that kitchen drawer that has SO much stuff in it that when you try to pull it open, it won't budge? Well, this is what happens to the item causing the problem when "jiggling" the drawer doesn't work and you get impatient and pull on the handle with all of your might.

Or maybe...I really just bent it WITH MY MIND!

Finally...

noreply@blogger.com (jared wilbanks) — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 07:04:00 +0000

The foam for my surfboard came in yesterday. It was supposed to have arrived around 2 weeks ago, but there were some issues with the mold that the company who makes it uses.

Sooo, now begins the transformation. The guy who is shaping it for me is supposed to take pictures of the whole process which I will post. He says he'll have it finished by next Thursday (June 26th). I'm so stoked to finally have a board shaped specifically for me! I've waited years for this!

This here's a picture of the blank. I know it's probably not very exciting for many of you, but it is for me so at least pretend to be excited. Oh, and the company who made the blank is called Just Foam, just in case you were thinking that the branding on it was to distinguish it from other blanks that might not be made of "just foam". And no, it will not say Just Foam when it is finished. That will be sanded off.