This time around I put together my favorite songs from the year. Not all of them came out in 2008, but I listened to each about a million times over the course of the last 12 months. I don't have the time to do the usual commentary, so you can just make up the reasoning for why a U2 b-side would become my favorite song this year on your own. Weird, I know.

Download Really Let's December mix (right click and 'save as')

1.  The Walkmen - In The New Year
2.  Why? - Fatalist Palmistry
3.  Esau Mwamwaya ft. M.I.A. - Get It Up
4.  Blitzen Trapper - Wild Mountain Nation
5.  Q-Tip - Move
6.  Superchunk - Driveway To Driveway
7.  Portishead - The Rip
8.  Modeselektor - The White Flash
9.  Will Oldham - I Send My Love To You
10. U2 - Unchained Melody

Yeah, I'm a little late on this one, but wow. 

It's been raining nonstop in LA this week, which means that every time I venture outside everything has that great overcast and gloomy look that makes me feel like I'm living inside a Cure album (let's say Head On The Door to be specific) or a Johan Renck video. It's perfect weather for a week of last minute editing and color correcting, and a great opportunity to wear all of my clothes at once to stay warm. Seriously, LA isn't supposed to be this cold.

Promo News gave me a little shout out for the latest Rosie video, and it's nice to see Camila and Stein get a mention too. With those guys it's impossible to make anything bad. Also, Abduzeedo, a German design site, was nice enough to post a little piece on me a few months back and I forgot to mention it. Thanks Alexis.

I had to fend off a lack of sleep and a nasty case of Thai-related food poisoning to finish this album cover, a Griffith Park foliage tribute for an indie rock band from Kansas. I'm really happy with it, but I'm afraid I'll never be able to look at it without being reminded of Chicken Phad Thai.

I should mention that the Draw Pictures holiday dinner on Monday night was a great opportunity to see everyone who made this such a fun year, and a humbling reminder of how many people it takes to make my ideas look good on film. Everything I did in 2008 wouldn't have been possible without tons of hard work from Steve, Marc, Corban, Bjorn, David Torno, Daniella, Sebastian, Jessica, Joaquin, Ariana, Scott, Justin, Bro Zealand, Camilla, Lisa, Phil, Jen, Stein, all of the interns, and everyone in the London and LA offices who either let me sleep on their couch, their editing bay floor, or their shoulder during long flights. Thanks everyone.

Wait, one more non-sequitur before I go sleep for 20 straight hours: How amazing is this?



Dave and I used to have an ongoing discussion about what song would play when we approached the plate if we were pro baseball players. I used to say either MOP's Ante Up (c'mon, tell me that isn't the perfect choice) or DJ Shadow's The Number Song (also, c'moooon). But after watching this, I'm afraid I would just have to request that my walk from the dugout take exactly 6 minutes and 12 seconds so that the whole stadium could feel the hair stand on the back of their collective necks by the time I was ready to strike out. It's so good it almost hurts to listen.

Thanksgiving weekend was perfect in every way. I slumbered. I drank grapefruit juice.

I saw Deerhunter, who was brutally loud (and who quite possibly sent me a subtle message of support via a t-shirt). I tagged along as Dave shopped for Christmas while out of his mind on Vicodin, which was brutally funny. And I read about Brutalism, which is quickly becoming an unhealthy obsession (who knew concrete could be so fascinating?). In summation- brutal, so very, very brutal.

Also, we recently finished the edit on the Nintendo spot I directed last month. You can see it here. 

That was my view from Griffith Observatory at 6:15 this morning. Yeah, 6:15 am. I couldn't sleep last night, and for the first time in 3 years it had nothing to do with crazy record labels or ad agency timetables. Please, someone shoot me before I just straight up turn into Brian Krakow. Ridiculous.

Bro Zealand meets Bea Arthur. Could there be a more winning combination? 

Also, if you're really into public transportation or you just use newspapers for warmth in the wake of the recession, you should take a peek at this month's issue of Metromix. The really nice girls from Uh Huh Her are the cover story, and they talk a little about our video shoot.

I decided to do my monthly mixtape thing again. There's no real theme here, just things I've been listening to lately that I think my friends might like. I'm calling it the "Really, Lets" mixtape series, and I'll do my best to keep it a monthly thing. We were on a roll for a while, I'll see if I can at least knock two out before the end of the year.

Download Really Let's November mix (right click and 'save as')

Tracklisting:

Stereo Total - Prends moi (Take Me)
They could be singing about anything, but it doesn't really matter.

De La Soul - Big Brother Beat
I vividly remember a night from my senior year of high school where I stayed up until 3am listening to Black On Both Sides while reading a book of historical American speeches compiled by William Bennett. The next morning I inexplicably decided to run for student council. To this day Mos Def's voice reminds me of John Adams, neo-conservative principles, and pep-rallys.

Amanda Blank - I Need Love (Diplo remix)
I'll admit that I'd never heard the original LL Cool J version of this song until Nikki pointed out that this was a word-for-word remake. I was really bitter at the time and was pointing out how this song was an example of how girls are ridiculous, but after Nikki's explanation I realized that it's actually just LL Cool J who's ridiculous. Anyway the beat is awesome.

Why? - Gemini (Birthday Song)
This song is heart-wrenching. The part where he says that his girlfriend's legs look like skinny dolphins always gets to me and I'm not sure why.

The Diggs - Everyone's Starting Over
This is the fastest tempo possible for a melancholy song. Any faster and it starts sounding like goth ska, and no one wants to hear that.

Deerhunter - Never Stops
I think the best way to describe this song is to say that it sounds like Interpol if their jet crashed into the Himalayas and they had to survive a bitter winter without food or shelter, and they went crazy and started eating each other like the Donner Party. This song sounds like something they would write after experiencing that.

Leaders of the New School - Case of the PTA
Why don't rappers make songs like this anymore? Am I ever going to get to hear G-Unit rap about their social studies homework? Or Young Dro complain about cafeteria food? Or Clipse compare the drug trade to crosswalk duty? 

Q-Tip - Breathe and Stop (Kleptones remix)
Chopped and screwed in outer space.

Celebration - Heartbreak
A+ use of an organ.

Built To Spill - The Plan
These lyrics are awesome:

"The plan keeps coming up again
and the plan means nothing stays the same
but the plan won't accomplish anything
if its not implemented."

It's the ultimate "put up or shut up" line, followed by 4 minutes of the band adding exclamation points in the form of epic guitar riffs. I'm pretty sure that most of Barak Obama's campaign speeches were basically just Built To Spill lyrics with words like "healthcare" and "unity" sprinkled in.

The video I directed in England last month gets a mention in the new issue of Horse And Hound, which is the periodical of choice for equine-obsessed British aristocrats. Our horse from the shoot was semi-famous in the area, although at the time I only chose it because it met the important qualifications of 1) being a horse, and 2) being free. It's an odd article, but If I'm ever in a situation where I want to impress a sophisticated British girl, I'm sure this will work better than, "I have every Dizzee Rascal album memorized from start to finish".

I also saw Straw Dogs for the first time yesterday, and it turns out that it was filmed in the exact same location. Unfortunately the movie is all about how the locals beat up Americans and steal their sassy British girlfriends, so I don't think it really does the place justice.

A quick update: Apparently, another English magazine about horses (yeah, there's more than one) published a story about the video. It's bittersweet, as I'd always hoped to see the headline, "Music Video Stardom Calls For Mr. Happy" in reference to my own success and relative happiness. 

Also, ArtRocker has a piece where the band gives a little commentary.

Don't get me wrong, I like LA. But I feel like I was meant to live somewhere rainy. Like, non-stop rainy. And snowy. And foggy. Tornadoes maybe, too.

Anyone in the mood for a late-night-rain-skate?

Pumpkin carving night at Daniella's was the perfect way to cap off an extremely long week.  

Josh did a Pac Man inspired design, Nikki went with a traditional ghost, and Steve and Andy talked business in the corner. I went for a tribute to my hometown.

Here it is in all it's glory.* 

I really wanted to add a coyote, a kachina doll, and the entire  1996 Phoenix Suns starting line-up, but decided to save myself a challenge for next year.

*In no way is it intended to be an endorsement for a certain Arizona senator.

My dad got a Wii Fit for his birthday. My sister and mother were responsible for rendering Wii versions of our entire family. If you can look past the giant gloved hand that's violating me in the picture above, I'd say it's a fairly accurate interpretation.

I come back to LA tomorrow and I'm looking forward to sleeping in my own bed again for the first time in three weeks. LA friends: let's make up for lost time and hang out this week. I miss you all.

Anna and Brad got back from Indonesia two weeks ago and spent the night in LA before heading back to Phoenix. I don't think I'll ever know a more inspiring married couple. Seeing them together is almost enough to undue the multiple viewings of Husbands And Wives* that scared me to death in college.

All of a sudden Duckworth lives down the hall too, which means that my apartment building now has all of the required characters for a 90's sitcom about twenty-somethings in the big city.

I'm happy, tired, and content with the ridiculously unpredictable nature of my life. I'm reading a book about the Great Depression. I'm praying more. I deleted everything on my ipod except for A Tribe Called Quest and New Order. I've got a weird hankering to play pick-up basketball. I'm surrounded by great people. 

* Regardless, still, a really great movie.

Our location for the Xbox spot I shot on Wednesday was a Masonic temple in Scranton, PA. A secret society having a giant headquarters in a city that's known for being a haven for all things bland is an interesting juxtaposition. Shouldn't these guys be meeting at the base of an active volcano in the Falkland islands? Or in a secret briefing room in the Statue of Liberty's torch? 

The day before the shoot we had a pre-production meeting at the temple and I asked the location manager if she'd give me a tour of the rest of the building. We were only supposed to be shooting on the first floor so I expected to get a polite refusal, but instead she spent the rest of the morning unlocking secret doors and accompanying me down weird passageways. We saw some bizarre things, but my favorite part of the whole temple was the wall of photos that displayed the Mason leaders of the past 100 years.



This guy was my favorite.

I can't claim to know much about the Masons, but I have a hard time believing that this nice old man was ever secretly plotting anything remotely sinister. It looks like the biggest secret that he's keeping is that he's planning to surprise his grandson with a Werther's Original. Please also note that the font used in his portrait is the same one you'll find on the Smile Now, Cry Later t-shirts that they used to sell at lowrider shows in Phoenix.



Jason Mraz was the featured artist in the XBox spot. He was like some perfect amalgamation of every guy I ever shared a dorm room with in college. He was a totally nice guy, super considerate, and really funny. 

Is anyone else noticing that I'm down to about three plaid shirts? It's time for a serious laundry session.

We shot some destruction-filled Nintendo spots in Riverside, CA yesterday. Shredders shredded, anvils crushed, and steamrollers rolled.

Of course Steve will teach the actor and the stunt coordinator how to properly operate a steamroller. Our 2nd unit camera operator got dangerously close to receiving a face full of metal during this setup. Also, our DP, Marc Ritzema will probably need a tetanus shot after yesterday. 

First we dropped an anvil, 20 minutes later we dropped a fridge.  

Our art director, Mike Beamer, made some really beautiful sketches.



The day was so busy that I forgot to apply any sunscreen, so for like, the 10th shoot in a row, I ended up with a radioactive sunburn. Shouldn't I have a sweet California tan by now?

We're going to destroy things! That's Steve showing the ad agency how large our location is for these Nintendo spots. I didn't instruct him to raise his hands, but I think it's a nice touch anyway.

It's great to be back in LA after a really productive week in England. It's almost fall and my jackets and sweaters are beckoning me to come hither from the dark recesses of my closet.

I found this amazing PSA on youtube today. The parents' utter disappointment is especially funny when you consider the likelihood of seeing the exact same reaction at a dinner table conversation years later when their college-aged child announces that he's dropping out of law school to join a band or take up painting. Go arts!

We filmed over 200 sheep today. How awesome is that? 

Friday was dedicated to location scouting. We spent the day in the English countryside, looking at estates that are older than America. 

This was a farm from 1066 that's still in use. My producer Camila and I jumped into a grain silo and spent the rest of the afternoon picking what looked like Rice Krispies out of our hair.

This is the closest I've ever been to a bull. It smelled like what you'd expect.

These sheep had never seen an American before. 

Sadly, we won't actually be filming any peacocks.

Camila went to Cambridge and speaks like, 5 languages. My mispronunciation of British words and phrases amuses her to no end.

Miles of emptiness...

The view from my window in... um, an unspecified area of the English countryside? The jatlag is killing me. I'll figure out my exact location when I wake up tomorrow. Our shoot is on Monday, and until then I'm going to spend as much time as possible chasing the manor dog through wheat fields.

That's my latest poster print, a mixed media piece called "Please". It's accompanied by a second print called, rather predictably, "Thanks".

I couldn't sleep a few night ago, so I rearranged all of my cds by color. It starts brown, turns red, then pink, yellow, green, blue, etc. The picture above only shows the first half. Just below, the white albums fade into grey and then slowly into pure black.

At 4am this seemed like a perfectly logical thing to do, but now I can't remember the spine color of the last UGK album.