Joel profile picture

Joel

So pleased with the day dream, that now livings no good. I took off my shoes and walked into the woo

About Me

I make music: Therapy Session .

I take pictures sometimes: My Pictures
I read regularly; I try to continue educating myself. I read a lot on philosophy, psychology, anthropology, politics and religion; though I'm not at alll religious, I just find that it fascinates me. I'm more of an Atheist or Agnostic, depending on which one of the assorted definitions of "god" you want to present to me. Though I'm not religious I still am moral, ethical and socially responsible. I think the best morality comes from realizing that the people around you are what give you a purpose to exist. When you stop counting on god having a special plan or Jesus coming back to fix what we fucked up, you start to realize you need to make things right yourself and treat others with the same respect and understanding you would would like to have.
It's nice to find good people that make life run a little smoother.

I am a realist but I've been called a nihilist; though I believe a true nihilist would have to kill themselves. I believe in love (Which I define as when you feel someone else’s happiness is essential to your own happiness) and I believe in art, and those are the only thing that make me want to live. I also believe people are selfish and love is usually a selfish act out of the need to be loved in return. Sometimes the gamble works out and sometimes it's very painful. I think the best art comes out of pain, as there is a need to create and change reality; thus is my existence: constantly being trapped between finding meaning in love and finding meaning in art.

My Interests

music, music, music, music... um

oh... I guess a bit of photography, movies, philosophy, psychology, anthropology, religion (studying it and discussing it, but never practicing it) and writing

I'd like to meet:

People who do what they say they're going to do and don't just say shit because it's easy to say what someone wants to hear.

Sam Harris But i have now met him!----- one of Sam Harris lectures ----,

Richard Dawkins ; Whom I also met. (thank you Skeptic Society )

Christopher Hitchens (I need him to sign my bible next to Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins),

Stephen Colbert and John Stewart.

Music:



I have to update this more, because I'm always finding new things I like, including stuff that's been around for longer than I have.

The Arcade Fire,
Band of Horses,
Beck,
Billy Corgan,
Bright Eyes,
Black Lab,
Built to Spill,
Cake,
Castledoor,
Coldplay,
Cursive,
Death Cab for Cutie,
Desaparecidos,
Eastern Conference Champions,
Elliott Smith,
Emily Wells,
Fiona Apple,
The Flaming Lips
Foo Fighters,
Frank Black,
The Good Life,
The Good, the Bad and the Queen,
Iron and Wine,
The Jimmy Chamberlin Complex,
Johnathan Rice,
Jon Brion,
Modest Mouse,
Mogwai,
Morcheeba,
My Morning Jacket
Oh Yeah, The Future,
The Parson Red Heads,
A Perfect Circle,
The Pixies,
Portishead,
The Postal Service,
Radiohead,
Remy Zero,
The Shins,
The Silversun Pickups,
The Smashing Pumpkins,
Spoon,
The Statistics,
The Stills,
The Strokes
The Subways
Sunny Day Real Estate,
Third Eye Blind,
Tool,
Unbunny,
The Vines,
War Tapes,
What Made Milwaukee Famous,
Zwan,

Movies:

2046,
12 Monkies,
Adaptation,
Almost Famous,
Amelie,
Before Sunrise,
Before Sunset,
Birthday Girl,
Boogie Nights,
Brazil,
Cheats,
A Clockwork Orange,
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind,
Cowboy Bebop,
Dirty Work,
Donnie Darko,
Dr. Strange Love,
Eyes Wide Shut,
Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind,
The Fountain,
Fight Club,
The Fisher King,
Garden State,
Gataca,
The Graduate,
Happiness,
Hard Eight,
High Fidelity,
Kill Bill 1&2,
The Killing,
The Last Kiss,
Leon the Professional,
Lolita,
Magnolia,
The Manchurian Candidate (the original)
Matchstick Men,
Meet Joe Black,
Napoleon Dynamite,
Old Boy,
Old School,
Pulp Fiction,
Punch Drunk Love,
Requiem for a Dream,
Resevior Dogs,
Road to Perdition,
Seven,
Snatch,
Spun,
Story Telling,
Swingers,
There Will be Blood,
True Romance,
Vanilla Sky,
White Oleander,
Also I watch a lot of documentaries, but I usually only watch them each once, so it's hard to list favorites. There's a big difference between documentaries I like because they're well made and documentaries I like because I like the topic.

Television:

Adult Swim (the ones that are actually funny),
Arrested Development,
Colbert Report,
Cowboy Bebop,
Curb your Enthusiasm,
TheDaily show,
Family Guy,
Flight of the Conchords,
Futurama,
House,
The Office,
Seinfeld,
Simpsons,
South Park

Books:

NON FICTION-
The End of Faith,
The God Delusion,
god is Not Great,
Hardwired Behavior,
Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism,
Letter to a Christian Nation,
Misquoting Jesus,
Why Darwin Matters,
Why We Love,

FICTION -
My favorite 2 books ever: Notes from Underground & Norwegian Wood,
Also:
About a Boy,
Fight Club,
High Fidelity,
Invisible Monsters,
Kafka on the shore,
Lolita,
Rant House of Leaves,
Snow Crash,
Survivor,
Tokyo Suckerpunch
Wind up Bird Chronicle,

Favorite Authors: Nick Hornby, Chuck Palahniuk, Haruki Murakami, Fyodor Dostoevsky.

Heroes:

I don’t like the word “hero”... So people I admire: Sam Harris , Richard Dawkins , Christopher Hitchens , Stephen Colbert and John Stewart.

My Blog

What Made Milwaukee Famous

Okay, so you have to listen to What Made Milwaukee FamousTuesday their second album, "What Doesn't Kill US" will be released. Go buy the first "Trying to Never Catch Up" now and Tuesday buy the second...
Posted by Joel on Fri, 29 Feb 2008 03:23:00 PST

Awesome bands you missed!

So, I'm going to recap the last few months of music I've been experience. I've been lazy about writing blogs on music, but I have a lot of photo's to post. This took at least 2 hours to put together w...
Posted by Joel on Mon, 25 Feb 2008 04:25:00 PST

If youre over 18, check this blog out!!!!

Tuesday is primary elections in most states. Besides voting for the presidential candidate of your party, you'll also be voting for local propositions that will affect your well being locally and how ...
Posted by Joel on Sun, 03 Feb 2008 12:43:00 PST

Bright eyes with the LA philharmonic

So fucking amazing! We had garden box seats, we brought a picknick. Bright eyes with the LA philharmonic. Do I need to say any more?Then I found a VIP pass on the ground and went to the after party an...
Posted by Joel on Sun, 30 Sep 2007 03:02:00 PST

Built to Spill!

Rocked so hard last night!Three amazing guitarist playing at the same time, how can it not be amazing. Of course they also have a damn good drummer and bass player, but if you like awesome guitar jams...
Posted by Joel on Fri, 14 Sep 2007 11:50:00 PST

Britt Daniel is fucking awesome!

So, Spoon is a band that consistantly puts out really good albums with fantastic songs. I couldn't pick a favorite album or song, it's all consistantly and oddly enough equally good almost all the way...
Posted by Joel on Wed, 12 Sep 2007 02:01:00 PST

What I’ve been working on.

So I took some new pictures (not of myself) and they're on: www.fotki.com/joelmichalak I also recorded this new song. My friend/bandmate Fiona plays Violin on it!!!!Also there's drums and banjo in...
Posted by Joel on Sun, 05 Aug 2007 09:35:00 PST

My trip to see the mother fucking Smashing Pumpkins!

So as some of you know, I made a trip up to San Fransisco to see the Smashing Pumpkins play their first shows on the west coast in over 7 years!To some it up, it was awesome!To elaborate:I left Saturd...
Posted by Joel on Fri, 20 Jul 2007 11:18:00 PST

working late

It's 2:30am; I'll be here for at least another hour. The thing about working in TV is you're almost always guaranteed to be working late on a friday. So here I am, in a parking lot in burbank sittin...
Posted by Joel on Sat, 23 Jun 2007 02:52:00 PST

Arcade Fire.... so good!

Arcade Fire is awesome. I saw them 2 days in a row at the Greek in LA. That's a band that makes music that is meaningful and is an experience, not just entertainment. That's what I aim to do. Love the...
Posted by Joel on Sat, 02 Jun 2007 12:28:00 PST