ALO's late night performance at High Sierra Music Festival. Discovered my new favorite band that night. Pure California Sunshine.

Probably our main stage set at Magnolia Fest. It's hard to explain, but I had a very spiritual experience during that particular show. I have them from time to time with this band, but something about that night, be it the end of the year or what, was very deep.

Stevie Wonder' - Innervisions

Life is Beautiful

The vacuum tube

I loved American Idol this year. I'm not ashamed, either- it's a pretty brilliant show if you think about it. No matter what, you're pretty much guaranteed a platinum record out of the winner, and probably the runner-up, too. 13 weeks of advertising, establishment of artist loyalty, and great entertainment wrapped up in one show? I'm sorry, but Simon Cowell is a genius.

Definitely my oldest friend in the world, James. My girlfriend and I went to his wedding in June. It was a weekend I'll treasure the rest of my life. But they had the wedding in their hometown of New Orleans. Three months later, they got moved out the real old fashioned way. If you're lucky enough to live on high ground and not personally know anyone who lived there, it's hard to fathom. It's not just their jobs, their apartment, their way of life, and all of their worldly possessions that got wiped off the face of the Earth. All of their friends are scattered to the four corners, and they're probably not gonna be back, ever. How do you deal with that?

There's no time for humor. This is serious business.