Oh What a Tangled Webb We Weave

I'm Back

2009-02-10T17:28:00.004-05:00

- Wow its been awhile since I've posted on here. I forgot about it for awhile, then had the holidays creep up, then I got busy interviewing for a new job which sort of fell in my lap, and trying to deal with the logistics of all that, along with a new kid on the way in 3 weeks or so. It's been crazy.

- As I said, I got a new job which I start on Monday. I wasn't actively looking, but a couple of friends, who are former co-workers, contacted me about a similar position with a competitor of ours. I figured I would talk just to see what would happen. After a few phone interviews, they flew me up to Boston a couple of Friday's ago, and then a couple days later, a formal offer, which blew me away. It was too good of an opportunity for me professionally, and for my family to pass up. I'm excited to get started.

- We are only about 3 weeks away from the due date of our next son (Chase). This pregnancy has flown by, and the due date has snuck up on us. It's only in the last couple of weeks or so, that we've really started getting ready. We're at that point now, where Sara could go into labor at anytime.

Other random things...
- A-Rod took 'roids/performance enhancers...really, are we supposed to be surprised about that? I think I would probably be more surprised by the list of people who didn't drug up between the mid-1990s and and the mid-2000s. This whole steroid madness over the past 15-20 years in baseball, really makes the accomplishments of the players of eras past, all that more remarkable. I mean, guys like Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, etc. had to take steroids in order to get the strength and durability to go on their home-run happy streak of seasons in order to eclipse, or even get close to the numbers that guys like Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, and Willie Mays put up over their careers. The old guys weren't muscle machines, but they constantly put up good numbers over the entire duration of their career, and had to play for a long time to get to their totals. Do I think Bonds. Sosa, McGwire and A-Rod belong in the Hall of Fame someday? Yes. Baseball knew what was going on, and regardless to what they say, they turned a blind eye to it. MLB was in rough shape following the 94 strike season, and it wasn't until 1998 that people started paying close attention to it again, when McGwire and Sosa went on their epic home run barrage. As the old commercial used to say.."Chicks love the long ball"e The home run got the American public into baseball again, and got them to come back to the parks. As the I heard someone (The Sports Guy) on ESPN say, the Hall of Fame is a museum. Anything that happens over the history of the game belongs in the museum. Character issues shouldn't exclude people from being in that museum, I mean we have noted racists in there (Ty Cobb) and other people of questionable backgrounds...but what does that have to do with what they did on the field day in and day out? I'm sick of people who treat it as something that is hallowed, and should be taken with the utmost seriousness, and only the most pretentious of people should have a say in what is and what is not included. Baseball is a silly game..get over it.

- While we're on the topic of drugs and famous athletes, Michael Phelps has also been quite the story as well. Is it wrong for me to say I don't care? It was stupid to do, but really, in the scheme of things does it really matter? We've got bigger problems in the world then to get all in a tizzy about some photograph. Now the sheriff of the county where the party took place, is trying to find a way to pursue legal action against him. Again, I ask, really? There aren't bigger issues in the county than to pursue legal action against something that was photographed a few months ago? I'm sorry, I just don't have the energy to get worked up, or to care about this.

- I've been paying attention to the interviews, and all the news about that pilot Sully who made that amazing landing in the Hudson River a few weeks ago. The only thing I keep wondering is how long until he goes from hero to a villain? Don't get me wrong, he seems like a class act, and the dude is definitely the true definition of a hero. I just get the feeling that someone in the media, or his family, or neighborhood is going to come out with a story revealing that he's a wife beater/tax evader/child slave owner, or some kind of shady character, and everything we've been seeing is a lie. Maybe its just that I expect nothing less of our media these days. They build somebody up to eventually tear them down.

- Its nice to have a President who seems on top of things, and is more intelligent than I am. I can't say I felt the same way over the last 8 years.

- I'm ready for baseball to start. The NBA isn't really doing it for me this year, and I just can't get into college basketball this year.

- I don't have a gut feeling on how I think the Tigers will do this year. At times I feel that they have a good chance to win the division by having their offense hit lights out, and the pitching surprise everyone. But then there are times that I feel that they're old and their age is going to show this year, and the pitching is going to be average at best. I just don't know.

- I am becoming a big fan of the band Death Cab for Cutie. I knew of a few of their songs, and thought they were solid. I was in a music funk at the end of last year, so I got their last 2 albums - Narrow Stairs (their newest), and Plans. I can't get enough of either of them. Narrow Stairs is the first album I've listened to in a long time where I liked every song, and never want to skip one when I'm listening to it. I would like to see them in concert sometime and see how they are live. That is how I judge the quality of a band - how they perform live.

- I'm not sure what to think of the new U2 song yet. Its...interesting. The first few times I listened to it, the verses remind me of the '80's song Wild West by The Escape Club. Yes, that's a random comparison, but that's the first thing that popped into my head when I heard it. I saw them perform it on the Grammy's the other night, but the sound mix was so bad, I didn't get a good feel for it. I'm still excited for their new album next month, and even more excited for their impending tour. I really need to see at least one of their shows on the tour.

- Watching the Grammy's the other night, I realized just how out of touch I am with the music scene now. Years past I used to be able to at least recognize all of the songs/artists nominated for awards, and the presenters and performers. Not so much this year. Maybe not listening to the radio (or pop radio at least) has something to do with that.

- I don't know what's happened over the last month or so, but Facebook has gotten crazy. Since I've joined, I would get a steady amount of friend requests, like a couple a month. Most were of friends/co-workers I currently keep in touch with on a regular basis, and they were just joining. Over the last month though, I've gotten bombarded with requests from people I haven't seen or talked to since I graduated high school. It's cool to get back in touch with all these people, I just don't understand why it happened all at once. I'm not the only person who has had this happen to. Sara was saying the same thing is happening to her as well.

- Sara is selling Avon. Check out her blog to find out how to sign-up and buy stuff..if you are into that sort of thing...

- I think that's about it for my random thoughts for now. I'll try to keep this updated on a more consistent schedule.

Rants and Stuff

2008-10-16T21:05:00.002-04:00

Excuse me while I rant about some stuff that's been bugging me lately

- It seems that lately whenever I go through the drive-thru lane at the local McDonalds on my way home for lunch, there is some dude with a portable power-washer, spraying the drive-thru lane. First, why in world does anyone need to power-wash pavement, let alone doing it at the busiest time of the day? When he sees you pulling up to get in line, you can tell he gets annoyed that he has to stop while the car drives up to place the order, and then again when the car pulls up to go to the window. Don't get me started on the crap that is spraying up off the pavement and splattering all over my car.

- While we're speaking of McDonalds, at this same McDonalds when you go in to eat, they have an old man working, whose job is...I'm not sure. I think they gave him a uniform and a name badge, just to give him a job, and he seems like a nice guy, but he parks himself right in front of the island where the drink machines and condiment dispensers are. As you are trying to fill up your drink, he'll start trying to hand you a lid and straw, while standing in the way of everything else you are trying to get. Again, this happens during the busiest time of day. And yes, maybe I do eat at McDonalds a little too much!

- Over the last month or so at work, there have been painting contractors painting the walls in our office, during the work day. Its annoying trying to work with the smell of paint in the air, and then when you try to walk down the hallway to get to the copier room, restroom, kitchen, elevator, etc..there will be tape up going across the hallway saying you can't get to where you want to go because there's people painting. Really...they can't get someone to do this on a weekend, where the painters don't have to worry about people getting in the way, and when we don't have to worry about hallways being closed, and dealing with the paint smell?

Enough of my rants...onto some random stuff.

- It seems the buzzword of this election season has been "fundamental" or a derivative of that word. I hope after this election I don't have to hear it for another 4 years. I saw an interview with Joe Biden somewhere today and he used the word twice in the same sentence. I'm sure by the time the election process is over, another word I will be sick of (again) is disenfranchised. That seems to be another one that pops up.

- Joe the Plumber from Ohio. Turns out his real name isn't Joe...nor is he a licensed plumber...or an independant....and he was never actually serious about buying the business. If it was possible for a plumber to make $250k a year, I was getting ready to find out what I need to do to sign up. Something tells me he was nothing more than a McCain plant. It reeks of it. Someone saying that they're something that they're not, and McCain jumping all over it. Sounds like he went through the same vetting process that Palin went through. Can't they get a little bit smarter (and less obvious) than that?

- The Lions made a shrewd move this week by trading Roy Williams for three (3!) draft picks, including a first round pick. I had to read that story about 10 times until I actually started to somewhat believe it. For the first time since they drafted Barry Sanders, they actually did something right for once!

- The Phillies win the NL..ick. I really hope the Rays can finish off the Red Sox tonight to go to the World Series. They've been a lot of fun to watch, and it would at least give me someone to root for against the Phillies. If its a Philly-Boston World Series, I don't know if I would be able to watch much of it.

- Tucker has been a maniac lately. We moved our coffee table out of the middle of the living room, to give Tucker a lot of floor space to play in. We moved his toy box in the living room as well, so he can have all his toys in reach to play with whenever we have him down on the ground. We just put up a little obstacle in front of the TV and in front of the fireplace to keep him away from those two areas. What does Tucker decide to do? He plays with his toys for a little while (30-45 seconds) and then immediately goes over to one of the two areas we have blocked off and tries to get through the barriers we put in place. What is it with these two things that makes him obsessed in getting to them? There isn't anything that even remotely looks like anything that would be fun to play with..but he keeps insisting on getting there. At least with all the crawling, psuedo-walking he's doing, its wearing him out at night, and he sleeps all the way through.

- I'm really liking the album "Honeysuckle Weeks" by The Submarines. Its a very catchy album from start to finish.

- 3 weeks from today until we find out what the next kid will be.

Tuesday Night Randomness

2008-09-30T20:49:00.002-04:00

- Good riddance Matt Millen....it's about time!!! Really, that's about all that needs to be said about that. Let's just get this season over, and hope that old-man Ford finally gets it right by cleaning house and hiring the right people. Then again, that's asking a lot out of the senile old
man who has made us fans endure suckdom our ENTIRE LIVES. Why would he change now?

- I don't know if I've anticipated watching something on TV as much as I am with the VP debate on Thursday night. After seeing the way Sarah Palin has answered the few (very few) questions she's faced so far, the potential for the unintentional comedy factor is off the charts. This woman is clueless. When SNL has a sketch that makes fun of you, and they use your EXACT quotes to do it...yikes.

- In all seriousness, watching her on TV is one big cringeworthy experience. Between the lost look in her eyes when she gets asked questions (like the Bush Doctrine question) , or when she thinks she knows the answer to a question and gives one long answer that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever once she's finished talking (her discussion about her foreign policy experience with Russia)..its really painful to watch. I get the feeling that I, just doing my everyday reading/watching of the news, and keeping up with the current events of the day, know more than she does, and that's what's scary. I want my leaders to be smarter than me. A lot of negative things had been made of Obama having a Harvard education, at the GOP convention. Is that really a bad thing? Shouldn't we expect our leaders to be well educated and articulate?

- Speaking of SNL and Sarah Palin, I'll have to admit for that for once, I think Tina Fey is actually funny.

- The baseball playoffs are here. I'm hoping that Boston and Philly get knocked out early. Boston, because I'm sick of seeing that city win everything, and Philly, just because I can't stand any of their sports teams. I'd really like to see an unconventional World Series of Tampa Bay and Milwaukee. The side of me that appreciates the historical side of baseball wouldn't mind seeing a Chicago-Boston World Series.

- Yes, I know my last point was a complete contradiction. I think I've been watching the Sarah Palin interviews a little too much.

Randomness

2008-09-09T21:14:00.002-04:00

- I don't know how much more suck I can take of the Detroit Lions. I wasn't expecting a whole lot from them this this season..but seriously, getting blown out by Atlanta? 21 points in the first quarter? What happened to Marinelli being a defensive genius, and having all the "right guys" (everyone who ever played with him in Tampa Bay) on the team this year?

- Polio is famous (the video and story at the very top). My buddy and ex-roommate/bunk-bed mate Jeremy Polio, that is..not Polio the disease.

- I won my first week in my work Fantasy Football league.

- It was sort of nice to see Brady go out for the season in the first half of the first game of the season. Hopefully that will be all we hear of the Pats for the season. Last year was over kill..first Spygate, then the perfect season watch, then Spygate again, then the choking in the Super Bowl. I'm sick of Boston sports teams.

- The Daily Show continues to out do themselves during this election.

- And yet another one for good measure:

- I hope Michigan slaughters Notre Dame this weekend.

- We find out if our next kid will be a boy or a girl on November 6th. That's turning out to be an exciting week. First we find out what we're having, then the next day is Tucker's 1st Birthday, then that weekend we'll have a party for him. Good times.

- I'm really liking the Spoon album "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga"

Flip Flop

2008-09-04T18:37:00.002-04:00

The amount of flopping the GOP ~~gestapo~~ talking heads have done since picking Palin is humorous. I'll just let the video speak for itself. I wish the mainstream media would point this stuff out.

Randomess While Watching the Convention Coverage

2008-08-28T20:56:00.004-04:00

Sara's at work, and I'm bored looking around the web, while listening to the convention coverage in the background. Thought I'd throw some random thoughts around..

- Stevie Wonder just played 2 songs. One new one, and one old school one (Sign, Sealed, Delivered). It got me wondering (and please I'm trying to be as tasteful as possible here)..how does he remember the lyrics to his older songs? Now days I know teleprompters are pretty common for bands who have been around awhile (I've seen Dave Matthews, and U2 use them). Obviously Stevie can't use one of these.

- Whenever I hear Stevie Wonder now, the first thing I always think of is the scene from "High Fidelity" where Jack Black asks "Rob, top five musical crimes perpetuated by Stevie Wonder in the '80s and '90s. Go. "

- Super Right Winged Conservative dude, James Dobson begged and pleaded for all his listeners to pray to God for storms to hit the Denver area for tonight, in order to screw up Obama's speech. Well the weather looks pretty nice from what I'm seeing on TV. Meanwhile, next week when the Wackos..er..Republicans have their convention, it looks like a pretty big sized hurricane is going to hit somewhere along the Gulf Coast, which would probably take away some of the publicity. If the hurricane does hit, is it safe to assume that God is an Obama fan too? I mean it has to be some kind of omen, right?

- Obama fills a stadium of 75,000 people with many more wanting to get in. Crazy Old Guy is giving a speech tomorrow in a place with 10,000 to announces his VP choice...and they can't even give the tickets away.

- How does Michael McDonald have a music career? They don't come very more bland than him. Every song sounds the same.

- I was listening to my iPod today at work and a string of songs that were popular when I was in college played one after the other. Whatever happened to bands like The Verve Pipe, Tonic, Better than Ezra, and Toad the Wet Sprocket? Ok, maybe I shouldn't have listed The Verve Pipe. They may have been more a Michigan phenomenon.

- I hate how the news networks get advance copies of the speeches, and then start reading bits and pieces of the speech, and tell us what the speaker is going to say. I think Matthews and Olbermann spoiled the entire speech for everyone watching their show tonight.

Seriously?

2008-08-28T09:37:00.007-04:00

So as our country is going to hell in handbasket thanks to the mis-managment of everything W and his cronies have touched, one would think that the least important issue in this country would be the design (yes, its a Faux News...er..Fox "News" article, but who better to link to, in order to show the ridiculousness of it all?) of the set where Barack gives his acceptance speech tonight. Unfortunately when a crazy old man is running for President, and is grasping at straws, you have to come up with something.

I mean seriously, using pillars as a prop is that big of a deal?! Of all the crap going on in this country, the thing you (and your team) have to scream about is the design of a set? If you really do want to go there, maybe you should do a little backchecking before you raise a stink about things.

Case in point - 2004 Republican Convention:

Woops.

I guess someone could point out to the Crazy Old Man that today is the 45th anniversary of MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech, and maybe, just maybe the columns there are as a symbol of the columns that are at the Lincoln Memorial where the speech was given.

Then again, if someone brought that up to him, I'm sure Crazy Old Man would probably say he missed that speech, because he was TV-less, and locked up in a POW camp. Sure the timeline wouldn't fit quite right, but who would call him out on it?

R.I.P. Roi and Randomness

2008-08-22T15:23:00.006-04:00

LeRoi Moore, of the Dave Matthews Band died unexpectedly the other day due to complications from an accident on his farm back in June. It was pretty shocking news to me. Anyone who knows anything about me knows how big of a fan of DMB I've been over the years. I used to be able to be talked into going to a show or 49 any time, any place, with little to no notice. While my obssesion of the music has subsided consideribly over the years, I still listened to them on a regular basis, and have always eagerly anticipated their next album, because for the most part I knew it would be something good to listen to. Their first couple of albums were basically the soundtrack of my life for a good 5 to 6 years. I had them on A LOT. If it were possible to wear out a CD, I would have worn out a few. Whenever I listen to some of the albums, I'm immediately taken back to that time period with fond memories.

Roi was one of the quiet guys (if not the quietest) in the band. On stage he just stood off to the right side of the stage, an unassuming figure usually hiding behind his sunglasses. You wouldn't even know that he was there until it was his turn he made his presence known. He was like one of those guys in a group of people who sits in the back kind of taking the scene in, when suddenly he'll speak up and crack a joke that brings the house down, and then everyone wonders who he is, and where did he come from. That was Roi. Some of the best shows I'd ever been to were ones where he completely took them over. Yeah, Dave would be front and center singing, doing his crazy dancing, telling his incoherent stories, but Roi was the one bringing it all home with his sax/flute/penny-whistle playing. After the show was over, Roi would just silently walk off the stage, and no one would notice, because everyone was focused on what Dave was doing, and where Carter was going to throw his drumsticks to.

To me, the day Roi died - DMB died with it. I would say that about anyone of the founding members. Sure the band will go on, and I'll still buy their albums, and go to a show every now and then, but its no longer THE band. I'm sure they'll find a replacement, and that replacement will do fine over time..but it just won't be the same.

To hear Roi in what I think is one of his best performances on an album, check out the song "Lover Lay Down" on the Under the Table and Dreaming Album.

Ok on to random thoughts that have been going through my head lately..

- I really think McCain should be tested for dementia or alzeheimers or something. Actually any one running for President should be evaluated. He doesn't know how many houses he owns? This is a guy who claims that Obama is an elitist, but it turns out he's the one who has at least 7 homes all over the country, many worth over $1 mil, but Obama is the elitist? Then when Obama calls him out on it, his campaign staff says the following "This is a guy who lived in one house for five and a half years -- in prison," Oh good, he's now throwing around the POW card, like Giuliani threw around the "9/11" card when he was running, and losing, in the primaries. Here's a copy of what the "POW card" looks like by the way:

Yes, its a "Monopoly" like card. Apparently life is just a big game of Monopoly to McCain, with all his houses scattered everywhere and whatnot. I mean when I play the game..the board game that is, I lose track of all the property and houses/hotels that I own from time to time.

- Speaking of McCain and his time in POW camp maybe he should stop referring to that so much. According to his buddies W and Cheney, he wasn't tortured in that camp, and no war crimes were committed against him. All of the techniques used against him (stress positions, beatings, sleep deprivation, etc..) are the same ones that the White House knowingly used on people rounded up in Afganhistan and Iraq, and we all know that none of those people are tortured. They just had "Enhanced Interrogation Techniques" used on them. There's a much better article written about this point. I wish someone in the media would bring this up to McCain and see what he says.

- Please note, I don't mean to belittle McCain's time in 'Nam. I wouldn't want to trade places with him for nothing. The fact that he lived, let alone kept his sanity is amazing and he should be commended for that. But the more he goes on using the POW reference to rebut anything anyone says about him, the more it looks like he's using that as a crutch, but it looks more like a joke. If's he not going to be serious about it (which admit it..in the context used about the house situation is absurd) then how does he expect anyone else to take it serious anymore?

- I bought a can of Coke from the machine in the kitchen at work today, and got a Santa can. The first thing I thought was "man, they're starting Christmas earlier and earlier every year". I then saw that it was a Christmas 2007 Santa can, which got me wondering just how safe it was to be drinking it.

- I had my first fantasy football league draft last night. I'm not impressed. I guess that's what I get for not following football as closely as I used to. I don't think I have a shot at winning anyways. The same guy has won our league the last 3 years in a row. He's a well oiled fantasy football machine.

- Rumors of the new U2 CD are heating up. Apparently some songs have leaked onto the internet, because Bono was blasting the CD at one of his beach houses really loudly, and someone passing by recognized it was new U2, so they sat outside and recorded it all. I haven't heard the leaks. I want to wait for the full thing to come out and hear it then. I can't wait.

- UVA students moving back into town this weekend. Trying to get anywhere in town is going to be a nightmare. Its going to look like 3,000 Griswold families driving all over town, raiding the stores of EVERYTHING, and clogging up the roads because they have no idea where they're going. Good times.

- The Tigers season turned out to be a bust. I can't get too down on them..the management went out and got the players they thought they needed to contend. Unfortunately some of the players were a bit washed up. I still like the Cabrera deal, and I'm excited to see him in a Tigers uniform for years to come.

- Aadam has decided to start a blog. Its still in the early development stages, and I think he's still trying to figure out what exactly he wants to do with it. There's a link to it up on the right side of the page, and its tentatively called "Legends of the Silverdome". Check it out when you get a chance.

Some EMU Love

2008-08-15T16:15:00.003-04:00

Going through some of my sports blogs earlier today I came across the following picture:

Love the George Gervin reference...an Earl Boykins jersey would have been cooler.

Picture Time

2008-07-21T15:07:00.008-04:00

Some random pictures taken after dinner the other night, when Tucker decided to get silly.

Tucker showing off 2 of the 3 ~~weapons~~ teeth that he now has.

Gearing up to let out a loud yell. Eating baby food really gets him hyper.

Now he is in mid-yell. He's really into it..fists clinched, eyes focused.

Here he is after he's done being goofy, waiting for me to pull him out of the chair.

Here are couple pictures from the 4th of July:

Sitting in his Exersaucer, making spitting noises.

Here he is letting it known that he's done playing, and wants to be held by someone.

Then and Now

2008-06-17T13:06:00.003-04:00

Purely coincidental.

Me at some point in 1977. Tucker a little over a month ago.

Memorial Day Music

2008-05-23T16:17:00.001-04:00

These are the songs I've been addicted to lately.

Have a great Memorial Day!

Un-freaking-believable

2008-05-15T11:21:00.004-04:00

Just when you think W can't get anymore asinine than he already is he offers up the following nuggets in the same interview.

When asked about the prospects of a Democratic President, who would try to withdrawl from Iraq, he said doing so would "eventually lead to another attack on the United States" and goes on to say "...and it would shake everybody's nerves, and it would embolden the very same people that we're trying to defeat. I don't think it would "embolden" them anymore than his worthless war already has. We wouldn't have to defeat these people if we hadn't gone into Iraq to begin with. Terrorism from Iraqi sources wasn't an issue until we invaded with a horrible game plan and then weren't greeted as the liberators we supposedly were supposed to be. Its been proven that before the invasion, there was no Al-Queda in Iraq.

There's nothing really all that surprising there from a delusional idiot who can never admit fault about anything as he is. He's just starting to apply the Rovian-like scare tactics to help his understudy McCain try to extend W's legacy another 4 more years. Its only a matter of time until they start using the whisper tactics "Obama is BLACK!!! we can't have a black president" and then on top of that start floating the lie that "Not only is he BLACK but he's a MUSLIM...look at his name". Hillary has already exposed that these scare tactics work.

Anyways getting back to my original point - The most ridiculous part of the same interview came when asked about what sacrifices he's made during this wartime. I mean this takes the cake. Not even the satire news site The Onion could make this up:

“I don't want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the
commander in chief playing golf,” he said. “I feel I owe it to the families to
be in solidarity as best as I can with them. And I think playing golf during a
war just sends the wrong signal...I remember when de Mello, who was at the U.N., got killed in Baghdad as a result of these murderers taking this good man's life,” he said. “I was playing golf — I think I was in central Texas — and they pulled me off the golf course and I said, ‘It's just not worth it anymore to do”

Wow, that's a real noble cause...to give up golf. That's the best he could come up with? Giving up a freaking ~~sport~~ leisure activity. They called Obama elitist..I think giving up golf as a "sacrifice" takes the title of the most elitist. He wants to show solidarity to the families of the 4,000+ soldiers killed for some non-existent WMD's, and the countless more who have lost limbs, come back severely injured both physically and mentally? The first thing he could do is admit he made a mistake, and apologize for it. Doing that would require having a heart, and a conscience, and truly being sorry. It's been long evident that he has neither, and he isn't sorry, and that he'd do it all over again if he knew then what he knows now.

Oh and its already been proven that he gave a totally bogus answer.

"The US president traced his decision to the August 19, 2003 bombing of UN
headquarters in Baghdad, which killed the world body's top official in Iraq,
Sergio Vieira de Mello....Bush's last round of golf as president dates back
to October 13, 2003, according to meticulous records kept by CBS news."

Whoops..can't even get his lies straight anymore.

Election

2008-04-24T21:20:00.004-04:00

Its pretty pathetic that in this election season, which is widely regarded as the most important election of most of our lifetimes, it takes a satire news-show which airs on a network called "Comedy Central" to point out the ridiculousness of the excuses/statements coming out of the Clinton ~~character assassination~~ ~~spin machine~~ primary campaign (watch starting at the 2:00 mark):

I realize that its in the best interests of the 24-hour news networks to keep this campaign going on as long as possible, but isn't there someone in the main-stream media, who could rise above this nonsense and call out the Clintons for the phonies they are? Then again, that's asking a lot from a media who from after 9/11 until just recently had been willing participants in the Bush propaganda machine.

Just Quit Already

2008-04-23T10:53:00.002-04:00

I think this video sums it up pretty well.

Music

2008-04-20T22:34:00.003-04:00

In my quest to find new ways to listen to music while at work, I've found some places online where I can jam out at my desk during the workday, which makes the day go by a lot faster. I wish I could just put iTunes on my work computer and load the library from my home computer onto it, but the IT department doesn't exactly allow that.

One cool place I found is called Muxtape, where people create mixes of their favorite music (up to 12 songs), and other people can listen to it. I decided to give it a shot, and create my own. I figure I could load whatever 12 songs I want to listen to, and then access it at work whenever I wanted. My first mix can be found here. I thought that I'd give them a theme, and for my first one, I call it my "Virginia Mix", which is comprised of my favorite bands/artists from here in Virginia. Check it out..

Friday

2008-04-11T16:12:00.002-04:00

- Its finally starting to feel like spring around here, with the temperature reaching almost 80. We've had 2 days in a row now where the weather has been awesome. Of course that changes tomorrow when a cold front rolls through and it goes back into the 50's. If I would have realized just how good it was going to be today, I would have taken the day off and done something fun with Sara and the boys. I was stuck at work, and the 3 of them went downtown and hung out and Blake and Sara had ice-cream.

- They're constructing a new building right outside the window from where I sit. I must say, I'm a bit jealous of the guys that are working. Jealous because for one, they get to be outside, and secondly because they're out there building something tangible, that once they're done, they'll have something to show for all their hard work. Me, I just sit in a cube trying to make things more efficient for my company, in the hopes they can make more money..of which I might get lucky and see a little bit more of once my annual review comes around. As the days go by, the more and more I hate corporate America.

- The Tigers finally won a game the other night. They should have won last night, but the shaky bullpen just showed that its definitely a weak spot for the team. At least it looks like the bats finally came to life. Here's hoping that they can win the series against Chicago this weekend.

- I can't wait to grill out on the patio tonight. I love grilling. I'd cook every meal on the grill if I could.

It's Been Awhile

2008-04-08T21:03:00.004-04:00

- I realized today that it has been awhile since I've updated my blog.

- Tucker turned 5 months old yesterday, which seems impossible. It seems like it was only a few weeks ago when we brought him home from the hospital. Its quick how fast they grow. He can almost roll-over onto his stomach from his back. He gets about half-way over then stops and just rolls back. He also has been sampling baby food for a few weeks now. He loves to sit in his height chair and eat with the rest of us at the dinner table. He feels, however, that he should be fed continuously and that Sara shouldn't start eating until he's done. Whenever Sara stops feeding him so she can eat, he'll bang his hands on the tray, and if that doesn't do the trick, he'll then add in some grunts followed by some whining. Its funny how fast they pick up tricks like that.

- Blake's little league season has started. So far they're 0-2 but they've showed quite a bit of improvement from one game to the next. Blake went 2-2 in his last game, and fielded a couple of grounders that came his way cleanly. I think the Tigers could use him.

- Speaking of the Tigers..what can you say? I never in my wildest dreams would have thought they would start the season at 0-7. I've been able to watch most of the games and they don't look anywhere near how good they're supposed to be. They can't get men on base, and when they do they can't do anything but hit into double plays. I'm starting to wonder if I should have not bought the baseball package this year. We bought the MLB Extra Innings package on cable this year (Sara talked me into it...no, seriously), just to watch the Tigers because we thought it would be a fun season to follow. So far its been anything but.

- Sara and I were watching TV one night and saw this commercial. At first we couldn't really believe what we saw, but when the commercial came on again later that same night, we found out that what we saw was real. I bet Elvis is rolling over in his grave. Has anyone else seen this?

- The spring weather can hurry up and get here soon. In March we had some decent weather, the buds came out on the trees, and now the leaves are growing out, but ever since April started the its been pretty crappy. Rain, cold, and dreary for the most part. Its like being back in Michigan, only if it were Michigan, it would be snowing here so I guess it isn't all that bad.

- I saw this on one of the sports blogs I read last week, and thought it was pretty funny (no offense to anyone reading this in Ohio).

- I lost my iPod a few weeks ago leaving work, and now am going crazy at work everyday without it. I used to be able to just go in, put on my earphones and just work all day listening to music/podcasts and it would help the day go by quick. Now I sit in my cube all day in dead silence looking forward to going home for lunch and at the end of the day.

- I'm ready for our vacation to Myrtle Beach. Unfortunately its still like 2 months away.

End of February Randomness

2008-02-29T15:38:00.004-05:00

- Sara and I were talking this morning, wouldn't it suck to be born on Feb. 29th? You could only celebrate your true birthday once every four years. The rest of the time you have to decide if you'll celebrate it on Feb. 28th, or March 1st.

- Speaking of Leap Day..when did it become such a big deal? I've heard people talking about it at work today, and one lady even brought in a cake to celebrate the occasion.

- I was reading in the news the other day that Starbucks closed all of their stores for a few hours to re-educate their employees on the "Starbucks experience" in an effort to boost morale, and get them back to help make each customers visit feel special. Personally to me, it sounded more like it was a ploy to get a bunch of free publicity and advertising, because that night on every news show I watched, this was one of the top stories. Like they taught in all of my marketing classes in college - the best publicity = free publicity. I'll still take a Dunkin Donuts coffee over Starbucks anytime.

- Mmm coffee. I'm addicted. I forgot to set the maker to brew some this morning, and as a result, didn't have my cup this morning. By 11:00 I was having withdrawal symptoms as I started to get a headache. Thankfully we have free cans of Coke at work, and that helped ease my lack of caffeine.

- Blake has baseball tryouts tomorrow. He's playing in a different league than he has in the past 2 years. My questions is, since when do they have tryouts for the 7-8year old players? Actually they aren't tryouts, but more "talent evaluations" so the coaches can see the skill level of every player, so they can target who they want to ~~draft~~ pick for their teams. I can see having tryouts/evaluations for the league where the kids actually play to win their league and play in tournaments, but to have that in a league where they're still getting pitched to by a pitching machine..what's the point? It should be interesting. I hope the parents in this league are as laid back as the ones in the other league that Blake played in.

- Spring training games have finally started, and it looks like the Tigers have been doing good so far. I can't wait to get the regular season started. In July, the 4 of us are going up to Baltimore to see the Tigers play the Orioles. I can't wait..I get to see my favorite team in one of my favorite places to watch a baseball game. It'll be Blake's first time going to a pro game (well other than the Richmond Braves), and it'll be Tuckers first games as well. I hope he'll have as much fun as a 8 month old could possibly have.

- I can't get into American Idol this year. I've tried to watch a couple episodes, and I end up turning to something else. Maybe I'll try once they get to the Final 12, but right now I've been completely bored with it.

- Its supposed to be nice out this weekend (50's and 60's). Can't wait to hang out on our patio, and cook on my new grill. I'm for spring to get here and for the weather will be warm on a consistant basis. I want to be able to wear shorts all the time.

- I came across this commercial the other day that wasn't allowed to be shown during the Super Bowl. Funny stuff! (Bathroom humor will never get old to me)

Pictures

2008-02-04T09:51:00.000-05:00

This weekend the weather here in Charlottesville was unseasonably warm. On Saturday while Blake was at a birthday party, Sara, Tucker and myself went to Babies R Us to look at some stuff for Tucker. We walked out with a Jeep stroller for the little guy. Yesterday, with the temperatures in the 60, and the sun out, we decided to take Tucker out for a little trip in his stroller. The four of us walked down to Blake's school and hung out at the playground. Tucker seemed to enjoy being outside (it was the longest he'd been outside), and riding in his stroller. It had to believe that Tucker is almost 3 months old already. Here are some pictures..

Tucker in his new stroller:

Blake and Tucker getting ready to leave the house:

Sara and Tucker chilling out:

Blake and Sara swinging:

Me and Tucker trying to swing:

Blake swinging:

Me and Tucker hanging out:

Me and Tucker trying to go down the slide:

Blake, Sara, and Tucker posing for a picture:

Tucker trying his hand on one of the rides on the playground:

Craaaash

2008-01-30T11:22:00.000-05:00

Everynow and then I check out the online version of Eastern's online newspaper, just to see what scandal is currently brewing around the campus. Today was one of those days, and to my surprise, the leading story involved the first apartment complex I ever lived in.

Out-of-control car slams into apartment
Driver, residents unharmed; vehicle lost traction on ice

By James Cavanaugh / Staff Writer
MONDAY, JANUARY 28, 2008

Several Ypsilanti residents were surprised by a large boom Saturday evening when a woman driving a beige Chevrolet Cobalt crashed into an unoccupied ground-level apartment in the Brickhaven complex at the corner of Washtenaw and Ballard.

The woman, who was conscious when removed from the scene, appeared uninjured when taken from her car on a gurney by paramedics. The Ypsilanti fire department declined to release the woman's name. No one was in the apartment at the time of the crash and no one else was injured.

According to Ypsilanti fire department Lieutenant Max Anthouard, the woman lost control of her car in the snow while traveling east on Washtenaw Avenue, drove approximately 40 feet across the lawn and crashed through a sliding glass door.

Anthouard also stated that alcohol was not involved.

Eugene Holst, a third floor resident of the complex, was the first person to find the woman and her car — sitting in the apartment.

"I was upstairs working on my computer and there was a large noise," said Holst. "I saw the tracks in the snow and thought it wasn't a good thing."

"She looked shaken up," said Holst. "But she appeared to be OK."

According to Holst, the first thing he did was calm the woman down and then had fellow Brickhaven resident Anita Hargrove call 911.

Hargrove was taking out her trash when the crash occurred.

"I've never seen anything like this in my life," said Hargrove.

Several residents of the complex and surrounding apartments noted hearing the crash, but at first weren't sure what happened.

"At first, I thought somebody was moving a couch and it fell down," said Karen McAdoo, who lives in the apartment complex next to Brickhaven.

EMU technology studies graduate student David Gladding was in his house, two doors down, when the crash occurred.

"I heard something while I was watching T.V.," said Gladding. "I heard the fire engines and was worried my house was on fire."

"It shook the building," said Lisa Hampton, who lives at the Brickhaven complex.

There was no major structural damage according to Lt. Anthouard, but the crash did damage a hot water line that may affect the heating system in the building.

Immediately following the crash, firefighters on the scene advised occupants of the apartment directly above to stay off their balcony. However, according to Anthouard, "the building inspector [later] came and said everything was fine."

I didn't think that Brickhaven could get anymore ghetto than it was the last time I drove by there 4 years ago...I guess I was wrong.

Are you kidding me!?

2008-01-24T08:05:00.000-05:00

So I get a daily email from a website called Uncrate whichs finds cool stuff for guys on the Internet, and lists the coolest of the cool in an email. When I got my update from yesterday, this was listed. At first I thought it was an error, and that a product for women mistakenly was listed, but after reading the discription, it is in fact for men.

This brings two questions to mind:

1) Seriously, there are men who would actually use this?
2) There's a big enough market for this product?

Yikes

Dreaming of Baseball Season

2008-01-21T09:11:00.000-05:00

Randomness

2008-01-10T16:13:00.000-05:00

- Tucker turned 2 months old earlier this week. When I think back to the day he was born, it really doesn't seem like its been 2 months already. In the same hand, it seems like he's been around a lot longer than that. I'm sure this probably doesn't make sense to anyone other than myself. Its been amazing to see how fast he's growing.

- Over the last week and a half I've really seen a change in him. He seems to have found his voice over this time, and really likes to be heard around the house. In the same time he's figured out where his mouth is, and how to get his hand in it, with relative ease now. He also has started forming opinions about things. When feeding him, he does not like to have the bottle taken away from him, nor does he liked to be burped. If you try to do either of these things, he'll voice his displeasure and won't stop until he's got the bottle back. If you try to burp him, he'll pull away from you, and try to break free to get back to the bottle. It's been pretty amazing and fun to see him develop so far.

- Blake's 8th birthday was this past Saturday. For his birthday he wanted us to go roller-skating. After his basketball practice we went over to Staunton to a roller-rink that he went to a few times over the summer with his day camp. Overall I did ok. I started with roller-blades, but after a few times around the rink, I had to switch to roller-skates because my achilles tendons felt like they were going to explode. I didn't fall down once, nor did I run over anyone either. It had been at least 15-18 years since I last roller-skated. It had also been at least 7 or 8 years since I last used roller-blades, and that was when I was run-over by a girl on a 10-speed at Gallup Park back in Ann Arbor. I'm sure that Derek and Mike can still fondly remember that instance..

- You know you're getting old when you can type about something that happened in the past, and say that it happened 15-18 years ago....

- We've had some crazy weather over the past week or so. The past couple days it was in the 70's and sunny. Today, its in the low 40's and rainy. Tomorrow its supposed to be back up in the 60's. The warm weather over the past few days got me thinking of spring and baseball. Spring Training is only like 5 weeks away!

- I love election years. I love watching the whole election process play out, and listen to all the pundits make their guesses, and see who is right and who is wrong. I'm still trying to figure out who I'd vote for. Right now I'm in a toss-up for Obama or Edwards, leaning towards Obama. After 8 years of having the Bush Criminals run the country, I will have a hard time voting for a Republican. The only Republican I would vote for would be McCain, but that would only happen if he were to go up against Hillary Clinton. This country definately needs a new direction, and I think main way to take a new direction is to not have a Presidental string that goes Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton. Obama just seems to have something about him that makes me think that things can indeed be better, and that he's the one that could pull it off. It would be nice to vote for a candidate that I really believed in on election day, rather than going into the voting booth, trying to pick the lesser of 2 evils, as I have the past couple of elections (which unfortunately backfired since the evil one was the one I voted for and who won.)

- While listening to the radio one night last week while driving up to the store, I came across a band called The Kooks, and the song "She Moves in Her Own Way". Very catchy, and the rest of the album is pretty cool too.

Like Father, Like Son

2008-01-03T14:29:00.000-05:00

Poor kid. 8 weeks old, and he's already starting to experience the hairloss that runs on the Webb side of the family.

Randomness

2007-12-14T16:27:00.000-05:00

- Sara and I were talking at lunch, and realized that there's basically one week until we're in Full-On Christmas mode. Next Saturday is the Christmas party at our place with my sister-in-law's family, and the in-laws. It'll be a fun time, especially with all 6 kids together.

- We're supposed to get our first taste of nasty winter weather starting tomorrow afternoon. Just what exactly we're going to be getting, is still up for debate. It seems like we're always on the border of either getting a mix of rain/snow or just rain. As much as I hate winter, and cold weather, I kind of wish we were getting hit with a bunch of snow. It makes things easier when it happens on the weekend. We'll probably end up with nothing when its all said and done. Sara and I were supposed to go see the Bob Schneider show in town tomorrow night, but the threat of bad weather had us decide against it..so far.

- Sara and I got tickets to see Bruce Springsteen here in Charlottesville at the end of April. I'm not a huge fan, I know a lot of his stuff, but I hear his live shows are legendary. He's one of those people that I've always wanted to see live. It sucks that the show is so far away. I still really want to see Van Halen when they come here in February. Now hopefully Led Zeppelin will decide to tour this summer. The only thing bigger for me than seeing Led Zeppelin, would be to see the Beatles..and well, that's just impossible.

- I had been doing pretty well with the baseball withdrawls so far this year. Having Tucker around, I haven't paid much attention to sports lately. After the big trade for Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis last week however, I'm really getting the itch for baseball season. At least Spring Training is only at most, 2 months away..but who's counting?

- Speaking of baseball, the steroid report came out yesterday. I'm neither all that surprised, nor do I really care. Can't we all just agree that from the late 1980s until the early 2000's should just be called the "Steroid Era" of baseball. I really don't think anyone caught doing the drugs prior to the testing policy that was implemented a few years ago, should be punished. Baseball knew it was going on, and they turned a blind eye to it, because it was bringing back popularity to the sport. At least it gave something for ESPN to O.D. about once again.

- R.I.P. Fleetie (a.k.a. Crackwhore). You were a good, but crazy dog to Kristen.

Pictures

2007-12-10T16:13:00.000-05:00

So it's been awhile since I've last posted. I've had a brain fart for the most part, and I've been busy at work, and when I get home I've been hanging out with Tucker and the family. Here's some pictures of Tucker, taken over the past few weeks.

First snowfall:
We had our first snowfall last Wednesday, which turned out to be a light dusting for the most part. When I went home for lunch (a perk of living only 4 minutes from the office), Sara and I took Tucker out to see what he thought of the snow.

Tucker in his snowsuit:

Tucker and Sara outside:

Back in the warmth of the house, laying on his favorite sofa:

On December 1st, we went took Tucker and Blake to Richmond to see Santa. Before we left, Sara put him in a reindeer outfit she got just for this occassion. Unfortunately, Tucker wasn't a big fan of it:

Blake and Tucker with Santa. Tucker was more interested in his thumb:

Blake telling Santa about the iPod he wants. Tucker still interested in his thumb:

Tucker finally deciding to check out Santa, only to see the inside of his hood:

After seeing Santa, shopping at Kohl's, and eating some BBQ in Richmond, we went to look at 2 houses that are all decked out in Christmas lights. Words can't describe how many lights are on these houses. Take a look:

This house has a huge tree in the front yard, which is completely covered in lights:

We went to Virginia Beach this past weekend for a quick get-away and to see the Christmas light display on the boardwalk. Unfortunately I haven't had a chance to download the pictures off my camera...yet.

And then there were four!

2007-11-14T20:08:00.001-05:00

So its been exactly a week since Tucker was born. I've been meaning to post something about it, but haven't really had a chance. Overall it has been a very surreal experience. From the time we found out last Tuesday (Nov. 6th) that the doctor wanted to induce Sara the next day, everything was sort of a whirlwind. We were up by 6AM on Wednesday (the 7th), at the hospital by 7:30, and Sara was given the induction medicine by 8:30. Sara's doctor (Dr. Blommel, who ROCKS!) told her that she had to run to her office but would be back by Noon to give her another dose of the medicine, since usually more than one dose is required, and it takes a bit for it to kick in.

By 9:30, Sara was already experiencing strong contractions that were 7 mins apart, and it stayed that way for over an hour, until they started to get closer and closer. By noon, I was down to the nurses station requesting some pain meds for Sara. They gave her an epidural around 1:00, and it was soon after that that she was fully dialated. Around 2:00 the nurse was checking her, and found out that Tucker was on his way. After having Sara push through some of her contractions, the nurse had to make her stop so she could get the doctor back in the room. Things were already moving pretty quickly, and when the doctor and 3 other nurses came in, it then really started moving. Trying to not get in anyones way, I stepped back to let them all do what they needed to do, when the doctor instructed me to stand at the end of the bed, and let Sara put her right leg up on my shoulder. My mother-in-law always told me that she highly recommended to not look while Tucker was coming out, and I really didn't know if I wanted to see it all or not, but now I had no choice. After a few pushes Dr. Blommel stopped everyone, and made everyone appreciate the fact that with all the pushing Sara was doing, and the pain she was in, Sara still hadn't smeared her make-up. Pushing then resumed and a head soon popped out, followed by an arm, and then the rest of Tucker. I was so fascinated by it all (and trying to figure out the logistics of how that fit in there the past 9 months, and then came out of there) that after Tucker was born Dr. Blommel was posing with Tucker, waiting for me to take pictures, but I was just staring in amazement and she had to tell me to get the camera. The doctor and nurses were great with letting me get in and take some pictures. After the quick photo session, I was able to finally check him out in fine detail with Sara. It was amazing to finally get to meet the little guy who had been kicking and moving all around the inside of Sara the past 9 months.

We finally all came home and were able to start our life as a family on Friday afternoon. Its been awesome. Sure, I don't get to sleep through an entire night uninterrupted anymore, and now when we want to make a quick run to the store, it means we have someone else that we have to get ready, but it really hasn't been a problem. I'm sure its easy for me to say that now, as I am off work until after Thanksgiving, and really don't have to live back in "the real world" yet. Its ok, I'll learn to adapt. If I wasn't willing to adapt, make adjustments to my lifestyle, and make the other sacrifices that I don't even realize that I'll have to make yet, I wouldn't have signed up for this thing called "parenthood".

Its been great being off work and staying home with Sara and helping out with everything. It has given me a great opportunity to get to know Tucker, and play with him (when he isn't sleeping). I've had numerous people tell me that once you have a kid, time goes by even quicker than it already does. I'm trying to remember that, and take every minute in. Hopefully Tucker's second week will go by a lot slower than his first one did.

Here's a few pictures of my new buddy:

Taking a nap on his first night.

Uncle Aadam doing the Heisman pose, using Tucker as a prop.

The two of us having a moment.

Posing in his Tigers hat that Uncle Dock got him (you can't start being a fan too early).

I also want to say congratulations to my good friends Joe and Lori, on the birth of their first kid, Quin, who was born early on Monday morning. I've known Joe since the first day of Kindergarten, and we were exactly 2 months apart in age, now we both have sons who are just 5 days apart. Its funny how it works out.

Randomness

2007-10-26T15:03:00.000-04:00

- So today's the day I picked for Tucker to finally get here. So far, there's nothing to report. It would seem like a good pick since the odds are in my favor. There's going to be a full moon tonight, and the barometric pressure has dropped over the past few days - both things that usually seem to cause women to go into labor, according to the people at our doctor's office. I guess there's still time...

- How come whenever there is a gathering of people and ice cream is being served, the gathering is called a "ice cream social"? Why is it that the only types of socials, are ice cream ones? Why aren't pizza parties called "pizza socials", or bagel parties (a common occurance around here) called "bagel socials"? I was going to ask this question last week, as we had an ice cream social at work.

- We've been getting quite a bit of rain around here, which is nice. Now we have a flood warning in effect for the day because rather than just rain here, its been pretty much pouring all day. It seems like the rain this year has either been feast of famine.

- Guitar Hero for the Wii comes out next week, and I want it. Seeing as its $150, I think it'll be awhile before I get it however.

- I can't believe that its now less than 2 months until Christmas. Where did the time go?

Randomness

2007-10-19T15:33:00.001-04:00

- Its raining here today. It’s the first time in an extremely long time that we’ve had rain here. As a result of the rain, someone in our building had decided we needed to celebrate with a pizza party. Sounded like a ridiculous reason to me, but I’m always down for free food for lunch.

- We’re exactly 1 week away from the date that I picked way back when, that Tucker would be born on, and 2 weeks until the official due date. With that being said, he probably won’t come for 3 weeks.

- Yes, the Yankees lost in the first round of the playoffs, and Joe Torre won’t be back next year. Do we really need to have these 2 facts continue to be the “big story” on all sports related programs everyday? The morning after the Indians beat the Yankees in the playoffs, I turned on SportsCenter to see who won, and to check out the highlights (I can't seem to stay awake to watch the ends of games anymore), and 9 of the first 10 stories were all related to the Yankees loss, and no mention of the Indians winning the series. How is that right? Today, I check the news a little bit earlier, and in the “Breaking News” section on MSNBC.com, there’s a link saying “Joe Torre is addressing the media.” Really, MSNBC feels this is 1) a real news story, and 2) a important and breaking one at that?!? As I’m writing this, I find that there is someone else who feels the same way.

- Speaking of news, and prioritizing things - do we really need to know about all the BS that all these idiotic attention needing whores do every day/every night? It seems like at least 3 days a week I'll be trying to read the news in the morning, catching up on what's going on in the world, and there's always some "breaking news" about something stupid that Britney/Paris/Lindsay/the rest of stupid Hollywood did the night before. Its one thing if this is the big story on some Entertainment "news" outlet, and I can easily avoid it, but really, breaking news in the National/Global news portion? We have certifiable criminals running the country doing things like throwing around words like "World War III", "Invading Iran", "spying on US citizens", and "Vetoing healthcare for children", but all the news can tell us is that some over-paid, no talent hack is going to rehab in order to avoid going to jail. (Don't even get me started on the how lenient the law enforcement system is out there). I've always heard that one of these days a earthquake will hit California, and that the whole state is going to slide off into the ocean. Is it too much to ask that this just happens to Hollywood?

- I’ve been listening to the “Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds – Live at Radio City” album quite a bit lately. I think its one of the best albums I’ve gotten this year. The recording is crystal clear, and Dave and Tim’s playing is superb. Listening to the songs stripped down with just acoustic guitars (mainly), have given me an appreciation for Dave’s music once again. I’d really like to see another Dave and Tim show.

- Online grocery shopping might be the coolest thing ever. We have a grocery store near us that lets you order your groceries online. Someone in the store gets your order, goes through the store, and fills it for you, and then all you have to do is drive up to a special spot in the parking lot at a designated time, and the person comes out and loads up your car for you. Since the store is on my way home from work, Sara will place the order, and then I pick it up on the way home. We’ve been using this option for about a month now and are quite pleased with it. We may never have to set foot in a grocery store again. Ok, maybe that was a stretch.

Randomness

2007-09-28T14:33:00.000-04:00

- We're down to the final month, until Tucker's arrival.

- I thought fall was finally here, as it had been pretty nice the past couple weeks. Starting last weekend it was warming back up, and we've been in the high 80's/low 90's ever since. I'm ready for it to cool down.

- This weekend is the last weekend of Tigers baseball for the year. Even though they didn't make it to the post-season this year, I can honestly say I wasn't disappointed at all. All of those years of being really bad, are still fresh in my memory, and I can remember just wanting them to play around .500 ball consistantly for a couple of seasons in a row. It's going to take another year or two of being good, but not contending before I start getting frustrated.

- With the Tigers out of it, I think I'll be giving my full support (for what its worth) to the Cubs, should they make into the playoffs. Being quite a fan of the history of baseball, I think its only fair for the Cubs to take their turn at winning it all. I'm also hoping that the Yankees and Red Sox get knocked out in the first round in the AL. I don't know if I'll be able to stand the love-fest that the media will give each team, as long as they are in it.

- Sara and I saw Ryan Adams in concert here a couple of weeks ago, it was an amazing show. After seeing that show, its got me itching to see some more good live music, luckily Bob Schneider is coming to town in December. Hopefully we'll be able to go..as long as we can get a baby-sitter for Blake and Tucker.

-Thank goodness its Friday!

Question

2007-09-20T14:53:00.000-04:00

If you follow someone through mulitple sets of doors, and they hold the door open for you each time until you reach it, how often do you have to thank them? Can you just say thanks at the first door and that covers the entire process, or do you need to say thanks at each door?

My Life in Pictures

2007-09-18T16:23:00.000-04:00

- I realized today, its been awhile since I've last posted. Its been partly because of laziness..well actually I've been completely lazy in regards to this blog over the last few weeks.

- I recently bought myself a new digital camera that I've had my eye on for quite some time. I finally rationalized the need to make the purchase by saying that I needed something better for when Tucker gets here, and I should get it now, so that I could have some time to play with it, and figure it out. (It all makes sense to me..) So we've been out doing some fun stuff the last few weekends since I bought it, and I've taken it along with us in an attempt to figure it all out, so that when Tucker gets here, I'll be able to take some awesome pictures with it.

- So to get up to speed, here is how I've spent the last few weekends:

Weekend #1, at our community pool:

Blake jumping in the pool

Blake coming up for air

Blake splashing in the pool

Weekend #2, Craft fair and Car show in Salem, Virginia:

The pink Mustang that Sara and her mom both want

The Mustang with the "Hot Wheels" logo that Blake wants

The old VW Beetle Convertible that I want.

Weekend #3, Apple Butter Festival at the Skyland Resort on Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park:

The pot they make the Apple Butter in

<Family of 4 bears (or is it bear?) we saw while driving down Skyline Drive (and the highlight of the trip)

A deer walking on the patio at one of the gift shops we stopped at

A view of the mountains

Randomness

2007-08-22T15:59:00.000-04:00

- I'm sick of hearing about Michael Vick. It seems like that's all that I hear about. Sports news, regular news, etc. I can't wait for Monday to get here, so he can get his sentencing, and hopefully this will start to go away.

- One question I have about Vick, even though I said I am sick of hearing about him, is why he will get off with such little time in prison? The other big story this summer is about the NBA ref who has plead guilty to gambling. He could get 25 years, while Vick might get 2 years maximum. Sara and I were watching TV one night, when the NBA ref gambling case was being discussed, and Sara asked why he would get so much time in prison for something like gambling? I never really had thought about it before then, but the more I think about it, the less sense it makes, especially in the context of the Vick case. The ref conspired to help some people make a few extra bucks, and yes, as a result some people lost money because of his actions as well. Those people were going to bet anyways, so there was going to be some losers and winners on those games...big deal. Vick bankrolled an operation where dogs killed each others, and if some dogs weren't to his liking after he trained them he would kill them in a pretty gruesome way. I'm not a judge, but to me Vick's actions seem a lot more criminal, and should deserve the more severe punishment.

- Today is the first day of the school year for Blake. Its crazy to think how fast the summer went. I remember when I was a kid, the summers seemed to last forever.

- Following the Tigers the past few weeks has been like riding a rollercoaster. They've been up, down, and generally just all over the place. My jinxing is still in effect. I didn't watch the game against the Yankees last Thursday, and they won. I watched them the rest of the weekend (thanks to Polio for the mlb.tv account), and they lost. I didn't watch them last night, and they won. A coincidence? I think not. Sara did wear one of my Tigers shirts last night when they won, so she's been instructed to wear that shirt some more to see if maybe she's a good luck charm. Time will tell....

- Sara had her bi-weekly appointment with the doctor the other day. The doctor gave us instructions on what kind of signs we should look for to know that Tucker is on his way, and when to call her and where to go. It made me realize that we're starting to get real close to the due date now. I'm sure it'll really start to set in once we start taking our classes at the hospital.

- I am having a huge craving for Chipotle.

- A few friends went up to DC recently to see the Dave Matthews Band show. I realized that this is the first year since 1996 (when I started following them) that I probably won't be seeing them. I'm still stuck on 49 shows and counting.

- Sara and I are going to see Ryan Adams here in Charlottesville in a few weeks. I'm pretty excited, as I've been wanting to see him for a few years now, and I've been wanting to see some live music.

- We took an afternoon trip out to the Blue Ridge Parkway a couple of weekends ago. Even though we only live a half-hour away, we rarely think of going there whenever we're trying to think of something to do. Blake really liked it. He said that once Sara has the baby, she can stay home and do baby stuff with Tucker, and he and I can go back there and go hiking. Here's some pictures:

Roastin!

2007-08-09T16:10:00.000-04:00

- It's been hot here lately. It's been in the 90's for what seems like forever, and yesterday when I got home from work, the local station said it was 100, with a heat index of 110. I don't know if I've ever felt it as hot as it was yesterday. I ran to the grocery store last night, around 8:30, and it was still too hot to ride with the windows down. I can't imagine what Sara is going through, having to deal with being pregnant in this hot weather.

- Sara had a regular check-up the other day. Everything looks like its going along good. We're down to about 13 weeks or so to go. It seems like its still a long way off, but I'm sure it'll fly by quickly. I think we're going to sign up for some crash course parenting classes at the hospital. I am going to need all the help I can get. So far all I know is that the bottle goes in the mouth, and the diaper goes around the butt. How the diaper gets on there...I still need to figure that part out.

- Tigers are still sucking it up. It looks like they'll lose 2 of 4 against Tampa Bay, and things won't be getting easier since they play Cleveland and New York in something like 13 of their next 17 games. Luckily Cleveland hasn't done anything to distance themselves from the Tigers, but the Nazi's (Yankees) have been on a tear of late, and could complicate the chase for the wild card spot (though, to be honest, I really want a division title, and not have to settle for a wild card spot again). Hopefully Rodgers and Zumaya will get back in the rotation soon and pitch the way they're capable of, and Sheffield will get back to full strength. Bonderman also needs to get back on track and pitch, as he's pitched like crap the last couple of outings. I guess if nothing else, it'll make for a exciting August and September.

- Lions have their first preseason game tonight. You can never read too much into pre-season games, but it still will be interesting to see how they come out and play tonight. It will be interesting to see how the potent the offense will be, since they have the weapons to at least make things fun to watch for once.

- So Barry Bonds finally broke the home run record. I'm not sure how I feel about it. On one hand I'm glad its over...I got sick of hearing about it everyday. For the 2 minutes I watched Sportscenter in the morning (mostly to check the Tigers score, if I didn't know it already) it seemed they were always talking about it. On all the morning news programs, they talked about the impending record breaker home run, and all the news and sports websites I read, it seemed it was the #1 topic of discussion. The most exciting part for me, was when he was in San Diego last weekend, I was wondering if my buddy Sean would be at the game where Bonds would tie/break the record (Sean wasn't...he went to the Friday and Sunday games, but not the Saturday game, where Bonds actually tied the record). I think that if I knew that Bonds record was going to be a record that was going to stand for an indefinite amount of time, and no one's career looked like they were on the trajectory to break it, I think I would be hating the fact that Bonds has the record. It looks like that won't be the case though, as there's already a couple people in line (A-Rod, for one) who barring any setbacks, will probably demolish whatever Bonds' mark will end up at. I only wish that Griffey, Jr. couldn't have stayed healthy all his career, and been the one to break Hank Aaron's mark.

Randomness

2007-07-30T15:25:00.000-04:00

- Sara had her ultrasound this morning. Looks like Tucker is going to turn out a-ok, and it also looks like he's going to be a bit on the chubby side. Its amazing to see what a difference 4 weeks makes. In the new 4-D pictures we got today, you can see that he's starting to accumulate some baby fat. The pictures from 4 weeks ago, he looked to be on the skinny side. Maybe I'll do a side by side comparison on here, if I get a chance to scan the pictures that we got today.

- Some of my friends are starting to take bets as to when Tucker will be born. A co-worker of mine says he'll be born on Halloween. Sean wants him born on the 9th (which is Sean's birthday), Dock wants him born on the 7th (which is Dock's birthday). I for a completely random guess have October 26th as my guess.

- I think I'm starting to jinx the Tigers. It seems whenever I watch them play, they end up losing, and in a big way. I went to the game a weekend ago and they lost 10-2. I tried to watch the game last night, and they lost 13 to something. I stopped watching full-time after the 1st inning. I couldn't handle it, and when I flipped over to check the score, it seemed to just continue to get worse. Maybe I should give my lucky t-shirt another try. Something needs to happen. I was starting to think maybe it was time to start panicing about the recent plight of the Tigers, but my favorite blogger of all things Detroit, Big Al, says not yet, so I'll take his advice. I mean, they are still in first place (for now).

- So its football time again. It seems like every year I'm becoming less and less of a football fan, thanks to the recent plight of the Detroit Lions. I'll never be as big of a fan as I was when I was in high school when we had Barry Sanders to watch, and when Lloyd, Mike and I would drive from Lapeer to Pontiac 3 to 4 times a week to watch training camp. At least back then the Lions were entertaining, and you could expect at least a 8-8 season from them. Even if you didn't have a great feeling about the team, you always knew you had Barry and he would probably do something amazing, to at least keep you watching, or Wayne Fontes would do/say something entertaining as well. Lately is been painful to be a Lions fan. When I say painful I mean, its really painful to watch, but yet you watch, because you want to see what's going to happen. At least while the Tigers had their down years, there was some hope that in the distance things had a chance of changing, since the guy that owned the team had a history of winning in hockey. There's no such feeling for me about the Lions anymore. The owner has a long, extensive history of sucking (what is it, like 50 years now? You could also insert any "Ford cars suck" joke here as well). He has Matt Millen running the team, who has proven over and over that he's in over his head, and the owner (when he actually does talk) continues to praise Millen, saying that his job has not been in jeopardy at anytime during the most recent period of ineptness. Ford-Millen is like the Bush-Cheney of the sports world, both duo's need to be impeached. Living in central Virginia, doesn't help matters any either though. Sundays consist of having to watch either the Redskins, Ravens, and Eagles/Giants (if they are playing at a time when the Redskins aren't). I usually end up watching whatever is on Fox, so I can keep up with the players on my fantasy team, and hope that at some point they'll break into the game I'm watching with highlights (or should I say, lowlights) from the Lions game. I guess since I live so far away, I no longer am able to talk myself into ~~wasting money on~~ buying tickets anymore.

- I can't think of anything else to say right now.

A Change of Heart (battery)

2007-07-28T08:04:00.001-04:00

So Shooter Cheney is going in for surgery to have the battery in his heart device changed. This stuck me as being quite odd, because I just always assumed that the man didn't have a heart (or a soul). I mean this is the same guy that 1.) once shot his good friend in the face, tried to cover up the fact he did it, then had his friend (who he shot), apologize to him for all the media scrutiny he received over the matter; and 2) was the driving force for the unneccessary deaths of over 3,000 Americans in Iraq. And that's just the top of the list.

If that's not heartless, I don't know what is.

Last weekend (in pictures)

2007-07-23T14:34:00.000-04:00

So this past weekend I went up to Michigan for Mike's wedding, which is my 3rd and final (I hope) wedding of the year. Overall it was a good time. My flight from Detroit to Charlotte was a little crazy as I got really nauseous about half-way through the flight. It was strange as I have never had that happen to me before. To make matters more interesting, after fighting off the strong urge to vomit in the pouch in the seat in front of me during landing, the pilot had to abort the landing at the last second because a plane taxied out on to the runway we were going to be landing on, so I had to fight off the urge for another 10 minutes. I am proud to say that I ended up winning the battle, and managed to leave the plane vomit-free. The strange thing was I wasn't the only one that this happened to. While waiting for my bag, I heard about 8 other people saying they got sick at various times during the flight as well, so I guess it wasn't just me.
On Friday, all the groomsmen and my brother went to the Tigers-Royals game at Comerica Park. It was a great time even though the game sucked (Tigers lost 10-2). We got down to Detroit super early (1:30) so we hung out downtown, and got in to the stadium right as the gates opened at 5:00. I was able to wander around the park and get some pictures:

The view from the right-field bleachers, where we watched BP

Zumaya and Leyland talking, while Verlander is shagging fly balls.

The view from the stands, behind home plate.

Kenny Rogers warming up in the bullpen.

The view from our seats.

Saturday afternoon was the wedding. It was a great time. The weather was nice and cool for the most part, so I didn't roast to death in my suit, although at times I did start to get uncomfortable. Unfortunately I don't have many pictures since I didn't have my camera on me. My brother was supposed to take pictures during the ceremony and reception, and he did, but most turned out pretty blurry. A few managed to turn out alright:

The 4 of us groomsmen who crashed at Mike's house after the game Friday night. Myself, Ron, Mike, and Steve. Lloyd had to rush ~~home to get dressed up in his Harry Potter outfit~~ to Barnes & Nobel after the game so he could ~~try to be first in line~~ keep his sister company in line while she waited for the new Harry Potter book to go on-sale at midnight.

Mike, Myself, Steve, Ron and Lloyd minutes before the wedding. ~~Lloyd is smiling really big because he is happy with the ending of the new Harry Potter book that he finished right before this picture was taken.~~

All in all it was a great time. I got to see some friends that I hadn't seen in quite some time. It would have been even better had Sara been able to make the trip with me. Then again maybe its better she didn't. She's never seen what happens when Mike, Steve, Aadam, Lloyd and myself all get together in the same room for longer than 2 minutes.

Catching up

2007-07-11T14:23:00.000-04:00

- So last week we finally found out that we're having a boy. Ever since Sara found out that she was pregnant, I just always assumed it would be a girl, so when we found out it was going to be boy, I was pretty surprised. Its nice to now be able to refer to the baby as a "he" and not an "it", and also to be able to call him by his name - Tucker. November can't get here soon enough!

- I found the entire ultrasound procedure pretty spectacular, and probably one of the coolest things I've ever seen. After seeing Tucker's man-parts from various angles and at various zoom levels, we were also showed his kidneys, butt, heart, and brain. With me being facinated with computers, and tech stuff like that, I felt like a kid in a candy store. I'm not gonna lie...I was jealous that I couldn't play with any of the stuff. After they showed us everything with the normal ultrasound pictures, they then kicked it into 3D and we got to see Tucker grab his foot with his arm, and pull it towards him and play with it a bit, and we basically got to see what he's going to look like. We get to go back again in a month for another round of ultrasounds, so hopefully we'll get some more cool pictures.

- We did have some troubling news while in the ultrasound. While taking measurements on the brain, the ventricles measured at 10 mm, which is the high end of being considered normal. The Doctor (Dr. Gary Helmbrecht) then started going through a list of worse-case scenarios of what could happen, one of which was that Tucker could be born with water on the brain. After confusing us with medical speak, we were convinced this was the case. Yesterday we had our regular monthly appointment with our usual doctor, and they informed us that the only way this would be worrysome, is if Tucker's head was abnormally large, and based on the measurements they took, Tucker's head is in the 54th percentile, so really there isn't much to worry about. While we are happy to hear that we don't have to worry about that now, I must say that I'm little PO'd that he didn't give us that bit of info. We were then informed that this doctor has a history of freaking out patients on a near-regular basis, and that our doctor occassionally gets calls of patients freaking out and calling her wanting to know what to do. I guess we weren't the only ones that have been freaked out by this "doctor". Its one thing to make the parents aware of something, no matter how slight of a chance it may be, but if they are going to do it, they need to speak to the level of the patients, and not throw around their big words that just confuses everything, and makes it harder for the patients, who are undoubtedly freaking out no matter how slight the chance, to comprehend what is being said. Basically, I've come to the conclusion that the doctor is a certifiable jerk-off.

- 2 weddings down, 1 more to go to this summer. Next week it's back up to Detroit, for the 3rd, and final, wedding of the summer. It should be a good time. Thursday is the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, which is a backyard cook-out at Mike's new house. On Friday, Mike, the groomsmen, and my brother are going to the Tigers-Royals game, and maybe do a little pre-game/post-game pigging out at Cheli's Chili across the street from Comerica Park, and/or PizzaPapalis in good 'ol Greektown. Saturday is the big wedding and reception, then its back home on Sunday. After that, I think my summer will finally be settling down.

- I finally got my computer set up at home once again, and got some new music for my iPod. I highly recommend the new Ryan Adams CD "Easy Tiger", and the Maroon 5 CD "It Won't Be Soon Before Long". Good stuff all around.

- I think I've finally found a show to watch this summer - The Singing Bee on NBC. Caught the first episode last night in between watching the All-Star Game, and I'm hooked. Guess I'll check out the same show that is on Fox tonight, and see how that one is as well. Other than that, there's not much that I find that has the status of "must watch". The show I'm hooked on is Last Comic Standing, and we usually watch "America's Got Talent", but other than that its pretty slim pickings as far as TV watching goes this summer. I wish that Boston Legal and The Office were on year-round.

- There was more I was originally going to say, but I can't remember what it was now..

Catching Up

2007-06-25T15:18:00.000-04:00

- A week vacation in Myrtle Beach was a great time. It was nice to not have anything that had to be done, or a schedule to follow. It was just sitting on the beach and by the pool doing absolutely nothing during the day, and then go out and do whatever sounded good at night. Being outside in the fresh air, and actually seeing the sun was very refreshing. Unfortunately the week went by way too quickly. I need to find a way to be on a permament vacation...while getting paid.

- One more week until we find out the gender of the baby. I have a feeling that this will be the longest week of my life. What is making me even more anxious, is the fact that Joe and Lori already know what they're having, and they are due (well Lori, actually) about the same time as Sara. If they already know, why can't we?!?

- Thanks to Craigslist, Sara's expert bargain shopping skills, and a co-worker who is getting rid of stuff, we've managed to get almost all the stuff we need for the nursery for about 1/10th the cost if we were to buy it brand new. After getting the stuff, putting it together, and then googline it to see the original cost, I must say that it blows my mind to see the cost of nursery furniture and baby items. It's borderline highway robbery, to put it mildly.

- I finally got a chance to watch the Tigers on ESPN last night. They are looking mighty impressive right now. Barring any major injuries I think this team has a great chance to do something special this year. I'm really looking forward to taking in a game when I'm up in Detroit for Mike's wedding next month. One of the few things I've missed most about not living in Michigan and the Detroit area anymore is that I'm unable to go to a Tigers game whenever I want. There's nothing like watching a baseball game in person. Then again, I've been a bit spoiled as I was lucky enough to go to Tiger Stadium to watch baseball for most of my life.

- I need some new music to listen to. I really want to check out the new Maroon 5, and White Stripes CD's. I also need to get my computer hooked up at home and start adding stuff to my iTunes library. Anyone have a small computer desk I could buy on the cheap? Of all the things we've been buying lately, a suitable computer desk still seems to be impossible to find.

- Coming back to work after vacation, my department was moved to the building across the street, along with one other department. I wasn't really looking forward to the move, since most of my friends along with almost all of the rest of the people who work in this location are in the building across the street, and I did lose my mack-daddy cubicle-with-a-view (of the parking lot). It hasn't been too bad so far though. In this new location, we get free pop (after a vote, Coke came out the winner), and we also get free pastries every Tuesday from a great bakery here in town (according to most of the locals, except for Sara) called Chandler's. We still get our free Bodos bagels, and Spudnuts on alternating Friday's..we just have to make the walk up to the other building to get them now. Sounds like an excuse to start the work day a little later on Friday's from now on.

Out of Reality Notification

2007-06-08T22:27:00.000-04:00

Hello - I have currently checked out of reality, and will continue to be checked out until Monday, June 18th. I will be checking email sporadically, and my fantasy baseball teams on a daily basis. If you need to contact me...take a number.

Thanks,
-Aaron

A Question of Etiquette

2007-05-29T15:38:00.000-04:00

There is a question I have been struggling with for awhile, and have tried to see if I can come up with the correct answer myself, but so far I am not having any luck, and was wondering if someone out there either can point me to a definitive answer, or give me suggestions as to what to do. My question that I've been struggling with is:

What is the correct etiquette for conversations in public restrooms?

I don't think there's nothing wrong with having a conversation about something on the way in, and continuing the discussion in the bathroom, or even striking up a conversation with someone (someone you know that is) as long as you're next to each other in the urinal, or as long as there's no one else between you in the urinal. There are a few grey areas for me though.

1.) Is it ok to keep the conversation going, if one goes to the urinal, and the other goes into a stall? Personally, if I see someone start walking towards a stall, I'll end the conversation. If its me going into the stall, I'll try my best to end it. I don't want to talk over the wall..and besides I like my peace and quiet while I'm making a twosie.

2.) What if one is in a urinal, and the other is cleaning up at the sink? For me, it depends on how good of friends I am with the person, and if there's someone else in the bathroom. Its a very close scenario to #1, where you don't actually see the person you're talking to, and you kind of have to talk louder than a normal inside voice, since there's water running and stuff.

3.) If you know the person in the stall next to you, and its just the 2 of you in the bathroom, is it ok to talk to them? I'm thinking that's a no-brainer for a answer of NO. Again, I prefer peace and quiet.

4.) If you are in a scenario where one person walks in and sees you and starts talking to you, just as you are finishing up washing your hands (or vise-versa), how long are you obligated to talk to them if they initiate it? Do you try to end it ASAP and leave as politely as possible, or do you stand at the sink and continue the discussion? If you do continue the discussion, do you turn around and talk at the persons back, go to the door and try to leave ASAP, or do you continue the conversation while the person finishes up, and then washes and dries their hands? I really don't know an answer to this one. There's one guy on our floor, who I only seem to see in or on our way to the restroom. I don't interact with him on a work related basis. However like I said, I seem to only seem him in or near the restroom. Sometimes we'll start the conversation on the way in, but oftentimes, we end up in instance #3. If I'm on the way out, I usually just say a polite hey, so that I won't get stuck just standing there talking to him the whole time. Sometimes when I do say hey, he'll reply and then bring up a highlight from that morning's episode of SportsCenter, and then I'm left there awkwardly drying my hands for a long time while discussing some big story in baseball or basketball. The only other thing I could think of is to act like I don't see him, and try to avoid any conversation altogether.

Thoughts, ideas?!?

Midweek Randomness

2007-05-23T14:56:00.000-04:00

- I think that based on singing alone, after watching the final performances last night, that Jordin should win American Idol. I thought Blake won the first round, and Jordin won the second round by a very close margin, but Jordin clearly won the final round of the night. Having to sing that incredibly cheesy song as the last song of the night, was clearly not Blake's style, and he seemed to realize that as well. It looked like he had all he could do just to get the song over with. I think for Blake's sake, I hope he doesn't win tonight, since he would be stuck having to record that song as his first single. I wonder if he would get a better chance to put his own stamp on it if he does win? I really don't see how even he could save that song though.

- What is up with the gas prices? I paid $48.00 last night ($3.05/gallon) to fill up my Jeep. I thought that was bad, until I talked to Lloyd this morning, and he told me that gas is going for $3.58 in the Metro-Detroit area. I guess its a good thing that I'm flying up there next week for his wedding, and not driving. I'd have to take out a rather hefty loan just to fill up my tank for the round trip.

- Its a great time to be a fan of Detroit sports teams, well most of them anyways. The Pistons are looking like they are well on their way to the NBA Finals, and so far the Tigers are looking just as good as last year, and that's with out 2 of their key pitchers. The Red Wings made it to the conference finals, but really, its hockey so who cares? Now if only the Lions will start turning in the right direction, but that's probably too much to ask as long as Ford owns the team and Matt Millen is running the show.

- I seem to been listening to Van Halen a lot lately. I don't know why that is. I had put them on one morning on my way to work, to give me something loud to listen to in hopes it would help wake me up or something. Ever since then I keep going back. That's not a bad thing I don't think..I'm not ashamed to say that I'm a fan of the band. What it had done is made me wish that they would get back together (I'd be happy with either David Lee Roth, or Sammy Hagar) and tour again. I saw them back in '98 or '99 during the tour where they had their 3rd lead singer, but that doesn't seem like it should count. While musically it was great to see Eddie and Alex tear it up, it made me wish I could have seen them with one of their previous lineups. Maybe one day they'll throw their differences aside and get back together and do what they do best..rock it out.

- After seeing Gwen last week, I've been bitten by the concert bug again. I'd really like to go see some more concerts. I'd really like to see John Mayer in DC in July, as he is probably at the top of my list of people I really would like to see live. We've been talking about seeing Dave Matthews Band this August when they play up in DC. It's not really a summer unless I see DMB, since I've seen them at least once a year since 1996. You can usually count on a great show from them, and if I see them one more time, that will be DMB show #50 for me.

Front row seats, moving, and sore legs.

2007-05-21T16:05:00.000-04:00

So Sara and I went and saw Gwen Stefani this past Thursday up in Northern Virginia. We had great seats (front-row center), and I must say, I left the show pretty impressed. Going in, I wasn't exactly expecting much. The past few times I've seen her perform on TV (like American Idol), I thought she sounded horrible. I also figured that the show would be more focused on entertainment aspect (i.e. dancing with heavy choreography, massive lip-synching and/or a case of where the backup singers carry most of the load), and not the music. I couldn't have been more wrong.

It took the first couple of songs for us to get over the awesomeness of just how close our seats were. I then started looking to see if she was lip synching, but I realized that she didn't need to. For the most part her harajuku girls (spelling?), and back-up breakdancers carried the load as far as entertaining went. Occasionally she would run around and interact with the others, but for the most part she concentrated on the singing. There were quite a few of costume changes, but while that was going on, the band would be playing something, and the backup dancers would keep things rolling. I think one of the coolest parts of the show is when she jumped off the stage, ran to the back of the pavilion, and then performed the next song in the middle of the lawn, along with some of the guys in her band. The only other time I'd seen something like that done, is when I saw INXS at Pine Knob, and Michael Hutchence sang 2 songs from a random seat in the pavilion. Very cool. I would have to say that the funniest part of the night was when Gwen came out after a costume change, wearing a tank top. The first thing Sara says to me is "Look!!! She's got stretch marks!!!" I looked, and sure enough she did. We were so close we could see Gwen's stretch marks.

On Friday we finally made the big move. The movers came and moved all of our big furniture to our new place. Its nice to finally have that done with. We spent the rest of the weekend, with the help of Sara's mom, unpacking and trying to move the rest of our small stuff out of our old apartment in the ghetto. Even though we had professional movers move a lot of our stuff, I'm somehow still very sore. Its probably from climbing the 3 flights of stairs to load up our Jeeps with the smaller stuff from our old place. I think its safe to say that I will never live on a 3rd floor again. I hope I never get to the point where I have to live in an apartment again, let alone one that's not on a ground floor.

I can't wait for Memorial Day weekend to get here. I need a 3-day break. So far we've got a cookout to go to at Sara's aunt's house, which are always a lot of fun. I'm sure we'll end up doing some cooking out of our own at the nice patio at our new place as well.

Infrequent Friday Randomness

2007-05-11T15:07:00.000-04:00

So I was looking at my blog today, and saw that its been a month since I've last posted anything. Whoops. I guess its time for another round of Friday Randomness..

- When we found out that Sara was pregnant, one of our top priorities was to find some place new to live, since we were out of room in our apartment. After a lot of searching, we're finally moving next Friday. I can't wait to get out of the crappy neighborhood we live in. We're renting a nice townhouse in a newer development, just north of town. It'll be so nice to move out the ghetto where we've been living, and move into something nicer and hopefully quieter.

- May/June/July are going to be 3 of the busiest months that I can ever remember. The rest of May has us moving, going to see Gwen Stefani (with front-row center tickets that Sara just "happened" to get), unpacking, Memorial Day, and a trip up to Michigan to Dock's wedding. For June, I'm home a week, then we go to Myrtle Beach for a week for our vacation/anniversary. For July there's 2 more weddings to go to - Sean's up in D.C. and Mike's up in Michigan. My Jeep will be adding a ton of miles. Good thing I like roadtrips.

- It's funny, it seems like weddings and pregnancies happen in spurts. Like I just said - Dock, Sean, and Mike are getting married this summer, along with Mike's brother Steve who is getting married this month as well. Soon after we found out that Sara was pregnant, we also found out that Joe and Lori (well technically Lori) are expecting too. Even cooler, Sara and Lori are due right around the same time. Coincidentally, Joe and I's birthday's are pretty close together (2 months exactly to the day), so it'll be cool that our kids are so close together as well. Sometimes its strange how thing play out. It'll be interesting to see just when both babies arrive.

- Last Saturday we went with my mother-in-law to see Rod Stewart here in town. Thanks to Sara's cool job, we got free tickets to the show. While the show was entertaining, I really think its time for Rod to retire. He was huffing and puffing after the 2nd song, and he looked like he was struggling most of the show. He regularly relied on the band to jam out so he could catch his breath, and when the song hit a high spot, he would stop singing and let the crowd take over for him. Now I don't think its wrong for the singer or a band to stop, and let the crowd take over momentarily, once or twice in a show, but he did it virtually for every song in the 2nd half of the show...It became a bit of an overkill. I'm glad our tickets were free and we didn't have to pay the $55 price that the seats in our section cost.

- While reading on my lunch break today, I found there's a new sport involving Wiffle. It's called Wiffle Hurling. It looks like it might be a cross between Lacrosse and field hockey? (That's a question because I know nothing about either lacrosse or field hockey..that's just my guess) I think I'd be willing to give it a shot, especially if the sombraros are mandatory. I don't think we'd do any worse than we do every summer at the Wiffleball Tournament in Ohio. Anyways, here's a video of it:

- So American Idol is down to the "Final 3" - Blake, Jordin, and Melinda. While Blake is my favorite, I don't want to see him win. I think if he wins, he'll be locked in by the contract the winner gets, along with all the obligations they have to fulfill, and as a result he wouldn't be as free to do what he'd be best at. I think by not winning last year actually helped Chris Daughtry quite a bit, and look how big he is now. Ideally I'd like to see Melinda get kicked off next week, have a Jordin/Blake final, with Jordin winning. I'd like to see Blake have one more awesome performance before the end of the show. Something along the lines of what he did with Bon Jovi's "You Give Love a Bad Name" which might be the coolest performance I've ever seen on AI. Should be an interesting last couple of weeks.

Randomness..Its Been Awhile

2007-04-11T15:32:00.000-04:00

- So its been awhile since I've posted on here. What can I say, I've been busy.

- Tomorrow is Sara's first appointment with the doctor. We should find out the due date and all that fun stuff. I'm pretty excited. I really can't wait to find out what it is we'll be having (I mean, a boy or a girl...I know we're having a baby)

- How is it mid-April already? February and March don't even seem like they happened.

- My parents are due into town tomorrow for the weekend. I haven't seen them since October. It'll be good to see them. Hopefully the weather is better than predicted for the weekend, so we won't be stuck inside all the time.

- I'm glad its baseball season again. After the success the Tigers had last year, I really missed following it the past few months. I just wish we could get the baseball package through our cable company, so I could watch the Tigers every night, or at least flip over to the game throughout the night.

- Sanjaya is still around on Idol. I really don't care anymore. I'd like to see him go far now, and totally screw with the format of the show. I'm no longer liking Melinda (aka as Shrek) or LaKisha. They do the same stuff over and over, and I'm bored with it. I really hope Blake wins it all.

- Speaking of Idol, last nights show has to be one of the most boring of all time. Latin night? Why? I understand having different themes every week, to see what the contestants are capable of, but why latin night? Latin hasn't been mainstream since the late 90's/early 00's, when Ricky Martin, J Ho Lo, Marc Anthony, and Enrique Inglasis had hit records (records, plural as in when you combine their records together there were multiple hits, but individually, they each had like 1). And why was J Ho Lo the celebrity guru? She's not particularly good at anything that she does, let alone someone who should be giving out "expert" advice.

- If you're looking for something new to listen to, I highly recommend Amy Winehouse. She had a free single of the week on iTunes awhile ago, so I downloaded it and listened to it at work a couple times, and really dug it. She's got a jazz/soul sound, reminescent to old school jazz, but only sounding current. My description isn't doing it justice. Suggested songs to try out are: "Back to Black", "Rehab", and "You Know I'm No Good". You really can't go wrong with the whole album in my opinion.

Turning 30

2007-03-26T10:23:00.000-04:00

Turning 30 yesterday, means I'm now offically getting old.

I Couldn't Have Said It Better Myself...

2007-03-21T13:29:00.000-04:00

I was reading the Washington Post today at lunch and came across the following blurb on a blog on the website:

..But the Sanjaya Malakar Era needs to come to an end. Tonight. This has become an urgent national priority. His performance last night should have ended with an arrest. Animals have perished with more harmonious death rattles. Chickens who have been captured and beheaded on stumps have showed better dance moves.

Thanks to the producers and Ryan who keep focusing on this ~~cute girl~~ insanity, I have a feeling he'll be around for yet another week.

American Idol Final 16 - The Girls

2007-03-08T15:45:00.000-05:00

So after a crappy night by the guys, the girls came back and for the most part, all gave good performances. Then again, after Tuesday's show, it was virtually impossible to get any worse than what the guys did.

Jordin Sparks - sang 'Heartbreaker'. Was a pretty good performance, though she seemed to run out of breath towards the end. I don't know if it was the best song choice for her, but she didn't jeopardize her chances.

Sabrina Sloan - I thought she did a good job at covering En Vogue's 'Don't Let Go'. It was good though, and not great. When they said that she was the next to perform, I couldn't remember which one she was until they showed her. She should make it through, but unless she starts giving some great memorable performances, she'll have a tough time topping some of the other girls. She should stick around for awhile though, since 6 guys will be making it into the finals. I'm sure she's better than 3 of the guys.

Antonella Barba - Did a decent job, and wasn't the trainwreck of a performance that I was hoping for. She sang 'Put Your Records On', which is a song I like quite a bit. She finally found her niche, but its a few weeks too late. Had she sung this when the semi-finals started, and built off that experience, she could have gotten better as the weeks went on, but she waited until this week to sing something in her range. Compared with the other girls, she don't belong on the same stage. I think the 3 judges finally came to grips with the fact that they screwed up by bringing her to this stage, none of them had much good to say about what was her best performance. I think Simon is trying to pursuade the public to get rid of her, by basically saying she didn't have a good singing voice. Something tells me she'll be back next week though.

Haley Scarnato - most bland performance of the night. I don't think much of Faith Hill though, so anyone singing anything by her, automatically loses my interest. I don't think she'll be back, and Simon said it best, when he told her that he didn't "even know her name". She's been mediocre the whole time.

Stefanie Edwards - a performance I didn't get. Sara and I were both waiting for it to be over, it seemed like a lot of screaming and vocal runs (which I can't stand). All the judges liked it though, and said she should make the final 12.

LaKisha Jones - Another solid performance, and probably her 2nd best of the 3 weeks. After she was done, I assumed that she probably delivered the best performance of the night., since she sang Whitney flawlessly, which doesn't happen much on this show. Unless something dramatic happens between now and the finals, I think she'll be in the final 2.

Gina Glocksen - She finally came out and gave the rocking performance that the judges have been waiting for. I liked it because its completely different from the rest of the girls that are left, and since she's different, she really stands out. I hope she sticks around to provide some variety to the finals. I think she should make it to the final 5 or 6...as long as she sticks with the type of stuff she sang last night.

Melinda Doolittle - Best performance of the night, and in my opinion, the 2nd best performance of the season (right after LaKisha's performance in the 1st week). When I first heard the song, I thought maybe it might be a bit old fashioned, but she rocked it out, and brough the Yo (as Randy likes to say). She seemed like she was almost possessed or something. She's definitely safe, and I think will be facing LaKisha in the final episode.

Not a bad night. If we were judging on singing performance alone, then Antonella and Haley should be going home tonight for the girls, but I have a feeling that Antonella will be staying.

According to the reliable website dialidol.com, Stephanie and Haley will be going home for the girls, and Phil and Sundance will be going home for the guys. I guess time will tell.

American Idol Final 16 - The Guys

2007-03-07T15:48:00.000-05:00

So after a pretty good week last week, the guys followed up with a major let-down. They crapped the bed, so to speak. I really think they should change the rules of the show. They should simply take the best 24 out of Hollywood week, and not divide it up into 12 guys and 12 girls, and every week in the semifinals, get rid of 4 every week, and not keep an even ratio of guys to girls. If it is deemed that of the final 24, 22 of the best contestants are girls, I'm fine with that. I would rather watch that, than have to sit through weeks of watching guys like this:

Anyways, on to last nights show:

Blake Lewis - As I've said before, one of my favorite contestants. Gave an ok performance overall. I think if you're trying to be something of a more modern performer, you should pick songs that are relevant now. Both the song "All Mixed Up", and the band 311 haven't been relevant since..oh..1997ish. At least it was up-beat, and he did get to use a bit of the beatbox stuff again.

Sanjaya - I'm not going to waste my time with him. He sucks. He's gotta go, but I'm sure he'll stay because there's probably a lot of people out there who think he's cute, feel sorry for him because he's so young, and that he had to watch his sister get kicked out during Hollywood week. Plus I'm a bit bitter because he completely slaughtered a song from one of my favorite musicians. Please for the love of god, don't make us put up with him anymore.

Sundance Head- Another one who I don't think deserves to be here. He sucked during Hollywood week, yet somehow made it through based on his inital audition way back when. I think the 3 judges are sorry they put him through. Absolutely killed a great song. He doesn't really scream "grunge" to me. If he's gonna sing, he should stick to songs that have a more soulful sound to them. Him singing Pearl Jam would be like Taylor Hicks trying to sing Nirvana Also I'd like him gone because I don't want to have to seem him cry all night everytime there's an elimination show.

Chris Richardson - I think his was the best performance last night. I think by nailing a country song like he did, proved that he's probably the most versatile out of everyone there. He even sang with a bit of a twang. Seeing as he can change things up, and not pigeonhole himself into a specific category, I think he could sneak in and be the one guy who stays the longest.

Jarred Cotter - He did ok. I don't think Stevie Wonder is his genre. A few times when he started hitting the high notes, he was very close to losing it, but he kept it under control. I don't think he did much to stand out from the rest of the people though.

Brandon Rogers - Boring. I hate songs that just repeat the same words over and over. Ok, you want to celebrate...I get the idea. Something about him annoys me. I think he could be one of the ones going home.

Phil Stacey - Another one that I think should go home, but he'll get some sympathy votes since he's in the military, and he missed the birth of his kid because he was at the audition. His song started out horrible, but got better. I think he really needs to grow some hair, he looks a bit unhealthy (if you know what I mean). Also I think if you painted his head green, he would look a lot like this guy:

Here's Phil for comparison's sake:

Chris Sligh - I really like him a lot as well, I just wish he would sing some songs that are a bit more mainstream. I mean, last night he sang a song by the band DC Talk. I haven't heard of them since I was a junior in high school at the ~~prison camp~~ private school. I was a bit bored not knowing the song. Overall, I'd say it was the 2nd best performance of the night though.

So the girls go tonight...I hope they give a better show tonight. At least we can be assured that watching Antonella will be like watching a train-wreck. I wonder which song that is out of her league she'll be attempting tonight....

American Idol - The Top 20

2007-03-01T15:56:00.000-05:00

So yes, I'm an American Idol junkie, I'm not afraid to admit it. I was originally addicted during the Clay vs. Rueben season. For some reason, I didn't watch the next season when Fantasia won it (and after watching her "peformance" last week, I see I didn't miss much...how did she win? She wouldn't even deserve to be in the Top 24 this year...), but I got addicted again the season after that.

After watching the guys and girls performances from the first week, I thought it was going to be a pretty crappy season. All but 2 or 3 of the guys sucked, and most of the girls were pretty good. Luckily this week the guys stepped it up, and were a bit more memorable, and the girls weren't too shabby again either.

Here's my predictions:
First off, can we just give the Grand Prize to Lakisha?

Other than Melinda, there is no one else who can even come close to Lakisha's talent. Granted she started off a little shaky last night, but she ended up delivering, and considering her peformance the first week blew everyone out of the water (and that includes any performance that Paula ever gave, when she actually performed way back in the day..which is when I was in like 7th grade). While I think Melinda is a great singer as well, there's something about her that bugs me. I don't know if its the fact she's missing a neck or what, and I have a feeling that her musical tastes are a bit too old fashioned for this show.

The 2 females that need to go this week are:
1.) ~~Mr. Ed~~ Antonella Barba
- she's been consistantly horrible, and didn't even deserve to make it this far. When you suck the week before, I don't think that the best thing to do is to come back and try singing a Celine Dion song. Plus it sounds like she's already got a promising career in ~~posing~~ modeling.

2.) Leslie Hunt - uhh you might want to learn how to scat, before trying it on national TV in front of tens of millions of people.

The 2 men that need to go:
1.) Sanjay Malahnotgonnaworkhereanymore (sorry, I felt the need for an Office Space joke here). Unless he plans on singing Stevie Wonder songs every week (which he actually sounds good doing), he don't have a chance musically. What the heck was that song this week!? He looked like a cheap Michael Jackson wannabe, and I think he tried to sound like MJ as well since he was almost whispering most of the time.

2.) Nick Pedro - Was bored with his song 'Fever', plus I think that's a song that is only fitting for a female to sing. Also don't like his cheap imitation ripoff of "Vote For Pedro". He's not cool enough to pull off a reference like that to one of my all-time favorite movies.

My two favorite guys are Blake Lewis, as I mentioned in a post during audition week, and Chris Singh. Vocally, I think Chris has the edge, but Blake has more personality, and some mad beat-box skills.

That's Gotta Hurt a Little

2007-02-27T16:21:00.000-05:00

Who says basketball players don't risk the same type of injuries as other more physical sports? Here are 2 fine examples:

Example #1

Example #2

The Soundtrack of My Life - My 100 Favorite Songs of All Time

2007-02-22T16:11:00.000-05:00

So I've compiled a list of my 100 favorite songs of all time. These are what I guess you could call my "deserted island" songs - all of the songs I would want on my iPod, if I were standed on some deserted island, (well if island had a power source so I could constantly recharge my iPod.)

This list is a bit biased for some bands, that is to say, that some of my favorite bands (U2, The Beatles, DMB) had more songs listed than others, but hey they're my favorite, so that's the way it falls. Also, some of the songs are pretty cheesy, but they're on there because at one point or time in my life, the song always seemed to be around me, and now whenever I hear it, I always go back to that time. (Woah! I'm starting to sound like a Kenny Chesney song)

Songs #11-100 on the list are arranged in alphabetical order (no, I didn't alphabatize them myself, I let Excel do that for me), since I didn't want to take the excruciating task of weighing where each song should fall on the list. For the top 10 songs, I did rank them in order of favoritism. Anyways, here's the list..

Songs #11 to #100:

#41 - Dave Matthews Band
A Day in the Life - The Beatles
A Horse With No Name - America
A Whiter Shade of Pale - Procol Harum
Acrobat - U2
Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone - Bill Withers
America - Neil Diamond
Baba O'Riley - The Who
Back in Black - AC/DC
Belief - John Mayer
Black Hole Sun - Soundgarden
Bobcaygeon - Tragically Hip
Breakfast at Tiffany's - Deep Blue Something
Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp - Led Zeppelin
Cantaloop - Us3
Cap'n Kirk - Bob Schneider
Come Undone - Duran Duran
Crazy - Gnarls Barkley
Crush - Dave Matthews Band
The Distance - Cake
Don't Change - INXS
Don't Look Back in Anger - Oasis
Down Under - Men at Work
Drive - Incubus
Get Back - The Beatles
Glory Days - Bruce Springsteen
Grace, Too - Tragically Hip
Handle With Care - The Travelling Wilburys
Hey, Hey What Can I Do? - Led Zeppelin
Hey Ya - Outkast
House of the Rising Sun - The Animals
The Humpty Dance - Digital Underground
If I Had $1,000,000 - Barenaked Ladies
I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) - The Proclaimers
In The Blood - Better Than Ezra
In the Ghetto - Elvis Presley
Interstate Love Song - Stone Temple Pilots
Into the Mystic - Van Morrison
It's A Hit - Rilo Kiley
I've Just Seen A Face - The Beatles
JTR - Dave Matthews Band
Kodachrome - Paul Simon
Laid - James
Losing My Religion - REM
Love Shack - B52's
Loves Me Like a Rock - Paul Simon
Me & Julio Down By The Schoolyard - Paul Simon
Merry Christmas (The War Is Over) - John Lennon
Never Tear Us Apart - INXS
Night Moves - Bob Seger
Nightswimming - REM
Norweigan Wood - The Beatles
One - U2
One Headlight - The Wallflowers
One Man Army - Our Lady Peace
Ordinary World - Duran Duran
Paint It Black - Rolling Stones
Plush - Stone Temple Pilots
Ramble On - Led Zeppelin
Rebel Rebel - David Bowie
Right Now - Van Halen
Rock the Cashbah - The Clash
Roll Me Away - Bob Seger
Roll the Bones - Rush
Shotdown - Agents of Good Roots
Solsbury Hill - Peter Gabriel
Soulshine - Gov't Mule
Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - U2
Summer of '69 - Bryan Adams
Superman's Dead - Our Lady Peace
Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond
Sweet Child O'Mine - Guns N' Roses
To Be With You - Mr. Big
Tom Sawyer - Rush
Turn the Page - Bob Seger
Typical Situation - Dave Matthews Band
Ultra Violet (Light My Way) - U2
Unchained - Van Halen
Wake Up - The Arcade Fire
Walk of Life - Dire Straits
The Weight - The Band
When I'm 64 - The Beatles
Where the Streets Have No Name - U2
Whipping Post - Allman Brothers Band
White Room - Cream
With or Without You - U2
Wonderwall - Oasis
Won't Get Fooled Again - The Who
Your Time Is Gonna Come - Led Zeppelin
You've Got to Hide Your Love Away - The Beatles

Songs #10 to #1:
10.) American Pie - Don McLean
9.) Suspicous Minds - Elvis Presley
8.) It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) - REM
7.) Mr. Jones - Counting Crows
6.) What Would You Say - Dave Matthews Band
5.) Centerfield - John Fogerty
4.) Yesterday - The Beatles
3.) Bad - U2
2.) All You Need Is Love - The Beatles

And the #1 song on my Top 100 Song list is....

1.) Imagine - John Lennon

Of course, some or all of these could change tomorrow (except the top 10 - those 10 have been favorites for awhile now), but as it stands right now, these are my favorite songs. Feel free to poke fun.

Sings That Spring Is Right Around the Corner

2007-02-16T15:54:00.000-05:00

"Well, beat the drum and hold the phone - the sun came out today!
We’re born again, there’s new grass on the field.
A-roundin’ third, and headed for home, it’s a brown-eyed handsome man; Anyone can understand the way I feel."
-John Fogerty "Centerfield"

Well after another cold week here, where we were hit with a bit of an ice storm on Tuesday night, finally today comes a hint that spring is just around the corner. Spring Training has started!

Funny Video Friday

2007-02-09T14:26:00.000-05:00

Ok, so its been awhile since I've last posted. I haven't really been able to think of much to say on here, to be honest. I think its just a case of the winter doldrums finally setting in. And yes, its finally winter here. We got about 2 inches of snow on Wednesday, and its been insanely cold here (well insanely cold for Virginia...I hear its been even colder in the Midwest). The word is, that we're supposed to get some more snow early next week as well. As much as I hate snow, I feel that if we're gonna get some snow, I wish we would just get hammered with a snowstorm, and get something like 12-15 inches, and just shut everything down for a few days. Then it can melt away and Spring can then come.

I've decided that I'm going to try to start posting on a more regular basis. One way I'm going to do that is to start a weekly series called "Funny Video Friday" (creative title, eh?) , where I'll post a video (or two, or three), that I find mildly entertaining. Since I come across some pretty good ones, on the blogs I read, I figure it can't be too difficult to do, right?

So anyways, here's the first installment..

Video #1 - Slingshot

I wish I had thought of this when I had my 4-wheeler growing up. I'm sure our neighbor Paul would have volunteered to be the one in the slingshot.

Video #2 - Trampoline Basketball

I'm surprised this never happened to me or any of my friends actually. All we ever did was play Trampoline Dodgeball on my friends Wayne & Scott's neighbor's trampoline, before they started putting up the safety nets all around them.

Video #3 - Basement Basketball

No, this isn't actually a video of me as a teen. I'll just say I'm glad my parents never had a video camera while I was growing up.

Randomness

2007-01-22T16:08:00.000-05:00

- We got our first snowfall on Sunday. Actually it more sleet/freezing rain than snow. Either way, winter is finally here, and it can go back to where it came from now.

- Speaking of winter/snow/freezing rain - On Sunday Sara and I went out at 11:30 to go pick up Blake from his dad. We couldn't get out of town. About 2 miles into the trip on Route 29 (the main road here in C'ville) there was a minor fender bender. Once we got past that, traffic soon came to a halt again. After waiting impatiently for about 15-20 minutes, I tried to take a back route to where we were going. I got about 2 miles down that road (a country road), we had to turn around because the road was blocked, due to probably an accident. We tried yet another backway (a dirt road..I felt like I was back in North Branch for a minute), and had to turn around because small cars tried to take the same route, and were going off the road. After about an hour of going absolutely nowhere, Blake's dad called and postponed the transfer until later, due to the roads being bad for him as well. We found out on the news that there were 12 separate accidents on Route 29 around the time we were on the roads. Pretty crazy, I don't think I've experienced anything like that before.

- Right now is my favorite time of year....for TV watching. There's basically something good on every night that we watch TV. Sunday's have "You're the One That I Want" (Sara made a point to watch this, and I'm hooked) and "The Apprentice". Monday's have "How I Met Your Mother" and "Two and a Half Men". Tuesday's have "American Idol"(finally!!!), and Boston Legal (my 2nd favorite TV show). Wednesday's have American Idol, and Thursday's have "The Office" (my #1 favorite TV, thanks to getting hooked on the original British version) and Scrubs. As far as Friday and Saturday goes, we're usually doing something else. And yes, I'm not afraid to admit I like American Idol. I'm can't wait for the actual competition to get started. Right now we already have a favorite. A guy named Blake from Seattle. And maybe we are biased because of his name!

- Thanks to iTunes and some random music blogs I've come across lately, I've found some interesting stuff to listen to. Some of my new finds are: Lily Allen (a UK artist..kinda pop like Jem, only more edgier) and David Vandervelde (from Chicago, has a cool 70's David Bowie-like sound going). If you're interested in finding something new to listen to, you should look them up on iTunes, or Myspace to get a taste of what they sound like.

-Spring Training is less than 1 month away. I can't wait for baseball to get started back up again!

It's a Hit

2007-01-10T13:54:00.000-05:00

Any chimp can play human for a day.
Use his opposable thumbs to iron his uniform
and run for office on election day.
Fancy himself a real decision maker
and deploy more troops than salt in a shaker.

But it's a jungle when war is made,
and you'll panic and throw your own shit at the enemy.
The camera pulls back to reveal your true identity.
Look, it's a sheep in wolf's clothing.
A smoking gun holding ape.

The lines above are from one of my favorite songs, "It's a Hit" by Rilo Kiley. It also sums up how w. has, and is continuing to handle this war. (Oh wait I guess this isn't a war anymore...didn't we already decide that the war was won when he landed on the aircraft carrier in a jet, and made the proclimation in front of the big "Mission Accomplished" sign?) Tonight he's going to announce a "surge" (note: this will be the first overused catch word of '07) of 20,000ish troops to Iraq to help clean up the mess he made by not apportioning enough troops when this whole debacle started way back when. Apparently this time, there will be benchmarks set which will make the Iraq government/army more accountable themselves, for taking back their country. The only way they'll start being accountable themselves is if we get out of there and make them take control themselves. What incentives do they have for stepping up, when they can just rely on us to do the work for them, and get killed in the process?

Speaking of accountability, how has w and his evil minions (Rove, Rummy, Cheney, etc.) gotten away with running such a shoddy operation. The whole premise of the invasion was because Saddam had "WMD's" and was a threat to world peace. It's been what, 4 years, and no WMD's found, and its a generally accepted fact that no WMD's ever existed. How is there no accountability for that? Oh right, whenever this gets brought up, its inevitable that the words "nine" and "eleven" are uttered at some point in the conversation, and its at that point you are supposed to stop the questioning. If that doesn't make it right for you, then you are 1.) unpatriotic, and 2.) helping the terrorists win.

It blows my mind that one president can get a blow-job and get impeached, while another can wage a war on a faulty premise, where 3,000+ soldiers get killed, (tens of) thousands more mamed and disabled for the rest of their lives, and absolutely nothing happens.

It's beyond belief.

Crazy Weather

2007-01-09T11:50:00.001-05:00

While growing up in Michigan, the months of December and January usually meant the weather was cold and snowy. It was that way most of my life. I honestly can't remember a Christmas or New Years where there wasn't snow on the ground. One of the main reasons (aside from the crappy economy) that I moved out of Michigan right after I graduated from EMU, was to get away from the dreary never-ending winters that we got every year. I love the climate here in Virginia. The summers are hot, and they last longer than 5 weeks. Spring is awesome, and the Fall season is great, with the temperatures staying on the warm to cool side. The Winters are 10,000 times better. The temps are usually chilly, and we usually get one or two decent snowfalls, and when it does snow, its gone within a couple days. The first full winter I lived here (2001-2002), we got something like 6 inches total for the entire season. Awesome!

This year has been completely unlike anything I've ever experienced. It hasn't been all that cold yet. Its a littly chilly in the morning on the way to work, but I've only had to scrap a light layer of frost off my car maybe 3 times so far. This past Saturday it was in the high 70's, and I for a time, contemplated wearing shorts...just because I could. Coming back from Blake's basketball practice, we noticed that trees around his school were budding. While this is completely out of the ordinary, the most bizzare thing that I've seen took place while we were in Virginia Beach over New Years weekend. When we got to our hotel room on the beach on December 30th, we stepped out on the balcony to check out the view and enjoy the sounds of the waves, but we were unable to hear the waves due to the maintenance man mowing the grass below us. He wasn't mowing the lawn just to mow it, the grass was actually needed to be cut.

Of course now that I've bragged about the awesome weather we've been having here, I'm sure that I've completely jinxed myself, and we'll probably be hit by a Nor'Easter this weekend. Because I have awesome luck like that.

Uhhh No M!ch!gan

2006-12-22T12:01:00.000-05:00

Usually when I'm discussing where in Michigan I'm from, it inevitably happens during the conversation that I'll just hold up my right hand and use it as a visual aid and point in the general direction of the middle of my thumb, to signify where North Branch is, since Michigan is in the shape of a hand/mitten/whatever you want to call it.

At some point whenever I do this, I get mocked by my wife who I always thought was just jealous because I could use a visual aid to show-off my home state, while she couldn't. Lately I've started to realize that she mocked me because it was a pretty dorky thing to do. Well today I saw this (the offical Christmas card for the Governor of Michigan):

I've come to the realization that it is indeed, a pretty dorky thing to do. And for full disclosure, I have in the past used my left hand to signify the U.P. (that would be Upper Peninsula for any non-Michiganders reading this).

Here's to 2006

2006-12-20T16:45:00.001-05:00

So 2006 is just about over, and I must say, it was the most exciting year of my life. The most exciting thing to happen to me was getting married this past summer. Sara and I got married on the beach in Myrtle Beach in June, with a small ceremony with all of our close relatives and friends there to watch us. Along with being married, I moved in with Sara and Blake, we've becaome a family, and as a result I guess I offically became a grown-up (although Sara would probably disagree with that assumption). I wouldn't trade my life with anyone or for anything. Life is really really good, and I can honestly say that I've never been happier.

Here's some random lists of some of things from this year - "High Fidelity" style..

Websites/Programs I Got Highly Addicted To:
Deadspin (Especially the comments section to each story)
Woot (Click here for an explanation as to what exactly this website is)
Gizmodo
Flickr
Google Earth (more of a program, than an actual website)
iTunes (great way to preview songs/artists/albums, and to get music recommendations based on what you own

6 Favorite Sporting Events from 2006
Tigers having a record better than .500
Tigers making the playoffs
Kenny Rogers masterpiece in Game 3 of the ALDS and being there in person to see it.
Tigers Beating the Yankees in the ALDS
Tigers Beating the A's in the ALCS and going to the World Series!!!
Playing in the Wiffleball Tournament in London, OH

5 Favorite Albums I Bought This Year*:
Continuum - John Mayer
Rabbit Fur Coat - Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins
Funeral - Arcade Fire
The Californian - Bob Schneider
The Crane Wife - The Decemberists
(* Not necessarily released this year)

Few Albums that Disappointed Me This Year:
Love, Loss, Hope, Repeat - Carbon Leaf (should have been called zzz,zzz,zzz,zzz)
Sam's Town - The Killers
Under the Iron Sea - Keane

Songs That Kept Getting Stuck In My Head This Year:
Crazy - Gnarls Barkley
Black Horse and the Cherry Tree - KT Tunstall
Ain't No Other Man - Christina Aguilera
Put Your Records On - Corrine Bailey Rae
The Big Guns - Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins
C'mon - Guster
Waiting on the World To Change - John Mayer

I can't wait to see what 2007 is going to bring. Have a great Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I Want That Blender!

2006-12-14T16:25:00.001-05:00

The other day I was looking around some of the gadget blogs that I read on a regular basis, and came across a posting on one of them, that was bragging about the awesomeness of the Blendtec Blenders. The blog was telling about how powerful these blenders are, and how there is video of them on Youtube.com. After watching a few of the videos, I am in awe. Below is video of the hockey pucks getting turned to dust.

Albums I've Been Listening To Lately:
Different Stages - Rush
Continuum - John Mayer
Light Grenades - Incubus
The Crane Wife - The Decemberists

Speaka ze Deutche?

2006-12-06T12:27:00.001-05:00

When I found out that I would be coming here to the Netherlands, one of the first things I wondered, was..would I be able to communicate with everyone both in public interaction, and in the office while I'm working. I was told by numerous people who had already visited our office here, that I would be just fine, and that everyone for the most part is taught English as a second language when they are in school. So I figured that I could at least get around alright, and that hasn't been a problem at all. Everyone initally greats you in Dutch, but the minute they hear me say "Hello", they immediately switch to English. I must say that everyone here is also extremely nice. Whenever you ask for directions, everyone is always ready to help out.

Anyways, the other thing I wondered was, in my down time when I'm in my hotel room..how am I going to watch TV? When I got back to my hotel room about 5:30 tonight, I found the following on TV...

Yep, that's right, Dr. Phil, telling someone that they need to get real, or something in plain English..and its subtitled in Dutch, so the people here can learn the ways of the Good Doctor.

I decided to keep turning the channel to see what else I could find and I stumbled across this:

Puff Daddy and Ma$e (oh, and Biggie appearing post-humously through archived video), telling everyone about the dillemma that more...er 'Mo Money brings 'Mo Problems. Unfortunately there were no subtitles in Dutch for this.

If they're at least going to show some American stuff on TV over here, couldn't we at least give them some better material?

On The Road..International Style

2006-12-04T15:17:00.000-05:00

I think anyone who knows me, know that I like to do things on the spur of the moment. I've been known to make a trip to McDonalds at 1:00 in the morning, take a roadtrip to go to a concert in another state with very little notice, or decide the night before I'm to leave to go to the beach, to leave that night instead..rather than wait for the next day because it uses up time we could be at the beach. For once I had to do something spontaneous that even I think is a bit overboard. Last Thursday, when I get into work, my boss sends me an urgent email followed up immediately with a phone call telling me that it would be awesome if I could take a trip to our new office in the Netherlands...and to be there by Monday. I knew that a trip was in the works, but just earlier in the week I thought it was decided that it would wait until after the New Year. That plan changed very quickly. After talking with Sara, finding a corporate credit card I could use, and booking my flight, it was settled that I was flying to Amsterdam on Saturday. Nothing like planning an international trip in less than 2 days.

I flew out of D.C. on Saturday afternoon, caught a connecting flight in Newark, NJ that evening and landed in Amsterdam at 8 in the morning on Sunday. Oh and I met up with some people from our Kansas City office at the airport that I've never met before, so I could catch a ride with them up to our office in the small northern town of Zuidlaren. Everything went smoothly overall. Just had a 1 hour delay where all planes were stopped from taking off for awhile from DC, but since I had a 4 hour layover scheduled after that flight, it didn't bother me any, and I didn't get any sleep on the flight over thanks to the crying baby in the row in front of me.

Amsterdam was nice, it would have been better had it not been cold and rainy. From what I was able to see, it looked very cool with the canals that run all through the town. The village where the office is located, is a small village with little pubs, and restaurants spread out. Unfortunately my hotel is nowhere near the village, its out in the middle of nowhere..but we do have a Texas Roadhouse restaurant across the street!

Oh and each room comes with ~~a queen sized bed!~~ two twin beds!!

Last 5 Songs I've Listened To:
Tiger the Lion - The Tragically Hip
Amsterdam - Guster
John Brown - Agents of Good Roots
New Years Day - U2
Amsterdam - Coldplay

The Man in Black

2006-11-16T16:13:00.000-05:00

Sara directed me to this video today. I think its a great song..a bit haunting, which isn't surprising since he covered it right before he died. I think the video captures the mood quite well. In a way, it reminds me of his cover of NIN's "Hurt".

A few of the cameos could be up for debate, but still I think its pretty cool overall.

Recap..

2006-11-08T16:12:00.000-05:00

I realized that it's been awhile since I've written anything on here. I've been pretty busy at work, and outside of work, I haven't really had a desire to be in front of a computer much. I've also had a brain fart as to what to write about even when I've thought about writing something on here. I guess I could give a quick recap and some random thought as to what I've been up to and thinking lately..

- Watched the Tigers go down to defeat in the World Series. I was a bit disappointed, but seeing as I was hoping for 82 wins this year, I couldn't be too disappointed. They got a lot farther than what I ever thought they would. It was just awesome to see them knock the evil Yankees out of the playoffs. 145 days until Opening Day, and this off-season should be a lot of fun seeing what moves the Tigers make in order to try to get back to the World Series once again.

- A couple weekends ago we had 3 of Sara's sisters kids stay the weekend with us - well the 2 nephews stayed with us, and the niece stayed with Sara's mom for some "girl time". The 2 nephews - Peyton and Tyson are 5 and 3 years old, and the niece Jordan (notice how they're named after athletes)is 7, and then of course Blake who is 6. I must say it was some of the most fun I've had in a long time. Just sitting back and watching them all play together (although the opportunities to actually sit down were few and far between) and listening to the things they said/asked, made for some pure comedy moments. I was wore out after the weekend was over, but I think it was worth it, and can't wait to do it again. I definitely can't wait to have a couple of my own.

- Big election night last night. I usually keep up to date with the news, and keep an eye on the political scene, as I like to try to be well informed (or at least think I am) as to what's going on in the world. I must say, I am very pleased with the outcome. I never realized before just how dangerous it is for one party to control both the White House, and both houses of Congress, until I've watched what has gone on these past few years, and how Bush has had everything he wants rubberstamped by this Congress. I think its a good thing that the Dems won both the House and (apparently) the Senate. I think both the President and Congress need to be the check and balance for each other. The biggest and best suprise is that Rumsfeld is quitting. I guess he realized he would no longer have a free pass to "stay the course" and screw up Iraq as badly has he (and this administration) has done. Now if Cheney and Rove would quit as well. I don't think everything is going to get instantly better in Iraq, but I'm hoping there will at least be some progress. I still think it was a waste to go there in the first place, but that's another topic.

- Still in a bit of a music rut. I found some good stuff like new albums from The Decemberists and John Mayer, and started listening to some other stuff I hadn't tried before, but that's all I've been listening to, and its starting to get old. One thing I would really like is to go to a awesome, knock your socks off concert. Its been way too long since I've been to a show like that. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be anything on the horizon..

Last 5 Songs I've Listened To:
Mrs. Vandebilt - Paul McCartney & Wings
Plush - Stone Temple Pilots
The Worst Joke Ever - REM
Promenade - U2
Dancing Days - Led Zeppelin

Crazy Superstitions

2006-10-19T13:26:00.000-04:00

(Photos by the Detroit News)

Up until the awesome events of the past few weeks, the above images from the sacred year of 1984, pretty much capture everything I've ever known about the Detroit Tigers being a good, let alone great team. Granted I was only 7 years old, so that makes the memories even more fuzzy. How much of anything can anyone remember from back when they were 7 years old (especially when you're pushing 30)? I remember watching Jack Morris' no-hitter on TV against the White Sox on a Saturday afternoon in April of that year, and I remember bits and pieces of the playoffs and World Series from that year - mostly Kirk Gibson's clutch home runs, and the celebrations after they won it all. Oh and I also remember going to a game against the Blue Jays at Tiger Stadium that summer with my mom and dad, sitting in the left field upper deck, and seeing the old guy sitting next to my dad stand up to do the wave, only to have his pants fall down to his ankles (true story - I couldn't make that up if I tried).

Anyways its been a long time since the Tigers have had a team that has been good, and given me something to really cheer and be absolutely thrilled about. Seeing as how they've got a good thing going, I've noticed that I've suddenly become superstitious. I have a lucky t-shirt which, when I've worn it, the Tigers are 7-0. I didn't wear it for the first game of the Yankees series, and they lost. I didn't discover the luck that it brought until after the third game of the ALDS. I went up to Michigan specifically for the 3rd game which I was lucky to get tickets to (see previous post). I watched the 2nd game (the Tigers 1st win of the series)at my parents place where I was wearing my Old Navy American Flag t-shirt. When I went to bed that night, I threw the shirt on top of my suitcase and forgot about it. The next day as my brother and I were getting ready to head down to Lloyd's, I knew I needed to dress in layers, so I just picked up the t-shirt and wore it under my long-sleeved shirt. We went to the game, Kenny Rogers pitched the game of his life (at that time), and the Tigers shut out the Yankees. I proceeded to come back home to Virginia the next day, and got home in time for the 4th game. As I was cleaning out my suitcase I saw the shirt, and realized it was 2-0, so I figured "what the heck?", and I put it on before the game. Another game, another win. I've proceeded to wear it every game day since then, and as I said earlier, the Tigers are undefeated. I tried to tempt fate during the 2nd game against the A's. I had been wearing it all day. Sara and I were watching the game, the Tigers were up by a couple in the last inning, so we decided to go and watch the bottom of the 9th inning in bed. I took the shirt off, and Todd Jones managed to get a couple runners on base, with Frank Thomas (the winning run)coming up to bat. Realizing what was going on, I jumped up quick, put the shirt on...Frank lined out to centerfield to end the game.

Coincidence? I'm thinking no (I'm sure as heck not willing to find out either!)

Bless You Boys

Last 5 Songs I've Listened To:
Ruby Falls - Guster
The First Cut is the Deepest - Cat Stevens
Dancing in the Dark - Bruce Springsteen
Speak - Nickel Creek
King of Comedy - R.E.M.

How I spent my Friday night..

2006-10-09T10:12:00.000-04:00

The view from my seat at Comerica Park for Game 3 of the ALDS:

By far and away the best sporting event I have ever been to. First home playoff game in 19 years, and completely shutting down the evil Yankees..what's not to enjoy!? It was definitely worth the 1500+ mile roundtrip.

FINALLY!!!

2006-09-26T14:06:00.000-04:00

(Photo: Steve Perez / The Detroit News)

So the Tigers clinched a playoff spot for the first time in 19 years on Sunday. It has been a looooong time coming. I can remember the last time they were in the playoffs. I can remember listening to the game on the radio the day they beat the Blue Jays in the final game of the season to earn the playoff spot. It sort of seemed like a long time for me, but when I really thought about it, I actually started realizing just how long ago it was.

I was 10 years old
My brother was only 5
I was in 3rd Grade
These were some of the top songs during 1987 (thanks Google):
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - U2
Who's That Girl - Madonna
La Bamba - Los Lobos
Bad - Michael Jackson
I Think We're Alone Now - Tiffany
Faith - George Michael
Livin' On a Prayer - Bon Jovi

Looking at it in those terms makes me realize just how long its been. I'm also now feeling really old as well.

Considering that at the beginning of the year all I was hoping for was 81 wins this year, making the playoffs is just an added bonus. To go from having 100+ losses over the past couple years, to contending not only for the playoffs, but for the best record in baseball, is quite the achievement. Hopefully the Tigers success will help brighten up the sports scene in Detroit, considering the lost cause that is known as the Lions are sucking yet again. That's been happening for 50+ years though, so that's nothing new.

I was lucky enough to get tickets to the 1st home playoff game in Detroit, and I can't wait to go. Now I just need to find out who they're playing and when the game will be.

Last 5 songs I've listened to:
Just What I Needed - The Cars
Crosstown Traffic - Jimi Hendrix
The Lemon Song - Led Zeppelin
Novocane for the Soul - Eels
I'm Gonna Miss Her (Fishin' Song) - Brad Paisley

A Joke

2006-09-26T09:46:00.000-04:00

Heard this on "Two and a Half Men" last night.

Q: If girls with big boobs work at Hooters, where do girls with one-leg work?

A: IHOP!

I found it hysterical. Maybe its funnier when the kid on the show is telling it...

Things I Currently Find "Cool"

2006-09-18T10:29:00.000-04:00

1.) Being married. I can't explain it other than to say that its beyond AWESOME.

2.) Fall. Fall has always been a season I was always "eh" about. Basically I always viewed it as the death of summer, and the realization that winter was around the corner...and I detest winter (to put it nicely). I started to like it when I moved to Virginia, because the weather for the most part stayed warmer later in the year than it did up in Michigan. Plus living near the mountains, it always looks awesome when the colors start changing. After dating and marrying Sara, its hard not to get caught up in the coolness of the fall season. Fall is Sara's favorite season, and she goes all out for it. Decorating the apartment with fall decorations (mums hanging out on our balcony, scarecrow and pumpkin pillows on our furniture, and even fall-themed clothing). Our weekends are spent doing fall-like things, such as going to pumpkin patches, fall festivals, and making numerous trips to Carter's Mountain Apple Orchard, which is probably the coolest place in Charlottesville. It's an orchard that is on top of a mountain.

3.) Michigan's 47-21 beatdown of Notre Dame this past weekend. I only pull for Michigan one day a year, and that is the day they play Notre Dame. In the world of sports, I hate Notre Dame the worst. I actually hate them more than I hate the New York Yankees. So not only was I happy to see ND lose, but I was thrilled to see them get slaughtered. Unfortunately, I was unable to see the game. If I would have watched, the outcome probably would have been reversed.

4.) John Mayer's Continuum CD . After hearing his first single "Waiting on the World to Change", I thought it sounded really good, and decided to check out the entire CD. I was really impressed. He appeared to go away from the "pop" sound he had on his previous albums, and go more toward the blues sound and show off more of his great guitar skills. Overall I'd give in a 4 out of 5.

5.) Death Cab for Cutie's Song "The Sound of Settling". I was looking at the myspace page of my old buddy from high school, Derek and noticed a youtube video embedded into his page, and saw he was in it, so I decided to check it out. It was a music video (Derek is pretty talented musically) and the song was incredibly catchy. At the end it said the song was "The Sound of Settling" by Death Cab for Cutie. After only hearing it the one time, I had part of it stuck in my head, and when that happens, I know its a winner, so I went to iTunes and bought the song. I can't seem to get enough of it now..and its a week later.

6.) Spicy General Tso's Chicken take-out from Red Latern. Probably one of my favorite meals in here in Charlottesville.

There is one thing that I don't find cool - Monday's.

Last 5 songs I've listened to:
Magical Mystery Tour - The Beatles
Innocent Days - Agents of Good Roots
Radio, Radio - Elvis Costello & The Attractions
Committed - Pete Yorn
Everyone - Van Morrison

Idiots! My mid-week rant..

2006-09-13T09:29:00.000-04:00

Over the past week or so, I've discovered I have a new pet peeve here at work. The janitors who clean our bathrooms. I like and appreciate a clean bathroom just as much as the next person, but do they really need to clean the bathrooms during business hours? Can't they either do it sometime in the evening, once a majority of the people have left, or early in the morning before everybody gets here? Its not like the janitors work the same hours as everyone else in the building. I've been here at 10:00 PM, and have seen them in action (action as in cleaning, not action like 'hanky-panky') so I know that they do work well into the night.

The reason this bothers me is because lately at around 9:00 in the morning, they start making their rounds, cleaning the bathroom on my floor. This is usually around the same time that the coffee I had at home "kicks in", and I need to go visit the spacious handicapped stall..if you know what I'm getting at. A couple days I've tried to go pay my visit, and there's a sign saying its closed for cleaning. Usually this frustrates me, and then the urge is gone, and then my routine is out of whack. Yesterday I went to visit, and to my surprise, no sign! When I walked in, I almost wiped out due to the floor being wet from the mopping, and my new "styling" shoes not having any traction (which brings me to another point, shouldn't there be a sign remaining, warning of wet floors? Wait, should I have bit it? I could have gotten workers comp and/or a nice settlement for a slip and fall accident..). One other day I went to pay my visit, saw the coast was clear, but then started wondering if the janitor was going to come and try to clean while I was in there? I would be embarrassed if I'm in there, and the janitor knocks to see if the coast is clear, and I have to tell them to wait. I've seen that they wait outside the door until the last person comes out. I like to take my time while I'm in there (hey, I'm on the clock), I wouldn't want to be branded as the guy who takes forever. I might become a running joke among all of the janitors when they all get together and gossip. All of these worries made me decide to abort my mission until later in the day when I knew I wouldn't have to rush, and I wouldn't have to worry about the cleaning crew.

But to get back to the main point, seriously why would janitor's clean during normal business hours? I can see them making sure that the toiletries are stocked to their adequate levels, and performing any other maintenance on a as-needed basis, but to shut down the bathrooms? Maybe I should start a petition requesting that shutting them down should only happen during non-business hours.

Since I'm complaining, I have one more complaint...where is the freaking sun!?! Ever since Monday, its been cloudy, cold, rainy, and just overall dreary. I feel like I'm back in Michigan again. Unfortunately its supposed to be like this until Saturday.

Last 5 songs I've listened to:
Since I've Been Loving You - Led Zeppelin
Here I Go Again - Whitesnake
Who Am I (What's My Name)? - Snoop Doggy Dogg
The Sound of Settling - Death Cab for Cutie
Cold Turkey - John Lennon

More Randomness

2006-09-07T16:02:00.000-04:00

- Do the rules for handicapped parking spots, apply to handicapped accessible stalls in the bathrooms? Are they only to be used exclusively by handicapped people, or is it ok for anyone to use them? If it is ok for anyone to use them, is it still ok to automatically default to using the handicapped one, even if the other stall(s) aren't being used?

- Where did the summer go? It literally seems like it was just over a month ago that I was getting married on the beach in Myrtle Beach, and not the three months that it actually almost is.

- Speaking of weddings and engagements, why do they always seem to come in groups? It never seems like its just one a year. Jenny's getting married next weekend, and Sara's cousin got married last month. As far as engagements go, Mike, Derek, Rob, and Steve (Mike's brother) have all gotten engaged recently. And no, none of the four I just listed are engaged to each other..not that there would be anything wrong with that.

- My step-son's teacher is dropping by our apartment sometime for a visit. Apparently its called "Stepping Out", and all of the teachers at the school are doing this to the families of the kids in their class. Has anyone heard of this happening before? Is this some new thing that's becoming the new fad in schools? What I find even more strange is that they are doing it over a two-day period, and its not known what day or time they are stopping by. Sounds a bit inconvenient to me, and shouldn't all interaction between faculty/parents take place in the actual school setting, or at a school related function. What purpose is needed for going to the students home?

- Sara got the new Paris Hilton CD. I'm not going to lie..its catchy.

- After having a 4 day weekend this past weekend, and then working from home on Monday, I've had a hard time staying focused this week. Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday.

- Bummer about the Crocodile Hunters death. I used to watch his show all the time when I was an unemployed bum living up in D.C. looking for a job. It was one of my few forms of entertainment everyday.

- Anyone have connections to get tickets to a home Tigers playoff game next month? If they make it, I need to go to a game. I don't care if I have to make an insane road-trip with a quick turnaround.

Last 5 songs I've listened to:
Even the Losers - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
Stay or Leave - Dave Matthews
Holding in the World - Bob Schneider
This Side - Nickel Creek
Grace, Too - Tragically Hip

I went to a country concert....

2006-08-31T15:28:00.000-04:00

and a rock concert broke out (or I should say, "tried" to break out).

Sara, Kristen and I went to the new arena on UVA's campus to see Kenny Chesney. It was a very entertaining show, as I expected. I'm not really a country fan. I don't go out of my way to listen to it, but if I happen to come across a station on the radio, I won't immediately turn the channel. I've only been to 3 country concerts, and have never paid more than $10 to go to any of them. Everytime I've gone to one though, the thing that sticks out to me is the number of rock songs that were either teased, or outright covered.

One of the opening acts was a guy named Phil Vassar, who apparently is from nearby Lynchburg (about an hour south of C'ville). He only mentioned about 5 times each song, how happy he was to be "home". When he initally took the stage, he and his band started the show by playing "Baba O'Riley" by The Who (also the theme song to one of the CSI shows on TV). He then segwayed that into one of his normal songs. After the first song, he and his band broke out into "I Want You Back" by the Jackson 5, which was then segwayed into another one of his songs. I thought I was sensing a theme here. For most of the rest of his set, he just played his stuff, until at the end when he and his band broke out into "Kasmir" by Led Zeppelin, and also a little "Day Tripper" by the Beatles. So we have The Who, Led Zeppelin, and the Beatles all covered in one set. Two of my all time top 5 favorite bands.

Next up was Kenny, who took to the stage with a little "Streets Have No Name" by U2. Most of his set was cover free until 3/4 of the way through when Uncle Kracker (Detroit represent!!) showed up on stage. Uncle Kracker and Kenny sang Uncle Kracker's hit "Follow Me" along with Kid Rock's "Cowboy" and followed up with Uncle Kracker's cover of "Drift Away".

My question, is 1.) Why do country musicians cover so much stuff in concert, and 2.)Why do they cover rock songs? The only other country artist I've seen was some dude named Clay Walker. When I saw him (Dock got us free tickets, and my roommate Polio and I thought it would be good to go for a laugh) he sang a 45 minute set (no joke), went off stage, then for an encore came out and played another 45 minutes playing nothing but Elvis, Creedence, Van Morrison, and The Eagles (to name a few of the classic rockers that he covered). If I was a hard-core country fan who paid money to see this stuff, I would have been mad. It would be like me going to a rock show, only to have half the show consisting of country or something. I don't mind going to a concert and hearing a cover song or two, I mean I've been to a ton of DMB shows where Watchtower was played, but why do they do so many, and why don't they cover country artists? Its not like there aren't any good country artist to cover (Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Hank Williams, Sr., etc..)

Maybe they've always just had dreams of being rockstars, couldn't make it and so they had to settle on country music, so this is how they live out the fantasy.

Today is my Friday, which means a nice 4-day weekend for me. Have a good Labor Day weekend!

Last 5 songs I've listened to:
None - I've been listening to the Tigers-Yankees game.

What the heck!?

2006-08-29T09:46:00.000-04:00

For almost as long as I've been working at my current job, I've always seen this strange van parked in the same row as me every day at work. It had a strange math-like equation on the passenger door. I would try to describe it, but really no matter how I could try to describe it, I wouldn't do it justice. Everyday me and my buddy Steve would always make fun of it. Last summer, I started seeing this van in random places. One weekend Sara and I were up in Baltimore, and while in the Washington D.C. area on our way home, I was cruising down the freeway, when this white van comes flying up behind me like a bat out of hell, and flys by me. Strangely enough it was the van I saw and made fun of everyday at work. Later that summer when I would go over to Sara's apartment, I would see the van parked in her parking lot. It started getting wierd. After taking a look at the picture below you'll see why:

One day, against the advice of my buddy Steve, I went to the website listed on the picture (and on their licence plates), I discover its this weird "religion". Its so out there, it makes Scientology seem plausible (ok that's probably a stretch). Are these people following me? If I vanish one day, it very well could be because of them. When I finally found out whose vehicle this was, I discovered that its someone on the same floor as me. Now whenever I see the person around the building, I avoid any eye-contact. I quickly left their website, in fear that the government might be tracking all visitors (since G.W. and the rest of his evil minions like to track the activity of everyone) to that website thinking that anyone who visited that site might be a wacko terrorist or something. There's definitely some strange people out there. Of course I'm sure the arguement could be made that I am weird as well..

On a totally unrealated note, do you know what's awesome? Having a wife who has a cool job. Sara got us free tickets and VIP/Backstage passes for the John Mayer/Sheryl Crow show up in D.C. this weekend. I could careless about Sheryl Crow, but seeing John Mayer will be pretty cool. Plus getting tickets that cost like $60+ each, along with VIP passes (free food and all that good stuff) for free rocks. I then found out today that we might also be getting free tickets to the Kenny Chesney show here in C'ville tomorrow night. Rock on!

Last 5 Songs I listened to:
A Day in the Life - The Beatles
I'm A Believer - Neil Diamond
After Midnight - Eric Clapton
The Captain - Guster
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp - Led Zeppelin

Friday Randomness

2006-08-25T12:48:00.001-04:00

- Been a crazy busy week. Probably one of the craziest in the nearly 3 years I've been here. At least it makes the time go by quicker, and I'm definitely not bored.

- I think I may have jinxed the Tigers. I was noticing a couple of weeks ago, that i don't really have much Tigers paraphenalia. I've got a T-shirt, hat, and a batting practice jersey that I bought during their last season at Tigers Stadium, but that's it. I was looking online for another t-shirt, and came across a cool jersey t-shirt of Justin Verlander on ebay, so I bought it. I finally got it last week, and well, they haven't really been playing great lately. The only thing left is for Verlander to get hurt now or something (I probably shouldn't even joke about that). Typical, I have bad karma like that.

- Football season is right around the corner, and I have paid very little attention to it. I'm still playing in 3 fantasy leagues however. I hope Yahoo's player rankings are good, because I'm using those for my drafts. Am I uninterested because I have zero expectations for the Lions this year, or have I just not been paying attention, since the Tigers have been playing so well this year? I'm thinking its a bit of both.

- I came across the following clip earlier today. Its funny, whenever I hear a pop-song done accoustically, I immediately think, "wow..you know, it really isn't that bad of a song". Granted, I really liked (and still do like)the original version of the song, but this is an interesting take on it.

It reminds me of another example from a few years back, of a song I really hated, until I heard the Scottish band Travis play it in concert:

- Speaking of concerts, its been awhile since I've gone to one, and I don't really have any coming up anytime soon either. I would really like to go to this though for a laugh. Sara doesn't seem as interested.

Have a good weekend!

Last 5 songs played on my iPod:
Closet Full of Fear - Hootie & The Blowfish
High - The Cure
Creep - Stone Temple Pilots
In the Blood - Better Than Ezra
Sugar Free Jazz - Soul Coughing

I think I found what I want my next job to be

2006-08-18T15:46:00.000-04:00

So I was on my way to work today, when as I was nearing the airport, I saw signs saying that the road was under construction, and there was a 1-lane road ahead. Nothing new, as they've been expanding the airport, and upgrading the roads. Last year, we became a very European-type town, as they installed a traffic circle (or a roundabout) at the entrance of the airport. Anyways, I approach the car who was heading up the line of cars in our lane, waiting for the sign guy to turn the sign so we could go. I watch the cars going in the opposite direction when I see the lead car, a white truck, do a U-turn in front of the pack, and get in front of the car who was leading our lane. On top of the truck was a yellow flashing light, and on the tailgate was a sign that said "Escort Truck". The purpose of this truck was to lead the line of cars down the one lane, past the construction equipment, to the safety of where the road resumed 2 lanes of traffic. I've never seen anything like this before. Every other time I've seen sign people use the STOP and SLOW signs, they usually would just turn the sign letting you know its cool to go, and if you caught them on a good day, they might even wave their arms a bit, like a 3rd base coach waving a runner home...only not as enthusiastically. Seriously, how easy of a job would that be? Lead a line of cars about a quarter-mile down the road, then pull a LEGAL u-turn and proceed back with a new line? The only thing you'd have to worry about is making sure you don't cut the u-turn too wide, and accidentally hit the guy holding the sign. Where can I sign up?

Some random questions to ponder over the weekend:

1.) Why is Brooke Shields famous? I understand that she may have been a popular actress of some sorts when she was a kid, but other than marrying/divorcing Andre Agassi, and having post-partum (spelling?) depression which caused a spat with Tom Cruise, what has she done to help her keep "famous"? As long as I can remember she's been famous, and I sort of just accepted it, but last night I wondered "why?" You may be wondering where this came from, well last night Sara and I were watching TV and a commercial for some acne medicine came on, and bragged about how famous people like Jessica Simpson, P. Diddy, and..Brooke Shields endorse it. It just made me wonder why her endorsing it was a big deal.

2.) Am I the only person who wants to see Snakes on a Plane? The fact that Sam. L. Jackson is in it makes me want to see it. I know it is probably going to be bad, but is that a bad thing if you go in expecting it to be that way? I've always been a fan of Sam. L. Jackson since the time I saw a preview for his movie 'Shaft' way back when, and in the commercial he declaired "It's my duty to please your booty". Priceless.

3.) Is this the Tigers year? I've got a feeling this could be a special year for them. Then again, its been 19 years since they've made the playoffs, so I don't really remember what a playoff season is like for the Tigers.

Last 5 songs played on my iPod:
The Boxer (Live) - Carbon Leaf
Make You Understand - Howie Day
If I Am a Stranger - Ryan Adams & The Cardinals
Solitary Man - Neil Diamond
New Orleans is Sinking - The Tragically Hip

In a bit of a music funk

2006-08-16T13:13:00.000-04:00

As I listen to my iPod here at work, I find myself lately skipping through a lot of songs, because I'm either bored with them, or just sick of hearing them. It's not like I've been listening to the same stuff over and over, since I've been going through my CD collection, and adding more stuff to my iTunes library, and updating my iPod. I finally realized that I haven't really bought any new stuff lately. About a month ago I bought the new Keane and Guster CD's, and this past weekend, I bought the Gnarls Barkley CD, and I still need to find the new Bob Schneider CD, but that's been about it. The problem is, I don't even know what to buy. I seem to be out of the loop on what's out there anymore, and what I do hear (the rare times that I listen to the radio), I can't stand it because it all sounds the same to me. Most of my favorite bands/performers don't have anything coming out anytime soon (U2 and R.E.M. to name a couple), and the ones that do have something coming out, I'm very skeptical about due to their track record lately (see Dave Matthews Band's last few albums).

Sara had introduced me to some good stuff earlier in the year, with Rilo Kiley and Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins, but other than that, I haven't found anything that's grabbed my attention and made me want to listen to it over and over, or go see the band/artist perform live.

So if anyone has any suggestions on things I should check out, leave 'em in the comments (if anyone acutally reads this)

Last 5 songs played on my iPod:
So Why? - Carbon Leaf
So Damn Lucky - Dave Matthews
Torn to Tattered - Carbon Leaf
Springtime in Vienna - The Tragically Hip
Long Way Down - The Goo Goo Dolls

Prank Calling Will Never Get Old

2006-08-15T14:13:00.000-04:00

Anyone who has known me for a long time, knows that I have always enjoyed prank calling people, and if you didn't know that, I'm willing to bet that you aren't suprised by this fact. There were numerous nights of boredom while at college in the lovely city of Ypsilanti, Michigan, where my roommates Joe, Mike, Boner, and myself, would prank call various friends around college, or even the live sexual issues themed show on Public Access cable in Ann Arbor. Our usual victim (we thought) was the answering machine of our friend Philip, who everyone knew as Phil McCracken....just because his name was Phil. We later found out that Phil never received the calls, they went to his neighbor. Of course, we were victims of the pranks as well, as our friend Joe would often call and leave messages claiming to be the owner of some type of sex website, and he was pulling our membership due to one of us not paying our monthly bill. It always seemed to happen when one of our parents was visiting our place. We would come back from dinner, to our apartment, and we'd walk in, see we had a message, and just push the play button and then once we realized what it was, we'd try to push stop, but it was too late. Anyways, we finally all moved out to separate places and the pranking stopped for the most part. Last week that all changed..

I was reading a story about the awesomely horrible looking movie Snakes on a Plane. I read that there was a website where you could enter someone's phone number, along with their name and a couple other tidbits of info, and then Samuel L. Jackson would then call that person telling them to go see the movie. It sounded too good to be true, so I went to check it out. I put in Sara's name, filled out the info, and then previewed what it would sound like. Perfection! It sounded great, so I sent it off to Sara, and minutes later I get an email from her saying she got it, and that it had surprised her. Once I heard that, I went to use it on others. Friends (yes if you got that call, it was probably from me), co-workers, etc. One of my buddy's here, Christian, who I play pranks with quite often, got a call from Lee (a lengendary prankster while in our office) who is in our office in Kansas City, asking why Samuel L. Jackson called him and told him that "he needed to take his life partner Christian to go see Snakes on a Plane". Surprisingly, they don't have a clue that it was me.

Last 5 songs played on my iPod:
The Outsiders - R.E.M.
Glad Tidings - Van Morrison
Wonderful Tonight - Eric Clapton
Ramble On - Led Zeppelin
Old Time Rock & Roll - Bob Segar & the Silver Bullet Band

Testing, testing...

2006-08-14T13:00:00.000-04:00

So I thought I'd give this blogging thing a try. Put down random/funny/stupid stuff that happens at work, crazy ideas that pop in my head, or just some incoherent ramblings when I feel the need. Here goes nothing...