Thursday, September 29, 2005

Buddy, how has it come to this?

So a commercial comes on and I recognize Billy Jacoby!

Now he goes by Billy Jayne, though.

"Have they finally given him a sitcom?" I ask myself, and then it turns out to be a Circuit City commercial.

Damn! When will "The Suits" recognize the untapped hilarity this guy will provide given the chance? Have we all forgotten how brilliant Just One of the Guys was?

Get with it people!

And THANK GOD the Sox won tonight. Jesus Christ is this nerve-wracking!

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Trust Me

I'm a bigger geek than you. Fan-boy geek, anyway. The Idlewild show last night totally fucking rocked! The opening act, Inara George, was very good. Looks a bit like Natalie Imbruglia and sings a bit like Tanya Donelly, but I won't pigeon-hole her. She's unique. A bit more low-key than I usually like, but definitely a good band and great voice. I bought a t-shirt during the opening set and chatted with Idlewild's guitar player at the merch table. Of course, I didn't know he was in the band until I asked him (Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!). I asked if there was any chance the band was going to play "Annihilate Now", a true Idlewild oldie, and he said he doesn't even remember how to play it. I bet it's been a long time since they played that one.

The Idlewild set was awesome! They were a lot louder than I expected, but pretty laid back and joking between songs. I think the band was a little disappointed in the size of the crowd, which probably topped out at 50, max. The people who were there were very enthusiastic and vocal, though. Just between you and me, I didn't see anyone dancing as frenetically as I was. I was going to write the set list out here, but I've got something even better. Check it out!

Awww Yeeeah!

That's right, the set list autographed by all the band members! The encore was a cover of The Ramones' "I Wanna Be Sedated" and they rocked the shit out of it. I talked to 4 of the guys and they were all really nice. Roddy retreated to the bus after the show and the bass player took the set list in for me to get his John Hancock. Told you I was a super geek.

But as good as the show was, as excited as I was to meet the guys and get the signed setlist, the thing that had me the most star-struck was meeting none other than these two:

DOOCE!!!

Right again, it's Jon and Heather B. Armstrong, more commonly known as Dooce and her husband. During Inara's set I saw Heather walk in, thought she looked familiar, saw the camera on her shoulder, and knew it was her. I couldn't resist. I went up to her and said, "Heather?" I told her I recognized her from the site, that I was a reader, and introduced myself. Jon came in soon after and I met him, too. I'm sure I was pretty intrusive just accosting them like that, but they were super nice. They're also both much taller than I expected! We chatted about blogging, about the new baby, about Salt Lake neighborhoods, about music. Heather is a fan of Idlewild (she jumped around and shook her booty heartily during the show), but the reason she was there is because Idlewild's drummer, Colin, is a Dooce reader! He emailed Heather about the show and asked her to come. Heather and Jon took a bunch of pictures, but I'm not sure if they're going to put any on her site. I hope they do.

I actually haven't read her site in a while, because I've been adding so many new ones to my reading, but I used to read twice a day and she was definitely an inspiration for me to start blogging. I told her the name of this blog, but it was a little loud in there and I doubt she would remember it, but if she finds her way to this site, "Welcome, Dooce, and it was great to meet you and Jon."

So overall it was a pretty great night! I taped Lost and Invasion and hopefully I'll get a chance to watch them tonight, so nobody tell me anything about them.

Now it's time to do an all-Idlewild iPod shuffle!

iPod: "Smile" by Pearl Jam, "Greyhound" by Pond, "This Is A Call" by Foo Fighters, "I Hate Myself" by The Dead Milkmen, Toob Amplifier" by The Presidents of the United States of America, "Cowtown" by They Might Be Giants, "Dolores" by Braid, "Again I Go Unnoticed" by Dashboard Confessional, and "Long Way Down" by Guster.

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Wednesday, September 28, 2005

SQUEAL!!!

I just saw what must be Idlewild's tour bus right behind my office building! I went out to do some errands and saw a bus in the alley behind my parking garage. The alley accesses the back of the club they're playing tonight. When I came back I walked around the bus to see if I could get a glimpse of Mr. Roddy Woomble, the boy-faced poet/lead singer of the band. Here are some pics:

Roddy brooding
Sporting that hip, tousled look
With the band

To tell the truth, he's the only one in the band I'd recognize. I don't even know any of the other members' names, but man do I love their music! No luck, by the way, no activity in or around the bus, no roadies unloading or anything like that. I'll make another pass after work. I'm such a geek! Wish me luck nabbing a set list tonight, too.

iPod: "Froggie" The Presidents of the United States of America", "Your Most Valuable Possession" by Ben Folds Five, "Monkey Wrench" by Foo Fighters, and "Don't Change Your Plans" by Ben Folds Five (no kidding!).

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Ho Hum

Not much going on. Baby and family are great, job's okay (a little slow right now), AL East race still maddeningly tight, we're getting a DVR so I'm psyched about that.

Since I've got a lot of free time on my hands at work I've got a head start on Delaware for the next Real Beautiful Women post. Let me tell you, Delaware is stepping up to the plate. The searches haven't resulted in thousands of ads, so it's easy to get through them quickly. And there are more per capita attractive women than any other state so far. That post should be up soon.

Now I'll tell you what's really weighing on my mind. My first wedding anniversary is coming up next week and I have absolutely NO IDEA what to get for my wife.* Man, this sucks! Because of the baby we knew we couldn't do some sort or romantic trip or anything like that. Besides going to a B&B for the weekend my mind is devoid of inspiration. It wasn't until my wife told me she got something for me did it really cross my mind that I was running out of time and better do something. Sure I can blame the excitement of the baby coming to explain why it hasn't been on my mind, but there's no excuse, really. I won't bother asking for suggestions from readers because 1) it's my job, and 2) Lovely Wife would read it here and know I didn't come up with it. Fuck! I'll think of something, I'm sure.

I love Jenna Fischer from The Office. Her facial expressions are awesome.

iPod: "Mad About You" by Sting, "Between the Bars" by Elliott Smith, "Love Explosion" by Weezer, "Red Mosquito (live)" by Pearl Jam, "Six Shooter" by Queens of the Stone Age, "Tell Me Ten Words" by Idlewild (HOLY CRAP, I JUST REMEMBERED THAT THE IDLEWILD SHOW IS TONIGHT!!!! Phew, thought I may have missed it!), "Stay Away" by Nirvana, "Amphibious" by Jimmy Eat World, and "Secure Yourself" by Indigo Girls.

*My wife already knows I'm freaking out, so she's not finding out for the first time here.

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Monday, September 26, 2005

Good Stuff

I love Post Secret. Most of the secrets are pretty heavy, but some are light and amusing. This is one of the latter, and I love it.

Meow

Click on the picture to see what I FINALLY figured out how to do. I'm not the sharpest HTML knife in the drawer sometimes.

iPod: "Only One" by Goo Goo Dolls, and "Eruption" by Van Halen.

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Friday, September 23, 2005

Gotta start 'em early!

The Red Sox are playing tonight, and I'm watching the progress online. I announced to my 5 year old that they were losing early in the game, so he started cheering "Go, Red Sox!" Then he went into his bedroom and put on his Red Sox hat so he "could cheer for them without shouting." Boston took the lead a few innings later.

When he brushed his teeth he said he was hot and took the hat off. I said "Don't you want to keep it on while they're still playing?" He said he would put it on after he as done. But then I had a better idea, so I got his Red Sox t-shirt to take the hat's place. He went to bed with it on and said he was feeling hot again, so I asked if he wanted to take the shirt off. He replied, "No, I want to keep it on until they win."

I could barely hold back the tears.

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Real Beautiful Women - Pennsylvania Edition

Real Cutie

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Image hosted by TinyPic.com

Real Pretty

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Real Hottie

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Image hosted by TinyPic.com

Real Ridiculous Intentional Whale-Tail Pic

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Note, this woman does NOT qualify as a Real Beautiful Woman. She is featured here for three reasons: 1) she's a prime example of someone who does not meet the Real criteria; 2) she put a picture of herself (if it's really her, that is) showing her thong on a personals site; and 3) she claims in her ad that her real name is Barbi. I'm calling shenanigans.

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Some Friday Fun

The Telescope Game, from Dyson via Gorilla Mask. I love stuff like this. Enjoy.

Watched the "Lost" and "Invasion" premieres last night. "Lost" f'ing rules. "Invasion" is pretty creepy so far. We'll see how it turns out.

iPod: "Hive" by 311, "Poor Heart" by Phish, and "Black, Red, Yellow" by Pearl Jam.

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Thursday, September 22, 2005

Unimportant Reviews of New Stuff

Watched "My Name Is Earl" last night (taped from the night before) and really enjoyed it. I love Jason Lee, even dramatically, and wasn't disappointed. Also watched "The Office" and loved it, but it sure is painful to watch sometimes. I really should try to get the original on DVD and watch it sometime. When "The Amazing Race" starts I'll be bummed to miss Earl and Office. Hopefully we'll have a DVR by then, but we may not be able to justify the expense after our baby hospital bills come in (yikes!).

As for the new music I got around my birthday, here's the skinny:

New Releases - Idlewild, Weezer, Queens of the Stone Age, Foo Fighters, Michael Penn.
Old Stuff for iPod - The Police ("Outlandos" through "Ghost"), R.E.M. ("Reckoning"), Phish ("Rift", "Billy Breathes" and "The Story of the Ghost").

Best New Release - tie: Idlewild "Warnings/Promises" and Queens of the Stone Age "Lullabyes to Paralyze"
Worst New Release - Weezer "Make Believe"
Best overall purchase - Phish "Rift" people say they're best live and the albums aren't very good, but "Rift" really is great.

The Foo Fighters is actually pretty boring. It's not until the second half of Disc 2, the acoustic one, that things get interesting. Michael Penn's new one is good, but pretty standard. You know how I feel about Weezer, and my opinion's not softening so far. Queens just write the best flat-out rock I've heard in a long time, with just the right additions of menace and 60's psychedelia. Idlewild's new one is mostly tamer than past albums, but still damn good. I'm really excited to have the old Police catalog again! It's been a long time since I've heard these songs. "Reckoning" is such a classic, a dear old friend. And it's great to hear what Phish used to be before Trey turned their music into quasi-pop-song banalities. "Billy Breathes" is the threshold of that stage of their career, but has some good stuff on it. "Story of the Ghost" is a fun departure from that evolution, with a lot of funk on it.

Now that I told my wife who won Rock Star: INXS I can talk about it here. I'm so relieved that J.D. won. I called him as the only good candidate a long time ago, and he really nailed it on the finale. I enjoyed that show a lot more than American Idol, but its ratings weren't nearly as good. Doing it in the summer is part of the problem. I think they're going to do another one. We'll see how that one turns out.

Okay, that's it for now. I'm going to try to put up the Pennsylvania Real Beautiful Women edition soon. Stay tuned.

iPod: "Drivin' On" by The Breeders, "Masoko Tanga" by The Police, "Be My Yoko Ono" by Barenaked Ladies, "Bridge Over Troubled Water (live)" by Simon and Garfunkel, "Flat Top" by Goo Goo Dolls, and "Do It Again" by Queens of the Stone Age.

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Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Aaaaaaauuuuuugggggghhhhhh!!!!

God damn you, Boston Red Sox!!!!!

Yeah, there's still more season to go, but motherfucker! Why now, like this?!?!?!

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Enough of the masquerade!

I've made a big decision. After having several people tell me and my wife that our new son looks just like me, I think it's time that I drop the veil and show the blog-world my whole face. There are two reasons for this. One, if he looks just like me, then you already have a good idea what I look like. Two, by showing you my face you can let me know if you agree that we look alike. Keep in mind that hearing he looks just like me makes me swell with pride and feel an indescribable joy. So here we go! Click on the link below and see what I look like, FOR REAL!

Pull back the curtain.

iPod: "Only Son" by Liz Phair, "Afraid to Fail" by Josh Rouse

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Cool

Came in to work this morning (back from Montreal, BTW) and guess what was almost directly across the street from my office building's front door...

Green Day's tour bus. They must have just pulled in this morning for their show tonight in Salt Lake. Anyone want my to get a lock of hair or anything? I might be able to hook you up.

iPod: "El Scorcho" by Weezer.

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Tuesday, September 20, 2005

I'm such a rebel!

I'm doing a post from the conference floor on the sponsored Cyber Cafe computers.

Too bad I've got nothing to say.

Oh, I did check out a strip club on Rue de Sainte Catherine last night. A word of advice, don't go to Scandale on a Monday night at 8:15.

Because you will be the only one there. Not as much fun that way, let me tell you.

Okay, I'm out. A bientot! (that's my tribute to The Girl in Camouflage. Pretty funny, non?)

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Sunday, September 18, 2005

Ah, Sweet Montreal!

Where the music video channels show naked boobies.

Not much going on here, just some schmoozing. It's 12:30 at night and I'm hoping to get up tomorrow morn and run. I better get to bed soon, then...

After I iron my pants, of course.

Couldn't watch the Pats game, and by all post game accounts they didn't play well. I saw the Panthers' first "touchdown" on highlights and was appalled that it wasn't reviewed. Disgraceful, but it didn't lose the game for New England. New England lost the game themselves. Lock it up, guys!

I watched the second half of the Raiders-Chiefs game, and *SHOCK* was rooting for Oakland. I'm still a Randy Moss fan [think he made a difference on the Vikes, or what?] My favorite part of the game was after Moss' long TD catch to tie the game, the camera cut to Al Davis. Raider fans celebrating all around him, and he's sitting still, staring out towards the field. Kind of sad, but also pretty funny.

Bears and Titans roll this week, 49ers and Dolphins won big last week. It's a weird season so far, and I don't like it.

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Friday, September 16, 2005

All Coming Together

Andrew Raycroft has signed with the Bruins!

Welcome back, Razor!

Only one more key piece left: Defenseman Nick Boynton. Seeing as Raycroft only got 1.2M when he was seeking closer to 2, there should be plenty of money left to sign Boynton and have a little left to spare for a late-season acquisition.

iPod: "Perfection Will" by Thanks to Gravity.

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Long overdue link update

I've been swimming in a certain blog community for quite some time, but have been remiss in linking to three stalwart pillars of said circle. That injustice comes to an end today!

Omega - Caustic wit, talented writing, and probably not as dark as his site design and url imply.

Graculus - Not sure he still has the afro, but he likes cheese, takes a lot of cool pics of his travels, and he's British, so you know he's good.

Just a Girl - Chronicler of beautiful British Columbia, sometime superheroine, and likes Idlewild, so you know she's good.

I also added some sites that I like to read: Democratic Underground, whose Top 10 Conservative Idiots gets my blood boiling for the week every Monday morning; and The Onion, the Once and Future King of fake news, and flat out fucking hilarious, as evidenced by this article.

Whew! Now I can get back to not working.

iPod: "Collect Call From Clark Kent" by Braid, "Alive" by Pearl Jam, "Minneapolis" by that dog., "So Long" by Athenaeum, and "Fall Together' by Weezer.

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Givin' the People What They Want

In response to popular demand by the ladies, I shaved the beard up a bit off my neck, and bought some clippers to trim it. Here it is.

I do have a neck!
Happy now, Camogirl et al.?

I'm going to a convention in Montreal from Sunday through Tuesday, representing my company and trying to drum up business. Hopefully this beard won't be an embarrassment. Wish me luck. Anyone at all have any recommendations of things to do out there? The last time I was there I did a bus tour and La Ronde with my parents. I'll be looking to do something a bit less touristy this time around. Maybe I'll just walk around and explore when not working. I've heard a lot of good things about St. Catherine's Street (heh heh).

And something that no one actually asked for, but I'm sure you'll all enjoy, is a new picture of CBK Junior rocking the jiggly chair. He's got about three different cowlicks on his head, so his hair is always standing up. He's a great baby and makes the cutest little squeaking noises when he's sleeping.

Goo goo goo!

I finally watched Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle and enjoyed it. It was a lot sillier than I thought it would be. Kal Penn has got star power, though (notice his role in "Son of the Mask" - they cast him as Hispanic!). I loved his daydream about the huge bag of pot. Funny shit.


iPod: "Walking on the Moon" by The Police, "7 Fingered Woman" by Thanks to Gravity, "Hangin' Out With Me (live)" by Elliott Smith, "Dusted" by Belly, "Sparkle" by Phish, "Older" by They Might Be Giants, and "Postcard" by Buffalo Tom.

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Wednesday, September 14, 2005

A bit more fun

Trolling some Pennsylvania Personals in Yahoo today for the next RBW installment and came across something funny.

Personals ads actually provide a lot of laughs, with horrendous misspellings and grammatical mistakes, blatant body-type lies, and the odd pre-op transvestite (I've seen three!). I resist making fun of such things here because I don't want to start a Mock People in Personals Ads feature. That's just cruel. But this gem I couldn't pass up. From a profile titled "Great Catch Seeks Submissive Kinky Guy":


If you want to understand me you should see the Steven Spielberg movie
"Secretary."

To her credit, a check on IMDB reveals that the actual director of Secretary is Steven Shainburg, but come on! Who could see the movie and make that mistake? Even if you didn't know a lot about movies, that's quite an error to make. And quite a funny one, too.

Okay, I'm done being cruel.

iPod: "Trip Through Your Wires" by U2, "Plush" by Stone Temple Pilots, "I Understand It" and ""Actually It's Darkness" by Idlewild, and "Shooting Star" by Elliott Smith.

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And now, a bit of fun

From Just a Girl, via Graculus (whose sites I will be putting in the link list soon, I promise!)

Get Your Cyborg Name


Cybernetic Biomechanical Knight


Yawn for mine, but try yours. It may come out better.

iPod: "The Middle (Demo)" by Jimmy Eat World and "I'm a Message" by Idlewild.

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Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Sorry About That

I should have known better than to burden you all with my overly-long, boring, non-expert analysis of games that were already over. 500 points to anyone who actually finished reading the whole of yesterday's post.

While out doing some errands today, though, I noticed something that quite surprised me. Something I wouldn't have expected to happen in Salt Lake. Something that raised the city's prestige in my eyes. No, we're not welcoming a foreign dignitary or hosting a major sporting event or convention.

Briana Banks is coming to town! That's right, Briana Banks the porn star. She's coming to the Trails Men's Club September 22-24. Don't underestimate the import of this, people. She's top porn talent. LA/New York-only kind of talent. I don't know who booked her for this conservative burg, but my hats off to them! Not that I'll be going. I'm not actually a fan, but it's quite a coup for Salt Lake adult entertainment.

In even MORE exciting news, Idlewild will be playing Salt Lake, too! SWEET!!!!! Sorry, Just a Girl. :-( I don't mean to gloat. I got my ticket today and the show is two weeks from tomorrow. I am very excited. I was once in Regina, Sask the week before they played there, and Calgary the week after. Hopefully no surprise trips will pop up and interfere.

As for Montreal, hopefully it will be fun. I haven't been there since I was in 7th grade, with my parents and little brother. I'm going for a trade show where I'll be standing at a booth and chatting with passersby, trying to sell our company. Hopefully the night will be more exciting. Anyone have any suggestions of what to do, where to go? Let me hear it.

iPod: "Dog-Faced Boy" by Phish, "Aliens Exist" by Blink 182, "Achin' to Be" by The Replacements, "Instant Club Hit (You'll Dance to Anything)" by The Dead Milkmen, andHey look! "Meet Me at the Harbour" by Idlewild!

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Monday, September 12, 2005

The Sports Issue

Wow, there have been quite a bit of sporting events since I last posted, and I have lots to say about them. Here's the breakdown, in chronological order.

Thursday afternoon: first soccer practice for 5 year old son. It was really cute. Our boy dressed in his soccer uniform (complete with tall socks pulled over shin guards and cleats) doing little soccer drills. What was really funny was when he wasn't running around, he would stand with his hands on his hips, which he never does. SO cute. We met some parents at the practice, who were friendly. Almost all of them already know each other because they live in the same upper-middle class neighborhood, while we are still toiling in the mixed-use commercial/residential ghetto. It's not that bad, but we can't wait until we can afford to move. Our son did well (he's never played soccer at all before) but his team has a Ringer. A 6 year old who's great at dribbling and can kick it really far. I admit, it's tough to watch another kid play better than my own. At least he's on our team, though.

Thursday night: Patriots, Baby! I came home from the practice and the Pats were up 14-10. Soon after I started watching, Collins threw a bomb to Randy Moss (who I like a lot) for a TD and I was bummed. But the stalwart Patriots immediately drove down the field to retake the lead, and never looked back. What a well-oiled machine. I'm loving it so far.

Friday night: Sawx and Yankees! The second inning was encouraging when they took the lead, but then the bats just died! That Aaron Small guy didn't really impress me, but he was effective enough. Dammit!

Saturday morning: Son's first soccer game. He played well and ran all over the field. He had a breakaway once but missed the net, and an almost breakaway another time, but missed the ball and was caught by defenders. His best plays were running back on defense and breaking up scoring chances. Once he even dove on the ground to block a shot and got hit in the head. They don't have goalies in this league, and he probably wasn't supposed to play it that way, but gotta love the hustle! And The Ringer? Dominated. The kid can make a goal from 15 yards out, by the sideline, shooting diagonally... on the run. I need to do some extra drills with my boy. (Just kidding, Sweetie!)

Later Saturday morning: Floor hockey playoff game. The Saturday league is pretty free-form, with teams changing each week, but we had a playoff game anyway. Well, I rose to the occasion! We won 7-2 and got champion t-shirts! I played really well and stopped a penalty shot. I should have had a shut-out. The first goal I let in was a really stupid play by me, and the second was a pass that everyone missed that ended up in the net. Don't know how it got through, but it shouldn't have.

Saturday afternoon: Michigan lost and Sox won big! I watched the Sox through 6 innings when they were up 8-1, left for lunch and came back to watch them close it out. Sweet stuff!

Saturday evening: Ohio State and Texas. It was painful to watch the Buckeyes go down 10-0, but glorious to watch them come back and tie it. Then the Ohio State defense took over. 3 turnovers and a total shut down of the Texas offense. It was sweet! They had it won. They SHOULD have won. They should have run up the score. But ineptitude in the red zone killed them. If the tight end didn't drop that pass in the end zone, game over. 50 yard field goal kick goes 2 feet to the left, game over. Even if they didn't commit a stupid penalty on Texas' final drive, they likely would have held them off for victory. But alas, it was not to be. I was pissed on Saturday, and still heart-broken today. The Big Ten title is still in play, and a shot at the national title is not impossible, but motherfucker! They should have won that game!

Sunday afternoon: Sox-Yankees, Part 3. Wasn't on TV, but watched the ticker at the bottom, and fuck! A one-run shutout? Disheartening. Then I watched the U.S. Open Men's Final, and what a heartbreaker that was, too! Andre Agassi, playing his heart out, taking on the "infallible" Federer. He looked like he really could win, too! Up a break in the third set, things looked really good. Even after Federer broke right back, Agassi fought him to 6 all. But the tie-breaker sealed it. It was sad to see Andre kind of give up in the 4th set, but it was great to see him give such a good match to Federer. I haven't seen a one-handed, top-spin backhand as smooth as his since Ivan Lendl, and he hits it a ton harder, too!

Sunday night: I didn't watch much football, just pockets and highlights. So I'll devote this portion to the ladies. I watched "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason". I read both books and saw the first movie, so it was kind of an imperative to see the second movie. Plus, I didn't think Lovely Wife would be down with watching "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, the Extreme Unrated Edition", so I picked up Bridget for her, as well. I didn't like the second book much (way too over the top), but I liked how they adapted the story for the second movie. Augmenting Hugh Grant's sleazoid was a good move. The only thing that I couldn't believe they changed from the book that I didn't like, and which was more outrageous than the book, was the lesbian angle they played at the end. Where the hell did THAT come from? Weird.

I'm very excited to watch Harold and Kumar tonight, and not just for the unrated aspect of it.

I also found out today that I'm going to Montreal this weekend. Should be fun, but it's pretty annoying to find out on such short notice. Plus, my wife will be alone with the baby and our son for the first time. We knew we would have to deal with my business travel eventually, and now it's here. Feel free to leave comments of encouragement for her on the site. :-)

iPod: "New World Man" by Rush, "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town" by Pearl Jam, "Pretending" by Michael Penn, "Splash, Turn, and Twist" by Jimmy Eat World, "Chopsticks" by Liz Phair, "Tony's Theme" by Pixies, "Wheel" by Pond", and "Firestarter" by Jimmy Eat World.

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Thursday, September 08, 2005

Quelle Barbe!*

Well, here's the beard.

Damn, that's manly!

It will be two weeks tomorrow. What do you think? Does it look like a beard? Does it show promise? My neighbor says I should go goatee (or more correctly, Van Dyck/Dyke? The authorities aren't very consistent) but I don't know. Two of my brothers have done that, and the South Park episode with the evil twins keeps me from taking such facial hair seriously.

I didn't realize that was a Star Trek parody. Apparently there are many such Star Trek refs in South Park. Funny stuff.

iPod: "Screaming Infidelities" by Dashboard Confessional, "I Can Hear You" by They Might Be Giants, "Brian Wilson" by Barenaked Ladies, "Color Bars" by Elliott Smith, "Volcano" by The Presidents of United States of America, and "I Hate the TV" by Violent Femmes.

* Translated literally that means "What a beard!" As actually used by the French, though, it means "What a bore!" I think it's a very appropriate title.

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Wednesday, September 07, 2005

Ummm...

I'm experiencing a total lack of blog inspiration lately. I'm not even stressing about it, I'm that uninspired. Nothing really happening worth mentioning, nothing that's getting my blood boiling to comment on.

I'm growing a beard, though. That's kind of exciting. I've never done it before, out of a belief that I couldn't. After 3 days without shaving when the baby came, though, it looked like it was coming in pretty well. I'm almost 2 weeks into it now, and it's looking pretty good (I think, anyway). I'll post a picture of it soon and you can judge for yourself. I'm liking it, but it does get pretty itchy sometimes and the skin underneath is very dry. That means if I'm wearing a dark-colored shirt and I scratch my neck, little flakes of skin collect noticeably on my chest.

I've started running again, and this time it's for real. I just decided Monday night that I was going to get up in the morning and run, 5 days a week, and lose this "baby" fat I've been accumulating over the last 9 months. Plus, I won't have the old "my favorite band is playing their farewell show" excuse for next year's marathon, so if I want to significantly improve my time, there's no better time to start training than right now. I'm starting out slow, just doing 3 miles a day. Saturdays will be longer, but only 4 miles for now. After two days doing it, my shins are killing me. But I've got the bug and I'm going to stick with it. Drastically changing my eating habits may take a bit longer, though.

About Rock Star: INXS - JD should win. I think the band may have already pegged him for the job but they have to play out the rest of the show. No one else comes close to doing their kind of music, and he will bring a good creative element to the band. The voting public (which apparently isn't as big as CBS had hoped) should realize that they're voting on who's best for INXS, not who they like the most. So stop voting for Marty, goddammit! His "Wish You Were Here" wasn't THAT good. It's not like you need to be a good singer to do that song. David Gilmour sure isn't a great singer.*

I was thinking today that a shirt like this would be funny for me (or guys in general) to wear, and lo and behold! someone's already selling them. Wow, they're all over the place! (here, here, and the google results) Am I late to the party, or what? I'd want mine to say "Yeah" instead of "Yes", though.

That's it. I guess I can take up space even when I have nothing to talk about. Maybe I'll have more to say after our 5 year old starts soccer tomorrow afternoon.

iPod: R.E.M. shuffle. I used my birthday money to complete my CD collection of The Police and R.E.M. backlogs, which I only had on cassette. My R.E.M. collection is pre-Out of Time. Not sure I'm going to try that hard to acquire the later stuff.

*I always thought Roger Waters sang that song, but I looked it up to make sure I didn't say something stupid, and found out it was David.

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Friday, September 02, 2005

Real Beautiful Women - New Jersey Edition

Yes, there are beautiful women in New Jersey. Without big hair. I'm totally kidding. Here they are:

Real Pretty
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Image hosted by TinyPic.com

Real Cutie
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Image hosted by TinyPic.com

Real Hottie
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Image hosted by TinyPic.com

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A short play and some music ranting

SCENE 1

[Knock on door. CBK gets up from chair, opens door]

CBK: Hello.

32: Hi, CBK, how are you?

CBK: Great, actually. Things are going very well.

32: That's great! Glad to hear it.

CBK: Can I help you?

32: I was wondering if I could come in. Do you mind?

CBK: Things are a bit busy here right now....

32: Oh, don't worry I won't get in the way. I'll just sit to the side, watch some TV, play with your older son, you know. You'll barely notice I'm here.

CBK: Okay, I guess it's alright. Just take your shoes off first, please. Would you like something to drink?

[curtain falls]

I am a pretty big Weezer fan. An ex of mine got me into them at the end of college, and by the time Pinkerton came out I was very smitten. I thought The Green Album was a little bit of a let-down, but was very catchy. When I lived in Denver I really got into downloading every one of their unreleased songs. I got a little obsessed. When Maladroit came out I had heard demos of most of the songs already, but liked it a lot. Just as many other fans did, I mourned Rivers' abandonment of Pinkerton and wished that he would reconcile with those songs and write some more like them. When I started reading the good press about Make Believe, I got excited. I heard a bit of the "Beverly Hills" song, and though I didn't think much of it, I was eager to hear the new album, which was hailed as a return to the exuberance of The Blue Album and "Pink". Unfortunately my theory that music critics are self-aggrandizing, over-intellectualizing wankers who don't know much about the "music" part of music now has some more supporting evidence, because Make Believe borders on unlistenable. Frankly, I think it's awful. "Beverly Hills" is the best song on it so far (there are still 3 songs I haven't heard, but I don't think they're going to redeem the album). I read that Rivers had written about 100 songs or more that were being considered for the album. If what was left off was worse than what made the cut, I can't imagine how bad they were. In fact, I can't believe that any of those songs were worse than "This is Such a Pity", which is literally the worst song I've heard in quite a while. Weezer has never been what you'd call "strong" lyrically, but you could tell there was whimsy or attitude to the simplicity of the lyrics. On this album, though, they're just BAD! It comes off as kind of a therapy album, but more like Rivers Cuomo's 12-Step Program: The Musical. One song actually has some interesting bits musically, but totally uncharacteristic of what Weezer music usually is. I'm not condemning the band for trying something new. In fact, that song will probably end up being my "favorite" on the album (but it's telling that I can't remember it's name right now, even looking at the track listing!) I'll keep the CD because I'm loyal like that. A band's really got to piss me off to keep me from collecting all of their albums (Bryan Adams, I'm looking in your direction!), and maybe it will grow on me. But I'm quite astonished at how poor an effort the album is. Wow!

iPod: "I Wish I Was a Girl" by Counting Crows, "My Weakness" by Weezer, "Capricorn" by Braid, "Lightning Hopkins" by R.E.M., "Bathtub Gin" by Phish, "Together We'll Ring in the New Year" by Motion City Soundtrack, and "Satellite" by Elliott Smith.

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Thursday, September 01, 2005

Back from Babyland

Well, it's been a busy couple of days, as you can imagine, including a trip to another hospital when we discovered a throat infection that turned out to not be herpes, so big relief for us. Both baby and mother are doing great, and new Big Brother is wound up and enjoying having the baby around. He's also got a great aunt in town who's spoiling him, so he's having a blast.

I'd like to offer my heartfelt thanks for everyone who stopped by here and left their congratulations and well-wishes (except maybe The Sarcastrix, whose comment I can't figure out). I got into blogging because I thought I could make people laugh, but it has become a network of friends whom I cherish. Thank you all. Yes, having a baby makes you atrociously mushy, so deal with it.

Now I'm back to work and I've got work to do, but I won't be fooling myself that I can impose some sort of moratorium on blogging activity. I just need to get my shit done while blogging. I'm totally capable of doing both, I'm just a lazy MF.

Anyone seen The Caveman's Valentine with Samuel L. Jackson? Weird movie. I saw it in the hospital yesterday.

Okay, some more photos of the new kid, because I love pimping out my children's cuteness.

SO precious!
What a proud big brother!

iPod: "Tried to Be True" by Indigo Girls, "Thirteen" by Elliott Smith (Big Star cover), "Magilla" by Phish, "Pilgimage" by R.E.M., "Quit" by Hey Mercedes, and "Just Another Story About Skeeter Thompson" by Foo Fighters.

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