Just creatures for awhile

We had a Canadian author at work tonight. How aboot that, eh?

Nice goal, eh?

Um. Yeah. Anyways, he was a humor columnist, so, naturally, he was pretty, well, humorous. Two points stick in my mind, mainly regarding the war in Iraq. He mentioned that, being Canadian, he gets asked, when in the States, why Canada didn't send troops overseas.

1.) They're military force is still in Afghanistan, and he's doing all he can.

2.) Bush invaded Iraq right as the Stanley Cup playoffs were starting.
  
3.) In hockey, the French will still fight.

 
3 points. Like I said before. But, yeah, he was funny. Not Dave Barry funny, but funny all the same. I can recall at least 5 good laughs.

It's been awhile, but long-time followers of No Moore, none of whom read this blog, will attest to my odd tendency to deflect the ball into our own net. I think I can safely say I've vindicated myself for those times. Somehow or other I managed to sprawl across an empty net last night and whack a ball, deflected by one of our own, out of harm's way.

I don't want to name names, so we'll call the guy who deflected that ball "Steve." 

But it's okay, because, as I said, I've done that many times myself. That said, I think we as a team played pretty good last night.

We lost 2-1.

I'm like, Mr. Comma tonight. Have you noticed?  

In other thoughts:

I've been listening to and downloading a lot of 311 the past few days, and it reminded me of something from their show last August at the Um-Bee-Pav. Last song of the show was 'Down,' which was their first big single from '95. Lead singer Nick Hexum dedicated the song to their old school fans. Now, there were many people at this show who were probably 14-16 years old, and started going nuts as if they were old school 311 fans. Now, that album is almost 10 years old, and it was already 311's third major release. Before that, they had about 3 indie records. I started listening in '95, and don't even really consider myself old school. So for a bunch of kids who were 6 or 7 years old when that song came out to be acting like they've been with the band forever kinda irked me.

Or maybe I'm just going elitist or something. When you're as old as me, it's hard to tell.

I'm glad this week is almost over, since it's been dragging it's feet ever since Monday morning. Tomorrow may be Friday, but it took forever to get here. I'll be glad for the weekend. And I only have a four day week next week, culminating with a trip to Six Flags. The next week brings another concert at Um-Bee-Pav with Tom, and the following week sees another trip to VI Flags and a Weird Al concert.

Fun times ahead. Can you see them? They're just off to the left, behind those sycamores.

 
Comes and goes, it comes and goes.
Dave

His sitting was out of control by the end.

Sounds like me at work sometimes.

Like Friday, for instance. I spent more time sitting around thinking about working than actually working. It was one of those days. I also have taken to using my computer for downloading concerts, due to it's rapid (fast) internet connection. My current conquest is the massive 311 show from March 11 (ya know, 3/11 day). 68 songs!!! It makes for a lot of listening. I have to make sure I don't let downloading interfere with actual work, though. I think I'm doing okay.

I've been thinking, and I'm trying to decide if I like rediscovering bands I've always liked, discovering all new bands, or discovering the entire catalogue of bands I've always liked (i.e. Rush). I suppose two and three are sorta similar, but not enough. I bring this up mostly because I'm still on a Rush kick, more than a month after the concert. I think it's because their catalogue is quite large, and I only know a small portion of it. Getting to know the span of their 17 albums is quite a treat.

Still, it's always nice to go back and get into the splendor that is U2. The new album this fall is making it a lot more exciting. It's good stuff, believe you me.

Which reminds me: for being a tried-and-true U2 fan, I hereby award Jess an additional 17 1/4 points, which moves her above the boat parade guy and Richard Nixon to take a solid lead in fourth place on the points list with a total of 24 1/4.

Janice and I helped mum and Michael James move into their new house today. It's a very nice house. The basement has, oh, I don't know, about 87,000 turns and closets. It's extremely cool, but the potential of getting lost is high. The entire house has something close to 3 million light switches and another 16,000 outlets. That said, it's a wonderfully nice house, and I can't wait to see it when they get everything unpacked. The only downside? I want either move or redecorate my house. I think the second option is more likely, but I need money and an idea. Or two. So, any suggestions are welcome (even if you haven't seen the house!).

I was really disappointed with the weather this weekend. It was supposed to be sunny and not too hot, but instead, we get cool and rainy. What the hell? Rains out my Journal shoot and my plans to go shoot some stars, something I haven't done since last September. Sigh. Why must I be tortured so? By the by, if you've never gone out to take some star pictures, I highly recommend it. It's different, and very relaxing.

Just watch out for The Man.

The only other thing I want to say today: sometimes, some people just need to, as Bev might say, "just move on."

 

We'd better have another wienie roast.

Dave

Always Forever Now

With the proper punctuation, that might make for an interesting advertising slogan, but I don't think U2 would go for it, so I'm not going to expend anymore thought on the issue.

Yeah, I know: it's not a Rush lyric.

10 points to anyone who can tell me which U2 album that song appears on. I don't award points as often as I used to, so I think this is a golden opportunity for someone to move up in the standings.

You didn't know about the standings? Well, currently, they are as follows:

1.) Janice: Q
2.) Tony Womack: 87
3.) Steve: 79
4.) Richard Nixon: 17
5.) that shirtless guy from the boat parade: 11

Everyone else is tied at 10 or less, so it's a pretty tight race. Tony's been moving up for the past month or two just on his hotness. Winners will be announced at the end of the year, and your prize packages will be mailed out c/o the Funny Farm, Chalfont.


Mmmm....I just realized I've been taking guitar lessons for over five years now and I still haven't mastered Where the Streets Have No Name, the greatest song ever written, I think. Considering it was the first song I ever had my teacher figure out for me, I should probably get back to it. Maybe once I finish this Rush song.

Have you ever had a feeling of total euphoria? Maybe some wave of total perfection rush over you? Sorta like...goosebumps to the Nth degree? If not, save your pennies, and go see U2 next spring on the road, and see if it happens when the intro to Streets comes up. It's a feeling I can't quite describe, but it was one of the best feelings I've ever had.

It's the power of music!

I think, and it might be close, that the Edge is almost as hot as Tony Womack. I mean, he's the Edge. Everyone calls him that. He makes wearing a beanie look cool. His goatee is even cool.

And did I mention he plays the guitar really well?

I haven't really said much of anything, but I'm working on posting thoughts as opposed to a recap of what I've been doing. It's a work in progress.

Janice's grandma is, apparently, a black-belt in karate. I'm duly impressed.

I've also reached the end of my thought train.



Dave

[insert Rush lyric here]

From the Ain't It Cool News Department:

I'm excited to report that Neil Peart (that's pronounced Pee-rt), drummer extraordinaire for the power trio, Rush, has the same birthday as me.

Cool, huh?

The greatest act can be one little victory.
Dave

An exercise in self-indulgence.

I'm going to keep this post brief. Short. Succinct. Terse. To the point. Cut straight to the heart of matters. Get to the point. Cut to the chase. No beating around the bush.

And so on.

Hut sut raw, sitting on a monkey, and so on, and so on.

........


There's a new rule for whiffle ball:

12 If a ball is hit, strikes the pitcher/fielder/whatever, and proceeds to deflect over the fence, that ball is, of course, a ground rule double.

You can't make this stuff up.

I'd like to point out that my previous post contained a slight error. The Cardinals, alas, did not sweep the Cubs, although they made their closer look pretty bad in the third game. I am happy to say our reps in the All-Star Game did a damn good job of representin'.

Special bonus points to mum for being uber nice and cleaning my bathroom yesterday after dinner.

Retroactive bonus points to mum for the uber cool card she gave me on my 16th birthday.

Imagine, if you will, opening that card, and finding a key taped to the inside.

A key!
To a car!
A car key!
In my card!

Also, were the words "here's the key to your car. If you can find it, it's yours."

Sweet!
Wait!

Ha! My mom, ever the joker. I still have the key taped to the inside, and never did try to find the car. Mom almost topped herself the next year with the 3-D Godzilla birthday card, but the key still wins.

My room is back to a state of almost cleanliness. I actually have a decent amount of extra storage space, and I'm not sure how to use it.

Ideas?


I'll be waiting over here.



By? By-tor? Buy? Bye bye!
Dave

Searching for the lost Xanadu.

Still going.


Anyways.


Somewhere in this world, likely in Japan, is a man (most likely) sitting comfortably in his house, basking in his wealth. This man, sometime ago, probably in the mid-eighties, decided that characters in video games should make a little noise when they jump. And his boss agreed, and now, for the past 20 years or so, I've had to listen to strange little noises in video games when my character jumps.

And for that, I need someone to go find that guy and take care of that little problem.

Yes, that's right: I need someone to go back in time and kick him right in the shins.

You may wonder why I'm expending all this energy to complain about such a trivial thing. Well, the simple reason is this: I got my old Nintendo working again, and bought the first 3 Mario games. Lotsa fun, and surprisingly, still challenging. Having spent the last few years beefing myself up on computer games, I figured I'd breeze right through those oldies.

Not quite. They can still be mighty frustrating at times. But fun all the same. So I can deal with it.

I have my performance review at work tomorrow. My boss has guaranteed I'm not being fired, so I suppose it's safe to go through with it. Supposedly I'll be getting a raise as well, so I might as well see it to the end. Odds are good we'll talk as much about the Cardinals being 9 games up on the Cubs (yeah, I'm predicting a sweep).

Sorry, Leah.

For those curious, Tom and Rachel are back in the country after their honeymoon. Tom was telling me yesterday about something that I think only men can truly comprehend. Or not, I could be wrong. Anyways. Rachel's mom came up to visit them and have dinner (BBQ). She and Rachel took it upon themselves to make the fire, and as Tom told me, it wasn't quite as he would have done it, and thusly, the coals weren't all that warm, and the burgers were slow to cook. I think, and again, I could we waaaaaaaaaaay off, the creating of a BBQ fire is a real 'guy thing,' and we can get pretty picky about the way it's done. Of all forms of cooking, I think BBQing is the 'manliest' form. Nothing against the other ways of cooking, but it's hard to beat cooking right over a fire.

Although, mom was always pretty adept at grilling.

Well that certainly puts a kink in that theory.

I have to start cleaning my room this afternoon. I may not emerge until sometime on Tuesday, if I get as involved as I usually do. And by involved, I mean completely destroying the room and then reassembling it in some new order.

You'll get that.

And with that, I'ma gonna go tend to some other tasks before the cleaning commenses. I need to get as much done as possible in time to watch the Cardinals sweep the Cubs.


They said they were going to buy me lunch, but I don't see anyone taking me to Chik-Fil-A.

Dave

Between the wheels

Today was one of those days I really resented having to go spend money on food (it happens every once in awhile). I'll admit I rarely have a super concrete plan for the week dinner-wise when I hit the store, but I wasn't terribly into it today, which didn't help. And about half-way through, there was an anouncement on the PA that the storm knocked out the computer system or something, so the only way to pay is by check or cash.

Great. Because I have that much cash on me. And my checkbook.

So I started aimlessly wandering the store for a few minutes, trying to figure out what to do. Put everything back? Store the cart with someone somewhere and go grab some cash?

Then I remembered there was an ATM up front, so I went to use it. Like I said, I wasn't all there this morning. The only nice thing I can say about the ATM is it let me take out $50, or, had I wanted to, $30 (my bank's ATMs don't do that). I was still cranky though, and I ended up spending more than I wanted to. Maybe if I had a plan going in.

I spent the rest of the afternoon finishing my task of cleaning/straightening/etc.ing the basement. Lots of fun, believe you me. It's simply amazing how many empty boxes one can accumulate over time. Everytime I'd move something, there'd be an empty box. Every time I got rid of some old papers, boom, an empty box. Inside the empty boxes were, yes, more empty boxes. Even when I thought I'd got them all, I found another box with about 3 or 4 boxes in it. They now have an entire shelf all to themselves. All in all though, it went pretty well, and the basement is in better shape than it was (although at this writing, I've yet to run the vacuum). It's not perfect, but I've decided I can live with "pretty good" this time.

In other news:

I really hate Charter. Not only do they (in my mind) rip me off price-wise, but they don't even list prices on their website for other services in the event I decide to go with something else. If they do list the prices, they don't seem to be logically placed (as in "with the service description').

I did, however, get a reduction and a credit from Ameron, so I don't pay them this month, and will begin paying less next month. Whee!

I do like Janice's computer, as I was able to download an entire concert in about 12 hours, as opposed to the 100+ it would have required at home. Thanks to Janice and her computer.

Yesterday was my first 'proper' 4th of July in many years. Last year I was shooting for the Journal; the year before, shooting for the Word; the year before, I went to Dave's to blow some stuff up; and the year before (2000) I went downtown with Tones for the VP fair. So it's been 4 years. But yesterday, I went with Janice to Jess' (Jess's?) family lake house on Lake Tishimingo. There were many people, not limited to Janice's other boyfriend, Vince, and his dad, Mark (yes?), who gets points for being a really cool guy. Many other people I didn't know. Food. Plenty of. Dessert. Yum. And fireworks, too. Real honest to goodness, colorful, boomy fireworks. I was pleased.

And hey, tomorrow starts the week, but it's Tuesday!

Chew on that, why don'tcha.

I'm gonna go have some soup. And maybe talk to someone. Or I may not talk. But I'll still have the soup.


I can't think of anything to say.
Dave