I've got the music in me!

As I'm sure you've all been doing lately, I found myself somewhat down knowing the 'Tones won't be touring next year. Then I heard myself say:

"You know, you've got a wonderful recording of their last show to last you, and an entire Archive.org of shows to peruse."

And I say:

"Yeah, but it's just not the same."

So myself says:

"So what are you going to do next year? Sit around and mope?"

And I say:

"No, I'm going to do a few things: see U2 support HTDAAB, see the Mouth support [new album name here], catch Vic on his solo tour, see Steve Vai on April 10 at the Pageant, and see the Jeff Coffin Mu'Tet February 12 at the Broadway Street Oyster Bar."

So myself says:

"Why the big deal, then?"

And I say:

"I dunno, I just like complaining."

At that point, my inner self said a few things I can't repeat in mixed company, and locked itself in my room. The point is, I think, is that I have some good shows to see next year. That's it, really. I just wanted an excuse to do a really lame spin on Steve's inner dialogue about pizza. It really wasn't very good, and I apologize.

But hey: Steve Vai!


Basses on Mars?
Dave

I like the sound of my own voice.

Mmm...the sweet smell of a survey. I'm trying to horn in on Steve's territory here.

----------------- THE BASICS--------------------
--Name: Dav(id)
-- Birthday: 12 September 1981
-- Nicknames: Mooooooooooooore!!!! and....Fish Boy
-- Favorite band: psh.

-----------------YOU PREFER--------------------
--Pepsi or Coke: Co'Cola
-- McDonald's or Burger King: I decided BK takes itself way too seriously tonight, so McDon's.
-- Adidas or Nike: Either one works. They both fit.
-- Chocolate or vanilla: If I go to Steak 'n Shake, I can get both at once, so why bother choosing?
-- Cappuccino or coffee: Mountain Dew. Thank you.
-----------------DO YOU--------------------
--Smoke: No, I can get my own beek jerky, thank you.
-- Cuss: Wednesdays, every other Friday, and odd numbered Thursdays.
-- Take a shower everyday: When necessary.
-- Have a crush(es): No, but I do have an (es), thank you.
-- Who are they?: She's over there. Watch out! She'll get ya when you least expect it!
-- Do you think you've been in love?: I wasn't. Then I was. Now am. Will be for at least another 2 terabytes worth of hours or so.
--Want to go to college: Why? Are you paying?
-- Want to get married: Sure. Sounds like fun.
-- Type w/ your fingers on the right keys: Mario and I didn't get along. Wario taught me the evil ways of....non-proper typing methods.
-- Believe in yourself: Except when I'm trying to curl my tongue, yes.
-- Get motion sickness: No, but I have been to a place called Vertigo. It's everything I wish I didn't know.
-- Think you're attractive: Are you kidding? I've got to use giant tremor-inducing machines to keep the ant lions at bay. Wait. That's Gordon Freeman. Yes. Yes I'm very attractive. Can't you tell?
-- Like thunderstorms: I like the rain falling down on me.
-- Play an instrument: Is mayonnaise an instrument?

------------IN THE PAST MONTH HAVE YOU----------------
--Smoke(d): Yes. I lit my eyelashes on fire "just to see what it felt like."
-- Done a drug: I only get one? What a bummer...
-- Gone to the mall: Yes, but not to shop.
-- Eaten sushi: The Beatles!
-- Been on stage: Yes. Really!
-- Gone skating: Only along the slippery road of life. Next, please.
-- Made homemade cookies: Yes. Twice, even!
-- Been in love: Four sure, yo.
-- Dyed your hair: Nyet.
-- Stolen anything: Three lame jokes and some air from a guy in Clayton. He wasn't using it, as far as I could tell.
-----------------HAVE YOU EVER--------------------
--Flown on a plane: I refues to believe being taped to the wings is the "economy class."
-- Missed school because it was raining?: What?
-- Told a guy/girl that you liked them?: Guy divided by girl=cos45. So, yes. I think.
-- Cried during a movie?: Sigh, when Mothra was beating up on Godzilla, I just couldn't help myself.
-- Ever thought an animated character was hot?: Aeon Flux? Psh. It's all about Daria.
-- Had an imaginary friend: I had to get rid of him. He kept eating my Crispix.
-- Been on stage?: Look up!
-- Cut your hair: Yes. With a spoon.
-- Had crush on a teacher?: Marie Osmond. I mean, wait. No.
-- Gotten beaten up: I wasn't all that good at that old Nintendo boxing game.
-- Been in a fight: But I rule at any Mortal Kombat before they went 3-D.
-----------------THE FUTURE--------------------
--Age you hope to be married: Somewhere between my age now and 87.
-- Numbers and Names of Children: I'm going to have Ron children and name them 8, 14, and 63.
-- How do you want to die?: Happy and peacefully.
-- What do you want to be when you grow up?: Paul Sanchez and/or news photographer.
-- What country would you most like to visit?: That little one in Europe.

-----------------OPPOSITE SEX--------------------
--Best eye/hair color: Anything natural, save for magenta.
-- Short or long hair: Are you asking my preferences in cats all of a sudden?
-- Best height: Tall enough to change lightbulbs.

-----------------NUMBER OF-------------------
Number of people I could trust with my life: Are you trying to kill me?
number of people who have actually saved it: 38.
-- Number of CDs that I own: I have some CDs, thank you, I don't want to join your music club.
-- Number of piercings: Q.
-- Number of tattoos: Ha.
-- Number of times my name has appeared in the newspaper?: Quite often (really!).

------------Favorites---------------------
--Shampoo: On sale.
-- Fav Color: Green.
-- Day/Night: Cider!
-- Summer/Winter: Very small rocks!
-- Lace or Satin: Churches!
-- Fave Food: A duck!
-- Fave sports stars: Womack. Duh, really people, come on.

----------------RIGHT NOW--------------------
--Wearing: Your pants and my uncle's green t-shirt.
-- Thinking about: "Man this is long."
-- Listening to: Squeaky chair.
---------------IN THE LAST 24 HRS--------------------
--Cried: Nosir.
-- Worn jeans: Only once.
-- Met someone new online: We're Sorry, AIM is being a butt right now.
-- Done laundry: Thrice.
-- Drove a car: I know these fast cars won't do me no good.
-- Talked on the phone: Not to you, sorry.

----------------DO YOU BELIEVE IN----------------
--Your friends: Yah.
-- Santa Claus: I believe in...um...crap. The funny went away.
-- Tooth Fairy: Just the Root Canal Imp.
-- Destiny/Fate: Why all the long division tonight?
-- Angels: Shore.
-- Ghosts: Not yet. Lens flare does not count as a ghost, sorry.
-- UFOs: <--Unnecessary apostrophe removed
-- God: Indubitably.
--------FRIENDS AND LIFE--------------------
--Do you ever wish you had another name?: I've always been partial to Sugar Magnolia.
-- Do you have a girlfriend/boyfriend?: I've got Janice. That's even better!
-- Which one of your friends acts the most like you?: My clone. I love him dearly.
-- Who have you known the longest of your friends?: What's it to you, fish lips?
-- Are you close to any family member?: Well, my grandma lives about 10-12 minutes away, and...huh? Oh. You meant it like that. Yes. They all rock.
-- Who do you hang around the most?: George and Chip.
-- What's the best feeling in the world?: A good one. I'll get you an exact word for it later.
-- Worst Feeling?: Regret.
-- What time is it now?: 2:57. So much for bed before 3. That's the third time this week!


There. That was silly, eh? I wonder if my answers reflect my general sleepiness? Probably. Sleep! Yes, good idea, me.

Why thank you.

Good night!


Davjkhgljkhgjkzzzzzzzzzz

I get the joke, so I'm gonna keep on laughin'

I saw Cowboy Mouth last night. It was weird, because amongst all the other stuff going on lately, the show was sort of pushed to the side. Plus, I wasn't as psyched about the show as much as usual going in. Again, probably just too much other stuff going on. Of course, it took about 10 seconds of show for that feeling to wear off, and I was back in good 'ol Mouth Land, where "hopes and dreams never die." They played the VooDoo Lounge at Harrah's, which was essentially a glorified bar with a stage over the bar itself. Kinda weird looking up the whole time, but it was pretty cool, and the sound wasn't as bad as I was thinking originally. The set wasn't anything mind-blowing, but it was solid. They played 'Laughable,' which is always a treat, along with 'Cab't Stay Here' and 'Here Comes Troublw,' neither of which I'd heard in awhile. Ms. Mary was unable to attend due to family business, so they had a very good stand-in, Sonya Somethingorother. She had, as Tom put it, a lot of spunk. Very good job for only her second show. Two points of note:

One.) 'Light it on Fire' was not played. Anywhere. That is, I think, a first.
b.) Fred did not mention the name of the band or where they were from. Another first.

I chatted with Griff for a bit after the show. Again, he was as nice as could be, and seemed happier to have Tom and I come see the LT show tomorrow then we are he and Paul are staying an extra night to play for us. We talked about his old band, the Red Rockers, touring with U2 back in '85 on the Unforgettable Fire tour, and how they were great guys, etc., and how Bono even rememberd him a couple years later and asked how he was doing.

It's nice to enjoy bands with quality people making the music.

I saw UnBit Tuesday night. It was chaotic, in a way, but it was that way by design, so it was pretty cool. And the show was funny. I wasn't too out of the loop, so the jokes didn't go over my head. The lighting was very good. Ten points must go to Dan for his brilliant contribution to the show. Another ten points to Steeeeeeeve (The Musical!) for the Verizon skit and 3 1/2 points for the Monty Python reference. Charlie gets a gold star (ding!) for his Homestar Runner impression. I'd recommend the show to all of you, but it was a one-night run, so if you missed it, well, tough toenails. Go see it next year!

By the way, Gordon Freeman's clearance is indeed level 3.

A few other points of interest:

-I'm now the proud owner of a JS100 electric guitar. Got it for nearly $200 cheaper than originally planned, and I even got a case.

-Half Life 2 is as good the second time as it is the first.

-Fishy is more addictive than Snood and crack combined.

-I have no idea how addicitve crack is.

-I'm just streeeeetching this out as long as I can now.

-I was walking from the parking lot into the building at work on Tuesday, and saw one of our big garage doors slowly lowering after a delivery van went inside. There was a bell ringing to notify everyone it was in, and I had half a mind to roll under the door and start yelling about a warp core breach, but I didn't.

-Tony Womack is no longer a Cardinal. This saddens me to no end.

I'ma go light up my door now. Bye!

With my brains and your braun, we'll make an excellent team.
Dave

Peace on Earth, gimme presents!

I don't really think too highly of our radio options here in town. As I've mentioned before, KSHE is a shadow of what it once was (Creed in the same promo as Rush and Floyd?), and the other major stations are pretty hit-or-miss in terms of something I want to hear. 98% of the time it's 'miss,' although KHITS isn't too bad most of the time. My general disdain for a lot of current music doesn't help me too much, I suppose. I'm not big on talk radio, either, so the whole of the AM side is out. Again, NPR isn't too shabby, but I just can't get into sitting around listening to people talk, good or bad.

All that being said, there is one station I can almost always count on. I think it's KDHX, although I'm not too sure. It's 88.7, and it's nuttin' but jazz. Real jazz, too. Not that hokey "smooth jazz" that people seem to like these days (*cough* Kenny G *cough* dork *cough*), but honest-to-God jazz: guys on upright bass, wacky piano lines, hi-hats, etc. Not always guitar, but I don't mind in this case. It's great listening, and very low on commercials.

I was lucky enough to catch some Christmas music on that station the past couple days. I enjoy the jazz take on the old standards, although it can be hard to pick up what they're playing sometimes. I do believe, though, that anything I hear on the radio is going to be trumped by what may be the best Christmas album I've heard: the wonderfulygoodandfun Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack done by Mr. Vince Guiraldi. I think it even trumps Merry Axemas Vol. 1, but only slightly. Damn that's good stuff. And, as I was pondering it tonight, 'Linus and Lucy' could, in a sense, be considered a Christmas song, since it is on the album, and I think it might have been the first appearance of the song. I s'pose that's sort of pushing it a bit, though. I wonder if Mr. Guiraldi knew he had a hit on his hands when he was writing that, or if it was originally intended to just be filler music for the show. It's one fine piece of music, either way.

Another nice thing about no TV right now: no stupid Christmas commercials, or ho-ho-hum 'Holiday specicals.' Especially the stuff on ABD Family. Bleh bleh bleh. Someone (usually a guy) is being a clod, and through some magical happenstance, learns the True Meaning of the Season in time to....get the girl, or something. The end. Ignoring the fact none of these shows talk about the real meaning of the season, they just aren't much fun. Give me Pee Wee's Christmas Special anyday. Mmm...potatoe-y.

Or, even better, give me The Muppet Family Christmas. Now THAT is some funny stuff. You've got the regular Muppets, the Sesame Street gang, fraggles, and the best version of 'Jingle Bell Rock' all in one. Careful of the icey patch!

My Christmas shopping is coming along...um...good..ish. Yeah. I sat down the other night and made a list of everyone I'm gifting this year (13? sounds right), and then sat down and sifted through all my pictures. I'll have to assign pictures to people this week and then get them printed. It's no secret I do it for people, so I can safely type it here on the 'net. I'm also a bit of a rebel for the second straight year: I'm getting something for everyone, Dalette and her 'exchange list' be damned. Bring her on, I say! If she doesn't want what she gets, I'll give it to Janice, along with her other gift. For new readers, her present was made by the fine folks at ********.

I have to work 5 of the next 10 days. I do believe I can hold out, despite the slowness of things at the office right now. How slow, you ask? Our boss was out of the office Monday, so one of our 'official' tasks was to make paper snow flakes for decoration. A few more weeks and the action should pick up, thankfully. For now, I'll enjoy the lull.

I think that's enough for now. I hope to regal you all with a first-hand account of Un-Bit Butter later this week. Stay warm, folks. It's cold enough out there to freeze your Winnebago!

How can he be all ears? Frogs don't even have ears.
Dave

At the Sign of the Prancing Pony

I figured I'd make my own post instead of living vicariously through other people's posts.

I was looking 'round my living room last night and realized, ofr the first time, that it's kinda smallish. This is normally no big deal, but for exactly one afternoon/evening, it might be. In my infinite wisdom, or my desire to quell any inter-family hostilities, I decided to host the family (mum's side) for Christmas this year. At current count, we have...myself, Steve, grandmummy, Mum, Mike, Diane, Mike, Mike, Maria, aaaaaand (drum roll) Dalette. So that's ten, and pretty much everyone I originally expected. No one left out, which wa the plan. But, my house isn't that big. It's far from tiny, but having ten persons in and around its premises should be interesting.

Of course, if certain members come to blows, we'll have some extra space to work with. Would that be a bad thing? Hmm...

One amusing occurence. Since The Lord of the Manor is off work, and will be coming for a visit, we will, as you might have noticed, have three (3) Mikes in one house. See Michael Js to boot. So, the fun thing will be for someone, out of the blue to ask for Mike. then we all have a hearty laugh as much confusion ensues.

Well, I might laugh.

There's something to be said for continuing education. Or common sense. Either one would have saved me a hassle in regards to the website, which is now on at least another week's hiatus because I can't spell photography. So you get to wait even longer. Sorry. I'll use the time to fix anything that needs fixing, and make it look better. I swear I'll have it up and running by January. Really.

I'd like to make a post compiling "The Best of Fr. Craig." E-mail me anything you've got (preferably quotes), and I'll get them up.

Awake! Fear! Fire! Foes! Awake!
Dave

I'm going nowhere, where I am it is a lot of fun.

There will come a day, mark my words, when, no matter how hard I try, I'm going to have to face the inevitable:

I'm going to be old.

It's a fact of life, and one I can't get around. This doesn't trouble me, though, as I plan to live to be at least 100, for reasons to nerdy to go into here. That being said, I'd like to think I could remain fairly spry. Actually, if I had my way, I'd like to be as mobile as the chaps in the Rolling Stones, who are all in their early 900s, except for Keith Richards who actually died in 1982. No one's had the heart to tell him, so he just keeps on going.

But he's damn good guitar player. I was listening to their new live album before buying HTDAAB last week, and they still sound good. How do they do that? A deal with the Evil One? Lots of practice? Lots of drugs? All three?

Anyways.

I beat Half Life 2 on Monday night. I'm quite pleased, although the somewhat vagueish ending is annoying, just as it was in the first game. I wanna know what happened, consarnit! Heaven help me if I have to wait another 6 years to find out the end. Sigh. Another pitfall of being a nerd.

I bought Janice her Christmas present and I've been having a blast teasing her about it (all in good fun, I promise). I'l give you all a hint, though. It was made by ********. Cool, huh? I think she'll like it.

Um, I haven't really considered what I'm buying for anyone else, save for mom. Sorry folks, but I will get on it. Soon. Really.

Speaking of being a nerd. Godzilla: Final Wars premiered on Monday. Depending on who you ask, it's either a whiz-bang all-out uber-fun movie, or it's an evil abomination, the worst thing ever made in terms of Godzilla, and a total disgrace to his 50th birthday. I'll have to wait until I asee it sometime next year, but the clips I've seen make it out to be fun. As some reviewers have pointed out, SPFX and such look much different on screen then they do on a PC monitor, so I have to keep that in mind. But, we'll see. I really want to like it, so I'm willing to work with the film, and not expect anything earth-shattering. All I want is to be entertained.

And, with that, I'm gonna go before your image of me slips another notch.


I know these fast cars won't do me no good.
Dave

His chops are too righteous!

Yes, that's right.

I saw the Spongebob Squarepants Movie last night. And it was funny. It featured the most amazing set of pecs I've ever seen. And, darn it, crying pirates are funny. I hold that it was worth sitting through the credits for that.

So there.

I wonder what bright mind in Hollywood decided it would be a good idea to make mindless, inane, asinine movies and sell some soley on the fact they have big name people doing the voices. Shark Tale and that soon-to-be-released nonsense of a movie about a racing zebra are good examples. I mean, really, come on. Is it that hard to do something that doesn't require on the fact you have David Spade as the voice of a fly?

I apologize to Janice's hand.

I'm putting up 2 (2) trees this weekend in two days. At that pace, by Sunday I could maybe even have three trees up (I won't).

I'm also padding this post out because it was mostly an excuse to use the line from the movie as a subject. I guess I could talk about Thanksgiving, since it was yesterday, but nothing really exciting happened. Of course, it was good to see the Moores, and the food was quite good, but there was no drama, yelling, smoke, etc, save for Graham puking.

Oh!

Cousin Jessica, 14, was watching U2 Go Home with myself and Curt yesterday, and, apart from a couple songs of ATYCLB, knew virtually nothing about them. So I had to do some explaining. Favorite question: "Are they an old band?" I'm not used to dealing with anyone who has barely heard of U2. I did not know such a person existed. I shan't hold it against her though. Now she has an excuse to go buy everything they've done.

Did you know it snowed on Wednesday? It did. Honest. I might have liked it more had I not been in a basement working or worried about my power coming back on. But it was nice.

Yadda yadda. I'm done. I need to clean up a bit so I can actually have room to erect a tree.


I'm ready! Promotion!
Dave

One Step Closer

I was originally going to open with some goofy remark about owning your own house and being able to walk around naked, but I decided to skip it, as I forgot the gist of it, and it probably wasn't as funny as I thought. It was based soley on a snippet of conversation I overheard at work today in the staff room, so it probably wasn't going to hold its own anyways.

So I'm just going to move on to far more interesting topics.

Some of you may be wondering if Half Life 2 is worth the purchase. You might also wonder if the new U2 album is worth the purchase.

Let me answer for you. In a word, goodGodyes.

Go. Now. Buy them both. I'm not going to wait, since it might take awhile, but I can assure you your money will be well spent. Wonderful music for your ears, and one fine computer game for all your senses (except for taste and smell, of course). I won't go into the nerdy reasons I like HL2 (flying sawblades of doom!), so don't worry.

I will, however, mention that HTDAAB (you type out the whole title!) is one of U2's finest, I think, although I was reflecting on their catalogue earlier, and realized that they haven't really had a ho-hum album yet. A few songs along the way, but taken as a whole, none of their albums have lacked. They've managed to take all the little things that make U2 U2, and work them just so. It doesn't sound like they're
trying though, which is good. Nothing feels terribly derivative of their old stuff. Edge borrows a couple old guitar licks, and Bono steals one or two of his own lyircs, but it all feels fresh, and different enough without being waaay out there. They've already done that (Achtung Baby), so now they can focus on what they do well.

So when does the tour start?

For anyone interested, my website is good to go. It won't be online for another couple weeks, mostly because I'm cheap and don't want to pay the $30 activation fee until I've been paid again. Rest assured though, when it's up, I'll let you all know.

I need to get some time off. I'm horribly unmotivated right now, as there isn't much exciting going on at work. I've got a wealth of time in December I'm taking off, and this week's mini-break ought to should help, so we'll see.

I was hoping to make biscuits for dinner Thursday, but that may have to be put on hold, as I'm not gonna have the time I thought. Not a big deal, but....I spent $1.20 on buttermilk!!! Eh. I'll make them some other time.

My tree is probably going up on Friday. I have my new Star Trek ornament, so it's gonna be an extra nerdy Christmas season. One upshot of the no-TV thing is not having to endure the myriad commercials and hullabaloo that springs up every year about this time. Yeah, I'll still have the nonsense in stores, but I don't hit them too often, so I can probably deal with it. Yay for not losing my mind!

And yay for Mr. Tabana, whoever he is!


Swinging to the music.
Dave

Ghetto Flannel

Do you ever sit yourself down to post something and then realize you aren't as into it as you thought you might be?

But, consarnit, I haven't posted in over a week, and I'm dedicated to keeping this thing on the cutting edge of...blognessitivity or something.

I checked my e-mail on Monday evening, and got a wondeful message from the folks at Amazon. It said, in a nutshell, "we've shipped you copy of Half Life 2." Hot damn. Part of me hoped it'd be on the porch when I came home Tuesday, but that was a no-go. Maybe this evening, although I won't have a lot of time to play. The bathroom needs cleaning, and I have to make chili for our chili-fest at work tomorrow. I've decided to go for the gusto and grind my own hamburger for to use. Why? Well, if you had an attachment for that sorta thing, wouldn't you be compelled to use it? Sunday, Half Life 2 willing, I'm gonna try my hand (I think) at some eclaires. My main man Alton gave me the idea, and it actually seems pretty easy.

Let's see you segue from computer games to pastries in the same paragraph.

More segues then you or your grandma can handle.

For anyone interested, I'm about halfway saved up for a Joe Satriani-style Ibanez. If anyone has another...$200 they've no use for, please send it to:

My House
#37 Down the Street From Your Aunt
The Hill on the Left, USA

I'll get it, trust me.

I saw Indian dancers on Monday night, and then proceeded to see Indian dancers yesterday afternoon. I think I preferred the Indian dancers, as the moody lighting and drums added a lot. This is not, of course, to take anything away from the Indian dancers, as some of the vocal bits reminded me a lot of Sandip Burman.

I'll leave you to figure it out. And don't ask Janice, that'd be cheating.

I was watching my Good Eats tape last night, and found, to my delight, it was the same tape I stuck the 'Tones performance on the Conan O'Brien Show last year. A shortened version of 'Next,' but it was still hot. I s'pose it'll have to do for now, since I won't be seeing them for...awhile.

I heard a new new U2 song yesterday, called 'Crumbs from Your Table.' Very good, although it broke my policy of not wanting to hear anything new until I bought the thing on Monday night/Tuesday morning. Still, I can't remember a note of it, so that's good. I'm been ambitiously listening to nothing but U2 this week in the car. Reverse chronologically, album by album, straight through. I started Monday, and I'm currently on the last couple songs of Rattle and Hum. My lack of driving over the weekend may hinder my ability to listen to all the albums before buying HTDAAB, but we'll see. I'll adjust if need be.

The Hamilton clock on the wall says it's time for the invasion of the Neptune men, so I'd best be going.


Excelsior!
Dave

Bits and bites.

The hits just keep on coming.

Okay kids, here's your word for today: 'snackmosphere.'

That is, of course, the layer of air in bags of candy, chips, etc.

We'll have a test at the end of the week.

Bad news: No Fred acoustic show next month. LT is still on.

Good news: Homestar DVD this week!!!


Yummy.
Dave

Dream a little dream with me.

I swear this is my last post today. I forgot to mention this earlier.

I had a dream whilst I was sleeping at Tom's Friday night that may be the strangest thing I've ever dreamt.

As best as I can recall, Tom and I were in a huge lobby of some sorts, and had just set up some sort of artificial lightning rig to fry Godzilla when he came through (sorta similar to the end of Godzilla vs Hedorah for those in the know). However, our plans were interrupted because we had to fend off wave upon wave of storm troopers. Thankfully we had lasers to use. Alas, neither side won, because we had to leave. So Tom and I headed to the parking lot with all our gear, when we ran into Mr. Olmsted from DeSemt. Well, he sounded like Mr. Olmsted, but he looked like Mr. Callahan. His wife and two kids were there, too.

Then I woke up.

Very weird, especially the "time to stop the war because we have to go home" thing. Even worse, Godzilla never showed up. Apparently he had try-outs for Godot that night.

That's my dream.


Bye!
Dave

The only prescription is more cowbell!

I've never seen that sketch, which is kind of upsetting, as I consider myself a reasonably sized Bloe Oyster Cult fan.

Speaking of: fans of Cowboy Mouth and/or Cracker may recall the show at the Pageant last October. Not counting the jack-ass lead singer, the rest of the band was pretty durn cool, especially the feller in back, who stood around in sunglasses and a cowboy hat, doing various really cool things, such as playing the accordion, playing keyboards, and playing tambourine.

I kid you not, he made playing the tambourine seem cooler than anything else.

At the BOC show Wednesday, I saw something almost as cool during Don't Fear the Reaper. As I'm sure you all know, the song rather prominently features a cowbell. The band's new drummer didn't have one on his kit, though, so towards the end of the song, they brought one of their tech gurus on stage with a cowbell, and he proceeded to whack it with a drumstick for a couple minutes. Cool stuff.

I also forgot to mention I shook Buck Dharma's hand. I was able to do this because I was three freakin' feet from the stage.

Woot.

Speaking of birds: I visited friend Tom this weekend, and we spent some time jamming (I also spent some time beating the tar out of him in Half Life). I tought him the previously mentioned main groove of Birdland, and we turned it into a 7-10 minute jam, which was a lot of fun. I don't usually do jazz soloing, but I think I faked it pretty well.

"Birdland on the fifty-three, the street sounds like a symphony.

U2 wrote that line. Cool, huh?

I'ma go crossword now.



Jazz. Is. Weird.
Dave

It's a flaming wonder telepath.

Breaking news:

Just when you thought thigns couldn't get any worse, they just did. Read this.

I'm pretty sure that marks the end of civilization as we know it.

Blue Oyster Cult still rocks, despite the fact they've got some pretty old fellers in that band. Here's to hoping I can rock as hard as they do when I'm as old as they.

Lots of posting this week. But probably no more for a couple days. Going to K-Ville to rock out with Tom. Should be fun.

R U Ready 2 Rock?
Dave

I approved this message.

Ahhhh...I don't have to hear that for another four years.

I'm so glad all this election fallderall is OVER! Still, I can proudly say I got phone calls from George Bush, George Bush, John Kerry, and the NRA. I would have preferred calls (even recordings) from, say, Joe Satriani or the Edge, but I guess they were too busy being rock stars. Lucky turds.

My favorite election moment came this morning. Using my crude TV set-up in the kitchen, I had Today on, and they had set up a fake podium for people to come up and give a mock "vote for me" speech. Everyone started with a "My fellow Americans" style intro, save for one guy (through the snow of my screen, he looked like one of those fun old-fart kinda guys). He was sorta sitting/leaning on the podium, and this was hi greeting: "Hi."

My kinda president.

Happy 50th birthday to the Big G.


Oh no, there goes Tokyo!
Dave

The Horror of Mothra vs The Terror of Godzilla

If my sources are correct, tomorrow is officially Godzilla's 50th birthday. That's quite a long time for any fictional character to remain (somewhat) relevant. The degree of relevancy probably depends on who you ask. I say very, and about 90% of the world probably doesn't care. That's their loss, I think.

Has anyone else seen the new TV promo for Godzilla: Final Wars?

You really should.

Go now. There's a convenient link on the left side of this page you can use to go download it. I'll even wait for you.

....dum dum.....doo dee doo doo, whistle whistle....


See, I told you it was good. Or maybe I implied it.

Anyways.

I voted this morning, mostly because I didn't want an evil gang of thugs from MTV led by Ashlee Simpson knocking on my door and killing me because I didn't. Could you imagine how embarassed my mom would be if she had to tell people Ashlee Simpson killed her son? I mean, getting offed by someone legit, like Bono is one thing, but a no-talent pop singer? Ick. So I voted. I almost left-gasp!-a chad hanging on the back of my ballot, but I caught it in time.

Whew.

The wait wasn't too bad, maybe about 30 minutes or so, which is quite long, since I'm not used to any wait at all. I was going to vote for Dave Barry for president, but he wasn't on the ballot.

"Whoa, that sounds like a segue!"

Dave Barry, like the 'Tones, is going to take next year off, maybe longer. Well, he's gonna do some other stuff, but no weekly column. That's sad, but understandable. Don't want the funniest guy around going ga-ga on us. I'd rather have him come back fresh.

In case anyone's wondering, U2's new album will be released in 3 weeks. Of course, those of you who care already know. So I'm not sure who that message was directed at.

I'm hoping to have my website done by next week. I've got one full section and the 'about' section to do, and I can look into getting it all hosted. I'm gonna go all out and get my own domain name this time, since it's only about $10 a month.

I can afford to take on such extravagant expenditures because of a radical decision I've made. I've decided not to get my TV hooked up until March of next year. I've found I don't miss it all that much, and not spending $60 a month is pretty nice. My new date might have something to do with spring trainig, but then again, maybe not. So anyone coming to visit will probably be forced to watch MST3K or Godzilla, or maybe have to talk to me.

Jeez, not really a good option there. Maybe you could play with the cats.


Push on mighty Cushman!
Dave