SM - June 2005

Wednesday , 29 JUN 05

(link removed)
Sufjan Stevens- 'Holland' - Greetings from Michigan (Sounds Familyre)

I left work early today to come home and wait for our new furniture to show up. We got a bed frame and a new couch for Josie to tear up (hopefully not). So I lounged around watching Buffy while waiting. The living room definitely looks crowded. We need to get rid of our old couch. I called Paralyzed Veterans to donate it, but apparently they don't do pick ups anymore. And our Element isn't quite big enough for the couch. So I called ATS and they'll come by next TH. It'll take some getting used to the new couch...no lumps and mashed cushions. The bed frame looks good and matches the rest of the bedroom furniture. Then I ran to Bay St. Louis to pick up some road-trip snacks from Sprawl Mart. With as much as I complain about the damn place, you'd think I wouldn't go there. Color me a big, ol' hypocrite.

Not much news worthy to rant about. I didn't watch but 2 minutes of the President's speech last night. I haven't heard much about what people (besides other politicians) thought of the speech. I suppose they'll come out with some new polls in the next few days to show if it had an impact on people's viewpoints. I did hear a funny comment on NPR this afternoon. Something about Nancy Pelosi , House Minority Leader, criticizing the Pres for using the attacks on September 11th for political gains. Kinda like the pot calling the kettle black, right? The Democrats are in some sorry shape to have her as a spokesperson. I saw her a few months back on This Week w/ George Stephanopoulos, and she didn't sound like she knew what she was talking about. I was embarrassed for her and the Democrats. Ok...I guess I found something to rant about afterall.

So today's song is in honor of our upcoming road trip to Michigan. Half of my family is up in Michigan - near Grand Rapids. I usually make it up there once a year. This time we're going up there to pick up some stuff from my grandparents' house. Grandpa passed away last summer and the house has been sitting there waiting for us (well mostly Mom, Aunts, Uncle and cousins) to clean it out. Anyway...Holland is right near where we'll be. I look forward to going up there. It's almost like a homecoming, because I used to spend my summers there when I was a kid. Summer's always a good time to go to Michigan...gardens usually have something good to snack on...plus there's blueberry picking or cherry picking. I imagine we're too late for the blackberries and raspberries. But I'll find out soon enough. Plus maybe I'll get to bring home some of Aunt CJ's pickles. Yummy!

-poated by Kelly

Sunday , 26 JUN 05

It's been a pretty lazy Sunday. We slept in a little bit this morning and while Kelly was watching something on tv I was transferring music our friend Peter had burned in mp3 format from disc to our hard drive. Quite a few new things we had been wanting to listen to. I also cleared some of the tracks from my mp3 player so I could add more tracks later. Of the 60GB (58 actually), I only have 903MB of free space left. After that Kelly went outside and used the pressure washer to clean the gunk off one side of the house. I had a headache/neckache, and stayed out of the afternoon heat watching some of my recorded anime programs. After that we ate and watched some of the U.S. women's soccer team defeat Canada 2-0 and I burned some of our cd's to mp3 format and transferred the songs to my player. The rest of the weekend we were actually pretty active, but today was just a day to be lazy.

Friday night we went and saw 'Batman Begins' with some friends. I have to say I was quite impressed and it was better than I thought it would be. I was a little hesitant from the trailers, but many reviewers had given it positive raves, even the sci-fi geeks on the internet, so we decided we would go check it out. It really told the origin of Batman well, and included some things that were left out in Tim Burton's version, such as Morgan Freeman as his 'tech guy', Lucius Fox, and his training with a ninja cult after disappearing from Gotham City and the rest of the world that knows him. Director Chris Nolan (who directed Memento) did an excellent job of making Gotham City gritty as well as making the introduction of Batman as a vigilante (instead of superhero) true to the original DC Comics story. The sound was really good and the visuals were impressive. Some nice special effects, but nothing over the top or fake-looking. The only real criticism I have is the 'Batmobile', which is ugly as all sin, but as we were discussing later, it's probably the most realistic type of vehicle to perform the functions that it does. I don't necessarily like it's look (it's not the sleek sports car of previous versions), but it's a mean, durable machine that gets the job done. I look forward to the inevitable sequel, which will eventually come out since Christian Bale, Michael Caine, and Morgan Freeman have already signed up for another film. I give this 5 out of 5 stars.

Yesterday I woke up early and went to Ocean Springs to participate in the Tato Nut bicycle ride. It was a bit warm and humid, but not too uncomfortable yet at the 9am start time. We ended up riding 17.5 miles around the streets of Ocean Springs and the Gulf Islands National Park. I rested for a bit after riding, then we went to Jason and Ellen's where Ellen and I were going to bake a cake for Jason's birthday while Kelly went shopping. We were trying a new recipe found on-line called Chocolate Cake with a New York Attitude. It was a basic chocolate cake recipe, but had a cream cheese and chocolate chip mixture that after making the chocolate cake batter was dropped by spoonfuls on top randomly. Unfortunately, we had some oven problems and the pans ended up overflowing and batter dripped onto their oven element leaving a burning smell in their house. It was also supposed to only bake for 30 minutes, but that turned into about 45. Finally they finished baking, and we left them on the counter (on racks) to cool while we all went out to dinner with some other of their family and friends. We ate at the new Bonefish Grill located in Edgewater Mall in Biloxi. I think someone said that it was owned by the Outback chain, but specialized in seafood while also offering steaks. The really great thing is that they offer fish that are not normally available in this area. Both Jason and I ended up ordering the Pacific Wahoo with different seasonings, and it was some of the best fish that I have eaten. The teriyaki marinade that came with mine wasn't the best, but the fish itself was fantastic. Kelly had a filet and really enjoyed that. The appetizers, salad, crab and corn chowder, and bread were also good. Many dishes that we'd like to go back and try.

After dinner we all went back to Jason and Ellen's where I pried the lumpy cake mess out of two of the pans and put it onto a plate to frost. This wasn't necessarily a cake that should have been frosted, but I don't think you can have a birthday cake without frosting. I had made a chocolate buttercream frosting earlier in the afternoon and managed to cover most of the deformed cake mess with a coat of it. It didn't look pretty and everyone was having a good laugh while I did it, but they all seemed to enjoy how it tasted (it was rich, but really good). Kelly's homemade blueberry ice cream and our chocolate chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream were also hits. Thanks to Lili and Jeff for giving us one of their ice cream makers last year, we've put it to good use. After filling our stomachs (some with the beer from the new local brewery in Kiln, MS, Lazy Magnolia Brewing Company) we started a game of Cranium. It worked out well with three teams of 3 players, whom we had divided up by drawing numbers as opposed to gender or couples. I ended up on a team with Peter and his spouse, Rachel, and we ended up winning the game. It was a fun birthday party evening.

-poated by Chris

Thursday , 23 JUN 05

File this one under - what the hell, I agree with Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia? You could also file it under, what the hell, I linked a FoxNews story in our blog?! Hey...it's Fair & Balanced. (gagging noises follow...)

Ok...this is really short. But I have a kitty insisting that it is play time.

-poated by Kelly

Wednesday , 22 JUN 05

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Sonic Youth- 'Touch Me I'm Sick' -split 7" with Mudhoney (Sub Pop)

I hate feeling ill. Actually, it's mainly my throat that has been irritated the past couple of weeks. I don't think it's anything Kelly had and which migrated to me, I personally feel that the pollens and junk in the air this year are much worse than other years. I finally went to the doctor's office on Monday afternoon (there's a D.O., and a nurse practitioner, both of whom I've seen). I saw the nurse and she diagnosed it as sinusitis, and gave me a 3-day sample of the antibiotic Zithromax (a Z-pack) to take in conjunction with the Allegra prescribed a year ago which I take every now and then when my allergies seem to be acting up. She said if it wasn't better by next week to call her at the office and she would call in a prescription for a stronger antibiotic so I wouldn't have to come back into the office. I really hope that this Z-pack works (although a few of my co-workers I talked with tell me that it usually takes more than a 3-day dosage in a Z-pack to cure sinisitis) because I hate being medicated. I've always been a person who is relatively healthy and doesn't get sick often at all. I laugh at others who get in line each year to get their flu shot (free or not), and have never gotten in line once for a shot myself. I usually don't even meet the deductible of our medical insurance for the year (although I make an effort to get a check up every couple of years since I bike often and want to make sure I'm in good health). I figure, why waste money going to a doctor who's going to drug you up on something? I can do that myself easily enough, and if an ailment persists I'll use it as a last resort to get the stronger prescriptions.

I finished the Z-pack earlier this evening with the third and final pill, so we'll see how I feel in a week or so. I would rather not drive all the way up to Michigan and have a persistant sore throat. Kelly's mom just sent us a package with three bottles of silver (yeah, you read it correctly) to help prevent us from getting sick in the future. It's in liquid form and adults are to take 2 teaspoons. I think she found it at some natural remedy store or something like that. I'm not too keen on drinking liquid silver. It makes me think of some of the old time medicine wagons portrayed in westerns with the crazy barkers hawking their 'magic elixirs' to the unsuspecting town folk. Some of our other friends have suggested other things from Tylenol Cold and Sinus to some crap that Oprah raved about on her show and now it's in short supply at the local Walmart. I don't watch Oprah, so I don't remember what it's called, but some people swear by it.

I'd actually rather just be irritable and grouchy though. Having a sore throat makes it more difficult to talk, but when my co-workers piss me off (as some have done frequently of late), it takes less time for me to get annoyed. What better remedy than letting your co-workers know how much you despise them more than usual? I think today's cover of Mudhoney by Sonic Youth is appropriate (to a point lyrically).

-poated by Chris

Monday , 20 JUN 05

We've had a nice weekend. Saturday we cleaned the house and cooked some snacks for poker night, which was at out house. We had 18 people playing poker that night...it was a crowded house, until people started losing their money and leaving. Chris left the game pretty early...going all in on pocket aces and getting outdrawn. He was second out of three people in a row going out w/ pocket aces. I managed to stay in for awhile longer...but was getting pretty tired as midnight came and went. I ended up being in 3rd place, which meant that at least I got my money back and Chris' money. It's fun...but it does get tiring after awhile.

Sunday we slept in and then went to a movie - Mr & Mrs Smith. The movie was decent, but got kind of over the top / campy towards the end. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were pretty good and of course easy on the eyes. I'm glad we went to see it, but it's a typical Hollywood flick - action-packed. After the movie we grabbed a quick bite and then I headed to the Gulfport Grand where I had a spa appointment. Chris had gotten me a gift certificate there awhile back and I was finally putting it to use. I indulged in a 30 minute Vichy Shower and a 50 minute massage. It felt pretty darn good...but funny how they never seem to be long enough.

Today I went to the POA to find out about putting up a privacy fence...we have to pay them $50 for the "permit". The price of living in Diamondhead. After that I went to a flooring place in Gulfport and arranged for a contractor to come out and give me an estimate. We're looking into tiling the kitchen. It won't be cheap...but about what I had expected. Now if Chris and I could just agree on tile. I then went to get my haircut at Azalea. It's always fun checking in w/ Anthony to see what funky hair style he has now...today it was the retro- New Wave look. He seemed impressed that I recognized it...Hello, I was a teenager during the 80's. I recognize a Flock of Seagulls do when I see one. I then met Chris and Lyndsay for lunch...we went to Ruby Tuesday's and were sat right next to Jason and Ellen...kind of funny. Lyndsay was like "What's this, an intervention?!" It was nice seeing her and her baby...hadn't seen them in awhile.

Tomorrow it is back to work...which means it is past my bedtime, so I shall wrap this up.

Here's what has been going on in Mississippi news. Looks like they might have problems convicting the Klan-Preacher old guy. I just hope it's not a hung jury based on one woman who refuses to convict a preacher (like the previous trial in the 60's). We shall see...

-poated by Kelly

Friday , 17 JUN 05 Happy Birthday Mom

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Unwound - 'Dragnalis' - Fake Train (Kill Rock Stars)

Here's a nice editorial from the NY Times on lobbyists setting policy in the current administration. I imagine this has gone on in other administrations...but seems pretty blatant right now.

Still no word from Sirius on the lameness of their Left of Center station. Luckily they have some other cool stations. Tonight we were listening to Fred Schneider's (B-52's) show on 1st Wave...he pulls out some interesting songs. I'm still glad we got Sirius...it will make our upcoming road trip go by a lot faster.

In other news...Chris just bought my ticket to the San Diego Street Scene coming up in July. I will be out there for a conference anyway...and will definitely stay an extra day to catch the Pixies again!

So last night we watched the first episode of Morgan Spurlock's new show 30 Days on FX. Morgan was the guy who tried killing himself by eating nothing but McDonald's food for 30 days in the movie Super Size Me. His new show is built on the 30 day concept of putting yourself in someone else's shoes. The first episode was about Morgan and his fiancee living off of minimum wage for 30 days. It really brought back reminders of when Chris and I first moved in together and lived in Portland. We were unemployed for awhile and then finally found odd jobs (I tried a temp agency, then worked as a maid cleaning houses and finally a security guard while Chris worked at Toys R' Us and then the post office as a seasonal employee). We qualified for food stamps and Oregon's free 6 month health plan (which was really nice). I guess we turned out to be success stories - what social services can do for people in a tight spot. Look at all the money the government gets from us now. :-) Anyway...the show was good and worth checking out.

In memory of living in Portland...a song that brings back one of the best concerts I ever saw there. It was a Kill Rock Stars showcase at the ol' X-Ray Cafe. Unwound, Karp, GodHeadSilo, Heavens to Betsy and TattleTale - the first time I'd seen any of those bands live. Also the first time I met our friend, Brad (aka Mr Nasty - from the ol' zine days). So the song is from Unwound's Fake Train album. Memories...

-poated by Kelly

Wednesday , 15 JUN 05

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Descendents- 'Good Good Things' - 'Somery' (SST)

I had forgotten that we had taken this picture to submit to the FUH2 site last weekend when we went to the movie. Now I don't think it was an H2, but the point is pretty much the same. The personalized license plate pretty much sums it up, and my middle finger is a salute in response. When we were up in Birmingham at the bike races there was a bright yellow Hummer that one of the riders had driven up in, and I had to think, 'what an embarrassment to bikers, pulling up in that piece of shit.' I mean sure, there are plenty of bikers (especially down here in the southern part of the country) who drive trucks or SUV's (including myself with our Element), but to drive a gas guzzling Hummer it seems to defeat the purpose of biking when they're polluting the air us bikers have to suck in.

In other random bits, I found this article on the NPR website when I was searching for more about this news item. I think that we'll just have to go out and purchase this book soon. Kelly won me over with a couple of mix tapes that she made for me to keep me company on my drive alone (in my old 1982 Ford pickup) from Oregon to Colorado after I had finished college. They were pretty sappy, but absolutely perfect. I listened to them over and over and continuously through the summer. Today's song is a reach back to one of those tapes and one of my favorite songs from that tape. Totally sappy.

As for the second story link, we do enjoy our new digital camera for taking quick photos of random crap (like this), but it's sad that Kodak won't be making paper for black and white photos anymore. We still have quite a bit of SLR camera equipment and both enjoy taking non-digital photos. Come check out some of the black and whites on the walls of our home that were taken by Kelly and my dad. This fall we're taking a big roadtrip to the southwest and one of the main activities was going to be taking all sorts of photos along the way, especially at some of the National Parks with amazing scenery. Hopefully the other companies won't follow suit and start eliminating their products in favor of the new 'digital age'. There are too many things that one can capture with an old beat up camera and some black and white film that a digital camera just can't do justice to at all. It doesn't have that same warmth or expressiveness, and is probably the main reason we hesitated from purchasing a digital for so long. Sad sign of the times.

-poated by Chris

Tuesday , 14 JUN 05

Well...I was mostly right. The DR gave me 20 days worth of antibiotics and a shot of cortizone in the hip. Yee haw. I wasn't feeling much better today, but hauled myself into work long enough to turn in a proposal I was working on. Then my boss said "Go home" and that was exactly what I was thinking. So it was another day of chilling on the couch, watching Buffy and browsing the internet. I started reading "The Da Vinci Code" because the other 2 books I was trying to get through were slow ("Bobos in Paradise" about the new class of "bourgeoise bohemians" - kinda like Me & Chris, but we're not that bad - and the other book is one I've been slowly chewing on for awhile about the first few centuries of Christianity and related writings of that time period). I think I'll manage to get through Da Vinci Code pretty quickly. It already seems way more readable than the other 2.

So a couple of weeks ago I wrote a few e-mails to Sirius radio complaining about their Left of Center station. My main complaint is that they play a lot of the same songs over and over - from day to day and even within the same day. For example, last week I heard Kasabian's "Reason is Treason" 3 times in less than 9 hours. I like the song...but am now wondering if I like it because it's been forced down my throat so many times or if it really is a good song. Still...3 times in 9 hours is unreasonable for a station playing new music and indie/college type music. I've got Kasabian's album and there are plenty of other good songs. So why is Sirius pushing the same song over and over? And not just Kasabian - most of the new music consists of just one song off a new album played repetetively. So I accused them of being as lame as some Clear Channel station and flipped to Disorder instead...at least on that station there is more variety. I mean they'll jump from the Beatles to opera to John Prine and then U2. I did get an automated response from Sirius saying that they would answer my e-mail...but that was over a week ago & I haven't heard back. Lame!

So here's a nice cartoon from the Washington Post that goes with the story I linked last Thursday about Bush's oil-soaked appointee re-writing reports on greenhouse gas ties to global warming.

-poated by Kelly

Monday , 13 JUN 05

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Jawbreaker- 'Outpatient' - '24 Hour Revenge Therapy' (Tupelo-Communion)

It's Monday...and so far I've spent the day on the couch watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Charmed. I slept in a little, but again had trouble sleeping through the night. I've been feeling sick since Saturday and after all day painting yesterday, I was really feeling wiped last night. So I decided to stay home...and am glad that I did, 'cause I still feel rather rough. I'm off to the Dr's in a little while to find out what creeping crud I have this time. Actually...he never finds out what is causing me to get sick all the time, just gives me a lot of prescriptions (usually the by the same drug companies that give him all the freebies - samples, wall decorations, etc...). Let's see if I can predict: a prescription for antibiotics, a cough syrup, a decongestant (even though I tell him each time I can't take decongestants because they whack me out), and another pill to loosen up my congestion. I know the formula...I've been through it several times each year for the last few years. I'll ask once more - "What is causing me to get sick all the time?" and he'll say "Take all these drugs and come back if it doesn't make you better." Doctors are quacks - or at least mine are.

Anyway...as Chris said - Ellen and I painted for about 8 hours yesterday. Here's a nice before and after shot of the living room. The chartreuse definitely brightens up the room.

before

So for my song of the day...I am commiserating feeling crappy w/ Blake from Jawbreaker. His was a little more serious though - as he is singing about an operation he had once. I may feel like hell - but at least I don't have yellow goo being injected in my veins.

-poated by Kelly

Sunday , 12 JUN 05

It's been a pretty busy weekend. Friday night we did go to see 'Lords of Dogtown' as I had mentioned, and it was a really good film. When we first saw the trailer, we were both hesitant to go see it, but after watching Henry Rollins and his publicist, Heidi, give it a favorable review on the IFC (Independent Film Channel) program 'Henry's Film Corner' a couple of weeks ago, we decided to check it out. Kelly and I had seen the documentary 'Dogtown and Z-Boys' when it hit the independent film circuit a year or so ago and really enjoyed it, so we had a basis of what 'Lords of Dogtown' was about. Basically, the origins of pro skateboarding (what the amazing skills on today's X-Games have evolved from) and the stories of Jay Adams, Stacy Peralta, and Tony Alva from their days as surfers and how they became world class skateboarders. This told a really good story without too much Hollywood bullshit. What was really impressive is how they got the music, the clothes, the cars, and 'look' of the mid-70's down almost flawlessly. The actors did a great job and looked so much like the people they were playing. The skate tricks were also pretty awesome to watch as well. I'd give it a 4.5 out of 5 stars, although anyone who goes to see it should really watch the documentary as well.

Speaking of 'Henry's Film Corner', we received this email yesterday:
Hey All-

I am one of the Executive Producers from the Henry Rollins show "Henry's
Film Corner" on IFC and I read your blog mentioning the show... I just
wanted to say that on behalf of all of us at "Henry's Film Corner" we
appreciate the plug and thanks for spreading the word.

Best Regards,

Kevin

We plan to keep spreading the word about this show. It's really entertaining. Former Black Flag singer, Henry Rollins, has this great half hour program each month on the IFC where he discusses a film with someone (an actor/actress, director, producer, his mailman) and they give their opinion/review of it. He also recommends recent dvd releases, but the best part is when his publicist Heidi goes off on Henry on how 'macho' he is, or something he did that she can't believe. The two of them also review a current independent film together and whether they recommend it or not. We've actually had similar opinions about quite a few of the films they've mentioned and have made an effort to go out and see films mentioned on the program. So, thanks IFC for having a great review show that doesn't kiss ass as much as Ebert and Roeper, and thanks Henry for being yourself. Anyone who has IFC and hasn't checked this show out yet, do yourself a favor. It's broadcast many times during the month so you'll have plenty of chances to see that month's program. My only criticism is that it's not showing new programs more frequently (like twice a month), but maybe Henry is too busy spouting off elsewhere.

Yesterday we spent the day wondering if it was going to rain very much, but once again contributing our share to the growth of the economy. We first picked up some painting supplies at Sherwin Williams and Lowes, then we went to Rhodes Furniture, where they were having a sale and we had a coupon for an unknown percentage off (we're suckers, aren't we?). First, wee ended up purchasing a frame for our bed since we don't currently have one, and there was a nice sleigh bed style that was similar in color to our current bedroom furniture. We also ended up purchasing a new couch and ottoman that we had been eyeing the last time we came in a few weeks ago. Our current couch is about seven years old and feels lumpy, plus the pillows and cushions come out and just aren't as comfortable any more. The couch we purchased is a nice cornflower blue which should go very nicely in our newly painted chartreuse living room. It also is made of a suede-like stain resistant fabric that felt good and should attract less kitty hair. Delivery should be in 2-3 weeks. After spending our money and having pizza for lunch, we went home to work on prepping the living room for painting. Kelly did the most challenging and tedious part of the job by removing the wallpaper border along the top of the wall around the whole room. I attempted to do some of it, but got irritated easily and ended up scraping off some of the plaster on the wall, so needless to say I was pretty useless in that aspect, but I did fill the nailholes and take the outlet plates off the wall along with moving the cd shelves. After finishing late last night Kelly watched 'The Grudge' on Tive before going to bed. I geeked on the computer looking up bike trails in Michigan for our upcoming road trip.

Today we got up and waited for Ellen and Jason to show up, which they did around 10.30am. Jason and I moved the entertainment unit out of the way then let Kelly and Ellen start in on the paint job. He and I went shopping. We first went to the seafood market in Bay St. Louis and found a great selection of different fish, which was both fresh and frozen. We ended up purchasing one red snapper and one pompano, which we had both of them fileted while we waited. After packing the fish in our ice cooler, our next stop was the grocery section of Walmart. Yes, we dislike the store as much as anyone, yet we still shop there out of convenience and available selection. While we were there Kelly and Ellen called Jason on his cell phone to say they wanted us to pick up smoothies for them at the newly opened Smoothie King, so we headed back up highway 90 and picked them up their drinks. We arrived back at the house and made two marinades, one for each type of fish. For the snapper we found this bourbon/orange juice/soy sauce recipe that was slightly sweet, but I added a 'kick' with a serrano pepper I picked from the plant I have growing in our herb garden. The other recipe for the snapper was a ginger/lemon zest and soy sauce mixture that looked good as well. We finished those and put the fish in to start soaking. We then got on the computer for awhile and played poker at pokerroom.com. Jason plays more often than I do, but he convinced me to play a 'free-roll' tournament (with play money). He gave me a few pointers, but I was getting decent cards and ended up winning the table I was playing at. It was funny because a few of the other players were talking shit to each other and we both got a good laugh watching the text comments pop up on the screen. After playing poker I went to prepare the potatoes. I dice up red potatoes and grill them in aluminum foil in a mixture of olive oil and a blend of spices. When that was done Jason and I sat and waited to start cooking while the gals were painting. We offered to help, but they seemed to be doing quite well on their own. They finished around 6.30pm and we were all hungry by then, so since the potatoes were done already we put the fish on, which didn't take long at all. It was a great meal, and we had gotten a 'party pig' mini-keg of beer brewed by a new local brewery and sold at the grocery store in Diamondhead. I don't drink beer, but they all enjoyed it. The bourbon marinade was excellent and we'll use it again for sure, maybe on chicken next time. Dinner turned out well and the paint job looks fantastic. They did a great job, although it'll take a bit to get used to bright chartreuse walls in the living room after being a gray for so long. It's time for bed now though, so I'm going to head out.

-posted by Chris

Friday , 10 JUN 05

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Air- 'The Word Hurricane' - 'The Virgin Suicides sdtk.' (Astralwerks)

Well, it looks like the first hurricane of the season is bearing down on the coast. It's actually a tropical storm right now, but Arlene is forecast to become a minor hurricane before hitting land. I think we're pretty much in the clear since it's forecast to hit somewhere along the Alabama/Florida line, although these things are unpredictable, so we're watching it. We're still planning on painting our living room on Sunday (or I should say Kelly and Ellen will be painting while Jason and I move furniture and grill) and tomorrow Kelly and I are going to prep the room for painting and pick up any supplies (drop cloths, rollers) we may still need. Tonight we're going to see the movie 'Lords of Dogtown' with Jason and Ellen, so we should have a review later this weekend.

The results of the Bump and Grind race are posted on their site now. I placed 41st (last of those who finished in my class) out of 44 riders in the 30-34 Sport Men class. If you scroll down you'll see my name, and if you look at some of the other times, I had almost the slowest of all the sport riders except for one of the women and a couple of the 50-59 year old men. Well, I guess I'll either have to prepare myself better next time or get more of a competitive racing mindset. I do have a couple of months before the next race I plan to ride in. I can get in better riding condition/shape, plus the next race shouldn't be as gruelling. It's the Hotter than Hell 100 weekend in Wichita Falls the last weekend of August. Only a ten mile loop on an established trail in the downtown area along the river. I think by then I should be able to prepare myself for better than last place, although again, as long as I finish, I'll be somewhat content with myself. That's really how I feel about the Bump and Grind ride in Alabama. At least I finished. There's always next year which I can set a goal of improving my time.

-poated by Chris

Thursday , 9 JUN 05

Well...it's Thursday...and seeing that I am here rather than in New Orleans, I guess I am not going to see Iron and Wine. Just as well...it has been a stressful day at work and my stomach has been irritable to boot. I think I just want to hook myself up to my mental wet nurse (aka Tivo) and not think for awhile.

But before I do that...a few news items. I assume you've heard that a few of the "controversial" judge nominees have been confirmed by the Senate. Yesterday they confirmed Justice Janice Roger Browns to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. I'm not sure whether I believe Dems or Reps on whether she's worthy of the confirmation or not. If you look at the vote, it went 100% down party lines - all Republicans giving her the thumbs up, all Democrats giving her the thumbs down, and the lone Independent guy not voting. Here are a few articles about her voting record...one makes it sound horrendous and the other actually kinda cool in an anti-big government kind of way. I guess we all have to decide for ourselves (unless you're a Rep or Dem Senator - then you damn well better stick with the party line).

Here's an interesting story about how one of the Pres's friend-of-oil boys is re-writing climate reports on greenhouse gas ties to global warming.

OK...time to turn off the brain now.

-poated by Kelly

Tuesday , 7 JUN 05

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Iron and Wine - 'Teeth in the Grass' - Our Endless Numbered Days - (Sub Pop)

Just a quickie as it is almost my bed time. Speaking of bed time...so far so good for the new Tempurpedic mattress. Though we've only slept on it 2 nights, so I'll reserve a full review for later.

I thought this was an interesting article. Not entirely sure how I feel about it, but it's interesting to see that tv doesn't just have a brain numbing effect on Americans. Reality TV good...terrorism bad.

So I'm wanting to see Iron and Wine Thursday night...but my usual date (Chris) doesn't want to accompany me to the concert or New Orleans. I have a fear of falling asleep on the way home, especially after seeing a mellow band like Iron and Wine perform. So if there are any friends out there who want to go...give me a shout out. Same offer goes for the Ryan Adams show next week. "Teeth in the Grass" is one of my favorite songs from Iron and Wine. Hope you like it too.

-poated by Kelly

Monday , 6 JUN 05

It's Monday afternoon and we recently arrived back home after our whirlwind trip up to Birmingham. We left early on Saturday morning, although slept in some because we decided we didn't want to arrive too soon and not be able to check into our hotel room. It was a little after 8am when we left. It was a nice drive upto Hattiesburg and over through Meridian and Tuscaloosa. The new Sirius satellite radio is a nice addition to our Element. In addition to multiple music channels, we also get a variety of news, talk, and sports shows. There are two different NPR stations and we were happy that we can now receive the game show program 'Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!'. Our local MPB (Miss. Public Broadcasting) doesn't carry it, which is a bummer, but with Sirius we listened to the whole program. We're planning to call and attempt to get on the show and answer the questions correctly so we can win Carl Kasell on our answering machine at home (if you answer the three news topics of the week questions correctly he records a voice message for your answering machine. Pretty cool.). Anyway, it made the drive go by faster. It only took five and a half hours to get up there, so we checked into the hotel around 2pm.

My sister and I changed to our biking clothes so we could go do a test run on the trail at Oak Mountain before the race on Sunday. We dropped Kelly off at one of the malls on the way and headed to the park. Oak Mountain State Park is one of the nicest state parks that we've been to. There are all sorts of activities for many people; in addition to biking, there is golfing, swimming, fishing, camping, hiking, and more. We'll definitely go back sometime and rent a cabin and try some other things like the paddleboats. Katie and I arrived at the start/finish area where the registration tent was set up along with some other sponsor booths and bikers all over the place. We decided to ride the whole 17-mile loop to get a feel of what we'd be doing the next day with the racers. I have to apologize to Katie again (she already chastized me after we were done riding that afternoon) for getting ahead of her and not stopping to wait up for her. It's no excuse, but I'm not used to riding with others and usually set out at my own pace (biking to me is an individual sport, emphasis on the individual), which is what I did Saturday. I stopped a couple of times to let her catch up, which she did towards the beginning, but on the last 1/3 of the route which was mostly downhill, I got ahead of her and didn't stop again for her to catch up. At the end it turned out that I was about five minutes ahead of her, but still I'm kind of an ass for leaving her behind when she did drive all the way down from Iowa to spend time riding with me, and not alone on the trail. I'll be more considerate next time. Sorry, Katie.

The trail itself was pretty technical. The first section was through the picnic areas along the paved walkway next to the lake and down the road before taking a sharp turn into the woods and tight single-track on a steady incline. This wasn't too bad of a section and when reaching a certain point there was a nice winding downhill stretch that crossed the road and went into another climbing section of single-track with more climbing before the downhill. After crossing the road at another point the trail was a double-track jeep path with some creek crossings and a small downhill before the most heinous uphill climb. The path was damp, muddy, and rocky so it was somewhat tiring to climb it. When reaching one point crossing a bridge we thought that was the end of the climb, but we were wrong. Another climb along the same path further up before reaching the top and a fast descent down the jeep road for a mile or so before riding back into the woods and the single-track. This was the most technical section of the whole trail, and probably the most challenging. Winding downhill with a series of rock ledge drops of about 6-8 inches leading up to Peavine Falls (I think that's what it was called) which was some serious rock ledges with water running across. Some of the expert riders were practicing on Saturday attempting to find the 'perfect spot' to ride down this series of rock steps, so instead of riding it myself, I dismounted and carried my bike down to avoid them. Katie said she did the same thing and the couple that were there when she went through were kind of snobby (like, why was she riding this trail?), but she just walked through and ignored them. After the falls, it was still a fast downhill that crossed the road once again and went back into another single-track section that was an immediate incline before winding down and into the final decline before the finish line. The trail was maintained very nicely with the pathway marked clearly with tape and cones as well as being well-ridden with no minor paths veering off the main trail. The terrain was mainly forest floor with many roots, which with the recent rain were very slick and hard to get traction when riding over, and rocks (well, this is a mountain). The rocky path was muddy, but fortunately not deep sticky mud, more of wet earth that splashed up and coated your legs and buttocks or splashed in your face. Of course some of the larger rocks were also quite slick (especially the falls) from moisture adding an extra challenge. We ended up finishing the loop in about two and a half hours time, and after my sister finished berating me for leaving her, she decided that she didn't want to ride it again the next day against hardcore racers. There was an 8-mile beginner's loop that was in a different part of the park, but she was too exhausted and didn't want to spend the $40 (including $10 late registration fee) to ride even that. I can't say that I really blame her because the trail whipped my butt that day as well, but I had already registered in the Sport 30-34 men's class, so I wasn't going to let my $35 go to waste. I planned to race this weekend, so I went and picked up my registration packet and we headed back to get Kelly and shower at the hotel.

By now it was close to 6pm, so after resting some and showering, we headed out to find something for dinner. We ended up at a decent barbecue place in Five Points South (Birmingham's 'hip' section of town near the UAB campus). Kelly had half a rack of ribs, Katie the 1/4 barbecue chicken, and I had roasted turkey with barbecue sauce. Each came with two sides (I chose baked beans and mashed potatoes) and some really good cheese biscuits that were basically corn muffins with cheese. It was a good meal and we were back at the hotel by 9pm. We watched a little tv and read some before hitting the pillow relatively early. I wanted to get plenty of sleep before the race.

I set the alarm for 7am on Sunday so we could be up and ready to leave between 8-8.30am. My group wasn't starting until 9.54am, but I wanted to be parked and at the course before the starting time. We arrived back at the park around 9am and I unloaded my bike and pedaled around a bit to get the blood flowing. We found a spot to sit under a tree near the start/finish line so we could watch some of the other racers (expert/pro men and women, and early sport groups) take off. They were starting each group on time and fairly close behind each other. The group I rode in had the largest field with 70 riders, or at least that's what they announced before we started. I didn't count, but when the official results are posted I'll see the actual numbers. It was a quick take-off with the more experienced riders (personally I think many that rode in this group probably should have been classed as pro or expert class riders, but that's just me) jumping out to an early lead. I was bringing up the rear, but that's really what I expected. It was a race, but being my first one my goal was to finish, even if it happened to be in dead last place. I have to admit I really am not that competitive when it comes to sports, and maybe I shouldn't have been riding in a race, but I wasn't feeling the 'racer instinct' to place number one. I was still pretty whipped from the previous day, and most of these riders had ridden this trail many more times than I had, so I was in the right spot catching up the rear. Some of the other sport class riders zoomed through on the first section of single-track so myself and a couple of other stragglers made sure to clear out of the way of the trail when they came by. This was a frequent occurance. I also stopped to assist another rider whose tire was low and he was having trouble getting it to inflate with his pump. I offered him mine which worked well, and he was quite gracious. I read somewhere that it's good karma to assist other riders. Good karma or not, I figured it wasn't really going to hurt me in the race if I stopped to get out of the way of others or help someone along the way. I was shooting for last place, but at least finishing the race. I trudged onward and was doing well at my pace (not a racer's maybe, but steady) until I reached the uphill sections. I rode the first part, panting and frequently taking sips from my camelbak or water bottle, and after the water station on the bridge I rode for a bit, but then I had to get off and walk my bike up for part of it. I wasn't the only rider doing it. I passed another guy doing the same thing. When I reached the top I got back on and soared downward on the jeep path towards the challenge of the rock ledges. I rode quickly and gained back some energy coasting the downhill and went back into the single-track zipping around the curves and taking the ledge drops well. When I reached the falls though I started well, and thought I could make it. Wrong! When I got to the toughest section I hit a rock the wrong way and ended up completely flipping headfirst over my handle bars and landing with a hard smack onto the rocks. I have a pretty ugly bruise on my right rib cage from where I hit the rocks. It was kind of embarrassing in retrospect with a small crowd gathered around the Falls to watch riders pass that point, and cheer on those who succeeded in going through unscathed, however I don't think I was the first one to endo like a fool at that section. If I was, well I hope someone took a picture to show others what not to do when attempting to cross that section. I got up a bit dazed, but quickly carried my bike down the last couple ledges because I didn't want any of the pro riders (on their second lap) to get caught up by dumbass me on the rocks. In the crash I also managed to bruise both knees, bloody my right knee, and break the clamp holding my odometer to my bike off completely and rip one of the cables out of the odometer so it wouldn't calculate mileage any longer. I got back on and rode the last few miles to the end. There were a couple of other riders possibly in the same group as I was who were seeming to struggle towards the end with a few stops to avoid the oncoming pro finishers. One guy introduced himself as Spencer said, 'C'mon, we ARE going to finish this.' And as cheesy as it sounds, that bit of encouragement from someone in the same shoes as me (exhausted, hot, beat down, and slightly struggling) gave me the extra lift to finish. He was a bit ahead of me, but Kelly and Katie were at the end and cheered me in. I had some water and we were waiting around for them to post the preliminary results and Spencer came up and shook my hand and said, 'we made it, Chris!' And I replied, 'yeah, we did.' They finally finished posting the results and there I was in last place of the 30-34 Sport Men with a time of 2 hours 15 minutes in front of three riders who did not finish. Like I said, I was shooting for last and I made it, but I did finish it for a total of 34 miles of riding in two days. I'll post my actual placing when they put the official results up on the website. Someone has to come in last, right?
Chris finishing bike race

After racing, I was beat. We loaded up my bike and drove back to the hotel. It was now about 1pm. I flopped on the floor a bit while we watched some television and Katie took a nap on the couch. After a bit I hopped in the shower and washed off the grit and grime and cleaned up some of the blood. When you don't have dirt and mud on your legs you can see bruises much better. I have some pretty nasty ones on my legs, but it wouldn't be a good ride without them. Kelly went down to the pool and I read some before we all finished showering and getting dressed before heading out for the evening.

The second reason for going to Birmingham this weekend was to see our friend Jared and his bandmate Coady in their band Big Business play an all-ages show with The Blood Brothers and The Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower at Cave 9, an all-ages music venue in an old art shop space. We had dinner at Surin West, a Thai restaurant that also served sushi. Kelly had seen it the last time she had come up to Birmingham, plus our hairstylist had also highly recommended it from his trips up to Birmingham for styling shows. We arrived ten minutes or so before it opened at 5.30pm, and there was shockingly a line outside the door of people waiting to get in. We jumped in line ourselves since it was an early show (7pm). We had a basil spring roll and tom kha gai soup, then sushi as our main course. They offered single pieces of sushi which was nice for small portions, but also had some special roll sushi in addition to traditional spicy tuna and spider rolls. The fish was very fresh and the sushi was great. We didn't try any of the Thai offerings (besides the spring rolls and soup), but those looked good as well. A unique, but very good idea of offering sushi and Thai. I'd give it a 5 out of 5 stars for menu items, decor, atmosphere, flavor, and service. No complaints at all about what we have, although Katie did say her eel sushi was a little bit fishier than she usually finds it to taste. Kelly and I both enjoyed ours.

After dinner we got coffee at Starbucks and drove a few blocks to Cave 9 (it was steadily raining now). There were a bunch of kids hanging out front while waiting for the door to open. We waited in the car for a few minutes before hopping in line ourselves. I thought they were letting people in, but not yet. Kelly and Katie stood under a tree for a little rain protection then jumped in line with me under the overhang when they did start to let people in. As we stood waiting Jared came out and gave us each a big hug and we chatted with him for a few minutes. He joked about how he figured they could have saved 3000 driving miles if they had gone on a 'traditional' route around the country instead of criss-crossing back and forth and hitting the midwest after they had already driving through it the first time. He also thanked me for the cookies I had baked for them and given to them in Austin. He said they kept the ziploc bag with crumbs and would stick a pinch between the cheek and gums when they were starving for food. What a funny guy. He said he was glad we came and put all three of us on their guest list. They were the openers, presumably since they were probably the least known in the area. He went to talk to some others and we got inside and stood on the floor towards the center of the room. The space was a small stage on one side of the room with space in front for the audience, then there was an upstairs balcony with a table for merchandise and all sorts of punk kids standing against the banister. Kelly said she figured she was the oldest person there, although I think I saw one other guy with a Monkeywrench t-shirt who had a graying beard and looked to be older. Right before Big Business started Jared walked up to us in the crowd (no-one would have known him from the other punkers) and told us this show was for us. Aww...what a swell guy (no kidding). They played their set of thunderous noise and the crowd thinned a bit with some kids going outside, but there were some admirers who gave them at least polite applause. Towards the end of their set Jared told the crowd they had two songs left and that the next one was for his friends Chris and Kelly who drove 5 hours to see them with his sister Katie, and played 'Off Off Broadway' (I linked that song here back in March) for us before playing their final song. It was really great to see them again and hopefully they'll come down again later in the summer since it seems that they tour non-stop.

Kelly and I went upstairs to where Katie had been sitting in a chair away from the railing. We looked at the merchandise nearby and waited for the next band which was The Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower. The Blood Brothers are HUGE all over the country and were therefore headlining. I didn't really care to stick around for them because they're pretty much a standard fast-paced screamo punk/hardcore band. TPTBUTET were fast, chaotic punk with bass/guitar/drums and occasional sax. Kelly said it reminded her of Mukilteo Fairies which sounded right, if you cross them with xbxrx and The Locust. We stuck around for maybe half of their set then decided it was time to go. The merch guy for Big Business was packing up as well so we got to say goodbye to Jared, Coady, and Jim outside. Jared was showing off his Blood Brothers ukulele (the vinyl zip case had a Blood Brothers sticker) and saying they were going to go to the Radisson about five blocks away and crank up the air conditioner and sit in front of it. We said farewell until next time and drove off ourselves.

We got back to the hotel and Kelly and Katie were pretty tired. I went down to the business center for a bit to check email and the weather forecast for Monday, then went back up to the room. We watched some tv, but I read for awhile longer after they fell asleep.

We left Birmingham at 9am this morning after getting coffee and a snack at Starbucks. Pretty smooth drive all the way down. It was stormy and cloudy when we arrived in Picayune where Kelly and I went into Walmart briefly to pick up some groceries. We then drove home in the rain which let up just enough after we arrived at the house to unload the Element, take Katie's bike off the roof rack, and bring our luggage and groceries inside. A fun and eventful weekend that went by too quickly. I'm not looking forward to the pile of cases I'll have when I get back to work tomorrow, but I can't be a slacker forever.

-poated by Chris

Friday , 3 JUN 05

(link removed)
Josh Rouse - 'My Love Has Gone' - Nashville - (Rykodisc)

It's Friday and I should be at work, but instead I'm slacking at home. It's important to have the right amount of slack in one's life (just ask J.R. "Bob" Dobbs). Actually...I took a day off since Katie (Chris' sister) is in town. They're off riding the trails right now...and I'm here listening to the bluegrass station via satellite tv. Yee haw! Last night we went to see Episode III one more time. We went to IP this time, since the sound was so bad at Cinemark. The sound was much better at this theater, but the seats were less comfortable. So it goes... The movie was still enjoyable the second time around.

Tomorrow we are heading to Birmingham so that Chris & Katie can participate in a mountain bike race on Sunday morning there. Plus we'll get to see our friend Jared & his band Big Business play that evening. Should be a nice weekend and a fun drive...we'll definitely have plenty of things to listen to now - with Sirius plus Chris' mega-MP3 player. I forgot to say that one of the reasons I wanted to get Sirius is because I get tired of every 3rd song on the MP3 player (when on random) being from an anime soundtrack. Some of the instrumental stuff is ok, but I can't handle much of the Japanese pop especially since most of it features the same high-pitched squeaky voice that I find objectionable in the anime itself. I know Chris will be pleased that I mentioned this, since he was surprised I didn't mention it on Tuesday.

The song for today is from Josh Rouse. I don't really know much about him, but apparently he has several cds out. I heard him on 3WK a few times and really enjoyed the songs that they played. So I went ahead and snagged his latest while we were at Tower awhile back. This song is now appropriate as my loving kitty has just hopped down from my lap after giving me several headbutts. It's light and jangly...catchy. Rolling Stones magazine called him a happier, wittier Elliott Smith. I don't think he should be compared to Elliott (very few in my book should be compared to him)...but he's definitely happier at least on most of his songs...maybe not so much on this one. Hope you like it.

-poated by Kelly