Finally, it's
almost the end of the month and payday. Not that it really matters, but
it's closer to when Kelly will get home. I've been fine on my own and
kept busy, but it's always nice to have the usual company in the
evening to converse with, etc. I guess the house is just too quiet.
So, Gary and I enjoyed our AnimeFest this past Saturday. We only
watched six discs, but finished two series, and started a new one. It
was just about the right amount of viewing. I've been having problems
with my Creative Zen mp3 player lately. When I attempted to load some
new music onto it last week, it wasn't fully charged and locked up
during the process. I shut it down and when it came back on it tried to
rebuild the library of songs, but kept freezing up and not finishing.
After rebooting it a couple of times and charging it at Gary's (he has
the same model and turned me onto it), I was going to reformat the
whole drive and start over again. On Sunday I literally spent all day
(no biking on the trails due to the heavy rain and thunderstorms the
previous afternoon/evening) re-transferring all the music I had
previously loaded onto the player back onto it again. Wouldn't you know
it though, it froze up once again during the process, so I finally
threw in the towel and decided to take advantage of the replacement
warranty we purchased with the player through Best Buy. It's good for
two years and it replaces items with a cost between $200 and $299. I
called the toll free number, gave the operator some information, and
now I wait until I receive a label for mailing. I had to box up the
player and all the accessories and software that it came with
(fortunately I still had and found all of the items), and now I wait.
It really is a drag not having my player. I usually bring it to work
and listen to it on the computer speakers, but now I have to listen to
cd's (to drown out the noise of my co-workers and clients chattering
down the hall). Fortunately I can play mp3 discs, but it's not the same
as the random feature on my player. I hope I'll be able to go to Best
Buy within the next two weeks and purchase a new player. Maybe I'll pay
the extra cost and upgrade to a 60GB player from my 40GB.
(link deleted) Hanson
Brothers-
'Duke It Out' from Gross Misconduct on Alternative Tentacles Records
Today's song is for the Seawolves game I went to
last night. They played Texas, who is already out of the playoffs with
the second worst record in the league. The Seawolves are in already and
just jockeying for points and higher seeding when playoffs start in two
weeks. The game was supposed to start at 7.05pm, but ended up starting
at almost 8.45pm because the Wildcatters bus suffered a flat tire on
the way over. Maybe that combination of a losing record and being stuck
on a bus on the side of the road didn't sit well with the Texas
players, but it wasn't the prettiest of games. The Seawolves seem to
finally be playing hockey that they should have been playing all season
and look like a team ready for the playoffs. They scored some really
nice goals in the first period to make it 1-0, and that combined with
lackluster play by Texas (usually expected from the Seawolves at times)
and some saves by Petruk when it counted, they carried that lead into
the second period. It started to get ugly then. The Seawolves punched
in two more goals by swarming around the goaltender and making some
amazing passes, and it was 3-0. Texas must really have been getting
upset and there was a fight with our new 'enforcer' Nick Greenough and
one of their tough guys. In the third the Seawolves kind of slacked off
with the 3-0 lead and Texas kept fighting and got one past Petruk to
make it 3-1. There was some trash-talking on the ice, then the
Seawolves got their focus back and scored another to make it 4-1. With
a little over five minutes left the fans were treated to not one major
battle on the ice, but two, within about 30 second of each other.
Greenough faced off with another player he had been jawing with all
night, then Martone gave another player a close-up view of his fist a
few times to the cheers of the fans (yeah, he got some punches in and I
have to admit I was rooting for him as well, and I'm usually not as
much into the fights). Texas did manage to score one more with about a
minute left, but the game was over and the Seawolves got their two
points to move into sole possession of fifth place in the playoff
standings. They have a total of seven games in nine days beginning with
a three day road trip to Lafayette, Pensacola, and Augusta (GA) this
weekend. Next Tuesday will be a rematch against the same Texas team
that they sunk last night, and I'll be there watching. Their final
regular home game is next Friday against the conference/division
leading Pensacola Ice Pilots who should keep the number one seed all
the way through the playoffs that they go. They have been upset though
in their past two games by both Texas and Louisiana, and the Seawolves
have beaten them a few times this year, so it should be a good home and
home series to propel both teams into the playoffs.
-posted by Chris
Saturday , 26
MAR
05 (still on the not-so-high seas)
Not much to
report this week...things have been pretty sedate. We are doing some
work...but even that is pretty routine. Tomorrow is Easter and you
would think we would have something special for dinner to celebrate.
Nope - it's fish portions for lunch and catfish for dinner. Actually,
I'm sure there will be other choices, but nothing like baked ham or
roasted turkey. Hell...I'm just happy that they still have fresh
strawberries for my cereal in the mornings. That's a real treat. We've
been having fun today with the menu. The cook or whoever makes up the
menu doesn't spell all that well. So today we had Potatoes O'Brain and
Roast Beef a'la mole. The mole was especially delicious, they removed
the fur and everything. :-)
Last night I watched the movie Iron Monkey. It's one of those kung fu
movies that Quentin Tarantino was pushing. The story was basic
enough...hero of the people hunted down by corrupt politicians. The
fight scenes were awesome...kind of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon like,
with Jackie Chan-type action thrown on top. Very cool. By the end of
the flick, I was busting my kung-fu moves all over my room. Definitely
a worthwhile movie if you're into that kind of thing.
So I am off soon to do some yoga in my room. I have been hard-pressed
to get enough exercise out here because most of the equipment in the
gym is falling apart. The treadmill is dead, the bike sucks, and so
does the rowing machine. The weight / universal machine is half broken.
So I can get a few arm exercises in and that's about it. I take time
during the day to walk 1-2 miles in the lab...which is difficult
depending on how many obstacles are in the way (poles, chairs, people),
not to mention if the ship is rolling. I'm managing though. Tomorrow I
might try pilates with a couple of women from the crew. Should be
interesting...
-posted by Kelly
Friday , 25
MAR
05
I've been
neglecting writing this week, but haven't really been home too much. I
came home Monday after a night in Houston (see post from Sunday coming
soon). I checked out of my hotel around 10am, stopped by Einstein
Brothers Bagels and stocked up with three dozen to put in the freezer
for later. I would have gotten more, but I pretty much cleaned them out
of the ones I wanted. I then got a coffee drink at Starbucks, then went
to Best Buy to get some music for the road. I ended up getting an anime
dvd instead. After that stop, I went to Border's Books and Music which
was across from a new Whole Foods market. There I did purchase some
cd's: live Dead Kennedys, Pulp Fiction sdtk, Robyn Hitchcock 'A Star
for Bram', and The Best of Jimmy Smith- The Blue Note years. Quite an
assortment, but with the power on my mp3 player low (I stupidly left
the charger at the hotel in Austin, but a family friend was picking it
up and mailing it to me) I figured I'd have an alternate source of
listening enjoyment. After the cd purchase, I picked up some groceries
(cheese, lunchmeat, and Virgil's Root Beet) and a deli sandwich for
lunch, then was on the highway by 11.30am. A six hour drive home which
went fairly quickly except for the delays across the Atchafalaya bridge
and Mississippi River bridge coming into Baton Rouge. After splitting
off onto I-12, it was smooth driving. I was home in six hours. I spent
the evening catching up on some tv programs I missed and geeking on the
internet catching up on things I didn't check out in Texas.
Tuesday evening was spent watching West Wing from last week and a
couple of the past weekend's anime programs on adultswim. Only a few
episodes of West Wing left this season, and personally I think they
should just cancel it completely. It's had a good run and some really
good story lines, but this season has been kind of weak. They've had
some really 'out there' ideas that made no sense at all.
Wednesday night was Seawolves hockey versus the Victoria Salmonkings
(from British Columbia). The Seawolves started off well in the first,
jumping out to a 2-0 lead, but kind of fell apart after that. They
slowed up in the second and Victoria managed to pull within one. By the
third they were getting totally outshot, and if it weren't for Phil
Sauve basically standing on his head and making some awesome saves,
this would have been a lost cause to the team with the worst record in
the ECHL. Fortunately the two goals in the first period held out for
the win, but even coach Woods said on the postgame interview that it
was a pretty bad game that could have easily been a loss. They really
need as many points as they can get to propel them into the playoffs
and just sitting around when playing teams that aren't going to make
the playoffs as they did tonight, just isn't going to cut it.
Thursday night I went to have dinner at Jason and Ellen's house. Peter
came over as well. We grilled tuna and chicken kabobs marinated in an
Indian spice, diced red potatoes cooked in the oven (a bit
undercooked), and spinach salad. It was nice to hang out and chill with
them talking and for once not playing poker as a reason for getting
together. I stayed there for awhile then came home, but had to spend an
hour and a half on the phone with Bellsouth because our internet
connection was not working. After talking to two different technicians,
the end solution was creating a new DSL broadband connection in our
network settings. Somewhat of a pain, but at least it works now.
Today was pretty slow at work with half the staff off due to it being
their off Friday. It was nice and quiet and after getting some cases
read in the morning, I was able to slack off a bit. Our director
emailed everyone late in the morning and said all employees could 'work
at an alternate worksite' beginning at 2pm (this means we could shut
the office at 2pm). Quite a surprise, but a nice one. I stayed at the
office for an hour because it's nice and cool and the temps outside are
starting to get warmer (in the upper 70's today). At 3pm I went to
Sears to drop off the Altima to have the wheels aligned and the tires
rotated/balanced. I left it there and walked over to the mall and
browsed in Waldenbooks before going over to Books-A-Million for coffee
and reading magazines. I had two hours to kill before it would be done.
I walked back at 5pm and it was all done, so I then went for dinner of
Thai food before heading to the hockey game.
It was a good sized crowd tonight, maybe due to the last night of honor
roll coupons (local kids on the honor roll get free ticket coupons each
semester). Their opponent was the long-hated, arch rival Louisiana
Icegators. The Icegators are most likely going to fold this year, but
the rivalry was as fierce and intense as ever. The Seawolves attacked
first scoring two goals in the first, but the Icegators answered with
one of their own. There were also a couple of fights that included
Chris Cava and newly re-acquired tough guy Nick Greenough. Another
exciting and fast-paced start. The Icegators didn't give up though, and
surprisingly, the Seawolves kept up the intensity. In the third, the
Seawolves opened it up and dominated with three more unanswered goals,
totally outshooting the Icegators. Randy Petruk did have to make some
impressive saves, but the whole team played the kind of game that we're
hoping to see from them once the playoffs start in a few weeks. They
got some help with other games tonight in locking a playoff spot up,
but it's all a matter of keeping it fired up as they play their next 8
games and get as many points as possible to try and earn a higher
seeding than the eighth team to barely make it in. I'm looking forward
to the next few home games left before the playoffs.
Those are the last few days in a very small nutshell. Tomorrow is
AnimeFest and Sunday I'm biking and cleaning the house while catching
up on Tivo'd programs. Ah, so exciting...
-posted by Chris
Monday , 21
MAR
05 (back out at sea)
So
we left Spain a couple of days ago...or was it just yesterday? It's
hard to keep track. Being in port was fun, but I was ready to leave
again. I know that's kind of strange, but getting started on the next
leg of our journey means that I am that much closer to heading home.
Not that being in a new country is a bad thing, but it isn't exactly
like I'm a tourist either.
When we departed there were a few hours of rough seas. The wind had
been blowing steadily for several days, which is a good recipe for
rolling/pitching. Luckily it only lasted a few hours. It's never a good
thing to start a new sea adventure with rough seas...it takes a few
days to really aclimate. Last year we were sailing off Norway and had
choppy seas as soon as we left the fjord. That was the only time I've
ever been seasick (knock on wood)...but I was sick from something I ate
too (trust me about this). It was not fun!
So another interesting aspect at sea is the people that you meet - or
at least the people that you are surrounded by. On this trip there is
one person who definitely stands out. We like to call him Bigfoot. Now
it's not just because he's a big guy (he is kind of tall), but he is
the national expert on the subject. No...really...the guy tracks
Bigfoot. If you don't believe me, you can check out his website (http://www.elmirabigfootwatch.com/).
He is unique according to his website: "It's a great honor to become
the first person on Earth and in the Southern Tier to bring up the
subject of a hairy, large, human like creature often referred to as
Bigfoot and other strange unknown primates that inhabits thousands of
square miles of inhabited woodlands and forests in and around the
Southern Tier." Yep, it's true - he is the first person on Earth to
bring up the subject. I mean, if he has that published on his website,
it must be true - right? So the guy's a little strange. We were on the
fantail one day watching the dolphins. Apparently Bigfoot knows about
some curative properties of swimming with dolphins, because he said "I
want to commit suicide and jump overboard to swim with the dolphins."
That's about the most I've heard him say...I try to stay under his
radar for fear of hearing more about his Bigfoot adventures (as I've
overheard him telling others). Sometimes the ship is just not big
enough.
So that's it for today. Until the next time...
-posted by Kelly
Sunday , 20
MAR
05 (Texas day three)
I woke up at 9am and took
some time to pack everything up before going to have breakfast of a
bowl of cereal and checking email. I had been watching the Weather
Channel earlier and hoped the rain would stay away. I called Boomer's at Rocky Hill Ranch
(the trails in Smithville, about 45 minutes east of Austin) to see how
the trails were. The guy said to give them an hour or so to dry a bit
more after the previous night's thumderstorms had dropped about an inch
of rain. That gave me a bit more internet time before driving east. I
checked out of the hotel, cranked up my new Big Business cd, and headed
out of town. Traffic wasn't too bad on Sunday morning, so I was at the
trails in about an hour's time.
I unloaded my bike, paid the $6 usage fee (which included a map)
to the person (one of the owners?) at their 'repair shop' near the
front, and hit the trails by noon. It was still pretty muddy in many
places and on the first hill near the beginning of the trails I sank
into a red clay/mud that covered my tires and rims and clogged up my
chain and derailleur to the point that I was unable to pedal. Not the
mess I had anticipated, so 3/4 of the way up the hill when my pedals
would go no more, I had to hop off and carry my bike up, while my shoes
sank into the muck. I scraped some of it off with a stick, then found a
few mud puddles to tear through which cleaned (washed) off a bit more
of the thickest gunk, but it was stuck on pretty well. I continued to
ride further back into the wilderness where the trails were a bit drier
and there were patches of grass which helped in the cleaning process.
Overall, the whole network of trails was great. A nice mixture of
single and double track, jeep roads, power line right-of-way and
property line border track. The technical ability varied from easy to
difficult. it was nice to experience a wider variety of terrain change
that didn't include sand like trails on the coast. Some of the single
track through the trees was pretty challenging with sharp corners
cutting through narrow spaces (between trees) with sudden declines and
inclines over a minor creek bed. I loved these trails and would
definitely recommend them to any bikers that happen to be in that area.
I did end up spinning out a few times going too fast around slick
corners, managing to come away with no less than ten bruises on my legs
and thighs, but my motto is still 'it's not a good ride if you don't
come home with battle scars'. It started off kind of cloudy, but turned
into a sunny, partially humid day. I spent three hours on the trails
and rode somewhere between 15-20 miles. After the ride I was glad that
I had a second half of sandwich from the night before.
I cleaned my bike as much as I could with the hose provided across from
the saloon, but I still have to scrub the chain and sprockets with a
toothbrush and re-lube everything before riding again. I loaded it into
the Element (which now needs to be vacuumed), and headed to Houston,
still partially covered in mud myself. I arrived at the hotel around
5.30pm and took a long shower to wash off the grit and grime. Around
7pm I went to get something to eat befroe catching the late showing of
'Steamboy' at the independent theatre. I ended up eating at this small
Japanese place near the theatre. Not crowded on a Sunday night and the
staff were watching the Rockets basketball game on a tv above the sushi
bar. I had a seaweed salad and a couple of rolls that weren't great,
but were decent and inexpensive. After eating I walked around the
corner to Starbucks (this is funny because there are two on opposite
corners, just like thegag in the movie Shrek 2) to have coffee
and read/write some before the movie started at 9.40pm. There were only
five others in the theatre, but then it was late Sunday night. the
movie had some great visuals and animation, plus the vocal dubs worked
quite well (featuring the voices of Patrick Stewart, Anna Paquin, and
Alfred Molina), but unfortunately the story itself was only mediocre
and somewhat disjointed in parts. It's like when they stopped working
on it and came back to it, they had a whole new idea and it didn't flow
well with the previous idea left off from. A bit of a disappointment
because I was really looking forward to it. I did enjoy seeing an
animated feature on the big screen though, and it would be great if all
the AnimeFests that Gary and I have were on a large movie screen like
that. We often discuss how we're getting ripped off not living in Japan
where many anime movies show at the local multiplex, plus the wide
array of anime-related goods is unfathomable.
On the way back to the hotel I picked up some more blister pads at the
pharmacy. When I did get back I read for a bit, but was pretty
exhausted from a full weekend and managed to fall asleep by 1am.
-posted by Chris
Saturday , 19
MAR
05 (SXSW day two)
After five and a half hours
of sleep, I was up again to get ready for another full day. It took me
a few minutes to roll out of bed at that early morning hour, but a
knock on the door motivated me. One of the maids was at the door, and I
told her I was fine and didn't need anything. She thought I said I
needed new towels, but I opened the door to explain that I still had a
clean towel. I showered, dressed, got my backpack and headed out the
door. I jumped on the computer briefly then headed up to the bus stop.
The timetable only showed one route (of three that served this stop),
so I figured that I'ld just get on and transfer to another line heading
downtown. This is where I met Pete from the U.K. who was also heading
into town. He had taken the bus earlier in the week and knew where to
get off to catch one going into town. We had a pleasant conversation
about music and different topics (including the city's theme) on
the ride. He was heading to Waterloo Records and I was headed to Katz's
Deli for lunch. I gave him the night bus schedule I had printed before
coming on the trip because he and his friends had taken a taxi back to
the hotel the previous night. Maybe they could save some money.
Katz's Deli is a New York style place with a full menu. I checked out
the menu and pulled up to the bar to order a sandwich to go. Turkey and
Muenster cheese on pumpernickel bread, no lettuce, tomato, or mayo, and
a few packs of mustard. Kind of pricey for a sandwich, but they do pile
on the ingredients. There was at least one inch of sliced turkey,
folder over inside. Good, fresh, and filling. I then headed up to Emo's
to check out the times of the bands playing. Big Business was at 1.50pm
and it was now only 12.30. I had extra time so I walked a block up the
street to Room 710 for the Kill Rock Stars/Touch & Go party. I saw
Maggie Vail (ex-Bangs) and talked with her for a bit (we put on two
Bangs shows here on the coast on different tours). She is doing well
and is now the label manager and signs the bands. Pretty cool if one is
interested in making a career in that field. I also watched one of
their new bands, The Paper Chase. Kind of hard to describe, but very
energetic. Kind of disjointed rock music with vocals delivered in
a hip-hop style. Different and actually pretty good. After they played
I walked back to Emo's where I saw Jared and said 'hi' before they had
to go set up their equipment. They were scheduled to play from
1.30-2.15pm. When Jared came up to the mic, he said, 'We're on a timed
schedule that begins, now' as he seemed to set his watch and they
played with a thunderous roar. Coady (ex-Murder City Devils) drummed
with an intensity that at one point made his cymbal hit the mic near
it, and made it hang from the stand awkwardly. Jared's bass rumbled
through the stack of amps behind him and he growled the vocals. Very
similar to the sound of Karp (loud, bass heavy rock). It was great fun.
After they finished I purchased a cd and a t-shirt. I waited around a
bit and Jared hadn't shown up, so I gave their merch guy the bag of
cookies I made for them and a note to give to Jared. The next band,
Death from Above 1979 (a way overhyped duo from Canada getting
attention lately who remind me of godheadSilo, but with less intensity)
had started and I listened to a couple of songs, but my feet were sore
so I was heading up to the pharmacy to get some blister pads for my
feet. I did see Jared on the way out and told him I enjoyed the set. He
said they plan to tour frequently the rest of the year, so hopefully
they'll come back down our way closer or maybe even let us put on a
show for them.
I went up to the CVS Pharmacy on Congress and found the blister pads. I
also purchased some moleskin to wrap my left foot with which was worse
off at this point. I then sat on a bench and put a couple of the pads
on and wrapped up my foot. Still sore, but mow it was protected a
little better. Being on Congress I also stopped by Starbucks for a
frappucino and headed back to Room 710. The Gossip were the last band
playing there, scheduled for 4pm. Some local radio dj's were playing
m.c. for the 'vinyl cakewalk' they were having on the middle of the
floor in the room. They were coaxing people into playing. Numbers from
1-12 were placed on the floor and they started some music playing and
the group walked around in a circle. When the music stopped, the people
stopped and they picked a number, then the winner would receive a
record (mc choice) from either Kill Rock Stars or Touch & Go. They
also had some other 'choice' albums (such as Dokken, etc). I actually
won a Gravy Train record as well as Phil Collins' 'No Jacket Required'/
Lucky me. After winning I was no longer prize eligible, so I sat down
and watched some of the NCAA basketball tournament on the tv screen
above the bar. Another band wound up playing before the Gossip and I
caught myself falling asleep while sitting down and they were playing.
I woke up when the Gossip came on and rocked the house. They actually
started closer to 5pm, so it was nearing 6pm when they finished. That
gave me time to eat and hang out before the night showcase I was
attending later.
I walked over to a place I had seen the previous day. It was called
Noodle-ism and had a variety of mostly Asian noodle dishes, but
macaroni and cheese was also on the menu. I chose a spicy Vietnamese
ramen dish in shrimp broth and coconut milk, with a few shrimp for
flavor and protein. It was very tasty, and I ate the whole bowl
full. Good and filling, but I wasn't anywhere near stuffed. I stayed
there a bit to write after eating, but left when the dinner crowd
started to come in. I headed back to my favorite Starbucks (damn, we
should purchase stock with them) and had a peppermint mocha while
sitting and writing for awhile. Around 7.30pm I walked over the the
Blender (magazine sponsored) Bar at the Ritz to pay my $15 and settle
in for the evening. No problems getting in and I was able to snag a
booth seat towards the back of the room, but still had a decent view of
the stage area. Oddly enough it was positioned next to a large bar
towards the front of the room. It was like half the space was the bar
adn the small stage area was an afterthought next to it.
First up at 8pm was Timonium. Quiet, slow rock along the lines of
earlier Low records. I had seen them at YoYo a GoGo in 1999 and was
happy to see them play again. Next up were +/-, which had a couple of
members of Versus with an energetic indie pop sound. I enjoyed seeing
them as well. This couple from Austin sat at the booth with me and I
enjoyed talking with them about Austin and music in general. I also
read some manga between the bands. For some reason they never turned
down the lights while the bands played, which I thought to be strange.
The Winter Pageant were third at 10pm and were another band that played
slow, moody music with a bit of feedback noise wash (just a little
bit). Probably my favorite of the evening. Next were The Stars, who I
think were from the U.K. I didn't really pay too much attention because
I really didn't have any interest in them and read instead. I did want
to hear the band I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness mainly from a
description I read that sounded appealing, but the name itself was also
interesting. They were okay and hard to describe, but not as great as I
had maybe expected. Ah, well. I left around 12.30am, skipping American
Analog Set because the bar was getting too smoky and I wanted to get
something from Katz's for the next day after biking. I got another
turkey sandwich with swiss cheese on French Bread and ran up to catch
the 1am bus. Some 'friendly' drunk was talking non-stop to me at the
bus stop about how he liked getting with some mixed race boys as well
as pretty white boys, but not ones that weren't working and earning
money. He didn't want them to stay with him and next week he was going
to have money for beer, weed, and ecstasy. How did I get into a
conversation with this guy talking my ear off? Is he trying to pick me
up or something? I didn't feel threatened, just a bit uncomfortable
when he mentioned serving jail time for being a thief or a fence (I
can't remember). Great. If I have to be around drunk people, I'd rather
they are quiet or pass out (fall asleep) than the ones who become more
and more obnoxious as they babble on about pointless shit. I'm not your
friend, I don't want to talk to you, leave me alone. However, I didn't
say anything and occasionally nodded my head in false agreement at his
babble. He sat next to me on the bus, but I remembered that I had my
mp3 player in my pack with my headphones, so I pulled it out and told
him I was going to be listening to my music before plugging in. His
stop was before mine and I was glad when he left. Give my ears a rest
please.
I was back at the hotel at 2am, got on the internet and checked email,
sent a message to Kelly, then went to my room. I had some of my
sandwich and watched some tv before going to bed around 3.15am. I fell
asleep pretty quickly after another long day. -posted by Chris
Friday , 18
MAR
05 (SXSW day one)
'Don't Mess with Texas' or 'Drive
Friendly- The Texas Way'
I woke up at the usual time of 5.30am, although I lay in bed with Tura
(one of our cats) for about 20 minutes. I got out of bed, showered,
loaded the Element, and hit the road at 6.50am. A little later than I
had planned, but still pretty good. Traffic was flowing along smoothly
on I-12 until I hit the merge with I-10 in Baton Rouge where it was
stop and go for about 15 minutes. There was some sort of accident and a
truck had dropped some bags of gardening dirt on the freeway and they
were still cleaning it up. After getting through that mess I made a
quick stop at Starbucks for a late breakfast of a croissant and a
frappucino. Now I was energized with my caffeine fix. Yes, I am an
addict.
The radio reception for KLSU went out somewhere over the Atchafalaya
Basin (the long-ass bridge over lake, swamp, and bayou between Baton
Rouge and Lafayette), so it was time to switch on the mp3 player. NOT
an Ipod mind you, but a Creative Zen 40 GB player. One of the greatest
features of our Honda Element is the auxilliary jack that is connected
in the dashboard to the car stereo. All we had to do is get an adapter
cable to plug the mp3 player in via the headphone jack, and the sound
runs through the car stereo in the AUX mode. I've loaded over 7400
songs onto my player, so it's good for hours. It's not as fun with
Kelly gone because we can't play our 'name that artist' game where we
try to see who can guess what artist is playing (before the other
person) when it's on the random setting. We even have a default 'anime'
category since I've put quite a few anime soundtracks on the player.
Kelly thinks it's pretty funny to call out 'anime' after only a few
notes of something instrumental, and I hate to admit it that many times
she is correct. I then try to guess the series if it's something I
recognize from the AnimeFests that Gary and I have. I'm getting better
at guessing the series.
Anyway, that kept me entertained until I reached the outskirts of
Houston and could pick up KTRU, the Rice University radio station. They
have a typical 'college' format of freeform most of the time. I heard
some new things such as The Avalanches (well, new to me at least) which
I'm now motivated to go out and purchase or download. I hate driving
through Houston though. Like most large metropolitan cities there's
always some sort of road construction on the interstate and this
creates bottleneck traffic for miles. It took at least 45 minutes to
get from one side to the other, and on top of that there was about 20
minutes of stop and go on the west side of the city. Both directions.
Ugh.
I finally got out of the traffic mess and the rest of the drive to
Austin was pretty smooth. A funny thing I saw outside of Houston was a
convoy of 12 to 15 Hummers of different models and colors. I wondered
if they were all related or belonged to some club or something. At
least they had the courtesy to drive in the center (of 3) lanes and had
their hazard lights flashing since their speed was a bit slower than
other vehicles (like mine) zipping by. There was a bit of congestion
coming into Austin city limits, but it worked almost perfectly getting
off of Hwy. 71 at I-35 because all I had to do was take the access road
about a mile or so north and there was my hotel just on the other side
of the freeway. Convenient. I checked in just before 4pm, so my total
travel time was the nine hours that I expected.
The hotel is a Clarion Suites which I booked under the gov't. rate of
$69 per night. It had a king bed, a desk/table, couch, and microfridge.
I made sure because I wanted to store some water, gatorade, and ice
packs I used with our cooler. I brought that to have cold water the
whole trip, especially for biking on Sunday, as well as the sandwich I
brought from home for lunch on the drive over. Do you get the idea that
I'm kind of cheap? The couch left plenty of room for me to lean my bike
up against. After I checked in and unloaded my gear, I walked up the
street a block to catch the bus. Didn't have to wait long before it
showed up and for a mere fifty cents I was headed for downtown. I
decided before I left home that I didn't want to have to deal with
parking downtown, especially since there was a late night bus leaving
downtown at 1, 2, and 3am that I could take back to the hotel after the
shows.
'Hipsters on Parade'
Austin's theme is 'Keep Austin Weird' (I'm not kidding,
even the bus transfer says this). I found this out later from Pete, a
guy from the U.K. I met on the bus Saturday who was staying in the same
hotel. He had it explained to him that it was because Austin is more
liberal than the rest of the state of Texas and they (locals) want it
to stay that way. Great campaign. Anyway, so the whole city, especially
downtown, is crawling with all sorts of musicians, 'industry' people,
college students, and hipsters. The great thing is that everything
(clubs, restaurants, etc) are all located within walking distance of
each other in the central part of town. Unfortunately, I made a poor
choice of shoes to wear (Vans) and suffered two nasty blisters on the
bottom of my left foot and another on my right foot. Not a comfortable
feeling.
Being spring break not only are there SXSW attendees swarming downtown,
but idiot college drunks as well. The main drag of 6th Street gave me
an impression of Daytona Beach (cars cruising with coeds yelling out
the window) combined with Mardi Gras on Bourbon Street (bars with
people pouring out, although no open containers outside and no flashing
tits), mixed with Beall Street in Memphis (live bands playing in every
bar and the music is drifting out into the night air). I hiked up to
Club DeVille where Vans and Insound were hosting their 'party' with a
$2.00 cover. I arrived as the second to last band (Controller
Controller?) were finishing their set and breaking down equipment and
The American Analog Set were setting up to play. I moved to a prime
position under the tent in the courtyard where the stage was set up and
didn't have to wait too long. The American Analog Set usually sound
pretty good in the confines of a small bar or club, but this open-air
tent setting worked quite well and they sounded really great. The band
and crowd all seemed to be having a good time and there were many fans,
as opposed to the few just there for a small cover and cheap (free?)
beer. I'm glad I made it to a show that was outdoors in a small area
and didn't make my clothes reek of cigarette smoke. After the show,
Vans was giving out free 'goodie bags' which included a t-shirt and an
Insound catalogue/booklet. Nice.
Afterwards it was almost 6.30pm. I walked a few blocks down to Stubb's
BBQ for takeout since the line for seating was over an hour wait. Not
like I was in a hurry, but I was getting a bit hungry. I had a barbecue
turkey breast sandwich on a bun with extra sauce (their BBQ sauce is
some of the best around and can be found at many grocers) and a side of
serrano pepper cheese spinach. The sandwich really hit the spot, and
the spinach was pretty good also. I had walked up a hill a few blocks
and sat on the steps of a Baptist Church to eat. Nice and quiet, well
besides the music playing down the hill. After eating I walked back to
Emo's where Big Business was going to play to see if I could see our
friend Jared and talk with him before they played. There are three
Emo's venues (Emo's, Emo's Jr., and Emo's Annex). Emo's Annex, where
this showcase was held, had a large outdoor tent under which the bands
were playing, and tonight was the HydraHead 'metal' (don't believe me,
check out their website and listen to some mp3 samples) showcase with
Isis headlining. I listened to the Red Sparrows who were first and
weren't as 'heavy', and even had some quiet sections. When the second
act, Mare, started though I had to go. I didn't want to pay the
$15 cash price for non-badge/wristband holders, just to see Big
Business, nor was I in the mood for a night of hard rock/metal only. I
also didn't see Jared, so I decided that I would come back for the free
day show on Saturday. I then walked over to the club The Pillows were
playing at later (midnight), but they had already let in the alottment
of 50 cash payers (and there was still a long line outside), so I
headed elsewhere since it was just after 9pm now..
I stopped by Antone's and paid my $20 for a hand stamp so I could come
back later and finish the evening with Calexico. I then headed to La
Zona Rosa to see if I could get in to catch Robyn Hitchcock in a little
over an hour. No problem. This large warehouse space (think of the big
room at Twi Ro Pa in New Orleans and reduce the length by about 1/3)
had plenty of room open. It was a $15 cover, but worth it to see Robyn
Hitchcock (John Cale and Spoon were the closing acts later that night).
The one thing that I couldn't do was bring my bike bottle full of water
into the venue. The guy at the door said it was some city law, however
I hadn't had any problems elsewhere. Whatever. I hid it in the bushes
near the exit gate with hopes that no-one would take off with it.
Before Robyn Hitchcock played though, I had to suffer through Radio 4.
I had heard their cd before and didn't care for it, and despite their
enthusiasm and energetic dancing I just couldn't get into them. They
mix indie guitar rock with electronic dance music. It just doesn't gel
well for me. Most bands play roughly 40-45 minutes of music (if you
want to see a longer set by an artist, don't go to SXSW unless the
artist isn't playing anywhere else near you at all), so after they
finished I moved up near the front. Robyn Hitchcock came out and said
that his acoustic guitar was broken, so he would have to manage on the
electric. He is truly a great storyteller with all sorts of funny
lines. He made some comments about Carl Rove, Donald Rummsfeld, and
George W. Bush. I really wish I could remember what he said, but for
the life of me cannot. They were pretty funny little digs though. I
don't know if the whole crowd got it though. He played some old and
newer songs. Towards the end of the set he had the lead singer of the
band Harvey Danger come out and sing back up on a few tunes. One of my
faves of the night was 'Viva Sea Tac' about Seattle and the airport
there. After a final 'spacey' instrumental he said he was taking off
(meant to be a pun since he left and the music was like a rocket going
into space). I really enjoyed seeing him again. He was my first concert
(not counting George Thorogood in Alaska) that I went to in summer 1989
in Chicago. I was visiting my friend Kristin and she and her friends
were going to see Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians on the 'Globe of
Frogs' tour, and I was fortunate to be in town that week (the same week
I went with them to see New Order/Public Image Limited/The Sugarcubes).
I left La Zona Rosa, skipping out on John Cale and Spoon. My water
bottle was right where I left it, so I picked it up, wiped it off, and
had a drink before putting it into my pack. I hiked back up to Antone's
where the line(s) had grown to stretch around the corner of the block.
It was only 11.15pm, but most people were arriving early to get in not
for The Frames at midnight, but Calexico at 1am. The whole 'scam' of
SXSW is that badgeholders have top priority, then wristband holders,
and cash payers last if there is any space, or I should say regardless
of the space left inside. Most of this line was badge/wristband
holders, so they split us cash payers into a seperate line against the
wall. I was about twelfth in line, and even though I had paid
previously, may have been out that $20 because of a miscommunication by
the club and SXSW officials, I felt a bit worse for the group of three
'kids' (well, not kids, but probably college students) behind me in
line. They had just driven about 24 hours down from Minneapolis just to
see Calexico. They didn't gather from Calexico's website or the SXSW
site the importance of the wristbands and badges. I on the other hand
knew the risks, and decided to chance it. Some of the people in the
cash line in front of us eventually left when it was 12.40am and it
really didn't look like we would get in at all because the other line
still stretched around the corner. At 1.05am I was third in the cash
line behind this couple. One of the club staff (maybe the owner) came
out and told the doorman to let some of the cash line in with the
wristband holders. The couple went in, then some wristband holders,
then I was let in after a couple more minutes. I felt kind of bad, but
I had paid my money and would have been slightly annoyed if I had paid
and not gotten in. Calexico started at 1.15am and sounded great as ever
with their 7-piece Latino influenced ensemble. The three from MN must
have finally gotten in because into the second song they said 'hi' as
they passed me moving up towards the front of the stage. I didn't stay
for the whole set because I had to catch my bus, but I did get to hear
a couple of songs they performed with their first special guest. It
turned out to be Neko Case whose country twang vocal and guitar
complemented their southwestern music style nicely. Maybe they'll do a
collaboration album or something.
I walked a couple of blocks up to Congress Street, which is another
main drag that intersects the numbered streets. The bus stop at the
corner of 5th and Congress was near the entrance of a dance club that
was thumping music out into the night. It was also a great vantage
point for watching people wander by. There were all sorts out at 2am
staggering, looking cool and trendy, catching taxis, cruising, hooking
up, or trying to find their destination. Too funny. i made it back to
the hotel and was still pretty wired at 3.10am. I emailed Kelly on the
ship, checked some other websites (including espn for basketball info)
and headed back to my room. I finally went to bed at 4am, about 23
hours later than I had gotten up the previous morning. Stay tuned for
day two... -posted by Chris
Thursday , 17
MAR
05
(link
deleted) Big
Business- 'Off Off Broadway' from their 4-song Tour EP on Wantage USA
Records
Tomorrow I'm headed out to Austin for the big schmooze-fest, rock star ass kissing which is called SXSW (South by Southwest). Kelly and I have considered going before, but never took the initiative to go over. I'm not going as an official registrant or participant, but only as an observer to scope out the scene and see if it would be worthwhile to attend in the future as actual conference members. The downside to going as I am is that I will not possess a coveted SXSW badge or wristband which allows priority to all music showcases. That means I may be out of luck in trying to get into any of the night shows. I considered purchasing one on ebay from a seller, but decided instead to 'wing it' and let fate decide for me.
There are some labels/publicists that are sponsoring 'parties' (free shows) during the day at the different clubs though which feature some (many?) of the bands playing the night showcases. That might end up being my best bet for seeing bands, especially some of the ones I'm really hoping to see. Friday afternoon is a 'party' put on by Insound (www.insound.com) and I'm hoping to get in town early enough to at least catch The American Analog Set who are scheduled to play at 5.30pm. Saturday are parties by Take Action/Flower Booking (which features Big Business) and the Kill Rock Stars/Touch & Go party. There is also this: www.txrollergirls.com which could prove to be quite entertaining. Rollerderby and rock music, what a combo!
The bands I'm most trying to see at the showcases on Friday night are: Robyn Hitchcock, Big Business (ex-Karp, Murder City Devils), The Pillows (rock from Japan, did the sdtk. music for FLCL anime series), and Calexico. On Saturday night I'm just trying to get into a showcase at one club for all the groups playing: Timonium, Stars, +/- (members of Versus), The Winter Pageant, I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness, and The American Analog Set. Maybe if I plant myself in one place all night I'll have more success. Friday night will be a hike around downtown Austin attempting to hit 4 or 5 clubs. At least I might be able to stand outside the door if I can't get in, or all over there should be music floating out the doors and into the night.
I've been gathering all sorts of Austin info the past week and printed it up to take with me. I have the transit (bus) schedule for the late buses that leave downtown around 3am during SXSW to take those attendees whose hotel isn't located in the heart of the city to their destination. Of course I'm going to hit Stubb's BBQ for some grub, but I've also been recommended Katz's Deli by our friend Peter for 24 hour eats, and there are a couple of other places to check out. I'm excited to be getting out of town and even more to get out of my office for a couple of days. Some of my co-workers said, 'you'll miss us.' Yeah, the hell I will.
On Sunday, after I've left all the 'fun' behind in Austin, I'm heading out early to a 'ranch' east of Austin to do some mountain biking. It's gotten good reviews on different sites as a recommended place to ride, and I'm eager to hit some new trails. I can spend a few hours in the dirt and wilderness before heading onto Houston for the night. Sleeping in Houston makes the drive home shorter by leaving early Monday morning (as opposed to a straight shot from Austin), plus I plan to go see the new animated movie opening tomorrow, 'Steamboy', from the director of Akira. An action-packed weekend that I should have plenty of stories from come Monday. I'll take a notebook along to write down some memorable moments from the weekend and post them next week.
Here's a blog link of the day: http://darcysdiary.blogspot.com/ My good friend Lili from high school and her husband Jeff had a daughter this last fall. This is their new blog site which features a lot of their daughter and other things they are up to. Enjoy!
-posted by Chris
Thursday , 17
MAR
05 (somewhere in Spain)
We've been in
port for a few days now. So my channel fever is officially over. The
land doesn't even rock anymore (like when you first get off the ship
and everything is still moving). I've gone out the past few nights and
have enjoyed some good Spanish food and wine. The first night we got
some paella - it was yummy. I think I might have to hunt down some more
tonight. I ought to buy a paella pan while here so I can try to make
some at home. Last night the food was pretty good, but the service was
slow and not very good (like the waitress forgetting to bring out 2
appetizers & one entree). Which brings up one thing about
Spain...they definitely move at their own pace - which is way more laid
back than even the South. Case in point - our first day one of the
people we were with got a rental car. So we had to go get an access
pass for the car. We waited and waited at the pass office...there was
someone in there cleaning the floor. Then he disappeared and there was
nobody in there for 10 minutes or so. Finally somebody asked the guard
where the pass guy disappeared to...and the answer was that he just
mopped and had to wait for the floor to dry before he could come back
in and help anyone. Get the idea? This is the land of the afternoon
siesta...and you'd better believe that everything closes up around
2:30.
Yesterday I toured a sherry and brandy bordega. It was interesting
seeing how they process and age the wines...and everytime we stepped
into one of the cave-like storage areas, there was a very strong smell
of alcohol. Almost like you could get drunk off the fumes. At the end
of the tour we were given a glass of dry sherry and one of cream
sherry. The cream sherry was sweet and pretty good. I don't know if I
like the dry sherry as much. I bought a bottle of 15 year old brandy -
just because it smelled so good where they were aging it. In one of the
aging rooms, they had a glass of sherry set up on the floor with a
little ladder leaning up against it. Then every minute or so a little
mouse would dash over to the glass and take a drink. Defintely some
happy mice at that place.
Well...that's all I've got for now. Happy St. Patrick's Day! There are
plenty of Irish pubs out here...seems like you can find those anywhere.
So perhaps I will have a pint of Guiness later to celebrate. Guiness
and paella - now there's a winning combination.
-posted by Kelly
Tuesday , 15
MAR
05
The Seawolves
played another thriller tonight at the MS Coast Coliseum. They were
hosting last year's defending Kelly Cup champions, the Idaho
Steelheads. The teams were pretty evenly matched in most categories and
both teams came out fast. It was a pretty physical game, which isn't to
say the Steelheads played dirty, but at times 'undisciplined' (as
Seawolves coach Bob Woods put it in the post-game interview). There was
some scrapping and plenty of hard hits by both teams, but the Seawolves
took a 2-1 lead into the locker room at the end of the first period. In
the second they slowed things down because this appeared as if it was
going to definitely be a close game. It was still 2-1 going into the
third, but with under ten minutes left in the period the Steelheads got
their second power play goal of the night to tie the game up. The
Seawolves had their chances to win it in regulation, but couldn't seem
to find the net. Even in overtime they had a man advantage with 1.55
left in the OT period, but still couldn't get the puck in the net, and
had to rely on some stellar net-minding by Phil Sauve to take it to the
shoot out. Kerry Ellis-Toddington of the Seawolves scored the only goal
in the shootout, while Sauve shut out all of the Steelheads shooters to
win it for the Seawolves. A much needed two points to take sole
possession of seventh place in the playoff standings. Another exciting
game.
Not much else of interest today. I'm driving to the Picayune office in
the morning to pick up some case folders because we're completely out,
then I'll head back to Gulfport. At least I'll get out of the office
for a little bit. I'm also excited to pick my bike up from a tune-up at
the bike shop after work tomorrow. I'm heading to Austin for SXSW
(South by Southwest) this weekend, as well as an afternoon (Sunday) of
mountain biking (provided the weather cooperates). It's been about a
year since I've taken it in, and I figured it'd be good to get some
'professionals' to check it over to tighten and re-lube everything
including the shocks before I take it out again. If it does happen to
rain, of course I'll be disappointed, but at least my bike will be
ready for the next time I hit the trails locally.
-posted by Chris
Monday , 14
MAR
05
I really
detest politics, and I have an even more seething hatred of
politicians. Kelly weighed in pretty well about the recent situation of
the agency I work for (MS Medicaid) yesterday, and I usually really
don't like talking about it, but the whole fiasco has grated on my
nerves. Medicaid has been a problem for a number of years here, and
elsewhere around the country. Even Bush seems to want to phase it out,
or at least reduce the federal funds going to the state programs. I'm
really just more familiar with the program in Mississippi.
Our
agency has pretty much been over budget for the past few years. Each
year there are more and more beneficiaries and less money to cover the
rising cost of their medical care. The politicians have always found a
way to fund it somehow, usually at the expense of other agencies such
as MDOT (MS Dept of Transportation). No politcian (or a minority maybe)
has really wanted to address the issue of benefits cuts. That is until
last year. Our governor, Haley Barbour, signed a bill which the
legislature came up with in May that eliminated the PLAD (Poverty Level
Aged and Disabled) program effective with the new fiscal year beginning
July 1. Of course when benificiaries were notified, it created a huge
uproar and many politicians played the partisan game and said, 'oh, I
didn't know what I was signing' or 'our backs were up against the wall
and we didn't have a choice.' What a bunch of typical lies from those
jackasses. If that was the case, it's pretty scary how many bills they
actually pass that they aren't reading. I'm not buying it though. As
much paper that is used to give each representative or senator a copy
of a certain bill, how could they not have some sense as to what they
were doing? Fucking morons. Anyway, the intent to save money was
probably good, but probably not timed very well. Maybe they could have
phased the cuts in some way to give more time, but it threw our agency
into the ones that had to find other alternatives for this certain
group of beneficiaries and put much of our other work on hold for about
four months. What it finally came down to was a temporary reinstatement
of the program stemming from a court order in September with no
definite end date. So, basically we were back to step one and
disagreement of the politicians to do anything.
In January our
director publically stated that Medicaid would run out of money to pay
claims effective Feb. 28, and it was put to the politicians to find out
how to fund our $268 million dollar deficit for the current fiscal year
ending June 30. The republican controlled senate and the governor had
one solution, but the democratic house didn't like that idea and had
their own, so it's been a partisan slugfest for the past month and a
half. Somehow our director obtained a loan to fund Medicaid through
March 11, but after that no claims could be paid. Of course we were
'completing day to day operations as usual', just no claims were going
to be paid, however all providers were pleaded with to provide service
to beneficiaries of Medicaid because the governor and our director felt
this issue would be solved. More bickering publically and March 11
(Friday) came with the house deciding to adjourn for the weekend 23
minutes after they had called to order that day. What a bunch of
assholes. That apparently pissed the governor off, and he called a
special session on Saturday to bring them all back to Jackson and fix
it somehow. The senate passed a bill that day and presented it to the
house on Sunday, who late Sunday night, came to agreement to take money
from the tobacco settlement trust fund and repay it back in a few years
from the 'rainy day fund'. Typical last minute agreement from jackass
politicians.
Of course this only solves the current problem,
and they still have to address the upcoming fiscal year. I don't see
that happening anytime soon though and most likely it'll be back to the
same political b.s. next year.
-posted by Chris
Sunday , 13
MAR
05 (Still out on the ocean...)
It's been a
rather slow Sunday. All of my work is pretty much wrapped up and I
don't have a lot to do...but most of the other folks out here don't
either. The mighty rush from the initial surge of "channel fever" has
slowed to just a numb feeling of boredom and impatience. When will I be
able to set foot on solid land again? Soon...
Sunday's on the ship used to be a special occasion...the meals and/or
desserts were usually a notch better than other days. Last time I was
out, every Sunday was made to order ice cream sundaes - hot fudge,
strawberry sauce, brownies... It's probably a good thing that we don't
have that out here, as I don't want my waist to expand any further.
Still...a nice steak & baked potato would be good. Instead we had
grilled cheese for lunch and corned beef hash for dinner. Ok...there
are a few other choices, but you get the picture. I shouldn't complain
about the food. They did make homemade donuts this morning. Another
thing I don't need...but it was a nice gesture. So this brings up
another important rule at sea - don't piss off the cooks! Try to find a
way to compliment them...hell, even the worst cooks make something you
like every now and then. And the ones we have out here aren't bad at
all. I think they just have a limited budget. The days of king crab
legs and filets seem to be over. But meals are an important part of
being at sea and you never want cooks mad at you. Just think about
it...
So I've been reading the local papers trying to get the skinny on the
Medicaid situation. For those who don't know...Mississippi is having a
serious Medicaid crisis. It will be shut down this week if the jackass
politicians can't agree on a plan. The Governor (Barbour - R) pledged
not to raise taxes and is therefore dead set against the House
Democrats plan to raise a cigarette tax to help pay for Medicaid.
Instead Gov. Barbour wants to raid the tabacco settlement that our
Attorney General managed to get several years ago. The Attorney General
(Hood - D) came out last week and said that the state could borrow
another $100 million to help keep Medicaid afloat (not even half of
what is needed for the rest of the year). This caused some heated
exchanges between the AG and Governor's offices. The House decided
Friday to force Gov. Barbour's hand by ending the session early Friday
morning and going home...which of course opened the door for the
Governor to declare the House completely derelict of their civic
responsibilities (true enough!). But then he called a special session
and made them come back for the weekend (ha!). Now the Senate has come
up with a plan for $200 million dollars...still kind of from the
tobacco settlement, but to be repaid over 20 years (http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/11123197.htm).
It seems a little sketchy to me, but might end up being the best option
for now.
So are you getting the picture? Notice how none of them are saying what
is really needed with Medicaid....cuts! Sorry to the poor people,
disabled and elderly who really rely on Medicaid. But there are plenty
of others who don't need it as much and/or abuse the system (like
wealthier elderly rolling their income to their children). The state is
not obligated to pay for everyone's medical bills. I'm sorry that our
health care in this country needs fixin' and no-one in Washington has
the huevos to do it. In fact...Bush is pledging to make cuts to federal
funding of Medicaid. This is going to put many states, Mississippi
included, in a world of hurt. Enough of these short term fixes. It is
time to make some tough choices. Inevitably though...when the word
"cuts" is mentioned, people run to the phone with their sob stories.
It's all about me, me, me. The state has to provide for me and my
family , etc... Sorry...but the state can't afford to pay for
everyone...and someone(s) up in Jackson needs to face that fact!
So that's my Medicaid rant for today. I'm sure Chris can one-up me on
that...since he has a more personal stake in it.
-posted by Kelly
Friday , 11
MAR
05
Hey, two
postings for the price of one today. Kelly's is more interesting, but I
still do get out some. First of all, I went to Wednesday night's
Seawolves game against the Pensacola Ice Pilots. This had to have been
the best game the Seawolves have played all season. It was all
Mississippi through the whole game. It started off nicely in the first
with two power play goals and a 3-1 lead at the first intermission.
They came out with a vengeance or something after their shutout loss
the previous Sunday to the Ice Pilots. In the second period they
continued their momentum and scored another goal, and finished off the
third period with a fifth goal. Randy Petruk made some awesome saves as
well including stoning the Pilots on some breakaways. Now if only they
played the whole season this way.
Tonight's game was a bit different. They still came out strong in front
of a large crowd for the 'Youth for Christ' night where many area
church groups came to the game. The overall attendance was an
impressive 5300. Anyway, they jumped out flying scoring the first goal
in only 57 seconds after the period started. The crowd (that knew what
was going on) loved it. In the second they slumped off a bit (Kelly
says it's the turkey they eat during intermission that makes them
sleepy) and the Everblades came back to tie it up, however the
Seawolves did manage to score another themselves and take a 2-1 lead
into the third. In the final period the Everblades fought back and had
quite a few shots on goal, many of which Phil Sauve stopped, but with
less than 2 minutes left in the game Martone took a (weak) penalty
giving the Everblades a powerplay. They also pulled their goaltender
giving them a 6-4 advantage. The Seawolves just couldn't clear it out
of their zone and with 9 seconds left the Everblades found the net
through heavy traffic in front of Sauve. That sent the game into
overtime. Sadly, the Seawolves must have exhausted themselves because
they just couldn't manage to get it out of their zone again and the
defense fell apart and the Everblades got one past Sauve to win a
heartbreaker for the Seawolves fans.
After the game there was another auction for tonight's special
game-worn jerseys with money going to the 'Youth for Christ'
foundation. The bidding wasn't as high tonight as the 'Face Off
Against Kids Cancer' benefit last weekend, which was a nice surprise. I
started bidding on Sauve's jersey and was going back and forth with one
other person, but I gave up at $600 when they bid $650 and it was
obvious they weren't going to back down. A real bummer, BUT...I did
manage to get John Evangelista's jersey for $450. Now it may seem odd
for me of all people to be purchasing a 'Youth for Christ' jersey, but
it IS a Seawolves jersey (with a nice design to boot) and Evangelista
has been a veteran team favorite for many of the years that we've been
here, so I'm pleased with my purchase. It's also tax deductible, so ha.
He was downstairs near the payment table with a sharpie to sign it and
asked what to write, so I had him put Kelly's name on it. He wrote: 'To
Kelly, All the best.' and signed it. Very gracious and I know now why
he's nicknamed 'Stumpy'. He is the shortest player on the team (he's 5'
9 while Louis Dumont is 5' 10). Still a nice guy though. Despite the
loss, it was a fun game. So, that is your gift Kelly for making the
money and missing the games with me. It even still smells like John
Evangelista (yuck, they get pretty ripe), but don't worry he wrote with
a Sharpie so I can wash it before you get home.
Oh, and thanks to Jason and Ellen for taking me to a late birthday
dinner before the game. We went to Thai Passion in Biloxi, which we've
all been to before, and I give it a 5 out of 5 stars for Thai food on
the coast. We started with Tom Kha Goong (coconut soup with shrimp),
and for main dishes we shared Lad Naah (flat noodles in a gravy with
broccoli, shrimp, and squid), red curry with shrimp, and panang curry
with shrimp (Ellen only eats seafood and no other meat, but that's okay
with me). It was great and we all were filled up with leftovers to take
with us. I enjoyed their company as opposed to eating out alone before
the game. I'm skipping out on poker as well tomorrow and am going to be
a hermit at home, so it was a good thing to go out with them.
I haven't been home all day and since it's almost midnight I'm going to
go relax and listen to some jazz and read for awhile.
-posted by Chris
Friday , 11
MAR
05 (still on a ship out in the blue seas)
(link deleted) The
5,6,7,8's- 'Woo Hoo' from the 'Kill Bill Volume One'
soundtrack It's been another beautiful day out here. The seas
have been so calm they're almost glassy. I tried taking a picture - but
I'm sure it won't quite capture the serenity of the light ripples on
the calm surface. It's like trying to capture a sunset picture from sea
- it's never quite the same as seeing the real thing.
We had a bit of excitement today. Someone smelled smoke, so they set
off a fire alarm. Luckily everything was fine. But I ran up to my room
and grabbed my lifejacket, hat and gumby suit just in case. It's nice
and warm out there, but I'm sure the water would be quite chilly if I
had to jump in. So here's sea-time lesson #1. What is a Gumby suit?
It's a neoprene suit that will help you survive in the water...because
it floats, has a light, a whistle, and will keep you a lot warmer than
if you didn't have one. It's called a Gumby suit because that's what
you look like when you put it on.
In other ship news...we are getting near the end of this leg. This
brings up sea-time lesson #2 - channel fever. What is this strange
sickness you may ask? It is what happens to people when they are
getting near the end of the survey. After xx number of days stuck on a
ship with limited options of things to do and limited people to talk
to, etc... you can get a little cabin-fever-y. Not too bad - since you
can go outside (weather/seas permitting). Still...when it's getting
time to come into port, everyone starts getting a little giddy. And I
currently have a nice case of channel fever. I've got lots of energy,
am very goofy and happy. It's like a natural high...all my endorphines
are jumping up and down. Get the picture? In honor of this euphoria,
the song for the day pretty much sums it up. Or as Stimpy used to say
"Happy Happy Joy Joy!"
-posted by Kelly
Tuesday , 08
MAR
05 (somewhere on a ship)
It was a nice
day today...the seas were pretty calm and the sun was out. It was
actually pretty warm in the sun and was a nice change when we had some
work to do outside (it's usually pretty cold inside). We had a bunch of
dolphins flitting around the ship this morning. They were so close I
almost could have reached out and touched them. They were happily
swimming alongside and under the ship, probably having a nice
conversation with our echosounder. Made me want to jump in and swim
alongside them.
I haven't been doing too much. Like I've said before, life on the ship
is pretty routine. I did watch Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid a
couple of nights ago. It was the first time that I've ever seen that
movie, though I've seen a few of the more famous scenes before. It was
pretty entertaining...though not very action-packed by today's
standards. I thought I had recognized the woman in the movie
(Sundance's girlfriend)...and sure enough not only did she play Elaine
in the Graduate (a perennial favorite), but she also had a role in
Donnie Darko (as his shrink). Of course Paul Newman and Robert Redford
always make for good eye candy.
I have also been watching Angel. I finished season 3 and have started
season 4. The season did not start off very good and I was thinking it
was going to be a disappointing season. But the last few episodes have
really picked up. Who'd've thunk that Cordie would sleep with Angel's
son?! And now Angelus is back and primed to mess with everyone's head.
The scenes of him in the cage talking to various people are straight
out of Silence of the Lambs. Tres creepy.
:-)
Well...that's all I've got for now. Maybe later I'll wax political on
strange happenings in the senate, Bush's nominee to the UN, or more
whackiness with China. -posted by Kelly
Monday , 07 MAR
05
(link deleted) The
Sugarcubes 'Birthday' from 'Life's Too Good' (Elektra
Records)
Ah, what an eventful weekend. Saturday was anime
fest all day at Gary's. We've started watching 2 discs per series so we
can get through series faster and start something new. This week we
continued 'Stellvia of the Universe', and started a few new series,
'Mezzo', 'Onegai Twins' and 'Samurai Champloo'. I really enjoyed
'Onegai Twins', but 'Samurai Champloo' proved to be an excellent series
as well. It starts with Fuu, a waitress at a cafe who gets fed up with
some of the customers and is about to get killed when two young samurai
Gin- the more 'traditional' one, and Mugen, the 'scum' come in and wind
up trying to kill each other, while in the process kill the hoodlums at
the cafe. They end up getting caught while Fuu gets out before the
place is torched and ends up saving the two from execution. Now they've
kind of banded together so Fuu can find 'the samurai who smells of
sunflowers.' Sound crazy? Well, it is kind of crazy and violent, but
what really grabbed me was the 'hip hop' soundtrack. Not a typical
anime sdtk, but a mixture of beats and scratching. Even Kelly didn't
mind it too much when it came on the mp3 player in the car. Cartoon
Network picked it up for it's adultswim programming and it's supposed
to air sometime this fall. It'll probably be edited quite a bit, but it
should still be a really good series.
Sunday I woke up on my stomach kind of awkwardly curved and with Josie
curled up next to me. No wonder my back was a bit sore being curved
like that. I got up, dressed, and headed out to the bike trails. No
time trials as scheduled, but there were quite a few riders. There was
one group of about five guys whom I assume were getting some training
in for the GCBC race on March 20. I had a good ride myself and didn't
fall over, although I scraped the back of my leg against something
because my right knee is kind of irritated and sore. Ah, what's new.
The Seawolves game was at 3pm, so I left early to get a coffee fix at
Barnes and Noble, then go spend the gift certificate my parents gave me
at Waldenbooks. I ended up getting a stack of manga to entertain me for
awhile. The game was somewhat of a disappointment. They came out full
of energy and looked really good in both the first and second periods,
but lost momentum in the third down 2-0. The final score ended up being
a 3-0 shutout, even though for once the Seawolves dominated in shots.
They had some great shots and opportunities, but just couldn't get the
puck into the net. The first goal against them was kind of a bad clear
out of their zone and it was zipped past Sauve. The second one bounced
off of Jarmuth's foot into his own net on the penalty kill, and the
third was just another defensive flub that left Sauve hung out to dry.
The after-party was nice. I ended up not bidding on a jersey because
they went pretty high. Sauve's went for $900, but the highest was John
'Stumpy' Evangelista, whose game-worn jersey went for $7000. They got
not just him, but the whole team to sign it. Money for a good cause
(Candlelighters- the kids with cancer foundation).
So, today there is a new song. I've waited all week to put it up. I was
trying to think of a birthday song, and that ended up being the one we
have in our mp3 collection. It actually came from the 'Left of the
Dial' compilation on Rhino, but originally it came out on their debut
album in 1989. I remember seeing the Sugarcubes at one of the first
concerts I went to. It was New Order/Public Image Ltd./The Sugarcubes
in an amphitheatre outside of Chicago in the summer of 1989. Ah, a trip
down memory lane...Happy Birthday to me. -posted by Chris
Friday , 04 MAR
05
Tonight was
another thrilling come from behind victory by the Seawolves in the
overtime shootout. They started off a bit sluggish and were outshot
16-9 in the first period. The second period they scored first, but
Gwinnett came right back to tie it up with all sorts of traffic in
front of the net, Sauve didn't have a chance. Adding insult to injury,
the Gladiators then scored again short-handed. Mississippi's power play
was horrible tonight. In the third it wasn't looking good, although the
Seawolves calmed down a bit and kept attacking. It finally paid off
when they were just coming off the penalty kill, Travis Lisabeth sneaks
out of the box and receives the perfect pass from captain Louis Dumont
to tie it up at 2-2. Both teams kind of went in defensive mode for the
rest of the period, making some valiant efforts, but trying to protect
getting at least one point out of the game. No scoring in the five
minute overtime period, so we go to the shootout. The first Gwinnett
player scored and then there wasn't any scoring until the fifth round
when Louis Dumont scored the tying goal to make it now a 'sudden-death'
shootout (first goal wins). The Gwinnett player in this sixth round
missed, then it was 'Miller time again' (as announcer Mike Kelly put
it) as he again had the game winning goal for the third time this year
in the shootout. Impressive. The Seawolves win 3-2. It could've been a
much bigger blowout with the Seawolves losing, but Phil Sauve was
really on his game tonight making some amazing saves, stopping 39 of
the 41 shots. Mississippi only managed to get off 23 shots and had some
lousy defense at times that left Sauve out to dry. The next three games
are against first place Pensacola, which the Seawolves haven't done so
well against this season. I'm looking forward to the next home games on
Sunday and Wednesday. Oh, one of the funniest things tonight was before
the game. I was sitting next to two boys about 8 or 9 years old, with
one of their friends from school sitting behind them. The two next to
me had Battaglia (Anthony) and Martone jerseys on and the kid behind
them says, 'You have a Martone jersey, you like Martone?' The kid with
the jersey says, 'Yeah.' Then the best part was when the kid behind
them says, 'My teacher has a crush on Martone.' I almost bust out
laughing. The things kids will say, but considering their ages, I
wouldn't be too surprised if their teacher did have a crush on Martone
or one of the other suave, sexy hockey players.
I've been trying to get over some kind of sinus infection or head cold
the past few days. It seems that everyone seems to have it. I probably
got it from a co-worker or some snot-nosed kids who came into our
office. We've had mothers bring up their kids with chicken pox or other
wonderful crud. It's like they have no sense at all (the parents), but
then if they did they probably wouldn't be pregnant and poor, or maybe
that's the plan, get the state to pay for all of your medical expenses.
Works pretty well. Damn breeders. Ah, a stuffed up nose isn't going to
stop me from having an Anime Fest with Gary tomorrow though. I should
probably get to bed soon so I can get up early to drive over to his
place. -posted by Chris
Wednesday (I
think) , 02 MAR
05
Another day
another dollar...or something like that. We've been staying between 2
storm systems and will hopefully continue. Right now swells are 8-10
feet. We're almost in the trough which means that the ship is taking
some nice rolls. Still, it's not too bad. The weather has been
beautiful - nice and sunny. Unfortunately, most of the day I'm stuck
inside freezing my arse off.
So I've been looking for something to talk about and finally whipped
out my Mental Floss magazine (Vol 4 issue 1). I seek out Mental Floss
whenever I know I'm going to travel. It's a quirky, odd facts filled
magazine that is somewhat reminiscent of the Nose (a great magazine
from the 90's with odd and funny stories). Anyway, one of the stories
in Mental Floss was about a theory some British guy came up with about
how one's status affects one's longevity and health. According to his
theory, your boss is less stressed than you because of his/her higher
status and will therefore live longer than you. I guess I'd better
start thinking about pursuing a management position...I want to reduce
my stress level. Another result of this study showed that actors who
won an Oscar will live 4 years longer (on average) than actors who
worked with them and/or actors who were just nominated but didn't win.
So Hillary Swank ought to live to be a ripe old age. And so should
Morgan Freeman - though he's pretty youthful at whatever age he is now.
(We saw him dancing at his club, Ground Zero, in Clarksdale a couple of
years ago and that cat can move)
Speaking of Oscars...I did manage to catch some of it, including the
Red Carpet shots. I hear that Hillary Swank's dress got panned - but I
would have to disagree. I loved the way it fit her. Sure the neck was a
little odd (it looked puritanical from the front), but check out the
back (or lack thereof)! My other faves were Hallie Berry (always
dressed beautifully) and Cate Blanchett (who looked gorgeous). I hated
Selma Hayek's hair and wasn't quite sure what to make of Scarlett
Johansson's little tiara-like thing on her head. And I loved Chris
Rock's monologue. The whole Gap vs. Banana Republic scenario had me
rolling. Enough of that. I'm sure I am the only person who actually
watched.
Well...that's all for now. I'll read some more Mental Floss and
hopefully be inspired to write some more. Keep knocking on wood for me
to keep those storms away. -posted by Kelly
Wednesday, 02
MAR
05
I haven't been home to update the blog the past couple nights, so
here's my oh-so-exciting life.
Monday night I came home and rode my bike trainer while watching Iron
Chef America I had Tivo'd. I like being able to fast forward through
the commercials, but have something to watch while I'm riding. I rode
11 miles in 40 minutes. That was at a pace which averaged 15 mph, so I
think when I ride this evening I'm going to focus on a longer ride at a
slower pace. After riding and showering, I ate and read some manga
before heading to the Downtown Tavern in Gulfport to listen to Peter
(McAlister- google that pal!) play. I met Jason and Ellen at Barnes and
Noble and they rode down with me. It's hard to describe his music.
Jason and I both agree that we like his singing better when he's not
belting it out like in former bands (Winterset, Cromwell, No Matter).
He plays an acoustic guitar with a pick-up running to the amp and
sings. Not a singer/songwriter exactly, but kind of folksy punk with a
rock edge. Sorry, Pete, I just can't think of any other description to
describe your music. He covered two Mason Jennings songs, if that is
any idea. The songs seem to be very personal in how they're written,
like they each serve a specific purpose or meaning (except for the
covers). Regardless of description, I really enjoyed it and want to say
he's gotten better since the last time I saw him play (although that
was probably over a year ago). It was also nice to see some other faces
of friends I haven't seen in awhile.
Last night I went to watch the Seawolves play the Florida Everblades.
Another team that they play this month who is ahead of them in the
standings. Most of the games left this season are against teams ahead
of the Seawolves in the playoff standings (maybe 3 of the 20 games left
are against lower-ranked teams). The game was fun and it was even
better they won. They started off flat and were down 1-0 at the end of
the first, but tied it up early in the second, then FL came back to tie
it up, but the Seawolves scored on a PP with 8 seconds left in the
period to go up 3-2. They broke it open halfway into the third making
it 4-2 and they held onto that lead while FL zipped up and down the
rink (fast players with some nice skills). They pulled their goaltender
with 30 seconds left to give them the extra man and actually scored a
nice one from a pass after the face off. Kind of a nail-biting ending
21 seconds, but the Seawolves did get the two points. Petruk (from
Bakersfield not Fresno as I previously thought) was in net and made
some nice saves against his former team of a few years ago. Their
goaltender made some nice saves as well and covered the net nicely when
Anthony Battaglia had a penalty shot from being dragged down as he was
on a breakaway. I sat next to a guy down from Boston and we had a good
talk about the NHL and minor league hockey
during the game. The weekend games should be a challenge with both
Gwinnett and Pensacola in town. Sunday though is their big 'Face Off
Against Kids Cancer' fund-raiser which features a post-game party and
game-worn jersey auction at Beau Rivage. We hadn't gone in the past,
but I made sure to get the limited edition t-shirt and voucher for the
party. We want a jersey, so I'm planning to bid on (and win) one. The
top jersey we'd like is Sauve, although it might go for a hefty price,
but many other players on the team would be a prized possession,
especially since all of the money raised goes to benefit the kids
cancer foundation (I think it's the Candlelighters, although I don't
remember for sure).
Tonight I'm catching up on Tivo'd programs and talking to USAA about
re-financing our home. We've procrastinated long enough and now the
rates are starting to go back up so I thought I'd get my act in gear
and find more info about it. I'll also ride on the trainer, but I
mentioned that earlier. Nothing else exciting going on, just a relaxing
evening at home. -posted by Chris