Saturday, 31 Dec 05      

(link removed)
Mulatu Astatke- "Yegelle Tezeta" - Broken Flowers soundtrack (Decca) 

Today is the end of 2005. Hard to believe. At times it went quickly, and others it seemed like it would never end. We're healthy so I can't complain too much. I don't do new year's resolutions, but maybe I should resolve to be more patient. Nah, not likely to happen. We're having some friends over tonight to grill and play games like Trivial Pursuit, etc. (not poker for a change). We spent last night and today doing prep work in-between watching LSU completely dismantle Miami's football team and the Avs losing again to San Jose 5-2. Aebischer put on a decent performance and had some awesome saves, which may not show from the score, but when the Sharks were allowed to make 43 shots on net, there's something wrong. Even the rest of the team said in the paper (Denver Post) today that it was their fault for defensive miscues leading to breakaways by San Jose. Maybe they'll do better tonight against Phoenix. They rallied from a 0-3 deficit earlier this week to beat them 7-4, so maybe they can do it again.

Kelly's lists encouraged me to come up with some of my own 'Top of the year' lists. These aren't necessarily the best, but of what I've heard and seen, some of the things I've enjoyed the most. In no particular order.
Top 10 Records:
 Best Re-Release/Anthology/Etc:
 Favorite Movies:
 Best live shows:
 Favorite manga:
 As things get more normal in the area (Canal Place is opening in February), we'll be getting out more and will be able to experience more. If you have other suggestions pass them on. We have plenty of movies ('Everything is Illuminated', 'Capote') and music to catch up on. We'll be sure to mention what we find as the next year goes on.

-posted by Chris

Thursday, 29 Dec 05      

(link removed)
Death Cab For Cutie- "Soul Meets Body" - Plans (Atlantic)  Definitely one of the best songs of the year!!!

I ended up coming home a little early today. First my lunch (leftover pizza from several days ago) was making me a little queasy...then the air handler system has not gotten any better, so it was really hot inside the office. I walked outside for a few minutes hoping that the fresh air would make me feel better, but ended up puking up part of my lunch. A definite sign that it's time to go home. So I came home and listened to my Ipod, sat outside and watched the cats act cat-like. I'm still feeling kind of queasy...but I think it will pass as soon as the memory of that pizza fades away.

I'm in a better mood today at least. I read a couple of Op-Ed's (here's one and the other) in the New York Times that suggests that the best way to be happy is to not be introspective. Most of the time I am much more adept at thinking about clouds that thinking about myself...so I guess that helps explain why I'm a happy person for the most part. But I guess it's good to be unhappy sometimes...I mean if everyone tuned out all the time, nothing would ever change...right? Anyway...the editorials make for good advice at the end of a long year.

I've also spent much of the day listening to my Ipod while at work and thinking about Best of lists. It is the end of 2005, so I thought I ought to come up with some best of music, movies, whatever lists. I don't think I can name my top 10 albums, but here goes a few:
 Honorable Mentions:
Favorite concert this year? That's a tough call...I've seen some great shows. The 2-day music fest (San Diego Street Scene) was pretty awesome...I mean you can't go wrong with the Pixies on one day and then the White Stripes on the next. Calexico and Iron & Wine were also great. I really enjoyed seeing Chris Isaak finally. Quintron's record release and Ms. Pussycat's amazing puppet show on film also made for a great time (also our first back in New Orleans after Katrina). But I'd have to say that the show I enjoyed the most was the Knitters at Tipitina's. As my friend Allison would say, they were a hoot!

Ok...enough of the music already. We've seen plenty of great movies this year (and quite a few not so great ones). I think Miranda July's Me and, You and Everyone We Know was probably my fave. There are still several that I need to see (Thumbsucker, History of Violence, Munich, Matchpoint). Goodnight, and Good Luck was very good, but not so entertaining. Brokeback Mountain was very good...but perhaps a little over-hyped. Guilty pleasure...Pride and Prejudice. It's a chick flick that I'm bound to fall for.

So that about wraps up the arts I've enjoyed this year. Happy New Year everyone!

-posted by Kelly

Tuesday, 27 Dec 05      

Christmas sure did fly by this year. We had a nice day on Sunday...woke up and did the stocking & presents thing. I did let Chris sleep in a little. I'm sure he thought it was still way too early...but I think it was after 8am before we finally got up. The cats didn't even help unwrap gifts...back when Tura was younger, she'd be all into the wrapping paper. This year they were both outside enjoying the nice weather. After unwrapping gifts (we were both spoiled as usual) I started prepping for dinner. I was roasting a turkey breast with rice dressing, cranberries, twice-baked potatoes, spinach salad and Chris made rolls. Allison came over in the afternoon to help with preparations and I put her in charge of  cranberries and assistance with the dressing. Steve and his teenage son, Jeff, came over later in the afternoon. We had a nice time chatting while finishing up preparations/cooking. Then we all sat down to a nice meal. It was nice having company over and having a relatively traditional Christmas dinner. We hung out and chatted for awhile after dinner...then our guests left and Chris and I watched some tv. Actually Chris got on the computer while I watched The Phantom of the Opera which I had Tivo'd off HBO. We were going to see Syriana that evening, but Chris didn't feel up to it. So we decided to go to New Orleans the next day and see it out there. Which is what we did (it was a good movie, but kind of slow in spots and a little hard to follow). We then went to Whole Foods and Dorignac's to pick up some items - like French champagne for New Year's (I wanted to get one decent bottle and one cheaper to compare).

I was back at work today. It's still too hot in the office...and it was beautiful outside. I made a point to walk outside at least once (had to get my allergy shots across the street). I'll be happy when they get that air handler fixed...don't know if I can take the heat for much longer.

So I heard a report on PRM last week that Hurricane Katrina was only a Category 3 when it hit Mississippi. I have to say nuts to that! Here's a description of a Category 3 storm from NOAA:
Category Three Hurricane:
Winds 111-130 mph (96-113 kt or 178-209 km/hr). Storm surge generally 9-12 ft above normal. Some structural damage to small residences and utility buildings with a minor amount of curtainwall failures. Damage to shrubbery and trees with foliage blown off trees and large trees blown down. Mobile homes and poorly constructed signs are destroyed. Low-lying escape routes are cut by rising water 3-5 hours before arrival of the center of the hurricane. Flooding near the coast destroys smaller structures with larger structures damaged by battering from floating debris. Terrain continuously lower than 5 ft above mean sea level may be flooded inland 8 miles (13 km) or more. Evacuation of low-lying residences with several blocks of the shoreline may be required. Hurricanes Jeanne and Ivan of 2004 were Category Three hurricanes when they made landfall in Florida and in Alabama, respectively.
Um...I don't think "Category 3" covers what Katrina did to the coast! Seems to me like someone needs to come up with a better scale...perhaps one that takes in more than just the wind speed, like size, expected surge, pressure, speed. I don't know why that bothers me so much that Katrina was a 3 when it hit here. Perhaps it's the thought that people like me don't take "Category 3" storms as seriously as "Category 5". If Katrina had just been a Cat 3, we would have stayed in our house and rode it out. Luckily, the storm while offshore was a Cat 5 on Sunday morning causing me to wake up with a panic attack and book a hotel room in Atlanta. Storm surge 30+ feet, catastrophic damage well inland...those braniacs at NOAA can take their Category 3 rating and shove it!

Speaking of Katrina...I've been hearing a lot of end of the year news stories. Everyone talking about the natural disasters...a year after the tsunami, Katrina and the Pakistani earthquake. It's so easy for everyone else to forget about these things several months after they happened. I hadn't thought about the tsunami in awhile and that was way worse than our hurricane. But around these parts, the hurricane is all-consuming and foremost on many people's minds. I suspect there will be news stories next end of August about a year after the storm. For the people here, it will be a primary focal point for more than just a year. And everyone who is elsewhere and not confronted with the daily reminders easily forgets and gets back to life as normal. We do too in small ways...work, going to movies, having dinner parties. But then we drive down to the beach in Ocean Springs and are once again amazed by how widespread the damage was. I'm not going to apologize for bringing this up over and over again...because I don't want you to forget. I want everyone of our family and friends to come out here and see first hand...they wouldn't ask us if it's really that bad. Because in a way...yes it is. And like we've said time and again, we are so lucky and there are so many people worse off. It's just hard to describe how life has changed and that the little normal things just mask the destruction that is all around us.

All right...I'm getting depressed and irritated just thinking about it. Time to go shut my brain off and sit in front of the television, eat leftover Christmas dinner and pretend that nothing out there has changed. If I don't talk to y'all before the weekend, Happy New Year! Best wishes for 2006 for all of us. We really need it.

-posted by Kelly

Saturday, 24 Dec 05      


Well, it's the day before Christmas. A nice four day weekend for both of us. Reveillon dinner Thursday night was good. Kelly had the Chicken Marsala entree and I had the salmon. The restaurant wasn't too busy, but with a short staff it was kind of slow, but still no fault of the employees. We took it in stride. Our friends made it an entertaining meal.

Yesterday, it was actually sunny out and a little warmer than it's been the past week or so. I made up my mind earlier in the week that I was going to go biking. I wasn't sure if I was going to go to Abita Springs or Hattiesburg, but after finding out that parts of the Tammany Trace in Abita Springs are still closed due to the hurricane, I decided to go up to Hattiesburg where the Long Leaf Trace was completely cleared and open. I had a 7.30am appointment to get the oil changed and tires rotated on the Element at the Honda dealership, so I left a little after 7 with everything loaded up in the vehicle. It only took about an hour, then I went across the street to mail a box to my family in Colorado (waiting for a final gift for my dad to arrive here) before heading up hwy. 49. Kelly had given me a grocery list to get some last minute items for Sunday's dinner, so I stopped at the Walmart on the south side of town. It was busy, but not a total zoo like the stores here on the coast. I found the items I needed and quickly went through the self-check line all in about 25 minutes. Much more tolerable than going shopping any place here. Kelly has mentioned previously that it takes about 20 minutes to shop, but literally 40 minutes in line to check out. Crazy. Anyway, I got to the main trailhead near the USM campus. There were only a couple of cars in the parking lot. It was sunny with a bit of a breeze. Not too many people on the trail, but maybe a few more than I expected. Quite a few birds, a squirrel, and a few deer were the only wildlife I saw. I rode in 20 miles, stopped for lunch (I had brought a sandwich in my camelback) at one of the rest stops with benches, then rode back the 20 miles to the parking area for a total of 40 miles. Not too bad considering I haven't really ridden in awhile, plus I've also put on some weight since the hurricane (probably due to eating mainly processed foods for 3-4 weeks), so I'll just have to keep riding to get back into shape. When I finished my legs were slightly sore, but my lower back was aching a bit more (the extra weight around the midsection). I stopped by Starbucks to get a peppermint mocha frappucino, then went to the Asian market to pick up some sushi rice and headed home. It was a quick drive home (a little over an hour) and I arrived home before Kelly. She had been helping to prime (paint) our friends' Darrin and Aimee's home that was damaged during the hurricane and they are rebuilding. Ellen (Darren's sister-in-law) picked Kelly up in the morning after I left. We ate dinner while watching hockey. The Avalanche were playing the Minnesota Wild and looked pretty good in the first, then scrambled around in the second, and ended up losing in the last five minutes of the game 5-3. It was a bummer, but good to watch them play again. Kelly was falling asleep during the game, so she went to bed early. I played poker on-line as well as looking a few other things up.

Today we were able to sleep in, although Kelly did get up earlier than I did since she went to bed about 3 hours earlier. She got up and started some of the prep work for dinner tomorrow. I ran out to pick up a couple items at the Diamondhead Grocery after showering and getting dressed. When I got back we got ready to head out. We went to pick up a few things at Sam's Club, which surprisingly wasn't too busy. At least the wait in line wasn't too bad. Next, we went to have lunch at Mellow Mushroom pizza in Ocean Springs. It was hardly busy. We had to wait a bit for our pizzas, but it was worth it because we both had leftovers. After lunch we drove down along the beach in Ocean Springs for a bit and were surprised at the damage to some of the homes there. We hadn't realized the surge was as strong in that area as well. Our main event of the afternoon was 'King Kong' at 2.50pm. For a three hour movie, the time really wasn't that noticeable at all, maybe just a couple times did it drag slightly, but for the most part it was pretty action-packed. The effects were great, although I kind of joked with Kelly that some of the scenes were leftover sets from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Peter Jackson did a good job, and the actors did as well. I liked Jack Black more than I thought I would. Definitely a movie that has to be seen in the theatre.

After the movie we came home, cleaned the house, and watched poker while we ate leftover pizza. Kelly also made butter pecan (which turned out more like vanilla pecan) ice cream and worked on the mole sauce for the turkey tomorrow. I haven't helped too much, but tomorrow morning I'll get to make the rolls and help with the last few things like twice-baked potatoes. Steve and Allison are coming over to eat at 4pm, so we can still sleep in a bit in the morning, but I know Kelly will be up early dragging my ass out of bed to open presents. We're eating somewhat early because we want to go see 'Syriana' but it's only playing at 9.25pm. We may go see 'The Producers' on Monday. Another day off doing nothing though is fine with me. If it doesn't rain, maybe I'll go biking again.

-posted by Chris

Wednesday, 21 Dec 05      

(link removed)
Calexico and Iron & Wine- "A History of Lovers" - In the Reins (Overcoat Recordings)

We had a nice weekend in Atlanta. Drove out early on Friday, checked into the hotel and then headed to Little Five Points for shopping, dinner and the concert. We stopped off first at Criminal Records and bought a few items from the bargain bin. Then we went to an Indian restaurant nearby and ate some scrumptious food. Stopped off at Starbucks for a coffee before the show...and then over to the Variety Playhouse. We picked up a couple of shirts for Peter - since we owed him money from a poker game - and one for myself. Then into the theater for the show. A guy named Jim White performed first...he had just a few songs and played solo for the most part (although John Convertino from Calexico came out to assist on one song). It was kind of cool the way he did live looping of guitar rifts and his vocals along with pre-recorded beats to give a nearly full-band sound. Decent songs...might be worth checking him out sometime. Then Calexico came on and played several songs. Iron & Wine came out to assist and then Salvador Duran, a Mexican singer who lives in Arizona, came out to provide his vocals. The band then left while Salvador sang a few songs and played guitar...very much reminiscent of the music I grew up with. Then there was a short break before Iron and Wine came out. Initially it was just Sam Beam and guitar, reministent of Elliott Smith's early days...then his sister, Sara, joined him and provided exquisite harmony. A few other band members came out to pick up the pace a little...followed by members of Calexico and Salvador. The set was awesome...in fact the whole show was great and definitely worth the 6 hour trip!

Saturday we had every intention of going to the new aquarium to see the whale sharks. Unfortunately, poor planning on our part meant that the aquarium was a no go as all times for that day were sold out. The joys of living in a big city I suppose. So instead we got up and headed to the mall...well, actually Chris dropped me off at the mall while he went to REI, Barnes & Noble and Target. I wandered around...stopping in at Nordstroms and not buying anything there because it was way expensive. I also stopped by J Jill and Dillard's and bought a few things. Chris and I then headed into town to catch a movie (Brokeback Mountain). We got there 15 minutes before the movie, struggled and got irritated trying to find a parking spot...only to discover that the movie was sold out. So we got tickets for the first showing the next morning. Then we headed back to Little Five Points and did some more shopping before finding an Asian restaurant (Sweet Lime) where we had a mixture of Japanese and Thai food at very reasonable prices. After that we went back to Criminal Records and bought a few more cd's (like we need more - but we got Cut Chemist, DJ Shadow and Lambchop). Plus I was sold on a Kozik smoking bunny almost-life sized model. I got the store display copy for a 20% discount and walked proudly out of the store carrying my "smorkin' labbit". (He is now bathed and sitting on my dresser) Merry Christmas to me! We then headed downtown towards the Philips Arena where the hockey game awaited us (that was our substitute for missing the aquarium). We had pretty decent seats, they were up there a bit in the atmosphere but not too bad. The game (Atlanta vs Florida) was exciting...with a penalty shot that Hossa missed in the first couple of minutes. Speaking of Hossa...since we were one of the first 5000 fans, we got a Marian Hossa bobble-head. Merry Christmas to Chris! It was a lot of fun going to a real live hockey game again. I was obnoxious with my thunder sticks...but I tend to be obnoxious at hockey games, Chris has grown to expect it. Atlanta won 2 - 1. We then headed back to the hotel and crashed.

Sunday we got up relatively early and went to Einstein Brothers bagels for Chris to load up on bagel supplies. 4 dozen bagels and 2 for breakfast...then to Starbucks for coffee. Then it was off to the movie theater. We got there early and stood outside waiting while a line formed at the box office. Once doors opened we were able to go in immediately, much to the glares of all the guys waiting in line (see ya, suckers!). Brokeback Mountain is about two cowboys in Wyoming working on a mountain watching a herd of sheep one season and sparking a relationship. Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger starred in the film and both were really good. Their relationship lasted through both of their marriages, birth of children, divorce, ... It was a really good movie...one that unfortunately is not likely to make it to the coast anytime soon. Oh well...the coast's loss. We both really enjoyed it. After that we hit the road, stopping off for a late lunch in Auburn and then to get some pecans south of Montgomery.  Back home to the kitty girls...who were aloof as usual to Jason and Ellen when they came over to feed them...but were quite happy to have us back home.

Monday I made Christmas cookies in the morning...then met Ellen for a movie in the afternoon. We went to see The Family Stone. I liked it, I'm a sap for those kind of flicks...it was a little more serious than I was guessing it would be after seeing previews. Decent...not great. I then had to run to Winn Dixie to pick up a few items I was unable to find at the Diamondhead grocery store. 10 minutes of shopping followed by 40 minutes in line to check out...I'm not kidding. And that was the "express lane". Gulfport was a nightmare...way too many people out and about.

Tuesday I developed a slight headache after a morning meeting at work. It was really hot in our office spaces (the air handler died) and my headache got a lot worse. Plus when I showed up that morning, I noticed on one of my computers the words "Failed Failed Failed...press F1 to retry booting or F2 to setup" I hit F1 and got the same message. So my computer was dead which meant I wasn't going to be doing too much that day anyway. So I went home and spent most of the day on the couch watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer reruns. My headache stuck around all day...but I deadened it some with major pain killers (no, not Oxycontin!). My head was still fuzzy with the remnants of pain killers and headache today...but tolerable. It was still way hot inside...I think tomorrow I need to wear shorts and a t-shirt. If only I could!

Anyway...that's what has been going on out here. Hard to believe that Christmas in only a few days away. Tomorrow we're heading to New Orleans with some friends for a Reveillon dinner at the Bombay Club. We've kind of made that our annual tradition. We'll try to update once more before Sunday...but if not, Merry Christmas. There I said it, Bill O'Reilly, no secular war on Christmas here! So piss off you pompous windbag.

-posted by Kelly

Thursday, 15 Dec 05      

I actually started typing this last night, but decided to shut the computer off when the strong storms hit and the lights were flickering a bit. Didn't want to fry the computer. But I'll finish it tonight for posting before we head off to Atlanta in the morning for a needed weekend away.

I should have updated this a couple of nights ago, but I was lazy and was playing on-line poker instead. At least I placed  first last night (out of ten players) on one of the sit-and-go tournament tables (for play money) on pokerroom.com.

Friday night (last week) Kelly went to a semi-formal party/dinner for work in Slidell. I didn't have any desire to go (being the stick in the mud that I am- both Kelly and a co-worker have said this), so she was Cathy's date and also went with Steve and Allison. I was the taxi driver and we picked up Allison and Steve then drove to Cathy's in Slidell, where I dropped them off and Cathy was going to drive to the rented hall. I went over to Covington to have dinner and do some shopping. On the way over I listened to some of the Colorado/New Jersey hockey game on our satellite radio. The Avs really dominated the first period and had a 3-0 lead, but seemed to get lazy in the second period. It was 3-2 when I went to dinner. I ate at a restaurant called Thai Pot which I had remembered seeing when we were in Covington at the arts and crafts fair the previous month. The food was pretty good. I had Tom Kha Khai soup, which wasn't so spicy, but felt good on the throat. I also ordered the Green Curry chicken 'Thai hot', and it had a decent kick, but I usually prefer a bit more of a burn. I had leftovers to have for lunch the next day and included an order of fresh spring rolls with chicken, shrimp, and veggies. After eating I drove to Barnes and Noble to shop before they closed at 10pm. I listened to some more of the hockey game and heard the Avs continue to fumble and let NJ tie it up in the third period. There were less than five minutes left when I arrived at BN, but I went inside to purchase some books, get coffee and check out the final score on-line (I had brought the laptop along). The Avs ended up winning the game in a shootout, which is good that they won, but sad that they blew another 3-0 lead.

When Barnes and Noble closed, I headed back to Slidell to meet Kelly and the others at Cathy's and head home. On the way Kelly called me on the cell phone and said the party had been extended from 10.30 to 11.30pm and for me to meet them at the hall it was being held at. They were still inside when I arrived, so I flipped on the Ottawa/Vancouver hockey game to listen to for 45 minutes. We left about 11.15pm, took Allison and Steve home (in Diamondhead), and went home ourselves. Kelly had a bit too much wine and was kind of sick, but eventually fell asleep. I stayed up online playing poker (first again) and admiring some of the anime figures my friend Gary was going to purchase (he sent me an email detailing his order). I came to bed around 2am.

Saturday morning came and Kelly still wasn't feeling too well. We watched a couple of 'The Daily Show' episodes and CSI on Tivo, then I went out to pick up a few things at the grocery store while Kelly lay on the couch. It was our friend Peter's birthday and we were having poker night at Jason and Ellen's to celebrate. Kelly and I were making a German Chocolate Cake (by request). After eating lunch I started the cake (only from scratch for us). It was easy to make, although Kelly did separate the egg yolks and whites for me while I was at the store. After I put it in the oven, Kelly was working on preparing the frosting (a tag team effort). Both turned out well, but when I attempted to remove one of the three layers from the pan, part of it stuck and that layer broke into a couple of pieces. I managed to get the rest out of the pan and we made this the middle layer. The problem with German Chocolate frosting is that it doesn't hide blemishes like a butter cream does. With a butter cream frosting it's easier to smooth over the rough parts or 'glue' them back together.

We left the house a little after 5pm and stopped at the Love's truck stop Arby's in Gulfport to grab something to eat for dinner. There were only a few workers and some of the people in line behind us were grumbling a bit about having to wait for their food, but we agreed that having to wait in line is now an expected occurrence and a fact of life. It really wasn't that long to wait, so we shrugged it off. With so many places trying to get workers hired, it's a wonder that some are actually able to remain open.

We arrived early to Jason and Ellen's, and talked with Ellen for a bit while Jason and his dad (his parents have been staying at their place since their home was flooded during the hurricane) ran out to get a couple of things. The rest of the group started to show up around 7pm and we all snacked and chatted until the first round started at 7.30pm. We had 15 people playing, which would make it a good payout for the top three players (welcome to the payout structure). Poor Peter was the first player out (what a birthday present!), so he had to sit and watch everyone else. It wasn't too much longer before I went out (crap cards all night), and when Jason went out we got a 'dealer's choice' game going in the other room. We each had a stack of chips and instead of tournament style Texas Hold 'Em, we played Omaha, 7 card stud, Follow the Queen, and some of the games the 'poker gang' used to play when Jason, Kevin, and Dwayne all shared a house in Biloxi. That was more fun than Hold 'Em, or at least a nice relaxing change of pace. Darrin ended up in third place, Lam took second, and Mr. Johnny (the Erhard dad) took first. It was fun and probably the last time we'll get to play in 2005.

Sunday we slept in some, then we got up to go shopping. We first stopped at Papa John's to have pizza for lunch and stored the leftovers in the cooler we brought along. I bought two pairs of pants, one at Banana Republic and one at Old Navy. Both were on sale. The pair from BR were brown chinos and the pair at ON were a grey brushed cotton style. Both were comfortable and nice enough looking I can wear them to work. We also bought some cat food and kitty treats for the girls at PetSmart. We met Dwayne at the theatre at 1.30 for the 2pm showing of 'The Chronicles of Narnia- The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe'. It was a bit slow at first, but picked up the pace quickly. Visually it was done very well, with the comparisons to the Lord of the Rings trilogy (especially the battle scene) by reviewers a justified comparison. It was geared slightly towards children, but that really didn't detract from the film. Even though I haven't read the book since elementary school I thought it was well done and enjoyed it quite a bit. Kelly said she didn't like it as much due to the religious themes being a turn off. I really didn't pay that much attention or find it that noticeable, but maybe after being raised Catholic I've numbed myself to religious themes. After the movie we spent an hour in Walmart grocery shopping. We came home and I put up our 'candy cane' rope lights (red strand wrapped around our white column outside the front door). We then made a paneed chicken and fettucini with spinach and tomatoes for dinner. That was pretty much it for the night, save for a bit of television while we ate.

Monday night we watched the Avs play the Ottawa Senators at home (trying to bounce back from their 4-3 loss in Pittsburgh on Sat. night). They played a pretty even game the first two periods, and it was tied 2-2, but halfway through the third they fell apart. The numerous trips to the penalty box caught up with them and within a matter of minutes (and miscues) it was 6-2 in Ottawa's favor. We're still fans, but it is disappointing to watch your favorite team slide into mediocrity. They have plenty of potential, but aren't playing to their fullest. It's worse when the players admit it in the press (Denver Post). At least they have the rest of the week to regroup before heading to New York for back to back games against the Islanders and Rangers this weekend.

That's pretty much been our weekend. The past couple nights we've been watching hockey or Tivo programs. The storm last night was pretty strong, and I still have a fear that every time it rains we're going to have water pouring in through the ceiling fan in the living room and the water will pool on the seams of the drywall from the attic, making the repair job worse. A greater fear is that the whole ceiling is going to just collapse in the living room one of these days. Fortunately, our new roof did hold and no water came in. We're dry, and it's pretty sad to have the thoughts of rain coming in, but part of the toll of the hurricane. It could be much worse. I've read that some people wake up often at night in terror, or don't even sleep at all. It was like that for awhile when we first came back, but we're still some of the very lucky ones that shouldn't have as many concerns as those who have nothing.

On that note I'll leave and we'll have more to write when we get back from Atlanta.

-posted by Chris

Thursday, 8 Dec 05      

(link removed)
Fiona Apple- "Across the Universe" - Pleasantville soundtrack (Clean Slate)

Hard to believe that it was 25 years ago today when John Lennon was murdered. I still remember sitting at home in my room, playing my Sgt. Pepper's album and crying about the fact that I was never going to see the Beatles live. For some reason at that time, I was under the delusion that John, Paul, George and Ringo were going to reunite and play a show in Phoenix, AZ. Hell I was only 12 - child can dream, right? The Beatles were always one of my favorite bands growing up. Don't ask me why or how that happened...I came from a family that was more apt to play salsa and jazz music in the household. But if you asked me who my favorite band was when I was about 8 years old, the answer would have been a tie between The Beatles and The BeeGees (shout out to disco!). My dad got me Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band at around that age, when my sister and I got our first stereo system (8-track included). But The Beatles came on vinyl with fold out pictures and all. It was a magical album, one which I still have in my collection. Paul was always my favorite...but I sure was upset when John died. So I play Fiona Apple's version of "Across the Universe" as a tribute to John Lennon. Love or hate the politics as you see fit, but the music still sends a chill down my spine.

-posted by Kelly

Tuesday, 6 Dec 05      

(link removed)
Bob Dylan- "Subterranean Homesick Blues" - Bringing It All Back Home (Columbia)

Random Thoughts:

I just read this story about how Bellsouth got irritated with New Orleans because they're implementing a free wireless network in parts of the city.  Chris and I were going to bring the laptop with us Saturday, drive around and test it out...but we forgot (and wouldn't have had the time anyway). Very cool for New Orleans...and yet another reason for me to dislike Bellsouth.

I read this article last week... Donald Rumsfeld, in his infinite wisdom, decided that he no longer liked the word "insurgents" when referring to Iraq. Instead he wanted them called "Enemies of the legitimate Iraqi government" or ELIG for short. You would have thought he learned his lesson after trying to turn GWOT (Global War on Terror) into "global struggle against violent extremism" or GSAVE. Entertaining as always...

I'm sure you've read some of the news stories about Louisiana's release of e-mails and other documents during the time immediately before and after Katrina. Looks like a lot of politics might have gotten in the way of stuff being done in New Orleans. Again I suspect there were failures at many levels...but at least for now, Gov. Blanco is pointing the finger at the feds and seems to have the paperwork to back it up.

On a sad note...we heard over the weekend that Mr. Ted (O'Boyle) had passed away on Friday. I never really knew him that well...but he and his family made a large impact on the Coast's music scene. When we first moved down here in '95, one of the first things we did was go to the local record store (BeBop in Biloxi). We picked up a show flier and shortly thereafter made our first outing to a place called the "Little House" in D'Iberville. We had no idea where we were going, but luckily directions were included. When we got there we knew we were in the right place, as many punk kids were hanging around outside. I think that first show was a band called Whirlybird with Peter  doing an acoustic performance before the main act. We stood around probably looking way out of place and finally ran into Lyndsay who was collecting money for Lee. Lee was doing the bookings at the Little House, which was a trailer set up right next door to where he and his family (the O'Boyles) lived. It's funny...Lyndsay asked me the other day how Chris and I tolerated going to shows with a bunch of young kids (we were probably a good 10 years older than most). Honestly, I think we were both so happy to have found a scene. It wasn't necessarily the same kind of music that we were into at the time, but it was a very cool venue that allowed many to perform and hear performances that would help shape their lives. So to make a long story short...it was our way of connecting with some of the locals who shared similar musical interests - or at least the desire to avoid commercial music. And that was in a large part due to Mr. Ted being the type of person that he was. Like I said, I didn't know him hardly at all...but I do know that he must have been an incredible person. And one who will truly be missed by many Gulf Coast punks. I couldn't think of a good song to dedicate to the O'Boyles...but I hope "Subterranean Homesick Blues" kind of does the trick.

-posted by Kelly

Sunday, 04 Dec 05      

We're watching the Avalanche this evening playing the Buffalo Sabres in their first game against Eastern Conference teams. They aren't looking too good. They seem to be scrambling around (not counting the two fights) and Aebischer looks off his game. It's the end of the first period and Buffalo is already leading 4-1. This could be an ugly game. It's a good wind-down to the weekend though.

Friday night Kelly went out to Slidell to help celebrate her friend Allison's birthday at Los Tres Amigos with a group of co-workers. I stayed home and mostly read and watched some hockey. I was going to go biking, but my chest has been bothering me a bit lately, so I decided that biking in the cool night air wouldn't be the best idea. I didn't really eat much during the day, but Kelly brought home some Thai food from the restaurant in Slidell and it was really good.

Saturday morning we were awakened at 6.45am by the doorbell. It was the roofers, who we guessed might show up over the weekend. We were glad to see them. I moved our vehicles out of the driveway so they could back their debris truck into it and they were quickly hard at work. It was aa group of Spanish speakers (Mexican?) from Texas doing the work. They had a lead crew member who was bi-lingual and there were about 10 men total in the crew. There was a story in the local paper regarding immigrant workers. It's kind of an interesting piece, and there are many Latinos on the coast, but I agree with the last statement in the article that says, "If you don't have a job, it's because you don't want to work." We've had many people coming into our office and applying for Medicaid lately and almost 8 out of 10 are still drawing unemployment. I don't buy the line that there isn't any work because every day when I drive into work there are at least ten 'help wanted/now hiring' signs in front of many businesses. As far as who does our roof, I don't really care as long as it gets done. Kelly and I both feel that as long as the workers aren't getting ripped off by the contracting company, than it's a good thing there are workers who have found a job.  They had gotten quite a bit of it done by the time we left a little after 10am. We'd have to wait to see the finished product on Sunday since we were spending the day in New Orleans.

               roof1               roof2

We decided to go to New Orleans to see a couple of the films that weren't playing over here on the coast, as well as do a bit of shopping (and contribute to the economic recovery of New Orleans). We decided to take the Causeway across to Metaire from Covington since we were doing some of our shopping in the mall and going to the movie in Harahan. We stopped first at Starbucks for coffee (mmm...peppermint mocha frappucino) then drove over the lake. The mall was pretty crowded, but we found a parking spot in the back near Dillard's. Kelly was looking for another pair of shoes, a pair we saw in Mobile at Dillard's but didn't have her size. She tried on a couple of pairs here, but no luck. We then went into the main part of the mall. I ended up picking up a couple of 'dress' shirts in solid purple and red, as well as a pair of black slacks at Express. I also bought a new belt at Eddie Bauer. Kelly picked up a gift card for her mom and we did a bit more window shopping before heading on. We went to Dorignac's grocery to get some edamame for Allison, and also picked out some import cheeses to snack on, then we went to the movie. The matinee we went to was 'Good Night, and Good Luck', the docudrama that told some of the story of Edward R. Murrow and CBS taking on Joseph McCarthy and his 'communist witchhunt' in the 1950's. It was a bit slow at times, but overall a great film. I knew about McCarthy, but not much and this really opened up my eyes. The craziest thing was how much they smoked cigarettes in the movie, especially in the studio. I'm motivated to find out more about the trials and Edward R. Murrow now.

After the movie we drove down to Magazine Street so Kelly could pick up a gift for her aunt CJ. The shop she had in mind was open and we found what she was looking for. We then headed back to Metaire to eat at the recently re-opened Taj Mahal Indian restaurant. The same owners that own Nirvana own this place, so it had the similar buffet style offerings, but it was still really good. The lentils were a bit bland, but other items on the menu made up in flavor. There was chicken saag (creamed spinach), some potatoes in a spicy sauce, and the moist tandoori chicken. Those were the dishes that I ate, but there were a couple of others, along with rice and naan bread. Mmm...good. After dinner we had some time before the next movie, so we went to Borders (the only bookstore open in the area?) to check out some cd's, get another coffee (me) and a couple of magazines. The movie we were seeing in the evening was 'Shopgirl' with Claire Daines, Steve Martin (based on a novel he wrote), and Jason Schwartzman. It was kind of a fluff movie, and Steve Martin played a really dull character, but I like Claire Daines and we both were entertained by Jason Schwartzman's character. He plays some really strange people sometimes, but is usually amusing to watch. It wasn't a bad movie, but not great. I'm glad we went to see it, and I'm assuming it's much better than 'Aeon Flux'.

We headed home and listened to the Boston/Edmonton hockey game on the Sirius satellite in the Element. There was a little bit more power and lights in houses near city park as we drove on I-610, but still many without. In East New Orleans, it's still kind of eerie driving through what is basically a dead zone. Kelly made the comment that if they aren't going to start rebuilding, then they should really start to bulldoze that area because it was hit so drastically. We came home and watched the end of the game on tv, then I watched a couple of my anime programs while Kelly was working on a mix cd for Allison.

This morning we slept in and caught up on the sleep we didn't get yesterday. When we got up Kelly baked a carrot cake to take to Allison's where she, Cathy, and Allison were going to hang out this afternoon. The first thing I did was go outside and walk around the house to inspect the new roof. It looks good. I pulled out the ladder and climbed up on the roof to get a closer look of the work as well. I'm quite pleased with it, and hopefully we won't have any more water problems. Of course we still need the eaves replaced along with some of the vinyl siding, but it's getting there. Later, I went for a bike ride around Diamondhead after cleaning up some of the leftover debris in the yard. It was a decent ride of 12.25 miles and not a bad day. Kelly left around 1pm and I sat and waited for the contractor that was going to come check out our house and give us an estimate of the interior and hopefully the siding costs. He was supposed to come at 2pm. I listened to music and read, but when it was almost 4pm, I called him to find out if he was coming. He said he was in the middle of putting down a wood floor and apologized. He said he would come out tomorrow late afternoon. Kelly has the day off, so she'll be here when he comes by. I hopped in the shower then drove to Slidell to pick up some groceries at Walmart and Sam's Club. Both were pretty busy and it took me a few hours before I got home again. We ate leftover Thai food for dinner and now we're watching hockey. Another full weekend, which I'm glad we're doing things and not dwelling on the very slow coastal recovery effort. I could go into how things are bad, etc, but plenty of others who have it much worse than us can do a much better job.
-posted by Chris