Guess who I just saw on MTV?

Ok, the first one's easy. Can you see anyone else?

Facebook... It's like Pokemon, with humans

Gotta catch 'em all! So, I finally joined in on the Facebook craze. Seriously, I'm too busy right now adding people to properly concentrate on this blog. What have I done!!

Oh, and to JayMoo and Anonymous, thanks for making three posts ago my most commented post ever. I would love to know who Anonymous is.

Of strobe lights and fountain pens

I'm about done with studying. My mind is a bit fried, and I figured this was as good a time as any to share some of the quirks that are currently forming a part of my life. Don't worry, I'll keep it short and sweet.

• Our (fluorescent) bathroom light has decided it is time to die, and so every time we turn it on, it flickers. Sometimes it flickers for so long, I don't have any choice but to take a "strobe shower." Trust me, it would be much cooler if I could get some tunes in there too.
• I've rediscovered the joy of cursive. After years of denouncing it, I've found that I can write much faster (and prettier) if I bust out the loopy writing. The only drawback - it makes me feel like I should be dotting my i's with hearts.
• I got bored today, and googled the term "Steady Mobbin'." Brigham's blog was the number two hit. Wow. Pretty good. I then proceeded to google "scrumpestuous" expecting my blog to top the list. I found out that it didn't. In fact, JayMoo's blog was on the list, and then Brighams, with mine no where to be found. Surely this is some trick that Google is playing on me.

I'm pretty sure none of that is going to be on the test.

Wish I'd seen it sooner

So, I just barely saw this week's episode of The Office as our cable was out that night. The whole thing was good, but the ending was brilliant. Kudos to whomever came up with that scene.

Something you should know about

I must admit that this information is not NEARLY as cool as what is happening over here, but since I don't have a job that gives me these kinds of opportunities (I'm just trying to find a cure for HIV/AIDS - not that I'm bitter or anything), I'll just have to pass on the info that I have. And I must admit, it's pretty cool.

Some of you may know that the 12th Street Guitar Hero Fancier's Association meetings have more of a "soft rock" atmosphere lately, but Guitar Hero: Rocks the 80s might change that. Most of you probably know about this already, but it's set out for release in July and they have finally released a (incomplete) list of songs that will be on it. So, for those of you who might be interested, here's the lineup so far:

• I Wanna Rock (by Twisted Sister)
• I Ran (by Flock of Seagulls)
• Round and Round (as made famous by Ratt)
• I Want Candy (as made famous by Bow Wow Wow)
• Metal Health (as made famous by Quiet Riot)
• Holy Diver (as made famous by Dio)
• Heat Of The Moment (as made famous by Asia)

I'm going to guess that the lack of a "as made famous by" on the first two means they are the original cuts, but who knows. So far, no one has said how many tracks there will be (I'm guessing around 30), so let the speculation begin. If you really care, the actual press release announcing all of this nonsense can be found here.

Word.

What you are about to see is not a fake. This is real. Please watch on.

I found out about this when B-Money himself came to my door selling his CD and told me about it. I figured that this could be my little addition to your popular musical consciousness. You can thank me later.

Of Roaches

I'm a little afraid to post this, as I don't want to jinx myself here, but we don't have any roaches in my place. I'm not really sure why, but I have a few ideas:

1. My roommate and I are pretty clean guys, though in fairness, my roommate is the cleaner one. I know some may argue, but really, we are pretty clean.
2. I live on the 35th floor, and I've been told that this is the reason why I don't have roaches. I don't know if I believe this. I've heard that cockroaches can survive nuclear holocaust, so I'm pretty sure they can make it up 35 flights of stairs.
3. I don't live in a very popular neighborhood (these are Manhattanite cockroaches, after all).

And here's a new one that I came up with on the way home tonight,


4. There are so many hospitals and medical centers surrounding me, and we all know how clean hospitals and medical centers are, that the roaches just decided it wasn't worth living in this area. My guess is they moved to Williamsburg.

So, I have no idea why we haven't been plagued with roaches, and I'm grateful that we aren't. But, if I had to put money on it, I think I'd go with a combination of 3 & 4.

"My car just hit a water buffalo"

In other news in my suddenly very boring life, Amazon has finally decided to ship an order that I placed early last week, which includes a few great Jazz CDs, and the new "Jane Doe" edition of the movie Fletch. What a great flick. Glad to see it's been re-released. If you haven't seen it, go see it. I'll let you borrow it. Fletch even goes to Provo in it. Convinced?

15 albums worth listening to

OK, so I know that Jazz isn't the most popular form of music among the under-50 set, but I'm mostly fine with that. The only time that it gets to me is when I discover some new album (to me, anyway) and I want to share it with someone else, only to get a look like, "you're kidding me, right?" Yeah, I realize that it's not the most accessible music out there, but anyone that is willing to take the time to listen will find that there's a lot more musical "meat" in Jazz than in most other forms of music. I realize that there is a lot of it that doesn't have words, and there is a lot of it that can sound like random notes, but there isn't much that I can do for you if either of those things is a concern (other than tell you to be patient and keep listening). I also realize that one of the toughest things about Jazz is that, with so much music out there, it can be hard to know where to start. That is something that I can help with, and to that end, I've made a little list of CDs that anyone interested in Jazz should check out. They are in no particular order, and I won't bore you with much description of them. So, without further ado, here are 15 albums that are worth listening to:

1. Kind of Blue by Miles Davis - probably the one on the list that I would most recommend
2. Blue Train by John Coltrane - one of my first purchases and still one of my faves
3. A Love Supreme by John Coltrane - a recording so good, that there is a church built around it (no kidding!)
4. April in Paris by Count Basie - A great album to listen to if you are feeling intimidated by Jazz. Very easy on the ears.
5. Birth of the Cool by Miles Davis - shades aren't necessary, but they help
6. Blues and the Abstract Truth by Oliver Nelson - Weird name, good Jazz
7. Getz/Gilberto by Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto - Sure, it's the album that gave us "The Girl from Ipanema" but that doesn't have to be a bad thing
8. In a Silent Way by Miles Davis - Miles was at the forefront of so many changes in Jazz. Here's an early mix of Jazz and Rock. So good.
9. Maiden Voyage by Herbie Hancock - Nautically themed jazz, whatever that means
10. Miles Ahead by Miles Davis - This time with an orchestra behind him
11. Out of the Cool by The Gil Evans Orchestra - The title makes more sense when you know a bit of Jazz history, which I'm not going to go into right now
12. Speak No Evil by Wayne Shorter - great hard bop, 'nuff said
13. Waltz for Debby by Bill Evans - if you want to hear three people playing as one, this is the album
14. Workin' by Miles Davis - Really guys, are you getting the picture? Miles Davis is the coolest (and he didn't even have to pee his pants to get there)
15. Brilliant Corners by Thelonious Monk - Really, any one of his albums could fit here, this just happens to be the one I picked.

So, there it is folks. I happen to own all of these albums, and if anyone should be interested, I'm more than happy to lend them out. Really, give 'em a shot.

Two days and counting

So, the M's lost their last game, and the Yanks have won their last two, but I'm not letting that get to me. What I might let get to me is the fact that Jeff Weaver is slated to pitch, and with an 0-4 record and an 18.26 ERA (yeah, that's not a typo, but it is just about the worst ERA I've ever seen) I don't know how well he's going to do on Saturday. So, in order to keep up my good spirits, I've put together a list of great ballpark songs. You know, the ones that you can't help but smile when you hear them. So, here they are, in no particular order:

• "Louie Louie" by The Kingsmen - as the unofficial state rock song of Washington State, it's acquired a special place down at Safeco and in my heart.
• "Takin' Care of Business" by BTO - a great blue collar song for a great blue collar sport.
• "Centerfield" by John Fogerty - OK, so maybe a little overplayed, but it still brings back memories of Little League.
• "Centerfold" by J. Giles Band - Not to be confused with the previous entry, Centerfold has one of the greatest riffs for singing along.
• "Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond - one for the BoSox fans.
• "Walk of Life" by Dire Straits - another great riff mostly heard after a walk (go figure).
• "Glory Days" by Brice Springsteen - Pure American nostalgia.

Well, there it is folks. Feel free to post any additions to the comments section.

Best Week Ever!

I really don't want to jinx this, but this is turning out to be a great week for me. Here's some of the reasons why:

• Yesterday, through no action of my own, I scored a ticket to the taping of The Colbert Report
• I'm going to see Spider-Man 3 on the IMAX on Saturday
• Guitar Hero last night was a return to it's former glory
• I probably had the best cab ride of my life last night due to a mix of the driver and hitting almost every light just right, which is even more important since I REALLY had to go to the bathroom
• My alarm woke me up this morning to Bill Cosby's "Chocolate Cake for Breakfast." Classic.
• I've been sleeping really well these past few days.
• Last, but certainly not least, I'm going to watch my M's this Saturday at Yankee Stadium, and the weather forecast is calling for mostly sunny and 65. Not too shabby.

So, all in all, this week is looking pretty good. Could this be the peace before the storm of finals?

I'm still living in the past - 1995 to be exact

If you are a M's fan, like I am, the thought of the '95 season still gives you chills. I know that a lot of things have been said about that season, but I don't really care. Living that season was truly magical for many reasons (including giving me a reason to talk to that girl I had a crush on in 9th grade). Seriously though, the memory of that season is so intensely engraved in my memory that names like Luis Sojo, Chris Bosio (raise your hand if you can remember his no-no) and Bobby Ayala bring back great memories. Well, the memory of Bobby Ayala brings back a lot of frustrated memories too, but I'm trying to forget those for the time being.

Well, anyway, here are a few of my favorite memories growing up as a M's fan, told in pictures that I stole from other people.

Wow! Griffey climbs the wall! And breaks his wrist!
Probably my favorite Mariner ever. And yes, that is a mustache. And yes, I do remember when he had it. And yes, I do remember when he wasn't the DH.


This isn't a particularly impressive moment in M's history (at least I don't think it is), but just a good memory. Edgar hitting a HR.

Probably the highlight of my M's memory. That's right, it's the hit that saved baseball in Seattle, the Double. I don't really know how to describe this the right way, but I'm going to try. The M's are tied 2-2 with the Yankees in a best of 5 ALDS series at home. It's the bottom of the 11th, Yankees are up 5-4. Joey Cora bunts and barely makes first base. Griffey singles, Cora makes it to third. Edgar Martinez takes the plate. Bam! Frozen rope to left field. Cora scores, the game is tied. But wait! Theres more! In a display of speed that I sometimes still don't believe, Griffey manages to slide into home and score.
What a great photo. Even with A-Rod in there. Here's a little challenge: can anyone name the guy on top of A-Rod? I know that's an inadequate description of the events, so here's the play-by-play. It still gives me tingles. Well, I know this has been a little bit boring for some, but thanks for humoring me. See you on Saturday.

Elegy for a Stereo

When I was 14, I took my first "job" and babysat my newborn nephew every day for half a day in order to do one thing - buy a stereo. It was my first big purchase of anything, and as the time came to buy one, I convinced my mom to drive me from one store to the next while I conducted my research, a trait that continues to this day (my mom is getting really sick of driving me around). I finally settled on the AIWA NSX-V50, which I've had ever since. I think it cost me about $270. As you can see below, I brought it with me to NYC
Well, 12 years later, the CD player doesn't work, and the speakers have been put through their paces, and with part of my tax refund burning a hole in my pocket, I decided to replace my old trusty aiwa with a shiny new Denon, which sounds fantastic and looks great


I should be pretty happy, right? Well, I have to admit that I'm pretty sad to have lost my old stereo. I know, it sounds pretty lame, but last night I went to bed pretty bummed.

One last thought, here's a picture of my new remote (which, in my opinion isn't as cool as my old remote).

Notice anything strange? Yeah, at the top there is an "on" button and an "off" button. Can anyone tell me why this is a good thing?

A Night at the Explosion

So, last night Daniel Parker and I (not to mention the others) took a trip out to the Upright Citizen's Brigade Theater to check out the Dave Hill Explosion. Overall, a pretty good time. I didn't have the presence of mind to bring my camera, which is unfortunate since there were all kinds of celebrities there (truly, all kinds). So, instead of actual pictures, I've got ones from the internet, and if you can imagine them in a basement theater, well, you're pretty much there. First off, this is Dave Hill, the evening's host:
After astounding us with tales of wild chimpanzees and escaping from a cardboard box, he brought out this guy, Dick Cavett, but I'm sure you are all too young to remember him. I am.
He went on (and on (and on)) about the time he spent as a talk show host. After about an hour (no kidding), Rufus Wainwright appeared

(Taa-daa!)

He sang a few songs, which got pretty surreal, once all the colored lights started flashing. He's a lot younger than I thought he was.

So, that was pretty much the night. It was pretty fun, and probably the best $5 have spent in awhile. Did I mention that PC (a.k.a. John Hodgman ) was there to (but just to enjoy the show)?

Depression

Emboldened by my recent post declaring that I am thinking about purchasing an electric guitar, I finally screwed up the courage to actually go and play one. You see, the music store is probably the largest public forum that I have ever played guitar in, and even though I've been playing since high school, it can still be a bit nerve racking. Well, my problems aside, I asked the salesperson to get a few guitars down off the wall, I found a nice bench and an amp, and plugged in. That's when I realized that I had completely forgotten everything I ever knew about guitars. Wow, how embarrassing. After a bit of noodling (I don't have the heart to call it playing), I left the guitar there along with a big chunk of my confidence.

That was Monday, and I'm beginning to get over it. Perhaps enough to make another trip to the guitar store - but not without hours of serious practice.

What have I been doing?

Wow. It's been a month. What in the world have I been doing? Well, I'm going to try to sum all of that up here in this post.

First of all, I went here:


Don't know where this is? Maybe this will help:




That's right. Philadelphia. Here's the Washington I saw there:


Since I was in Philly, I decided to see this:


and this:


I thought this was the Quaker Oats guy, but it was Ben Franklin. Makes more sense.


I also enjoyed this:


After seeing all that stuff, I got hungry and decided to eat this. Man, I wish I had another one.


After all that, I won my NCAA bracket. Boo yes! To celebrate I went here:


OK, so it really was for school. But I took some time to see more of this interesting place:




I had the strangest feeling while I was there and decided to meditate on that feeling here:



But, my life hasn't been all peace and serenity. There have been stressful moments such as these:


And of course I've been doing some of this:


You might notice that there is no PS2 in the picture. That's because Mike is playing FIFA. This made me think, perhaps I should get a real one. So, I'm thinking about getting one of these:




I think I like the middle one the most. When I'm not rocking, I've been enjoying this excellent new series:


I highly recommend it.

To show you that I also have been exploring my more refined side, here are a few books that I have been reading:



Shocking!


This one has made me emit several chortles, and more than a dozen guffaws.


Phew! That was a lot. I guess I had better try smaller posts, more often.

Idea for a new club

Rollin' in the coin

Well, the year has finally come - my home state of Washington is having it's state quarter released. How do I plan on celebrating? Well, for awhile I toyed around with the idea of purchasing a few rolls of them and handing them out like a proud new father hands out cigars, but I decided that would be silly. So, instead I'm encouraging you all to find this fine piece of coinage let it grace your pocket/ears/neck/grill/whatever. The bad part is that it won't be out until April (neither will this), so here's a peek at what you all should be anxiously looking out for:



I actually have collected coins my entire life, and I would be lying if I said I'm not a little bit excited by this.

In other news, Wyoming's quarter is coming out soon as well. Now I don't really have much of a connection to Wyoming (other than living near it for several years), but I think I've seen their quarter somewhere before...

I guess the Wyoming football team has a lot of sway (they even got on the license plates). OK, so there is a reason why they are doing this (see this), but I would have loved to see the Tetons or Old Faithful, because frankly, I'm getting sick of this cowboy.

In other coin-related news, with the end of the state quarter program looming over the US Mint like, well... something large over something much smaller, they have decided to start the "Really Bad-Looking Presidential Quarters Program." Apparently we had a lot of ugly presidents. I can't wait until Nixon. I have to admit that, in the wake of the hugely sucessful Sacagawea coin (boy, don't we all love getting those!), that the switch is surprising. But, there are some cool features of these coins - the reverse is pretty cool



and the edges are cool.

I actually saw this done on some Mexican Pesos back in 2000. Sound economic advice from our southern neighbors.

Well, before I go, I have an offer to make. Since I do collect these things (mainly the state quarters), I'm always on the lookout for missing pieces of my collection. So, if you really care (which I'm guessing you don't, but if you do), here's a list of quarters that I'm missing:

Minnesota
Colorado
North Dakota
Montana

So, if you find any of these, I'm willing to trade you for a nice, shiny quarter and a big hunk of my love. Good deal, huh?

The Brackets

While doing some March Madness research, I ran across this:

Best mascot: If Penn can be true to its heritage and call itself the Quakers, why can't BYU quit this whole "Cougars" charade and call itself the Mormons? Big edge to Penn, for keeping it real.

I suppose he has a point. But what about BYU-Idaho? Would they be "The really strict Mormons" or perhaps "the hasidic Mormons?" I guess the world will never know.

Mutiny

Perhaps some of you know that recently, Brigham's Guitar Hero II save decided that it was through, and committed digital hara-kiri. Well, today mine did the same. Perhaps this is GHs way of saying, "I am not worthy of your masterful playing skills, my hard rocking feudal lord," or perhaps it's just a coincidence. The world may never know...

Taking a break

With tests finally over, I enjoyed a nice lunch at home (tuna sandwich and corn chips) and watched last night's episode of The Colbert Report. The ice cream guys Ben and Jerry were on, and being such a big fan of their "work" I was excited to see that they have released a new flavor:

That's right, Mr. Colbert has his own flavor now. If for some reason you can't read the picture above, it looks like another great addition to the line. Vanilla with chocolate covered waffle cone bits (apparently the only time that Colbert waffles) and caramel. I'm going to have to try some...

I also am having cravings for some of the Dave Matthews Magic Brownie...

Ho hum... The Oscars

It's funny that I'm even writing this, since I only saw 5 of the films nominated this year (and that's including Superman Returns), but I thought I would chime in on what I thought were some of the highlights and lowlights of the night. So, here it goes in an incredibly awesome table format!

The Lowlights

-Pan's Labyrinth losing in the Best Foreign Language film category. OK, I didn't see it, but how could I not root for a Mexican Film?
-Ellen. She had her moments, but all in all, not all that great. But then again, most hosts aren't all that great.
-Jennifer Hudson's win. OK, so I didn't see Dreamgirls either, but given the other choices, I really didn't think she would win. The whole thing felt to me like the Academy was throwing Dreamgirls a bone. How cool would it have been for Abigail Breslin or Adriana Barraza to win? Yeah, they didn't have much of a chance.
-Happy Feet. Boo! Awful! Having actually seen this one, I cannot tell you how disappointed I was to see it win. What a disjointed, preachy (yet utterly boring) movie is this! I don't know that Cars deserved to win and I didn't see Monster House, but they had to have been better than this tripe. By far the worst part of the evening.


The Highlights

-¡Viva México! How great was it that after Pan's Labyrinth won it's second Oscar they cut to a shot of some of the attendees waving little Mexican flags? With significant Mexican contributions this year (Babel, Pan's Labyrinth) I was really excited to see how far they could go. I was pleased at the result for Mexico and all of Latin America.
-Abigail Breslin and Jaden Smith. They were pretty funny as presenters, especially when Jaden botched his lines. How cute was Abigail?
-Will Ferrell/Jack Black/John C. Riley. This was more of a "midlight," but their little number still made me chuckle. What's with Ferrell's hair?
-Martin Scorsese. Nice to see him win. So, now you will begin to hear these things like, "did he win it for the right one?" Who cares. I bet he's feeling at least somewhat satisfied today with helming the film with this year's biggest Oscar take.
-Alan Arkin. I think this was the highlight of the night for me. Granted, I may be biased (his was one of the few that I actually saw), but I've always been a fan. I think he still holds the record for scariest jump of all time. I was also pleased to see Little Miss Sunshine take the Oscar for original screenplay.

The Rise and Fall of Western Civilization

I'm tired and frustrated. Due to a recent influx of CDs, I have had the great frustration of not having anything all that great to play them on. I love my Mac, but the small speakers just don't sound all that great. Add to that my recent desire to get away from digital music and back to CDs (any audiophiles out there are now laughing), and I'm in something of a bind.

I do have a stereo. I bought it when I was 14, so it's 12 years old now and the CD player is broken. On the bright side, both the tape decks still work. Yay.

Who knew that in the last 12 years the audio industry has changed? Do you know how hard it is to find a decent desktop stereo system that doesn't look like it came from Mars? Yeah, I don't really care all that much for shiny, globular stereos with additions like "dynamic x-boost" or the ability to play songs off a USB drive. And I don't want a home theater system. What is this world coming to?

So, after a frustrating look on the internet at places like BestBuy and Circuit City (where I purchased my beloved Aiwa so many years ago) and a trip to Bang and Olufsen's site (I forgot for a moment that I'm a grad student), I finally found something that interests me: Tivoli Audio's Music System.


The Pros: I love the look. Simple, clean, understated. None of those stupid graphics and crazy lights that you find on so many of the systems today. Most importantly, the sound quality is supposed to be phenomenal. I've never heard one, but I haven't found a review that bagged on one of these.

The Cons: $700 price tag. Ouch. Waaaaaaaay too far out of my range. For that price, I'm tempted to start a component system, but this one looks so sexy. If only I were made of money...

This one's for you, Casey

I'm sick, so not much happened today. But, as I was sitting on the couch watching Deal or No Deal (perhaps why I'm sick?) I was reminded of this. Forgive me if this is old news to you, but as it was one of two things that made me laugh today, I thought I would share (the other was a clip of Isabella Rossellini going gaga for Arbys).

Musings on Guitar Hero

So, tonight is the 4th meeting of the 12th Street Guitar Hero Fanciers' Association, and I was thinking about some songs that I would really like to hear in a future version of GH. OK, so I'm sure tons of lists like this exist out there, blah blah blah, I'm not being creative. Here's the list:

Songs that would be good
Holiday - Green Day
Stairway to Heaven - Led Zepplin
We Built This City - Starship (I guess it would be better for Keytar Hero)
Sweet Emotion - Aerosmith
Suffragette City - David Bowie
Black Magic Woman - Santana

Songs that would be GREAT
Layla - Derek & The Dominoes
American Girl - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (Runnin' Down A Dream might also be nice...)
Cryin' - Aerosmith
You Shook Me All Night Long - AC/DC
Any Way You Want It - Journey
Eruption - Van Halen

So, I have recently discovered that a way to mod GH2 has been worked out (requiring a modified PS2, unfortunately) and put any song that you want in. Several of my wants have been done, and many others are out there. Here's a little sample of what the finished product looks like:



There are also a few open source copies of Guitar Hero out there designed to be played with your computer keyboard (or controller, if you buy the correct adapters). Well, that's that.

Science Word

Here is the worst science word I have seen in a long time:

glycosylphosphatidylinositol

Perhaps there will be a prize to the first person who correctly pronounces this to me, either in person or by voicemail...

Strange Mailings

So, I keep getting these email from Borders about all the cool deals they have - in England. What?! I live in NYC where we use $'s not £'s. So how did this happen? I don't know. The email that they are supposedly sending the mail to isn't even mine (it's missing a . ). All I know is that there is a children's book author in the UK who shares my name... perhaps these belong to him? The world may never know.

Mongolian = Hawaiian?

I just got back from lunch at the Chinese restaurant across from NYU Med. I ordered Mongolian Chicken, which made me wonder: Is ordering Mongolian Chicken at a Chinese restaurant akin to ordering Hawaiian pizza at a pizza place?