Sunday, November 25, 2007
3 posts in a row???
yeah, sorry 'bout that. i had a bit of time to kill and some things to write about, so i gave ya three new posts in a row, so keep reading down further.
six things about me
my pal, abby, "tagged" me and is making me write six things about myself. she won't let up until i do it, so here goes :)
1. i absolutely love horror movies. any kind is fine: bloody as heck, scary as crap, b-rated as all get-out, violent, funny-scary; it don't even matter. but mostly, i love the ones from the 50's-60's-70's, and mostly the ones that star vincent price. he was a true genius of the genre. the first movie i saw with him in it was the fall of the house of usher in 6th grade english class on a 16mm reel-to-reel projector. i absolutely fell in love and have not turned back since.
2. i love listening to music. i do it constantly, probably at least 12 hours a day, in the car on the way to work, all day at work, on the way home, while doing yardwork and housework, whenever. some of my current favorites that make regular rotation in the car and ipod are devendra banhart, elliott smith, john frusciante, and the hives. there are so many more, but these are the ones i keep going back to over and over again lately (and in the next two months, add the mars volta to the list again when their new album the bedlam in goliath comes out).
3. i love playing with my daughter, mina. she is so much fun and has given me full license to be immature and act like a kid again. and now my wife thinks it is cute instead of annoying.
4. i love to run, and would like to one day train for and run in a marathon. it just seems like a great thing to accomplish. a normal dude like me can't really say he has done amazing things in his life (i guess that is all in one's perspective), but this is one thing i would like to accomplish before i head off to that great bacon cheeseburger and french fry stand in the sky (or underground, or in my mausoleum - who really truly knows what happens after you die?).
5. i could give a crap about reaching 30. i feel no different, and i will still feel no different when i hit 40, 50, and 60 (except for being more tired and having to take more pills and stuff). it is all in how you live your life and not falling into the trappings of how getting older means not having as much fun. screw that, man. i will be the 65 year old dude at a concert with a bunch of 15 year olds. i don't give a crap (and the fact that i said that i don't give a crap twice in regards to this topic without even realizing it proves that i really don't give a crap - there goes my short-term memory...).
and finally...
6. family and friends are very important to me. my wife and daughter are the best. right now, they are upstairs and i can hear mina speaking some rambling rubbish that sounds kind of like this: "mommy! why sly zy my fy zly", and anna is saying "oh yeah? what else?" and the conversation keeps on going. i am about to go join them. my family (mom, dad, brothers, sisters) are great. we always have a great time when we are able to be together. my few close friends are the coolest. i love hanging out with them and just plain doing nothing (or playing video games/watching tv). i am a lucky guy...
1. i absolutely love horror movies. any kind is fine: bloody as heck, scary as crap, b-rated as all get-out, violent, funny-scary; it don't even matter. but mostly, i love the ones from the 50's-60's-70's, and mostly the ones that star vincent price. he was a true genius of the genre. the first movie i saw with him in it was the fall of the house of usher in 6th grade english class on a 16mm reel-to-reel projector. i absolutely fell in love and have not turned back since.
2. i love listening to music. i do it constantly, probably at least 12 hours a day, in the car on the way to work, all day at work, on the way home, while doing yardwork and housework, whenever. some of my current favorites that make regular rotation in the car and ipod are devendra banhart, elliott smith, john frusciante, and the hives. there are so many more, but these are the ones i keep going back to over and over again lately (and in the next two months, add the mars volta to the list again when their new album the bedlam in goliath comes out).
3. i love playing with my daughter, mina. she is so much fun and has given me full license to be immature and act like a kid again. and now my wife thinks it is cute instead of annoying.
4. i love to run, and would like to one day train for and run in a marathon. it just seems like a great thing to accomplish. a normal dude like me can't really say he has done amazing things in his life (i guess that is all in one's perspective), but this is one thing i would like to accomplish before i head off to that great bacon cheeseburger and french fry stand in the sky (or underground, or in my mausoleum - who really truly knows what happens after you die?).
5. i could give a crap about reaching 30. i feel no different, and i will still feel no different when i hit 40, 50, and 60 (except for being more tired and having to take more pills and stuff). it is all in how you live your life and not falling into the trappings of how getting older means not having as much fun. screw that, man. i will be the 65 year old dude at a concert with a bunch of 15 year olds. i don't give a crap (and the fact that i said that i don't give a crap twice in regards to this topic without even realizing it proves that i really don't give a crap - there goes my short-term memory...).
and finally...
6. family and friends are very important to me. my wife and daughter are the best. right now, they are upstairs and i can hear mina speaking some rambling rubbish that sounds kind of like this: "mommy! why sly zy my fy zly", and anna is saying "oh yeah? what else?" and the conversation keeps on going. i am about to go join them. my family (mom, dad, brothers, sisters) are great. we always have a great time when we are able to be together. my few close friends are the coolest. i love hanging out with them and just plain doing nothing (or playing video games/watching tv). i am a lucky guy...
update on nyx
here is a photo of nyx's healing progress from her surgery. this is right at the one week mark. notice the redness is gone, the fur is growing back in, and it is looking great. she gets the staples/stitches out this coming week at her 2 week checkup. she is walking well on it and just started walking slowly up and down the stairs yesterday. she is doing quite well. one more month 'til her other leg gets operated on... what a tuff girl!
camping trip with my brothers and dad
last friday night, i went on a camping trip with my 3 brothers, my brother-in-law, and my dad at cheraw state park. let me start by saying i have not been camping in at least 16 years, so i was not really looking forward to it (i have never really liked camping - i am allergic to nature). to make matters worse, we had reserved a space in the "primitive" camping area, which means no showers, no bathrooms. oh boy...
of course, we had to pick the coldest night of the year. i think it dropped down to the upper 20's that night, but we slept comfortably enough in the 8 man tent my brother, scott, brought. when i first got there with my dad, it was already around 8:00pm, so we all just sat around the campfire, talking inappropriately, roasting marshmallows, and making s'mores (mmmm...). we turned in around 12:30am and woke the next morning around 7:30am. throughout the day, we did awesome things, like play a game of football, play texas hold 'em, and play risk (the world domination board game).
we rounded off the afternoon with a 2.5 mile hike through the trails and around the lake. there was one part that was absolutely beautiful. there was a dam that created a waterfall that led down into a stream. a bridge allowed us to walk over the waterfall. with all of the leaves changing colors, and the lack of modern-day city noise/traffic, it was a little piece of heaven.
all in all, i gotta say, i had a pretty sweet time. spending time with my brothers and dad, talking rudely, eating loads of food (we had enough food to stay out there for two weeks), and freezing our butts off made for a truly great camping trip. my dad, my brother ben, and i headed back home that evening, while the other 3 stayed out there one more night (forget that!). i think we are going to try to start an annual tradition of this (isn't that what you do when you get old? start annual traditions?).
of course, we had to pick the coldest night of the year. i think it dropped down to the upper 20's that night, but we slept comfortably enough in the 8 man tent my brother, scott, brought. when i first got there with my dad, it was already around 8:00pm, so we all just sat around the campfire, talking inappropriately, roasting marshmallows, and making s'mores (mmmm...). we turned in around 12:30am and woke the next morning around 7:30am. throughout the day, we did awesome things, like play a game of football, play texas hold 'em, and play risk (the world domination board game).
we rounded off the afternoon with a 2.5 mile hike through the trails and around the lake. there was one part that was absolutely beautiful. there was a dam that created a waterfall that led down into a stream. a bridge allowed us to walk over the waterfall. with all of the leaves changing colors, and the lack of modern-day city noise/traffic, it was a little piece of heaven.
all in all, i gotta say, i had a pretty sweet time. spending time with my brothers and dad, talking rudely, eating loads of food (we had enough food to stay out there for two weeks), and freezing our butts off made for a truly great camping trip. my dad, my brother ben, and i headed back home that evening, while the other 3 stayed out there one more night (forget that!). i think we are going to try to start an annual tradition of this (isn't that what you do when you get old? start annual traditions?).
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
today at monster!
just a quick note:
i stopped by monster music and movies today and picked up two cds. one brand-spankin' new, the other a few years old (but i just found out about it). the first one is the new one from the hives called the black and white album. woo hoo!!! i have been looking forward to this one. i have not given it a good solid listen yet, but what i have heard has been stellar.
the other disc i picked up is called the new original sonic sounds in band name and album title. it is mark arm, steve turner, and dan peters from mudhoney with two other dudes covering an album's worth of songs by a mid-60's garage band named the sonics. haven't even laid ears on this one yet, but i am quite sure i will love it. the members of mudhoney never disappoint.
and in other mudhoney news, that great indie label sub pop has just released a limited edition, vinyl only live LP called live mud. it is a recording of mudhoney in mexico city on december 10, 2005. i went to sub pop's website to purchase, but alas, it is limited to only 500 copies, and they are sold clean out. bummer, you say? ha! ebay, i say! i won a sealed copy on ebay this very afternoon for $11.99 plus 4 bucks shipping. the bonus with this one as well is that sub pop was sweet enough to include a code for downloading the whole album in mp3 format. now, i can load it on the 'ol ipod. a good day indeed in my world.
i stopped by monster music and movies today and picked up two cds. one brand-spankin' new, the other a few years old (but i just found out about it). the first one is the new one from the hives called the black and white album. woo hoo!!! i have been looking forward to this one. i have not given it a good solid listen yet, but what i have heard has been stellar.
the other disc i picked up is called the new original sonic sounds in band name and album title. it is mark arm, steve turner, and dan peters from mudhoney with two other dudes covering an album's worth of songs by a mid-60's garage band named the sonics. haven't even laid ears on this one yet, but i am quite sure i will love it. the members of mudhoney never disappoint.
and in other mudhoney news, that great indie label sub pop has just released a limited edition, vinyl only live LP called live mud. it is a recording of mudhoney in mexico city on december 10, 2005. i went to sub pop's website to purchase, but alas, it is limited to only 500 copies, and they are sold clean out. bummer, you say? ha! ebay, i say! i won a sealed copy on ebay this very afternoon for $11.99 plus 4 bucks shipping. the bonus with this one as well is that sub pop was sweet enough to include a code for downloading the whole album in mp3 format. now, i can load it on the 'ol ipod. a good day indeed in my world.
poor nyx! first day home after surgery...
as some of you may know, one of our pups, nyx, injured her leg a while back. after a few vet visits, we were referred to a veterinary surgeon to have her looked at further, for she had started hobbling on both legs. after they looked at her, they determined that she had torn some ligaments in both of her knees, and both knees would require surgery if she were to ever heal. bummer!
what basically happened is that she tore some ligaments in both knees, causing the femur to slide away from the tibia when she applies too much pressure. the vet compared it to an ACL injury in a human. we dropped her off yesterday morning bright and early at 7:15 am for her first surgery, this one on her right knee. the type of surgery that was done is called a lateral suture technique. what the surgery accomplishes is the removal of any torn/shredded ligament particles, as well as the removal of any torn portion of the cushiony material, called the meniscus, from between the femur and the tibia. Then, the torn ligaments are replaced by a heavy gauge monofilament line to hold the two bones together, preventing them from sliding away from each other again.
the surgery, although quite expensive, was a great success. we currently have her on pain medication and antibiotics, but the road is long from over. we will have to help her with some daily exercises and stretches, and make sure she does not put too much pressure on it too early. she has a 2 week checkup, followed by a 4 and 6 week checkup, after which, if everything is still looking good, we will schedule her surgery for her other leg, and start all over again.
she is pretty out of it right now, but i think that is the medication. i will try to post pictures here every few days noting her progress. she sure is a trooper. she is still quite young at just under 7 years old. and she was our first pup that we could call our own, so we want her around for a long time. way to be tough, girl! ruff!
what basically happened is that she tore some ligaments in both knees, causing the femur to slide away from the tibia when she applies too much pressure. the vet compared it to an ACL injury in a human. we dropped her off yesterday morning bright and early at 7:15 am for her first surgery, this one on her right knee. the type of surgery that was done is called a lateral suture technique. what the surgery accomplishes is the removal of any torn/shredded ligament particles, as well as the removal of any torn portion of the cushiony material, called the meniscus, from between the femur and the tibia. Then, the torn ligaments are replaced by a heavy gauge monofilament line to hold the two bones together, preventing them from sliding away from each other again.
the surgery, although quite expensive, was a great success. we currently have her on pain medication and antibiotics, but the road is long from over. we will have to help her with some daily exercises and stretches, and make sure she does not put too much pressure on it too early. she has a 2 week checkup, followed by a 4 and 6 week checkup, after which, if everything is still looking good, we will schedule her surgery for her other leg, and start all over again.
she is pretty out of it right now, but i think that is the medication. i will try to post pictures here every few days noting her progress. she sure is a trooper. she is still quite young at just under 7 years old. and she was our first pup that we could call our own, so we want her around for a long time. way to be tough, girl! ruff!
Thursday, November 08, 2007
chris cornell at the house of blues - 11/07/07
YES! last night, my wife and i experienced an incredible show at the house of blues in myrtle beach. chris cornell completely obliterated my ears with a most rockin' show (just after i recovered from that mudhoney show last weekend...). i will get to mr. cornell in a moment though. the opening band was a three piece from new york called earl greyhound. they put on an enjoyable show, very bluesy, soulful rock music. kinda gritty at times, but in a sexy way, you know? the female bass player and the male guitar player shared vocal duties and harmonized nicely throughout. the drummer was quite good as well, and he sure loves those cymbals! {!crash-crash-crash-crash-crash!} check 'em out.
chris cornell came out with a full band of two guitarists, a bass player, and a drummer. this tour is to promote his brand new solo album carry on, which is a great mixture of hard-driving rock and soulful tunes like only he can pull off. as i said, the show was excellent, and was sort of like a greatest-hits-by-bands-that-chris-cornell-has-fronted show. he covered all eras of his previous bands' works, from soundgarden's louder than love and badmotorfinger to temple of the dog's self-titled album to audioslave's three albums. here are the songs that i remember hearing, in no particular order:
photo courtesy of my sorta crappy camera phone
doesn't remind me, outshined, whole lotta love (led zeppelin cover), cochise, show me how to live, what you are, no such thing, hunger strike, spoonman, billie jean (yes, the michael jackson song), you know my name, loud love, slaves and bulldozers, ty cobb, and burden in my hand. and in the middle of all of that, he played the following tracks, with just him and an acoustic guitar: can't change me, thank you (another led zeppelin cover), like a stone, call me a dog, fell on black days, and he finished off the acoustic set with i am the highway, where the band joined him halfway through the song to lead back into more rockin' songs. the highlight of the evening for my wife, i know, was when they played seasons, from the singles sountrack.
photo courtesy of my sorta crappy camera phone
seem like a lot of songs? that's because they played for nearly three hours. "what???", you say? it is true. they came out at 9:00 and left the stage at 11:45. all during the show, the guitar picks were raining on the crowd, so if you were there, and you didn't get one, you must have been sleeping in the corner (anna got hit with two in the face, me with one). it is hard to believe that after all these years of constant recording and touring that his voice has held up so well (he sounds better than ever, and doesn't even flinch at hitting the high notes that he was hitting in the late 80's). he is also still in great physical shape, which most of the ladies in the crowd were admiring. an all-out excellent show. if you get a chance to see him on this tour, don't hesitate. i never forgot how much i love old soundgarden and temple of the dog, but seeing him perform these songs live took it to a whole new level for me. did i mention we got a guitar pick?
chris cornell came out with a full band of two guitarists, a bass player, and a drummer. this tour is to promote his brand new solo album carry on, which is a great mixture of hard-driving rock and soulful tunes like only he can pull off. as i said, the show was excellent, and was sort of like a greatest-hits-by-bands-that-chris-cornell-has-fronted show. he covered all eras of his previous bands' works, from soundgarden's louder than love and badmotorfinger to temple of the dog's self-titled album to audioslave's three albums. here are the songs that i remember hearing, in no particular order:
photo courtesy of my sorta crappy camera phone
doesn't remind me, outshined, whole lotta love (led zeppelin cover), cochise, show me how to live, what you are, no such thing, hunger strike, spoonman, billie jean (yes, the michael jackson song), you know my name, loud love, slaves and bulldozers, ty cobb, and burden in my hand. and in the middle of all of that, he played the following tracks, with just him and an acoustic guitar: can't change me, thank you (another led zeppelin cover), like a stone, call me a dog, fell on black days, and he finished off the acoustic set with i am the highway, where the band joined him halfway through the song to lead back into more rockin' songs. the highlight of the evening for my wife, i know, was when they played seasons, from the singles sountrack.
photo courtesy of my sorta crappy camera phone
seem like a lot of songs? that's because they played for nearly three hours. "what???", you say? it is true. they came out at 9:00 and left the stage at 11:45. all during the show, the guitar picks were raining on the crowd, so if you were there, and you didn't get one, you must have been sleeping in the corner (anna got hit with two in the face, me with one). it is hard to believe that after all these years of constant recording and touring that his voice has held up so well (he sounds better than ever, and doesn't even flinch at hitting the high notes that he was hitting in the late 80's). he is also still in great physical shape, which most of the ladies in the crowd were admiring. an all-out excellent show. if you get a chance to see him on this tour, don't hesitate. i never forgot how much i love old soundgarden and temple of the dog, but seeing him perform these songs live took it to a whole new level for me. did i mention we got a guitar pick?
Sunday, November 04, 2007
mudhoney at the 40 watt club in athens, ga
holy crap! i just saw mudhoney at the 40 watt club in athens, ga last night. i took the trip alone, and it was a long drive, but it was so worth it! there were 2 opening bands (both were mostly metal sounding), the dumps and 300 cobras. they were both pretty decent. check out their myspace pages.
mudhoney rocked. plain and simple. they came out at around 12:15 and played 'til 2:00, with two encores. it was intense. i was front row, slightly-right-of center. they started the show with you got it (keep it out of my face) followed by suck you dry. after that, i can't remember the exact order, but they certainly played a great mix of classics and stuff from their latest album, under a billion suns. here are the tracks i remember distinctly:
photo courtesy of my sorta crappy camera phone
touch me i'm sick, the money will roll right in, sweet young thing (ain't sweet no more), hate the police, burn it clean, if i think, in 'n out of grace, mudride, need, into the drink, here comes sickness, it is us, where is the future, hard-on for war, and a few others that i cannot think of.
photo courtesy of my sorta crappy camera phone
these guys have been around since '89 or '90, but you wouldn't have been able to tell. mark arm's voice still sounds fantastic, and steve turner is still ripping it up on guitar. dan peters played a face-melting drum solo, and was solid throughout. i will definitely be going out of my way to see them again next time they come around. it was such a great show, one of the best i have seen in quite a while.
mudhoney rocked. plain and simple. they came out at around 12:15 and played 'til 2:00, with two encores. it was intense. i was front row, slightly-right-of center. they started the show with you got it (keep it out of my face) followed by suck you dry. after that, i can't remember the exact order, but they certainly played a great mix of classics and stuff from their latest album, under a billion suns. here are the tracks i remember distinctly:
photo courtesy of my sorta crappy camera phone
touch me i'm sick, the money will roll right in, sweet young thing (ain't sweet no more), hate the police, burn it clean, if i think, in 'n out of grace, mudride, need, into the drink, here comes sickness, it is us, where is the future, hard-on for war, and a few others that i cannot think of.
photo courtesy of my sorta crappy camera phone
these guys have been around since '89 or '90, but you wouldn't have been able to tell. mark arm's voice still sounds fantastic, and steve turner is still ripping it up on guitar. dan peters played a face-melting drum solo, and was solid throughout. i will definitely be going out of my way to see them again next time they come around. it was such a great show, one of the best i have seen in quite a while.
smashing pumpkins...
my wife, anna, and i headed to atlanta this past week to see the smashing pumpkins at the fabulous fox theatre. when we got there, and checked into the hotel, we called the venue to see what time doors open. we were informed that the show had been canceled due to illness in the band.
we were sad.
we were sad.
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