Finals Done

And all I gotta say is

OOOOH I'M THE JUGGERNAUT BIIIIIIIITCH

Adventures in Bus Riding Vol. 23243243254654

I ride the bus for 3 and a half hours a day because of my commute to and from home. It sucks. Day in and day out I'm subjected to riding because I have no other choice. I can't afford to drive myself, and I can't afford to park. It's an annoying experience filled with zero pleasure and a ton of wasted time, all while surrounded by people who want to usually do nothing but make sure I can't at least get some sleep or listen to music/read to pass the time. I do my best to not be bothered by other people but let's just say that the public transportation system attracts some unsavory characters who always seem to want to mess with ME. Do I have a sign on my damn head that says "please make my bus ride even more unpleasant, loud, annoying, and uncomfortable than it already is!" ?

Tonight it boiled over with a couple of guys. They came to the front of the bus, and I was making a brief cell phone call to call for my ride to pick me up at my last bus stop. I was having a very hard time hearing anything going on on the phone call because they were shouting and hollering and laughing hysterically and at an absurd volume next to me, when they could clearly see I was on the phone. So I turned to my companions, who by the way wore their pants in a fashion suggesting that they preferred having their ass cheeks exposed to the night air and their hats turned at angles that made them look like clowns, and plainly said "Can you please be quiet, I'm trying to make an important call." I forced myself to be civil with these idiots but they predictably responded venomously as they got off just then at a stop.

"Shutcho fuckin face white boy" was their reply. To this, I was not shocked, although several of the other front of the bus passengers appeared to be alarmed. Calmly I ended my call and turned towards the one who had spoken. "Ya know, why don't you two just go to hell" was my reply. They shouted something else as they ran from the bus but I wasn't in any mood to take it a step further. It's getting to the point where this stuff is no longer going to roll off my back so easily...if stuff like this persists, some other bus patrons and I are going knuckles-to-eyebrows in the near future.

I cannot even begin to express

...how badly I want this semester to end.

This spring and summer will be really pretty awesome. For spring break, the fiance and I are going on a road trip out west, and then when the semester ends in May, I am going off (hope to God) to an internship somewhere in a state or national park with the student conservation association. Hopefully one of the positions I applied for selects me. I've got several that I have applied for, including cutting trees down in Washington state, backcountry patrolling in Utah, and revegetation work at Devil's Tower. The only one I've applied for that I don't particularly hope I get is this one with the Army Corps of Engineers in Alabama. Working outside every day in southern Alabama isn't my idea of a great time. Still, I had to add it to keep my options open. I hope I get that one in Washington. It's relatively near to a buddy of mine who lives in Tacoma and it'd be badass to go hang out. Plus, it's a chance to basically get an expense-paid vacation to somewhere else, and all you've gotta do is some manual labor.

How hard can it be?

Famous last words.

Christmas Lists

I was just writing up mine. Kind of a ridiculous thing to do at my age I know, but hey, if people out there (e.g. relatives) still wanna know what I want, then why deny myself stuff for Xmas? With the wii a complete impossibility, I have had to search for other items I would like.

- 4 gb or larger mp3 player. My current 2 gig is proving far too small.
- One more guitar stand so I can stick my acoustic(s) on it as well as having my electric out for easy access
- A minifridge
- Gift cards to the various thrift stores and Half Price Books where I get my albums
- A big fucking box of Cinnabons

What do you guys all want?

Ugh, it's a wonder some people know how to breathe

Couple days ago, I ordered an item off of half.com, an ebay affiliate. The seller of the item then contacted me a couple hours later telling me they no longer owned the item and would refund my money, having it credited to my card within 2 days. Fine I say, it's inconvenient but I'll live with it. For 3 days nothing happened in my bank account, then tonight, the transaction vanished, but I wasn't credited with any of my money back. So now I'm out the money AND they didn't send me the item. So I paid 20 bucks for nothing. Needless to say, I contacted half.com via ebay's contact page and am currently waiting on a response.

If this cannot be solved via the official channels, I am going to send the seller an email demanding rectification of this issue. I mean really, stuff like this just eats me away inside. How can you be dumb enough to leave an item up for sale when YOU DON'T EVEN OWN IT ANYMORE? This is so ridiculous that I don't really know who to be more mad at, the seller for being incompetent, or ebay for having a refund system that doesn't even work. Sometimes I consider just giving up buying shit online. Last year, I had a massive ebay dispute when this guy tried to stiff me on a rather big purchase. Luckily, he turned out to be a scam artist and ebay refunded all his buyers but DAMNIT. Is the juggernaut gonna have to smash somethin?

Tribute to Real Men #2: Joe Frazier

In part 2 of my tribute to real men, I have installed my favorite heavyweight boxer ever: Smokin' Joe Frazier. Frazier was a man's man...the kind of inhumanly tough guy you can only read about it seems like. As a boy, he was born into abject poverty but he taught himself how to box and his first heavy bag was self-made out of a mail sack, sand, and cinder blocks. By the time he'd reached adulthood and pursued a boxing career, it became clear that a lifetime of sheer grit and guts was ready to make up for what he lacked in overall natural ability.

Frazier, as a fighter, could be described by me as RELENTLESS. He chased his opponents down, and with his signature 'bob and weave' to the extreme style, he confused usually accurate punchers and wore them down against the ropes with a constant, steady attack on the body, his forehead buried in their chest. He'd whip the ribs for a while to set up head shots, and his money punch was the left hook. When it landed, it took someone with a special kinda chin to take that shot and live to tell about it. After Ali lost his boxing license over the draft controversy, Frazier won what would eventually be recognized as the world heavyweight title. He was a proud, respectful, and honorable champion, and a fierce fighter inside the ropes. He held the belt until Ali returned, and after Ali had gotten his ring rust off, the two squared off in 1971 for the 'linear' world heavyweight title that technically still belonged to Ali. I should back up and say that prior to this, Ali had repaid Frazier's gift of money during his non-boxing years after the draft incident by verbally lashing out at him, ruining Frazier's childrens' school lives, and making a mockery of Frazier's attempts to train for the bout. He never once gave Frazier the loan back, and spat nothing but venom at his attempts to reconcile.

The fight was legendary. Frazier came out at the opening bell and headhunted all night long, pushing Ali into the ropes when possible and looking to land the left hook. He brutalized Ali from pillar to post, never tiring, never giving up, and never losing focus, despite the tough Ali hanging in there. Finally, in round 15, Frazier landed a MURDEROUS left hook square in the chin that put Ali down, but Ali beat the count and went the distance. Frazier won a unanimous decision. He eventually lost the title to George Foreman in 1973, and lost two subsequent matches to Ali, but the beatings Frazier laid on Ali are widely considered to have caused or contributed to his development of Parkinson's disease.

Frazier is an example of a real man, a man who never once compromised his principles for anyone, a man who, when faced with adversity, told it to go to hell. A man who when faced with his greatest challenges, said "bring em on." And he did it with class and dignity at every turn. In a sport where massive egos rule the day, Frazier stood alone as a beacon of respect and honor. For his stellar boxing career, particularly his shocking victory over Muhammad Ali (making him the first man to ever beat Ali) which I find especially satisfying due to my intense dislike for Ali, and his comporting of himself as a champion, Joe Frazier makes my Hall of Fame for Real Men.

Tribute to Real Men #1: Sean Connery

In this world gone mad, there's a severe shortage of real, beef jerky-eating, lumber-sawing men. A lot of you will think these posts in my forthcoming series "Tributes to Real Men" are jokes. They're not. I'm dead serious when I say that we need to see more recognition for real men when we live in a world populated by Ben Afflecks and Orlando Blooms.

Sean Connery is my first installment because he was the first guy I thought of when I thought of this idea (Well actually I should give credit to Maddox for the idea, but I'm just expanding on it). Sean Connery always played the best damn movie characters, and did pretty well for himself outside of movies too. Go here to see an astonishing list of awesome facts about him: http://imdb.com/name/nm0000125/bio

Anyhow, what makes Sean Connery a good addition to my little hall of fame primarily resides in the roles he played. Obviously, he was the best James Bond ever. He was a COMPLETE HARDASS as Bond and that was what the role needed. Roger Moore tried to be way too softspoken in the role, and Pierce Brosnan tried to act way too witty. Sean Connery was the only guy to ever play Bond correctly: a hardass who was constantly in control of every situation. Hell, he could be sitting there, tied up in the villain's lair, and he'd be smiling at the guy, figuring out how to escape the whole time. The problem with the other Bonds is that they all let their emotions show way too much. Sean Connery kept his cool and always wound up winning, and far more impressively than anything Roger Moore ever did.

And that's not even taking into account his other awesome roles in flicks like the Untouchables, his woefully underused but staggeringly badass Juan Sanchez Villa Lobos Ramirez character in Highlander, and hell even his somewhat comedic relief role in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was still pretty cool. And how could I forget him in The Man Who Would be King? That is a movie I recommend for ANYONE to see because it's a fantastic epic movie. And Sean Connery, once again, comes off like a total master in it. Fantastic acting, and the best mutton chops ever. And that reminds me: the other huge reason is facial hair. Anyone who knows me knows that's one of the main ways I qualify men as manly, is through their various facial hair regimes. Connery has had everything in the book, from a moustache/semi-goatee in Highlander to the aforementioned chops, to the full beard he's favored for about the last 20 years. He can pull em all off and I commend that.

Back to Bond quick. Notice how when Sean Connery played Bond, he didn't really care what anyone thought of him. That new Bond Daniel Craig, though I like him as an actor, more than likely waxes his chest or some crap for those beach scenes. Sean Connery is one hairy bastard and he didn't give a crap. He takes his shirt off and just does whatever. And with women, Connery's Bond was definitely the most proactive. He didn't wait for the women to come to him, he GOT the Bond chicks, and if they couldn't keep up with him, then too bad, it was time for another adventure. He left the sappy stuff for George Lazenby.

One final thing: when he decided he'd made enough ludicrous amounts of money and made enough awesome movies, he just said: "Okay that's it, I'm done" and retired to go get drunk on Guinness and play golf. He didn't hang around and harangle for massive paydays in movies he knew would suck, he just said he was done and that was that. And in corollary to that, he vowed to not return to Scotland until it was an independent nation. That takes some brass ones considering it was his home country and I'm sure he misses it.

So hats off to Sean Connery, the first inductee into my Hall of Fame for Real Men.

And apparently I'm a moron

Because if I had been smart I would've realized that after yesterday, no place on Earth is going to have Wiis. And they don't.

So, looks like I'll be getting that Wii after all

More than likely on Sunday. Awesome.

Probably going to get Tiger Woods 08 since I had so much fun with it last time I got a chance to play the Wii. And since I have a wireless internet portal in my basement, I'll be able to take it online through the router.

If only my weekend wasn't marred by other unpleasantries...namely school work to the tune of "please beat me over the head with a lead pipe because it would be more fun than this term paper."

I guess I could think of the Wii as my reward for all of my studious hard work. (Insert laughter here)

This post is really against my main goal for my blog, to be somewhat insightful whenever possible, so I'll try and make up for it:

I recently heard about this ridiculous motion in congress in support of a National Popular Vote. Essentially, it states that individual states will form into pacts with each other so that whatever candidate receives the majority of the popular vote in the combined populations of all the states participating will receive all of those states' combined ELECTORAL votes. Call me nuts, but doesn't the constitution explicitly state that these kind of interstate pacts are illegal and controllable by the government? Interstate commerce/relations is one of the few enumerated powers given to the federal government by the constitution. And considering the founding fathers were almost unanimously in favor of limited government at the federal level, then it says something that that is one of the things they'd give the federal government explicit control over.

My objection to the legislation stems from the fact that it would force states to relinquish their right to choose the winner of their own electoral votes, even if the opposite candidate wins the popular vote in the 'pact' of states. For example, if MN were to enter into a pact with California, and the majority of Minnesotans vote for one candidate but the majority of Californians vote for the other, the MN popular vote will mean jack crap in the long run because California citizens determined who MINNESOTA electors are going to vote for! BS if you ask me. I don't want my vote diluted by people in a different state, thanks. Let's hope and pray this doesn't make it past committee review.

My Collection at all time high

I should tell you that one of my main hobbies is collecting and playing vintage records, and my collection has reached a new high after my latest round of purchases: 471 LP's. I'm quite proud of that, as it's taken me a lot of scrupulous work and care to collect them all, maintain a catalogue of the titles I own and their condition, and to keep the sound system necessary to accommodate them in working order. (I did recently just buy a 'new' Yorx turntable/equalizer/tape deck combo for 7 bucks from Goodwill to add to my awesome collection of archaic, yet awesome, technology).

If anyone has any good haunts they know of in the twin cities to find albums, share em with me, I'm always open to suggestions aside from my usual stops on what I like to call my 'tour' of the metro that I gear up and go on on weekends to find albums.

I'm about to cry tears of joy

Okay so lemme set the stage here. Tonight, my dad wanted me to come with him to some party that he and a bunch of his buddies from work were having at a coworker's house. I was pissing and moaning about how I didn't know anyone there and didn't wanna go, but he convinced me to come along.

So it turns out that his coworker is an avid guitar player, and a fantastic one at that. Within minutes of getting there, he and I were in the basement playing on a couple of his acoustics. I was having a blast, because these were some top of the line instruments here, and they were tuned and cared for by an expert musician. So I'm sitting there playing his 12 string guitar (for those not into guit-boxes, it's basically a standard guitar with 6 extra strings, each an octave higher than their neighbor). And I'm loving it...it's a fantastic instrument. So he notices how much fun I'm having and he says "Well hey...if you like that one, I have another one upstairs that I can loan you." So I freak out and I'm like well hell yeah man, sign me up. So later on, as we're about to leave, he hands me the guitar case and says "Hey look, if you really fall in love with this guitar and wanna learn to really get good at it, you can have it." So I honest to god almost cried. I don't cry a lot. You gotta be a man about things, but seriously, this guy, a guy I HAD JUST MET, was GIVING me a guitar, and a REALLY nice one too. I shook his hand and I patted him on the back and tried to keep from crying. This thing was AWESOME.

Guess it's a good thing I decided to go huh?

Nothing quite like...

Having a whole weekend and all you can think is: I have to devote this whole weekend to one project. Damn soil science, why do you have to be so hard? It's the lowest level major course I'm taking right now yet it's the most difficult. It's taught as if I am supposed to already have a pretty complete knowledge of the subject matter going in. That's frustrating, but I can't blame the school for everything...I mean there are lapses no doubt in judgment on my part.

The 3rd test in that class was today and I actually thought I did a little better than I had predicted. Not outstanding, but solid. Probably a solid B. But it's the major project for that class that has me miffed. I'm going to be shut in all weekend doing nothing but working on it and I'll probably still only get half done. Then it's on to the 4 other major end-of-term projects I have to focus on. Jesus...the things I'll do to graduate on time.

Comedy Recommendation

You all HAVE to check out Patton Oswalt. That dude is some funny funny stuff. He's got a couple of CD's out...you might recognize him as Doug's friend on King of Queens.

AND SIXTEEN POUNDS AH PORK CRACKLIN'S!!

And usually, I don't even care for comedy albums...I have to actually watch the standup show so I can actually see the comedian, but this guy is so damn funny. There are some portions that I think are a little self-aggrandizing, like his constant Bush jokes but I let it slide because he has some real masterpieces on these...like "the Poety of Pornography" and "Steak." Give him a listen sometime, I guarantee you'll be entertained.

The Shining....Damn

Alright, I realize I'm about 35 years behind the curve on seeing this movie but Jesus...somehow movies can be scarier withOUT the blood and guts routine. I mean at parts in this movie I was BEGGING for zombies, werewolves, anything but the real chilly suspense routine. That stuff scares the piss out of you, and if you're into that sorta thing, then more power to ya.

Personally though I found the plot points confusing; as apparently did most people who saw the film because I've found several FAQ's on it. Chief among the things that irked me was the idea that Jack had 'always' been there. Coupled with the photo of him shown at the end, that's a tough nut to crack. Then there's Grady. Grady supposedly was the caretaker of the hotel like...2 years ago, but when he appears in the movie he has a different first name, as well as being from the 20's era. To further exacerbate the situation, there's the fact that all of it cannot be explained by "well Jack's just going nuts," because the hallucinations and ghosts and what have you start to physically affect Wendy and Danny too. For example, Grady unlocks Jack when he's locked in the pantry.

It's a confusing movie but then again it's Stanley Kubrick, who I firmly believe designed elements of his movies to make zero sense whatsoever just for the fun of it. If you ever watch 2001: A Space Odyssey, it's a fan-friggin-tastic movie up until like the last 20 minutes. After that, it takes a HUGE left turn and you're left feeling confused and impotent. So the moral of the story is, don't watch Stanley Kubrick movies if you're like me and desperately want an explanation for everything, because he's a weird man, and he won't give you one.

Got the Ozzy tickets, but not without difficulty

I'm only posting this because I like to brag when I pull something like this off, even though it's not that big of an accomplishment.

So after my first class today, I decided it'd be the best time to go get my Ozzy tickets. I took the requisite buses and then walked to the Target Center. Happily, I walked up to the counter and said I would like 3 of the 23 dollar Ozzy tickets (one for me, one for a buddy of mine who's going with me, and one for my brother). I was informed by the old woman behind the counter that "49.50 is the cheapest ticket." I knew this to be false; I had been on the ticketmaster website THIS very morning and had seen the 23 dollar seats. I even had the row and section memorized that I'd seen. She wasn't having any of it though and I could tell she was enjoying watching my mind race and my nerves stew in frantic thought. I explained that I had seen the 23 dollar price on both the ticketmaster website as well as the Target Center website. She assured me that I must not have 'seen what I saw' because ticketmaster may have led me to a 'sister site' that sells tickets for discounted prices. Now, I am not a neurosurgeon but it occurs to me I would KNOW if I was no longer on the ticketmaster site. The site I was on was DEFINITELY the ticketmaster website, the same site I've used plenty in the past to search for tickets.

So I had to think fast. I wasn't walking out of that building without those tickets, but I could not in good conscience be conned out of my money. Then, the idea struck me. "Okay, so you would say that the target center website prices are different from the prices you charge here, correct?" (I said this knowing that the correct answer is no) She replied "No...they would be...the same..." I could tell she was on to me at least a little bit, and I knew I had her exactly positioned for the big finale. So I instructed her to check the Target Center website, and lo and behold, she finds the tickets for 23 dollars. Looking nervous and unsure, she checked the ticketmaster site too...still 23. And it even showed her the EXACT seats I wanted. I calmly asked "May I have those seats?" to which she was again unsure of what to say. She turned to a coworker and pointed to the screen. Her coworker squinted, then shrugged...essentially telling her that her hands were tied by this new information, and I would be able to purchase the tickets. I bought the tickets and thanked her, grinning like a sadistic SOB the whole time.

The moral of the story: sometimes the customer IS right and you have to pry a little bit to get what's coming your way. I worked in retail for a year as a sales peon so I know how it is from the other side of the counter too, but this was a case where she was giving me static the whole time I was in there and seemed like she'd rather be doing anything but helping me, so I didn't feel bad about purposely one-upping her to get what I wanted.

Anyhow, OZZY: HALLOWEEN NIGHT


ALLLLLL ABOAAAAAAAARDDDDDDDDDDDDDD HAHAHAHAHAHHAA

Don't mean to doublepost but, Ozzy tickets may be close at hand!

I originally thought I wasn't going to be able to afford Ozzy tickets but lo and behold, I finally got around to checking the prices and...what the hell? They're 23 bucks for the cheap seats! Well, I guess I know what I'm going to be doing on Monday. Time to grab me a ticket.

Halloween night...Ozzy...what could be better? My only hope is that he plays more of his classic material. I've heard reports his current tour pimps his new album heavily and doesn't feature enough good classic Ozzy songs. I'd be content if I could just hear:

Mr. Crowley
Crazy Train
I Just Want You
No More Tears
Flying High Again


I'm curious to see how Zakk interprets the Rhoads solos. He'd probably add in a shit-ton of pinch harmonics and pentatonic variations but overall I think he has the chops to handle Randy's stuff. I wonder if Ozzy's voice has deteriorated though? After all, over 3 decades of singing like that has to take its toll. Look at Brian Johnson man, I mean DAMN. I guess doing "T.N.T" and "Highway to Hell" for 25 years managed to shred his larynx into sandpaper.

Still, the prospect of going to BOTH Van Halen and Ozzy a week apart is absolutely mind-blowing. God I love being able to see my favorite bands live. There's something electric about that kind of atmosphere. To the artist, it's another day, another show, another nameless, faceless town. To you, the viewer, it's one of the most memorable nights of your life. Amazing how different those two perceptions are. But still, they love what they do, and you just have to give them love back.

Zakk Wylde and Eddie Van Halen a week apart? Excuse me while I go swoon in a guitar player man-crush on both of them.

Children of Men was a strange movie with little payoff

I know I'm not alone in saying that ending left a lot to be desired. Theo's dead, the baby and mom are picked up, but we see nothing of what happens to them afterward, and we see nothing of what happens to humankind as a result of this miraculous birth. It's almost like the director was so hung up on presenting the ideas associated with birth, population, immigration etc. that he forgot that movies are supposed to at least have some semblance of an ending.

I realize what happened was technically an 'ending' but it solved so few problems and raised plenty more. In my mind the best ending to a film is one in which things don't necessarily need to be 'wrapped up' but they also shouldn't be left hanging when a sequel is obviously not going to happen.

What do you all think?

Damn I want the Wii now

I just got my first experience playing that thing the other day (a little late I know) and I have to say that the Wii is a hell of a device. The motion capture is far better than I expected it to be and that sports game is just addictive. I proved to be an excellent baseball player (perhaps it was because I was doing my best Jim Thome impression, knockin' some TATERS out of the park) but my golf game needs some work.

They need to make a better boxing game though. The existing one leaves a lot to be desired. An import of the EA Fight Night engine would be bad ass. Imagine holding the controllers as a miniature James "Lights Out" Toney throws punches on the screen. Couple that with online play and a dictionary of James Toney trash talk (e.g. "Eddie Cotton was on crack that night. Bob Arum is constipated, etc) and you'd have a heck of a good time.

If that last part made no sense to anyone don't worry because me and about 3 other people would get it anyways. But it amuses me.

2 Weeks Till Van Halen

Auuuuhhhhhhhhhhh hell yes.

Van Halen with DLR for the first time in 22 years. I know it sounds corny because it's the same line they're using to hype it but seriously...I never thought I'd get to see the day that it all came back together and I got to see it.

From what I hear, Diamond Dave's voice is as great as ever and Eddie can still tear the hell out of that guitar. I love it.

Van Halen represents to me the perfect mixture of two elements I love about music: showmanship and musicianship. A showy, flashy band doesn't mean anything if the guys in it can't play. Eddie is one of the most talented guitar players of our time, and David Lee Roth adds the sort of comedic, hammy, over-the-top presentation I wanna see out of a lead singer of this kind of band. Queen is another great example: a group of virtuoso musicians who also had tremendous stage presence. The feel of epicness. Freddie Mercury was an amazing songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Brian May was a fantastic guitar player. Roger Taylor a brilliant drummer. John Deacon, a great bassist. They all were masters of their craft. Not to take anything away from other bands I like, but bands like these consistently top the list because of their mastery of all aspects of the game. Hank Jr. belongs on there too and before you get all uppity, hear me out. The man plays guitar, bass, drums, fiddle, harmonica, piano, keyboards, and dobro (slide guitar to those who don't know). Not to mention he writes the vast majority of his songs, and the ones he doesn't write are covers of standards. His guitar playing definitely deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as plenty of other virtuoso performers, and as far as country pickers go, he blows 99% of em out of the water.


Oh, and while I'm at it, I'd like to use this as a soapbox against some of the misconceptions about popular music nowadays: the artist you are hearing on top 40 radio did not write the song they are singing, more than likely. In addition, bands consisting of actual, really talented musicians are rarer now. Don't get me wrong, there are some damn good groups out there that can really play, and really write. It's a corny example but Dragonforce is a good one; awesome, heartpounding guitar work. But really, I don't care who you like to listen to but just remember: something like "Holla Back Girl" wasn't written to send a message or be an expressive song, or to show off any musicianship. It was written to be a pop hit; nothing more, nothing less. That's the part that is hard to distinguish...is someone like Gwen Stefani an "artist?" I mean, as far as I know she doesn't play any instruments (although I'm sure someone could call me on that if I'm wrong) and she probably doesn't do a lot (or any) writing. Waylon Jennings is an artist. Randy Rhoads is an artist. George Lynch, Ronnie Van Zandt, Hank Williams Jr., etc...all these guys are artists. And I'm not just listing them because they represent genres I like. They legitimately are musical artists. I'm just hesitant to confer that title on someone who basically only has to go in the booth, sing, then go home.

Shooter!

Awesome, I just found out Shooter Jennings is coming to the Cabooze in October. Anyone who knows me or understands the obscure reference I use as my blogspot name will know that Waylon Jennings is one of my favorite musicians ever. Seeing his son in concert would be the next best thing, since ol Waylon isn't with us anymore.

I hear he actually does portions of his dad's material, like "This Time" in one of his songs. He's a toker, too, but I'll let it slide since it hasn't stopped me from liking Hank Jr. or Waylon himself who was a coke head for like 20 years. Anyhow, between this and Van Halen, October is going to be the best musical month for me this year...possibly even topping the Ratt and Poison show at the Myth.

On a related note, the Myth sucks. Don't go there if you can avoid it. Standing in 3 inches of beer and piss and fluids on the floor is not my idea of fun. Luckily 2 of my favorite bands were so unbelievably badass that it helped distract me from the oppressive heat and my rapidly dessicating body.

Under Pressure

A curious phenomenon: performance anxiety. I'll give you an anecdote that just occurred yesterday. I was planning on playing a song on my guitar, recording the video, and putting it on youtube to show to some friends. Literally, my intended audience would be roughly 10 people. Yet, when I sat down and switched the camera on...I could barely play straight. The performance anxiety was intense, and without reason. I mean realistically these people don't mind if I mess up, they're probably the most forgiving people I could play for. But yet I played as if I were playing for the president of the United States. It's just interesting how we're wired mentally...how these kinds of things can plague us without any logic behind them at all.


I'll get that video made though, hell I'll post it on here when I do.

Solicitation Cards

The other day, as I witnessed yet another slew of solicitors handing out miniature bibles to passersby, and as I hurriedly put on my headphones and ran past hoping to avoid being accosted, I got a brilliant idea. I'm going to make some cards, and on them, they will say:

"I come to this school to learn. I do not come here to be solicited for someone else's political or religious views."

Now, in the future, if I am accosted by some political group that by golly thinks giving me a piece of paper will compel me to action, or some religious group that thinks that tiny green bible is going to save my soul, I can take it, smile, and give them a card of my own. I'm a hardass on this type of issue but it's with good reason. My time is valuable to me, and so is my intelligence. And my intelligence is insulted, and my time wasted when I am solicited for a cause on campus. If there's a cause out there I feel strongly enough about to take action then I'll do so in advance. And please, don't get me started on religion. Suffice to say, don't even think about trying to 'rap' with me about Jesus, or give me the 411 on Allah. Stow it. I believe what I believe about higher powers/creation/etc. and the fact that you (the solicitor) would think I am gullible enough to be swayed by a 5 minute spiel on the merits of whatever organized religion you support, is indeed an insult to my intelligence.

"There's nothing wrong with having a belief. I just think it's better to have ideas. You can change an idea...a belief, well that's harder."

-Rufus the 13th Apostle

I heard recently that David Lee Roth got into an altercation with Zakk Wylde at a soundcheck a couple weeks ago and was getting in his face, threatening him, and basically being an ass. Then I thought...he has more balls than brains because as much as I love both of them, Zakk would absolutely pulverize DLR if they ever got in a fistfight. He's got some arms on him, man.

So then I got to thinking...there are plenty of music star fights I'd pay to see.

Don Henley vs. The rest of the eagles in a multi-way brawl

Rick James vs. MC Hammer (Can't happen now unfortunately)

(I'd have to go with Hammer based on youth, and less cocaine usage more than likely)

The lead singer of REM vs. George Michael

(Don't think I need to explain that one too much...I think it'd be entertaining)

And there are tons more. For what it's worth they are legitimately considering having Tommy Lee fight Kid Rock in a boxing match on the undercard of the Mayweather/Hatton welterweight title fight in December. God, that'd be great. Tommy Lee's got the reach advantage but honestly I think Kid Rock would kill him.

Chuck, Shogun

Chuck...how could you lose; are you getting mentally deficient in your old age? You stood and traded when you were getting the worst of the exchanges. You hardly checked any leg kicks. You thought you were coasting to an easy decision. You deserved to lose. You could have won but Keith wanted it more and he TOOK the win.

Shogun. Why did you underestimate Forrest...why didn't you train hard? EVERYONE has a shot to beat you in MMA, not just the top guys. Forrest took it seriously, you didn't. You got CTFO. I hope you're happy, you just got choked out by a guy with sub par Jiu Jitsu who couldn't even finish Stephan Bonnar and got KTFO by Jardine. Welcome to the cage, pal. You let me and all your fans down.

Politics

While doing a little looking at the editorials page today in the daily (which I never do but I thought I would in order to get some info for my letter to the editor assignment), I saw an opinion piece about how it should be no surprise that college professors push a liberal agenda in the classroom. Call me a wet blanket but I was under the impression that unless your political ideas are relevant to teaching me the class, you ought to just stick to the basics there, professor.

Don't get me wrong, politics have their place in college classrooms. Political science, sociology, these are classes where a political discussion, including the professor's views, are not out of place. But please, do not interrupt your lecture on cellular biology to go on some kind of tangent about the current presidential administration to get some laughs and comraderie out of those who share your views among the students. I have a philosophy about going to college, and the bulk of it consists of my daily doctrine: go to class, sit down, learn, take the test, and get out. I didn't come to class to hear your opinions on politics. Quite frankly I don't give a damn what they are anyway. I came to learn, and you came to teach. That's what I am paying exorbitant sums for anyway, right? To pay your salary and to get a quality education. I missed the part of my billing statement where it said "political diatribe fee."

Perhaps the most galling of these offenses in my mind is when the professor explicitly states on the first day of class "my opinions are not going to be aired in this class." What a load of shit that is...first of all, most humans love to air their opinions and putting that in check is next to impossible to do. I consider myself pretty reserved in that regard and I still do it once in a while. Secondly, if you ARE going to be so committed to impartiality, then you have to make a conscious effort to not be a hypocrite. The moment you say your political stance on an issue, you've already violated your personal doctrine. C'mon...teach me the material and don't make me lose respect for you. It's one of my least favorite things about attending college.

Remember when the bad guys actually died in cartoons?

I got to thinking about this the other day: throughout my entire lifetime, all the cartoons I have watched that were produced for my generation contained no villain deaths. Back in the day, cartoons like Johnny Quest featured the bad guys snuffing it in almost every episode (save the ones where Dr. Zin was involved). Nowadays, and in my childhood, the enemies hide behind legions of henchmen who are conveniently either robots or some other construct that allows the protagonist to kill them without actually 'killing' anything. Then, in the final confrontation, the villain escapes, though battered. So consider this then: for every superhero/hero, we have an army of masterminds out there all bent on revenge who have not died, but simply gone into hiding. That is a completely unbelievable concept as far as I'm concerned. For example, let's say Spiderman somehow saves the city from Mysterio once again, but of course, he escapes. Now Spiderman has to worry about him coming back again, and again and again. Which is great for the people actually writing the cartoons because they have a ton of 'go to guys' to use as villains without inventing new ones, but as far as realism is concerned, it's laughable. I mean now, you have all of these villains ready to wreak havoc at any second and our hero has to constantly fight them off for his whole lifetime, ultimately making the city no safer than it was before.

Which brings me back to my Johnny Quest example: in Johnny Quest, the villains usually died at the end. True, Dr. Quest never usually directly killed anyone, but the fact remains that the old man in the Turu episode and the keeper of the giant lizards got absolutely killed, definitively. And this forced the writers to actually be creative and come up with some awesome plots and new characters in each new episode. In the rare instance they had nothing, they went back to Dr. Zin, the default bad guy, but like I said, that was a rare occurrence. My whole point is, cartoons have really hit the skids...heck even since I was a kid they have. I mean you would NEVER see a cartoon like Mutant League on anymore.

A Book Review

Beyond Glory is the tale of Louis/Schmeling, and for those of you not as in love as I am with combat sports, Joe Louis and Max Schmeling were two heavyweight prizefighters in the depression era who had two legendary fights, one in 1936 and one in 1938. The fights themselves became huge political affairs being that Schmeling was closely assosciated with Nazi Germany and was a close personal friend of Hitler, whereas Louis was America's best shot at beating Schmeling, but was a black man in the middle of a still invariably racist America.

This book delves deeply into all of the political, racial, and social turmoil surrounding the clashes between the two and all of the fallout for both men from each encounter. The money, deception, politics, and manipulation at hand are gripping tales by any description. I really enjoyed the book and I recommend it to anyone interested in the time period, even if you aren't a boxing fan. David Margolick does a fantastic job of citing sources from the actual time period, as it is obvious he must have spent an insane amount of time researching it from old newspapers, newsreels, and firsthand accounts.

My rating: 5/5 stars. Cannot go wrong with this one.