Listening Back, Vol. 2

After I got home from work tonight, I decided to walk to Walgreens. It was a beautiful, brisk night, and I thought if nothing else, I'd enjoy some fresh air after spending all day downtown. And then I saw a guy pissing between two dumpsters in the alley behind my apartment complex.

Anyway, I finished packing (almost) and I'm taking this last opportunity to sit in front of a computer until 2007 to give you my top albums of 2006.

My Top Ten Albums of 2006:
10. Pearl Jam - Pearl Jam. I really liked this album when it came out (possibly because of the avocado on the cover). I haven't listened to it much since the summer, but that doesn't mean I didn't like it better than some of the albums in the "Honorable Mention" group below. I think it's probably their 4th best album, and the best thing they've put out since Vitalogy. Man, these guys made their debut when I was in high school and they made their three best albums before I graduated. It's almost a wonder they're still around, but they're just that good of a band.

9. The Damnwells - Air Stereo. I downloaded a couple of songs from this album ("Louisville" and "Heartbreak List"), and the strength of those two songs was enough for me to head over to Amoeba and buy the CD. I don't know much about the band, and since they don't have an entry in Wikipedia, I'm not likely to learn anytime soon. I can tell you that the opener of this album is a love song called "I Got You," in which the singer cleverly uses the titles of other songs ("More Than a Feeling" and "Radar Love," to name a few) in professing his love for whoever he might be singing to. It's like a mix tape, kind of, that you might give a girl you like in high school. Except instead of putting those songs on a tape, you put them into a song that you then put on your album. Rock stars just get to be so much cooler than the rest of us. If I did that, I'd probably get shipped for plagarism, that is, if anyone ever heard it in the first place.

8. The Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldiers. This is Jack White's new band, presumably because he got tired of doing EVERYTHING by himself in the White Stripes, short of banging aimlessly (but adorably) on the drums. So he teams up with Brendan Benson and two other dudes and effortlessly churns out some power rock. The whole album is recognizable, even if you haven't heard the songs before. That's a good quality for a song. But they're not the White Stripes, and that's a shame. One morning I was listening to this album on my way to work and I thought they sounded a whole lot like Rush. I listened to "Chronicles" 3 times in a row and decided two things. First, they DO sound a whole lot like Rush. Second, they're not Rush either. And that's also a shame.

7. Bruce Springsteen - We Shall Overcome (The Seeger Sessions). Leave it to the coolest mother left on the planet to ditch his own band (with their blessing, no less) and hit one out of the park with a bunch of covers of folk songs. By all accounts ("all" meaning the two friends I know who saw him in concert on this tour), the shows are just electric. Dad loves it, too, which sure makes riding in The Vic (Dad's got a Ford Crown Victoria. That nickname, "The Vic," it was born about 5 seconds ago. Any good?) a little easier. Just pure, unabashed, hand-clapping, foot-stomping fun.

6. Sufjan Stevens - The Avalanche. This is an album of also-rans, basically. It's made up of songs that came from the recording of his previous album, "Illinois," that didn't make the final cut. Call them rarities, b-sides, whatever you want. They're good, but there's a reason they didn't make it. I don't want to bash this guy though, because he is abso-f'ing-lutely one of the most musically talented individuals I have ever had the privilege to see in concert. We saw him at the Wiltern back in October, and it was just amazing. He has a whole orchestra, practically, on stage with him, everybody in costumes and performing these masterfully written pop songs, but they're more than that - they're soothing and smart and, this is going to be a strange thing to say and I mean this in the absolute best way possible, but this guy makes the kind of music that they should play during state executions, because there CANNOT be a better way to go.

5. The Minus 5 - The Minus 5 (The Trials Posthumous of The Minus 5). The closest thing to an indie-rock supergroup, this band is made up of, at times (b/c they come and go as they please), members of R.E.M., Wilco, the Decemberists, and many other solo musicians and producers. This is the only album of theirs that I have, though "Down With Wilco" is one that I'd like to check out. Every song on this album fits into sort of a death motif. The opening track, "Rifle Called Goodbye," is unapologetically Beatles-esque, and "Cemetery Row," sung by The Decemberists' Colin Meloy is, in my opinion, the best the album has to offer. Unfortunately, because they are inherently a side project, they don't leave much expectation of a tour or any regularity with regard to future albums.

4. Band of Horses - Everything All the Time. Band of Horses was primed to be the next huge thing in indie rock. By that, I mean they were all over the blogs like chicken pox. Unfortunately, they evidently don't put on a very good live show. That'll hurt you. I didn't see them in concert, but I did have a ticket to see them with Jeremy before I realized the concert was on Yom Kippur. Damn religious convictions!! Anyway, I did download a live show of theirs, and I will say that I don't think it's as good as the studio album. The album is excellent, though, and I've been listening to it a lot in recent weeks. The band's sound isn't the most original, though, which also probably hurt them a bit. They sound kind of like The Shins crossed with post-grunge Seattle rock. Well, actually, that does seem sort of original. I guess I can't trash them too much; I've got them ranked #4! They must be doing something right. "Funeral" is a leading candidate for song of the year on many lists I've seen, and it would definitely be in my top ten, were I putting together such a list, which at this point, I am not.

3. The Elected - Sun, Sun, Sun. I cannot say enough good things about this album. The only reason I didn't put it at #2 is that I have only heard the first half of it (though I have been promised the second half by a friend). The songs on this album are so well written, both lyrically and musically. The originality in the arrangements of the songs is probably a big reason I like it so much, but I know absolutely nothing about music theory, so anything I try to say here is just going to come out like "awesome, awesome, awesome, awesome ..." before I start drooling all over myself, so I'm just going to say this: no matter what type of music you listen to (unless all you listen to is hardcore gangsta rap or smooth jazz - I HATE smooth jazz), you WILL like this album, so go and get it immediately. Of all the albums on this list, this is the one I'm most excited about force-feeding my parents on our drive from Houston to New Orleans tomorrow.

2. Belle & Sebastian - The Life Pursuit. As my friend Neola put it, this is the mature side of Belle & Sebastian. My take is that their previous albums had a lot of upbeat songs that made you want to dance while not realizing that they were possibly the most depressing lyrics you've ever heard. This album is not like that. Quite the contrary, the songs are more low-key (less dance-poppy - is that a real word?) and not nearly as depressing. This is the CD that's in my car at all times for whenever I might forget my iPod (which, if you know me, you'll not be surprised to learn is incredibly rarely), and I don't know of a greater endorsement I can give. This album gave me back-to-back-to-back favorites from the band in tracks 3-5 ("White Collar Boy," "The Blues Are Still Blue," and "Dress Up In You"). It's like the Manny-Big Papi-Varitek heart of the Red Sox batting order. When you see them coming up, you just don't worry about what's going to happen next because you know it's going to be ok.

1. The Decemberists - The Crane Wife. I knew this was going to be my favorite album of the year as soon as I listened to it after downloading it illegally. Just kidding (but about which part??). I've probably listened to more of this band in the past year than most other bands, and I've probably listened to this album more than any other album that came out this year, even though it's only been out for about two months. They've definitely cemented their status in my favorite bands of the past decade. The album, partially based on a Japanese folk tale, opens with an upbeat, spirited song about a man who loses his wife. Who may or may not be a crane. The bird. Anyway, it weaves its way through some other subject matter (kidnapping, murder, forbidden love, war, and child-killing butchers) before coming full circle and reintroducing us to this man before he meets his wife, who may or may not be a crane. We witness his despair, we see them find each other, and we see their happiness together, all the while knowing he's just going to lose her at some point in the future. I know it probably sounds very strange if you haven't heard it, and if so, I'm sorry I can't do a better job of describing it, but you're going to have to take my word for it, this album is complete and it is worth every penny, illegally downloaded or not.

Honorable Mention
Tom Petty - Highway Companion A really good album. I think this is the only album I have ever bought from iTunes in its entirety. Closer than any other to crack the Top 10, probably in place of Pearl Jam.
The Flaming Lips - At War With the Mystics
Editors - The Back Room
Islands - Return to the Sea
Johnny Cash - Personal File
Jeff Tweedy - Sunken Treasure A live album, which I try not to rank with the rest. Also, the album is only part of the DVD of his concert footage. Now, as much as I loved seeing him on this tour, and watching the DVD, and listening to the accompanying CD, I just can't in good conscience put it into the Top 10 studio recordings. I have nothing if I don't have my ethics, you know.
Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood. Maybe it's unfair, but I'm ranking this album low because I liked "Blacklisted" better. I don't know why I'm doing that, but if you disagree, you can either leave me a comment or get your own damn blog. Neko's got one of the most powerful voices in music. It's very soft and comforting, like a warm blanket, but it sounds like it needs absolutely no warmup, no running start, like it can just take off like a bullet from a gun. I just didn't like it as much as "Blacklisted."

Disappointments
Jay-Z - Kingdom Come (Still my favorite rapper of all time, but man, he should have stayed retired. Instead, true to his word, he "came back like Jordan, wearing the 45". Jordan should also have stayed retired.)
Thom Yorke - The Eraser (I don't know why I expected to like this album. As good as Radiohead is, I haven't liked anything they've put out since their third album.)

Probably would have liked a lot if I had listened to:
Bob Dylan - Modern Times
Neil Young - Living With War
The Killers - Sam's Town

Ever Since the Fire Went Out

Pretty excited to be heading back to Mississippi this weekend, for a friend's wedding. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a flight to Jackson or to New Orleans that I could afford, so instead I'm flying to Houston and driving over with the folks. We're stopping in New Orleans so we can check out a few rehearsal dinner options on Friday morning, and I'm also going to get to meet Alan's baby girl, who is supposed to make her debut tomorrow. We'll keep our fingers crossed.

When I made my plane reservations, I decided to fly back to LA on the 2nd, so that I'd be sure not to miss the Fiesta Bowl, which, at the time, was where the Longhorns were supposed to be playing. That was before we dropped two in a row to Kansas State and Texas A&M, dropping us to #4 in the Big 12. Instead, we're playing in the Alamo Bowl on the 30th. So, not only will I not be watching Texas in a BCS bowl on the 2nd, but I won't be watching them in a crappy bowl on the 30th either, because we'll be at the wedding during the game. Those bastards. That sentence is equally applicable to the Horns and to Hannah and Will for scheduling their wedding during the bowl game.

I Just Can't Help Myself

I realize I'm doing a pretty poor job of keeping this blog from turning into a Vince Young fan site, but check out ESPN's top sports moment of 2006. As if there was ever any doubt.

Also, I'm pretty excited that my Hanukkah gift to myself arrived today.

Happy Holidays.

Experiencing Technical Difficulties, Please Stand By

So, I decided it was high time I update this here blog, but when I signed into Blogger today, they had all of these new features and I had to link my Blogger account to my Google account (just another way for The Man to keep track of me), then I was prompted to update my template so that it would be compatible with the new features, but when I did that I lost most of the customizations I had made to the site.

I realize that was an egregious run-on sentence.

Anyway, I'm working on getting this thing back up to speed, so please bear with me. Until then, please enjoy this picture. The guy just wins football games, it's that simple.

Update - One of the unexpected changes was the disappearance of the comments on each post. I'm working on it.

2nd update - I just can't figure out how to recover all of the old comments. Oh, well. On a positive note, I can now assign labels, or tags, to each post. Now, if anybody really wants to see all of the posts on this blog that have to do with music, or Vince Young (VY, to those who may or may not have some sort of non-sexual man-crush on him), or LA, they can just click on the label in the list on the right side of the page. I think that's pretty cool.

And for the record, I did not intend for my blog to be decked out in Tennessee Titans colors. I promise. I'm working on that, b/c I like these colors, and I'm certainly not against being a HUGE fan of VY, but I'm not trying to design my blog around his team's colors.

3rd update - Screw it. I like these colors.

4th update - Regarding the aforementioned labels, or tags, I'm going back through all of the old posts on this blog in order to tag them. It's not going to happen overnight, but I'll get to them soon.

FAMIMA!!

Things just got a tiny bit more awesome in my daily grind. I don't know if you've ever been to a Famima!! (it comes with the punctuation, like Yahoo!), but until the other day, I hadn't. I'd seen them here and there, and I'd gazed into them like I was looking upon the Holy Grail, but never gone in. Well, one just opened across the street from my office a few days ago, and let me tell you (and this is going to sound SO ridiculous), it's the best convenience store I've ever been in. If you get as excited about trivial crap as I do, then get yourself into a Famima!! as soon as possible.

In other news, at Ralph's on Tuesday night, I decided to eschew my normal purchase of "brown sugar and cinnamon" flavored oatmeal for a new "cinnamon roll" flavor. My thinking was that I love cinnamon rolls, so how could this really go wrong. Yikes. I couldn't even eat 3 bites of it, and now I've got 9 more packs of it to either waste or force myself through before I can start fresh with the old standby. I'll tell you, sometimes life's tough.

No-Talent Ass Clown at the Kodak Theater

Something has gone seriously wrong when I'm automatically getting emails like this one.

These Are the Days of Miracle and Wonder

Amanda and I scored some last minute tickets to see Paul Simon with Josh and Sarah last night at the Greek Theater in Griffith Park. I listened to his newest cd, "Surprise," a couple of times yesterday, and I have to say I wasn't too impressed, but hey, it's Paul Simon, could it possibly be a bad idea to go see him in concert? Turns out it wasn't.

The show was great, he played 3 songs off the new cd and the rest were classics, including a large handful from the S&G era. He even came out for three encores! Unfortunately, I forgot my little notebook where I write the setlists down, so I had to (nerd alert!) keep sending myself text messages from my cell phone in order to get the whole list. I do it for you, really. This is what I got to enjoy last night while trying not to get sicker than I already am.

Paul Simon, Greek Theater
Gumboots
Boy in the Bubble
Outrageous
50 Ways to Leave Your Lover
Slip Sliding Away
You're the One
Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard
How Can You Live in the Northeast
Mrs. Robinson
Loves Me Like a Rock
That Was Your Mother
Duncan
Graceland
Father & Daughter
Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes
The Only Living Boy in New York
Cecilia
Encore:
Call Me Al
Still Crazy After All These Years
The Boxer
Second Encore:
Wartime Prayers
Bridge Over Troubled Water
Third Encore:
Late in the Evening

Smoking Will Stunt Your Growth

I don't normally take requests, but this one came in from Andy this afternoon, and it was worth it. The dancing's funny, and the look on the kid's face is priceless, but the payoff is at the very end. I mean, I almost crapped my pants.

This Desert Life

Amanda and I went to Phoenix this weekend with our friend Aaron. I'd been to Arizona once, stopping only long enough to sleep at a Motel 6 and eat breakfast at the Waffle House in Tuscon before crossing the state and entering California, and Amanda had never been at all, so we decided to make the trip for the weekend. We went to Yom Kippur services Sunday night and Monday, then drove back late Monday night.

While we were there, we had a really great time. Saturday, we drove up to Flagstaff for the Fat Tire Beer Festival, which was a blast, if just a little too crowded. The beer was good, though, no doubt about that. We stopped in Sedona (which happens to be the name of Jean's dog) on the way up, and it was a really nice little town that has really good ice cream. Flagstaff was great, though. A little hippie town (Amanda said it reminded her of Asheville, NC), lots of cool stores and bars, and of course, the Fat Tire Beer Festival. It was a little chilly (in Arizona, no less), so I bought a long-sleeved t-shirt for 5 bucks, and the beers helped keep me warm as well. We met up with a bunch of Jean's med school classmates there, then the 4 of us grabbed a quick dinner at a burrito shop and walked around for a little while before heading back. I ended up buying a really cool reprint of a Chinese advertisement. I have no idea what it says or what it is advertising, and it's kind of hard to describe here, but it's got drawings of what looks to be a bunch of Chinese generals, like Mao and others, and they're all talking about something. Like I said, hard to describe, but for $12.95, it's going to make one hell of an addition to the apartment once I get it framed, which might be never.

Sunday, after we got up, the rest of the group indulged me against their better judgment and we all went to Waffle House for breakfast. I have to say, I don't think I will ever get sick of that place. Afterwards, we took a driving tour of Phoenix, Tempe, Scottsdale, etc. We checked out Arizona State University, saw a ton of strip malls, and took a mini-hike part of the way up Camelback Mountain, which was really, really hot. I liked Flagstaff better. Less sweating involved.

After Camelback, we drove out to Glendale so Aaron and I could see the new stadium where the Arizona Cardinals play, which was recently named University of Phoenix Stadium. If you're not familiar, U of Phoenix is one of those online colleges. Not a real college. Aaron thought it was pretty funny that the University of Phoenix, which does not have a football team, now has a much bigger and nicer stadium than the University of Arizona, or ASU. This stadium was AWESOME. Usually it's the team that's the attraction, or the game itself. Maybe not with the Cardinals. This stadium is brand new and is unlike anything I've ever seen that doesn't involve aliens or a government conspiracy. The thing just looks like a UFO, and it's sitting out in the middle of nowhere, among the cornfields. Weird, but very cool. The field is grass, not turf, but somehow they figured out how to put an actual grass field on rollers so it can slide outside and get sunlight. We're working on figuring out when we can get back for a game. In the meantime, here are some pics of the front of the stadium and the field out back.

Sleep Comes Like a Drug...

On my way to Phoenix with Amanda and Aaron for the weekend. Stopped in Joshua Tree National Park on the way. This place is just beautiful. Bono was right.

Box of Tapes

So there's this box of tapes just sitting by the sidewalk when I get off the bus. This strikes me as strange, and also as a cool picture. I sent it to a friend of mine who is an expert photog for validation.

Bush Doesn't Want to Show the Facts

You thought I was talking about our President, didn't you? Well, I can't blame you, but you're wrong.

Looks like Reggie Bush might not be the "Saint" everyone thinks he is. (Sorry, I know that was lazy.) According to an investigation by Yahoo Sports, Bush and his family might have accepted up to $100,000 worth of gifts and money during his tenure as a Heisman-winning USC running back.

Lots of athletes break the rules, that doesn't separate Bush from anyone. And nothing's final yet, so I'm not accusing him of cheating (just in case he was worried about my opinion of him). But what does strike me as confusing (at best) is this comment from Bush in response to the inquiry:

"It makes you want to go out there right away and tell your side of the story. Show everybody the facts, the truth. But you can't do that. That wouldn't be the right way to do it."

Really, Reggie? Then what would be the right way to do it? What would be a better way to do it than giving everyone the facts and the truth?

Yeah, But What's the Mileage Like?

Yeah, that's me next to the Batmobile. Don't ask me why, but it was parked on the sidewalk in front of the Hotel Figueroa as I passed it on my way to the bus after work today. I imagine Christian Bale was probably inside, swimming in a fountain with 2 waifish models. More pics below (although I'm not sure why so far below).

Thinking About the Longhorns

Wow. It's been almost 2 years since I've had to deal with Texas losing a football game, and I'd forgotten how hard it is. To "borrow" a gimmick from Peter King, the Monday Morning Quarterback, these are Ten Things I Think I Think. Some of them are from my good-sport side, some of them are from my sore-loser side. They're conflicted right now.

1. I think a loss early in the season is better than a loss later in the season, and I think a loss to a higher ranked team is better than a loss to a lower or unranked team. So, if you have to lose a game, I think losing in week 2 to the #1 team in the country is about as good a loss as you can take.

2. I think we still won the National Championship only 2 games ago. 2 games ago. And I think I'm still pretty damn excited about that.

3. I think Jamaal Charles is a stud. The kid can run through brick walls like the Kool-Aid Man.

4. I think that Terrel Brown should be suspended from the team for the rest of the season. He was one of the kids caught last Saturday night in a car that was pulled over with drugs and a gun in it. The drugs were in the car, and the gun (loaded) was on his lap. The drugs were not on his person, and he passed a drug test, so the drug charge was dropped, but here's my question: If you're not stoned, how are you too stupid to know that you shouldn't have a loaded gun on your lap IF IT'S NOT YOUR GUN??? Anyway, he was supposed to start for us at cornerback and match up with Ted Ginn, Jr. (94 yds. receiving, 1 TD). Listen, when you screw up, you screw it up for the rest of the team. We had HUGE coverage issues last night, and I'm not saying it would have been different if he was in the game, but it probably would have. He needs to learn his lesson from this.

5. I think that Greg Davis should be a little worried about his job. People (and not just me, a lot of people) were saying that we needed to get rid of him (and to a lesser extent, Mack Brown, who was stubbornly loyal to his offensive coordinator and wouldn't fire him) for years, and then the second half of the 2004 season happened, and the 2005 season happened, and everybody forgot about it and thought, "Maybe he's figured it out, maybe he's not that bad." I've got news for you: He is that bad. You know what the difference was in the 2004 and 2005 seasons? It sure wasn't the Offensive Coordinator's play calling. It was a guy by the name of Vince Young, a guy who is only vulnerable to kryptonite and written tests. Without Vince, Greg Davis must rely on mere mortals to run his plays, and HE NEEDS TO CALL THE RIGHT PLAYS FOR THEM TO RUN. We have two running backs (Jamaal Charles and Selvin Young) who are pretty unbelievable, and had 27 carries for 164 yards rushing between them (not to mention the 10 receptions for 84 yards they shared - as our top two receivers in the game last night) against an Ohio State defense that was having a legitimately hard time stopping our running game and gave up 171 rushing yards to ONE GUY in their last game. Yet on five separate third down opportunities, Greg Davis called passing plays that were incomplete. I don't really even know anything about football, but I could have done a better job, even with the amount of beer I had to drink yesterday. We lose another game this year, and I mean ONE more game, Davis needs to go. Brown can stay.

6. I think Colt McCoy has some work to do with his receivers. I know he's green, but your top two receivers shouldn't be your running backs, not when you've got Limas Sweed on your team. I think he's remarkably mature, though, when it comes to poise. Kid took a couple of pretty big hits last night and was able to remain calm, even while Greg Davis was busy knocking the wheels off of the whole operation.

7. I think Billy Pittman's teammates need to give him a Code Red while he sleeps one night this week, covering his head with a pillowcase and punching him in the arms, then pouring glue over his hands. He won't fumble on the two yard line again, I can guarantee you that. Just ask Lowden Downey.

8. I think we can still go 11-1, but we've got some tough games ahead. Luckily, we only have one really tough road game, at Nebraska on October 21, though Texas Tech will probably also be a challenge. I don't count Rice (in Houston) and Oklahoma (in Dallas) as road games, and we're home for the rest of the season, except for a late visit to Kansas State, who seem to have forgotten that they were a legitimate powerhouse about 4 years ago.

9. I think I'd love to know what that thing on Mack Brown's upper lip was during the game last night. Did anybody else catch that? It looked like his herpes was flaring up. Actually, if it was herpes, I'd rather not know about it.

10. I think that when we came home last night and watched Remember the Titans on tv, I teared up like I normally do when I watch most sports movies. However, I think that maybe some of those tears didn't have anything to do with the movie.

All in all, I'm handling this loss much better than I expected to, based on how I've handled them in the past. Maybe it's because I'm older and wiser. All I know is this: if we don't go 11-1, Greg Davis needs to update his resume.

GREEKFEST!!!!

Last night, Amanda, Naomi, Bailey and I went to the LA Greek Fest. The food was awesome (I had the gyro and Athenian beer). The girls made wreaths which they wore on their heads. I just watched. While I was watching, I saw the biggest spider I've ever seen. I didn't know they had spiders this big in North America.

Anyway, after they were done, we were watching some people dance on the dance floor, where a DJ was playing some Greek music that seemed to be never-ending. They kept publicizing the Zorba Dance Contest, and Bailey decided it would be really funny to go sign me up. When she did, she was more than mildly surprised to see her own name on the list, where I had put it about 5 minutes earlier. Neither one of us backed down from the challenge, though we tried to talk ourselves out of it a few times. We didn't win the contest (some guy who did the "robot" won, though we think he was some sort of professional, or at least a street performer on Hollywood Blvd.), but in the end, we're all winners, right? Except for maybe the crazy lady in the pink. And the old guy in the purple sequened shirt and shoes who signed up for the contest then bolted before it was his turn.

I've got videos of both my dance performance and Bailey's (she dragged Amanda out there with her also), which I'm in the process of uploading to YouTube and will post when they're done.

(Also, for some reason, I can't get my photos uploaded to Blogger right now. I'll go back and insert them into this post later, after they get over their technical difficulties.)

Man, those Greeks sure know how to party. Personally, I enjoyed being in a place where I wasn't even close to being the hairiest guy around.

Sorry Folks, Bandwagon's Full

What do these three guys have in common? Evidently they're all Longhorn fans. McConaughey I can understand, b/c he was a student there once, and Armstrong lives in Austin, but Jake Gyllenhaal?? Come on. I haven't seen a bandwagon jump like this since I started rooting for the Spurs back in 2003. He even admits in the article that he's not even really a fan of college football at all but watches the big games. Yeah, that's dedication, man. And yes, I do realize that I sold my ticket to the Rose Bowl and went to Hawaii. I stand by my decision, so kiss my ass. You know who you are.

So, for the record, we've got Lance "Is it too late to reconcile with Sheryl Crow?" Armstrong, Matthew "Wooderson" McConaughey, Jake "Brokeback mother-f'ing Aquaman" Gyllenhaal, Chuck "Potato Sack" Norris, and Cowboy Troy (who might be the worst singer of all time). Marvelous. Is there any other crappy celebrity out there who hasn't pledged allegiance to a college football team that wants to get on board real quick, before it's too late? Seriously, we'll leave the doors open until gametime tomorrow. Maybe Kevin Dillon, Nicole Richie, Chris Parnell (nothing but love for you, Parnell), Kathy Griffin, and George Takei will show up on the sidelines sporting their burnt orange. Is it that hard to find somebody who is a better celebrity fan than Matthew McConaughey?? Really, he's our best one?? The rest of these punks can't even carry his jock.

(I just had to duck a roundhouse kick. Man, that thing came out of nowhere! Ok, I'm through ranting.)

HOOK EM!

I'm Just Skelaxin

So, I mentioned that my doctor gave me some muscle relaxers the other day. This is what he gave me. Skelaxin. This has become my new favorite variation on the word "relax" since I heard someone say "chillax" a few weeks ago on "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia." So, after I pop one of these puppies and curl up with my heating blanket, I'm just gonna be skelaxin.

According to the packaging, adverse reactions can include nausea, vomiting, gastrointestinal upset, drowsiness, dizziness, headache, and nervousness or "irritability." It then goes on to state that other adverse reactions (b/c those weren't nearly enough) can include hypersensitivity reaction, characterized by a light rash with or without pruritus (whatever the hell that is), leukopenia, hemolytic anemia, and jaundice.

Yikes. Thanks, doc, but I think I'll take my chances with the pulled muscle.

It Was a Dark and Stormy Night

I'm sitting on the couch (big surprise there, right?) watching tonight's episode of Rockstar: Supernova, and I'm waiting for the effects of my muscle relaxers to kick in. I've got this pain in my neck and shoulder that has gotten steadily worse over the past 3 or 4 days (give or take 8 years), so I went to the doctor today and he told me he thinks it's probably a pulled muscle. I'm no doctor, but I don't see how I could have pulled a muscle while doing absolutely no exercise whatsoever, but I'll take the pills he gave me for a few days and see if it gets any better.

Anyway, like I said, I'm sitting on the couch watching tonight's episode of Rockstar: Supernova, and I'm wondering why I haven't been writing regular recaps of each episode this season. I mean, I am completely obsessed with this show, and what do I enjoy writing about more than music and TV? Probably nothing. Maybe I'm not as good as the folks over at Television Without Pity, but we're less than 20 minutes into tonight's episode and a few things are jumping out at me. My comments are live, by the way. Minor edits, but if I make predictions, I'm not changing them whether I'm right or wrong. Here goes:

- Brooke Burke is pregnant?? Damn. Does that mean she's remarried? Maybe, but at the very least, it means she had sex with somebody as recently as a few months ago. In a perfect world, I'd have more details for you on that, but it's far from a perfect world.

- Dave Navarro (with new band The Panic Channel) is going to join Supernova on their upcoming tour as one of the opening bands. Also opening on the tour is the House Band (are they going to call themselves "The House Band"??), with "our favorite rockers" joining them. If there's a concert I'll be more upset to miss in 2007, I don't know what it will be, but I just don't see myself dropping what will probably be upwards of $50 a ticket for a novelty act, even one as good as this one.

- The rockers each drove to the studio today in a Honda Element. They couldn't have all ridden together? It's a freaking SUV, for crying out loud! Nice, guys. Way to cut down on gas. Like I said, it's not a perfect world. Evidently whoever gets the encore tonight also gets the car they drove up in. The other four are heading back to the dealer. I hope Lukas didn't already get makeup all over the upholstery in his car.

- My man Toby gets the encore and the car (Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh). For some reason when they announce this, Magni stands up triumphantly and raises his arms. I guess they've become friends or something. Toby dedicates it to Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter. For some reason, that confuses me a bit. I was surprised he didn't dedicate it to "that random dude The crowd loves it, again.

- Storm is the first rocker in the bottom three and she sings "Wish You Were Here" rather unmemorably. Is unmemorably a word? "This one's for you, mom," she says afterward. It's like she automatically thinks she's a goner and wants to get in a shout-out to her moms in case there's not another chance.

- Dilana goes next, with her crutches that look like they were stolen from a hospital owned by Steven Tyler. She sings "I Want You to Want Me," but she's having a hard time keeping up with the "punk rock" version that she's singing while hopping around on her one good leg. Also, it sounded like she might have forgot the entire first verse.

- Lukas gets the third spot, leaving Magni and Toby (a.k.a., the clear frontrunners) to sit and watch from a safe place. He sings his original, "Head Spin," again, which is about his mother, and dedicated to his mother. Man, Dilana's mom must feel like crap. Lukas kills it, giving it a much better performance than the one he gave it last night, which was a really good one to begin with.
- If I had to guess (and if not, what am I even doing here), we're losing Storm, but I'm going to go out on a short limb and say that one of the ladies is going home tonight for sure. If it's Storm, then her kickin body and positive attitude have gotten her farther than her voice would have, and if it's Dilana, then she's had the sharpest drop in the history of sharp drops. She pretty much owned this competition for the first 4 or 5 weeks, then some other folks (Magni, Toby, Ryan) caught up, and the past 3 weeks have just been a tailspin for her.

- Lukas is safe, and the three boys are watching as the ladies take their abuse. Tommy Lee just pulled the lamest move I've seen in rock and roll when he said he can't make the decision b/c it's too hard, so he made Jason Newstead announce who's gone. Punk. Newstead axed Storm. I'm a genius.

Next week, one of these rookies is gonna get called up. I'm psyched. I gotta say that I hope Magni wins this competition, but Toby and Lukas are also pretty awesome.

I Sipped Bacardi Like It Was My Birthday

I turned 30 a few days ago without much fanfare, which was fine with me, though I'm kind of surprised I didn't post anything on my birthday. Oh well.

Amanda came downtown to meet me for lunch, and she surprised me by giving me a new guitar for my birthday present!!! I was pretty f'ing excited, I will tell you that. I haven't played since my old guitar was stolen when our house got robbed on the St. Patrick's Day Massacre of 2005. Then Thursday night I got another surprise when my friend Neola from Jackson walked into my apartment. That one really threw me for a loop. Evidently I'm pretty easy to surprise, b/c everyone knew she was coming but me.

Had a "birthday party" Friday night at this dive bar in Santa Monica called "The Speak Easy Cocktail." This place rocked. Good jukebox (which we pumped a bunch of money into), strong drinks (I don't know if they were cheap or not b/c I was getting them handed to me by everybody, but I imagine they were), a couple of pool tables, and a Scottish bartender named Ruth. Ruth bought me a drink also. My roommate Josh told me he thinks I might have drank a whole bottle of scotch, but I doubt that. Although it might have been close.

Today Amanda, Neola and I were having lunch and walking around on Melrose, and I bumped into Toby from Rockstar: Supernova. I shook his hand and said "You fucking rock, man, keep it up and good luck," to which he responded, "Cheers, good on ya, mate." Australians are funny.

I'm gonna get some posts about our trip to Hawaii up here soon, with a few pictures, but in the meantime, if you want me to email you the ophoto album, just leave me a comment with your email address and I'll send them along.

Vegas Baby. Vegas.

8 hours after getting back from Maui, I left for Vegas to meet my buddies for our fantasy football draft/weekend of partying. It was a great weekend, though one with very little sleep. We were like a walking Sports Guy column. No more details - what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but I can say that we all had a fun dinner on Saturday evening.

Beach at Ka'anapali on Maui

This place is absolutely paradise. Will update more when I have a chance, but might not be until after I get back.

28 Shuffle

I have to admit I stole this from some other music blogs I've read, but I don't really care. I put my iPod on shuffle this morning, and these are the first 28 (b/c that's how many lines are on the pages of my legal pads) songs I got. Not bad, really, considering the fact that there's a good bit of crap on my iPod.

1. Ryan Adams - Please Do Not Let Me Go
2. Metallica - Last Caress/Green Hell
3. Ben Folds Five - Evaporated
4. Bruce Springsteen - Missing
5. The Guess Who - Cardboard Empire
6. Ben Harper - Welcome to the Cruel World (live)
7. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy - Go Daddy-O
8. R.E.M. - Beat a Drum
9. Elliott Smith - A Passing Feeling (live)
10. Turin Brakes - By TV Light
11. Grateful Dead - Till the Morning Comes
12. Bob Schneider - Better
13. Bob Dylan - Watcha Gonna Do (Studio Outtake)
14. Paul McCartney & Eric Clapton - While My Guitar Gently Weeps (live)
15. Ryan Adams - Amy
16. Guns & Roses - You're Crazy
17. Snoop Dogg - Too High
18. Metallica - The Prince
19. U2 - New Year's Day
20. Jimi Hendrix - 3rd Stone from the Sun
21. Sleater-Kinney - Jumpers
22. Sufjan Stevens - Riffs & Variations on a Single Note
23. Radiohead - Go to Sleep (Little Man Being Erased)
24. Third Eye Blind - Deep Inside of You
25. Bob Marley & The Wailers - Waiting in Vain
26. Bush - Machinehead
27. Rolling Stones - Sympathy for the Devil
28. R.E.M. - Suspicion (live)

How to Eat Like a College Student

After Saturday's fitness experiment (where Amanda was very excited to see Jeanne Tripplehorn, Tom Cruise's hot wife from The Firm and co-star of fellow Jacobs Camp alum Ginnifer Goodwyn in HBO's Big Love), I had to go home and rest. Big day ahead. There was a Texas alumni barbecue down in Redondo Beach, and they were bringing in Salt Lick Barbecue for the occasion, as well as all-you-can-drink Shiner Bock.

We got to the barbecue around 5:00, and they were supposed to start serving dinner at 5:30. No dice. More like 6:30. At least they had beer and the DVD of the Rose Bowl to keep everybody happy until the food was ready.

I haven't had Salt Lick in years, but it's like riding a bike, you just don't forget how to handle a Salt Lick meal. Step one: starve yourself all day, so you're really really hungry by the time the meat hits the table. Check. Step two: drown (and I mean drown) EVERYTHING on your plate in sauce. Meat, bread, potato salad. Everything. Check. Step three: eat your first heaping plate of ribs, sausage and brisket (leave the chicken alone) as fast as possible, so you don't realize you're full until well into the second plate. Check. Step four: when you start to falter during your second plate, drink a little Coke in order to burp a few times and make some more room in your stomach. Check. Step five: when you realize you're not going to be able to handle much more, eat the sausage first. Everything else is just there to keep the sausage company while it waits to be eaten. Check.

I went at this stuff like my life depended on it. I was so stuffed that I could barely eat lunch the next day. That night we went to a party that some friends of ours were having, and I just sat on the couch the whole time nursing a bottle of beer and a glass of room-temperature Sprite. I was like an overfed baby, I just wanted to lie down and burp until I felt better. When I complained to Amanda that I was so full it hurt, she said, "Well you were shoveling it into your face! You need to learn to eat smaller portions." I responded by telling her that I do know how to eat smaller portions, but that this was Salt Lick, this was different. True, I was in pain (something that didn't happen 10 years ago), but if I had it to do all over again, the only thing I would change would be to try to smuggle some extra sausage out in a cup or a ziploc bag.

Survived ... Barely.

I am DYING! Amanda and I just finished taking a class at Barry's Boot Camp, where my college roommate Mark is a trainer. Damn. It's a good thing I was sweating so much, so you couldn't see the tears running down my face. More on this later, I have to eat breakfast before I pass out.

Sometimes LA Rules

Despite the lack of A/C in our apartment, the traffic, the ridiculous amount of time it takes to get anywhere, the distance from most of our family and friends, and the cost of living, sometimes living in LA is just awesome. Last night, Amanda and I went with a friend of ours who has a good hook-up to see an advance screening of Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. A good movie is a good movie, and a free movie is a good movie, but a free good movie that hasn't even come out yet is just awesome. I wrote a review of it over at The Water Cooler, but you should all definitely go see it when it comes out this weekend, it was hilarious! Super-duper!!

Hell-A

It is so damn hot here. I mean, it's not Mississippi, we don't have the humidity, but we also don't have air conditioning in our apartment, so even without the humidity, it is absolutely miserable. It's like Elaine told Puddy, when he told her she was going to Hell.

I'm going to Hell! The worst place imaginable. With the ragged clothing, and the heat, my God the heat!

I've been sleeping on the couch some nights, and one night last week I had to resort to drastic measures. I went downstairs and grabbed an ice cold can of Pabst out of the fridge just to hold in my hand while I tried to fall asleep. It worked, for a little while, and I fell asleep feeling a little cooler, but then I woke up again about 30 minutes later drenched in sweat, and holding a warm beer. A friend suggested I place an entire cooler next to the bed, so that when one beer warms up, I can switch it out for a cold one. Doesn't sound like a bad idea.

It is actually cooler outside our apartment than inside. We've been trying to adjust by doing things outdoors. Last night we went to see a movie. In a cemetary. It was as weird as it sounds. They do movie screenings at the Hollywood Forever cemetary (which is the creepiest name for a cemetary I can think of) during the summer, and last night they showed Woody Allen's "Manhattan." First time I've seen it, and it was awesome. As if seeing a movie in a cemetary wasn't weird enough, they had a DJ spinning tunes before and after the movie, and everyone sits there and has picnic dinners before the show starts. Nothing like bringing a bunch beer and wine to the graveyard. Just a normal Saturday evening in Hollywood, I guess.

The Water Cooler

ATTENTION!!!

There's a brand new pop-culture blog out there that I feel the need to call your attention to for many reasons, not the least of which is that I am one of the two (currently) contributors to it.

The Water Cooler

I would urge you all (some more than others, but hey, we're all family here, right?) to head over there and check it out, b/c in my humble opinion, it's damn good. We've got a bunch of stuff going on over there, might be a little ambitious, and who knows how long it will last, but we think we need to at least put in as much time updating the blog as we did designing it, so that gives us a minimum of 2 weeks. I would imagine it'll go much longer. Most of what we do over there is going to be pop-culture related, reviews of movies, music, etc. Two things to look out for are our fake reviews of books we have never read (our "Judge a Book By Its Cover" series), and my "30 Years of Rock" series in which I will be reviewing the top 10 albums of each year of my life, each year on a new day leading up to my 30th birthday next month.

One thing I want to point out, though, is that for some reason, the template we used looks like complete crap on Internet Explorer. This would be a great time for you to download and use Mozilla Firefox as your web browser, if you don't already. With tabbed browsing, you can have multiple sites open at once in the same window (without crowding your computer with so many browser windows open at one time), and it has much MUCH better pop-up blockers and security features than IE does. Best of all, it's free!! Get it here.

There's a lot going on out here in the City of Angels, so don't think that I'm abandoning Manifest Destiny in favor of The Water Cooler. I don't like one more than the other, I just like them in different ways. It's like the way my parents feel about my sisters. They don't love one more than the other, they just love them differently. They do, of course, love me more. That's a joke. They love me much less.

So, check out The Water Cooler, bookmark it, read it early, read it often, and keep coming back here as well, b/c I'm going to be posting different stuff in both places. And thanks for reading. You stay classy, San Diego.

PS - My buddy Micah's latest Chicago Sports Review column got picked up by the up-and-coming (at a very fast pace) sports blog Deadspin. Check it out here, it's quality stuff.

I Don't Roll on Shabbas

But I will roll the day after Shabbas.

Saturday we spent the day at the beach in Malibu with a bunch of friends. It was great, the waves were huge, and we were like 7-year olds jumping around in them. We packed lunches and a cooler full of water (and beer), and some of us forgot to put sunscreen on various parts of our bodies. I got a weird burn on a small strip of the back of one of my arms. I was one of the lucky ones. Frisbees and footballs are much more fun on the beach than they are in real life, I learned.

That night Amanda and I went to the MOCA for some sort of "Night Vision" event. It was pretty cool, they had a cash bar and a DJ spinning tracks in the museum courtyard, and the exhibit was open, so we went inside and checked out the art. Maybe I was just exhausted from the Sun, but I wasn't too impressed, despite the fact that the artist had attended the University of Texas for a brief period.

Yesterday we went out to the Valley (where it really is 10-15 degrees hotter than the city) for my roommate Josh's surprise bowling birthday party. (He's a good bowler but his younger brother bowled two games over 200.) Then we went over to his parents' house to hang out in the pool and have a cookout. It was a really fun day, but I think I spent too much time in the Sun this weekend, b/c I'm completely drained. I did manage to put up my unofficial (b/c I can't remember my previous record) high score yesterday, though, of a 146. I took a picture so the next time I break it, it won't be unofficial anymore.

If I Ever Lose My Faith In You

I read an article today that renewed my faith in science. And progress. (Thanks, Sting.) It seems that, with all of the disease, chemical and biological weaponry, stem cell research, and technological issues facing the world today, scientists haven't lost sight of the big picture.

They've come up with a heat-resistant version of chocolate that won't melt.

Here's a quote from the end of the article.

"The researchers hope their new confection will 'allow the wide distribution, display and consumption of chocolate in the tropics, especially Nigeria.'"

Well, this is just what Nigeria needs. Chocolate that won't melt. This is certainly a bigger problem than having the third highest percentage of HIV/AIDS patients in the world. Also, given the fact that the residents of Nigeria have an average purchasing power of $692 (which, admittedly, is fairly in line with my own purchasing power), how much of this chocolate is really going to be sold there??

News of this new heat-resistant chocolate should come as no greater relief to anyone than it should to my own mother, who despite living in Houston, Texas, which is the second hottest place in the world (but closing in quickly on Nigeria's lead), still insists on mailing chocolate items in packages to me that, by the time they arrive, resemble nothing close to their original shape and look more like Indian artifacts found on a dig in New Mexico. But I always (I repeat, always) appreciate the gesture. I think she's satisfectellent. I don't really know what it means, but there are billboard all over LA.

Multimedia message

Derek "Night Train" Lowe gave up 4 in the first but seems to have rebounded. Wehave sweet seats behind home plate. Bonds isn't playing. What a douchebag.

Why the World Needs Dule Hill

Well, kids, Amanda's out of town for the weekend, so we all know what that means ... it's time for another TV roundup issue.

I just watched what might be the best new show that comes out all year, and the biggest surprise is that it's on the USA Network. Yes, I'm talking about Psych. Hilarious. The premise is this: a slacker with a knack for detail (James Roday) gets into some trouble with the law and lies to the cops about being a psychic. For some reason, he convinces his straight-laced friend (Dule Hill from The West Wing) to go in on the ruse with him. Hilarity ensues. I'll be back next week. If you happen to catch the pilot episode, by the way, make sure you stick around for the credits. Let's just say that Dule Hill does a mean Michael Jackson impression during some outtakes of one of the scenes. Good stuff.

Speaking of Michael Jackson, my buddy Jeremy just texted me to say that he's at Michael Jackson's father's birthday party in Las Vegas right now. We have yet to find out if he was serious, and if so, how in the hell that is possible.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't really way too excited about the new season of Rockstar. My loyal longtime readers (hi mom!) might remember my obsession with last year's installment of Rockstar: INXS. Well, that had a lot to do with the fact that I used to be a huge INXS fan (15 years ago), but it was also a really good show. Anyway, the new season of Rockstar: Supernova kicked off on Wednesday, and I'm not sure what I was doing at the time, but I managed to TiVo it, so I'm watching it right now. Brooke Burke looks as hot as ever, and Dave Navarro looks just as creepy as I remember him. The band this year is a "supergroup" (in the absolute loosest sense of the word) made up of Tommy Lee, Jason Newstead (formerly of Metallica) and Gilby Clarke (formerly of Guns 'n' Roses). They're a bunch of scrubs, to be sure (with the possible exception of Tommy Lee), but I'm excited for some good, old fashioned, hard rocking as the season progresses. Also, I'm pretty excited to see that it looks like Gilby Clarke borrowed Kirk Pengilly's wispy mustache from last season. Somebody's got to keep that thing on TV.

HOLY CRAP! I'm watching the first episode right now, and one of the contestants is Patrice Pike, who is from Austin and used to front the band Little Sister, who we used to see all the time in college. I think they might have played one of my fraternity parties. Maybe not, but I seem to remember that. Anyway, this chick rocks, and she nailed her performance. The band dug her. I hope she does well. So far, some of the performances have been rather mediocre, but I'm certainly not going to stop watching.

Another reason I'm excited about this show is that I scored two tickets for Amanda and me to go to a taping this Sunday!! I'll have to find out which night that show is going to air (Wednesday or Thursday of this week, I'm guessing), and I'll post the details. Look for us. We'll be on CBS with our Eye on America.

I'm heading to the Dodger game tomorrow with some friends. Can't pass up the chance to boo Barry Bonds in person. Here's what I think about him. Here's what MC Hammer thinks about him. You can decide for yourself which of us you agree with.

With a Poster of Rasputin ...

... And a beard down to his knees. We went to see the Indigo Girls last night for free on the Santa Monica Pier. Decent show - they sounded great but they sure played a whole bunch of crap I didn't know.

29 Days 'Till Ricky Bobby

Some public service announcements from your favorite NASCAR driver and mine, Ricky Bobby.

We Want the World and We Want It...

In honor of today being the 35th anniversary of the legendary Jim Morrison's death, I'm going all Doors, all day. Don't you wish you were sitting in my cubicle today?

I Am Not Overly Concerned

Radiohead played last night at the Greek Theater in LA. I'm sure they were awesome, but Amanda, Bailey and I went to the Counting Crows concert down in beautiful Irvine, CA. It was nice, actually, great weather and a good show. I think the highlight for me was tailgating in the parking lot with Pabst Blue Ribbon, veggie dumplings, asian salad, and edamame. Only in LA.

The Goo Goo Dolls were the opening band (well, not the first opening band, but I'm not sure they even had a name), and they were actually not bad. I mean, I'm not rushing out to their next concert or joining their fan club, but at least it wasn't Train.

The Crows took the stage a little late, and Bailey was audibly shocked at Adam Duritz's appearance. We all were, actually. He doesn't look like this anymore. He looks like this now. It was a good show, though, despite the fact that they absolutely BUTCHERED Rain King and Raining in Baltimore. They did a really kick-ass version of Murder of One, though, that completely redeemed themselves. Problem is, though, Duritz is so out of shape that he has to give these mini-speeches between songs to give himself time to catch his breath so he can sing again (ironically, one of these speeches last night was about not lifting weights), and they ran over on time and had to cut their show and do a quick one-song encore. Good show, too short.

I got a little lazy and didn't feel like typing out their setlist, so I just took a picture of where I wrote it down. Enjoy.

Freakin' Awesome!

Go see it. More on this subject later, I'm exhausted.

The Way It Really Happened...

The Sporting Life, How They Love

There's a lot going on right now in the wide world of sports.



The Red Sox are on an astonishing streak, winning their last 10 games (mostly on the back of the mighty David Ortiz). Of course, Pedro's pitching against them tonight, so the streak could very well come to an end, but Beckett's no slouch himself, and he's pitching at home, so we'll see what happens. We'll keep our fingers crossed.



How great is that picture?? VY was given the esteemed honor of being named the best college football player ever to wear #10. It was a very scientific process, I'm sure. He's up for a couple of ESPY Awards for College Athlete of the Year. His competition, not surprisingly, includes Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush, JJ Redick, and Adam Morrison, owner of the greatest porn 'stache outside of Van Nuys.

Morrison is a projected top 3 pick in tonight's NBA Draft. My buddy Micah will be live-blogging the draft for the Atlanta Hawks, so check it out on their site by CLICKING THIS LINK. If he's as good as he was last year, then you'll enjoy it for sure. Speaking of the NBA Draft, I leave you with the greatest NBA Draft picture in the history of NBA Draft pictures. Ahh, memories. Misty, watercolor memories...

Rebel Yell

My friend Jeremy sent me this link today to see if you're a Yankee or a Rebel. Now, given my immense hatred for the Yankees, I was pretty sure I wouldn't come out as a Yankee. And given the fact that I am, at least partially, a Rebel at heart (though I do bleed orange for the Longhorns), I was pretty sure I'd come out at least part-Reb. I was pretty excited, though, that as it turns out, according to this highly-scientific process...

I'm 81% Dixie, baby!!

It's a Bird, It's a Plane...

I'm pretty excited about this new Superman movie coming out. I get excited about movies. I just saw a commercial for a movie about crossword puzzles, and I practically jumped off the couch, I was so excited. But it's the comic book movies that really get me going, which is weird b/c I never really got into comic books as a kid, and I'm not into them now. I just love the comic book movies, and I always have. Batman, Spiderman, X-Men, what have you. But Superman is, as they say, the Grandaddy of Them All.

Superman is just head and shoulders above the rest of the gang, not just in terms of powers (he can fly, for Pete's sake), but also in terms of interest and marketability. People talk about Superman all the time. I really enjoyed David Carradine's Superman soliloquy in Kill Bill 2, but what I saw today was much more interesting, in terms of Superman's influence on social commentary, and vice versa.

I read two articles online today about the new Superman movie, one insinuating that Superman is gay, and another comparing Superman to Jesus Christ. How is that even possible?? If that isn't proof positive that EVERYBODY feels somehow connected to this icon, I don't know what is.

Now back to this crossword puzzle movie. What's an 8-letter word for "movie that makes Ben Dorfman excited to an embarassing degree"?? WORDPLAY. In select theaters now. Starts Friday in Los Angeles and the rest of the country.

Waiting for Train

Took this with my phone while waiting for the BART train at the San Fran airport a few weeks ago. Thought it was a cool pic, and I also wanted to test out the mobile posting because it wasn't working for awhile. If this gets posted, I guess it worked.

The Question Has Been Popped

I think anyone who might read this has most likely already gotten a phone call or an email (and if not, a thousand apologies, and I'll be happy to tell you the whole story if you ask me to), but I'd feel somewhat remiss if I didn't mention on this here blog the exciting news that Amanda and I got engaged on Friday night! We're both very excited, and we have no definite plans for a wedding yet, but rest assured that everyone will know as soon as we do. In the meantime, here's a picture, and if you want to see the rest but haven't already, leave me a comment here and we'll forward you the ophoto album, or whatever the kids are calling it these days.



She said yes, by the way.

I'm looking forward to about 1,000 more happy years with Amanda, and most immediately, spending as little money as possible in the coming weeks.

Take It or Leave It

A guy I work with is in a metal band called Symphony of Cyanide (that's the real name of the band, I swear), and they had a gig tonight at a bar downtown called Little Pedro's. I was on my way there when my Check Engine light came on. Considering my history with car trouble, I immediately pulled off the highway and came home. I didn't want to risk getting stuck in downtown LA at night by myself. Yeah, I don't think so.

I'll have to take it in on Monday morning. Tomorrow I'm heading to Houston to see the folks and go through a bunch of boxes filled with my old crap. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? Don't be jealous. Not much to say about this trip right now, but I felt like writing something, b/c I'm trying to get back in the habit, though it's proven a bit more difficult that I originally thought. Anyway, here are my top 11 songs about travelling to Houston to see my parents and go through a bunch of boxes of old crap:

1. Another Travelling Song - Bright Eyes
2. Airportman - REM
3. Airport Song - Guster
4. Rocky Mountain High - John Denver (I have a layover in Denver)
5. Songs About Texas - Pat Green
6. In Houston - Tapes 'n Tapes
7. Breakin' Bread - The J.B.'s (this is a fantastic song that I just heard for the first time today. probably the reason for this list.)
8. Cleaning Out My Closet - Eminem
9. Memory Lane - Elliott Smith
10. Things I Will Keep - Guided By Voices
11. Long Way Back Home - Barenaked Ladies

Shuffle Up and Deal

As we all know, I'm an excellent poker player, so naturally, I'm interested in all things poker. So, I'm flipping channels, looking for a Seinfeld rerun or something, and I see that the Season Premiere of Celebrity Poker Showdown is on the Bravo Network. First of all, this show gets a Season Premiere?? In May??

Anyway, evidently former co-host and professional poker player Phil Gordon is no longer a co-host of the show, which is a shame, b/c he's a really good poker player, but also a good poker teacher, and he's great at explaining things as they happen. (I recommend his "Little Green Book" if you want a good crash course in Hold 'Em.) Instead, sitting next to the guy who used to have Dave Foley's career (and now has only Celebrity Poker Showdown on the Bravo Network) is professional poker player Phil Hellmuth. Are you kidding me?? This is ridiculous. Big mistake. The guy is known even to people who don't play or watch much poker for being a huge spoiled brat, not to mention a jackass. I love to watch him play in tournaments the same way I love to watch a Jim Rome interview. You want to smack him, but he's guaranteed to piss somebody off in a really entertaining way.

Anyway, he sucks on this show. I can report that with no reservations. His whole appeal is that he antagonizes his opponents. Who's he going to piss off now other than his co-host, who is obligated to sit next to him throughout the entire show? I don't see how this can work. It's a shame, too, b/c we'd hate to lose this show if it gets cancelled. That will only leave about 47 other poker shows on cable television. Whatever will we do??

On the bright side, though, they're playing from Harrah's in New Orleans right now, and they're all playing for New Orleans-related charities. Which is nice.

Solitary Refinement

Amanda's in Germany for 2 weeks on a school trip. The last field trip I can remember taking, when I was in school, was to Marine Life in Gulfport, MS. Marine Life. We saw dolphins shoot basketballs. She's in Germany, where the furor (no pun intended ... well, maybe) over the upcoming World Cup they're hosting will probably be a really exciting subplot to a 2 week (mostly) free trip to another country. She'll probably run into a lot of excited Mavs fans as well.

Anyway, as this is a school trip, our other roommate Josh is also in Germany, which leaves me to enjoy and defend home base on my own. Needless to say, there's going to be a lot of TV watched over the next 13 days. I also need to make sure to work out every day, b/c I've gotten a bit lazy (lazier) over the past several weeks, and I'd like to look a little less like Craig Stadler by the time Amanda gets home. I got off to a good start last night, let's hope I can keep it up.

I've decided that I'm going to watch the first season of Lost while Amanda's gone. I started watching with the premiere of the second season (which ends tonight, by the way, and I couldn't be more upset), but I never saw the first season, so I don't know much of the back story, other than what I've been able to piece together. I rented the first 4 discs yesterday, and by the time I went to bed last night, I was halfway through disc 2. I should be able to knock it out with no problem, especially with a long weekend ahead of me. I think I'll document this with my thoughts on each disc, rather than each episode, otherwise we'd be here forever. Hey, I gotta keep myself busy somehow, in that apartment by myself.

Disc 1 (Episodes 100-102):
- Cool opening. Lot of carnage on the beach. Like Saving Private Ryan, but less intense, except for that poor bastard who gets sucked into the engine and causes the explosion.
- I will never get tired of the turbulence scene, no matter how many times they show it. When the plane shakes and that dude gets thrown into the roof and drops to the floor again, that's just awesome.
- That Shannon is pretty hot. Too bad I already know she dies in the second season. She's a huge bitch though.
- I already thought Locke was kind of a creepy dude, but now I'm even more convinced.
- I'm kind of upset about the fact that my favorite character on the show, Mr. Eko, doesn't show up until season two. You know those GPS things in the cars that tell you how to get where you're going? I'd like to get one with his voice. If you've seen the show, you know what I'm talking about. If not, it's a lost cause. I just want to hear him tell me things like "Turn left in 300 yards."

We had a great trip to San Francisco this past weekend. Here's a picture of us at the Golden Gate Bridge. If you want to see the whole album, leave me a comment and I'll send you the link.

Gooooooood Mornin

Happy breakfast, everybody. Amanda and I cooked omelettes on Sunday morning. The eggs must have been happy about my poker tournament the night before. It's like that old saying: "Smile, and your eggs smile with you."

Flopped the Nut Straight

If you can't spot the sucker in your first half-hour at the table, then you are the sucker.

42 people entered. One emerged victorious. A cash prize plus a designated amount going to the charity of the winner's choice. But most importantly, bragging rights. The thrill of competition and the exhiliration of winning hand after hand after hand, watching everyone else bow out before you.

Last night, I won a poker tournament. I'm as shocked as you are, especially those of you who have seen me play poker. Amanda's USC business school class organized a tournament that I entered, $20 buy-in for $1,000 in chips. Blinds started $10-$20 and increased each round. After the 5th round, you could add-on $2,000 more in chips for another $20 cash. Then it was off to the races.

I was absolutely on fire last night. It was ridiculous. For the first 7 rounds, I was at the same table, with a pretty comfortable chip lead there, but then, as people started busting out, we had to shuffle around a bit to keep the tables balanced, so our table got redistributed among the other tables. I got sent to the table where the reigning champ from the last tournament was sitting (and he was GOOD), as well as one of his best friends, who both had enormous chip stacks in front of them and were very loud about being in each other's faces all night, back and forth on monster pots. I thought I was going to get caught in the crossfire and be done.

I picked up a couple of modest pots there, then something bad happened. Taiki, the champ, sitting to my left (thank God he wasn't sitting to my right), starts making ridiculously large, by-the-book style bets at a seemingly random flop. Everybody else folds, and I think he's bluffing, big time, so I keep calling him, and at one point, I reraised him. I had ace high. He turns over the straight that he hit on the flop (the Nut Straight, incidentally) and takes over 3/4 of my stack. I'm finished. It was a good run, I'm telling myself, and I'm proud of myself for playing well and lasting as long as I did. Two hands later, down to $800, I go all-in and triple-up on king-nine suited. Three hands later, I go all-in again with my $2400 and get three takers, and I quadruple-up to $9,600. All of a sudden I'm back in the game, and in a big way, b/c Victor, the loud archnemesis of Taiki, gets shuffled over to a new table, and I've suddenly got the second highest chip stack at the table. We go back and forth on small pots for awhile, and somehow, in another showdown with Taiki, I take down an absolute monster pot, giving me the chip lead at the table, as well as strike some fear into the hearts of the rest of the folks at my table. When I raise pre-flop on the next hand, Taiki folds and tells me "I can't go against you right now, Ben. I'm scared to death of you."

Now, everybody is just trying to tread water until we get down to the final 7, where we consolidate into one table and everybody gets some cash no matter what. We've got 4 left at our table, 5 at the other table, and we hear a huge roar at the other table, followed by chants of "Final Table, Final Table!!" Evidently, there was a big pot going, and 2 guys busted out on the bubble, leaving the 3 remaining to combine with our four.

Final Table. We do a quick chip count to see who's got the lead. I'm not thrilled to find that my $41,500 is in second place. I don't remember what Matt had, but he was in the lead. They also announce at this point the cash payouts for the top 7 finishers. 7th place gets $80. First place gets $556. Quite a jump there. A few people busted out in 7th - 4th place, and we're left with Matt (the chip-leader), Taiki (the reigning champ), and me.

At this point, I'm in third place with my chip stack. I go all-in with King-Queen off-suit into a monster pot against Taiki, my tournament life on the line, he has an ace in the hole and the flop comes Ace-Ten-Six. I got nothing. The turn comes with a Four. I'm finished. I stand up and start to reach over to shake his hand when the dealer says "Wait, a Jack can save you." I stand there, nervously, waiting for him to flip the river card over. Jack of Spades. My new favorite card in the deck. Monster pot. I'm back in this thing like a madman. Taiki's down to about $12,000 and busts out to Matt in third place. (Incidentally, with this, Matt added an extra $30 cash to his winnings, b/c they have a tradition where there is a $30 bounty on the reigning champ, and whoever busts him out wins it. I'll have to defend myself next time.)

Matt and I go back and forth on the blinds for awhile (which were up to $5,000-$10,000 at this point), until I chopped his legs out from under him on a post-flop reraise, which he quickly folded. Next hand he goes all-in with about $15,000 or so, and I call with King-Six of clubs just to see what he had. I think, he had Eight-Two. I hit a King on the turn and took the pot, the cash, and the title, and got to send $300 to Camp Dream Street. All told, it was an outrageously fun time. I know that next time I'm probably going to bust out obscenely early, but it'll still be worth it.

In the words of Mike McD, f*ck it, let's play some cards.

Faith in the Longhorns

Took this picture of a painting of St. John the Baptist at the Getty Museum last weekend. Is it just me, or was he of the Longhorn Faithful??

Divine Intervention??

The Lord works in mysterious ways. According to CNN.com, a failed underground electrical line caused a series of gas explosions resulting in flying manhole covers and a cancelled Goo Goo Dolls concert.

Residents of Mount Clemens, Michigan, are hoping the electrical line can be repaired in time to break again just before the Queensryche concert scheduled for September 17.

Seattle's Best and Most Recent

Pearl Jam released their newest CD yesterday, their self-titled debut on new label Monkey Wrench. I picked up a copy of it tonight, and I have to say that I really like it. Folks have taken to calling it the "Avocado Album," since self-titled albums are pretty boring, and since I've grown to really love avocados in my short time in California, I think I'll do the same.



Since Pearl Jam is back (in a big way) with the Avocado Album, I'm using this as my cue to get back into blogging. Andy's pissed I've been gone. Sorry, dude. Go get the Pearl Jam record. You'll enjoy it.

Here are my thoughts on the Avocado Album. Pearl Jam are what the Doors would have been if the Doors played in today's environment. I know, that's a bold statement. I'm a huge Doors fan, and I'm not trying to offend anyone by that statement, but Eddie Vedder is today's Jim Morrison. You can really hear it on this album, especially on the third track, "Comatose." The fourth track, "Severed Hand," is flat-out awesome, and it will be remembered as one of their better songs. Unfortunately, I'm only about halfway through the album, but I don't expect disappointment in the least.

You can listen to the entire album by clicking this link, it's streaming at AOL.

And, if you're now craving avocados (like I am), here's a great recipe for guacamole:

3 avocados, peeled, pitted and mashed
1 lime, juiced
1 teaspoon, salt
1/2 cup, diced onion
3 tablespoons, chopped fresh cilantro
2 roma tomatoes, diced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 pinch ground cayenne pepper

Makes 4 servings. Find 3 friends, put on the Avocado Album, and make some guacamole. Enjoy both at room temperature. For best results, add beer.

Worse Than Ezra

Well, in keeping with what seems to be the theme of my 2006, I did not go to the Better Than Ezra concert, even though I had a ticket. Here's what happened. My friend bailed on me today, which sucks, b/c I wasn't able to find anyone else to take her ticket. But whatever, no big, like I said, I've been to concerts by myself before.

So, I show up at House of Blues around 9:30 (doors opened at 9), and I fork over the $15 for parking since it's full out pouring and I didn't feel like trying to find a spot 2 blocks away for free and getting soaked on the way to the club. After getting my tickets from the Will Call, I found out that BTE wasn't taking the stage until 11:15. No band ever comes on when they're supposed to. Remember the line from Guns N' Roses' "Mr. Brownstone?" "The show usually starts around seven, we go on stage around nine." They're not kidding.

Then I made my way over to the line of about 50 or so people who were waiting to get in. In the rain. I stood in line for about 3 minutes, didn't move an inch, and said "screw it." There's no way I'm standing in line in the rain for at least 20 minutes, then hanging out inside while waiting for the band to come on for an hour and a half by myself. I put the tickets in my pocket, walked back over to the valet guy, and asked him for my car back, and my $15. Thankfully, he looked favorably upon me (am I that pathetic that I'm getting sympathy from the valet guy??), and handed me my money back. So I went to Blockbuster and picked up some crappy horror flicks that Amanda won't watch with me, and I came home. Redeye sucked. I'm going to watch Saw II tomorrow, I'll let you know how it goes.

I was going to do a post about other concerts that I've been to, but I'm tired now, so that'll have to wait until later. Luckily, I'll catch Better Than Ezra next month when I'm in San Francisco for Bay to Breakers, so it's not a total loss. Just mostly.

Happy Passover, Everybody

Some quick notes before I head over to House of Blues for the Better Than Ezra show later tonight (by myself, since my friend who was supposed to go with me bailed today - I've been to concerts by myself before, though, so not unchartered waters):

Congrats to the Red Sox for opening their season with 7 wins in the first 10 games. That's a solid start, and I'm giddy that The Apostle Curt Schilling is 3-0.

I found out last night that I have some new readers. Welcome aboard. Hope you enjoy yourselves.

Check out the live concert series over at NPR. There's some great stuff on there, a lot of which is available for free download. I've been listening to these concerts for the past few days, and I've been really impressed. The Colin Meloy one is really good, if you're looking for a suggestion.

Time to post some more music. Admittedly, all of these are tunes I picked up from some of these other music blogs I've been checking out lately. The first one is a really good song by a guy I've never heard of before, and I always like a good song about Jackson. The Neil Young tune I have been completely obsessed with lately for some reason, and the third one is a really good cover of the same song by Victoria Williams and The Williams Brothers that I pulled off of the Aquarium Drunkard's page last week. Speaking of, that dude's got a pretty cool radio-thingy on his blog, and I'm trying to figure out how to put one on mine as well, but it turns out I'm not nearly as computer savvy as I would have hoped. I'm gonna keep at it, though, until I either figure it out or stop caring. Hopefully the former.

Enjoy the tunes, I'll post later about the show.

Jeffrey Foucault - Train to Jackson - mp3
Neil Young - Don't Let It Bring You Down - mp3
Victoria Williams and The Williams Brothers - Don't Let It Bring You Down - mp3