House Update

So I bought another digital camera cause the one I had was just too big for travel needs, but for whatever reason, I can not get the pics off the camera easily. So below is a big group of pics from the past couple of weeks. We've made some great progress, and began painting yesterday, a sign that I'm in the home stretch. I also got to meet the neighbor who was the best friend and executor of the estate for Ms Newton, and I got a little history on the house, I'll post that later this week.

So here is the house as of 12-3-08. The pics of the dining room are just to show how much supplies and tools are everywhere. (UPDATE: a coworker had a cool gadget to help me get my pics off the camera, so there are pics from yesterday as well)

Pop Pop

There was a cool article about my grandfather in the local paper of the town he grew up, Two Rivers Wisconsin.

Link

inside pics

Was trying to get these up earlier, but I was in recovery from the Skins crushing defeat Sunday night...damn cowboys, I hate those guys.

So here are some pics of the inside of my new place. The furniture is not staying, although I tried to buy that TV in the dining room (found out it still works, thing must be 50 years old by now.) I also found out that the previous owner, Ms Newton, was 81, and the second owner, she never married or had kids, and all of her siblings had passed a while ago. The listing agent actually grew up across the street and said she was a great lady.

Everything is fair when you're livin' in the city

Well after a 7 month search, I have found a new home!



I go to closing on November 26, and will move in sometime around x-mas (it wouldn't be a Gauthier house without doing some work before moving in)

I'm heading back this weekend to do some measuring and planning, and I'll take some pics of the inside and post them. Everything in the house is all original from 1911 when it was built, some amazing wood work.

I'll keep posting updates on the house here, and I may also starting posting some other stuff again too (picked up a a bunch of new music on my vacation)

Modern Guilt

One of my favorite artists, music or otherwise, is Beck. I get a feeling of true expression with his music, someone who is always experimenting yet is staying true to his self. During high school, I always licked what I heard, but never got into more than his radio songs, so I split his career into pre- and post-college. Looking at his post-college albums, you start with the near perfect Sea Change, which was followed by Guerro, which had some great songs, but I wasn't impressed. Several years later, Beck went back to producer Nigel Goodrich (of Radiohead production fame) and put out The Information, which was a solid fun album, and another departure yet truly Beck album.

When I heard the new album was produced by Danger Mouse (of Gnarls Barkley fame) I was very excited, and I was rewarded! Modern Guilt is concise, crisp, forward thinking, and classically Beck. Clocking in at just over 30 minutes, Beck and Danger Mouse put together 10 tracks that are fresh and exciting. One of my only problems with some Beck albums has been that they go on too long, and towards the end the songs start sounding the same (see Guerro not above) but this one is not that at all.

The first track Orphans is a sparse self exploration that slowly fills out into a toe tapping, shoulder shaking diddy. Gamma Ray is a Odelay esque track that has cool effects used throughout. The title track Modern Guilt is first of the heavy Mouse influence, and while you can hear a little Gnarls Barkley, it's not overwhelming. Youthless is a little jump into the hip-hop world, which Beck has always done in his own way with a underlying bass beat driving the song. Some of my favorite lyrics on the whole album come from Walls; "You got warheads stacked in the kitchen/you treat distraction like instant religion/the battlesticks snap at the rhythm/you give the best with the souls you've been given."

Replica and Soul of a Man both give this weird feeling of being throw backs, but with a modern twist. Profanity Prayers is a danceable track that I think will be a great one for the live shows. The last track Volcano is another sparse song with a drum line that is drawn out for a melodic and smooth piece.

Overall I give the CD a 8. If you like Beck, you will very entertained by this latest incarnation.

A Birdie!

So I mentioned that I sold my house, and am living in a apartment until I find a new place to buy, which has been cooler than I expected. But one of the benefits has been that I didn't have to dump all the proceeds into a new place. Not that I have been going on a spending binge, but I did buy myself one thing, new golf clubs.

I used to go to driving ranges every so often growing up, my grandfather used to live next to a golf course, and we used to have to watch golf during holidays when we went to his house. But it wasn't until 2 summers ago that I really started trying to play. Last summer my brother gave me his old clubs, and I started playing with a friend of mine a couple of times a month and going to the driving range at least once a week. This year I got to the point where I wasn't embarrassing, (my best round was a 109.)

But with my new clubs...now I'm not half bad. My score wasn't any better, I shot a 110, but I was playing the best I ever have. But the most exciting thing was I got my first birdie of my young golf career! And it almost was my first hole-in-one.



It was a 162 yard par 3, and I hit the ball pure, it bounced just short of the green, and rolled up just short of falling into the hole. It was awesome!

Sub Pop Invasion

My musical life has been overtaken by artists on the Sub Pop label. Originally know for bringing us the world the gunge scene of Seattle with Nirvana and Soundgarden, Sub Pop has grown, and morphed, over the past 20 years to be one of my favorite labels. The band currently on the label most of us know about are The Shins. They also have a great musician in Iron and Wine, yes this is actually single performer, Sam Beam. Folky acoustic rock, similar to Nick Drake, good for a lot of situations.

Well I've discovered several other Sub Pop bands that are worth mentioning. The first, I mentioned in my last post, Wolf Parade, very fun. From there, I stumbled on Handsome Furs which is actually one of the lead singers from Wolf Parade and his wife. Very minimalist with guitar, drums and samples. More experimental than The Shins or Wolf Parade, but in a fun way. Not an everyday listen, but a nice tangent while driving.

Then I fell into a band from South Carolina called Band of Horses. They have a more traditional setup and sound, kind of similar to Guster, but more plugged in. This is no groundbreaking amazing music, it's pretty good rock, good for background while working.

The last band is called The Helio Sequence. When I first picked up their CD, it took me a couple of attempts to get through the first song, not that it was band, but the first song didn't grab me, and I wasn't in the mood. But when I finally did get into it, I was very impressed. I've gotten through this CD a couple of times, and I'm more impressed every time. Then I went onto their MySpace page and learned that it is a 2-piece, Brandon Summers on guitar and vocals, and Benjamin Weikel on drums and keyboards, and that makes it even more impressive. They have a crisp and full sound that is fun to listen to, and it grows on you.

So I hope you check these bands out, and enjoy. And in case you were wondering, I learned about all of these bands through pandora.com, I love that website

Evil Urges + At Mount Zoomer

There were two albums I was really anticipating in the Spring were Evil Urges by My Morning Jacket and At Mount Zoomer by Wolf Parade, and neither one disappointed.

I stumbeled on My Morning Jacket a couple of years ago right after they released their breakout hit Z, and it's been great going through their old stuff. If you haven't listened to them and you are a fan of kick-ass rock, I highly reccommend checking them out. I heard two tracks from Evil Urges on NPR, (Touch Me I'm Going to Scream Part 2, and Evil Urges,) and I was blown away. They were risk-taking, forward thinking, well written and produced, and it got me excited for the full album. But when I got the full album, I was a little let down. Not that is was bad, but it just didn't live up to the level of those two songs. As I listened a couple of times, I warmed up to it more and more, and it turned into a really nice album. There were a couple of songs that I thought were a little off, but with a few listens I started hearing the little things, and understanding the construction of the songs, and it has grown on me. Overall I give the album a solid 8, it is definitely something you should check out.



The other album I was really looking forward to was At Mount Zoomer by Wolf Parade. I liked this one from the very start. Start to finish this is a fun album that I love to listening to whenever I can. They are from Montreal, a music hotbed right now, and feature 2 featured singers who take turns between lead and support, but they complement each other very well. Like their first album, Apologies to the Queen Mary, At Mount Zoomer has nice meoldies and solid song writing, but their sophomore effort shows a new maturity and confidence playing together. This is a great album, and I give it a 9. I reccemend everyone check it out, and I can't wait until they come to town.

A Return

Hello everyone. It's been a long time, but I'm glad to be back. I needed to take an extended hiatus while I got the house situation all squared away, (I never expected selling a house would be THAT involved. I know it would be kinda crazy, but wow.)

I am happy to report that my brother and I sold our house, have gone to closing, and have received our big fat checks. I have not found a new place to buy though. But fear not, I am not homeless, I am living happily in an apartment just a few miles from my work, and it will do for the short term. And the added bonus is that I'm living by myself for the first time, and that's been really cool.

Other than moving (my least favorite thing to do) I've been keeping things low key. I've been playing alot more golf this year, and I'm starting to get to the point where I really enjoy playing and there is not nearly as much cursing involved in my game. About a month ago I got a new putter, and it didn't take me long to learn that I'm pretty good at putting (not "draining 60 foot putts with a Tiger fist pump" good, but maybe someday)

The other thing I've been doing is checking out alot of new music. And that is actually what I would like to be one of the primary focuses of this blog. I will still interject with some social commentary or random thoughts from time to time, but I really like sharing and talking about music, so I would like to use this space for just that.

Torn

This is a big week. Mostly because I want it to go by fast so I can get to the weekend where a Radiohead concert awaits my Sunday.

Their US tour started last night in Florida, and I'm sure there are a ton of YouTube videos up from the show, and I'm dying to know what they are doing with the setup, as they are probably the current kings of on-stage artistry. the last show I saw them play, out in San Diego, they had a bunch of screens setup behind them but they were all weird shapes, like a piece of glass had been dropped and broke into cool shapes. They had cameras all of the stage, on their instruments, on the ground, up in the air, in the audience. It was a very cool sensory explosion.

Work should be busy enough the make the days go by quickly, but not too stressful, plus this is my short week, so after today, I'm halfway through the week. The only thing I have to do is figure out what to get me mum to Mum's Day. I would love to give her a bunch of music, but every time I try to introduce her to something she doesn't like it. I'm just so far removed from the stuff she listens to, I wouldn't even know where to begin. Maybe the new Madonna, I think she likes Madonna.

What kind of music do your moms listen to?

The Four Loves

According to CS Lewis, (and many others) there are four main types of love; affection, friendship, eros, and charity.

Affection is a love largely based out of familiarity and a strong connection with another, much like a family member or very close friend. Affection is a very natural and necessary love. It is incredibly flawed and at the same time powerfully forgiving. And it is in that duality of strength and weakness that the nature of affection is revealed.

Take my parents. They annoy the crap out of me and can get on my nerves like no other. But there are no words to describe how much I love them. It is an inborn feeling of connectedness that will withstand anything. But that is obvious because I came from them. But I share a similar "blind" love with other people in my life, friends that I love without prejudice who's lives are intertwined in amazing ways.

Friendship is kind of like affection light. Rather than being rooted in a near-chemical codependency (and I say that in a very positive way), friendship is about the shared love for an experience, ideal or something of that sort. There again is a duality in this type of love like with affection. This time in that friendship not necessary of emotional survival, yet can be seen as the purest form of love because it is focused on that shared commonality rather than an individual, and is free from the dependence.

I also see this as one of the most common forms of love in that we share it with so many people on so many different levels. In the grandest sense, I take this to be proof that I have no choice but to love everyone in the world, if only because they exist at the same time as I do. When I meet someone, we have a shared experience and my love for them grows. As our lives interact, that love grows, shrinks and morphs into countless derivations. It could one day transform into affection, or our next type of love, eros.

Eros is the act of being in love. While this is commonly thought of in the romantic form, that is not the only characteristic/type of eros. One of the key features of eros love is an appreciation for that which is love without regard for the "return investment" so to speak, basically the love in unaffected by the actions of the beloved.

I've never been in love, so I find it hard to talk about the eros love even though it is independent of typical romantic ties. For whatever reason, my brain ties the two together, and I it becomes difficult for me to recognize and appreciate eros love for what it is. But as I've been witting this, I had a mini epiphany, hopefully good things to come.

The last love according to Lewis is charity. Lewis considers this the greatest love of all because it is the most selfless and the most God-like. Lewis paints a picture of a God that is so full of love that he can't help but give it out in abundance. I think that is a wonderful way to view God as a compassionate giver of love.

To me, I always felt God's love expressed through people. Because God is an intangible thing, the expression of God's love can only be felt through the love of others, through their charitable acts of love. I used to believe that someone's love towards me is a direct act of love by God. Recently I feel each individual is unique and free in their gifts of love. It kind of challenges the idea of free will if God chooses whom to express His love through. Shouldn't it be up to each person to decide to what degree to love someone?

But I stray from the point. The lesson to me is that love is a gift to be shared, and a love shared is a love strengthened.

Love is a complicated expression, and yet it is the purest and most powerful gift we can give. The smallest expression of love can make the biggest impact for someone, and the best thing is there is an abundant supply that will never run out, we can just keep making more.

Blood, sweat and an open house

We had the first day of our open house today, and without an ad, we had 4 people stop by. Not a whole lot, which was a little disappointing, but our agent said the ones who did stop by were serious lookers and not the causal passer-by. One guy was an investor who has several properties that he rents. He just sold one and has to buy another one within 180 days or else he has to pay capitol gains taxes on the income, and this would be perfect for him. He was here for 45 minutes.

So I had be out of the house all day, and instead of going out and playing some golf like I had wanted, I worked with my dad like I should have. My dad has helped my brother and I get everything ready on the house for the past 4 weeks, and he asked if I could help out today and tomorrow with a kitchen he was starting, and of course I couldn't say no.

The past couple of kitchens I've helped my dad with have been fun. There was a time when I just stopped enjoying doing that kind of work, so I stopped working with my dad, plus I was also working hard on my career and trying to have some sort of social life. But hen a few months back when we had not roommate, I had a need for some money so I started working with him again. When I get to work with him without my brother being there, it is actually enjoyable. When my brother is there, he treats me like his personal servant who is there to tend to his every need. There was one time when I was up on a ladder installing a light, he was working on some plumbing and he had the audacity to ask me to hand him a pair of pliers that were right next to him.

He can't accept the fact that I know what I am doing and thinks I am still the little 12 year old who rather play soccer than cut tile on a Saturday.

I did both growing up, it's not like my parent made me choose between my childhood and working in the family business, I got to do both, and I am glad I did.

Anyway, the blood part of the day came when I was installing some recessed lights, and I nicked the top on my finger with the knife somehow, and the damn thing wouldn't stop bleeding. When I get cleaned off (no I haven't taken a shower yet, and boy do I smell awesome!) I'm sure it will be this tiny little nothing, but it was dripping blood for like 15 minutes, I guess it was because I was using my hands a lot.

One more open house tomorrow, and more work with my father (with my brother this time) Hopefully it will be a day filled with more people and less blood

upcoming music

The latest from NPR's show All Songs Considered previews new music coming out this spring. Of particular interest to check out is Elbow, Portishead, Firewater, Shearwater, Wolf Parade and My Morning Jacket.

Going dark for a few days. Final push to get the house ready before the first open house next weekend.

Happy listening!

Sometimes it is a good thing to tattle tale

I normally try to stay out of stranger's lives because I want them to stay out of my life. I believe people should be allowed to do what they want as long as it doesn't endanger someone else. the not harming others is sometimes flexible like driving over the speed limit, or drinking too much and vomiting on someone's shoes. But it is not flexible when it comes to children.

Monday night I was on my way home, and was behind this car at a spot light. The light was about to turn green when in their back seat I saw 2 small children pop up in the back seat and start hoping on the back seat. They were no more than 3 years old and completely unrestrained. In fact, one of the girls jokingly used the seat belt to choke the other girl. My first thought was, "crap, now I'm going to have wait for this parent to get these kids back into their car seats" But no, they just drove on. And it's not like we were stuck in crawling traffic, we were moving at 35mph.

So I called the police yesterday and gave them the story and the person license plate number. The police said they would send a letter, and if they receive any more complaints, they can take action against them.

It just fascinates me that in this country you have to be approved before adopting a dog, yet any old idiot can have a child.

Learning my purpose

When I was just a wee young freshmen at JMU, I randomly decided to go home one weekend. I caught a ride home from someone on the ride board and spent a awkward 2 hours with this a very...unique girl. But I got home on Friday night and got to hang out with my family and see some old friends who were still in the area.

The Saturday night, I decided to go back to see my old friends at Metro 29 Diner where I used to work, and I hung out there till like 4am which was stupid cause the only time I could get a ride back to school was at 9am the next morning. When I got home I feel asleep right away which at the time was a rarity for me. I used to have insomnia problems back then. But I fell asleep quickly that night, and actually slipped into a vivid dream right away.

It was a very long and convoluted dream, but I can still remember it to this day. I was feeling sick one day and went to the doctor. The doctor couldn't figure out what was wrong with me and called all of his doctor friends to come and try to figure out what was wrong. Eventually they figured out that I lymphatic cancer, and I would die. But they couldn't tell me when. In fact they said I probably would live a long life without pain, there was just no way of knowing.

They said I could leave and go on my way and live this unknown life, or there was a new treatment involving cryogenic freezing I could try. I asked about that of course, and here is what they told me. They would take me away to the facilities and I could go into the cryogenic container and be frozen, and I would stay there for all eturnity, never to be unfrozen , never to be cured. Oh, and I would have to make my decision right then, and would not be able to say goodbye to any family or friends.

I said, lets go.

Since the doctors had spent so long diagnosing me, I arrived at the facility half way through the instructions about how to put on the special suit, and remove all jewelry. I was the 9 person in line to be frozen that day, and I watched the first person step into the container, get sealed in, then see it fill up with a liquid. There was a little window on the front of the container to watch the person, and as the first person swam in the liquid before it was frozen, you could see his face blindly happy. As the happy dude waved to the rest of us, the liquid was frozen instantly, and right when it happened, the room we were in went completely silent, and became this white space full of light.

The other people were there, but at the same time I was all alone. Then I heard a voice that said "Kevin, it is not your time to die. You must live. You must love. And you must teach others to love."

I instantly woke up sweating and crying, cold and hot at the same time. But I wasn't scared. For the first time in a while, I felt at peace.

That was when I learned why I am here, why I exist and what I need to do with my life. It began my quest to understand love, and has lead me to believe that love is the meaning of life, the reason we exist, and the source of all joy. And I am a teacher of love.

I've got blisters on me fingers

Been working on my house the past couple of days getting it ready to go on the market sometime soon. Yesterday was was extremely long and exhausting. We pulled out the sliding door that went to the deck and replaced it with french doors. Then we sanded a couple of patches in the ceiling that we fixed a few weeks ago, and to finish off the day, we repainted the ceiling in the living-dining-kitch-hallway room (aka big ass ceiling space) I woke up this morning with jelly for shoulders they were so freakin sore.


The new french doors, freshly painted.

Today was not as stressful. We pulled out the front door and replaced it with a nice energy-efficient one, and I painted the new french doors. Also got a great estimate for the old windows that need to be replaced (also energy efficient) The first company we had come in estimated $5000 for 5 windows, installed. Home Depot came out and estimated $2500 for 6 windows (we found a semi-new one that had been damaged when we remodeled the kitchen) Granted the Home Depot ones are not as high quality, but they have all the bells and whistles of modern-day windows and are energy-efficient, for less than half the price.



The new front door

My dad is coming over again tomorrow, and we are going to knock a few more things off the list like power washing the deck (If you've never power washed anything, I highly recommend it, it is very fun, and a pretty descent workout)

I've been casually looking for houses to buy, and I've narrowed my search down to 4 zip codes, 22302, 22301, 22204, and 22202. They are all in the Arligton/Shirlington/Del Ray area. There are some pretty cool places in my price range that have a lot of great amenities (I feel like using the word amenities makes me feel more adult, but not in a good way, in the "I can't have that beer, I've got a big day tomorrow, you know going to the Home Depot, maybe the Pottery Barn if there's time.." kind of way...crap, I'm becoming domesticated)

Update of the Miscellaneous Type

Hello good people in www land. I wanted to send out a quick update on some stuff that has been going on.

I've only told a few people so far, but I think it has been long enough that I can start to share. I finally quit smoking again! And this is not some half-assed attempt, it's been over 2 weeks already, and I've been feeling pretty good so far, no real cravings at all. I also have taken a hiatus from my good friend and sturdy companion, alcohol for that same time, which has been surprisingly easy as well. I was going to start drinking again after I got through this conference I had to work at for work, but now that I'm past that, I am actually thinking about staying away from the sauce for a little while longer. The past year or so I had been kind of reckless with my drinking, Not that I was getting plastered every weekend or trying to relive my college glory years, there were just some really bad nights, and even worse mornings where I would wake up and think, "what the fuck did I do last night?" I had a couple of nights where I blacked out, and that had never happened even in my glory days.

But fear not my friends. I will come back to the good juice, just hopefully with a little more perspective and wisdom.

The other lifestyle change I made with the new nonsmoking moniker is my diet. I'm back to cooking a lot more, and cutting out preservatives and all that horrible shit they put into processed foods to make it "taste better" and survive a mustard gas attack. (I've been doing some reading on MSG and aspartame, and I'll write on that in a little while)

My last post was a little rant about the wasting of time, and that day was a bad one. I ended up spending 11 hours at that meeting on Sunday, and did a grand total of maybe 2 hours of work. Monday was similar, 14 hours at the meeting, and probably 6 hours of work, a better proportion, but still a whole lot of wasted time.

I had kind of a redeeming day of meetings today. A couple of bad ones, but some good ones, and one really good one. A small group of us spent an hour and had a very productive discussion. I actually left feeling like I learned something. There may be some hope for this job yet...

Last thing I wanted to talk about is the Weather Chanel web page. I was checking the weather for the week the other day, and they had a video on there talking about the arrival of the Aurora Borealis being a sign that Spring is coming in the US. I've always been fascinated with the Aurora Borealis and it is a life goal to experience them in person. Here's a pretty cool video that shows what causes them, and it has some pretty good video of them as well.



I also stumbled on a pretty cool picture that I felt like sharing that shows the earth at night from space. It is a composite picture since the entire earth is not experiencing nighttime at once, but it is pretty cool and scary.



And the last thing abut the weather is a little bit of a rant about DC weather the past couple of weeks. We had better weather, and it is getting warmer, but damn it if the weekends have been kind of shitty, and Monday's have been awesome. And this weekend is no different...



All I want to do is toss some frisbee, can't a hippie get a little love from mother nature one of these weekends?

The true defination of wasting time

So I was asked by our CEO to give a presentation to our board of directors about the membership magazine, which I am the production manager for. He said I have 5 minutes to report on the readership survey we just finished. I thought this would be a good thing, and get myself in front of the big wigs in the association.

So I spent the better part of 20 hours over the last month or so working in this 5 minute, 8 slide presentation. A good portion was spent analyzing data from the readership survey, but then I spent probably 6 hours over several days writing what I was going to say, and having my boss give me revisions that mostly consisted of, "Oh, they don't care about that info" and, "Cut this section down by...well go ahead and cut it completely." I'm all good with that, if they don't want to hear something, then there is no point saying it.

So I'm sitting here at the board meeting, well, actually I'm sitting outside the board meeting because right now they are talking about "important and confidential" stuff. Another coworker who is giving a presentation early in the meeting was just told he is up next, but what they are talking abut now could take an hour. I looked at the schedule, and I should be going up about an hour after him, so that means I am about 2 hours away form giving a 5 minute presentation to a group of people who mostly don't care (and will likely be exhausted by the time I get to speak) and I spent 20 hours preparing.

I'm starting to wonder if the time I spend at my job has any value at all...

At least we have good health benefits

My Celery Has Water

I had one of those moments today where you wonder what am I doing with my life?

I was in a 90 minute webinar (that's a online seminar for those lucky enough not to have heard of/experienced one) about the best way for associations to make the most money from corporate relationships. It took me about 45 seconds to realize the next 89.25 minutes were going to suck, and I was already grumpy from having to scarf down my lunch in under 10 minutes, and tired from the food coma that is post-pesto pasta yumminess. But then my mind started wandering as to what I was achieving by being there? What impact on society would I make by learning the best way to bundle sponsorship opportunities to get the most money out a greedy pharmaceutical corporation? I'm going to go with...none.

Luckily I got a phone call that I didn't actually answer answer, but I still left the room for about 15 minutes and walked around the office doing nothing. Then I ran into someone I didn't want to talk to, so I went back.

At this point the guy was talking about how it was more important to focus energy on companies that can give you large sums of money, "because doesn't it sound easier to manage 5 companies that can donate $1 million that 50 companies that can donate $100,000?" And yeah it does. But I started thinking, what about all those companies that can only spend $100,000, but need the exposure corporate sponsorship affords more than the big boys?

Anyway, I then traveled down a path of thought that lead me to the homogenization of our society, and how we've relinquished control over our free will and our desire to chose what's best for us. I know, it's just more of my bitching about evil Starbucks, and how "big box" stores are killing the mom and pop stores and therefore the fabric of "good" society. But for once I caught myself, and thought back to an episode of Penn&Teller's Bullshit, a really good show on Showtime, yes with that magician guy that never speaks and the other one who never shuts up.

The show looks into things that are bullshit, like the war on drugs, the death penalty as a deterrent, or ESP. The show doesn't take itself too seriously, so I don't either, but taken with a grain of salt, it has some good info (I'm now ok using public toilets for #2 is they are clean) and you get make fun of some fanatical idiots.

Anyway, the last episode I watched was about Wal-Mart haters, and how they are usually full of shit when the say Wal-Mart is bad for communities or an evil corporation. Sometimes they are, but most of the time they bring jobs to areas that need them, and they offer affordable merchandise to people who need it. Sometimes they put the mom and pop shops out of business, but in a lot of places, they were out of business before Wal-Mart came to town. It seems like the natural progression of things lately that these large corporations are increasing their market share. I see that as a potentially bad thing because we become over-reliant and more homogeneous, which leads to a loss of individuality and then creativity and intelligence (a la Idiocracy.)



But I've come to be more optimistic lately...well at least slightly hopeful. My friend Pat mentioned one day that all of this is necessary and part of greater information access which will lead to a renaissance of thought. I hope he's right. But I can guarantee you that it will not happen if the intelligent are stuck in meetings listening to speaker phones drone on about the value difference in offering logos on tote bags vs. keynote speaker sponsorship.

Oh, and here's part 1 of one of my favorite episodes of Penn&Teller's Bullshit

Is anyone else upset that the word Trio has 4 letters?

Was fooling around on You Tube today checking out some videos from a cool band called Elbow (you should check them out) They have a new album coming out soon, and are coming state side for the first time in many a year.

So anyway, I stumbled upon this video of a 4-year old drummer, yeah I said 4. It is a Polish kid named Igor Falecki, and he is 5 now, and appearently has his own jazz trio the Igor Falecki Trio. I've spent the last hour checking out different videos of this kid, he's amazing.

Oh Glorious Friday

What a shitty week.

Glad I got that one behind me, and a good weekend is just about to begin.

I wanted to share with you all one of the best places to hear new music. It is a little show called All Songs Considered on NPR. I stumbled on this one day about 2 years ago when my friend Caro gave me a bunch of new tunes to check out. I was liking one, and did a search on the ol' google, and they had recently been featured. I think I spent 4 hours a day that first week listening to the old archives, it's a good site.

Have a good weekend.
kg

Really?

Yeah really.

I have been a neglectful writer lately. Not much to talk about really, been more in a live it phase rather than a talk about it phase. But I am entering a period where I need to keep mind occupied and writing is a fun way to pass time.

In my past month of living, I've done some cool things, learned some stuff. Had a real strong coincidence occur. Randomly thought about someone I hadn't seen or thought about in over a year, then the next day our paths crossed for a seemingly inconsequential moment, but yet it had a very poignant effect on my thoughts at that time.

I'm going to sign off for tonight. I will be posting more again for the foreseeable future, I can't promise everyday, but as much as I can.

I leave you know with a couple of cool things I have seen recently. Peace

Awesome Thom Yorke interview on NPR

Orange you glad I didn't say banana

So not much to talk about today. Had the day off from work, and took that time to have a couple of doctors appointments. Got my eyes checked, and as much as I like the doctor as a person, I hate going to the eye doctor. Even now typing about it, my eyes are getting sensitive. But somehow I did not get any more blind over the past 2 years, amazing. I also went to the regular doc blah blah blah.

The only thing I got on my mind these days (at least that I'm willing to write about right now) is moving. With Bryan going to NC for a couple of months sometime in February, we may be selling the house sooner than expected, and I'm excited about that.

I've also been watching a bunch of Wizards games lately, and how bout those 2 wins over Boston? This team is going to be a force for a few years to come. They may not make huge waves this year, but they have a chance to at least get to the second round, depending on match ups. But the young talent they have growing right now, coupled with the vets just getting into their prime gives me good hope for the future of this team. So in a couple of years, we will have a dominate football team (with JC at the helm) and a dominant basketball team (with Agent Zero and Tough Juice leading the way)

Long Time/B-day Wrap-up

Hello all,
It has been a while since I last posted, and my only excuse is that "I have been busy" which is a lame-ass excuse. But since my last post, I have turned another year older. Really, I've just aged a few days, but I am now in my last year of my 20's, oooo scary.

So a quick recap of the weekend festivities. Went out with a bunch of people on Saturday night to a bar in Falls Church, Dogfish Head Alehouse. It is a cool place, with great beer. But they close at midnight, on a Saturday what the hell is up with that? So a couple of people missed out and that sucks. But I still had an awesome time, and I think everyone else did as well.

Here is a video of my friend Dave entertaining us with his crazy parlor tricks:



After the bar closed, I went back to my friend Jason's place with a couple of people, and we drank more and played some music. I learned that I am a kick-ass tambourine player, and that a tambourine blister looks similar to another type of blister.

I didn't have a dreadful hangover, but I wasn't feeling chipper by any stretch of the word. So I hung out and watched the NFL playoffs on Sunday.

Sunday night though I celebrated mine and my fathers b-day (Jan 17) with the fam at Flemings (we are so predictable). and while I normally would not have drank at that event, we did a vertical tasting of Joseph Phelps Insignia, one of the best wines in the world. We had 6 bottles between 6 of us...and moms didn't drink much.

Well they are starting the office b-day extravaganza since we have 3 b-days in our department this week, so I'm off for more food.

Peace

Me no like getting colds

Well happy new year to you all. So far it has not been the best year, I started the whole thing with a mild hangover that decided to morph into a cold, that cheeky bastard. So I've been sleeping, drinking OJ, and destroying a bag of Cold-eze the past couple of days, but I think I'm almost out of the woods. Good byproduct though has been my desire to smoke has been declining, so if this is the time for me to quit, it may be a little easier.

I was talking with a friend about music the other day, and she was asking how I can listen to as much as I do (I listen to about 5 albums a day) and we got into a discussion about where to listen to music. I have the "pleasure" of living in DC, so my commute is about 45 minutes each way, that's two albums right there, then I have music playing when I am at my desk (between the endless meetings) But she does not have these opportunities, and was looking for other ways/places to listen.

Where/how do you all listen to music?

Also, if you checked out the post a couple of weeks back where I posted the videos of RPM/Panacea, and liked what you heard, they have a show this Saturday at IOTA. Come check them out, I'll buy you a drink.
-Peace