Read This Blog

My New Blog...

2004-09-24T17:56:00.000-05:00

Can be found here. It's the lighter side of sports and life. Stop by... enjoy.

New Sports Blog is on the Way

2004-09-11T12:03:00.000-05:00

WOOHOO! Exciting stuff.

Not really, but I love football season so I want to write about it. I'll post the URL here once it gets rolling.

So, summer has come to an end. Schools are back in session, and my petitioning to move the schools and bus routes away from my work route didn't work. But I'll be back strong in 2005.

Hope your summer was a good one.

On a music note, Interpol is touring this fall/winter to promote their new cd, "Antics". Deftones are doing a small venue tour! This is phenomenal news, because they are one of the best club bands. ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of the Dead has a new cd coming! They've been done with it since this summer, but their label is releasing it in January so it doesn't get swept under the rug by bigger releases from more mainstream (read: less talented) bands/artists. Oh, and Muse... can't forget them. It's going to be a great end to 2004. See you on the other side.

-Tom

Time In

2004-08-25T14:33:00.000-05:00

Famous Canadian mountain climber dies after falling out of a tree while trying to rescue a cat. Further proof that cats are evil and should not be kept as pets. I'm just sayin' ...

Here's something that bothers me: People who can't pronounce nuclear correctly. Mr. President, I'm looking at you. Now quit yelling KA-BLAMMO! every time we drop a bomb.

German waiter fired from bar for drinking up to 100 bottles of free beer every day with friends. German waiter admits to it, sues bar and wins. Better hurry up and spend that settlement while you still have a liver.

Rodney Dangerfield still hilarious even at age 82. When asked how long he'd be in the hospital after getting heart valve replacement surgery he said, "If things go right, I'll be here about a week. If things don't do right, I'll be here about an hour and a half."

Own a gas station? Thinking about doing the right thing and lowering prices? Think again. No respect, I tells ya. Oh wait, that belonged up there.

Time Out

2004-08-25T13:42:00.000-05:00

Usually I write some random bullshit on here about sports, movies, news, or the occassional ghost siting. Maybe it's entertaining to someone other than myself now and then.

But I have to break away from all that for a minute and be serious.

I've been living with my girlfriend for almost a year and I have to say, it's been the best year of my life. She's funny, smart, hot, mad cool, and she knows me better than anyone else. Even when I screw up, and I can do that a lot, she manages to find the positive side and deal while taking care of her own stuff.

You make me a better person for knowing you, and you always challenge me to go after what I want until I achieve it.

So thank you, Kati. I love you.

Aha

2004-08-20T16:58:00.000-05:00

And I'm not asking you to take me on or take on meeeee.

I like that slick little Blog bar at the top. It's much better than some shitty google ads having nothing to do with what I write about. For the longest time there were ads for the friggin' Olsen twins. Plus, you can see my full graphic now.

I'm officially a sports nerd. I'm excited about preseason football games. Minnesota Vikings against Mike Vick and the Falcons tonight. I think the over/under on another Vick injury due to scrambling is week 4 when they play at Carolina. You just know the front four is going to put a serious hit on him.

OK, some more music talk. Head Automatica's cd "Decadence" is officially the cd to get. If you like music you can dance to, you'll love it. You can even visit their official website and listen to three songs in full. Just click the link and enjoy. The best song, Beating Heart Baby, was omitted from the media player. That's a shame. I saw these guys open up Curiosa Festival and they were the best opening band I've ever seen. I probably said this in my other post, but I can be arsed to go back and check.

I think that if you are an ADD child, my posts must be perfect for you. I don't know anyone else who jumps topics as much or with as little regard for smooth transition as me. We all need to excel at something, I guess.

In other news, D'OH! A member of John Kerry's legal team got busted for trying to have some illegal fun. It could be worse ... he could be President Bush.

I wish I had a link for this next freakish story. Check this shit out. First, some guy was perched in a tree and pleasuring himself while he watched a 5 year old girl sleep in her bed. Then, someone from that apartment noticed. The girl's mother, girl's sister, their boyfriends, and a male friend all ran outside and went after the guy. They had beaten him for an hour and sexually assaulted him with a tree branch by the time the police arrived on scene. Oh, and it was all caught on videotape. So now the pervert in the tree might die, and if he does, the five people are going to be brought up on murder charges. Even if he doesn't die they face charges for the beatings and sexual assault. Go figure ... if everyone got convicted for what they did, the guy whacking it up in a tree gets the least jail time.

I can't even top that, so this post ends right here.

I'm Alive

2004-08-17T14:41:00.000-05:00

It's been a slow period of writing for me, though.

Last week I went to the Curiosa Festival and saw some amazing bands including Interpol, Mogwai, Muse, Head Automatica, and Cooper Temple Clause. Lucky I went when I did because the bass player of Muse broke his wrist later in the week. I've heard they'll be doing their own fall tour, though. The Secret Machines are rumored to be opening. Good stuff.

I also watched The Village. If you were disappointed, chances are it's because you built yourself up to be let down. It was a great movie. It's like this, people. You can shear a sheep many times but skin him only once. M. Night just blew everyone away with The Sixth Sense, but he cannot do it again. Don't look for another The Sixth Sense. Just appreciate what he does. That said, go out and see it again. Now. You just going to sit there and let a crapfest like Alien Vs. Predator dominate the box office?

Anyways, Team USA lost to the Puerto Ricans. [Insert joke about the PR's "stealing" a victory]. Heh. I say good. American basketball players are selfish and have no concept about winning as a team. Redundant? Sure, but it's true. I hope they lose out the rest of the way.

I have to backtrack a little and talk about music again. The new Interpol cd is brilliant. It isn't out yet, but you know how to find it. Do so, and then purchase it in September. I just wish I had gotten into them a little sooner before they became the toast of Indie Town. And yes, I know that sentence was queer. Told you it was a slow writing period for me.

We Lost to the Tigers

2004-08-07T05:49:00.000-05:00

That I keep watching at all should be a testament to my loyalty. A Red Sox fan's summer is dictated by how the team is doing. That should explain why I've been casually wandering to nowhere and muttering nonsense.

"I learned it from you, alright? I learned it from watching you!"

Remember that commercial, where the angry mustached father confronts his young teenage son about drug use and then looks away in shame when he gets the answer? I'm that kid. The Red Sox are my dad, asking how I could lose heart so quickly. I see a lot of things wrong with this team, and I'm looking at the coaches first, players second. What is Dale Sveum thinking? Is he thinking? Dale Sveum is the third base coach, and I know it's probably improper etiquette to ask so many rhetorical questions, but I've already done enough yelling at the TV lately to convince my girlfriend I've lost my mind. This guy might be worse than Wendel Kim. There are a couple recent examples that come to mind.

A couple nights ago, Dave Roberts was sent in as a pinch runner in the 9th inning after (I think it was) Millar singled to lead things off. I was psyched. Roberts can fly around the bases and he has a great knack for knowing when to steal. Either the third or fourth pitch into the count, Baez threw a breaking ball in the dirt. Hall did a good job blocking it, but Roberts took second base without hesitation. I couldn't believe it. A runner on second with no outs. If you look up the odds -- wait, odds don't count when it's the Red Sox. It's a shallow line drive single up the middle. Roberts should advance to third and then the Devil Rays might intentionally walk the next guy to load them up. I'm not sure if I yelled anything as this next event happened because I went into blackout mode shortly after. Dale Sveum waved Roberts around third and sent him home. Can't we get mulligans in baseball, please? Baldelli, who has a great arm anyway, made a strong throw and Roberts never stood a chance. He was tagged out and the Red Sox just gave up after that. They lost 5-4 to Tampa. Did I mention he was thrown out at home when there were no outs?

Here's the real kick in Red Sox Nation's collective groin. Sveum was asked what he was thinking when he made that decision (thank God I wasn't the only one). He said that Baldelli didn't have a good arm and that he'd make the same decision again if he had to. I'm having flashbacks. Grady Little, anyone? That we didn't load Dale Sveum into a catapult right then and there and launch him into Boston Harbor is a disservice to Sox fans everywhere.
My second example of Sveum's incompetence is from last night. I knew things would be tough when Derek Lowe took the mound. I knew things would be tougher when Damon was caught stealing in the first inning before he even got halfway to second base. Despite the Red Sox having a 1-0 lead at the time, I knew it was over when this next thing happened. It was the 4th inning. Varitek had tripled to Center and been singled home by Millar with 1 out. Mientkiewicz reached on a fielder's choice so now he's on first with 2 outs. Bill Mueller hits a solid liner toward the left field corner and Mientkiewicz rounds second, headed to third. He starts to slow down a little but then accelerates again because Sveum is waving him home. Am I the crazy one here? Unless it was Damon or Roberts, the guy didn't stand a chance of scoring. Mientkiewicz has probably run from 1st to home three times in his whole career. He got halfway there and hit the wall like he just reached Heartbreak Hill in the Boston Marathon. Thrown out by a mile.

"I don't think it is bad luck; we've just had a lot of games where we have been one run worse than the other team," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "We need to find a way to be one run better."

I might have a suggestion or two, Terry.

It's not just Sveum's fault. The Red Sox find new and interesting ways to lose close games or blow leads against teams they should be routinely beating by 2 or more runs. For their sake and for my sanity, I hope they are using the old Ali Rope-A-Dope strategy to lull the opposition into a false sense of security, because I'm not sure I'll be able to handle August if they keep losing to Detroit and Tampa while the Rangers and Yankees expand their leads.

It's 7:20 AM. I need a drink.

Dropkick Me Jesus Through the Goal Post of Life

2004-08-05T14:00:00.000-05:00

So I have preseason tickets to the Patriots. No, no. Don't all applaud at once. A ticket agency near my work sold them to me at face value, so my girlfriend and I will be sitting 14 rows from the field and watching a good first half of football. Then the back up players will probably play the entire second half.

I write this for a reason, you know. I really think I could become the Punter for the New England Patriots. I watched Ken Walter in action. I can kick it more than 10 yards to my left. Put me in padding and send a couple 200 pound guys running at me full speed and it's a different story. But I'm willing to risk it.

So anyone know how I can walk into training camp and get the job? No bullshit, either. I can probably punt close to 40 yards. I'd love this job. Hang out with the Patriots, make the league minimum of $100,000+ per year (at least) and trot on the field to kick the ball once in a while. Are you serious? Sign me up. I didn't even mention the travelling aspect of it. And it's the shortest season. I get to leave New England for a few weeks during the winter and stay in luxury hotels.

This is only in case my career choices of rock star, copywriter, pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, and astronaut fall through. Because you have to have a fall back plan. That's just common sense.

#5

2004-08-03T15:27:00.000-05:00

Nomar. Traded.

I'm wearing the same face I wore the day after Game 7 of the ALCS. It's the "I can't believe that fucking happened" face. I said he had to go. I said I didn't care. Now that he's gone, I want him back. I sound like an ex-girlfriend. I'm only remembering the good times. My friends can't talk sense into me. So they let me be. I'll get over it, they say.

How did it come to this?

Was it the reporters? Was it the sports talk shows? Was it the fans and I?

Things just snowballed so quickly that this became our only option. Cabrera is a good player. I'm not sold on Doug Mientkiwiecz or however the hell you spell his name. And my friends want reassurance. Sorry. Can't do it.

We were sitting on a ticking timebomb that was scheduled to detonate at 4 p.m on Saturday. We cut the right wire, stopping the timer at :00:01 but we didn't get the movie ending.

Nomar had to go, though. No way around it. He was miserable. He was making everyone around him miserable. You can't have that in a club house. It spreads to everyone eventually.

Still, I'm going to miss the ocean of #5 jerseys in the crowd. I'll miss the No-MAAAH! yells. No one got a standing ovation like Nomar. No one was loved more.

Where did it all go wrong?

One thing fucked it all up. The same thing that always fucks things up: Money.

Bye, Nomar. Good luck.

Poop Talk

2004-08-03T15:18:00.000-05:00

Alternate Title: In which my writing indeed hits rock bottom.

Anyways, I was in the bathroom at work washing my hands when I heard a toilet flush inside one of the stalls. Right away I could tell the guy was going to make a clean break for the door until he saw me at the sink. So he goes to the sink and kind of glances over once before running his hands under the water. But as soon as I leave, which was just a couple seconds later, the water stops running. I wanted to run back in and exclaim, "CAUGHT YA!" But I felt that would be a little odd.

For serious, I would have had more respect for him if he did just walk right out of there like it was nothing. Or if he turned and was like, "That's right. I just took the best dump of my life and now I'm going back to my desk with these doodie hands because I can."

Just don't shake my hand. And don't pretend. That's all I ask.

PDA

2004-07-30T10:05:00.000-05:00

I'm not a big critic of PDA's. If you're in love, why not kiss when you get the impulse? Most of the time it's teenagers making out at the mall or old gross people making out on the dance floor while some cover band goes through their top 40 of the 80's and 90's set list.

But today I saw two people holding hands walking down the hall at work and snuggling up as they walked, and then they kissed each other on the lips. You can do what you want, but if the wrong (or right, depending on how you look at it) person sees it, you might as well put a "Dead End" sign at the beginning of your career path. I guess I'm just wondering the mentality it takes to do that in a professional office environment.

Best not to wonder, I suppose.

Here are some lyrics from Interpol's song "PDA". You should listen to this band because they are amazing.

Yours is the only version of my desertion that I could ever subscribe to
That is all that I can do
You are a past dinner, the last winner, I'm raping all around me
Until the last drop is behind you
But you're so cute when you're frustrated, dear
Yeah, you're so cute when you're sedated, oh dear

...

But you cannot safely say that while I will be away, you will not consider sadly
How you helped me to stray
And you will not reach me I am resenting a position that's past resentment and now
I can't consider, and now there is this distance, so...

Good stuff.

Busy

2004-07-28T08:52:00.000-05:00

I'll still be posting a bit here and there, but I'll be focusing more on ...

Writing a book
Looking for freelance writing jobs online
Looking into becoming a copywriter
Looking into possible college courses I could take
Working 40 hours at my regular job
Balancing everything so no one gets neglected.

If anyone has any suggestions as far as how to go about looking for freelance work online, it'd be appreciated. I found a couple sites that have job postings, but it seems the better sites make you pay to register there.

I did apply for this one job that looks awesome, but I won't get my hopes up. It's an online Sports Mag looking for writers, and they promise to pay about $1000 per month. So why not apply? Writing about baseball and football comes easily to me, much more so than fiction.

My girlfriend bought us a pair of tickets to see The Killers play in Rhode Island. Tickets were $5.95 each, but wouldn't you know it? Total cost ended up being close to $20. Thank you, TicketMaster. Of all the rapists released back onto the streets, you are the worst.

I'm thinking about recreating my sports site so I can post a rant here and there. And that's about it.

Untitled

2004-07-26T12:59:00.000-05:00

My writing here will not be as frequent because lately I have had some good ideas for stories and I want to focus on fleshing them out. Writing things for this blog just gets in the way.

If you are looking to check out some music, the following bands might interest you: Stellastarr*, The Walkmen, Air (Air does the song that you hear on the Nissan commercial for one of their SUVs), Slipknot ("Duality" is an excellent song), The Movielife, and The Secret Machines.

That's all I have for now.

Strange Happenings

2004-07-23T12:17:00.000-05:00

The more I think about it, the more I realize I have experienced a lot of strange things that could potentially do with the afterlife. Here is a brief list. It will probably not be in chronological order because these events are just now waking up from their long slumber and staggering slowly out of the dark and into the front of my mind.

My mother used to collect clowns when I was younger. She had sold or gotten rid of them them by the time I was a teenager, but there was one clown she owned for a couple years that made me scared to get up in the middle of the night. It started when I was 8 years old. Picture using an empty container of ALL laundry detergent as the torso. The head of the clown was attached to a stick that was inside the container. The arms and legs were sewn on its outfit. The outfit was bright red, and yellow pom pom buttons went down the middle of the torso. The face was stark white. The eyes, a permanent wide eyed gaze. It had almost no nose, and the mouth was frozen in an expression of dark pleasure. It looked like it was happy because it had hurt someone. My bedroom was at the top of the stairs, to the right. Standing at the top of the stairs, you could look down into my living room. The clown sat on the fireplace in the living room, looking straight ahead at the kitchen. As a typical 8 year old, I probably got up once per night to use the bathroom and get a drink. At first, everything was fine. Then, one night, I got out of bed and couldn't move ay further. My door was shut. Something was telling me not to open it. Something was telling me I would not like what was on the other side. I remember feeling cold even though it was August. I opened the door slowly, only keeping one eye open as if not being able to see the monster waiting to take me would be the only thing that saved me. Nothing was there. Still cautious, I approached the top of the stairs and turned on the hall light which was bright enough to also throw light across most of the living room. The clown turned its head and looked up at me, only the eyes were narrow. For a second, I stood bolt upright, not even breathing. Then I did what any kid would do. I sprinted back into my bed, dove under the covers, and pulled them over me as tight as I could. This happened at least once per week for an entire year. I would only run to the upstairs bathroom and then run back into bed to hide from the monster. I never said a word to my parents, and I was so relieved when one day I came home from school and my mother had taken all of her clowns off the fireplace.

I used to have a life-size Reggie Lewis poster on my wall. There was a tape measure that you could use to see how close you came to the 6'7" Lewis. The poster was from the "Got Milk" campaign. It was behind my bedroom door, and remained mostly hidden when the door was left open. On July 27th, 1993, Reggie Lewis tragically died from a heart ailment while playing basketball at Brandeis University. He was 27 years old. I couldn't believe the news when I heard it. He was second only to Larry Bird when it came to my favorite Celtics players. About a week after his funeral, I was sitting at my computer desk with my back turned to the poster. My door was closed. I was listening to headphones and playing a game. One song ended and the next had not yet started when a voice clearly said "HEY". My parents were both at work because it was summer. I turned around. Instead of Reggie's eyes blankly staring at the wall, 79 inches off the floor, they were looking down and to the right, directly at me. I jumped out of my chair and ran out of my room, and out of my house. My heart has never beaten harder. I couldn't get it to slow down, but I wasn't short of breath. Immediately I thought of Lewis' heart condition. An hour later, everything was normal. I took the poster down and threw it away.

As I said, this will not be in chronological order. When I was 7 or 8 years old, my grandmother on my father's side passed away. She had multiple brain tumors and spent her last days at home on so much medication that she finally felt no pain. Her 3 sons and 3 daughters were bedside next to her husband when she exhaled her last. To this day, a few of her children swear that smoke appeared over her bed in the shape of a crucifix. Her name was Theresa MacDonald. My only memories of her are her giving me candy and joking about getting a new haircut after she went bald from chemotherapy. I was at the house, in the living room, when she died. I remember everyone coming out of the bedroom looking pale and being very quiet. The silence was broken when her youngest son told everyone what he saw. Others agreed.

My mother keeps a black and white photograph of her mom on the side of the refrigerator. The picture was from her mom's high school yearbook. In this photo she wears a slight smile on her face, her eyes almost looking through the camera at something behind it. Growing up at home over the years I noticed the expression on her face change. Some days the smile was more pronounced, and other days she was not smiling at all. A larger picture of my grandmother is at the top of the stairs on a book case. It is also from the high school yearbook. The facial expressions on both pictures are always the same.

My best friend from high school moved out to Oklahoma after we graduated in May. At the end of July I flew out there to spend a week with him. He had this awesome dog named Titus. The dog loved it when you put a blanket over him. He'd bark and run around in circles and then sit at your side and wait to play again as soon as you took the blanket off of him. When they moved to the new house, the number of bedrooms shrank from 4 to 2, but they were twice the size. So my friend has his queen sized bed on one side of the room and I'm sleeping on the guest bed on the other side. During the night my friend must have thrown his comforter on the floor. We both woke up to barks, and the blanket was moving around, a lot. He sighed and got out of bed. When he picked up the blanket, the dog wasn't under it. Nothing was. We both went to check on the dog. He was sleeping on the rug in front of the couch in the living room, content as can be. We both stayed up the rest of the night.

That's all I can think of right now, but I have a feeling. Something else is lying dormant. I'll figure out what it is and write it down.

I Hear Dead People

2004-07-23T09:18:00.000-05:00

I already wrote about what happened while I was sitting at the computer.

Yesterday, I was in the shower when I heard a knock on the door. It was three distinct knocks. Not too loud. The way you'd knock on the front door to someone's house to let them know you were there.

Me: What?
[No reply]

I probably didn't hear anything because my head was under the water. I wrote it off and figured my girlfriend decided to wait until I came out. When I came out, I asked her why she knocked on the door.

Her: I didn't knock.
Me: No?
Her: No, I've been sitting here the whole time.

I used to get a little creeped out about this stuff, but lately it has me curious. Just who is doing this, and why?

Lunch of the Living Dead

2004-07-22T11:50:00.000-05:00

Today I ate lunch at Barry's Deli. It's the only place I know of in this city where the owner works behind the counter and makes it a point to know all of his customers by name. As a result, they do excellent business. A lot of professionals eat there, and so do the townies. I ordered my lunch: a grilled cheese and tomato on wheat with a small side of mac&cheese. That small side turned out to be a meal in itself, but I digress. What happens, and I love this, is you order at the counter and then sit down to read or talk, and someone brings your food to you.

As I took my seat in the middle of the place, I noticed something was different from all the other times I'd eaten there. No one was within 40 years of my age. Normally I'd see a table or two of elderly people and the rest would be faces I recognized from work, or facsimiles of those non-descript professionals I vaguely knew of. I was the vibrant life that they wanted to crowd around. I felt many pairs of eyes fall on me for a moment, and then one by one they looked away.

As I was sitting there waiting for my food, I couldn't help but listen to the conversation at the table to my left. It was between a married couple who were probably in their 70's, and their friend who looked to be about the same age. She had finished most of a salad, but he had a huge plate of mac&cheese that had barely been picked at. Their friend was drinking coffee.

Wife: You didn't eat much.
Husband: I'm not much of an eater.
[pause]
Husband: Larry got out of the hospital.
Wife: I didn't know he went in.
Husband: I told you about it. He went to the doctor because his stomach was getting bigger and it was a tumor. I mean this was a tumor. Jesus Christ. It was the size of a watermelon.
The Friend: Who is Larry?
Husband: I've never seen a tumor that big.
The Friend: Who is Larry?
Wife: Aren't you lactose intolerant, dear?
Husband: No I'm not lactose intolerant, for chrissake. That's my brother, Bill.
Wife: Are you sure?
Husband: You don't think I'd know if I was lactose intolerant?
The Friend: Who is Bill?!

Larry David, Jerry Stiller, and Edith Bunker have nothing on these people.

Some Nights

2004-07-19T10:25:00.000-05:00

I won't be able to sleep. Instead of keeping my eyes closed and waiting for it to envelope me once more, I'll get up and go on the computer to find new music or check baseball scores. It's probably a bad thing to do. Looking at a white computer screen in the dark is akin to staring at the sun. Then it takes twice as long to fall into a deep sleep for the remainder of the night. But lately, that's not the only reason why it is a bad idea.

Scientists are trying to prove that we do in fact possess a sixth sense, the ability to know and feel when we are being watched. I've always been in tune with that ability. It used to be I could tell when my dog walked into my room even if he didn't make any noise. I think animals make my sixth sense accute. I think ghosts do, too.

The feeling doesn't creep up on me. "Look to your left." It's like a dormant part of my brain awakens just for a moment to send me a message to the active part of my brain that is otherwise preoccupied. He's probably about seven or eight years old. Pale, medium brown hair shaped by a traditional kids bowl cut, a kids polo shirt -- you know, one with a little dinosaur or alligator on it. He's absolutely still, but his presence is heavy. I've been scared by ghosts before, but he doesn't scare me. He looks curious to see what I'm up to, and relieved that he's not the only one awake at this hour. This happened to me around 2 in the morning yesterday.

I told my girlfriend last night. It was the first time in a while that we had just talked for a long time without the television going or any other distractions in the background. I was sitting on the couch in the living room and she was sitting on the rug while resting her chin on my knee. I could tell something was wrong as I was describing it. She's had some experiences involving ghosts and she's not quick to get spooked about them. All I told her was I was sitting at the computer and lately I've had this powerful feeling that there is a little kid to my left, staring at me.

Her: Is it a boy or a girl?
Me: Boy.
Her: Around seven or eight years old?
Me: Yeah, with brown hair.
Her: A bowl cut?
Me: Yeah.

So told me about a dream she had. In her dream, she woke up in bed to find all the blankets bunched up on one side of the bed. When she moved them, there he was. In her dream, she remembered that his skin was so white, but around his eyes and lips it was dark. He had suffocated somehow.

I'm sitting on the couch, listening. My right leg is on the floor. My left leg rests on the oversized Ottoman. As she's telling me the story, my left leg gets extremley cold while my right one stays warm. My sixth sense is telling me that he is sitting on the Ottoman, listening. After she finishes, we're both quiet for a few moments. I look over my right shoulder at the outside of our bedroom, the place where I saw the boy. Of course there's nothing there, but I do it a couple more times before changing the subject. At this point, my left leg goes back to being warm.

In Which I Discuss Music

2004-07-18T18:08:00.000-05:00

I picked up two new cd's today ... The Secret Machines and Iron and Wine. The first reminds me of The Flaming Lips because of the quirky song concepts. The drums are the backbone in this group. They have great beats backing each song along with heavy, fuzzy bass lines. They have some interesting, paranoia laden lyrics like ... "Somewhere there's a record of your whereabouts/ Everywhere you go you leave a trace.../ The light's ON/ We don't know just who our friends are." All in all, it's a nice break from the garage revival that I've been playing constantly.

Iron and Wine is essentially one man, Samuel Beam. His vocals are soft, almost whisper soft. They are sung over the strumming of an acoustic guitar, a slide guitar in the background, and the occasional banjo. Again, another nice break from Franz Ferdinand, The Killers, The Strokes, etc. His songs make you want to find out what his musical background is. I'm not sure how many artists I can say that about, but if I start counting I probably won't need more than five fingers.

I toyed with the idea of buying Coheed and Cambria's In Keeping Secrets of Earth Silent: 3. I couldn't. Not with the other two cd's in my hand. I believe their first single was "Devil in New Jersey" from the album Second Stage Turbine Blade. It's like Jimmy Eat World with Geddy Lee as the frontman. But I don't say that like it's a bad thing. Then I heard their new single, "A Favor House Atlantic" with my back to the television. Three things crossed my mind.

Sounds like a record being played on the wrong speed
What the hell have The Mars Volta gone and done?
Wait, it's Coheed and Cambria. I guess he went through with his castration.

I'll have to listen to some other songs first, but this one lacked the edge that drew me to them in the first place.

When I walked inside the cd store they were playing "Absolution" by Muse which made me really happy. This band put out a solid first album and got blasted for trying to be Radiohead. But this was when OK Computer was everywhere, and Muse is also from England. It's understandable. Then they released "Origin of Symmetry" which really is a masterpiece. It got no exposure in the United States. A shame, really. If they had recorded and released it this year, it would be bigger than "Absolution". Bellamy is very gifted. He's one of the best singers today, an excellent guitarist, and an excellent piano player. I snicker if I see pianist. The third album is as close to perfect as the band will get. It's refined, powerful, and melodic all at the same time. I would recommend them to anyone who is a fan of good music. If you want to get a broad view of their work, here are some songs: "Muscle Museum", "New Born", "Plug In Baby", "The Small Print", and "Butterflies and Hurricanes".

There are a few more bands I feel are getting cheated when it comes to exposure. Starsailor, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Libertines, and Queens of the Stone Age. These bands don't get played for various reasons, but they are all excellent. The Libertines are right at the forefront when it comes to garage revival. BRMC, too. Queens started their own genre, "desert rock". Josh Homme is a genius.

It's funny. Even when I was as old as 20, I had about 8 bands that I liked ...

Tool, Rage Against the Machine, System of a Down, 311, Deftones, Incubus, and a couple more angst ridden bands that escape me.

I never expected this. It's nice too see how much I've grown overall in the last four years.

If you're looking to try some new music, Sub Pop is a good record label. I'd go with the bands Postal Service and Sunny Day Real Estate to get a feel for who they sign.

Drive Thru Records signs some good "Emocore" bands. I personally like Finch, Something Corporate, Home Grown, and The Early November. "Emocore" was created to describe bands that sounded like Emo with a touch of Hardcore. Regular Emo would be a band like Thursday. I wasn't a fan of their newest release, but Full Collapse is excellent. Definitely check that out.

For more "Indie" type music I have some links on the side. Pitchfork is a good source. NME.com will give you more mainstream bands, but they are based in England so it's a good place to go because you'll find a lot of things that haven't gotten radio play here yet.

And that, as they say, is that.

Quick Takes

2004-07-17T04:00:00.000-05:00

1. I'm noticing a trend on the internet. One person creates a site that is entertaining and garners a lot of traffic, and many people create clone sites in an attempt to ride the tail of the comet, so to speak. It doesn't work. Sites are like VHS tapes. You can't enjoy a copy of a copy of a copy. You need the original.

2. I call myself a realist, but in reality I'm a cynic. I like reading Red Sox fan sites. I wish I could be a fan like the people who post there. They are so blindly loyal. To a fault, even. I can't be that way. However, their lack of baseball knowledge beyond the Metro Boston area is comforting, like a heavy blanket during a thunderstorm.

3. Just once, I'd like to be able to go through a day without getting annoyed by something trivial. It's a long work in progress.

4. Martha Stewart got 5 months. I'm not really against insider trading, per se. I'm against Martha Stewart.

5. A lot of people tell me I'd make a good salesperson, but I think I'd be terrible at it. Now I'm curious to know who is right.

6. I'm glad I gave I Love The 90's a chance (thank you, Kati). While the first few years didn't entertain me that much, the second half had some very funny stuff.

7. I can't tell you why, but if I am channel surfing and come across billiards or The World Series of Poker, I have to watch.

8. Armageddon and Old Yeller didn't make me cry, but Field of Dreams and A League of Their Own did. Read that twice.

9. I'll be getting my own domain name soon just to spite the annoying ads at the top.

10. I don't have a number 10. In fact, I felt this should have ended at 8, but I didn't want to go out as a crier.

He Won The Battle But He's Losing The War

2004-07-14T18:26:00.000-05:00

My manager with the insatiable thirst for marriage, Kevin, can enjoy a small victory. Instead of renting the uber expensive reception hall with floor to ceiling windows overlooking the beach, he'll be renting a middle of the road reception hall without a view for half the price. And I say good for him. I know he was pushing the marriage issue, but his fiancee took the ball and ran with it. Then, while he was lying prone on the ground, she spiked it on his manhood and went into the Icky Shuffle in the end zone.

In short, she wants the best of everything for this wedding: 300+ guests, three meal choices, open bar, a live band (probably Nelson, knowing her awful taste in music), The Beantown Trolley to shuttle guests from the church to the reception hall (the trolley cost alone is a couple thousand dollars), and two dessert choices. Oh, and did I mention she wants the honeymoon to be a week in Hawaii. Well, she does.

"I'm not saying he shoulda killed the bitch... but I understand."

I wonder if anyone has broken the news to her. She isn't dating a rich guy. Neither of their families can contribute. Poor bastard.

His guest list is 80 people. That means this girl is inviting over 220 people. He showed me the list, too. Some of the invites are going to people she graduated high school with. People who she hasn't talked to since graduation. I didn't ask how or why she obtained their address(es). But the music from Psycho was softly playing in my head.

On the one hand, I feel bad for him. On the other, I tell myself he dug his own hole.

And then there's this. 300+ people going and I'm not one of them? Fuckers.

I know he invited me and she shot it down. He told me this much. She still hates me for owning her in an argument about towns in South Shore Massachusetts and embarrassing her in front of people she used to work with.

So celebrate now, Kevin. Just get ready to fight the next battle: no open bar and one meal choice.

Me - New Look

2004-07-14T14:53:00.000-05:00

I took a personality test that was posted on his Blog. Here are the results:

Wackiness: 62/100
Rationality: 66/100
Constructiveness: 76/100
Leadership: 44/100

You are a WRCF--Wacky Rational Constructive Follower. This makes you Paul Begala. You are unflappable and largely unconcerned with others' reactions to you. You were not particularly interested in the results of this test, and probably took it only as a result of someone else asking you to.

You have a biting wit and intense powers of observation. No detail is lost on you, and your friends know it--relying on you to have the facts when others express only opinions. You are even-tempered, friendly, and educated. Foolish strangers may mistake your mildness for weakness--they will be surprised.

You entire approach to life is enviable. You will raise good kids.

I guess that seems accurate. I'm the guy who deletes forwards before getting past the subject line unless asked to do otherwise. I'm not at all concerned with how most people view me because I view myself as pretty likeable. The part about being relied upon for facts can definitely apply when it comes to certain topics.

I have a new site layout being worked on. It's awesome, and completely different from the current one.

I... Don't Love the 90's?

2004-07-14T09:36:00.000-05:00

That title is very "Shatner-esque", no?

I've watched half of the 1990 episode, all of 1991, and all of 1992. And I can't get into it. I enjoyed the 70's series because it gave me a chance to see what was popular before I was born. I enjoyed the 80's series even more because there were some things I had blocked out/repressed/almost forgotten that gave me a good laugh. I also enjoyed the 80's series a lot because while I'm 24, my girlfriend is 28 and she told me about how her friends owned Hypercolor shirts, listened to all the 80's music, etc. So the 90's should be awesome because I remember all of it and I can relate, right? Wrong. Is it the The Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility? I don't think so, because the episodes aren't the same.

I've come up with a small list of reasons why I might not be enjoying this series.

Lack of "Oh my God I almost forgot about that" factor: Depending on the demographic, it kind of goes like this...
- Everyone liked the 70's series because it was new and original. Younger people laughed because they could never imagine wearing/liking/listening to certain things. Older people laughed because they'd lived through that decade and it was fun to reflect.
- The 80's series kind of went the same way. We're 24 years removed from the start of the Ronald Reagan era. 80's music was so ... out there, that no one really listens to it anymore [author's note: I hope] so we can all get a good laugh out of seeing David Lee Roth prance around, or seeing big haired bands like Poison, White Snake, Cinderella, etc. put together over the top music videos with bad effects. Same goes for fashion. I don't really see anyone wearing black boots with white jeans tucked into their socks. Then again, I don't get down to Rhode Island or Jersey much. No offense...
- That brings us to the 90's. We can laugh at some of the music, but VH1 already covered it in their One Hit Wonders show. And look at some of the other bands. Nirvana still has a cult following and Pearl Jam is still making music and has a large fan base, and a lot of these other bands have either evolved, or since broken up but still have fans. With movies, the show is featuring stuff I own on DVD and have watched on a rainy day (Goodfellas and Silence of the Lambs being two examples). Just my opinion on this stuff, though.
My Friends And I Have Made These Jokes Already: Don't get me wrong, most of the people who add comments to the show are really funny. But like I said, we're not yet far enough removed from the 90's for this to be really funny. It's almost like watching a rerun of The Simpsons. It's old and current at the same time, so some of the humor is lost in transition. Or maybe it's just me.
Overkill: Could be a simple case of "quit while you're ahead". See: Star Wars, The Matrix, Rocky (in my opinion, only number 5 was total garbage), and so on. Like an SNL skit, they're beating it into the ground. ...I take that back. Nothing is as bad as an SNL skit.

I'd say it's just me, but I've heard friends and other Bloggers make similar remarks. And that's a relief, because I usually feel like I bash everything while everyone else gets enjoyment out of it.

C'est la vie. Oooh, look at me remembering a little French.

Something That Bothers Me

2004-07-13T19:10:00.000-05:00

I used to be fluent in French. Fluent to the point where I, a high school kid from Boston, could not be detected as being American when I spent a month in Paris. I had a near perfect score on the high school French AP exam. I aced Advanced French as a Freshman in college.

Now I can barely remember enough to score a B- in Intermediate French.

"I coulda been a contender."

Or a translator. That would have been a lot of fun.

I don't enjoy unlearning things.

New Blog - More Baseball/TV - Work Sucks - Misc. - Music

2004-07-13T09:01:00.000-05:00

OK, after blabbing too much about cards, I made another Blog for the subject.

Tejada won the derby last night. I wanted Bonds to win so once he was eliminated I turned it off and watched I Love the 90's on VH1. Couple things about that.

Not as good as I Love the 80's so far
Brian Unger is a pretty funny guy sometimes
So is Patrice O'Neal even though he's a hack comedian

Yeah, so I caught a bit of 1990 and half of 1991. I'll write more once I see the full episodes. The flying toasters background from the old Windows screensaver was a nice touch.

I need a new job. I set tentative goals. I want to get to work on writing a few books. If I happen to ever make some money that way, I want to open up a Bed&Breakfast in New Hampshire. I figure I'll work there for a year or two, and if it becomes successful, hire a full staff and check in from time to time. Eh, it's a start. Better than my goal of becoming the New England Patriots punter in 2005. Or becoming Nicole Kidman's boy toy.

Why do people say he did a 360 when they describe someone having a complete change in attitude, work ethic, etc.? That means all they did was come full circle instead of actually changing. Shouldn't it be he did a 180? Whatever. I heard someone say it this morning and it made me question the origin, but not enough to do research.

I'd have to say my favorite singers right now are Maynard James Keenan of Tool, Matt Bellamy of Muse, and Serj Tankian of System of a Down. How's that for diversity? Oh, and Jonah Matrenga of Far/New End Original/Onelinedrawing.

Home Run Derby - More Cards - Book

2004-07-12T18:19:00.000-05:00

I think Barry Bonds or Jim Thome will win.

I won $700 on a single pot to bring myself close to $2000. Yes, I realize I'm writing about winning fake money in an online card game. EAT ME. Sorry...

I think I'm going to write a book. It will chronicle the ups and downs that a group of friends go through during the Red Sox season. I'll use fictionalized journal/blog entries from girls, post-work bar talk from guys, etc. Don't steal my idea. This book is going straight to the top of the best seller list ... or straight into a publisher's shredder.

Place your bets.