For Fresh Air Lover...

I posted a comment on the blog of Sage and I remarked how I had to deal with a friends brother who I viewed much like the "chet" character from Weird Science.

FALover had a bad week and said my comment made her chuckle..well brace yerself..turn up the speakers....

here or
here

This is the crap I think about....

Last night I was listening to the radio on my ride home and they were doing a story on a local kid (one of 5 from Massachusetts) that is going to be in the National Spelling Bee. Like most of the kids (it seems) he is home schooled.

That is a subject for another day....

Anyhow, if a child goes, say K->12 being home schooled are they allowed to put on their resume they graduated as Valedictorian?* Think about it..you could have a C+ average and still be #1 in your class.

*for my non US and Canadian readers you can read what a Valedictorian is here

To quote George Carlin..."Thinking up stuff like this is what kept me out of the really good colleges."

Important Stuff...

Like most folks part of my morning ritual is hitting the blogs under my links and seeing whats up. I'll poke around comments, add them where need be etc. Often times I'll see a name out of the norm. So I'll click over to see who this person was that visited your blog and what have you.

as of late Sage had been getting some comments by a blogger in NJ. They were witty and sounded like she had a blog worthy of checking out. I was pleased to read her entries the last few weeks when suddenly last week she said she was taking a break. That is all fine and good as people get burned out. Today I just checked over to see if she had a change of heart...and she had. The post she had today was beyond scary tho. I strongly encourage my female readers especially to check her post out. Although I know most of you only thru blogsphere I'd be beyond devastated if something horrible happened. Just be careful what you post. Here you can read Fresh Air Lover story. I added her as a link as well.

Blog safe my blog buddies!

Time for a break...

no not from bloggin..but from the long weekend. Mrs.March being the breadwinner/trooper that she is worked all three days of the weekend. The little Marches and I kept busy but I am such a loser..i was in bed before 9pm Saturday and Sunday..before 930 on Friday and Monday. Laaaaahoooo-zer.

Other news.
Fans of the band Ministry may be sad to learn (or happy) that they plan to release one more album and then call it
quits. I'll admit I have been a fan, but the last few albums have not been anything to write home about. The latest has gotten some moderate reviews on the positive side so I am curious. This final of the "trilogy" is going to once again bash George W. Come on, has this not been played out enough? I get it, you don't like him (that goes for all of the entertainment business) we get it..move on. I'll probably hit the old LaLa route for it.

Speaking of, I got my first "bill" from them..guess I need to read the "fine print" as my bill was for 28.00. Seems you are charged not only when you receive them, but when you send them too. Somehow it all seemed to good right? I have slowed down some on it as I have unloaded some stuff I just didn't care that much about. I am sitting at about 51 trades but I had to resub for a jazz cd. Seems it was "sent" but I never got it..so after 21 days LaLa decides to "mark it" as received and the sender (if they really sent it) thinks you got it. So if this jazz cd arrives this week, I have a second one coming.

Finally I saw this link last week and finally I am getting to it. I have worn glasses since 1st grade. I got my first set of contacts last summer and I like them the times I have worn them. Lasix is kinda scary to me, but my brother had it done with little/no complications. I saw this and it was really too much. "Installing magnets" inside yer nose. No way.

Saying thank you..

On Memorial Day take a moment to remember, and say thanks.

Stuff

man, my stat counter was kept busy yesterday. Due to the Pearl Jam review and pictures I had 772 page loads and 497 Unique visitors. Hope some of them come back now and then.

Dim pointed me in the right direction regarding statcounter and I shut off "logging my own hits" so now I'll see a massive dip in my blog traffic. Not sure if that is a blessing or curse.

Long weekend for us as we celebrate Memorial Day (Monday). Weather here is "rumored" to be up in the high 80's come Monday. Lets skip spring and get right to the humid summer. After all the rain as of late as long as it says "Sunny" somewhere in the forecast you pretty much tune out.

Have a nice long weekend...

A fresh Forgotten Disc Friday segment is up. Enjoy, discuss and as always, thanks for clickin on over.

Pearl Jam - TD Banknorth Garden, May 24,2006

Pearl Jam w/My Morning Jacket
Wednesday May 24, 2006
TD Bank North Garden, Boston MA

Last night I made my way to Boston to see Pearl Jam for the 8th time. The affair started back in November of 1991 when I saw a then "who the hell are Pearl Jam" open a show for The Smashing Pumpkins and the Red Hot Chili Peppers at Boston University's Walter Brown Arena. Over the course of years the band has exploded worldwide and become household names. After all these years they still can pack quite a punch.

Arrived at the Garden just about 730. I had to get my tickets from the will call window. For fan club members this was the only route so it was not until that very moment did I know where I was sitting. I opened the envelope and read the top of the ticket. FloorA, Row 4, Seat 11 and 12. That's right..fourth row. We hurried up to the floor seats as I really REALLY wanted to see My Morning Jacket. They were on their second song when we settled in and they proceeded to absolutley kill. Given 45 minutes they did their very best and come the end of the set a few people rose to their feet to show the band appreciation.

At 9pm the music started over the PA. Up to this point there was very little and if there was it was hardly turned up. It was the opening instrumental parts to "Release" off the the Ten album. The band arrived to a dark/blue light stage and sang the song almost in silhouette. The way I faced the stage the band was a such (working left to right) Mike McCready (lead guitar), Jeff Ament (bass), Matt Cameron, (drums), Eddie Vedder (vocals/guitar) and Stone Gossard (guitar) and they have a touring keyboardist Ken "Boom" Gaspar that was behind Stone.

The band seemed in good spirts as this leg of the tour is working down (ends June 3 in New Jersey). Technically the band was spot on, there was little time wasted between songs and Vedder, known to sometimes be "chatty" kept it, for the most part, with regard to a song they were getting ready to play. Before "Unemployable" for example he dedicated the song to the recent, or soon to be, graduates. World Wide Suicide went off really well from the latest cd and Animal had hands waving above doing the count off of 1-2-3-4-5 against one. Even Flow is always a treat and one of the most recognizable songs. I wonder if the band seems bored playing it and its seemed a tad sluggish, but the solo at the end by McCready was worth the wait.. Why Go closed out the main "set" on a very high note. The band left the stage to return 5 or so minutes later for the "1st" encore. Forever Young, a Bob Dylan cover was just Ed and Jeff sitting and playing the song. Eddie thanked Boston before the start for its years of support and also gave a shout out to Bob Dylan who turned 65. The rest of the band came out for the Victoria Williams cover "Crazy Mary". I never understood the "popularity" of this song. I find it slow and almost taxing to listen to. Two songs later we were treated to another classic with "Alive". This started off feeling like it was about 1/2 the tempo it usually is, as in it was slower than you are used to. The band turned and played a full verse to the back of the arena and McCready, who had been at it all night, was very animated indeed. The second encore started with "Spin the Black Circle". Its a ripping song, but so hard really follow I find. Not sure what it is. Do the Evolution was almost explosive, but this point the band was really firing on all cylinders. Vedder introduced "rats" as something we haven't played in a while, that was a nice treat. During Comatose and Neil Youngs Rockin in the Free World the band really took off. The interaction between band and audience was really stepped up. Vedder smashed two tambourines together for a bit then tossed them in to the audience. He took 2 more and worked the people behind the stage. The rest of the guys threw out more guitar picks and towels and you name it. One a final few rumbling notes we were done. 1130pm we were done. 2hrs 30 Min (prolly 2:20 of music) and 25+ songs, not too bad.

I'll be first to admit that my passion for the bands studio stuff has been in decline the last few years. Granted I still buy the cds when they come out and give them the occasional spin, its nice to see them live to get me back to re-discovering what made me like them in the first place, even on the newer, less popular stuff.

The full set:
Release, Severed Hand, World Wide Suicide, Corduroy, Animal, Red Mosquito, Love Boat Captain, Better Man, Unemployable, Even Flow, Sad, Wishlist, Gone, Green Disease, Down, Jeremy, Life Wasted, Why Go
1st encore: Forever Young by Bob Dylan (Ed & Jeff), Masters Of War by Bob Dylan, Crazy Mary by Victoria Williams, Inside Job, Alive
2nd encore: Spin The Black Circle, Do The Evolution, Whipping, Rats, Comatose, Rockin' In The Free World by Neil Young

Here are some pictures I took at the show. Just as a note I am by no means a photography whiz. These were taken on a Sony Digi Camera 3.2 MP. I tried to wait for the lights to come up (or be up) before snapping off the shot(s). Anyhow..click on em for bigger images.. I also don't really have any set order to them..that would take to long.

Damn it...

The other day I was reading the blog of Annoyed. In a recent post he talked how he had an mp3 player that he loved and the story of replacing it.

I have had an ipod for about 2.5 years now. Little to no issue and I even mentioned that in annoyeds comments.

For Mrs.Marches' b'day this year I got here the Ipod Nano. The reasons were I had the software and was comfortable with all the ins and outs of iTunes and what have you.

Setting that up was a bitch. It never worked at home. I ended up taking the stuff to work and installing it in about 10 minutes (that included some cd rips for her nano). After all that messing around I was SURE my home PC was now Fubar. So I tried it and it was able to load a few new cds I had done..whew.

Last night I decided to add 2 more cds before hockey. As soon as I booted up and connected the ipod I get a message "new hardware". Now all the downloads and reboots and installs and uninstalls for the nano I thought were worked out. So I played along. Zippo.

I did an "update" and the last thing my ipod showed was the "connector" (think like the power charger end you plug in to the all..the connection to your ipod..that one) anyhow it showed that, then went blank. My ipod has been sleeping now for 12+ hrs. I have tried to reboot the ipod, toggle it on and off using the hold, then rebooting, shut down PC, reconnected ipod..downloaded "latest software" again. Zippo. When I do try to re-set I can hear the ipod kinda "start up" but it never does.

So my comment section awaits..anyone have any idea what that "connection" message meant. Or, if you have any other ideas (that don't involve me throwing it against the wall) the comment section awaits your wisdom. We may need to take a drive to an apple store so they can laugh at me "You did WHAT?!" Hey charlie come over here and look at what this dolt did!"

Weekend.

Here it is Tuesday and I am talking about the weekend. Kinda funny/annoyance I had to share.

Saturday after a day of yard work etc decided to take Mrs March and the little marches to dinner. Since Mrs March had to work mothers day and we didn't have a big b'day celebration we decided we'd up it some. Rather than the usual Applebees we decided to go to Bugaboo Creek. For those of you not familiar with this, its a steak house kinda place that is supposed to be like the inside of a Canadian Rocky lodge. Its got all sorts of crap on the wall and its really quite kid friendly and the food, at least in my opinion is quite good.

My daughter has had issues with the restaurant. There are a few animals that 'talk', and she is not too keen on this. When you walk in to the place you are greeted by a talking tree to boot. She decided she'd be brave so mom could have a nice dinner.

We arrived at the restaurant at about 5, which you have to, otherwise you wait 45+ minutes. Being 35 I can hardly stand to wait for food, let alone w/2 kids. We walk in and my wife is in front, the 2 marches, then me. We walk in to the small lobby and the tree freaking bursts to life. Its like an artificial Christmas tree with HUGE eyes and a mouth that moves. The tree spins a little too back and forth. The major issue..there is no f'ing sound. Littlest March who was in front of me FRRRRRRRRRREAKS OUT. His whole body shakes and he takes like 3 steps back. I put my hand down on his chest and pull him close telling him "its okay, its fake, but happy to see you etc" His little chest is beating about 1000 times a second. He is NOT pleased. Middle march starts saying "Oh I don't think I want to be here!". We hurry in and we are greeted by the hostesses "HI WELCOME TO BUGABOO!!!" We have 2 kids in tears and I somehow muster the courage to say "Please, don't sit us any where near any animal or thing that talks". Dinner ends without a hitch actually so it was not too bad in the long run. On the comment card I said "fix the tree or unplug it"

Sunday our town did a Memorial Day parade. Don't check your calendar you didn't suddenly miss a whole week. Dunne why they do it but they do. Little March and I got some key seats since Mrs and Middle were going to march for the Brownie troop. We were near a war memorial so we got to hear a blessing and the "21 gun salute". They even did a fly over w/2 Jets and a helicopter. That stuff never gets old.

That was it. Bugaboo was good, but I have a feeling that will be it for a few more months, if not years.

Holy cow..10,000 served.

Well according to my counter on this home page I have 10,000+ hits. Granted 9800 of them are mine..thank you and flattered you take time out of your day to stop over.

Tool - Live in Boston

**edit..found this picture and it shows the stage etc a little better.

Tool
May 21, 2006
Orpheum Theater, Boston Mass

- There is a fine line between clever and stupid.

When Tool announced this brief warm up tour it sent fans in to a frezny. The band who has not been on the road for over 3 years with an even long time between cd releases was sure to garner attention. The band was doing a brief theater tour before heading to Europe, then to return to America to play larger venues. The final show of this tour was here in Boston at the 2800 seat Orpheum Theater.

Tickets went on sale and sold out about as fast as it takes you to refresh your screen. It was done..over. Web sites selling tickets like ebay and craigslist saw asking and selling prices in the mid to high triple digits.

I made my way to Boston in a heavy downpour, parked and walked across the Boston Common to the theater. The line was down the alley and back up the street (past the beantown pub for you locals). I was planning to tape the show, but went back down to where the people were being "ticket checked" to proceed down the alley I decided that taping was just not in the cards. More on this in a bit.

I went back to my car and by this time the rain let up so I dropped off my umbrella and headed back. I had an extra ticket to sell and really its not in me to rape someone for tickets..its not. The ticket w/face and fee was $66.66. As I was headed back to the venue I got the usual "buying/selling" etc. I said "Selling". Here is the chat..
me - I have one
scalper - where and how much
me - balcony..i'd like face and fee..and maybe a bit for parking..so how about $75.00
scapler - (almost laughing) I'll give you $100.
me - ummm okay...(keep this in mind).

So I get in the massive line up around the bend. Conversations in lines always kill me. Everyone one ups the next person about how many times they have seen the band, who they know and the random YEEEEEEEEEEAHHH DUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDE!. I passed the first check point, ticket in hand and was waved down. Then the pat downs in the street started. It was over the top. Tool hates pictures and their shows being taped so they pat down was the most extensive I have ever been thru. I got in and had to go to the bathroom so bad I just headed to my seat. I was in the balcony, row N about 3 seats in off the isle.

The band was due to go on at 8, but I am sure due to the line outside they held up some. At 830 the lights went down and the curtain went up. Tool was on the stage.

The set up was (me facing the stage) Adam Jones (guitar) on the left, and Justin Chancellor (bass) over to the right. On the drums pretty much center stage was Adam Jones and off to his right on a stage riser about the same height was singer Maynard James Keenan. I can't really say front man because he was behind the guitar and bassist. The front part of the stage had a carpet that was some pentagram styled thing but Adam and Justin were about as far away from each other as possible. Video screens ran from right to left across the back of the stage. The entire show was a video hallucinogen. It was nonstop (well duing the music).

The band opened with "Stinkfist" and the whole balcony was rocking. This theater was built in the 1860's and anyone that has gone to shows in boston at the orphuem usually has 2 things to say "Cool venue" and what is with the 50 cent (now 1.00) restoration fee going to?! I have been going to shows there since the late 80's and they haven't done a lot I tell you. The fucking balcony was moving..i mean up and down, side to side. It was creepy. I kept saying if this gives way can I ride it down and live?

I am a very casual fan of the band I will admit. They played 46 and 2 next and that is probably my favorite song. During the song I kept thinking that everytime I read about Tool you hear how technical the band is, or what great players and I wasn't seeing it..but by the end when Danny was doing some fills I was "getting it".

The Orpheum, to me, is one of the best sounding venues but at times it felt really brickwalled to me. Over the top rumbles and I had a hard time hearing the guitar as well as the vocals (even when Maynard was speaking when the band was not playing I had a hard time understanding).

The set list was quick. They'd take a moment to adjust the sound for "the next song" and get right to it. During Rosetta Stoned Maynard uses a megaphone but that effect was lost until the later part of the song. Not sure if there were issues but until the second half of the song I had no idea what he had strapped to himself.

Tool is also famous for no encores or "breaks" before an encore. After Lateralus Danny got up from his kit and sat over on Maynards riser. The rest of the band walked over and did the same. I heard that this is the "lull" where fans would go nuts looking for an encore (see fine line between clever and stupid). After what seemed like 5+ minutes of them soaking in the love they got up and pounded out Vicarious and ended it all with Ænema. 1 hr and 45 minutes later it was all done. Lights up as the band walked off the stage.

Eventually a guy (the seat I sold) came in. After the show he said to me "did you sell the ticket?" and I played dumb and said "No I bought one from a guy". I had to ask him "What did he get you for?" Sit down for this my dear readers...$325.00. Now before you call me nuts (trust me I feel it) I didn't really want to sell for a lot because the person was going to be next to me. Think about it..you sell at 67.00 ticket for 325 and then the guy sits next to you? He now knows you have 325.00 of his on your person.

Overall it was a visually stunning show. I like rock shows like that. What Maynard lacks in the "classic" front man the bands competence with their instruments are second to none. The moments I felt bored, they'd pull something exciting out. The downside for me was the muddled mix (but that could be the balcony) and the little interaction while in such a small venue.

Finally the full set if you care:
Stinkfist
Forty Six & 2
Jambi
Schism
Right In Two
Lost Keys
Rosetta Stoned
The Pot
Lateralus
Vicarious
Ænema

Short stuff..

This will be very short since someone crashed some sort of server and folks are packed in to an office for a conference call.

My love hate relationship with ER is back to, well not love, but umm heavy petting I guess. The second half hour was excellent. The whole "fake nurse" was a nice touch and the way it ended had me waiting for the fall season to start. Granted it will take one good episode to wrap this one up and then it will be back to mediocrity I have come to expect.

This might be it for the day..so have a good weekend.

End of the week fare for you..

A fresh Forgotten Disc Friday segment is up. Enjoy, discuss and as always, thanks for clickin on over.

Dwight and Angela get their due.

if its not one thing its another.

I can hear KKs head explode on this but here goes.

TV has not even ended this season and the networks are already f'ing me up next fall.

JennyG had posted the fall schedule for NBC. Earl and the Office move to 8 and 830..thats doable. I can run tape (yeah I still have a working VCR that I know how to program too so get off it) if I need to tend to the little Marches needs. Then at 9 we have a crap storm. CSI remains at 9 on CBS..thats fine. ABC decided (without asking me first) they would move Greys Anatomy to 9pm on Thrusday as well. Cut the crap..uggh. I guess having all the shows I care about not being spread out over a slew of nights helps, but come on help a brother out.

Also Maxim mag came out with a list of the 100 Women that would never date you..there is sample of who wouldn't date me here.. They can't date me cuz I am totally awesome, know a lot about music, can fight ninjas and..well I'm taken.. So bully to you

Happy B'day

To Mrs. March.

Man the lifeboats!

Well the weather has been beyond dreary. It started to rain last Tuesday and its been raining since. I feel like Forrest Gump. (One day it started to rain..and it rained so hard some days it was like it was coming up from the ground.) If there is a bright side to all this my area has not been hit too badly. Sure it has rained and there a puddles but the northern part of the state is really getting it bad. We are safe and dry (at least for now). Rumor has it the rain will end sometime mid-june. Kidding..later this week.

Otherwise weekend was okay considering. Mrs.March didn't have much of a mothers day since she was working evenings. We made best of our time of course and the little marches showered her w/the love she deserves.

Saturday night I watched Oldboy. Its a South Korean film that was pretty wild. I can see Tarentino or some other American film maker taking this and making it their own. Its pretty messed up..check out some reviews and tread lightly..its pretty wild. (actually its in the top 200 of the IMDB fans top movies...hmmm) Hunting for some images it looks like its got a pretty big cult following. There is a cool entry about it here.

Thats it for now.

You know the drill.....

A fresh Forgotten Disc Friday segment is up. A new writer has joined the fold, be sure to check it out.

I like doritos..

Sweet jesus..stop it.

I can't believe I am going here but freaking Idol talk is every where.

People are shocked some wind bag got voted off.

Umm I know little about the show but

A) Is that not the point, a person gets voted off each week thus resulting in said "Winner of American Idol?"

and

2) If you want said windbag to win..freaking pick up the phone and vote for him/her.


(note I meant to be funny w/A and 2..didn't work did it?)

over used word or expression

this just happened and I wanted to throw it out there.

I like the term ASAP when its used appropriately.

ASAP = As Soon As Possible.

I had a customer ask me a question and I need to find out about it so why not use "I'll get back you ASAP" meaning "As soon as I hear I'll update you. Sounds good. There was no sense of "urgency" on either side. Kinda casual like "hey i'll let you know as soon as possible".

So when the person on the other end of the phone, a teacher, a parent growing up, or boss/manager say "ASAP" it really means RIGHT THE F**K NOW. I like the expression in those situations to be ASAFP.

Funny how that works.

Very quick..

Got myself another deadline tomorrow but I don't like to leave the 5 readers of this blog without something.

Kudos to Tom Petty and company for doing their best to stop scalpers. Seems "fans" used pre-sale options to get tickets and then "re-sell" for higher prices. They have a long way to go across the board but canceling 600+ tickets (and 800 in New York) is the right step. Well done.

Also, even if you think Rolling Stone is way behind the 8 ball on most music news or what have you, they just put out their 1000th issue. The cover alone is worth it and on the "inside" they talk about many of their more famous covers. I have yet to settle in to it, but the flip thru over a cup of coffee and six cigarettes this morning looks promising.

oh and that part about breakfast..was a joke. I didn't drink coffee..(man I am just full of the good stuff today)

Uggh.

Work is killing me. I may have fucked up good yesterday. I hardly ever take "work home" with me but I had it on my mind the whole ride home, then enough that I logged back in to work after hockey for about 35 minutes. Even during Letterman I was still wondering what I did wrong, or could have done to avoid this. Trying to do damage control today. I have a pretty great supporting staff but once it gets past a certain level, forget it..i am convinced I am viewed as a fuck up. You know, you feel like you take a step forward by really being the go to guy, getting stuff done, then a small issue that is manageable happens and suddenly its a shitstorm of uncertainty in your abilities. I'll take the heat if it is full on my fault I am prepared for that.

Hockey was a little better, yeah douchebag was there but I made sure I got dressed in a different room from him. He was held to only 3 or so goals so that was nice. Too bad my brother caught me off guard and my rather large frame hit the ice pretty hard. Ahh well..all fits right in with the rain.

Sorry for the curse words, like David Cross said , I guess I was just lazy.

I feel I need to...

I try to update my blog at least once a day monday thru friday. I have been a little sidetracked. I have been busier than a one legged man in an ass kicking contest with a project that was due today. The good news is I am done and I am so ready to just be done for the day. I want to put my feet up and listen to music. I am easy to please.

I forgot to mention one part of my weekend. I lost $60.00 on Saturday. Not even a good way..i just can't find it.

here is the breakdown..get all CSI on my ass and figure this out please.

- on the way to the show Sat night I stopped at a drive up ATM and got the $$.
- drove to the show and before I went in I took out my ID and ticket..put wallet in pocket.
- I bought nothing at the venue.
- I left the parking lot and had my wallet out to pay the parking price $3.00
- I drove home brought in my stuff and put it on the table and went to bed.
- Sunday I took my wallet and got gas..but never took my wallet out of the car as I swiped my card.
- Went to recycle center and had to show my ID. Again wallet never left the car.

I looked between/under the car seats in my pockets (shorts and shirt) glove box, consoles etc. Nuttin.

If lost 60 on a stripper thats at least a cool story.

Thought I had a few things..

..but then I sat here and I have very little.

Weekend was pretty good, the weather was very nice so that helped.

Saturday I caught live at the Middle East. I think I will have a more "exploratory" review in a bit. I have a deadline on some "work things" tomorrow so I need to keep it mellow at the moment.

They were excellent though.

Quickness...

Thursday night is my TV night. More often than not I run tape on CSI and watch Earl and the Office since most co-workers seem to watch those two and we need to spend the better part of the morning going on and on about it.

Earl was pretty weak.

Office was A+. Man that show brings it. Part of me deep down wants it to just end now so its always "awesome", but I need more.

ER which I have watched since the beginning is so freaking lame, but I can't give up on it for some reason. Last night was another "Africa" episode. About 10:30 I said to myself, you know you can go to bed because this story line is so unimportant to the whole season other than Pratt was sent there. Freaking Carter is on the show, for what purpose?! I want the whole series to end but I'll be back this fall like the lemming that i am. (hey bug off you people have Idol)

Whoa..its Friday people.

A fresh Forgotten Disc Friday segment is up.

Recent Album Art.

The lost art of the album cover.

Like many music buyers there is no denying the sound, portability as well as durability of the compact disc. What is lost is of course really good art work..at least on a larger scale.

I am lucky in that when I first started buying music w/my own money I would buy vinyl lps. I had two older brothers so I needed to buy my own Kiss records. I'd look at them, smell them and get lost in the cool covers. As a young lad I loved the Love Gun cover shown below:



In the last few years artists have gone 50/50 it seems on the art work. Trent Reznor said of the last Nine Inch Nails cd that "cover art is a dead art, why waste the time". As you can see here zero effort was taken and a dull cover is the result.



Tuesday I grabbed three cds as noted. The first was Wolfmother Here is that cover.


Kinda fantasy meets medieval. It would be cooler on a record.

Pearl Jam



Okay don't judge a book by its cover I guess. Inside is a pretty decent lyric booklet too.

Finally Tool



What you don't see here is the cool "glasses" you get attached to the cd. You lay the booklet out and hold the glasses up and flop thru a few pages of liner notes and images. It freaking rules. The best is the disclaimer as you start it basically says if this messes you up you can't sue us or the label. The best image is the one of the fetus inside the skull. I need to see if I can find it on line. Here is one image of it "open"

Perhaps I am just a bad sport?

Tuesday nights I play in a pick up hockey game. My brother got me in with a very good bunch of guys. Most of them are "older" and its probably their one night out a week to get some exercise.

I love hockey and skating. I wish I stuck with it thru high school and all but that is a story for another day.

So the last few weeks have been fun. Go, skate, have some laughs for an hour and then go home and wait like a little kid on Christmas eve for the next Tuesday.

About 3 weeks or so ago an "new guy" showed up. Most of the time its no big deal but he is a younger guy (maybe 21?) and he is a good skater I'll admit but he is a complete douche.

From the moment you arrive in the locker room he is talking crap to the goalie(s) saying "i am going to score 7 goals on you..and if I score more than 5 on you you have to pay my $10.00 rink fee" just crap like that. Again, I admit he has the speed but he is such a jerk that its starting to just not be fun. He is the kind of kid that if I coached I'd bench until he smartened up.

Two weeks ago he scored 4 goals in a single shift. End to end rush and he'll score and then talk shit to the goalie. He thinks its funny but everyone groans. I was playing defense last week and after his 3rd goal I said "Okay dude we get it you can skate and score".

You sit on the bench and everyone groans about him. If you are on his team and you are say breaking down on a 2 on 1..don't expect a pass cuz Hero needs to pot his umteeth goal of the night.

Did I mention this is pick up? No refs, no penalties etc..just a few guys trying to have some fun.

Last night he was not on my team again and the other guys had a lot of really good skaters. Some guys have played on the collegiate level and one guy is just awesome to watch. The thing is that with him, he'll pass to you, he'll shoot when the time is right but he skates and stickhandles that you get hypnotized. I have to say its a pleasure to watch and play with him. Even as a guy having fun you want to ask his advice in having a better "touch" or what have you.

Back to the dickhead. So last night he infuriates the goalie the goalie takes his stick and smashes in the goal post. The goalie begins to berate us, his teammates, about not playing D. Well at this point I personally want to lay this f'ing asshat out (not the goalie). Its one of those things where you might be able to skate and shoot but if I could lay you out..I will. I am not a little dude either.

So late in the game he does one of his rushes and I am on defense. I decide its time..i get on my horse and i am going stride for stride with him...I swing my stick back and poke the puck away from him and he peels off with an AAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWW. Remember..he already has 12 goals tonight and zero assists. The puck goes to the corner and I am right on him. He takes some odd angle shot and it goes in..and the cocksucker celebrates.

That was it..I had enough and headed to the locker room.

What used to be fun now kinda blows. I hate to not play for the reasons stated before (love of it and exercise) but paying 10.00 a week to actually want to fucking behead someone makes me angry for feeling that way, and on some levels not actually doing it.

So part of me feels like a really bad sport.

New Release Tuesday...

Some co-workers and I are hitting the local national chain store at lunch to grab some new cd releases. On the docket for myself personally are the latest from
Pearl Jam Tool and the record honestly I am most curious about of the three is Wolfmother. Combine the riffs of Sabbath and the howl of Robert Plant. The song "woman" from them has owned me for days.

Rock and freaking Roll.....

Uggh..American TV sucks..

F'ing Randy Jackson signs up for three more years of Idol..This shit for three more years (at least???!) and good shows like Love Monkey get axed. F'ing TV audiences are dumb.

The other night we were flipping around and they had one one of those "list" shows and it was the top whatever most shocking reality TV moments.

Watch one of those sometime and see how wrong I am about steadfastly NOT viewing any of these. S TO THE H TO THE I TO THE TT Y. shows.

Whoops..march made a boo boo.

So I have been going on and on about La La for a week now (at least) but its a learning process and I want to share stuff with you in case you decide to sign up.

Late last week I was reading the site and a few people said "Its a great tool since its like a database and I can list my entire collection!". So for the next hour or so I just clicked on stuff I "owned". When I was done I was up in the 400+ range. Okay fine good.

3hrs later I am on the computer and I check my e-mail account attached to lala. 115 NEW MESSAGES. Oh CRAP! Sure enough I had over 100 requests for cds off my list.

The good news is you don't have to send the stuff. It just seems to scan the database to see who has a cd you have as a want. Basically your "HAVE" list is the cds you are willing to trade. So I did some deletion of cds that I just won't ever trade (at least now). Its down some..but I am still getting 2-3 requests a day for cds.

On the plus side I have done 15 trades so far. I am using it to get cds that I was not too sure of to begin with, but I wanted to hear. The latest "trade" coming my way is the Tortoise/Bonnie "Prince" Billy called The Brave and the Bold. It had just some awful reviews as it lacked "direction" or any real purpose etc. The thing is, at least for me, if Tortoise is involved it at least deserves a "spin". So its coming.

So, my one thing to tell you if you join and decide to list even say 100 cds...expect some emails.