New Music Tuesday/Month in Review

Take a crap and grab your coffee, or vice versa, this ones going to be a long one. First off is the weekly reviews.

Smashing Pumpkins-Zeitgeist. So this is their first album in 7 years, and maybe they should have waited another 7. I used to be a casual fan of the pumpkins, owning Mellon Collie..., and Siamese Dream. Maybe since I was such a casual fan that is why I can't get into this album. The CD starts great, the first 5-6 songs are excellent, then everything goes to shit. There is nothing memorable on the last half of the album, and it is borderline annoying. I will have to listen to my older pumpkins cds again, because I never remember Billy Corgan sounding like such a whiny pussy. His voice was always a little different, but now it sounds like he just watched someone put his Golden Retriever in a microwave.(Gordan Ramsey, Hells Kitchen, Used without Permission.) This CD won't be lasting much longer I am afraid.

AudioSlave-Out of Exile. Read above, but without puss-voice, and you get the general idea. The CD starts out great, the first half is some of audioslaves best songs. If they had of sprinkled the first 5 songs throughout the CD,instead of all at once, I might even like this CD even better. When something starts out so good, you expect it to keep going, but this CD turn into unmemorable drivel at about song 8. Not annoying like the pumpkins, but just boring. It would be a good one to have playing in the background at a party, but I wouldn't utilize any of the later songs on a mix tape for a new girlfriend, that's for sure.

3 Inches of Blood-Fire up the Blades. Well this sounds delightful, doesn't it? I downloaded this because they are playing Ozzfest, and I figured I would get a taste of what to expect during the concert. The music is excellent, but the voice? eh. Think early Tourniquet(Stop the Bleeding), or Judas Priest after Rob Halford gargles razorblades and washes them down with bleach. If they ever do decide to shit-can the vocalist, they could just record a group of chickens being mauled by a group of rabid coyotes, and put it on constant loop.

Monthly reviews
My fingers and brain are getting tired so this will be short

CD of the Month
White Stripes-Icky Thump. I just played this the other day and probably could have listened to it 3 times in a row before I would even start to get sick of it. Brilliant album.

A Close Second
Queens of the Stone Age-Era Vulgaris. Not quite on the same level as the White Stripes, but damn fine nonetheless.

Biggest Disappointment
Tie between Smashing Pumpkins and Velvet Underground. I guess these are why people use Cd's as coasters.

Weekend Report

Definetly not a wild and crazy weekend.

Friday-Drinks, followed by the Simpsons Movie. The movie was okay, it had its funny moments, but it left out a lot of the main caracters(Apu,Side-show Bob, Dr. Nick). All in all it was like watching an extra long Simpsons episode.

Saturday- Went to Bass Pro to buy a case of 9mm ammo(it was on sale, 4 bucks cheaper a box) and also got some much needed supplies for duck killing in October. Then I went and picked up the wifes car from the shop. We drove up and met the inlaws halfway and got the Devil-Dog back. We were taking care of the scooter dog this weekend, so much wildness and merriement were had once Annie came home and saw her boyfriend. Throw the cat into the mix and it was chaos. That night we went to an someones 40th birthday bash(which wasn't really a bash, I felt bad for the guy, if we hadn't shown up there would have been half as many people there).

Sunday-A whole bunch of not much. Got some groceries, went over to a friends house for supper, came home and watched a couple of episodes of Weeds. I am not sure what to think of that show yet. I will give it a few more episodes before I decide.

That is all. Now the wife and I have to decide where we are going for our 6 year anniversery that is 2 weeks away. Nothing like waiting until the last minute...

Monday Exercise-8.7 bike

Eh, Bowling.

Bowling pretty much was the suck last night, at least on my end of the deal. 1st game good, other 2 games unremarkable. We did come away with 7 points though, but we have a long way to go. I have no wittiness to share this morning, not one shred. But just because I don't have wittiness, doesn't mean there is none to be found on the world wide intra-web. For your enjoyment:

Itchy Nuts


Silly Cop

1 Year and a few days

That's how long I have been doing this blogging stuff. Not consistently of course, there has been quite a few months were I have hardly posted at all, but I have been doing a bit better lately. I can't really say it has bettered my life at all, but I guess it hasn't made it any worse. I guess I will just keep doing it. I have decided to drop the exact count of ABC's though. The only thing it does is make me feel bad about drinking so much, so it doesn't really serve a positive purpose. It also doesn't really make sense to have a "secret" blog. I am a grown-ass man after all, so I can be put back up in the side bar if you all so desire.

No music reviews this week, I travelled all weekend long, and didn't really listen to any music, so I have got nothing for you. I did read a pretty good book though.
Stephen King-Cell. It has zombies in it, and zombies are cool, so that makes for a good book. I do feel that he got a little lazy with the ending, but that is for you to decide.

Exercise starts again tomorrow. That is one full week off, and I dread the results.

I did purchase Guitar Hero Rocks the 80's last night, and it fucking rocks.

Today will be a fine day.

Do you wanna know why? Because I am wearing new socks. Short socks, not long socks. This must be what it feels like to take Ecstasy at a disco and find yourself surrounded by a bunch of loose college aged women. I love new socks. Not only that, but today is my last day before vacation. No more sanding, No more molding, No more of Jonny's constant scolding. Other than that I have no more stories. I got some good sleep last night, got my exercise in this morning, and we have a party to go to tonight. Did I mention that I don't have to work tomorrow?

Tuesday Exercise-Zero
Tuesday ABC's-2 glasses of wine

Wednesday Exercise-8.7 miles bike.

New Tune Tuesday(Premature Dissapointment)

The first thing I would like to say is that the White Stripes album is no where near as bad as what I thought. It took about 5-6 listens before I realized the genius of it. Which begs the question, how many listens does it take to get to the center of a good cd? My wife doesn't have alot of motivation to listen to a cd she doesn't like right away, but usually I give new music a fair chance before I dislike it. I think this comes from the fact that when I was a young lad, 16 bucks for a cd was alot of money, and I felt that I had to get my money's worth even if it sucked. Now that I think about it, I don't know if I have ever had a cd that I hated so much that I would throw it away. I still own that crappy piano cd that my ma got me 15 years ago. I never listen to it, but I can't throw it out, because you never know when I might like to listen to crappy piano music. eh, I am rambling. This is probably due to the fact I am still drunk. I have finally come to terms with my problem. No, its not a drinking problem, I do that just fine, I am very good at it. It is the stopping once I start that is the problem. Apparently I was born without a check valve, or I have just never figured out how to use it. So yep, this is the worst I have been in awhile, and it might be just enough to make me sit down and reevaluate my situation.

New Tunes

Queens of the Stone Age-Era Vulgaris. A pretty good album, but much like the White Stripes, it needs to be listened to a few times before it grows on you. I don't think it is the best Queens album, but I do find it better than 'Lullabies to Paralyze' If one was to read this review(and had never heard the Queens before) and think 'that was a glowing review, I shall now go buy this album'. I would say no, that is not a good idea. If one had never heard this group, I would suggest buying 'Songs for the Deaf'. It is a much easier to listen to album, and a better introduction to the group.

That is all the new music, but here is one from the vault:

Cake(not yellow, Jess)-Fashion Nugget. I challenge anyone to put this cd in thier car and listen to it for a week and not like it. Anything by Cake is good, but I think this CD is thier finest.

Weekend Report

Friday night was a test of my patience. I knew that my weed whip was getting close to shitting the bed, its been giving me problems for about a month now. The fuel line was split so I replaced it, hoping I could at least get one more mowing session out of the fucker, but it was not to be. It started fine, but the coupling where I attach the weed whip, blower, and edger was all stripped out. Sooo...Since the lawn was already mowed, I had to quick go buy another trimmer, with a new edger attachment. Luckily my old blower will work with the new trimmer so I didn't have to buy one of those. By about 8 I was finally done with all my chores, so I went inside, avoided drinking, finished Apt Pupil(what a disturbing book) and went to bed. Saturday I woke up feeling like a million, went to the gun range, relaxed all afternoon, went to Juan Stinko's and got completely obliterated. Felt like shit yesterday, went to Hairy Pothead and the Order of the Penis, picked up my clothes for the wedding this weekend, went home and avoided drinking one more night. Weigh day Monday is getting moved to Thursday though. More debauchery happens on the weekend then during the week, so what sense does it make to weigh in right after the weekend? No sense thats what.

Friday ABC's-zip

Saturday Exercise-zip
Saturday ABC's-Less than 20

Sunday Exercise-zip
Sunday ABC's-zero

Monday Exercise-8.7 miles bike

Top of the Mornin to Ya

Fridays are not High Productivity days for the ole Model Lab. Since every one and our spouses are in the bowling league, that means on Thursdays we usually drink more than what is necessary to have a good time. Now don't get me wrong, we all work hard and deserve to have a good time, and we are generally fairly safe, and usually we just stop after bowling, but sometimes.... Well last night there were wild hairs up a few peoples asses and next thing you know we are at the Higgins-Malecha Mansion rocking out to Guitar Hero II. Going to bed at Midnight and waking up at 5 to bike is a little ridiculous but both the wife and I did it. That makes for tired Ryans. Luckily my gut isn't in too much turmoil but I am pretty tired. Everyone else is slowly oozing into work right now. Its going to be a long day. Motorola should just give us Fridays off. That would be the sane thing to do.

Thursday Exercise-8.7 miles bike
Thursday ABCs- The square root of 144

Friday Exercise- 8.7 bike
Friday ABCs- I hope zero.

Its gonna be freakin awesome

You go check this out right now.

Check out this Fuckin Retard

Little Slow Today

UFF. I picked up Juan Stinko at the airport last night, and he took me out for beers afterwords. The beers went down so good I just had to keep drinking once I got home. Next thing I know its 10:30 and I am wasted. I didn't feel like a million dollars this morning, more like a buffalo nickel. Needless to say I didn't get up and ride bike this morning. I think I am gonna donate blood today. I'm about due for an oil change. It will go pretty quick since my blood is so thin, I wonder if it will come out carbonated?

Tuesday ABC's- Too embarrased to admit

New Tune Tuesday

Eh, nothing but a buttload of disappointment this week.

The Velvet Underground- Velvet Underground and Nico. So lately I have been hearing alot about this band, so I figured I would check them out. krap is what it is. It maybe that 40 years ago it was good, but it gives me a headache today. There are maybe 3 listenable songs on the whole disc.

The White Stripes- Icky Thump. Eh, not sure what to say about this one. Now I know a few weeks ago I was bitching about how every song on the Lamb of God album sounded the same, but with the White Stripes, they are all over the board. None of the songs sound alike, which is too bad, because there is actually 2 very good songs on the album. Too much song differentiation=no song pleasurization. This album might grow on me after awhile, but I don't know that I will have the patience to give it that chance.

Monday ABC's= Zero

Tuesday Exercise=8.7 miles bike.

Holy F%$K!!!!!!!

I cannot wait until this game is in my rockstar like hands.

New Gun

Yep, new gun .22 caliber. I wanted to get a gun that could be shot at an indoor range(most ranges don't allow rifles without special($$$) ammunition. I also wanted to get a gun that is a little cheaper to shot. With the current state of the world and its wars, the price of ammo has gone through the roof. Almost all of it has doubled and some tripled within the last year. Except for good old .22lr. Its only gone up a couple bucks. About 10 bucks for 500 rounds. Compared to 20 bucks for 100 rounds of 9mm. I haven't shot it yet, maybe this weekend. Another bonus is that since I bought it from a private citizen I didn't have to register it with the government. Which means big brother doesn't know I have it, so they can't take it away. There's your daily dose of paranoia.

Weigh Day Monday

196. Up a pound from last week. To be expected since I ate and drank like a slob all week. 2 4th of July celebrations, guests, party at other peoples houses, and lack of exercise all combined. I am going to have to get back on it this week. The wife and I did our bike ride this morning, and I am hoping not to drink until bowling.

Congratulations to the Beeker and Squeeker on the birth of thier daughter Valerie. They were married on 2-2-02, and now they have had a kid on 7-7-07. weird.

I did go and see Transformers yesterday. What a great movie. Much better than I expected, and I expected a lot.

Sunday exercise-0
Sunday ABC's- 0

Monday exercise-8.7 miles bike.

After Drunk Guilt

Uff. I haven't had it in awhile, but I am exhibiting strong symptoms this morning. I woke up this morning, with a cloud of embarrassed fuzziness running through my head, knowing that I couldn't quite remember exactly what transpired the evening before. You see, we went over to Jess and Jerrys last night, to have some drinks with them to celebrate them finishing their house. Well, a few turned into a few to many, and next thing you know I am giving one of the hosts the helicopter. Also, it may seem like a good idea in ones head, that once one knows one is going to be mooned as soon as they step out of the bathroom, it is generally NOT a good idea to grab extra strength mouthwash and shoot it at the mooners junk. Especially when the mooner is standing over week old tile. I will feel better once I know that there wasn't any lasting damage to the tile, but as for now I am off to wallow in my guilt.

Friday Funday

I really don't have anything interesting or witty to say. If you have more important things to do I would go do them. Bowling went well last night, 165-141-155. A little over my average on the night. Thats all I can ask. I did good with keeping myself under the legal limit. 2 shots, a beer, and a rum/coke all night. This morning the wife and I got up and did our bike ride. My taint is pretty sore, a person would think a callous would develop sooner or later, but I guess I have never heard of a nacho callous, so maybe they don't. Hopefully today at work will go nice and easy, and the weather will be nice this weekend. Thats it. Oops one other thing, I feel that this report is bullshit. The male part of the studies must have been swayed by peter-like individuals.

Thursday Exercise- 0
Thursday ABC's- 2 shots, 1 beer, 1 rum/coke

Friday Exercise- 8.7 miles bike, hopefully 1 hr mowing the lawn if it isn't cloud-pissing out.

Drought My Ass

Here are some pics for your viewing pleasure.

1 month ago



















Yesterday


Yesterday we had the mother of all rain storms. I don't think I have ever seen it rain that hard since I have been down here. Some of the streets were still flooded this morning. Luckily we don't have any damage, I am glad that lake is behind our house. It did let up in the evening and we were able to launch some fireworks, and watch our neighbors light off theirs. I think I did some serious damage to one of my ears last night. I don't know if I popped an eardrum or not, but it is ringing like a church bell during the pope's birthday party this morning. Worse than rock concert ringing by far. Hopefully it will be better by tomorrow. In unrelated news, Congratulations to Jess and Jerry for being 99.9% done with their house. They have more patience than I can ever hope to have.

Tuesday Exercise: 50 minutes DDR
Tuesday ABC's: 5 beers, 1 margarita

Wednesday Exercise: 9 miles bike
Wednesday ABC's: A fair bit.

Touting Two Treasure Trove's of Tracks on Topical Tune Tuesday

I can do this shit all week long motherfuckers.

Velvet Revolver-Libertad. I haven't even heard this yet and I know its going to be good.

Alabama Thunderpussy-Open Fire. They've got a good sound, but a better name.


Monday exercise- 45 minutes DDR
Monday ABC's- 2 Martini's

Ain't Any Alliteration At All in A.M. Activity.

Just kidding. Weekend Recap starts now. The state of the weekend was good. On Saturday the wife and I didn't get up and ride bike, we were too busy with preparations for the party. It was hot as Hades all weekend, and Saturday Morning was brutal. We finished up with everything around 1 and our Visitors showed up around 1:30. Party People started showing up at around 4 and we started rocking it like a European discotheque. I was planning on going out and starting the fryer when all Hell broke loose and we were stuck right in the middle of a shittocane. It hasn't rained that hard in a long time. Luckily it didn't rain for very long and we were able to get the fryers going in no time. We made cheese curds(excellent), Indian Fry Bread with cinnamon and sugar(excellenter), onion rings(didn't have one, but they were all gone, so they must have been good), and fish(excellent). Everyone brought excellent food for appetizers and snacks as well. An honorable mention goes to the Jer-Bear. He was food runner and errand boy while we were frying. He worked harder than the cooks did. Once it got dark out the explosive fury was unleashed. It was awesome, I will try to post pics later. It was a great party. Cleanup the next day went quick, only taking about 2 hours, and since it was hotter and more humid then the jungles of Vietnam, my hangover was burnt off pretty quick. I can now add hosting a fish fry to my man resume. The cooking portion of the resume is almost complete, all I have left to add is shrimp boil, and pig roast. Those can wait a couple years though.

Friday ABC's- 6 beers
Friday exercise- Nyet

Saturday ABC's- 1 billion
Saturday Exercise- nope

Sunday ABC's- 10 beers, 1 whiskey coke
Sunday Exercise- Zero