~E~ 06

Ah yes, it was that time again... Time to head out to where the deer and the antelope play... Time to russle up some grub and corral some cattle... Here's the pix to prove we were at the Flying E in 2006.

This year there were two cookouts.. the second one had a cowpoke that knew every cowboy song there is (tumble'n tumbleweeds to red river valley to folsom prison blues!) he also recited this poem called Reincarnation, that i thought was this side of awesome.

It was great to spend time with the in-laws and kids... you gotta see that Eleanor.. she's sooooo cute! And Clare can play checkers and chess... she's a MASTERMIND!

We also walked around downtown Tempe, AZ, home of Arizona State University and Sparky the sun devil who is the best mascot ever... esp. since the school is deep in mormon country. Tempe is also home to one of my alltime favorite bands... THE REFRESHMENTS!

This band only had two cds before they split up, but there is not one bad song betwixt the two of 'em. Two masterpieces... but the second one wasn't as well received, so the record company pulled the plug. The lead singer Roger Clyne has started up another folksier band called The Peacemakers which I will check out and get back to you.

Knowing you, dear imaginary reader, you'll want to know which record you should immediately run out and buy... and dear sir/madam/Liz Hurley, I say you should buy the poppy first cd Fizzy Fuzzy Big and Buzzy...

this came out when i was in 8th grade and it blew my mind.. i had just come over to the dark side of rock and was listen'n to weezer and the pumpkins... although my sister and ma didn't see the light and were listen'n to country (but GOOD country, albeit i didn't know it at the time).. this band seemed to be a good compromise and they didn't mind listen'n.. and listen they did.. this cd was on repeat all summer '97.

so the ranch is good... cowboys are good.. and sing'n cowboys KICK ASS! i shoulda been a cowboy.... oh toby keith... what a great song from a huge douchebag.

til next time...

Toy Story Vs Requiem For A Dream

Hey Y'All!

Back from the desert and ready to rock and roll... maybe actually post something. Here's what we have upcoming:

PLANES AND A COUSIN!
The Flying ~E~
CD Reviews of Justin Jones
Podcast Reviews
Books! Life is So Good, Empire Falls, and ...Dog at Night

But for now, here are two of my favorite stories brought together in surprising results!

See what happens when Toy Story Vs Requiem For A Dream.

Amazing how they really synched up the vocals!

The Proof is Within

A very busy weekend was had by all as my cousin Garry visited this past weekend. Once I shutterfly the pix, you will know all about it! This weekend did prove two things, first and most important is the fact that you can verb just about any website... like google or shutterfly.

Stinky Pete: Hey man, don't live in such prevarication!
LuLu The Dancing Panda: I have no idea what that word means...
Stinky Pete: Why don't you Google it!
LuLu The Dancing Panda: And i'm a talking and dancing panda bear, why don't you take a picture and shutterfly it?

The second thing was that everything changes. Change was the main theme of Garry's visit, and then i picked up a book that was all aboooot change. It is one of my father-in-law's favorite books called Who Moved My Cheese. It's a simple and very easy read, i finished it in about an hour and a half. It's a simple tale of two mice and two tiny humans who live in a maze and one day are faced with change: someone moves their cheese. Reactions vary from quick adjustment to waiting for the situation to change by itself to suit their needs. This story is about adjusting attitudes toward change in life, especially at work. How these guys got so small and why they're in the maze and even how their tale got out from the maze is not explained. And neither is the tale of when the cheese runs out and the two little guys kill and eat the two giant mice and then fall in love just like Brokeback Mountain. (sorry.. cheap joke).

Also here's a nifty little quiz to help further your view of inner-self (the results might surprise ya): PersonalDNA | Your True Self Revealed - Fast Fun Free Personality Tests

Only This Moment

This weekend my cousin GARRY is visiting!!!!!!!!!!!! We love visitors! He comes to us from the merry 'ol land of Athens. Yes... THAT Athens. The land of long nights and early hangovers. The land of green and white, where you study for exams all night. This, the second day of spring, makes me nostalgic for spring quarter at OU. The fun at Stroud's Run, trips to Lancaster, a Smashing Pumpkins concert in Dayton where we stayed at the fabulous Mr. Nick Rediger's house... oh yeah.. and all the girls with no clothes on. that was cool too.

The end of my freshman year at OU, as I waited for my family to pick me up, I surfed around on the internet and fell in love with Mysterious Mose.

Found on my favorite site at the moment, Transbuddha, it was a great flashback to really take me back to Athens. Then i realized i was sitting in an empty dorm room and, although i had more hair, i was BROKE and had no PlayStation 2... AND I WASN'T MARRIED!! EEEEEEKKKKK! so then i came back to the present and happily sold more drywall and called my wonderful wife.

werd?

werd.

STAND UP

Over the past few months it seems that my friends, family, and co-workers have really gotten depressed. Although i know most of the symptoms and stories, these are unimportant (for the sake of confidentiality and brevity, not because the issues themselves are unimportant).

my road to self-confidence is a long one. i'm not naturally self-confident, as it seems my sister received all of those genes. it has been a long and hard process to get to this point, and i've cheated a tad with the help of Kate who really sped up this process. but even in the times without Kate, say when she was in denmark or when i was in Germany... these were times of great self-awareness and growth due to the fact that i was open to change. during my youth i HATED change. say for example if we went to the county fair and a booth had moved, i'd be in a bad mood for the rest of the week. it HAD to be the same. i now have come to the conclusion that this was a mask and i now embrace change (like a change in government... but i digress).

here is a poem that i would love to share with all my friends suffering from self-doubt, weather it be from rejection, job-related stress, or just feeling blue.

Invictus
by William Ernest Henley; 1849-1903


Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.


In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.


Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.


It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate;
I am the captain of my soul.


you can't get more kick ass than that! the POWER IS INSIDE! go forth and kick ass. if you need support.. just ask.. you maybe surprised by who around you responds. there is no such thing as a lone wolf.. for they die. find your pack and conquer.

RIP EDGAR STILES

EDGAR DIED!
I can't believe they killed one half of the 2 best characters on that show! Chloe being the bitchier half of the Potato Face/Truffle Shuffle tagteam that saves Jack's ass more times in 60 minutes on 24 than you or I breathe.

24 is officially the "show I love to hate". I hate the president for being such a freak'n whiny bitch. I hate how everyone is unable to talk about their feelings person to person, but get the feelings through uninterested third parties. I hate freedom-hating terrorists. Yet somehow, I sit down and watch it every week. It could be because Jack is the baddest-ass thing to hit TV since Arsenio Hall, or Chloe and Edgar's "I-HACK-A-TRI-BETA-SL4-SERIES-CODE-BETTER-THAN-YOU" give-and-take is funnier on accident than Dane Cook is on purpose.

Now they've taken away Edgar, that loveable tub of lard. His death made Kate cry! As Kate's husband, I'm avowed to punch anything in the nose that makes my wife cry...and since 24 doesn't have a nose, I'll keep watching til it does.

MORPHED

A new look! Just like these obviously photoshopped animals have morphed, so has this blog.

I hope to focus and post more on philosophy and book/movies/music/art-in-general reviews. Hopefully a clearer focus makes for more entertaining and less random posts (but prolly not).

Hope you enjoy and here are some more posts to look forward to:

-Phun in Puerto Rico
-New Music Check Outs (including Bella Fleck and the Flecktones, The Bravery and Stankfüt)
-BOOOOoookk Review (The Plot Against America, Night and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night)
-Destination Alienation
-Legos! What can't you do with them?
-My Humps, my lovely lady lumps

YAY!

Since Last We Spoke

Lots going on... including getting 13" of snow dumped on us last Saturday. It was AWESOME!

So the freak'n steelers won the super bowl... whoopie doo... best thing to come out of it is that it could have broke Chris Edwards long depression. He also looks like the taco bell guy.. check out his blog under "THE REDHEAD"

Do ya like T-Shirts? or as i like to call them T-Shits.. HAHAHAHAHA.. anyways.. Busted Tees are great! My fav is the "Sex, do it for the kids" shit... i mean shirt.. har har har..

Next week we'll be in Puerto Rico for some well deserved rest. After that I plan to do a site rennovation and start posting more and stop playing soo many video games.

RULE OF THREE

Movie: WE'VE WATCHED SOOO many lately.. here's the best ones so far:
Taxi Driver & Raging Bull (for a violent DeNiro kick)
Mad Hot Ballroom
Grizzly Man

Music: Death Cab for Cutie: Plans

Book:
The Mists of Avalon-- shows just how retarded early Christianity really was... and how any dogma based on superstition sucks.

Of Plays and Postal Services

hey there Aught-Sixers,

there is life after fantasy football... my team, after being 12 out of 12 all year, made a heroic break at the end and ended up dead center at 6 of 12. pretty sweet start to my first time playing. not as good as 1st of course, my co-worker has that and constantly reminds me of it. i'm thinking about not inviting him to the league next year...

so what's up you say? TONS! last weekend was our anniversary celebration weekend. Kate and I developed a plan where one gets the joy of planning the anniversary each year and I started this year off. We had an executive suite downtown at the historic Watergate Hotel. It was great and the room was huge and we even got awakened by Republican storm troopers looking for Democratic documents at no extra charge!

We also went and saw "Shear Madness" at the Kennedy Center after eating at La Chaumerie in Georgetown. It was a RIOT and i can see why it's the longest running off broadway play. It is a loose script, meaning the actors do a lot of improv throughout the play. The actors kept cracking up at their own jokes... some at the audience's expense. one actress said to the lady in the row in front of us "yeah.. i got these cheap shears from KMart... the same place where you got that sweater." And the audience gets to pick the ending of the play. very cool

So that was the big deal this past weekend, other than that it's been work, work, and some work on the side. but here's something i haven't done in a while:

Rule of Three

Music: The Postal Service and no it's not just where my mom works...








It's pretty amazing... this band could almost be called "Nintendo Power" due to the fact that it sounds like the lead singer goes down pipes and collects coins throughout his songs. but check out these lyrics.. they're crazy!



Sleeping In

Again last night I had that strange dream
Where everything was exactly how it seemed
Where concerns about the world getting warmer
The people thought they were just being rewarded
For treating others as they'd like to be treated
For obeying stop signs and curing diseases
For mailing letters with the address of the sender
Now we can swim any day in November

awesome. haven't felt like this about a cd since Smashing Pumpkins Melon Collie and Infinite Sadness

Book:


















Kate got me this for my birthday. Wives rock!

Movie/Play: Shear Madness

Best of 2005

I know I'm late in this... but i was too busy writing up Time and People's lists... so you can just read these sucka,

Best Away Message:
"Apparently 1 in 5 people in the world are Chinese. And there are 5 people in my family,so it must be one of them. It's either my mum or my dad. Or my older brother Colin. Or my younger brother Ho-Chan Chu. But I think it's Colin."

Most Addictive Song:
DevilDucky - Banana Phone

Most Enlightening:
Lao Tsu

Best Lip Synch since Brittney Spears:
Numanuma

Best Blogger in terms of Update:
Emotional Toothpaste

Worst Blogger in terms of Update:
EAG

Best Retro-Blog:
DCW

Best Post:
Kimmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Best Album:
Demon Days

Best Book:
A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin tied with Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys

Best Movie:
Murderball

Best Website In General:
Wikipedia

Best Redesign/Shameless Plug/Sexiest Website Content Manager:
EquiSearch.com

Almost as addicting as video games or crack:
Facebook

So i think i covered everything... good times had by most in 2005 unless you were living in Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, or New Orleans... but here's to 2006! oh... which reminds me...

Best Graduating Class EVER:
Class of 6-6-06

Happy Birthday

Happy birthday to Luke
Happy birthday to Luke
Happy birthday, dear Luuuuuke
Happy birthday to you!

Down on the farm they all ask for Luke...
The cows ask, the chickens ask, the horses ask (horse's ass) for Luke!

Happy 24th Birthday, Luke!!
Love, Kate
(aka "Your Blog-Stealin' Wife with the Mad Photoshop Skillz")

GEOGRAPHY IS FUN!

Okay MR Huffypants... think you have the solution and can create Peace in the Middle East? The try Rethinking Schools - Just For Fun Map Game and name the countries... I couldn't. This reaffirms the fact that Americans are idiots when it comes to geography... mainly cause it doesn't affect us directly.

OpinionJournal - Faith in Theory

Why "intelligent design" simply isn't science. BY JAMES Q. WILSON

"When a federal judge in Pennsylvania struck down the efforts of a local school board to teach 'intelligent design,' he rightly criticized the wholly unscientific nature of that enterprise. Some people will disagree with his view, arguing that evolution is a 'theory' and intelligent design is a 'theory,' so students should look at both theories.

But this view confuses the meaning of the word 'theory.' In science, a theory states a relationship between two or more things (scientists like to call them 'variables') that can be tested by factual observations. We have a 'theory of gravity' that predicts the speed at which two objects will fall toward one another, the path on which a satellite must travel if it is to maintain a constant distance from the earth, and the position that a moon will keep with respect to its associated planet."

Now I believe in God and that He/She acts in our daily lives and shapes things. I also believe that we are created in God's image. So knowing these two facts, why can't fundies put these two together and say that "evolution is a tool of the divine" and have faith that humans are smart enough to understand the basic operating principles of God (albeit not how the common woodthrush has 16 different subspecies).

Another thought by Darwin, "Humans are almost exclusive in the fact that they can learn from another's experiences, but rarely do it."

WERD

GOOD STUFF PEOPLE!! ELEANOR MARGARET HEINBAUGH is Kate and my's new niece! She was born 12-19-05 to Margaret and Andrew here in DC. She was 8lbs 10oz, 21" long and her and mama are doing fine! AWESOME! YAY FOR KIDS!

Your 2005 Song Is

Beverly Hills by Weezer "My automobile is a piece of crap My fashion sense is a little whack And my friends are just as screwy as me" You breezed through 2005 in your own funky style!

What Hit Song of 2005 Are You?

Theory of Engagement

I have realized that i am many things. for one, i'm inherently violent but try to repress it. i try to be peaceful, but i can be more peaceful if i acknowledge the other half. this realization has led me to my theory of engagement, ergo how i feel that people engage their problems. i will use military terminology from here on out, so my apologies.

there are a million ways to attack an opponent, and all are viable given the situation, but i will highlight just two ways to justify my point.

how i engage my problems or opponents is that i do not want a close game. no last second shots, no sliding into home after a 2 and 3 count, none of that because that does not leave room for error. i LOVE complete and total devastation of my opponents. i engage my problems with that zeal and destroy it and then burn the village, kill the witnesses and salt the ground. that way there is no way for any problems to pop up from this as there is nothing left. that is my way.

the opposite way of this is a sort of hit and run style. a guerilla warfare sort where one runs from their problems and will only fight them when they are corner, and they will fight them just long enough to escape. in this way the problems will only mount and get stronger and fuel any other problems one has.

Personally i find that many people choose the guerilla because it is easier but it is these same people who complain about the same things.

are there other ways to engage problems? sure! but keep in mind what General George S. Patton said, "No one has ever won a war by dying for his country... You win wars by making the other guy die for his country."

good words to live by, esp. in business.

THE DIET OF WORMS

Burn the Witch

Old Grandma Hard Core

It's not just a kinky website anymore! Now it's about a Grandma in the Cleveland area who plays her weight in video games! From the blog description itself: "This blog is the chronicle of my experiences with Grandma, the video-game playing queen of her age-bracket and weight class. She will beat any PS2, XBox, GameCube, etc., console game put in front of her, just like she always has."

Here is the WashingtonPost.com article that tipped us off to this marvelous person (what, you think we just search for old grandma hardcore all the time on google? maybe)

and finally some random fun if you like chicks on motorcycles!

Have you seen this shit?!

World Opinion Roundup -- Jefferson Morley's Review of Opinions and Commentary on News Around the World - washingtonpost.com: "U.K.: Media Gag Order Over Leaked Memo"

They want to bomb the Arab TV station al Aljazeera. Hey, let's bomb our friends to see if they're still going to be our friends afterwards. W is a HUGE moron and why he isn't kicked out of office because of this shit is beyond me. you wanna kick a man out who's cheating on his wife (which is very BAD) but a man who starts wars and LIES... we'll keep him.

Weeze

tons going on... must update you all soon. but until then enjoy another quirky Weezer Video! love that TransBuddha!

in this video, Rivers is surprisingly normal looking. i dunno which is more disturbing, the fact that he's 179% certifiably weird or that he can fake "normal-run-o-da-mill" geek rocker so well.

Octacular October

whew... man o man were we busy in the past couple weeks. Sorry dear constant and fictitious reader for the lack of posts. try to keep up here.

Went to Cavalia, which is a show from Normand Latourelle, one of the originators of the famed Cirque de Soleil. It is like a bunch of horses running through the Pottery Barn at midnight. i LOVED it. it meshed music and art with big stinky (albeit beautiful) animals that could trample you to death and poo on your dismembered corpse. i've seen a lot of horsie things with my horse-crazed mom, sis and wife, but this was by far my favorite.

Then we went to see the Washington International Horse Show, held every year at the MCI Center downtown. It was pretty wild to see horses trotting up and down 6th street but even wilder to see them where the Wizards or Capitals should be playing. there were a ton of events including a terrier race that was AWESOME. Imagine a gaggle of yappy jack russells tearing ass across a bball court after a smelly fox tail, bounding over jumps and ramps and crashing through hay bales. stunning. then came the nail-biter of the evening, the Puissance (which is a funny french word meaning ulcer). the whole goal of the puissance is to give everyone in the audience post-traumatic stress disorder by jumping horses over a 7 foot high wall. the winner jumped 7'5". INSANITY!

oh.. and there was a hip hop choir which sang the main song from Rent. I love Rent.

THEN WE HAD A PARTY! yay! It was a ton of fun and i hope next year to do the same thing and pack the house. it was a blast. here are the pix from the party.

goodbye halloween! see you next year!