Blog Making Media Sensation

Song of the Decade

2009-12-31T23:59:00.002-06:00

Those of you who know me well won't find this a shock. The song of the decade, hands down, goes to R. Kelly's "Real Talk."

I imagine he got in the studio, and did the song. The producer is thinking, "Wow, this is a crazy mic check! I'm glad I'm recording this, it's hilarious."

Then R. Kelly says, "That's a wrap!" and walks out of the studio. The producer is left stunned and goes on mixing down the track, dumbfounded.

Part comedy, part genius, totally the best single song of the decade.

Top 5 Top 40 Guilty Pleasures of 2009

2009-12-31T19:21:00.000-06:00

1. Jason Derulo - Whatcha Say

Catchiest hook of the year by far. Plus it has the fantastic excuse for cheating, "I was caught up in her hot lust." Oh, that makes it OK.

2. Miley Cyrus - Party in the USA

The more embarrassing a song is, the guiltier the pleasure. Does it help that I didn't know it was a Miley Cyrus song for weeks? Probably not.

3. T.I. - Live Your Life (feat. Rhianna)

I know, I know, it officially came out in Fall 2008, but they played it on the radio well into the new year, so I think it still counts. Anyone who was my Myspace friend in 2006 knows I love the Numa Numa video and the O-Zone song that spawned it is sampled here, so obviously I love the T.I. version as well.

4. Iyaz - Replay

Is it just me, or did they slow down the chorus for this song and re-release it a week or so later? Anyway, still super catchy.

5. Sean Kingston - Fire Burnin' on the Dancefloor

The chorus is just silly, which might be why I like it so much. I saw this video on MTV right before we moved to Iowa. This song was not played on the radio nearly enough.

Oblio Joes Live on KBGA 12-08-2004

2009-12-31T14:05:00.005-06:00

Tonight, one of my favorite bands ever is playing a reunion show. I'll be about a thousand miles away. Lame.

So to get my Oblio Joes fix, I digitized an old concert I taped off the radio in 2004. I had to work that night, so I brought a cassette to work and recorded the broadcast with a crappy radio. I forgot about it until we moved and I looked through my old tapes.

Anyway, here it is. It isn't the best sound quality, but if you're like me and can't make it to Missoula tonight for the reunion, it will do just fine.

Bun in the Oven

2009-12-27T23:47:00.004-06:00

If you hadn't already heard, Darcy and I are expecting.

We're about 15 weeks along, and are now busy reading baby books and trying to come up with good names. I've suggested Luffa for either a boy or girl, but it looks like a no go. Go ahead and use it for your next child. Hopefully I won't regret giving it up and end up with a George Costanza/7 situation.

We waited to share the news until we got a glimpse of the kid at our first ultrasound, I packed my thumb drive, hoping to snag a few of the pictures, but the hospital recently upgraded to a new machine, and they were able to burn me a CD on the spot! Complete with video:

The next Miller is on the way. Watch out world!

When life gives you lemons, preserve those lemons

2009-10-21T21:15:00.000-05:00

Back in Missoula, I visited The Silk Road as often as I could before moving. One night we ordered an appetizer of warmed olives, pretty standard. But these olives came with tiny slices of preserved lemons. They were awesome. I had to have more, but I haven't seen them on any menu since. I decided to take matters into my own hands.

I gathered:

3 Lemons (any type will do, but I'm told Meyer Lemons are the way to go)
Canning and Pickling Salt
A large sized canning jar
Water

Then I cut off the nubs on the sides of the lemons and scored the skin about 8 times on each lemon from one severed nub to the other. I added 1/3 cup salt to 6 cups of water and brought that to a boil. Then I boiled the lemons for 8 minutes and turned the heat off. I left them in the warm water for another 30 minutes. I dropped the lemons in the jar and then poured the water I boiled them in over the top, completely covering them. Then I put the top on and screwed down the ring and waited. And waited. Each day I flipped the jar so the salt wouldn't settle. I'm told you can also shake the jar everyday. After 7 days, I pried off the lid and tasted.

Delicious. Not too salty and still tart.

Now I just need to figure out what to use them for. They aren't really just snack food by themselves. They factor heavily in Moroccan cuisine, so I'll have to do some research and figure out what I can make with these awesome preserved lemons.

Webolution

2009-10-19T11:02:00.002-05:00

When I woke up this morning, I remembered the word webolution from my dream. I thought it was a funny word, so I made this (less-funny) comic.

Free Hip Hop Albums

2009-10-12T21:22:00.004-05:00

It isn't radical to post an album for free online anymore. It's risky, but more and more, it is becoming the best way to get your name out there. In an environment where the music industry seems to care more about profit and selling ringtones to tweens than enabling artists to create art, it seems more and more artists are forging a name for themselves and posting albums online.

The problem is, most of it really sucks. These two albums don't. You should check them out.

Debaser - Back to Work

Debaser is Sapient and Ethic from the mighty Sandpeople crew from Portland. Sapient just might be the hardest working emcee/producer in Hip Hop. This is the second of three albums he's giving away in as many months. That's on top of a solo album, a Sandpeople EP, and an upcoming collaboration with Luckyiam from the Living Legends.

The album features guest appearances by the aforementioned Luckyiam, Illmaculate (Sandpeople), Rasco (from Cali Agents), and Phat Kat, but the real stars of the album are Debaser themselves. Fantastic wordplay and banging production. It's easy to see how hungry these two are. Listening to the album makes you hope they break through, there aren't many who deserve it more.

Download it here.

The Slew - 100%

Here's the story, Kid Koala and Dynomite D were set to produce the soundtrack to a movie. The movie never happened. Never will. The two enlisted the help of the rhythm section of Wolfmother to perform the album on a one off tour. 100% is a psych-rock infused journey to an alternate reality. DJs are guitar wielding rock stars, disembodied voices of blues singers drop knowledge, and nothing is quite what it seems.

Strangely enough, it's one of Kid Koala's most accessible albums to date. They gave away the album so people would have more fun at the live shows, which have now ended. But don't think this is a live-only experience. 100% is one of the most original recordings I've heard in a long, long time.

Download it here.

I made a comic strip.

2009-10-07T17:20:00.004-05:00

My library will hopefully have access to a mobile laptop lab in the coming year. I was looking at some possible uses for it, and came across the Bitstrip website. I can't really "do art" very well, so this site is my only hope of having my own comic strip. It's so easy kids could dive right in and have a blast. And there's the bonus of the site being relying heavily on social networking and remixing. If there's one thing newspapers and morning shows have taught me, it's that the kids these days love social networking. So, there's my first idea for uses of the lab, a "Make your own comic" workshop for kids.

I figured I should practice using the site if I'm going to be helping kids with it, so I created my first comic! I think it's pretty neat. You might disagree.

It looks like it will be just a tease on this blog, so click the picture to see the exciting conclusion!

Welcome to The House of Lords

2009-10-05T21:03:00.004-05:00

Darcy and I were in Iowa City a few weeks ago with my parents. We ended up staying in a lightly themed motel, because theme hotels always beat out non-theme motels. Seriously.

When my parents hit the sack, we decided to venture downstairs to "The House of Lords." The look of excitement on Darcy's face is entirely warranted.

After opening the doors, you are greeted by this glorious water wheel. I didn't think a picture was enough, so here's video. Yes, that is a moat.

Behind the bar is a view of the deep end of the swimming pool a la the Sip n' Dip in Great Falls, MT. There isn't a mermaid, or a lounge piano player, but this place is great.

We ordered a couple of beers, and the bartender matter-of-factly asked, "You want a glass or goblet?" Obviously we chose a goblet. Given the choice, you always choose the goblet.

All the drinks had medieval names, and one, called the "Bell-ringer," boasted a $150 price tag. It appeared to be some sort of punch bowl. I wish we had the money and the stamina to order it, but it will have to wait for another time. Any takers? We'll drive you out, you buy the drink!

I'm also a sucker for funny bathroom names.

It might not be quite as awesome as the Sip n' Dip, but what bar even holds a candle to that place? The House of Lords was worth the trip, and we'll be back for sure.

100 Posts in 3 years

2009-09-01T17:47:00.003-05:00

So, I'm not the most prolific with this whole blog thing. I feel like I've posted more than that, but I assume that has to do with the 300 or so posts I logged while working for Missoula Public Library. Or the 500 or so Top 5's I posted on Myspace.

For your information I am still very active on these social media platforms:

Twitter - Learn more about my daily doings than you really care to.

Facebook - This is like my invite-only email service.

Last.fm - I'm not listening to everything alphabetically, but you can see what I'm listening to by checking here. Just be aware that I'm not the one listening to Sufjan Stevens over and over again. That would be my lovely wife while I'm at work.

I rarely, if ever am active on:

Flickr - I'm almost at the 200 picture limit, and don't know if I want to pay for the premium service.

Myspace - Until/If I have more music to share, this space will host tumbleweeds, and nothing new.

Hope you'll stick around for the next 100 here.

Ready, Aim, Fire Pit

2009-08-31T19:03:00.009-05:00

This weekend we built a fire pit in our backyard. Granted, it isn't the biggest or most impresive fire pit you've ever seen, but it works and only cost about 20 bucks for materials and took less than an hour.

First we found a relatively flat area of our yard that was a safe distance away from the garage, bushes, trees, etc. and laid out our stones to form a circle. We marked ground inside the stones with the shovel and moved them away.

That made it easier to dig our hole. I dug down about a foot, trying to keep the walls as straight as possible.

Inside the first hole, I dug a second hole another 8 inches or so down. Doing this, I'm told, creates a sump which aides in draining your fire pit. The draining is the most important part, otherwise you could just dig a shallow hole and be done with it.

Then I added a bag of pea gravel. I filled it up to roughly 4 inches from the top. The gravel will allow water to drain.

Then I covered the gravel with a healthy amout of sand and replaced the stones, and it was done. One of the easiest weekend projects ever.

Of course, I didn't just come up with the idea myself. I used the Google to find a great resource walking me through the construction. I think we'll call it, "The Little Fire Pit that Could."

So, would you like "The Tour?"

2009-08-29T17:57:00.006-05:00

"No. I get it." - Larry David.

We've finally gotten all settled here in Slater, Iowa. This is our awesome house. I love being a homeowner, but I hate property taxes. We live kinda on the edge of town. The street that runs in front of our house is by far the busiest in Slater. About three blocks from our place it turns into a highway that runs 9 miles north to Ames, home of Iowa State University and the Cyclones. People are really, really into college sports here. I think I'll stay out of it.

Here's the backyard and our oldest tree. Unfortunately the wind usually blows in the direction that would make the tree fall on our house in a big storm. It's still a sturdy tree, but we'll have to cut it down in the foreseeable future. Storms in the midwest are way different than Montana storms. The wind is crazy and the thunder is louder than I've ever heard.

Darcy and her mom painted the kitchen last week. Before it was a mint green. It looks waaaay better now than it did.

We picked this metal table up in Des Moines, which is about 20 miles to the south.

This table also came from Des Moines. The awesome China hutch came with the house. And here is photographic proof that Jeffreys survived the 18 hour car ride from Missoula. He did really well for the first 17 hours, then got ansy and scared for the last hour. All in all he made the trip like a real trooper.

Owning a couch set makes me feel really old. But they're really comfortable, so who cares. We also go to bed around 10:30 most nights. Uh oh.

We finally got our entertainment center hooked up and the speakers are fully operational. It's good to be vindicated after hauling heavy speakers accross the country. Darcy admits they sound better than the TV.

Upstairs we just have 4 rooms. They're pretty boring and not really ready to make their debut yet. Once they're painted and set up, you'll see them.

Life Changes

2009-06-14T14:54:00.003-05:00

I've been hired as a library director in Slater, IA. Darcy and I just bought a house there. Right now we're living in our apartment with all of our belongings packed away, so it feels a lot like camping. Camping with TV and the Internet.

We move away from Missoula on the 25th of this month. You can see me at 4 pm this Friday (6/19) at the library for a cake and punch reception. Or just give me a call and we'll grab a last drink before I leave town.

When I do leave, the best way to follow my adventures would be to follow me on Twitter. I'll be posting there throughout the drive and almost exclusively until we get connected to the tubes of the Internets at our new place. Twitter is another life change I made recently. It's lame, but it's easy and I can clog the tubes via cell phone now.

A Long Grilling Weekend

2009-05-26T18:04:00.004-05:00

Memorial Day weekend is synonymous with the start of summer, and the best way to really celebrate is to spend as much time in front of a grill cooking as possible, and of course, to remember those who have served our country. So, that's what we did this weekend.

Saturday we got things started by realizing one of my biggest goals in the field of BBQ: grilling a pizza. We got up that morning and picked up some fresh Basil at the Farmer's Market and then went on to Le Petit to pick up some delicious pizza dough. Darcy and I were having some trouble with the dough, but luckily Pat showed up and put some of his restaurant experience to good use and got our dough ready to go down on the grill.

If you try this at home, be sure you oil your grill well. You don't want the pizza dough to stick to the grill, because then you're not going to get any pizza. I'd also recommend getting the grill really hot on only one side and leaving the other side to cook with indirect heat. That way you can quickly get the dough cooked and then add your toppings, which I would recommend cooking on the grill before you even start thinking about the crust. When the dough is done, move it to the side without charcoal, add your toppings and cheese, close the grill and let that cheese get nice and gooey.

We ended up making 4 kinds of pizza. BBQ Chicken which used BBQ Sauce, Chicken, Corn and Black Beans, A Tomato, Basil and Balsamic Vinegar pizza, A "Salsa pizza" with cilantro, onions, corn, black beans and tomato, and a veggie Italian sausage pizza with Basil. They were all delicious.

We grilled again on Memorial Day proper, sticking mainly to the usual BBQ fare of Catfish, Buffalo Sirloin Steak, Chicken and Hot Dogs, but experimenting a little bit by making stuffed mushrooms. The idea originated one night when Pat and I decided we should make Jalapeno poppers on the grill someday. One problem, the store was suspiciously out of Jalapenos on Memorial Day, so we picked up mushrooms, bacon, Serrano peppers and a hot red pepper and got to work.

We sauteed everything together in bacon grease on the stove and then added some bread crumbs and water to make stuffing.

Then we put the mushrooms on the grill and topped each one off with some Romano cheese. They turned out fantastically. Nice and spicy but also really flavorful.

This weekend was really about trying some new things on the grill. I think both pizza and stuffed mushrooms will be included in my BBQ repertoire. It was a good weekend!

Grilling in a Big Way

2009-05-19T12:50:00.003-05:00

Nice weather has finally arrived in Missoula. That means more Barbeque in a big way. Don't get me wrong, I don't put away the grill in the winter, but when the weather gets nice I tend to grill way more, pretty much everyday.

This weekend was a great kickoff. On Saturday night we grilled up some kebobs to repay our friends for an awesome campfire the night before. We had red peppers, red onion, mushroom, potatoes and both sirloin AND buffalo kebobs. It was delicious. I also prepared one of my new grill favorites, spicy green beans. I take green beans and add lemon juice, red pepper flakes and garlic, wrap them in aluminum foil and let them steam up on the grill. You can't see them in the picture, because they're kinda boring to look at on the grill, so just enjoy the vibrant colors of all the veggies.

Then on Sunday night, Pat came over and we made sliders. We decided to each season half. I went with an Asian flair and used garlic, ginger, soy sauce, cayanne pepper and my secret ingredient seasame seeds. Pat went with chopped onion, salt, pepper, and a generous amount of Sriracha. We seasoned the buns, toasted them up and topped the burgers with Provalone and lettuce. They were sensational.

All said we had nine burgers to eat, but we finished them all. It took a while, but we got there.

Next weekend is Memorial Day, so the grilling isn't going to stop anytime soon.

Earth Week, End

2009-04-25T02:22:00.004-05:00

It seems our drink choices for tonight were color co-ordinated. I'm just glad this didn't happen on St. Patricks Day.

By the by, I've decided to put the iTunes listening on hiatus until further notice. I'm listening to Tripping Daisy's "Jesus Hits Like an Atom Bomb" right now and I couldn't be happier. Rules are for fools.

Top 5 Records I Picked Up Today

2009-04-20T19:26:00.005-05:00

I got my record collection up to speed today. For the first time in a long while I actually went out and spent a substantial amount of money on some vinyl at my favorite record store in the world, Ear Candy. Here's a look at the cream of the crop:

1. The Supreme Genius of King Khan and the Shrines

I can't believe it took me this long to get into King Khan. Reminds me of Jon Spencer Blues Explosion in their prime. This will be one of my summer jams.

2. Metal Attack: The Cream of Hard Rock

A limited edition, colored vinyl from Germany circa 1982. Features Motorhead, Judas Priest, Twisted Sister, etc. Plus there's a guy on the front with a screaming shield.

3. Fucked Up - No Epiphany 7"

Awesome band, awesome track. Plus the flip side is a No Age remix of said track. Should be listened to loud to really get the full effect.

4. Josh Martinez - The World Famous Sex Buffet

Josh Martinez is one of my favorite rappers of all time. I was going to wait on this, until I noticed that one of my good friends, Elliot B., produced the last track on the album.

5. Vile Blue Shades - John Thursday California Adventure

Vile Blue Shades, from Salt Lake City, comes through town on a regular basis. So much so that this album was put out through Wäntage USA. They always put on a great show, and this is the first record I've heard from them that really capture it. My only gripe is that the "mp3" download the album promises is actually a Windows Media Audo download. Laaaaame.

Egg-celent

2009-04-05T21:35:00.002-05:00

On Saturday we dyed some awesome Easter eggs. Using vinegar with the little capsules makes the colors super bright. These are my favorite eggs I made, plus Darcy's adorable little Jeffreys egg.

Our Cat - The Gourmet

2009-04-04T01:21:00.003-05:00

This was Jeffreys treat this evening. Yeah, he's ballin'.

Now That's What I Call Breakfast

2009-03-29T13:56:00.003-05:00

May I present to you Peppered Bacon and a Garlic, Mushroom, Egg and Cheese Scramble. It was one of my best breakfasts in quite a while.

Massive Wrap Up (Part 1)

2009-03-26T21:24:00.004-05:00

It's been a little bit since I've updated. I'm waaaaaay behind in posting reviews of what I've been listening to, so I'm going to give each artist a bite-sized wrap up so I can feel up to date.

Blondie - All of Deborah "Don't call me Debbie" Harry's tracks are fantastic. Not taking anything away from the rest of the group, but she's really the shining star. Plus, she released the first ever rap song to reach mainstream America in "Rapture." Even their strange album, "Curse of Blondie" is surprisingly listenable.

The Blood Brothers - Awful. Why do I have crap like this on my computer? Maybe a better question, why don't I delete crap like this? I'm not sure, my go to answer is always, "space is cheap," which is true.

The Bloodhound Gang - Embarrassing. I'll admit to getting some juvenile kicks out of "One Fierce Beer Coaster" when I was in middle school. But why do I have their new album? Even I'll never know.

Blueprint - 1988 is a pretty solid Hip-hop album. It reminds me of, well, 1988. It has the Boom-Bap feel and his lyrics are pretty good. I'm still trying to remember who knocked him out for selling him a used beat at Scribble Jam years ago. Anyone?

Blurum 13 - I got their first album because it featured production by Kid Koala and DJ Vadim, but think that Killah Platapus might be one of the most slept on rappers in history. Look him up! (You might not find anything though...)

...to be continued

Two Things I Don't Trust Without Cords: Phones and Marionettes

2009-03-04T22:21:00.006-06:00

The title of this post was from the movie "The Rocker" which I expected to hate, but strangely didn't. As a sign of my old(ish) age, I identified with Riann Wilson's character and hated the kids. Although, I would expect everyone my age, and also everyone who watches the Office, to do the same.

I have a new phone. It is much, much sleeker than my old phone. I never thought I'd see the day when I had a phone this fancy, but then again, I never thought I'd see the day that I would turn my back on Myspace. I must have outgrown it. I did post more than 500 blogs there, but that's all in the past now. So, I am officially moving my Top 5 blog here to blogspot.

Top 5 Reasons My New Phone is Awesome (when compared to my old phone)

I can receive and SEND text messages (and see who they're from!).
Crossing the State line no longer means I'm without a phone.
This phone takes pictures and I can listen to music on it.
It looks cool. Seriously, look at that handsome, sliding wünderphone up there.
I could someday use it for email. Someday. When I have lots and lots of spare cash.

Oh, and while writing this post I came up with the name for my (now, since I came up with the name) inevitable heavy metal side project:

ALT-0252

Confused? Just open a blank document, hold down the alt key and type 0252 and see what happens.

Hey Dude Ranch

2009-02-25T13:09:00.003-06:00

I only wish this post focused on Hey Dude. Instead, it's a return to my iTunes library, where I listened to Blink-182's Dude Ranch. It was the only album from the band I've owned, or even listened to fully. I have to say it has it's moments. Songs like Josie and Dammit are still pretty listenable. I like the fact that at this point, the band still pretty much sucked. The vocals are terrible, the instrumentation is rudimentary at best, and for that reason it really becomes punk rock.

Even though I don't think I would or could stomach listening to the album as a whole again, I'll always be OK with hearing a single track here and there while the iTunes is set on shuffle.

My Anaconda Don't Want None...

2009-02-24T00:40:00.004-06:00

Last weekend, I went to Anaconda for a library conference called Offline. It focuses on computers in libraries, which is pretty much what I do for a living. If you read this blog on a regular basis, you may have noticed a bizarre post Friday. Those were my notes for the presentation I gave at the conference. I was demonstrating how easy it is to convert a Google Doc into a blog post, then I forgot to delete the post. It is gone now, though.

While I was in town, I visited the Washoe Theatre. It's this crazy, authentic building that hasn't really changed since the thirties.

We got a tour from the historian/usher who has been researching the place for ten years or so. It contains one of the last true silver screens in the country. Maybe the last, I was more concerned with getting a decent picture in the dark than I was with listening most of the time.

The lobby was amazing. This couch also looks like my couch, so I thought I would take a picture. The background of the painting was real gold flakes that were "painted" on. Pretty cool.

I wish I could say I stayed and watched a movie, but they were playing Yes Man with Jim Carrey. There was no way I could bring myself to watch that. Even at the ridiculously low price of 4 bucks. So I went with some like-minded librarians to get a drink. I was heckled for choosing to drink Rainer in a can. A decision I stand by.

On the way back to the hotel, I spotted this gem of a store. It was a dollar store called "Justa Dollar," which offered a Lay-Away plan. There must be circumstances I don't fully understand, but it's funny nonetheless.

Well done Anaconda, well done.

Pat's Pills

2009-02-16T11:27:00.002-06:00

In my quest to work my camera better, I took my first manual mode picture of a person. This is Pat, taking some America pills to make him more patriotic. Actually, they were some sort of antihistamine, but still, I like the Red, White and Blue.

And what better than to wash it down with a can of Sparks?

Valentine's Day in Butte, America

2009-02-15T16:58:00.004-06:00

First things first, Butte gets a bad rap. It is a little deserved, but uptown Butte is one of the coolest places in America, if not the world. The buildings are awesome and old. Everything is dripping with history. Which is why I decided to take Darcy there for Valentine's Day. She didn't know where we were going until we turned on to I-90 going east. She correctly guessed our destination before we'd driven a mile.

Merle Haggard was playing in town, but on the wrong side of town for us. He played at the Butte Civic Center, which is in the gentrified "McDonalds" side of town, so we opted to sit the show out. Trying to get a hotel room was almost impossible because of the concert, so we ended up staying at Eddy's Motel. This was the view from our front stoop.

Since this was Darcy's first time venturing into Butte, I figured we should get the Berkley Pit out of the way right at the get go. We weren't so lucky, since apparently the observation deck was closed for the season. I'm not sure why they would close, but I think they charge a two dollar fee to look at the pit. We tried climbing up and around, but they actually piled dirt in the line of sight, so you have to pay to see one of the most toxic bodies of water in the country. This is as close as we got.

We had late dinner reservations, so we wandered around uptown to grab a few drinks while we waited. I'd heard rumors that the seminal bar M&Ms had closed down, but we saw lights on inside, it was open! We had a few beers and talked to the new owner who actually had relatives in Blue Earth, the tiny town in Minnesota where Darcy is from. The bar was awesome, and we heard stories about Obama, Schweitzer and countless other politicians who have all stopped to grab a drink or a bite to eat.

We stopped back at M&Ms in the morning for breakfast and had to wait almost 40 minutes just to order. Still it was worth it. I ordered my standard greasy spoon breakfast: bacon, eggs over easy, hashbrowns, sourdough toast and coffee. Usually you get about 3 pieces of bacon, but here I got a whopping 5 and a half! Sweet. Plus, Darcy got a free beer because we had to wait so long. We hit the road back to Missoula right after breakfast. We were itching for a quick drink on the way home, and planned on going to the great sounding "Chalet Bearmouth." It was closed and for sale. We ended up going to Harold's in Bonner, and wound up in the middle of a jamboree.

Apparently, once a month a bunch of old guys get together in Bonner, Alberton, Frenchtown, basically anywhere that isn't Missoula. There was sporadic dancing, and at one point a false arm that had been modified with a guitar slide on the end sitting on our table. One of the best random stops we could have made.

Butte was great, of course we aren't the first Missoulian's to visit Butte recently, Mitch and Melissa(and Ludwig of course) and Christopher recounted their adventures in Butte, America on their respective blogs.

Back in Black (Part 2)

2009-02-10T18:55:00.004-06:00

Alright, just like Amy Winehouse I'm back to black.

The next artist I listened to was Black Milk. Kanye West thinks he's the voice of the our generation, but he should watch his back for the next producer of our generation. Black Milk's beats knock. No one would call Black Milk the greatest lyricist out there, but I don't think anyone would bestow that title on Kanye either. The two albums I listened to were his masterpiece "Tronic" and the mixtape he released leading up to "Tronic," which features Marv One - one of the great freestyle rappers out there. Observe.

Switching gears completely, Black Sabbath was next. Can anyone explain to me how this band came up with "Paranoid," one of my favorite albums I've heard thus far in my iTunes listening, and also can produce such crap. By crap I'm talking about albums like "Tyr" and "Technical Ecstasy." In their heyday, they were underrated and amazing. Later, they became overrated and tired. Too bad.

I have one Black Velvet Elvis track on my computer. Something that pains me a little bit. I would count all three members of the band among my friends, but I don't have a copy of their album. All I have is a copy of My Daddy live on KBGA, which is awesome. I didn't see a copy for sale at Ear Candy last time I was there. So if anybody has one, let me know. I'd be happy to pay for the album and the shipping if need be.

Then, up popped Blackalicious. I love their old stuff. "Nia," "Blazing Arrow," and "A2G" all rank in the top of my high school hip hop albums. I have a personal problem with the group, though. I've gone out to see them twice, and they've canceled both shows. I think they don't like the winter in Montana, but too bad. Because of that, I've lost respect for them. One thing I do respect is that they sampled Nilsson, of "Put the Lime in the Coconut" fame in one of their songs. That same album gave the Oblio Joes, my favorite Missoula band ever, their name. So props to them for picking a good song to sample.

Cat-dultry

2009-02-08T02:55:00.003-06:00

We played dominoes with our friends Mitch and Melissa tonight. Over the course of the game, I caught this shot of their cat Isabelle.

I know, I know, now Isabelle is the "other" cat on this blog. But I swear, it meant nothing.

Alert But Defiant

2009-02-06T00:48:00.002-06:00

Our new camera showed up today! It's not really anything too special, but we've been without a decent camera for quite a while now. I realize I've leaned too heavily on camera presets in the past, so I'm going to try and post at least a few photos a week shooting on manual mode. Here's my first, Jeffreys rocking it "Orange" style. That's alert but defiant, if you didn't know.

Back in Black (Part 1)

2009-02-03T14:47:00.003-06:00

Despite what you might have seen on the blog, or not seen, I haven't given up my quest to listen to all the songs in my iTunes library alphabetically. Let's start getting caught up. I have lots of artists whose name starts with Black.

Up first? Black Elk. These guys are way heavier than 90% of the music I listen to. I remember seeing these guys at the 2005 Total Fest. The one that was out on Ronan Street and saw the cops show up multiple times because bands were playing outside. That was also the weekend I discovered Sparks. Ahhhh, memories. For metal, these guys are pretty melodic, so they earn a pass in my book. The only album of theirs I have is "Always a Six, Never a Nine."

Then? Black Francis, who was the frontman for one of my favorite bands of all time, The Pixies. Most of his stuff is released under the name Frank Black, and I only have last year's Svn Fingers mini album from his Black Francis moniker. Most of the album isn't very good. But the track, "When they come to Murder Me," might have been my favorite rock song of 2008, so the album is worth picking up. I'm also a Charles Thompson (his real name) completist. Or more like aspiring completist, so not buying this wasn't an option for me.

Black Kids came next. I really like these guys. They might be my favorite of the pop/disco/punk wave bands that exist everywhere. When they first came out they were hyped by bloggers near and far, then sort of forgotten. I hear their catchy single "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You," everywhere. It was prominent in Nick and Nora's Infinate Playlist and tons of other movies. Their next album will be big for them. Either they'll make it, or fade into attention deficit obscurity, like so many bands that got big becuase of blog hype.

Now I'm going to get down to some serious studying. I'm taking an online class on Public Library Administration. It was hard at first to get back into the swing of doing homework on my days off, but now it seems normal again. Stay tuned for more from the "black hole" of my collection.

Small, Furry Business Loan

2009-01-29T23:11:00.002-06:00

Even in this recession economy, Jeffreys seems to have gotten himself a small business loan. It must have been the fancy tie.

Minnesota in Winter

2009-01-17T18:30:00.003-06:00

I've been away in Minnesota for the last couple of weeks. It was really cold. I'm talking about 20 degrees below zero coupled with 20+ mile per hour winds driving painful ice crystals into your face. We didn't go outside much. Luckily, we have Wii Fit now.

The balance board is much sassier than I could ever have imagined. It routinely asks me if Darcy has a. Gained weight, b. Lost Weight, c. Gotten More Toned, or d. Stayed the same. I've exercised every day for two weeks, which is more days in a row that I've done so since high school. According to the Wii, I'm supposed to lose 20 pounds and I'm frightfully close to being overweight. Maybe that's because the Wii assumes I'm a Japanese businessman. So far I think I've lost about half a pound.

Maybe it's because while I was doing all this exercise, the only other forms of activity I engaged in was drinking beer that comes in a can like this:

also lots of Hamms and my favorite midwest brewer Leinenkugel, and eating tons of delicious home cooked food. We had crown-pork roast, leg of lamb, grilled romaine salad, and lots of other delicious eats.

Oh, and went out on the town one night where I scored six hunter heroes on an Antelope trek in Big Buck hunter pro. I don't think they play very much in the bar I went to, because I'm not that good.

Dwight Yoakam Approved

2009-01-04T20:31:00.001-06:00

We found these beauties at Walgreens. The oven is pre-heating as we speak.

Our New Years Eve Plans

2008-12-31T20:54:00.001-06:00

Wii not pictured.

Icelandic Ice Baby

2008-12-29T09:28:00.003-06:00

Will I lose all music cred if I go out on a limb and say that I don't understand the collective obsession with Bjork and any and everything she does? I like her enough to have a few albums and some random remixes, stray track, etc. I liked her first album, but even that takes a little dedication for me to listen to in one sitting. Maybe it's her voice. Maybe it's the "artier than thou" attitude that seems to come along with everything she does.

Oh well, I made it through and feel better for it. It's like when you go for a run after not exercising for a few months and you want to quit the entire time, but when you finish you feel that much better about yourself. That's what I feel like when I listen to Bjork's music.

Otto Van Bismarck

2008-12-28T10:45:00.003-06:00

This summer, our friends Chris and Adam (from one of the best bands that exists) came over from the Bellingham/Seattle for Dead Hipster's Friend Friend Friend Fest and introduced us to two bands who were playing in the festival. The second night of the Festival we invited both bands over to eat Burgers and Mussels, The Bismarck being one and The Russians being the other (who we'll get to in a few years at the pace I'm going). Both bands were charming and fun to hang out with.

After their set, The Bismarck opted to drive home to Seattle, so I picked up their two LPs to help them get gas money for the trip. This was way back when gas prices were insanely high. Their first LP, "What Price Victory," hits hard and has pacing that most bands wish they could match. Their second album, "Blood of Patriots," easily would have made it high up my favorite albums of 2007 if I'd heard it the year it came out. It's one of those albums that can only be described as epic. Definately worth paying any price to pick this album up.

The Bismarck definately doesn't bring the weak shit.

Jeffreys: The Next Viral Internet Star?

2008-12-27T16:24:00.003-06:00

Probably not. But this marks the introduction of video to this blog. Sure I've linked to videos, but these are the first videos produced here our apartment. Darcy took these amazing shots with her cell phone, hence the quality.

Feel free to share with your friends and mock me for my falsetto voice. I take it as a compliment.

They Say It's Your Birthday...

2008-12-09T12:31:00.006-06:00

Well, it's not my birthday, or anyone I knows birthday, but I just listened to Nick Cave's early work in the band Birthday Party. They aren't the easiest band to listen to, but they do really rock. It's weird to listen to Nick Cave being so loud, since he really mellowed out quite a bit after moving on to a solo career, but his new project Grinderman, is definitely a direct descendant of the Birthday Party.

Speaking of Birthdays, next up were Birthday Suits, an amazing duo from Minneapolis. I first saw these guys at the Raven, and have since missed them only by mistake or accident. The drummer half (Matthew) might well be the most talented drummer I've ever seen live. He plays these weird poly-rhythms that sound perfectly in time. And he has fun while he does it. The guitar/vocal half (Hideo) can't be contained by any mere stage. From the first note to the very last he jumps, runs, slides, climbs, kicks and crashes all over the place. But not in the hardcore punk way that you worry about him hitting your girlfriend or impaling himself on a mic stand. And also not in the fake scremo way that makes you think he reherses his flailing in time to the songs and has every move choreographed. If you ever get a chance, see Birthday Suits. At the very least, buy any of their cds or records you can find. Here's a picture I took of them at Total Fest a couple years ago.

Did I mention that it snowed a skiff last night? Then it melted. But I can hardly be counted as the first Missoula blogger to notice snow this year. I'm still waiting until I can take my shovel out for a spin.

The Weather Outside is...Actually Pretty Nice

2008-12-07T15:36:00.004-06:00

It's now delightful inside, though. We just finished trimming our tree for this year. As an added bonus we got to be one of those people driving across town with a tree strapped to the roof.

If we get any snow this year it will be a "Christmas Miracle!"

Can I Kick It?

2008-12-03T12:18:00.002-06:00

Yes I can. I love the smell and look of brand new Converse in the morning.

Still No Snow

2008-12-02T11:28:00.006-06:00

Here we are two days into December and there still isn't any snow in the valley. Crazy. It's one of those gray, rainy days today, but that rain just might turn to snow at any time. I'm thinking today might be the day.

At least gloomy days are good for hunkering down and listening to some music. Right now Billy Corgan's solo album "TheFutureEmbrace" is playing. It sounds like a collection of B-Sides from his ex-band/current band Smashing Pumpkins' "Adore." I didn't really mind that album, and it had the bonus of showing Pumpkins' bassist D'arcy wearing a see-through, mesh shirt in the liner notes. "TheFutureEmbrace" would have been more aptly titled, "ThePastEmbrace," since it seems to showcase Corgan regressing to the late nineties. I can't say that I hate it, but the fact that I can't say I hate it embarrasses me quite a bit.

Last time I posted I was listening to Belle and Sebastian, who seem to write all of their songs in the key of that yellowish-white color you see in ancient Polaroid pictures. That isn't a bad thing at all, although I could do without most of "Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant." But "The Boy With The Arab Strap" and "If You're Feeling Sinister" are both great ways to spend a lazy afternoon reading to. Darcy has been obsessed with "The Life Pursuit" lately, and so I've listened to it quite a bit, and have to say I enjoy it. It's definitely their best post-2000 release.

Next up was Ben Folds Five. I like 'em. Sue me.

I endured listening to my own songs, which as a casual aside, are the only five-star rated songs in my iTunes library. Actually the only rated songs period. The finished songs are on my myspace page and the rest are not ready for public consumption yet. Or maybe ever, we'll see how it goes.

I listened to Beth Orton's "The Other Side of Daybreak" and Big Boi's "Speakerboxxx", neither of which were very interesting, besides two remixes on Beth's disc by Four Tet and Roots Manuva.

Then came Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys whose album I picked up because of the phenomenal cover.

Then came the funk. Bill Cosby and Quincy Jones put out an amazing jazz/funk album of songs from The Bill Cosby show. There's a great review and a link to "try" the album at the HIPtotheHop blog. When you get to the download page, click on "Request Ticket" then a download link appears.

I need to update more often to avoid these long, long posts.

These Paper Towels are Awesome!

2008-12-01T22:04:00.004-06:00

Literally.

These beauties were 10 for $10 at Albertsons last week. The most awesome feature? I guess it is supposed to be the cookie recipe on each towel, but I would say it's the fact that they are a generous 2-ply. Awesome!

Update It Like a Microsoft Security Update

2008-11-13T20:21:00.003-06:00

First off, I think this is fantastic.

Since we last spoke I judged the election, which Obama won. It wasn't as hectic as I thought it would be. I was at my old precinct, so I saw tons of people I knew. It was awesome to see so many young people vote. Do people my age still count as young? Not really, but young-ish I guess.

I also listened to my complete Beck collection. I used to look up to Beck immensely. Mutations was the first album I woke up early for and showed up at the local record shop to buy the day it came out before the store opened. Also their shipments didn't come in until later in the day, so I just waited around the store until he opened the box. One Foot In The Grave and Stereopathic Soul Manure are both essential listening. I lament the fact that he seems to be so stale lately. Modern Guilt seemed to be a spark of something to look forward to, but I think his stupid religion is the main problem.

More on that really, really stupid religion:

Scientology - South Park Style
Vezi mai multe video din Animatie »

Then I listened to the entire Beirut discography. I like his style, but I'm not sure I'd listen to it everyday. I still give him a thumbs up.

Now I'm into one of Darcy's favorite bands Belle and Sebastian. But just barely, so more on that soon.

Halloween Massacre

2008-11-03T21:32:00.003-06:00

Halloween. I was a gut-shot, field-dressed moose and Darcy was a hunting Sarah Palin. Unfortunately we have no other pictures from later in the night. Fortunately, the camera made it home.

I'm going to bed early, since I have to get up at 5 am tomorrow to judge the election. In the words of Puff Daddy, "Vote or Die."

Slashing Pumpkins

2008-10-27T19:53:00.003-05:00

It's that time of year again! This weekend we carved up a new batch of pumpkins. I think we put last year to shame. A gratuitous action shot.

Our friend Scott picked out and carved pumpkins with us. I like how straight I made all of my cuts, but his turned out scariest. "And Darcy took home the "Too cool for school" prize with the sunglasses and cigarette.

Then we put the pumpkins out on the steps to guard our front door during the Halloween week. You can see Darcy's pumpkin better in this one too.

We also coerced Candice to carve a pumpkin later that night. She put us all to shame by completely finishing in 15 minutes, while we each spent about 40 minutes on ours.

And finally it got dark enough to light the candles and let the pumpkins shine. They look awesome. We also used Martha Stewart's tip about carving out the bottom of the pumpkin rather than the top. It works way better, plus, the top is the coolest part of the jack-o-lantern, so why hack it up just to pull the guts out?

I didn't even try to cook the seeds this year. I should have, but neglected my culinary duties. Last year I didn't come close to finishing my batch. I think it will only make me that much more dedicated to cooking them next year.

The Beach Boys!

2008-10-21T15:17:00.003-05:00

The past few days have seen me listening to my collection of Beach Boys albums. The Beach Boys may be my favorite "rock and roll" band. By which I mean my favorite band from the 50's and 60's. Why?

-They were a surf rock band that didn't actually surf.
-Their vocal harmonies are spot on.
-Every song is either super fun or hauntingly beautiful.

Their story is also one of the most fantastic in music history. Dennis, the drummer, had ties to the Manson Family, Brian used to put his piano in a sandbox to get an authentic "beach sound" and stopped touring with the band early on to write the music for Pet Sounds, the song Good Vibrations is (allegedly) about animals being able to psychically detect vibrations from humans and distinguish between good and bad vibrations, and on and on.

As a final note, anyone that's into music should own Pet Sounds and Sunflower/Surf's Up - my two favorite albums. (I don't count Smile because it is truly a Brian Wilson solo effort.)

The Circle of Steel Reserve

2008-10-14T14:44:00.006-05:00

Last Wednesday, when I came home for my dinner break, I saw a curious brown paper bag on our doorstep. Written on the outside were the words, "For you." I was a teenager once, so I was immediately a little concerned about what the contents of the package might be. I gingerly opened it up, and found a Steel Reserve tall boy with a note attached.

The note reads, "To the folks who leave cans on the dumpster - Thank you. Today, while walking on the trail and picking up trash this Brown Bag was spotted, and ho - A large unopened can of Beer. Thought of you. Enjoy."

Pretty cool. We always leave our used cans on the side of the dumpster, so people who pick through the trash for cans don't have to get dirty and crawl through our other trash. I mean, they are recycling it, so everybody wins. And even though Steel Reserve is far from my drink of choice, when the weekend came enjoy we did. What's the saying, "Don't look a gift beer in the mouth?" Something like that.

Both Darcy and I seem very hesitant in the pictures; the beer was not very good. But I finished the whole thing, and then completed the circle of life by leaving it out on the dumpster with a thank you note.

Also, don't worry, I've been diligently listening to the B's in my iTunes. One regret? The Bacon Brothers album is already in the past. Oh well, maybe in a few years. Here's a list of the albums I've listened to since my last post:

Bad Religion - New Maps of Hell (meh)
The Bambi Molesters - Dumb Loud Hollow Twang (awesome Croatian surf rock band recommended and loaned to me by my co-worker Sasa)
Band Of Bees - Free the Bees (good)
Band Of Horses - Everything All The Time (not as good as Band of Bees)
Basil Poledouris - The Conan the Barbarian Soundtrack (epic)
Bat For Lashes - Fur and Gold (how is this not Tori Amos?)
Battles - Mirrored (even epic-er)
Bauhaus - Burning From the Inside, Gotham, and Mask (Bauhausian)

Oh my God, it's a fire! sale

2008-10-09T23:21:00.002-05:00

Recently found and purchased from the Hastings bargain rack. Total cost $3.49.

Awesome.

Welcome to B & Bs!

2008-09-23T23:28:00.002-05:00

Remember B&Bs? I do, and it was one of my very favorite stores while I was growing up. I bought a majority of my CDs there before I thought to go to an independent record store. In retrospect I would recommended an independent music store, as they would have most likely steered me away from the first Hootie and the Blowfish album and the No Doubt "I'm Just a Girl" Single. And yes, I'm a guy and bought the "I'm Just a Girl" single. Lay into me if you want to, but I was young and thought Gwen Steffani was a little bit cute. Now, however, I wouldn't really even consider touching her with a ten foot pool. Either way, support your local record shop. I assume most of you are Missoula folk, so check out Ear Candy, my favorite and unbiased best place to buy music in town. If anyone reads this and buys music anywhere else, you're off base, make some changes. Seriously.

Listening to the Bs started with the B-52s, but ended up with a few favorite albums. First up Babyshambles. Say what you want about Pete Doherty, I know I have, but he comes up with some pretty solid tracks. I only have "Down in Albion" but it still rocks. When the Libertines first came out I was one of the first to naysay, but the Babyshamble project gives me hope. I'm a real sucker for drug-addicted, so-called geniuses. Even if they aren't geniuses, and I would never, ever, call Pete Doherty a genius, I'm always captivated by the press and story that follows them, Brittney Spears, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Tupac, Notorious B.I.G. (to be fair), and all others. There may be a few others, but I couldn't list everyone for obvious reasons.

Next was the Bad Livers. I love Bad Livers. They have a great name, and they also love a great pun. I've always heard that the band started out as a punk band and then turned to bluegrass so they could play faster. Bad Livers rule. I recommend the album "Industry and Thrift."

Up next was a personal favorite Bad Neighbors (link is a joke, have a sense of humor). Bad Neighbors are possibly my very favorite hip hop group. Don't make me choose. If you really want to experience real hip hop, Buy their album here. Like Hip-hop? You don't if you haven't heard Bad Neighbors. Bad Neighbors are part of the Sandpeople. Sleep at your own risk. Seriously, they are so much better than any other hip hop group that exists. Check the bottom of the post for a track they posted on their myspace page. BUY THEIR ALBUM. I won't say more.

Check the link down below, and also check it for a Bad Livers track.

http://drop.io/hollac2

Bad Neighbors - The Trimvirus

Bad Livers - Lumpy, Beanpole and Dirt

Milestone

2008-09-23T16:47:00.004-05:00

I've finally made it to the Bs in my iTunes collection. Only three months after starting.

The As were survived by Avril Lavinge, who I have to say is somewhat of a guilty pleasure of mine. Each album (I have all three) has one or two good songs. But listening to them straight was a bit of a challenge, which is why it took so long to finish.

The Bs started off with a couple of B-52s tracks from their new album, which sound just like the old B-52 albums. I'm glad, because I'm not sure if I could take them coming out with some new concept album that critics adored. Some people need to stick to catchy pop songs.

Now I'm off to celebrate at Brooks and Brown, the Holiday Inn bar, right next to my house. It may be my newest favorite happy hour in town. 4-6. $4 domestic pitchers, $6 microbrew pitchers, $4 Martinis and $3 Wells.

Hi Mom, So Far I'm Getting All A's

2008-09-06T00:44:00.007-05:00

I still haven't gotten out of the A's. Anyone with me till the end? It'll be a long haul. But fun.

So this picture is me playing music at one of my good friend's weddings. All you need to know about that is that I was coerced into playing "The Chicken Dance," "Greased Lightning," and countless other songs that made me want to die. Plus, I spent the last hour just getting onto the Children Theater's WiFi and playing the audio from YouTube. But, I did have a lot of fun. People danced more than they ever did at the Palace, so I should feel like a real DJ.

I've been slacking on my music listening, I blame politics. I spent the last two weeks watching the Republican and Democratic conventions. Some of you may know that I'm an election judge; others may not. So I feel like I should pretend that I'm politically unbiased. That wouldn't be true though, so if you want to know what I think about this election so far take a look at this...

That said, I would rather vote for any third party. Since Montana has little to no sway in the electoral college, I would rather vote for a viable 3rd party to get them equal federal campaign funding. Obviously a two party system doesn't work, so let's make a real change. No offense to Obama, but he doesn't represent the change I'm gunning for. Whoops! Let's not talk politics on this blog. Anymore.

...you know I'll be talking politics sooner than later. The book that got me into politics, read it.

In music news, I'm just starting Atmosphere's "Strictly Leakage" (download here, scroll down a bit and download from one of their two options) after listening to a lot of their old stuff. Strictly Leakage is hella dope. Yes, I said hella. The new album ("When Life Gives You Lemons, Paint That Shit Gold") doesn't compare to this fun, funky, old-schoolish, party album. Cop it for free and see why Slug is one of the dopest rhymers in the game today, not to mention Ant's banging beats.

Speaking of people hating on Slug...wait, that was mainly me a couple of years ago, and totally out of line. I was convinced that Slug had fallen off in the years right after "Seven's Travels," but still wouldn't miss his show at the Other Side. I showed up after imbibing a few too many and proceeded to drink way too many black russians, especially considering the state I showed up in. To make a long story short, Slug killed it and I ended up finding him at the bar since Missoula is a tiny town with tiny towns that don't have green rooms or backstage areas. I told him that I showed up ready to heckle and that I thought he'd fallen off, but he totally proved me wrong. I'm sure that was slurred and didn't come out eloquent at all, but he looked at me from under his hooded sweatshirt and simply said, "Yeah, whatever." Even then I knew it was a great response. If I was in his place I would have wanted to punch me in the face. Great restraint Slug.

After listening to "Strictly Leakage" while writing this, I would again stress that you should download this album. It's a straight up classic. Plus it's free, so what's your prob, son? Or should I say, "dun?" They'll be at the Wilma on September 16th, so cop a ticket.

B's are coming soon I swear.

[Citation Needed]

2008-09-05T00:08:00.002-05:00

Michael Jackson in "Scream"

2008-08-23T23:44:00.003-05:00

Why do At the Drive-In scream so much? I think they might be one of my favorite bands if it wasn't for the lead singer's almost emo delivery. The music is great, the lyrics are more than decent, but the delivery...it kills me. I can't knock them though, they put out a lot of great music and spawned a pretty decent group after breaking up (some people have less respect for them than I do).

Before At the Drive-In, I listened to both of Ashlee Simpson's discs. Here producers are amazing, and the albums are poppy. I wouldn't claim they're necessary listening, or even recommended listening, except for the song "L.O.V.E." which can't be missed or forgotten. If you have no way to hear it, let me know and I'll make sure you have an opportunity.

Also from my playlist was Ass-End Offend. Awesome. When BMMS was playing on a regular basis we played with them on a regular basis. I think we might have even played together at Jay's Upstairs once. And at Area 5 more than once. I tried to look up Area 5 on google and came back with nothing...so here's a quick primer:

Area 5 was a venue in Missoula run by a crazy artist named Victor. Basically, it was his apartment/art venue and facilitated shows on an almost daily basis. Each show was BYOB and all-ages. It was virtually a creepier, beta version of the Raven, which I'll talk about later, when the time is right. At Area 5 you had to walk through Victor's living space to reach the only bathroom in the area. The venue itself was very similar to a garage with a few salvaged theatre seats on the walls. Oh, and there was an old barbar chair on one side of the room. Volumen, Oblio Joes, International Playboys, Montana Karl, Racetrack, Visqueen, Sex With Girls, Sasshole, and countless others all played there. We had a sort of residence there, since Victor thought we were "artsy" and edgy (notice the lack of quotes on the second adjective; saying we were edgy is a definate understatement). The fire cheif of Missoula ended up shutting down the venue due to a personal vendetta. There were a couple of reincarations downtown, but they didn't last more than a few months. Victor is said to have moved back to Los Angelos, where he moved to Missoula from.

This is what I'm drinking right now, and it is delicious. Olympia and Rainer are my new Pabst...I'm just saying...

The Cat Days of Summer

2008-08-18T23:15:00.006-05:00

It's hot. Just ask my cat. He's almost melting off the table because it temperatures regularly reach 90 - 100 degrees in our apartment when the weather is like this. Plus he's covered in fur.

I listened to the single worst album as of yet in my alphabetical trek through my iTunes catalog. I've always claimed to like him more than his song stealing, egotistical bandmate but never again. I'm talking, of course, about Art Garfunkel. His album "Some Enchanted Evening" isn't even suited to be played as elevator music on a ride down to hell. To say that it was boring would be a compliment. It was offensive to every musical sensibility I have.

Luckily, the next album up was Asahi's "Head Above Water." There's more to like about Asahi than the fact they're named after my favorite Japanese beer. They played Jay's Upstairs in support of "Head Above Water," and my roomates and I were the only people there (aside from the regular Jay's patrons sitting at the bar not paying attention to the music). I'd just come back from Bellingham, WA and had met the guy who put out their album, so we chatted briefly after the show and all of us got free shirts and I picked up a copy of the album, which is great. It was one of my go-to sleep albums for two or three years. If you ever see it, do yourself a favor and pick it up. The lead singer/songwriter, Tomo Nakayama, has now moved on and started a new(ish) project called Grand Hallway, which is equally great.

In other news, Darcy and I have been hooked on a Wii game called Super Swing Golf. It's totally anime and lame, but fun. So that's been consuming a lot of our time. I'm not sure if I mentioned how awesome the Wii is. We've played the Wii at least twice as much in a month as we ever played our X-Box 360 during the 10 months we owned it. So much more fun. I just wish it supported DVD playback out of the box, that's a little frustrating.

Finally, it's starting to cool off a little bit. Time to get back to the fake golfin'.

Fair Weather Friends

2008-08-12T13:51:00.003-05:00

Mmmmm. That's me eating a tater pig at this year's fair. The weather was actually perfect, it poured rain while we lost money playing bingo and that cooled everything down enough to enjoy the rest of the day. We had a great time riding the Ferris wheel, checking out all the exhibits (Including my friend Bess' best of show picture of Obama), and watching a hypnotist. Good times.

I've still been listening to my music alphabetically, don't fret. I'm just going slower than before. It's been a British invasion of Arctic Monkeys and Art Brut with some Arrested Development in between.

I remember proclaiming the Arctic Monkeys the next big thing when they released the I Bet You Look Good (On the Dancefloor) single a few years back. I think they've come into their own and now headline festivals all over Europe. I like their sound and the way they sort of rock out more than most.

Speaking of rocking out, Art Brut is a great band in small doses. The talk/singing gets a little annoying, but the band really gets me with their old-style, almost classic rock sound.

And Arrested Development gets all the credit in the world, they put out both "Tennessee" and "Mr. Wendal." Enough said.

Mini-Soda

2008-08-05T23:57:00.003-05:00

I was in Minnesota for the past week, hence the lack of posting. Here's proof.

...and now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

The Miracle of America

2008-07-19T18:41:00.003-05:00

Darcy and I met up with my parents in Polson to check out the Cherry Festival (which was pretty non-eventful, except that we found a couple of great used books) and tour the Miracle of America museum. Outside was a what appeared to be a tribute to Joey Lawrence.

The main building was a hodgepodge of lots of junk, going in a very loose chronological order starting with the Revolutionary war. After that it sort of broke down to being a WWII museum with little pieces of freak show-like exhibits.

I was glad to see they had a fool-proof security system in place. Although I'm not sure that asking a question about an exhibit is an "integral" part of security. Maybe you use it to alert the old lady at the front who takes your money that the two-headed calf has come to life and is wreaking havoc on tourists.

The overall theme of the tour was patriotism. I don't remember exactly how one sign put it, but it declared that after a war with the United States, those nations that accepted our way of life and followed the principles of democracy "usually prosper." Hmmmm. Maybe...

Outside was hodgepodge of vehicles and buildings that would be an amazing set for a horror movie. Think the creepy town in "The Hills Have Eyes" meets a haunted carnival from Scooby-Doo. They even had old, creepy sounding music blaring and armored personnel transports from the army driving around.

Now I'm back home listening to the last strains of Arcade Fire's "Neon Bible." Which is good, but doesn't compare to "Funeral," which I listened to yesterday. Sandwiched between the two albums were a couple of Arcade Fire covers I'd completely forgotten about - "Naive Melody" by the Talking Heads and "Born on a Train" by the Magnetic Fields. Both great songs, and I think Arcade Fire do them both justice. You can find them both here.

Before that I tackled my Aphex Twin collection and the self-titled Apollo Sunshine disc. Apollo Sunshine are a decent band, but not very noteworthy. Aphex Twin (Richard D. James) however is one of my favorite electronic producers. I won't go too far into what he does, but I've always found him to be cutting edge, original and a little bit creepy. When the "Come to Daddy" video came out, it flat out terrified me.

...and now, on to some Architecture in Helsinki.

Summer Paradise

2008-07-15T14:29:00.004-05:00

This pretty much sums up Missoula in the summer.

Even spending what seems like all of my time at work, this summer has been pretty great. It's been hot, but not too hot. Shorts and T-Shirt weather, my favorite.

I spent yesterday afternoon and this morning listening to hours of Animal Collective songs. "Strawberry Jam," "Sung Tongs," and the "Water Curses" EP. They're one of those bands I feel like I have to like, which makes me sort of hate them. So hip and obscure. I feel like they were a bunch of band geeks who discovered drugs at an early age and never had any non-hipster friends to make fun of their pretentious, "atmospheric," warbley voiced music. I do think that Panda Bear (one of the members) is talented and like his solo efforts, maybe because his album Person Pitch sounds like B-sides of Pet Sounds, one of my all time favorite albums.

Luckily, the Animals "A's, B's and EP's" came on just in time to save me from a spiraling descent into hipsterdom. I really dig the Animals, to use the vernacular of the time. The organ lines are so deep and full sounding. I usually hate all the Essential Collections or Best ofs, but this album encompasses all of their great songs, not necessarily just the hits. It really is all the tracks I need from them in digital form.

And before I forget, here's the aftermath of the fire last week. The fire clocked in at over 300 acres, didn't harm any people or structures, and was the best excuse the town had for drinking beer outside on a non-holiday Thursday night. Overall, it was a success.
I'm going back to some reading and eagerly waiting for Darcy to get off work so we can slurp down some oysters at Finn and Porter's happy hour. Maybe now that Arriba's is closed and I'm getting into oysters this will be my new favorite happy hour. There aren't that many other contenders out there, so we'll see.

We Don't Need No Water...

2008-07-09T23:11:00.002-05:00

Mt. Sentinel is on fire right now. This is the view from outside our front door.

Anyone that makes a Grateful Dead "Fire on the Mountain" reference will get a beat down...seriously.

Split Shift

2008-07-09T17:07:00.005-05:00

Today was another beautiful day in Missoula. This summer's been great since the rain and snow stopped. We don't even have any forest fires like the ones in California so we can still actually see the mountains. And unlike a certain cat, the bat did not come back the very next day, or any other day so far. Our bat wasn't the only one in the news.

I had to be at work early today for a "team building" session. Not really my cup of tea, but we were treated to cookies, doughnuts and pizza, so it was worth it. At one, I was set free to enjoy the afternoon before returning to work in about an hour to finish out the day. What did I do? Listen to music of course.

Yesterday, I listened to Amon Tobin's "Foley Room," which could only be described as "lush." Here's a trailer for the documentary detailing the creation of this album.

This afternoon I started with AmpLive's remix album of Radiohead's "In Rainbows." There was a little bit of controversy over this album, but once Radiohead heard it, they were all for its release, assuming he didn't charge anything for it. It's one of those cases where creative commons licensing could have come in handy and saved everyone a lot of trouble. Download AmpLive's album here.

Up next? Amy Winehouse's "Frank." I've heard she despises this album, this being my first solid listen I think its pretty good. Lots of classic hip hop beats with her great voice. As long as it lasts, I guess. She's got a good chance of turning out to be this generation's Janis Joplin.

There were a few random tracks between Winehouse and Andrew Bird's "Solider On EP." Andrew Bird used to play with the Squirrel Nut Zippers, a band whose album "Hot" will always remind me of 7th Grade. Bird has a legion of fans who love his virtuoso violin playing and whistling, I'm not that well versed in his work. This EP was sold on his European tour, and somehow I ended up downloading it. It was enjoyable, but it didn't convert me into a die-hard fan.

I had to sit through this guys album.

Enough said.

And now I'm enjoying The Angry String Orchestra's tribute to Guns and Roses in all of its glory. I'm somewhat of a sucker for instrumental tribute albums, especially to bands like Guns and Roses. Welcome to the Jungle from this album makes it on to a lot of mix cds I make for people.

Whew! It's almost time for work...again.

Gone Batty!

2008-07-06T23:27:00.005-05:00

We woke up this morning to a bat hanging on our back window! It was pretty cool, and hung out (literally...haha) for about 10 hours today. All of our neighbors stopped by to take pictures and otherwise ogle the poor beast, but it seemed unaffected. About 45 minutes ago, Darcy and I sat and watched as it slowly woke up, scratched himself, pooped and flew away. I've never been close enough to watch something like that and it felt really cool. I really never knew there were many bats around here, but it makes sense. I hope it eats all the bugs in the backyard, since they've been horrible this year. More pictures here.

This weekend I listened to two Alice In Chains albums, "Dirt" and "Jar of Flies" which were a total blast from the past. Their MTV Unplugged album would be the greatest of the unplugged albums if those pesky Nirvana fellows hadn't gone along and recorded one of their own. Jay-Z's wasn't too bad either. But I digress. Most of their unplugged material was culled from the above two albums and listening to it made me feel like I was in 8th grade again. In a really good way. They actually made beautiful instrumental tracks that were never really appreciated or remembered, at least by me anyway.

After that was the All Girl Summer Fun Band's self-titled album which, for obvious reasons, is best listened to in the summer. It's really fun and reminds me of some of my favorite Missoulian ex-patriots Razz 'm Tazz. I miss being able to see them play, but I think they'll be at this years Total Fest, which I'm totally looking forward to.

In other news, Darcy and I got mimosas and spyed on a particularily creepy wedding at the Holiday Inn near our house this afternoon. The couple seemed to be in for a lot of "enduring" and "leadership," if the words of the preacher were to be believed. I really don't want to end this three-day weekend, but time is running short, so I'll sign off here.

...One Week Later

2008-07-02T12:01:00.002-05:00

So, It's been a week since I've updated. It's been a hot week. Our apartment is consistently reaching temperatures in the mid 80s during the day. We have a couple of fans, but they don't really do much to help, but they keep the air moving. That being said, I'd rather have this heat than the extreme cold of a Montana winter. Soon, Darcy and I will be going to movies just to escape the heat. Last year that resulted in us watching "License to Wed," a film I would not recommend to anyone.

On the music front, I spent the tail end of last week listening to a forgettable hip hop album from Akrobatik called "Balance." Not awful, just sort of there, with a couple of nice beats and an above average flow, but nothing to write home about.

Then I moved on to the Alan Parsons Project. I started with the classic 1981 album "Eye in the Sky." Despite it being made in the 80s, I still felt like I needed a Quaalude to fully understand the 70s style soft rock. Speaking of Quaaludes, have you watched the new show "Swingtown" on CBS yet?

It's a great show, and perfect for summer. I've really been digging it. Watch full episodes online here.

Then other Alan Parsons album on my computer was "Tales of Mystery and Imagination," where Parsons creates a soundtrack for the works of Edgar Allen Poe. IT's good, and really good music to read to which I did.

I relived some of the 90s next with Alanis Morissette's classic "Jagged Little Pill." I've always maintained that whether or not she meant it, her song "Ironic" is the best definition of Irony, since none of her examples of Irony in the song are actually ironic, which is by definition Ironic! Awesome!

In the midst of the Alanis listening I got a call from one of my oldest friends Jake, who lives in Sweeden, saying he was in town. I went out and had a few beers and cheese fries with him and caught up on old times. It was nice.

Now I'm listening to Alice Donut "Donut Comes Alive," which sounds exactly as it should, being on Jello Biafra's Alternative Tentacles (link slightly NSFW) label. More soon.

What (Really, Please Tell Me) Am I Listening to Today?

2008-06-26T13:42:00.002-05:00

This band. From Morocco. They're called Aisha Kandisha's Jarring Effects and I had no idea at first why they were on my computer. I had to rack my brain as well as the infinitely knowledgeable brain of google to remember that I have their album "Shabeesation" because Bill Laswell plays bass on it.

Laswell came into my musical sphere with his involvement in Praxis with one of my favorite guitarists Buckethead. But on reading his wikipedia entry, I've been listening to him in one form or another from Motorhead to Herbie Hancock. So big ups to him.

The album isn't your standard world music affair, of course. There are off the wall samples and the beats range from house to hip-hop. They delve into a dub version of a song about racism and have hand drums galore. It's actually really interesting to see how they fuse traditional Morocaan music with Bill Laswell's craziness, imagine Herbie Hancock's "Future Shock" if it were produced in Africa, then take away the electro 80s vibe, then you'd be getting close.

The Air Up There

2008-06-25T12:22:00.004-05:00

Remember that movie? I would have been 12 when it came out, and I think there's a real possibility I went to see it in the theater during the "cheap kids movies in the summer" thing they used to have.

Anyway, I'm listening to the French-electro band Air, and I'm a little embarrassed that I only have their newest record on my computer. I remember their album Moon Safari being a really big deal when it came out, and I have it somewhere in my piles of compact discs in the basement. I'll have to get them all uploaded, but it will be to late for this listening unfortunately.

Last night after my 80s hip hop moment, I listened to AFX, the first moniker donned by Richard D. James. But more on him in about a week or so, when I get to the meat of his work.

I'm in the process of installing Firefox 3 Portable onto PRBLMSLVR, my trusty thumb drive. I'm stoked, since I hope it will solve a scripting error I've been encountering on my portable firefox lately. I'll keep you posted.

Lookin' For The Perfect Beat

2008-06-24T16:55:00.004-05:00

After a little break, I'm back to my iTunes collection. I started with the one Afgan Whigs album I've uploaded to the computer, 1965. I've always liked the Afgan Whigs, but they haven't ever stood out as a big influence on me. That's one thing that I like about going through my collection this way, it forces me to revisit stuff I wouldn't normally. Like Afrika Bambaataa.

I'm listening to the only full album of his I have, which is the Looking for the Perfect Beat retrospective of his big hits between 1980 and 1985. I recently thumbed through a great book by Jeff Chang called Can't Stop Won't Stop detailing the orgins of Hip Hop, and attempts to define the "hip hop generation," of which Afrika Bambaataa plays a large part. He would unite all of the different burroughs of New York, and literally march between them when others stuck to their own neighborhoods, to gather kids together for block parties. To say he is a legendary and influential artist in the world of hip hop wouldn't come close to describing Bam, so I'll stick to this: I love the hip hop sound of the 80s that Bam helped shape. The old school 808 beats, the non-sensical words shouted out at during choruses in place of hooks, the fun that is epitimized in tracks like Unity Pt. 1 ("Peace, Unity, Love, and Havin' Fun" is the opening chant)...simply awesome.

Alpha Bits N' Pieces

2008-06-20T13:41:00.004-05:00

Right now I'm listening to one of my favorite albums, Aesop Rock's "Labor Days." I've talked about Aesop Rock here before. All of his stuff is great, but "Labor Days" is by far his masterwork and an example of a perfect hip hop album.

Getting to Aesop Rock led me to another realization about this A-Z experiment; iTunes classifies some albums as compilations, which will appear after the Zs of normal albums. So I have more Aesop Rock and others that seem like they should be in the As at the end of this project.

In unrelated news, I went to the Missoula Osprey's home opener against the Billings Mustangs.

The Osprey lost, but I found solace in the fact that the Mustangs are the Cincinnati Reds farm team. The Reds are my team, so maybe this bodes well for their future. Baseball is one of the only sports I can sit and watch, so it was fun. Plus, my co-worker Gail got us great tickets behind the plate, although I don't think there is a bad seat in the tiny stadium.

The only bone I'd have to pick is that they advertise stuffed pretzels that are not filled with any discernible stuffing. It wasn't bad, but maybe they should call it something else. I was expecting cheese or some filling, not just jalapenos in the dough.

Oh well.

They'll Need a Crane

2008-06-17T15:19:00.005-05:00

Last weekend Darcy and I watched as a smaller crane, put together this much larger crane right near our house. There were about 10-20 people gathered to watch. In Montana, construction on this scale is big news since we never get to see it, at least not downtown. In 2009 We'll have a fancy new bank, but now we have a neat crane.

I finished AC/DC and have now moved on to The Advantage (Wikipedia here) after a brief stint of even more Aceyalone and a single track from Adina Howard"Freak Like Me." I saw The Advantage a few years back opening for Pinback, and they blew Pinback out of the water. They play covers of old NES games as a full on band. And one of their names is Ben Milner, so they must be alright.

To pass the time, and fully wax nostalgic, I've been playing old NES games over at the site vNES where you can play all your favorite old Nintendo games right from your browser. Top 5 games I've been playing? 1. Excitebike 2. The Marios 3. Contra 4. Duck Tales 5. Battletoads. I'm realizing that I played lots and lots of Nintendo (or No-Friend-O as we used to call it) when I was younger, since I still remember so much about so many games.

Speaking of browsers, Firefox 3 came out today! Go get that right here! They might set a world record of downloads in one day. Plus, its a huge improvement to an already great piece of software. I just got it and its running great, despite a few of my add-ons to work. The only one I'm really hoping the fix fast is DownThemAll.

Alright, back to the games.

What More Can I Say?

2008-06-14T23:00:00.001-05:00

This Is Not 'Nam, Dude, There Are Rules

2008-06-13T13:36:00.002-05:00

In the beginning of listening to all my songs alphabetically, I assumed it would be a straightforward thing. But it has been brought up by several parties that people are confused as to how this will work, so here's a quick primer:

Rule 1. Whenever I'm listening to music alone, I'll continue listening in the alphabetical order. If other people around me are ok with it, I'll continue in their presence. If not, we switch to the standby of iTunes shuffle. This is more preferable to me, because it will force me to actively listen, as opposed to being distracted by conversation/games/grilling. Also, it will spare my wife and friends the horror of listening to 3 hours of Phillip Glass in a row. Not that Phillip Glass is awful, I'd argue the contrary, but it isn't exactly party music.

Rule 2. I will continue to import music into my library, but I will only listen to it if it falls ahead of me in the list. If I happen to import another ABBA album, as an example, I won't go back and listen to it until I finish with this challenge. I don't anticipate this being a problem until I'm ready for this to be over.

Rule 3. I'll only listen to music in this challenge when I'm in the room and listening. No turning it on and going outside or downstairs and coming back hours later. I'll actually listen to everything in my playlist. Exceptions for quick trips, like taking out the trash, which takes less than 20 seconds.

I think that should about do it. Let me know if I'm missing some important detail, or you think I'm leaving myself a huge loophole. I don't think I am. Right now AC/DC's Back in Black is on its last track. I think I'll be on AC/DC for awhile, and I don't mind. I'm glad that Back in Black came first, because it got me in the mood for more. I'll have 4 more albums from them before I move on.

OK, now its back off to work.

Carying on with the Challenge

2008-06-12T12:49:00.003-05:00

So today I'm continuing on with the A-Z challenge and am deep into ABBA's Number Ones. I can't say I mind. They have a very infectious pop sensibility that even I can't deny.

This is the scene here after two days of snow in June. It better heat up soon, because I'm ready for summer. It seems nice now, so hopefully we'll have no snow for the weekend.

The A-Z Challenge: In the Beginning...

2008-06-11T12:18:00.002-05:00

I've decided to undertake an almost impossible feat: listening to my entire iTunes library from A-Z. iTunes estimates my collection as lasting for roughly 45 days if I listened 24 hours a day, which I won't. I expect this project to last the next 2-5 years. Maybe. Maybe I'm wrong, but I doubt I'll finish it before the end of this year.

First up is the hip hop group The A-Team. Mr. T doesn't make an appearance, but the first track, and possibly standout track on the album is called "A.B. Baracus." The A-Team is comprised of Aceyalone and Abstract Rude, both of whom I've seen here in Missoula. Both are prominent members of the hip hop community, with Aceyalone founding both Freestyle Fellowship and Project Blowed, and Abstract Rude signed to Rhymesayers. I remember really liking these guys in my Freshman and Sophomore years of college, but I'm not as big of a fan these days. Good for a few tracks, but it gets to be a little much for a whole album.

Thus the curse of this project finally rears its ugly head right from the get go. The worst part may be that I know I won't be able to finish even one complete album before I have to go to work. Oh well, I'm still committed, wish me luck!

Nominee for 3 biggest badasses ever.

2008-05-30T23:45:00.004-05:00

This shot is from a plane flying over a small tribe in Brazil. Apparently, they've never been in contact with people outside their tribe. The story, as I've heard it, is that the plane flew over once previously, and upon return encountered these tribesmen in war paint firing arrows at them.

Say what you will, but if I'd never seen a person other than my family and a huge, loud, flying beast passed overhead I'd be the first to run for cover. Flight before fight is a sensible motto for our day in age, and I won't hesitate saying so. I'm not keen on messing with guns, knives or nuclear explosives...call me what you will. But for someone who knows nothing beyond bows and arrows, I give them all the credit in the world. I really hope we leave them alone, and keep our pesky noses out of their business.

These three tribesmen surpassed these guys, who, until now, held the post of 3 biggest badasses ever:

My Muxtape

2008-04-30T01:06:00.003-05:00

I just made a "muxtape." It's sorta like making a mixtape, only online. I actually really liked the process. Waiting for the songs to upload was reminiscent of recording a song to a tape; you have to wait before you go on. I think it helps you in the process of planning out the order. While you wait for one song to upload, you look for another.

When I was in high school, a large part of my life was devoted to making mixtapes and the floor of my room would be carpeted with tapes and cds in various states of organization, much to my parents chagrin. Some of the tapes I kept, some I gave to various friends and acquaintances, but each tape took at least 2 hours of love filled labor. I always loved, and still do, providing previously unknown tracks to the recipients of my mixtapes. Guessing what they would appreciate, or wonder about, fueled my fire. Plus, I spent my days and nights glued to my stereo, which was more than enjoyable.

So without further ado, here is my offering to all of you. Since I have no way of knowing what you have or have not heard I picked fairly obscure material. While compiling this mix, I drank a few Olympia beers, hence the title of the mix: Oh Lord, Y Make Poor Indie-rockers Alcoholics? Also, since I am disclosing fully, I included a track from my former band BMMS. Click on the beer advertisement below to check out the muxtape.

Nominee for best band ever.

2008-04-08T00:49:00.002-05:00

I blame everyone that reads this for the fact I haven't updated in three plus months. Seriously, my last post was golden and I don't have time to fruitlessly update this blog daily without some sort of response.

And since we've moved on, lets talk about my nominee for best band ever...Racetrack. Every single member is a friend of mine, and they are by far some of the best people I've ever known. Jackson, Chris and Meghan have slept on my floor(s) and found a place in my heart. It doesn't hurt that Jackson and I have known each other since High School and Racetrack's first show opened for my own band, BMMS. (Ancient history.)

Racetrack progressed since their first show (did I mention they opened for BMMS?), added Garden Variety Tsar (Chris) and took over as the greatest power-pop sensation to ever hit the Pacific Northwest. The other places they hit were hit so hard they forgot what happened to them.

So without further ado, because I would come closer to tears than I could as a man, hear are a couple of newly surfaced videos that preempted this post...along with a couple of older ones. Racetrack uber alles.

My Goose Is Cooked!

2007-12-26T23:17:00.000-06:00

My Christmas project this year was to cook a goose. Daunting, I know, but I did my research and it turned out better than I thought it would. I'll break it down for you in the easy steps I used to get the job done.

1. Go out and buy a goose. I found mine at the Pattee Creek Market, because I know they carry some of the stranger meats in town. But on Christmas Eve I saw a couple in Albertson's as well, so they aren't too hard to find. And come to find out, one of my co-workers raises geese, so I could have gotten one from him. I should have bought a bigger one though, because there isn't that much meat on a goose. Mine was 8.13 lbs. and it served about 5 of us. But we weren't expert carvers either, so that could have made a difference.

2. Clean the goose. I let mine sit in the fridge for a day and a half before I attempted it, and it was still very frozen on the inside. Be ready to pull out a spine and other innards with the massive amounts of fat. I foolishly tossed these, which I now regret, because anything cooked in goose fat is delicious.

3. Put the goose in boiling water for a minute or two. This supposedly separates the skin from the actual meat. I'm not so sure it works, or else I boiled it for too short of a time. But maybe things would have ended tragically if I had skipped this step. I also poked lots and lots of holes in the skin with a skewer. This step was essential, as it allowed the delicious goose fat to escape and flavor the vegetables in the roasting pan.

4. Let it dry in the fridge for at least a day and a half. This also gives you plenty of time to do the rest of your cooking prep work, and buy enough alcohol for you and your guests, since no one wants to go shopping on Christmas day.

5. Arrange lots of aromatic vegetables in a roasting pan. I used carrots, parsnips, celery, onions and lemon. I also used a cookie cooling rack at the bottom to keep the goose out of its own fat. I know, I've told you how delicious it is a few times already, but don't worry, there is more than enough fat in the goose itself.

6. Have someone very special mix up some stuffing for you. If you don't have a ultra cute wife like me, then one of your drinking buddies will do just fine.

7. Stuff the stuffing inside the empty cavity. This will be messy. Vegetarians and need not apply.

8. Apply your glaze of choice. There are tons of recipes out there, just Google it, or head down to your local library and check out a book or two. I used extra virgin olive oil, cracked peppercorn, fresh thyme, salt and chopped garlic. You'll want to make enough to apply a little each time you check on the bird. I pre-heated the oven to 45o and let it cook for half an hour, then dropped the temperature to 350 and checked every half an hour. In retrospect, I would cook it at 375 the next time, because it took longer than I thought to cook.

9. And since I had so much extra time, I was able to sing karaoke while I waiting for it to get done. Be sure to invite friends over, as you'll be waiting around for a while for the goose to cook.

10. Carve the bird. I am by no means proficient and carving any sort of fowl, and so it was a laissez-faire approach to getting meat. It was every man for himself.
11. Be prepared for the aftermath. Everyone will have their fill and this is what you're left with. Be sure to budget time the next day to clean up the remains, and get that goose smell out of your apartment.

The goose was a big hit, although not as much as Darcy's insanely tasty mashed potatoes and stuffed mushrooms. I thought the veggies cooked in goose fat and stuffing held its own, but Darcy also can take credit for the stuffing. All in all, a great success!

...and no, Jeffrey's did not partake in the goose. He's on a diet.

A Christmas Miracle

2007-12-04T19:40:00.000-06:00

Today we went out and bought ourselves some Christmas cheer. First off, we got real, honest-to-goodness mistletoe. We'll see how long it lasts. But I'm excited to steal a few kisses with Darcy under the mistletoe for the next few weeks.

Then we went out on an impromptu Christmas tree shopping excursion. We found a great Charlie Brown-ish tree, stuffed it into our car and set it up. Somehow we lost our tinsel coming in from the car, but we still got it looking pretty good. Where did the tinsel get to? We even checked the fridge, as we bought beer at the same time and stashed that in the fridge. No dice.

And finally, I poured out a little Sparks today for my favorite icicle of the year. What was the deal with our 50 degree weather today? I'm already sick of winter, so I don't like to be teased with spring like weather.

Ron Paul 2008

2007-11-28T11:14:00.000-06:00

I went home to Kalispell for Thanksgiving and my dad showed me the Ron Paul hat he made. Pretty awesome. Ron Paul 2008!

When we got back home we cooked Jeffreys up his own game hen. He ate some of it, but I think I had more. It was pretty good.

Halloween Madness!

2007-11-01T23:39:00.000-05:00

Halloween is by far Darcy's favorite holiday, and I like it quite a bit too. She came up with a great costume this year. I was a magician and she was my assistant who I had really sawed in half. Most impressive of all was the incredible saw she crafted while I was at work. It looked pretty real.

Jeffreys really wanted to dress as a cat for Halloween this year, but had to settle for being a fire chief.
The party at the Badlander was pretty incredible. I should have gotten some pictures of the Zombie Brothel, because it was totally impressive, but I was too enthralled watching. There were zombies of all kinds, even a spaceman zombie. Both the Badlander and Palace were packed and almost everyone was dressed up, which made it super fun. Pleaseeasaur was great as usual, I got a picture of him wearing the greatest shirt ever. I am smiling. Classic.

Volumen played a great Rocky Horror set even though I haven't yet seen the movie. I think I will now. I was way too far back to get a decent picture, so you'll have to take my word for it that they went all out with their costumes. Someone who was familiar with the movie told me they really took the songs up a notch. I always love watching the Volumen, they put on a great show.

All in all, a great Halloween.

You Don't Know Jack-O-Lantern!

2007-10-10T00:12:00.000-05:00

With the coming of October, we decided it was also time to do a little pumpkin carving. To at least get warmed up for Halloween. Darcy had a little trouble with the guts of her pumpkin, but then discovered the handy trick of using an ice cream scoop to get them out. We later found out Martha Stewart recommends making your initial cut on the bottom of the pumpkin, to help get all the gunk out, and so you can light the candle and put the pumpkin over the top. Clever. We will be trying that out on our next go round.

Look at my precision and skill with the knife!

Darcy finished way before I did. The only think I can say is that I pulled out all of the gunk from Jeffreys' pumpkin before I started mine. But I will say Darcy did a fine job of carving the kitty pumpkin. The ears were my idea, though.

Once we got them lit, we were proud of our accomplishments. They have been standing guard outside our front door for a week and a half and are getting close to the stage known as "totally rotted." No matter. These were warm ups for the real deal. Another helpful tip we learned after we finished these was to rinse out the inside with a mixture of water and anti-bacterial soap to keep the pumpkin from rotting so soon. We will be trying that next time as well. Look at how scary my pumpkin turned out.

And Darcy's.

I did bake the pumpkin seeds, but I think I have a new technique after talking to a co-worker. Mine were great right out of the oven, but didn't stand up to an overnight stay. They got a little bit chewy. They still tasted ok, but weren't quite crispy enough. Again, this will be resolved on the next go round.

...By the Way

2007-09-26T23:57:00.000-05:00

I got married on September 8th. I'm indescribably happy. The wedding was awesome, tons of family and lots of friends I haven't seen in a long time. Thanks to everyone who came out, it was amazing. I wish it could have lasted longer.

Now I'm busy building desks and tables and buying new couches. Some days I feel like a real life grown up.

Trip To Seattle

2007-08-07T09:43:00.000-05:00

I was in Seattle this weekend dropping off Turnips with his rightful family. Highlights included seeing my old roommate Tyler, 50 cent Pabst, having a fire scare at a bar, not calling anyone I knew there and one creepy picture of me with a mustache.

Turnips The Cat

2007-07-31T16:21:00.000-05:00

The last week I've been in a two-cat household. I never thought I would see the day, but Jeffreys now has a friend, albeit temporarily. Turnips is Darcy's sister's cat. (Hey Casey!) He may be the freakiest cat I've ever spent time around. He's long, and meows a lot. He and Jeffreys had a really tough go of it at first, but now they're buddies. During the day they stay quiet, but at night I hear them playing upstairs. He's not too bad, and he gives me a good excuse to drive out to Seattle this weekend to drop him off at his new home. Plus I think Jeffrey's really enjoys the company.

Also, here are some pictures of me playing with the Seattle band BOAT a week or so ago (thanks Candice!) and Black Velvet Elvis playing last night. Don't sleep, they are coming up in the Missoula music scene in a big way!

Breaking Radio Silence

2007-07-11T11:55:00.000-05:00

I've really let this blog slip, and I'll spare you my usual, "but I have been busy!" excuse. I don't have time to write about everything I've been up to, and you wouldn't want to read it anyway, so here's the last month and a half in pictures. Concerts, Touring, and just hanging out being my cool self.

Kickin' It Old School

2007-05-30T23:32:00.000-05:00

Tonight I decided to remember what it was like surviving college, and didn't feel like cooking or having much to clean up, so I made some Top Ramen. Cajun Chicken style.

Easy as one two three, eh? And a swift and easy clean up. And for 20 cents, it is quite thrifty as well.
Notice the Ubuntu boot screen behind the Ramen...

Also easy as one, two, three and quite thrifty. You can download it here.

My Lonely BBQ

2007-05-25T19:56:00.000-05:00

A quick update on being in the apartment alone. I think this picture says it best.

A delicious New York Steak all alone on a grill. I'm not altogether sad, in fact I've been getting a lot done I wouldn't have otherwise. What I am, however, is lonely. I can't wait until my fiance gets home. What have I been keeping myself occupied with in the meantime?

-listening to Arcade Fire - Neon Bible. In spite of the hype they put out an incredible record.
-reading Chuck Palahniuk's new book Rant. Awesome. Fight Club wishes it could be this book.
-watching Run's House on MTV. I don't feel like an explanation is necessary.
-watching rap battles, lots of rap battles. I understand they don't appeal to many people, so I try to get my fix when I'm spending time alone.
-setting up a Linux computer. Still not done, but I think I have the problem narrowed down. Expect a long, boring post about the process of getting this done.
-drinking Sparks. Seriously, did you expect any less?

Graduation Weekend

2007-05-13T21:06:00.000-05:00

It was a busy, action packed weekend. Missoula experienced its final throngs of bustling before settling down into the summer. I love all the college kids, but to really get an idea of what the town is all about, you have to spend a summer here. The bars will finally be relaxing, and going out for just one drink will become a real possibility.

Saturday, I went to my friend and former roommate Sienna's graduation. She got a psychology degree with a minor in Fine Arts.

Her ceremony was quite a bit longer and more formal than my History graduation was. It took about an hour, but I was glad I went. She sat through the main ceremony when I graduated, so I owed her.

Then it was off to a plethora of Graduation BBQs, I wore flip flops all day long for the first time in as long as I can remember.

But don't worry, I put shorts on before I left the house. I'm not one to wear long pants and flip flops. Although I don socks and sandals when I BBQ, and I make no excuses.

The parties were fun, but I had to head into work at six, so I settled on two glasses of sangria, and then moved on to water. I hosted a night of music at the library. I initially dreaded going, but it turned out to be really fun. 63 kids ended up coming out. Wes from Riddlin Que opened it up and made up songs as he went along. Then the Sherlocks played their noisy rock. They were a bit hampered by technical difficulties, but came out on top. Then the Basic Practicalities played and impressed the hell out of me. I saw them when they were called Happy Unit Gang about two years ago, and they have come leaps and bounds since then. They are going places for sure.

Then some well deserved rest, and off to Hot Fuzz today. Go see this movie! It was super fun and well edited. I thought it was funnier and smarter than Blades of Glory (which I've seen twice) in terms of comedies this year. Totally worth the $7.50.

Congress Killed the (Internet) Radio Star

2007-05-02T19:54:00.000-05:00

I love the idea of Internet radio but the RIAA and others are trying to jack up the royalty fees paid by these companies 300 to 1200 percent. Internet radio already pays more than satellite radio, so why do some people see the need to increase the fees even more?

My guess is that this bill was spawned by a group of humorless, old codgers who don't understand the "tubes" of the internet and think this is an easy way to get more money. Click the link below for more info.

One more reason why I think the RIAA is the worst organization possible for the music industry, they really just seem to hate music.

My Ultra Cool New Grill

2007-04-26T00:51:00.000-05:00

Sorry. I've been busy. Really, I have. What with work and all the grilling I've been doing lately, not to mention my new gig of spinning records at the Palace, I haven't had time to post a blog. But never fear, I'm back again. My parents dropped off a great new BBQ Grill for my birthday a little more than a week ago. We set it up in the backyard, and my grilling has taken off to a new dimension. Check it out:

Jeffreys overseeing the construction of the grill.
And the new guy all ready to get this fire started.
How about an action shot?
I'm still thinking up a good name for him. Any suggestions?

I Spy...

2007-04-13T18:28:00.000-05:00

I'm not big on posting a lot of political stuff here. But I thought this was worth mentioning. The Bush administration is trying to revisit the idea of spying on Americans next Tuesday. Needless to say, I am against it. Click the picture to find out more.

Happy Birthday to Me!!!!

2007-04-12T01:33:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday. Happy Birthday to me!
I worked all day on my Birthday. Call me a martyr. Seriously, call me a martyr. After I got off work, Darcy made me cupcakes and dinner. It was awesome. I wasn't fooled by the trick candles though.

Dinner was incredible. I had grilled chicken, mashed potatoes with chedder cheese and garlic peas and mushrooms. Delicious!

We also tried to have a champagne tower, but there were no champagne flutes available that fit the bill, so Darcy decided to try plastic shot glasses...(the jelly bellys were added to give the light plastic glasses the weight they needed to stack alright.)

It didn't quite work out. But we salvaged it by doing champagne shots. They worked just fine.
So I opened my awesome presents. I finally have a picture of my finacee for my office!
And my cat save up his treats and wrapped them up for me. I prefer candy, so I let Jeffreys eat his treats.
A shirt from Colbert Nation? Of course I was stoked beyond belief. Best birthday ever!!!!!!!!
Then I hit the Old Post for a Gin and Tonic and an Irish Car Bomb. I work tomorrow at nine, but I still keep it real. I'm a martyr after all.

Who Makes Me Want to Survive This Week?

2007-04-03T04:54:00.000-05:00

Supertramp. I may say the best band of the 80's. I may not. But they do keep me in good spirits. They seem to embrace cheesiness to the fullest extent possible. Breakfast in American is, for certain, in the top 25 albums of all time. So, let them live supreme, for they are super...tramp.

PS. Guess what movie I'm watching right now...

You're totally wrong. I'm watching Judge Dredd, not Magnolia.

The Great Hickory Smoke Experiment

2007-04-02T00:12:00.000-05:00

I'm always looking for new tricks on the barbecue, so tonight I tried out hickory smoking my food. It turned out OK...I think I'll do better tomorrow though. The trick is to soak the hickory chips in water before using them for about an hour. It makes the chips smoke more, and give the food more flavor.Then I lit the grill and waited for the coals to be ready.

Then I added the hickory chips. Next time I'm going to add way more. I think if I cover the coals completely it will smoke longer and get more flavor into the food.

I threw on the food and let 'er smoke!

The food turned out great, but next time I'll add just a few more hickory chips.

Our Family Just Keeps Growing

2007-03-31T22:05:00.000-05:00

Today we welcomed Ralph (named after the Thornbirds character) into our family. He's a cactus and is so far living strong. We haven't had a lot of luck with plants before, but I'm taking control and responsibility for him. Anyone have any shirts that would fit on a cactus?

No More Ants In My Pants

2007-03-29T21:38:00.000-05:00

About a week ago we noticed there were ants in our bedroom. Needless to say, I was not pleased. So I killed all the ants, found the errant Starburst that brought them to us, and figured it was done. I was wrong.

They kept showing up; I kept killing them. I decided it was time to play hardball and picked up a ant trap from Albertsons. This brought ants out of the woodwork...literally.

I never knew how hard it was to take pictures of ants until today. They're quick little devils and my camera doesn't like focusing on them. I took the pictures at noon, and now about eight hours later only a handful of ants are still alive.

Problem solved.

Hopefully.

Rainy Spring Break BBQ

2007-03-27T23:23:00.000-05:00

I've totally come down with BBQ fever this year already. And not even a rainy day will ruin it, I mean, c'mon, its spring break. So we got together some awesome ingredients and started marinating. We had Garlic Pork, Lemon Pepper Shrimp and Mushrooms, Red Wine Mushrooms and Garlic, Salt and Pepper Asparagus.We got everything on skewers and I fired up the grill. I use Matchlight, because it is by far the best charcoal in existence. Then we got to grilling.

Our grill is tiny and I had to monitor it constantly to keep the food from burning. I do like the multi level grill, so things like asparagus don't burn while I cook meat. And yes, I wore socks and sandals because I kept coming in and out of the house to check on the food. I think it turned out pretty darn good. While we were cooking, our friend Candice showed up, so she joined us in downing the grub.

Then it was off to watch a mediocre House, although there were a few awesome scenes.

My Cat Is A Model

2007-03-25T00:36:00.000-05:00

My cat loves to wear clothes. He thinks he's people, and it might be the greatest thing ever. He came to us sans clothes, so we picked him up some clothes to relax in.He wants more treats, so we told him he would have to get a job and pay for them himself, so we went out and bought him some work clothes. Anyone looking for a hardworking cat who has a background with the Microsoft Office suite?

Old Shoes/1985/Earl Grey Hot Tour Kickoff

2007-03-24T23:45:00.000-05:00

Last Friday night Old Shoes, 1985 and Earl Grey Hot kicked off their northwest tour at the Missoula Public Library. I hosted the show on behalf of the library, and 20 people showed up, despite a lack of advertising. Here's the pictures:

Old Shoes

1985

Earl Grey Hot

Who Makes Me Want To Survive This Week?

2007-03-23T03:11:00.000-05:00

Aesop Rcok. Damn. Aesop Rock kills it. I don't think I know anyone in Hip Hop who keeps coming incredibly sick. Every time I hear Aesop Rock on a track, I feel like he destroys whoever he's rapping with. See: Aesop with Del on the Wu Tang Meets the Indie Culture. And his solo albums? Legendary to say the least. People who don't understand just don't get it. Don't worry, someday you'll figure it out. But, for now, take my word for it. Aesop Rock will make you want to keep living, and give you a reason to fight. But fuck listening to me, listen to the man himself. And thank him for giving you a reason to live another day.

I Hate You, Go Find MP3s For Yourself, Stream His Tracks Here