Gail Zappa: C*nt extraordinare

I wrote an email a few days ago expressing my disappointment over the fact that the Zappa Plays Zappa DVD had not been available at any east coast shows since it was promised (back in the summer), especially since a friend of a friend already had it PRIOR to the Halloween show. He had gotten it as a birthday gift! So it WAS available somewhere! I didn't email anyone in particular, I just replied to the announcement about the DVD being ready for sale. Also, while the email did express my frustration, and I did suggest that free shipping should be offered at least for a limited time or at least to the regions that the tour had already passed, I did not resort to personal attacks (name calling, etc). I would post it here but I must have inadvertently deleted it (guess I didn't think I'd need it).
Also, it was the one and only time I've ever emailed the Zappas. In other words, I'm not a repeat or "regular PITA". While I didn't expect resolution, I did expect at least some professionalism or respect as a fan/customer.

So as it turned out, I got a response from Gail herself. I think this shows how much she really cares about the fans:

Mark,

I am perfectly willing to take responsibility for projects which we produce and over which we have control. That is not the case with the Zappa Plays Zappa DVD. It was shot and produced by a company (at great risk in terms of expense to themselves because they too are huge fans of FZ and felt compelled to take this on) in Canada. As yet they have no distribution deal so we are lucky to be able to get
it at all. Needless to say, Dweezil also worked very hard on this project and is very disappointed that it did not make tour dates as anticipated. We are very happy to be able to offer it now - and as usual, no matter what we do we receive the indiscriminate evidence that there are people who prefer misery unchecked and just want to vent and castigate us beyond reason, unfairly. Enjoy.

Music is the Best!

gz

Was that last part really necessary? As I said, this was the only time I've ever written!
If this was just some everyday merchant, I'd bet that no one would give another dime to these people.

And yes, I guess what pisses me off the most is the fact that I will continue to buy their output because of my love for FZ's music, and that I have to help put food on her plate and a roof over her head in the process. And I'm sure she knows this and it's why she can get away with being the way she is.


Two years, seven months, one week smober.
38049 cigarettes not smoked, saving $9,988.47.
Life saved: 18 weeks, 6 days.

New family member!

My cousin Ed and his wife Sara finally had their first child.
Andrew James Nichols (to be called Drew) was born at 3:00 AM this morning weighing in at a robust 9 lbs!
With Ed's sister Jenn having a 2 year old daughter Sophie, and brother Tom having a 17 month old daughter Grace, Drew becomes the first boy of the generation.




Congrats Ed & Sara!


Two years, six months, two weeks, one day, 18 hours smober.
37151 cigarettes not smoked, saving $9,752.17.

Porcupine Tree @ Beacon Theatre

Went to see Porcupine Tree again last night. I think it was my 5th or 6th time...not sure. What I do know is that after I see them this coming Saturday in Atlantic City, they will have passed the likes of Frank Zappa (5), Jethro Tull (4), and Kansas (4) as artists I have seen the most number of times live.
After a nice dinner at Gabrielle's in Piscataway, the four of us (Val, Megan, Stephen, and myself) started the trek to NYC. As expected, we sat in horrible traffic that started immediately after the 16E toll on the NJ Turnpike, and didn't end until we turned left onto 42nd St. What this did was eliminate the time I would have spent looking for street parking. Instead, we parked in one of the nearby garages for a mere $47.

We walked into the Beacon and first checked out the merch booth. I picked up the new "Tour of a Blank Planet" hoodie as well as the limited edition digipak of the Nil Recurring EP. I'll probably keep it sealed, since I already bought the download version as well as the DVD-A of Fear of a Blank Planet which includes the Nil Recurring tracks. You may wonder, "Why buy the CD only to keep it sealed?" Check Ebay for any Porcupine Tree CD that is currently out of print and get back to me on that. ;-) It was a $15 investment.
I bought Val a Lightbulb Sun t-shirt (she paid the parking), and she bought her kids a shirt each.

Then we went to find our seats. In doing so, I found my way over to Adam and Andy from the ProgCafe list and chatted with them for a bit. We were soon joined by Fred...another list member. While standing there with them, some guy noticed my Zappa shirt and started chatting about Frank and told me that the last time he was at the Beacon was to see Zappa in 1988. He said it was the show where someone spilled a drink on the soundboard (that would have been the 3rd night...Feb 6th, 1988). He was also at the Nassau Coliseum show...the last ever U.S. Frank Zappa concert. I was at that show as well. Small world, huh?
Then someone else got my attention and it was a couple of members of the Porcupine Tree forum "Residents of a Blank Planet". A young man and woman who were very nice. They had organized a preshow meet (for a Dream Theater fan board as well as PTree) at a local brewery which I had forgotten about. In any case, I was happy that they recognized me and came over to say hello. Then I went to my seat nearby since the seats where I was standing started filling up. No sooner did I sit down when yet another member of the PTree fan board saw me and said hello. Turns out he is also a Dolphin fan (although he keeps that on the DL lately).

The opening band was Head>>Fake, which is the bass player (Doug Wimbish) and drummer (Will Calhoun) from Living Colour. It was actually quite entertaining for what it was. I realized that you can actually do a lot with a bass and a laptop. They played about a 30 minute set.

Porcupine Tree came on just minutes before 9 PM and played until about 10:50 PM. They were in good form and seemed to be in good spirits. It was another great show and I'm looking forward to seeing them again in AC this Saturday. The setlist for tonight was a very good mix of old and new. They played 4 songs from Fear Of A Blank Planet, 3 songs each from the new Nil Recurring EP and Deadwing, 2 each from In Absentia and Stupid Dream, and 1 from Signify. It was great hearing Dark Matter for the first time, and while I heard A Smart Kid for the first time, I would have preferred Hatesong. I've never heard that one either, and I like it better. At most of the shows so far this month, they've been playing She's Moved On as one of the encores. While I do like that song and have never seen that performed live either, I was thrilled when they went into Even Less instead, which I much prefer over SMO. It was also the first time for me seeing that one done live.

Here's the set:

What Happens Now?
Fear of a Blank Planet
The Sound of Muzak
Lazarus
Cheating the Polygraph
Anesthetize
Open Car
Dark Matter
Nil Recurring
A Smart Kid
Way Out of Here
Sleep Together

Encore:

Blackest Eyes
Even Less
Halo

After the show, Val and I got out first and while we were waiting for the kids to come out (they were sitting in the middle while we were on the aisle), another guy came over and started chatting with me because of my Zappa shirt.

Then we decided to all wait outside the back door by the tourbus so Megan could try and get her setlist (which she got from a roadie after the show....I think it was Wes') signed by Steven Wilson.


While they were waiting, I had a nice chat with Jim Robinson and Robert "Bony" Marone from the NJ Proghouse and the Progressive Music Society. I told Jim I was dissapointed that I couldn't go to see Advent this Saturday and he discussed a lot of the upcoming shows coming to the proghouse, including a few "as of yet unofficial" ones. Funny, now that I think of it, I missed a pretty cool show in May because of seeing PTree at the Nokia the same night. I think it was when the Red Masque played. I should have told him to stop scheduling shows on the same night as a local PTree show. :-)

Then we saw a guy with a couple of pizzas go in the back door, and we figured it was going to be a while, so we left without waiting for the band.

So overall it was a really nice Saturday night out, with the only undesireable part of it being the traffic coming into the city.


Two years, six months, 17 hours smober.
31980 cigarettes not smoked, saving $8,394.90.

A weekend of entertainment

This past Saturday, I went (w/ Val, Megan, and Stephen) to see Opie & Anthony's Traveling Virus at the PNC Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ. While it was not quite the day I had hoped for, it was a blast nonetheless. First off, I had hoped to get there by 1:00 to join in the O&A fan tailgate party. Unfortunately, there were too many question marks about whether or not it would be able to go off as planned in light of the recent ban on alcohol that the venue had just imposed only days earlier. Also, it was hotter than a motherfucker that day, and the thought of standing outside in the heat for 6 hours before showtime did not appeal to us. In hindsight, I regret not sticking to the original plan. The party went off as planned, and when we got there around 4:00, the party was in full swing...with alcohol. Keeping in mind that I had already posted my wimpy concerns on the message boards and telling them to remove my entries from the Guitar Hero contest, the first thing I did when I got there was introduce myself to Deb Wolfe (a.k.a. HappyTypingGirl), and when I told her my FBA username, she exclaimed, "You're the Pussy!". Yep, that's me!

They had two 5 foot grills going, more than enough food for the hundreds in attendance (at just that tailgate), including steaks, chicken, chili, burgers, dogs, brats, sausages, beans, corn on the cob, homemade salads, watermelon, beer, soda, water, sangria, wine coolers, etc, etc. They had Dru Boogie himself spinning tunes. Not a single cop gave anyone a hard time or even came over to us (that I saw), and I think that's a testament to the fact that the O&A fans are really a bunch of cool people who know when NOT to act like assholes and to draw a line of responsibility. It really was a great crowd of seemingly cool people, and there were no idiots at all that I noticed.
And of course, as planned, they had a Guitar Hero tournament going. Someone had brought a portable generator, and they had the game hooked up to 4 monitors on a pickup truck. One TV on the tailgate, one on the roof, and a flat screen monitor on either side for spectators to watch. Even though I had pulled us out of the contest earlier because I knew we weren't coming earlier, I managed to get Stephen in the Medium competition. Unfortunately, he let the other person pick the song, and it was one Stephen almost never played. He lost. No big deal though, because by that time it was time to go inside to check out the O&A Village, where they had Octane performing live for the crowd.

Some of the highlights of this "village" are the O&A Pest petting zoo, where you could meet the likes of Stalker Patti, No Filter Paul, Big A, and Pat From Moonachie. They also had a clown dunking booth sponsored by the Stress Factory. 92.3 KRock was there with assorted swag, and they had some sort of magician who got out of a straightjacket. Of course, they also had O&A fans brand of contests to participate in, sponsored by Mafialife.com. Valerie and Megan decided to take part in two of these challenges. The first one, which has become an annual tradition and is based on the wet t-shirt concept, was the Andrea Yates challenge. The idea here is to submerse 5 balls underwater in a tub and hold them there for 10 seconds. Val and Megan tied for the win and each got a t-shirt and towel for their efforts.

The other "challenge" they participated in was the O&A popsicle challenge, and it involved sucking on a popsicle to get down to the ice cream center...without biting.

Valerie would have won easily if she wasn't jawjacking to Megan so much. Her carefree attitude was especially disturbing to me because the prize for winning this contest was the opportunity to sit ONSTAGE for the first half of the show.

We could have sat either here:

or here:

The fact that we were 8th row near center made it so I didn't really get upset about it though.

While Val and Megan were getting their tits and snatches wet (the latter of which would be a discomfort for the rest of the night), I managed to get a picture with Rich Vos, who agreed on the condition that I didn't touch him with my sweaty fat hands. He really is a cool guy.

Speaking of Rich Vos, he would be the first comedian we'd see on stage as MC for the first half of the show.

Rich comes across as quite the moron on the radio show, but he's really funny as a stand up.

Mick Foley from the WWE provided the intro for the night.

The first comic was an amateur who was the winner of "Car Crash Comedy" (similar to the Gong Show) on Friday's O&A show. He didn't win because he was good, but rather because he was the only one who wasn't eliminated with 3 car crashes. He fared much worse on the stage on this night. He got booed off the stage after only 2 or 3 minutes. But hey, ask any comedian and they'll tell you it's part of the job.
The first "real" comedian up was Bob Kelly. He killed. He had us laughing hysterically for pretty much his entire set.

Next up was Otto & George. I'm not too crazy about them as a stand up act. They're pretty funny on the O&A show when they sit in and interject George's raunch at opportune times, but on their own they leave a lot to be desired. Next up was Patrice Oneal. Like Otto and George, he's much funnier on the radio show than as a stand up. He held his own mind you, but he's much better playing off others. After that came Bob Saget. I'm not a very big fan of his at all. He has the kind of dirty humor (yes, dirty) that gets old pretty quick. "Alright Bob, we get it! You're not the wholesome guy we knew from Full House and the stupid home video show! Enough already!" He's not bad when he has his guitar though, which is usually how he closes his set.

Then came about a half hour intermission with the DJ and the obligatory "dancers", which Stephen didn't seem to mind. For his sake, I was glad that while the stripper...umm...dancer closest to us couldn't dance very well, she did have the nicest body (IMO) and what appeared to be natural boobs...something you don't see much of these days.

After the intermission, out came Opie & Anthony to MC the rest of the show. Between acts, they showed video clips of memorable moments on the show (like the baby bird video....search that on youtube or break.com), as well as animated videos of Jimmy Norton telling stories on the show that are in his book, Happy Endings.
The last 3 comics were the reason I was here (although like I said, Bob Kelly was the man on this night). First was Louis C.K. (creator and star of the defunct HBO series Lucky Louie), he is a hilariously funny comic, but I must admit that tonight was not his best material. It was funny mind you, but he's been funnier.
Next up was Lewis Black. I was really looking forward to seeing him. He used to be a regular on the radio show back in the WNEW days, and he's just recently come back to the show after a long hiatus. He was one of my favorite comics of the night. He did not disappoint.

Last but not least, on came Li'l Jimmy Norton to close the show.
He killed as always. A great end to a great day.

On Sunday, Valerie, Lauren, and I went to see Wicked on Broadway (which was Val's present to Lauren this past Xmas). Wicked is "the untold story of the witches of Oz." It was an outstanding play; the best I've seen in a very long time. I enjoyed it more than Spamalot, which I saw last year. This had just enough singing to be called a musical, but not so much so that it appealed to someone like me who is not into non-stop singing and dancing. I prefer the type of plays that are more like a live movie (another favorite is The Producers). For anyone who enjoys a Broadway show, I highly recommend this one. It is entertaining from start to finish.

What a fun-filled weekend it was!


Two years, four months, two weeks, one day smober.
30370 cigarettes not smoked, saving $7,972.36.
Life saved: 15 weeks, 10 hours.

ZPZ Setlist

I didn't write down the setlist, and I've yet to find a detailed review of that particular show, but going from memory, here's a big chunk of the set (if not all of it...not necessarily in order):

Black Napkins (w/Frank guitar solo video)
Echidna's Arf
My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama
Suzy Creamcheese/Brown Shoes Don't Make It/America Drinks And Goes Home
City Of Tiny Lites (forgot about this one when mentioning original Ray White songs)
Pygmy Twylyte (a la YCDTOSA Vol 2...smokin' guitar solo by Dweezil!)
Advance Romance
Dumb All Over
Joe's Garage
Uncle Remus
Willie The Pimp
What's New In Baltimore?
Dupree's Paradise
Wind Up Workin' In A Gas Station
Cosmik Debris (w/ Frank singing and playing second guitar solo)
The Illinois Enema Bandit
G-Spot Tornado (this band smokes!)
Muffin Man (Dweezil kick starts the solo, but Frank takes over after a few bars)

They also sang Happy Birthday to Scheila, and announced that Ray's grandson was born that day too.

Oh, and they also did a very short improvised tune called "Suck a Horse", with said title being the "secret word for the night" and was coined by the two gentlemen sitting immediately to my left.

Zappa Plays Zappa

I just saw Zappa Plays Zappa for the 3rd and 1/2 time (saw them perform at the Jammy Awards in 2006) in Red Bank, NJ last night, and what a show it was!
First off, it was great to finally see Ray White perform live (I got into FZ just after the ’84 tour). To these ears, his vocal chords have not aged at all since his FZ days. He belted out the Illinois Enema Bandit just as well as ever. I was a bit disappointed, however, that they did not perform Doreen, another Ray White showcase tune.

They performed quite a mix of material, ranging from Absolutely Free to Jazz From Hell. Ironically, they only did two (or three) songs that were new when Ray White was in the band (Enema Bandit and What’s New In Baltimore...plus Joe’s Garage, even though Ray isn’t on that album).
Other highlights included more interaction with Frank on video. The ones I recall off the top of my head are Black Napkins (1981), Cosmik Debris (1974), and Muffin Man (1977). Needless to say, those were very emotional and moving moments for me....I’ll leave it at that.


I was sitting second row center, which had an upside and a downside. The downside was that the vocals were very hard to hear. The upside was that sitting that close enabled me to really observe two things. First, the musicians that Dweezil has assembled for this project are top-notch, and would easily qualify to play under Frank. They execute the music as well as any band Frank ever had, and they obviously have a lot of fun doing it. However, in my opinion, there is still something missing (besides Frank himself). Sitting here thinking about it, the only thing I can come up with is that they still have not learned how to put the "eyebrows" on it. I’m not even sure that it’s even possible without Frank himself.

The other thing I observed is that Dweezil has elevated his guitar playing to an awe-inspiring level. There were times last night where I could swear he was channeling Frank himself. His longest and most jaw-dropping solo was during Pygmy Twylite. It equaled any "air sculpture" Frank ever created, and dare I say possibly surpassed it. His elevated playing, coupled with him singing a LOT more, has made him a different performer than he was last year. He is definitely his father’s son. Granted, the one important element that separates him from his father is that he has yet to show that he has anything resembling Frank’s creative mind, but he certainly has the playing ability and the work ethic (he would have to, to accomplish what he has).

In any case, I would recommend that even the casual Zappa fan try and catch one of these shows (they’ll be back in the NYC area on Halloween), and at the very least get your hands on a RoIO from this tour.

Oh, and I was totally bummed that I did not bring my camera. I didn’t know what the policy was for either the band or the venue, but it turned out there was plenty of picture taking (no cameras that I noticed, but plenty of cell phones). Also, they were shaking hands from the stage at the end, so it might have been possible to get my YCDTOSA tour box signed by Dweezil and Ray...if I had brought it.
Maybe I’ll try again Halloween.

Two years, three months, three weeks, two days smober.
29565 cigarettes not smoked, saving $7,760.92.
Life saved: 14 weeks, 4 days

Pays to be illegal

This is classic!

Becoming Illegal: An actual letter from an Iowa resident and sent to his Senator



The Honorable Tom Harkin
731 Hart Senate Office Building
Phone (202) 224 3254
Washington DC , 20510

Dear Senator Harkin,

As a native Iowan and excellent customer of the Internal Revenue Service, I am writing to ask for your assistance. I have contacted the Department of Homeland Security in an effort to determine the process for becoming an illegal alien and they referred me to you.

My primary reason for wishing to change my status from U.S. Citizen to illegal alien stems from the bill which was recently passed by the Senate and for which you voted. If my understanding of this bill's provisions is accurate, as an illegal alien who has been in the United State s for five years, all I need to do to become a citizen is to pay a $2,000 fine and income taxes for three of the last five years. I know a good deal when I see one and I am anxious to get the process started before everyone figures it out.


Simply put, those of us who have been here legally have had to pay taxes every year so I'm excited about the prospect of avoiding two years of taxes in return for paying a $2,000 fine. Is there any way that I can apply to be illegal retroactively? This would yield an excellent result for me and my family because we paid heavy taxes in 2004 and 2005.

Additionally, as an illegal alien I could b egin using the local emergency room as my primary health care provider. Once I have stopped paying premiums for medical insurance, my accountant figures I could save almost $10,000 a year.

Another benefit in gaining illegal status would be that my daughter would receive preferential treatment relative to her law school applications, as well as "in-state" tuition rates for many colleges throughout the United State s for my son.

Lastly, I understand that illegal status would relieve me of the burden of renewing my driver's license and making those burdensome car insurance premiums. This is very important to me given that I still have college age children driving my car.

If you would provide me with an outline of the process to become illegal (retroactively if possible) and copies of the necessary forms, I would be most appreciative. Thank you for your assistance.

Your Loyal Constituent,
Donald Ruppert
Burlington , IA

Get your Forms (NOW)!
Call your Internal Revenue Service
1-800-289-1040

Good week for music

This past Saturday I went to see Frogg Café for the 4th (?) time at the Old Franklin Schoolhouse in Metuchen.



It was a really good show, and I thought the band was even more "together" than they have ever been. It should be noted that this is quite a statement considering the fact that one of the focal members of the band, Nick Lieto, was absent (along with his brother John). I don't know exactly why he wasn't there, just that the water cooler talk is that he's "taking a break." One gossiper opined that he is trying to work out marriage problems. What that would have to do with brother John is anyone's guess.
It was interesting to see how they were going to manage without Nick's vocals and horns. As it turned out, Steve Uh handled the vocals very well, with Andrew Sussman and Bill Ayasse backing him up. As for the horns, most of the main parts were picked up by Bill Ayasse on violin, with some slack being picked up by the keyboards (I forget the guy's name filling in).
Anyway, as I said, it was a good show, and it was especially enjoyable because of the very intimate setting of the venue. It may as well have been someone's large living room. I sat in the front row, which meant that if the guitar player dropped his pick, I could have picked it up and handed it to him without either of us really moving from our respective spots.
Despite the fact that the show started over an hour late, and my disappointment that they were actually the opening band (for a band called 3rd Degree , whom I'd never heard of before), they actually played a nice set, including Abyss of Dissension, Frank Zappa's 'King Kong' (with a Big Swifty tease), and a killer cover of King Crimson's 'Red.'
I took a few pictures of each band, which can be viewed by clicking the pictures above.

Elsewhere in music this week, today marked the U.S. release of Porcupine Tree's 'Fear Of A Blank Planet.' Despite already hearing it in it's entirety last October in concert, as well as on several "unofficial" live recordings, I was able to enjoy this material as if it was brand new. This is an amazing album, and in my opinion is one of their most cohesive albums to date. That the entire album flows flawlessly from one song to the next, with no song being out of place, only helps the fact that this is a concept album.
From a lyrical content standpoint, it's a rather depressing album. It focuses on modern teen angst ("Don't try engaging me. The vaguest of shrugs, the prescription drugs. You'll never find a person inside."), offering no hope for resolution and no happy ending.
So, while I listened to this album 3 times today (4th as I type this), I thoroughly enjoyed the music, while at the same time being grateful I am not a parent of a teen, and feeling sympathy for the people I know who are.

I do highly recommend the album though. It is truly a work of art.
For a much more detailed review, click here.
It should be noted that I found this review AFTER I typed this blog post. I add this disclaimer because there is a line or two that is almost verbatim to what I said.

Two years, one week, three days, 17 hours smober
25924 cigarettes not smoked, saving $6,805.30
Life saved: 12 weeks, 6 days

A milestone

I started smoking when I was 19, and over the next 22 years, I had quit at least 2 or 3 times. However, I was never able to stay off the smokes for more than a year.

So, I'm proud to say that as of yesterday, I have been "smober" for 2 years! Hopefully this means it's permanent.

Two years, one day, 12 hours, 44 minutes and 22 seconds.
25603 cigarettes not smoked, saving $6,720.94.
Life saved: 12 weeks, 4 days, 21 hours, 35 minutes.

Gotta love technology (Pt 2)

I was looking on the Cingular site and noticed that I was eligible for an upgrade on my phone. I was contemplating getting a Blackberry or something similar, but decided that I did not want to spend an additional $40 (over and above my calling plan) for a data plan. So I decided to get the brand new RAZR V3xx. On this I can still access my GMail on the internet, and the phonebook stores all the same info as Outlook.







There are 3 things this phone does that my Nokia didn't do, 2 of which I think are really cool. First, it plays MP3s, which I doubt I will ever use it for.
The two things that I really like are 1) It plays streaming video, so that I can check out news updates, sports, movie trailers, etc., whenever I want. But what I like most is 2) The voice dialing capability. Now, I've had voice dialing in many phones before, but the difference here is that I don't have to program the name in each individual contact. I just press a button (either on the phone or my bluetooth headset), and it asks for a command, which could be name dial, number dial, camera, voicemail, redial, or recent calls. If I say name dial, it asks the name of the person, and then asks which number (home, mobile, etc). Or I could just say "number dial" and then I just say the number. And yes, I realize that this technology has been around a while, but it's the first phone that I've had that does it, so I'm diggin' it. :-)

In America, since when...

....does political correctness trump free speech?

When is someone going to have the fucking balls to ask Al Sharpton when he's going to apologize to the individuals whose careers he ruined during the Tawana Brawley (sp?) case? When will people realize that making sure a line is drawn between black and white is what he does? Or that black "victims" are what keep him in "business?" Blacks who are successful and are able to actually make something of themselves in society are his worst enemy. He seems to fight for civil rights...as long as your not an "Uncle Tom."
That's ok though...it would seem that even many blacks do not support this hypocrite:



As Bill Maher alluded to at the start of his show this past Friday, this country needs to take a dose of "Getoveritall".

Rather than continue on a tirade about this, I'll just say that I pretty much agree with this angry dummy:



The thing that many people do not seem to realize is that we do NOT have the right to not be offended. There is nothing in the constitution that protects you from getting your feelings hurt!
And it's only going to get worse. Look at the news nowadays. It's not even news, it's a fuckin' variety show! Heaven forbid that the news doesn't pacify the viewers from hard hitting reality.
And what about the way parents are raising their kids these days. Mommies bringing their kids a juicy box between innings?
Also, I hear that many little leagues don't keep score anymore, so that there are no winners or losers. What the fuck is up with that? This country is fast becoming a nation of spoiled pussies.
Whatever happened to building character? With all the doting parents and those people who cowtow to anyone with a big mouth, this country is so doomed! It sometimes makes me wish I was born 20 years earlier.

Gotta love technology (Pt 1)

The one thing about electronics that you can pretty much always count on is that they will always go down in price. So as long as you don't have to be the first on your block with something, patience will save you money. I finally got myself a Pioneer Inno, which is a combination XM radio/MP3 player. This thing is awesome! It plays live XM at home, in the car, or on the go, and for those times where you just can't get a good signal, you can use half of it's 1GB of memory for your own MP3s. The other half is reserved for XM content which you can record as you listen. Not only can you schedule a recording, but because it keeps a buffer, you can record a song that you like, even if the song is half over (provided you had the radio on that channel since the beginning of the song). Oh, and it also supports Audible.com content, so you can also listen to audiobooks or any other audible content like Opie & Anthony archives. With the help of Napster software, you can organize all your music, including making playlists of all your music. You can even make a playlist combining XM recorded content with your own MP3s.
You can also save your favorite artists/songs so that you are alerted if an artist/song is playing on another channel. And unlike previous XM hardware, with the Inno you don't have to wait until a favorite artist comes on to capture it as a favorite, you can type your favorites in yourself. And unlike previous XM2go units, it doesn't have to be docked in a cradle to record (only scheduled recordings require this). If you're out walking and want to record the song you're listening to, you just simply record it. Oh, and the full color display is pretty cool too.
Anyway, I started this by mentioning dropping prices on electronics. Well, when the Inno came out little more than a year ago, it was $400 (and it doesn't come with a car kit). I bought mine plus a car kit (about $60 itself) for $200. That was a couple of months ago. Now, you can get a refurbished Inno for $119 here. Or, better yet, you can get a brand new Samsung Helix for only $109.95 at Amazon.
The Helix is identical to the Inno except for the outer shell. For a while, Amazon was selling the Helix for $89.95 w/free shipping, but I guess people cleaned them out because I don't see it anymore. I bought 2 at that price (one for Valerie and one for her daughter Megan). The one they have now for $109 is sold by an outside vendor.
So, if you like your MP3 player, but also like to hear something different once in a while, I highly recommend picking one of these up. Like the ads say, it'll change the way you listen to music. :-)

Medieval Times

So Valerie and I went to Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament last night. It was her Valentine's Day present to me (in addition to "The Departed" DVD...awesome movie).
Anyway, ever since this MT opened (about one score and three years ago) I had always thought I'd like to go there. This was my first time and it really was a lot of fun.
When you first enter, you get crowned with a lovely paper crown like kids get at Burger King, except the color of the crown signifies what section you're sitting in and what knight you are rooting for. As you proceed through the next door, you are stopped to pose for an obligatory picture with either the "King" or the "Princess", depending on which way you walk in. We got a picture with the Princess and then they took one of just the two of us. Next, it was off to the bar. Now, if you're the type that likes to take advantage of what could possibly be a once in a lifetime event, and you drink, here's where you could drop some serious cash. We each had a beer in a purchased beer stein (Yeungling for Val, Sam Adams Winter Ale for me), as well as a shot (double actually) of Southern Comfort in a mini-stein/shot glass (also purchased). The whole shebang was $50. Sounds like a lot, but considering the fact that a similar stein (empty) at Spamalot was $25, and that the SoCo was actually four shots worth, it really wasn't too bad. And the MT stein is actually bigger and nicer than the Spamalot one.
We found ourselves seated in the front row just inside the entrance in a four seat section next to a nice young couple.
The staff refer to you as M'lord/M'lady, and with the exception of the royalty and knights, they are referred to as wenches and serfs. So along came our serving wench to take our drink orders and get us set for dinner (there was a separate beer wench to get the beer). The menu consists of (in order) vegetable soup, garlic bread, a half roasted chicken, one spare rib, one half roasted potato, and an apple turnover. Oh, and this is all consumed without utensils. The food was okay. Not the greatest, not the worst. Certainly edible...all of it. You're really there for the show anyway. The show commences very shortly after you're seated, and continues right through coffee. Actually, the show and dinner seemed rigidly timed and synchronized. The show was entertaining. Nothing much different from any other "medieval" type attraction you may have seen elsewhere, except this was longer and had a storyline.
Valerie got chosen by our knight to fight for. This was done by him riding towards us and extending his lance out to Valerie so she could retrieve the flag from the lance (on the flag were the words "Queen of Beauty and Love"). This meant that he was fighting in her honor. Now, I did some quick research on this, and apparently, a knight would choose a woman, preferrably one who was married to a man of higher rank. If the knight won, he expected to receive his "reward", and it was downright treachery for the woman to refuse. Turns out that our knight did indeed win. Lucky for me, he was killed by a traitor before he could collect any such "reward." ;-)

It was hard to get decent pics with the lighting and all the fast movement, but here's a few (clicking the pic should open a new window/tab to the photo album):

Medieval Times

Other highlights of the show were the choreography of the beautiful white horses, and the falcon, of which I got about 12 seconds of video footage. It simply flew around too fast to get any more. Here it is:




One year, ten months, one week, four days, 11 hours smober.
27299 cigarettes not smoked, saving $7,166.45.

Catching Up

Been awhile since I posted anything (what else is new?).

Let's see if I can recall a couple of highlights of the last 2 months...

Back in late December, Val and I went to see Trans-Siberian Orchestra at the Meadowlands. It was pretty much what I expected based on what I had heard about them and seen on video. We probably would have appreciated the full experience more if we were sitting in front of the stage, but we were off to the side. It was a pleasant surprise seeing Alex Skolnick playing with them. I had no idea he was touring with them. Anyway, of course the show stopper was the appearance of Greg Lake to close the show.

Pretty much the only event in January was when I took Val's son Stephen to a Devils/Rangers game on the 16th (it was his Xmas gift from me). That was a lot of fun. I had never been to a pro hockey game before, and I really enjoyed it. Stephen seemed to as well.

The biggest thing to happen lately was that I sold my Subaru because it was just too small and uncomfortable for all the driving I do. I think I've developed sciatica from it. Anyway, I replaced it with what has been one of my "dream" cars for almost 20 years. I am now the delighted owner of a 2003 Nissan Pathfinder. It is so much more comfortable than the Subaru, and I love being able to see in front of most other cars because of the added height. Here's my new baby:




Finally, for Valentine's Day, Val bought us tickets to go to Medieval Times on Saturday. For those not in the know, this is a dinner theater of sorts. It's basically an etiquette-free dinner (no utensils) with a medieval show (jousting and such). I've never been there, and I'm really looking forward to it.

One year, ten months, four days, 16 hours smober.
27027 cigarettes not smoked, saving $7,095.14.