Reminiscing....

...on YouTube? I first saw this video about 3 years ago on YouTube, but it is still funny. If you haven't seen it, you really should take a look.

I'm not sure how to embed this in my blog, but whatever. Just take the time and go there.

Also, if you are undecided about which Republican candidate to support in the Iowa Caucuses on January 3rd, let Uncle Chuck help you decide.

Did I bring the Virginia crazy back with me?

So it really hasn't snowed significant amounts before Christmas in Eau Claire in probably ten years. I can't remember the last time it snowed on Christmas in Eau Claire. This year it has snowed bunches. What's the difference?

I attribute it to my residence in Virginia the past seven months. Virginia is a very different, and sometimes much more crazy, place than Wisconsin. I can only imagine that when I flew back, I had a little bit of the crazy residue on me and it cause massive snowfall here.

Somehow this must be the reason it snowed so much before I came back...or...um...

This is my nephew, Bodhi White! He is a cute little thing and is a month old tomorrow.

Acoustic makes everything better

Hip hop and rap songs can be sweet. But they're awesomer when done acoustically. Especially the lyrics. They are really funny when there's not a lot of digital effects and bass...

Don't YOU wonder these things too?

After I hear a particularly dumb advertisement on the radio, or I see a idiotic or confusing ad on television, or I read a poorly written article about something, I do what most people do. I think, "Wow. That was really dumb." I'm pretty sure most people have that reaction.

What I wonder after that, however, is maybe something not everyone else thinks about. I wonder, "How many people saw this ad/article/whatever, and not only gave their approval, but also thought it was a brilliant idea or a hilarious bit of humor or something?" People get paid a lot of money to make these ads. Other people get paid lots of money to look at them and agree that they are brilliant. I get paid no money, and I think they are stupid. I think the people who made and approved them are stupid.


Sometimes I just barely miss getting on an elevator, or get to a busy intersection right as the stoplight turns red, or I just barely miss a bus. I think most people think, "Dang! I was just a little bit late, and now I have to sit and wait for a long time!". Sometimes I also think this. Usually, however, I think of something else.

Often when this happens, my first thought is, "What did I do in the last 10 minutes that could have saved me 15 seconds and made me get through the stoplight or catch the elevator/bus?" Usually it's something like: I dropped my keys. Or: I sat in my car for 10 seconds longer than I needed to because I was listening to the radio.

This makes me wonder what I've almost done in my life. I wonder if I would have found $5000 or something if I had always caught that elevator, or made that green light.

An assignment for all of you

I thought I'd list 4 songs that you may or may not have heard on the radio that I have heard and have enjoyed at least portions of.

I don't listen to pop radio EVER, but I have a bit more since I've been in Danville, and I've been glad, because most songs have at least parts that are interesting to listen to.

So without further ado, here are the 4 songs, the bands that perform them, and why I like each song.

1. "Beautiful Girls" by Sean Kingston.
--Admittedly, most of this song is pretty generic pop stuff, but there are a couple reasons I like it. It uses the beat from "Stand By Me", which is pretty cool and works pretty well in this song. Also, there is a short section which is a capella, and the singer sings his own backup. Or, he at least synthesizes his own voice into backup vocals.

2. "Big Girls Don't Cry" by Fergie.
--The refrain in this song is horrible. However, the song also has verses! The acoustic guitar in the background during the verses is pretty good. Plus, there are at least synthesized strings incorporated into the verses later in the song, including some cello right at the end of the song. For some reason, the cello and other strings make me really enjoy this song, even though I absolutely can't stand 1/2 of it.

3. "4 in the Morning" by Gwen Stefani.
--I've always liked her No Doubt stuff better than most of the crap she's come out with since the mid-90s, but I really like this song. I think the guitar riff that repeats through most of the song in pretty sweet. Plus when she sings/raps it has a really awesome syncopation and rhythm.

4. "Hey There Delilah" by Plain White Ts.
--Another song I first heard on Cities 97, I just happen to like this song start to finish. The acoustic guitar works really well, plus some of the lyrics, which I usually never notice, I happen to particularly enjoy.

All four of these songs can be heard regularly on you local canned pop radio station. Just goes to show you that even the most produced and unoriginal seeming songs have good moments in them.

Maybe you should save a little for later...

Yesterday at work, I followed the Twins score online for the first game of their doubleheaders against the White Sox. The Twins won the first game 20-14. Yep, 20 to 14 in a single game of baseball. That is a lot of runs. Just guessing, but I'd bet that the Twins scored more runs in that game than in their previous, say, 4 games combined. Wow.

But like I said, that was just the first game of the day. What would the Twins do to follow up in the second game? Well, it turns out they won the second game 12-0.

So in summary, the Twins went 2-0 in baseball games yesterday, scoring 32 runs. Perhaps they could have spread those 32 runs out over 5 games. They would have scored 6 runs in 3 of those games and 7 in the last 2. They probably would have gone 5-0.

Then again, with some of the Twins pitching this year, they might have gone 0-5 in those games. I guess I'll take what I can get.

Finally!

I finally received my digital camera that I ordered one of the first days of June. As promised, here is a picture I took with it in Danville.



This is some little pull-tag inside the trunk of my rental car. As you can see, the instructions for using it are simple. You pull on the tag, hop out of the car, and run away very fast! Most likely, you were in the trunk against your will, so the running fast is crucial.

Wayne's World 2

Notice anything from Wayne's World 2 here?

Look right under where it says Visitor Information.

"Welcome to Aurora! Not just a place, but a state of mind."

See My Profile Picture

I dug a giant hole on spring break

That's what my profile picture is of. Me standing next to a giant hole that we dug on Spring Break 2007.

The US bucket and spade brigade went on full alert yesterday after research by a top physician revealed that people falling into holes dug in the sand had accounted for more fatalities in the US since 1990 than shark attacks - 16 as opposed to 12.

The chicken, or the egg?

I was listening to the Garden State soundtrack during work today, and a song came on that I knew. It was a song I'd first heard on a Postal Service album, and the version on the Garden State soundtrack was different, sung by a different person. I think the song was used during and M&Ms commercial too. Does anyone know which version came first? I'm inclined to think the Postal Service one did, since I heard that version first, but I'm usually wrong about these things. Let me know if you have insight into the answer to this question.

The last time I wondered this, it was about the song "Crazy" by Gnarles Barkley. It worked backward in this case. I heard the GB version first. Then I was listening to a great station out of the Twin Cities and I heard an acoustic version of the same song, except it was by Shawn Colvin of all people. In this case, I just assumed she wrote it first, because, well, she's Shawn Colvin. It turns out I was wrong, despite arguing with a drunken Matt Rudman that Shawn's came first. Oh well.


Oh! You should listen to her version of the song, because it's very, very cool. Everyone I've played it for has agreed. I would recommend buying it from iTunes, although the for-sale version isn't as good as the version they play on cities97.com, which I linked to earlier. If you have the time, or if you like a good radio station, go to cities97.com and listen to their online broadcast. Eventually you'll hear the cool version of Crazy, and you'll hear some other pretty good music along the way.

Danville, VA

So I've arrived. In Danville, Virginia. It's in Southern Virginia, 2 hours from any major Virginia city, and about an hour from Greensboro, North Carolina. I like it so far, although I'm currently living in someone else's house and am eagerly looking forward to finding and moving into my own place.

My new digital camera is FINALLY being delivered tomorrow, about 3.5 weeks after I ordered it. I'll take pictures of Danville and my new apartment, when I get it, and post them here, for all to see!

Stupid Twins, stupid Brewers

The Brewers and Twins are rather maddening these days. Both teams have wasted big opportunities to make big moves in their respective divisions. Admittedly the Twins have been playing better, but not as well as they should be. They managed to lose 2 of 3 to the Washington Nationals who, while they've been playing better lately, shouldn't be beating the reigning champs of any division, even the crappy NL Central. The Twins are at .500 right now, 5.5 games out of first. I'm not panicked, but I'm not happy.

The Brewers are a different story. They have been playing horribly for the last few weeks. Yet their lead has not shrunk below 5.5 games. If they had gone even .500 in the last few weeks, they'd have put the Central well out of reach.

Oh well, the season is barely 1/3 over. There's a lot of time for both teams to play better.

A few thoughts before I take off

Well, it's been two weeks since I last posted...unfortunately. A lot has happened then! Let's get to it.

Since two weeks ago, I have:
Driven to or through every part of the commonwealth of Virginia (yes, it is a commonwealth, and don't you forget it!)
Crashed my car and rented a new one
Gone running just twice :(
Packed up my rental car for the big move to Danville

That doesn't seem like much, but when you're working 60+ hours a week, you don't have time for much else!

I'm moving to Danville, VA on the North Carolina border on Wednesday. I'm looking forward to really getting going on my job there. It should be a good time, and I'm sure plenty of entertaining stories will come from it.

But it's only wafer thin

I just saw a commercial for a new phone called The Wafer. Not only that, they called it the "new ultra-thin Wafer". Monty Python anyone?

Oh really?

Media in frenzy over jail-bound Paris Hilton

Isn't the title a little bit redundant, seeing as how it's written and hosted by members of the media? Is there really a point to a news organization writing an story about how news organizations are writing stories?

Twins and Brewers 2k7

This season, both the Twins and Brewers have reminded me of something we talked about at frisbee halftimes a lot.

If we had just barely taken half or had clawed our way back before the other team took half, we'd always come out of half with confidence. The idea was that we had played very badly in the first half, and the other team had played perfectly in the first half, and that despite this, we were still leading or still very close to the lead. Most times, we would come out of half and roll over the other team for the reast of the game, because when we played well and they came back to Earth, we were clearly the better team.

This is how the Brewers and Twins have looked to me this year. The Brewers started hot, but have played badly in the last half month. Despite their bad play recently, they're still comfortably in the lead in the division. If they can just play like they are able the rest of the year, they'll coast into the playoffs.

The Twins are a different story, but kind of the same result. Their hitting was awful early on, then their pitching, then their hitting again. Despite all this, they're still only 2 games out of the wildcard lead. If they play like they can, they'll easily get at least the wildcard position.

In Summary:
Frisbee is nothing like baseball, but I tried to make an analogy between the two. All you need to know is that I am confident both the Twins and Brewers will be in the playoffs come October.

The first post of the rest of my life

So I've started a new blog. That's what you're reading right now. My new blog.

Anyway, I wanted to write about things that I am interested in, or things I find interesting. However, that is a very broad topic to write about. Therefore, I have chosen to write about things I like. I happen to like baseball, so I will write about the Twins and Brewers when I can. I like music, but I don't know much about it or care to know much about it, so I'll write about what I do and don't like, and perhaps why, about music. I like interesting news stories, so I'll post links and comment on the stories, if they need comment. Finally, sometimes I have thoughts or ideas that I find funny, entertaining, or interesting. Some of those thoughts will make their way on to this blog, hopefully.

I live in Virginia now, for the next six months, at least. I'm working on campaigns here, but I won't be writing about my work at all. Nor will I be writing about politics, since that is work for me, and I don't want to spend personal time on work stuff. I will have plenty of non-work Virginia-related stories that I'll post here, though.

One final thing. I stole two of the things for this blog from my friend and former roommate, James Davison. He has a blog at akwardyoungshadow.blogspot.com. You should check it out. My title for the blog is from a Bare Naked Ladies song, much like his is from a favorite band of his. Also, you'll notice that my posts have an author title that is not simply my name. Bonus points to you if you know where it was from, but I wouldn't have known the reference without James.