Some music for you

I don’t usually do this. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever done it. I’m posting some music. Back in the day (the day being 1993 in this case), Van Hagar was a real force. Ed and Sam still liked each other, the band just came off of three hit albums (including their first ever live collection) and subsequent tours. They had hit singles littering the charts. Ed had stopped drinking. In short, the boys were rocking.

On March 3rd, they played a secret show at the famous Whiskey bar. Each band has its "infamous" shows among the hardcore fans. The Whiskey show is one of the top Sammy shows. The playing was fantastic, Sam sounded great and the crowd (you lucky goddamn bastards, I hate every single one of you) got the memories of a lifetime.You can almost hear people wetting themselves.

Check out this cover of The Who’s Won’t Get Fooled Again recorded towards the end of the show. It is fan – freaking – tastic. This is by far my favorite VH boot, I listen to it all the time. It’s obviously a board recording, because the quality is top notch. Damn, they were good and happy back then. I miss those days.

Note: I’ll keep this up for a day. I’m already exceeding my bandwith limit for the month . Also, the picture above is from Philadelphia, June 16, 2004, not 1993.

Screw Damon

May 1, 2006. Red Sox vs. Yankees at Fenway park. Damon’s first game in Boston after turing to the dark side. God, I cannot wait. He’ll get the ovation he deserves.

Prince still has it

I am a huge Prince fan. Sign ‘O The Times and the Under a Cherry Moon soundtrack are still tied for the title of my favorite Prince album, and "Mountains" is still my favorite Prince song. When I was at Berklee, there was this guy we used to call The White Prince, because he looked just like him (and he was a white guy). The guy is beyond talented. I mean, he arranges and plays all this own instruments, writes all of the music and, after all of these years, he continues to write very nice music indeed. Beautiful, Loved & Blessed [iTunes link], his current single, is a shining example of this.

It’s got a nice groove, great hook and a great arrangement. I haven’t seen Prince live but man, that would be a peak moment. Incidentally, if you buy the new single in the iTunes Music Store, you qualify for a chance to catch a live performance at Prince’s house. Oh yell yeah.

Enough already

Seriously, I’ve had it. Look, I have two kids, ages 2 years and 11 months. I’ve never been a father before, and (here’s a tip to all you childless adults out there) I have no idea what I’m doing. When you leave the hospital, they shove the baby in your hands with a sample pack of diapers, formula, binkies and a cute little hat. They say, “Good luck, you poor bastard. You’re going to need it.” Next thing you know you’re standing on the sidewalk holding the most complicated little device you’ll ever own (with no user’s manual) and the hospital door shuts. No more pediatric nurses at your beck and call, no team of medical professionals working to answer your every question, nothing. It’s you, the baby, your free bag of stuff and that feeling of “I have absolutely no idea what I’m supposed to do.”

Now throw a few hundred photographers in your face.

Acquiring a human being of your own whose very survival literally depends on your actions is, as you would imagine, a bit of a stressful time. Every day on the net I see pictures of Britney looking distressed with her kid pressed to her, or Dunst or Reese Witherspoon or any of them. Why do they look stressed? Because they are! It infuriates me. Just leave them the hell alone and let them raise their kids. Now, I know what you’re going to say. “Anyone who chooses a life of celebrity is aware of the fact that they’re giving up a measure of their privacy.” Bullshit. If a celebrity wants to publish photos of his/her kid (and I don’t know why any celebrity would), I’m sure s/he would have absolutely no problem identifying a magazine that would be more than happy to publish the spread. Harassing someone who is carrying an infant, shouting at them, shoving cameras in their faces and taking/publishing photos without their permission is crossing the line. Why is Britney’s baby (or Reese’s, or Kirsten’s, etc) your business? It’s not. Back off. Shame on the assholes who take these pictures, and shame on the jerks who purchase the magazines that publish them. I’m speaking as a parent here. Back off.

William on the Move

Here’s the thing about babies. They eventually start moving all around. William is very much on the move. Check out the movie. Crazy kids.

Announcing the winner of my first caption contest

You guys all rock, I’ve got to say, but Brian’s caption was the one had made me laugh out loud. That’s darn funny. Please send me the email address at which you’d like to receive your iTunes gift certificate.

A special mention must be made to Christie’s epic entry. She bags the one-liner for an Onion-style parody news piece that I appreciated very much. I’ve reposted it below for all to enjoy. Well done, Christie.

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President Bush Introduces Flat Osama to Iraqi Schoolchildren

In an effort to promote democratic ideals to the most receptive members of Iraqi society, President Bush unveiled his new program, The Official Flat Osama Project, in a press conference given at the Oval Office earlier this morning. “It’s part of my new strategery,” said the President holding Flat Osama, dressed in traditional Western civilization garb, by his side. “Because the children of that nation, well, uh, they will like him. Flat Osama. Hehe. Who doesn’t like that, right Condi?”

Flat Osama, differing from his famed brother Flat Stanley, from The Official Flat Stanley Project, was squashed flat by a school building wall that collapsed after bombs where deployed when a report mistakenly targeted Flat Osama’s elementary school as a terrorist hideout.

Iraqi students, who will be able to return to school once their war-torn region gets a reliable power source, the schools are rebuilt, and yahoos running through the streets firing at anything that moves are captured, will make Flat Osamas and start journalizing. Then Flat Osamas and journals will be sent to schoolchildren across America where students treat each Flat Osama as a guest, introducing him to all of the delights Western culture can offer a young, flat man. Upon completing the journal, Flat Osama and the journal will be returned to the original sender care of the United States Army. Students can plot Flat Osama’s travels on maps and share the contents of the journal. Vice President Dick Cheney shared his own experiences with Flat Stanley, “My grandson sent me a Flat Stanley last hunting season. Unfortunately, I accidentally shot the little bugger.” He quickly added he felt introducing Flat Osama was a way to win over the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people.

“I see this as a way to focus attention elsewhere, away from recent scandals that have besieged the White House and driven down the President’s approval ratings,” said long-time political strategist and Bush family friend Karl Rove, currently the subject of an investigation into who revealed the identity of a CIA employee whose husband was critical of the Bush Administration’s justification for going to war in Iraq.

In a trial run of The Official Flat Osama Project, Flat Osama, sent to ten year old Jason Smith of Las Vegas, Nevada, by Amaar Ali Salman, was photographed visiting local casinos, trading porn cards collected by card snappers on the Vegas sidewalks, watching barely clad females at various hotel pools in the area, and smoking cigarette butts found on the street, seemed to enjoy living it up in the city that claims to keep everything secret.

Let’s chat about Battlestar Galactica

Do you like Battlestar Galactica? Of course you do. Everyone does, it’s a killer show. Want to chat while it’s on tonight? Cool. Join AIM chatroom bgchat at 10:00 PM EST tonight and we’ll hang.

So, let’s discuss the show for a minute, mkay? Is it me, or does this week’s episode look like a total killer? Told from a cylon’s perspective, we get to see the “reconditioning” of the Boomer unit. Awesome. I’m really looking forward to it. See you then.

Not to be a jerk or anything…

What’s with this phrase? It seems to have magical powers. Specifically, by prefacing a statement with “Not to be a jerk or anything,” people seem to believe that they can say whatever they want with impunity. For example, “Not to be a jerk or anything, but your sister is a total slut. I mean, she’s a world-class whore bag. I can smell her a mile away. But, you know, not to be a jerk or anything.” In this example, the party being spoken to is not supposed to be offended by the fact that the speaker thinks his/her sister is a “…world-class whore bag.” Somehow, I don’t think this is the case.

You’re still responsible for what you say. This practice really bothers me. Be careful what you say, and take responsibility for it. In fact, I think everyone who ignores this rule should be shipped to a prison island and left to die.

Not to be a jerk or anything.

[Image (minus the balloon) by my bud Kevin of the great Umami Design.]

Safari > Firefox

More and more of the web goodies are either Firefox only, or improved when accessed with Firefox. The only thing keeping me from switching to Firefox for good is my bookmarks. Does anyone know of an easy and painless way of moving my Safari bookmarks into Firefox? Thx.

Update: Mission complete. One of my nine regular readers (and a German, incidentally. For some reason, I get tons of hits from Germany) Uncle Remus suggested Safari Bookmark Exporter, which did exactly what I wanted with three clicks. Awesome.

So long, Safari.

Action shots!

Remember when I gave away my Johnny Walker iPod case? Well, lucky reader upstageleft has posted some pics of his togged out iPod. Cool! Thanks for sharing, bud.